NEWS OF THE DAY.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2458, 3 February 1881, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

The drawing of the Catholic Art Union took place yesterday afternoon in the hoys school, Heaton street. Mr Turnbull, M.H.R., received and announced the numbers of the tickets as they were drawn, Mr Henry Green and a clerk also rendering assistance with the drawing. There was a very large attendance and the really handsome articles offered as prizes were generally admired. In another column we publish the winning numbers.

A sad accident occurred at Guthrie and Larnach’s - factory, Dunedin, yesterday. Thomas Jeffrey, a young man; got entangled in one of the belts, and death was instantaneous, his brains being dashed out and one leg torn from his body.

At the B.M. Court to-day, before Messrs Woollcombe and Lo Cren, J.lVs, a female inebriate who pleaded that it was b|er first appearance in that character,' was fined ss, with the usual alternative, Thomas Niness was then charged with indecent exposure and otherwise misconducting himself on the platform ,of! a railway carriage travelling between Tirnaru and Albury last evening. The defendant, who said he was very sorry, was fined 20s. A lunatic was ordered to be sent to Sunnyside Asylum on the certificate of Drs Maclntyre and Chilton. At the adjourned meeting of the Mechanic’s Institute Committee, held last night, Mr Shepherd in the chair, it was resolved to accept the plan marked •‘Athena}’’ for the Mechanics Institute, provided it can be executed by tender for the amount specified. It was further resolved that a sub-committee should be appointed, consisting of Messrs Gibson, Greenup, White and Bruce, to wait on the architect with instructions as to advertising for tenders for the erection of that portion consisting of two storeys fronting on North street. The secretary was instructed to return the rejected plans to the different architects on application, with thanks from the Committee, The meeting then terminated.

The strike of seamen is causing some annoyance to owners of steamers at Wellington. The steamer Manawatu was ready to leave for Wanganui last evening, but at the last moment the crew refused to proceed to sea unless the demands of the Seaman’s Union were complied with. The men were given into custody, and will be charged with refusal of duty. Three of the Huia’s crew also refused duty, and they were treated in a similar manner. The steamer however, was enabled to sail for her destination, having made up a crew from the seamen of the ship Antares.now in port, The men of the steamer Patea are also out on strike. The owners of the steamer state that they have determined not to comply with the demands of the Union.

At the Wesleyan Conference at Nelson yesterday, the establishment of an independent Conference for New Zealand was considered. It was said that the present one had no legal status, and that each colony would have to legislate to legalise the tenure of property within its bounds by the church. It was also said that an attempt on the part of the New Zealand Conference to introduce improvements in church polity had been defeated by the conservatism of the Australian representatives. Thirty-one voted for the proposed separation, and nine against it on the ground that it cannot take place without the consent of the general conference. The representatives to the general Conference, to be held in May next, were elected as follows :—Bovs. Reid, Morley, Williams, Buddie, Lee, Armitage, and Bull; lay representatives Messrs, Manchester, Cock, Cannal, Buddie, Prince, Hobbs, Turner, Moxham, and Mitchell.

Although the following letter, addressed to the mover and seconder of the amendment at the late Bible-in-schools meeting, was not authorised to be published by the writer, it is so significant of the general feeling regarding this matter that we take the liberty of printing it. We may observe that the letter was written by a leading politician and citizen of Invercargill:—“ I think you deserve the thanks of every thoughtful man in the colony. There may be many faults in the present education system in the Colony, but it is undoubtedly giving to every child the opportunity of receiving a very fair education ; and from the large attendance at the schools it is evident the system is appreciated. Let New Zealand retain her present system of education for twenty years, and its good effects—whatever may intervene—will be felt for a century. Anything that will tend to interfere with the success of the system should be opposed, and I am thankful that there arc men ready to make a stand. To read the Bible in schools must mean one of two things—instruction or amusement. We know that it is not contemplated to amuse the children. If read for instruction, how is it to be imparted ? It is allowed by all believers in the Bible that children ought not to read the book without having it explained, because if left to themselves they probably take the wrong interpretation from it. To allow it to be read without explanation would be more dangerous than having it explained, and we know that it is the difference in interpretation and explanation that makes denominationalism. Shortly, your amendment was, I believe, the proper one ; and I take the liberty of thanking you for your action.”

For downright gushing there are few men can beat Mr (late Judge) Weston. The following is a fair sample of his effusions since he was made aware that the Government were about to dispense with his services. It is in reply to an address presented to him by the residents in Beefton : “My dear Sir, —I hasten to acknowledge the receipt of the flattering address which you and a large proportion of the population of Inangahua have been so good as to send to me at this place. At the termination of a long judicial career it is gratifying that men of all classes, creeds, and shades of opinion are prepared to join in such a handsome tribute of respect and regard. Nevertheless, such a manifestation of feeling causes me to realise to the full that a Judge is but human ; and to regret that, however learned, just, painstaking, merciful, and appreciated he may be, sometimes through fallacious reasoning, errors of judgment, and may be undue haste, his awards and punishments may prove to be mistaken, and perhaps oppressive, With all my many shortcomings however, I always endeavored to preserve the honor and dignity of the British Bench at this remote corner of the earth, to protect the weak against the strong, to temper justice with mercy, that I migh vindicate my elevation to the judgment scat, and prove myself to be no unworthy member of the New Zealand bar.”

A surgeon in Hobart Town summoned a butcher for a large sum for attendance on his wife, but the butcher said the medico was a bungler, and that through his want of skill his wife died. Three other doctors (certificated ones) supported the butcher’s view in the evidence’ they gave, and the verdict was that the money should not be paid. Nice for the surgeon.

The •*Otago Daily Times’’ notwithstanding the reduction in price from three pence to one penny, keeps up its standard of excellence. It is now one of the largest papers in New Zealand. Not only is its reading matter voluminous but it is also select, .while its reports arc accurate and generally nearly perfect as regards grammar and composition, a thing that cannot be said of many newspapers in New Zealand. In taking the decisive step that it has done, our contemporary, we think has made a , move in the right direction, and we have no doubt that the enterprise displayed will be substantially acknowledged by the advertising public.

The Melbourne Exhibition has induced a large number of the New Zealand bucolics to leave their homes to see what the world on the other side is like. A few weeks since a party of excursionists from Auckland passed through Sydney to Melbourne, and whilst in the former city one of them went into a boot shop for a pair of pumps, when the shop boy looked carefully at his foot from toe to heel, and said very gravely, “ I am afraid my man, that you mistake the nature of this establishment; it is a bootmaker’s shop, not a boatbuilder’s.”

A new totalisator has been introduced at Dunedin, the inventor being Mr &'chinnerling. It is of a very portable size, being only long and 2£ft high, and will register the bets on 10 horses. If a race has more than 10 starters, a second machine will of course have to be used. The materials used in its construction are cast copper and iron, and the mechanism is of a most simple and substantial character. Unlike other totalisators, it is worked from the back, but we do not think this will be considered a drawback after an inspection. Each ticket given to backers is embossed with its number, and the act of embossing at once indicates the numbjr of tickets taken on that horse, and also registers the total,

The Lifeboat Lodge, 1.0.G.T., meet on Friday night for installation.