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South Canterbury Times, Issue 2448, 22 January 1881, Page 3

A rather interesting aquatic event to.k place on Thursday afternoon on the Avon at Christchurch. This was a match between the Christchurch waiters and batmen, and created a good deal of excitement, the river banka being lined with spectators. The course was two miles from Wright’s to the Willows. The waiters pulled in the Lurline and their anatagonists in the Arawata. A good deal of money changed hands on the race which was a rather exciting one and was won by the White Cravats by 45 yards. That the quest ion of Sir Arthur Gordon’s dual position has excited considerable interest at Home, is evident from the following remarks in a late number of the “ Westminster Review” : Gordon’s Governorship of Fiji has terminated, and he has been promoted to New Zealand. He, however, retains the office of British High Commissioner for the Pacific. It seems a questionable proceeding to unite this office with that of Governor of a self-governing colony. The precedent of Sir Bartle Frcre as Governor at the Cape, and at the same time High Commissioner for South-eastern Africa, does not aiford good promise. The High Commissioner must be a purely imperial in many respects aquasi-diplomatic officer, his province is largely composed of aliens and powers more or less independent. this is entirely beyond and beside the functions of a governor of a colony enjoying Parliamentary Government. Nor is it to be desired that the administrative and judicial authority of such a Commissioner should bo vested in the Parliament of a distinct self-governing colony. The F'jis are a far more appropriate head-quarters from a constitutional no less than a central point of view ; and it is to be hoped that this transference of the locale of the High Commissioner and his Court is only temporary, and consequent on the purely personal qualities of the present incumbent of the office.” Some amusement not unmixed with disgust however, has been caused by the eccentric conduct, to put it mildly, of a well known Timaru contractor, who has very unexpectedly cleared out of Timaru, leaving a large circle of friends and acquaintances to mourn his untimely loss. The gentleman in question has been mixed up in very many contracts, and has had something to do in that connection with the Timaru waterworks scheme. Lately, however, he has been talking of giving up contracting, and going in for Hotel keeping instead. With this object in v iew he has been borrowing money from his friends getting a £2O note from one £SO from another, with a sprinkling of fives and tens. Having raised something like £2OO, the would be boniface, suddenly relinquished the idea of <he hotel, and fled with Ins £2OO in a northerly direction, whither lie has been pursued by a bailiff intent on getting an explanation.