NEWS OF THE DAY.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2453, 28 January 1881, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY .

R. A. Wright of East Taranaki has lost 30 tons of hay by fire and four saddles by thieves. The Board of Reviewers under the Pro* perty Assessment Act at Christchurch have decided that shares in building societies must be treated as shares in any other public company and taxed accordingly.

The Sheridan Dramatic Club repeated its performance of the previous evening at the Theatre Royal last night. The attendance was not particularly large but the entertainment ran much more smoothly than on the first night. A large quantity of Maori food has been destroyed by a bush fire at Parihaka. Some of Tc Whiti’s disciples were only prevented with difficulty from roasting themselves along with their potatoes. An ingenious colonist has invented a contrivance for attachment to grindstones by which the blade to be sharpened is automatically held and passed across and against the face of the grindstone while it is being revolved.

The next mectinu of the South Canterbury Education Board takes p'ace on Wednesday, Besides the ordinary business, yhich is likely to include some lively correspondence. Mr Wakefield will move—- “ That the resolution of the Board of March 17,1880, ‘ that in the interpretation of public schools in the scholarships regulations, the Timaru High School be considered to be included ’be rescinded,” In the event of the above resolution being carried, the llev G. Barclay will move—- “ That such scholarships in whole or in part be thrown open to all schools within the Board district, subject to regulations already in existence.” At the Waimate Court yesterday Mrs Wilks was summoned by Elizabeth Drummond for assaulting her on Monday last. The complainant’s evidence went to show that the defendant met her near Mr Rickman’s house on the above date, aud high words having passed, struck her, knocked her down and kicked her. The defendant was considerably excited in Court and had to be warned several times by the Bench for interrupting the witnesses. She was ordered to be imprisoned for 24 hours, to find two sureties to keep the peace for six months, and to pay 11s, the complainant’s costs of Court. Several unimportant civil cases were also disposed of.

Arrangements are in progress by the New Zealand Rifle Association for their next meeting at Nelson. The Wellington Seamens’ Union have passed the following resolution; —'‘That air boats strike for the eight hours’movement on the 31st January, and come out if they do not get the eight hours placed on the articles.’

In the “ Presbyterian Calendar ” for 1881 one of the most venerable divines of that church is described as “ Emeritus.” A teacher lately sent a reverend gentleman a communication addressing it to ” Rev Dr delicate compliment. But letter-carriers are not imaginative. They put a literal construction on the addendum (says iEgles) and returned the missive to the sender with the endorsement, “No such post town in Victoria.”

A Melbourne exchange says that as two street boys, probably engaged in the circulation of such literature as is to be found in newspapers, looked in at Germain Nicholson’s window, said one to the other, “ What are those in the bottles, Bill ?" “ Olives, of course,” said the elder boy. “ And who eats olives ?” further pursued the lad of inquiring mind. “ Why, epicures, you fool,” roughly answered the mentor. ** What’s an epicure ?" asked Hie undaunted inquirer. “ Well, an epicure is,’! and Bill paused a moment for reflection. “ Why, an epicure’s just a fellow that'll eat anything!” There have been worse definitions.

During the passage of the steamer Albion from Lyttelton to Dunedin, one of the steerage passengers from Auckland to Melbourne, named James Burnet Pike, was missed, He was last seen by his mate at 2 a.m. yesterday, when he was muttering to himself in his bunk. He had previously been drinking in Auckland, and was suffering from its effects. Pike had been gumdigging at North Wairoa, and returned to Auckland on January Ist. He procured some medicine in Christchurch, part of which he had taken.

The following is a list of the tenders re* ceived for the railway bridge over the Tengawairiver, Albary line:—(Accepted), H. Mackenzie, Dunedin, £4166. (Declined) —P. Day, Mosgiel, £4244 ; Henderson and Fergus, Dunedin, £4870; J.Philp, Timaru, £4374; Thomas and Hill,Amberley, £4472 ; J. Coates, Palmerston. £4555 ; Jones and Peters, Timaru, £4579; K. B. Sibly,Timaru, £4580; W. J. Black, Waimate, £4589; George Filmer, Timaru, £4652 ; C. Wadey, Christchurch, £4742; Stock and Stenhouse, Christchurch, £4873; H. C. McCormick, Dunedin, £4954; J. and A. Anderson, Christchurch, £5467 ;R. Sutherland, Port Chalmers, £5529; F. Benham, Christchurch, £5537.

Sir John Coode has taken out a patent for certain improvements in apparatus for landing and delivering silt, Ac., from barges. This is accomplished by making the silt receptacle with a bottom sloping towards the centre, where a vertical trunk or pipe is placed, containing the suctionpipe of a pump. Valves are made in the sides of the vessel for admitting water to the silt, Ac., which in a diluted form is carried to the bottom of the suction-pipe, and from there is pumped up and delivered, where required. We may state that a similar process for getting rid of quartz tailings has 4)een in full operation on the goldfields for many years past, the original inventor being Mr Walter Laidlaw a Victorian mechanic.

Sir Arthur Kennedy, of Queensland, in a recent speech to the boys at the breakingup of the Ipswich Grammar School, His Excellency had the audacity to say “You boys will all have a voice in the affairs of the colony, and I hope that you will make a better use of that privilege than some constituencies have done, and trust that you will not, like them, assist in returning drunken bankrupts to Parliament. (Applause.) I can say some things that other people could not, and I do not care whether they please or not; but I think every right-minded person in the colony will agree with me in what I have now said.” Sir Arthur is a brave man.

The annual pic-nic of the Trinity Presbyterian Church Sunday •School, was held onWednesday at the Levels. There was a large assemblage both of children and members of the congregation, the ladies especially mustering strongly. The bulk of the young people and their guardians travelled from Timaru to the scene of their enjoyments by special train, but numbers from the adjacent neighborhood assembled in vehicles. The Rev. Mr Gillies and a strong body of Sunday School teachers and office-bearers were on the ground, and a day of delightful recreation was spent. Refreshments were provided in abundance, and the young people were kept on the tip-toe of expectation with trophies and presents. Athletic sports were indulged in freely, and altogether the affair will leave few lingering regrets and many, pleasing recollections behind it. Before leaving the ground the assemblage gave three hearty cheers for Miss Todd, to whose indefatigable efforts the success of the affair was chiefly due. The “ New Zealand Herald,” referring to the libel case—Joseph Ivess v. Crisp says : —“ The Press of the colony is indebted to Mr Ivess for the pluck and determination with which he has st»n this matter through. It is not infrequent for public journals to be pestered with threat? of libel actions by persons who hope to make a little money, under the terms of a compromise occasionally assented to, unfortunately to save bother. Occasions are not rare in which a speculative action is undertaken by some seedy lawyer—a black sheep of his profession—who can lose nothing, and has the chance of gaining something. Even at best, the paper is probably put to some expense in guarding against eventualities. Mr Crisp is very likely to be quite resj oectable as a man, but his law would have cost him nothing. The case appears to h >nve been one of intimidation, or something like it: and it is so with many threats of libel actions which come to nothing, I recause the proprietors of papers show figl it, and will not submit to people who are so ready to hurl their libel threats . it newspapers. The result of this case wi U stimulate proprietors to resist attempts* which are made to get at their pockets.” '

The date fixed for the payment of the first instalment of the property tax is March Bth, and for the second the 22nd of the same month

The “ Otago Daily Times " got hold of the wrong “ Button " yesterday. A special Auckland telegram in its colums refers to the libel case of “ Button v. Joseph Ivess ” and says “ Mr Button is very likely quite a respectable man, but his law would have cost him nothing.” It is to be hoped that Mr Button who was counsel for Mr Ivess is not like Mr Crisp of a litigious disposition.

Timaru, in common with the rest of the colonies will probably soon have the opportunity of testing the qualities of Edison’s electric lamp. With a view to the introduction of the Edison inventions,, letters patent have been taken out in Victoria for a multitude of new notions. The inventions include improvements in dynamo or magneto-electric machines andelectric motors, improvements in electric lamps, and in carbons or incandescing conductors therefor, and in means for and methods of manufacturing same, both of which inventions are of too voluminous a character —54 distinct claims—to give even an outline of them here. There was a clean sheet at the E.M, Court this morning.

A meeting of the 1.0.G.T., Lifeboat Lodge, No. 101, takes place at the Sophia street Hall at T. 30, for the transaction of important business, Full attendance requested.