NEWS OF THE DAY.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2598, 19 July 1881, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

The Harbor Board has purchased the four surf boats from the George street, Landing Service at the figure fixed by the Board —£560.

A public meeting, under the auspices of the Timaru Working Man’s Labor League, will be held at the Volunteer Hall, Tcmuka, this evening, for the purpose of opening a branch of the League and Union in that town. Mr J. M. Ollivier will take the chair.

A correspondent thus gives his opinion on political matters: —Sir George Grey, when he introduced his blank Bill, thought, no doubt, it was the only kind the present Ministry are able to deal with successfully.

An adjourned special meeting of the Borough Council was held last evening, at which there present: —His Worship the Mayor, and Councillors Shepherd, Cullmann, Filmer, Shemut, Greenup, Ross and Jackson. It was moved by Cr Greenup, seconded by Cr Ross, and carried: —“ That the map showing the street levels of the borough, as prepared by the engineers, Edward Dobson and Son, advertised and now laid before the Council, be adopted ; the same to be signed by His Worship the Mayor, Councillors Ross, Jackson, and the mover, and affix the seal.” The above being the only business before the meeting, the Council then adjourned. The weekly session of the English Lodge Victory, No 42, LOG.!’., was held last evening at the Forester’s Hall. Notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather there was an excellent attendance, the chair being taken by theW.C.T. Bro. J. Blackmore. One candidate was proposed for membership and several matters of importance were discussed. After a short recess, the Lodge considered a motion by Bro, J. Saxon relative to the holding of an entertainment next month, which resulted in the appointment of a Committee to bring up a report at the next meeting. It was announced that a brother present was about leaving the]district and he being a steady successful member of the Order, was presented with the kindly greetings of all present. After indulging in a little harmony, to which Bros. Saxon, Jones, Turner, and the W.C.T. contributed. The subordinate lodge closed at 9 o’clock. A A degree lodge was afterwards formed when two brothers were admitted to the third degree. The quarterly election of officers is to take place nest Monday evening. The proceedings closed at 9.45 p.m, Mr David Proudfoot has telegraphed to the Premier his willingness to proceed at once with the construction of the Ota,go Central Railway on the basis of the proposed Grants to Companies Measure.

There are thirty cases of typhoid raging in Christchurch at present, and three deaths have occurred, all traceable to the supply of milk from one dairy. Measles are prevalent in Christchurch jnst now, 150 children in the Sydenham district school have been withdrawn, and 50 or 60 in another school in the south of Christchurch.

There is a great demand in Christchurch for the revised edition of the New Testament. On Saturday Messrs Simpson and Co., sold 650 copies, and could have sold 250 more if they had had them.

A man named Petersen, was ch arged with assault at Christchurch yesterday; It appears that he struck a gentleman walking along the South Bell over the head with a billhook, and the sergeant in charge said that had the victim not worn a stiff hat the charge would have been one of murder. The case was remanded till next day to give time for inquiries.

The estimated damage done by the flood at the Thames is £20,000 to the local works, country water race, Borough reservoir, culverts, creeks, bridges, etc. Pome of the store keepers are completely ruined. The opinion is now confirmed that it is the result of a waterspout, for the localities on each side of the Borough are comparatively little injured. The County and Borough authorities have telegraphed to the Government for assistance.

The Bishop of London, speaking in the Upper House of Convocation of the province of Canterbury, on May 17 last, said : “ He begged to remind the House that no one could at present use the revised version of the New Testament. When the whole work was completed it would go out to the public, and would be before the Church for consideration. It might be years before the proposed alterations from the authorised version had so approved themselves to the Church, both clergy and laity, that steps could be taken to give authority for the use of the revised version. However, it must be understood that the revised could not now be used in the churches.”

At a meeting of the Christchurch Licensed Victuallers’ Association the other day the followingletterfrom aprominen tmerchant in the city was read ; —I think it would be a great convenience to employer and employed if some of the inkeepers in Christchurch were to a adopt the old London plan of notifying in a cbnspicious manner ‘ House of call for carpenters,’ or ‘House of call for bricklayers, ” as the case may be. Men of such calling would leave their names and addresses at the house, and if out of employment would call there to know if enquires have been made by employers, who would know where to go to make inquiry without having to run here and there for hands, wanted immediately. It would also give the men in their respective callings a known place to meet for the discussion of business matters. I do not allude to carpenters and bricklayers only, but to painters, bakers, and other trades.”

At the Parihaka meeting on Saturday Honi Pihama’s wife, on entering the village, held upon a supplejack £2OO as a present for Te Whiti. The Prophet, in addressing his people, enjoined them not to interfere with the constabulary in pulling down fences, as hostilities had passed.

The gentleman from the Sydney side referred to in yesterday’s issue, does not appear to have had a long turn of the Dmedinites, nor does it appear that he patronised the livery stablekcepers of Otago. His style of travelling must have been by a swifter mode of locomotion than a horse and buggy, for he is during the present hibernal weather esconsced in a certain hostelry in Timaru, where he will no doubt remain until moved to take another trip in the surrounding country in search of games, though he has had such a comfortable time of it in Timaru that he may be loth to leave. It was all “ beer and billiards ” here. Not at all bad for a man who had not a red cent in his pocket. “ Marker, you know my room, put it down to ray number.” And the guileless billiard marker did as he was told. Not only that, for the waiters of the hotel were kept dancing in attendance upon the gentleman with “unlimited means ” from New South Wales.

A young lady at Brighton, who had taught the children of a boatman to read and write, advanced £3OO towards £SOO, the price of two yachts which the father of the children was to manage for their joint profit, the remaining £2OO being raised on mortgage. After a time the lady asked for an account,but the boatman coolly told her that she had given him the £3OO. On her bringing an action, the defendant's counsel, on a suggestion from the Judge (Fry), allowed judgment against his client. The Judge granted an injunction to restrain the mortgagee for five days from selling the yacht.

A correspondent writes to the Dunedin “ Times” :—“ Is scarlet fever included amongst infectious diseases? I ask because I have understood that all such diseases require I to be reported to the Health Officer (if there is such a person in this city) ; yet off Castle street I bear of a case of scarlet fever, and as far as I am aware no precautionary steps are taken in the matter. The neighborhood is a crowded one.

On Friday last (says the “ Southland Times ”) one of the best animals that Southland, if not New Zealand, ever possessed left our shores; we refer to the celebrated Clydesdale entire, Young Prince of Wales. This horse has made Southland famous for the excellence of her draught stock throughout the Middle Island, and the improvement that is now so marked in this class of stock at our annual shows may date from the time when Young Prince of Wales’s offspring appeared as competitors. This splendid animal was originally imported from Scotland at a great price, by Henry Hill, Esq., now of Sydney, and was bred by that prince of breeders, Lawrence Drew, of Merryton.

The following telegram from Auckland appears in yesterday mornings “Lyttelton Times —“The “Herald” referring to Sir George Grey’s and Mr Sheehan’s Bills re abolition of the Provinces and local selfgovernment, says:—“What the country wants are practical proposals to meet practical difficulties. We can hardly think that Sir G. Grey or Mr Sheeean consider the rival Bills, which may be said to be now before the House, as practical, or even as practicable, and yet if they do not why do they put them before the House and country. To restore the Provinces is simply impossible in the financial position of the country.”

Near Foxton, in the Wellington province, a gentleman was riding along recently when his horse sank up to the girths in a fissure formed in the earth by the late earthquake. The animal was extricated with some difficulty, and it was then ascertained that there were three parallel cracks, extending for a distance of two miles along the track. At Woodville shocks continue to be felt from time to time, sometimes two or three in a day. At Wanganui it has been discovered that sixty-nine chimneys were damaged by the “ shake.”

Information has been received of a shocking murder at Nymegee, near Cobar, New South Wales. On Sunday morning, July 3, during a melee, Dr Gidding was stabbed in nine places by a man named Louis Reit, who was encouraged by a drunken woman named Boustas, The woman accused Dr Gidding and another man of having assaulted her. Dr Gidding died at nine o’clock on the same evening.

A prominent Land Leaguer recently proposed that the Irish should “ Boycott ” England by refusing to drink whisky or smoke tobacco, and thereby cut off the vast revenues which perfidious Albion derives from Ireland’s partiality to these commodities. It is said that the Iri h were so paralysed by the brilliant idea that they were unable to even mention it for several days ; but it is added that on recovering themselves they made things so lively for the proposer of the scheme that he has not been seen since, and is now supposed to be rusticating somewhere about the source of the Nile. Such is the reward of too much genius.

The Auckland police are investigating the case of Mrs Newman, of Henderson’s mill, who died suddenly at night of childbirth. No doctor or midwife was in attendance. A neighbor went in, but she did not possess the requisite skill.

A cablegram from Melbourne states that largo sales of the new season’s tea have taken place during the last few days. Prices are against importe rs. The sugar market is firmer.

As an instance of the rapid flight of new g by means of the newspaper and the tele, graph, the “Registrar ” has been informed by an Adelaide gentlemen, who received the information from his San Francisco correspondent by the last mail, that the latter, while on his way to Sacramento, on May 1, got the “ San Francisco Call ’» containing an account of the wreck of the Tararua the day previous.

The Rev Robert Matlock was lynched for murder in Izard county, Arkansas, recently. Matlock created considerable excitement in central Arkansas a year ago, being then engaged with others in conducting a religious reformation. It is alleged several murders resulted from these men’s teachings, one of their articles of faith being that the shedding of human blood was necessary to appease an offended God.