South Canterbury Times, WEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 1881. NEWS OF THE DAY.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2599, 20 July 1881, Page 2

South Canterbury Times, WEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 1881. NEWS OF THE DAY.

A vote of no confidence is now being debated in the House of Representatives. Last night, Mr Ormond moved “ That the proposals of the Government in respect to local government and finance are unsatisfactory.” Mr Ormond stated that he had not brought the motion forward without consulting other gentlemen. The names of these gentlemen will doubtless come out in the course of the debate.

Mr Sheehan’s motion for the repeal of abolition was, after debate, withdrawn last night. The “ Timaru Herald ” contains an extraordinary speech reported to have been delivered by Sir George Grey in the House last night. It makes Sir George say that the county system has been a success, that abolition was a blessing to the country, and that the old provincial system was a rank failure. has been a mistake somewhere.

The new stock yards at Winchester are rapidly approaching completion and will be finished, it is expected, by next fair day. There will be twenty-three pens devoted to cattle, and upwards of twenty for sheep, together with all other necessary accommodation, There is to be no more drawing of lots for priority of sale amongst the auctioneers. Stock is to be entered in order of arrival, in numbered pens, and in this order the sales will follow.

Mr E. A, Proctor, the eminent astronomer and popular lecturer, was married to Miss Sally D. Crawley, on May 3rd at Christ Church, St, Joseph, Missouri.

Two wheat stacks caught fire at Mr James Shepherd’s farm at the Washdyke Gorge, on July 17, and but little of the grain was saved. A threshing mill belonging to Messrs A. and R. Drysdalo, which was stationed between the stacks, was also destroyed, and the loss on it is estimated at £250. The engine, and about 16 sacks of grain were saved by the hands who wore camped near. The mill had been insured but the policy lapsed about two months ago. The grain was insured for about half its value, but some SOO bushels valued at £l6O were burnt. There is no positive clue to the origin of the fire, but there is not the slightest reason to suppose that it was due to foul play. The police suppose it to have occurred through the careless use of matches.

The “ Hawke’s Bay Herald ” is informed that a considerable number of hawk’s feet come to Napier from the Wanganui side, and that hawk’s heads are. sent from there to Wanganui. The reason for this is that there Acclimatisation Society pay a reward for the feet, while in Wanganui the money is paid for the heads. At the R.M, Court this morning, Mary Sullivan who was discharged as a first offender yesterday morning for drunkenness, made her appearance once more on a similar charge. She was fined on this occasion 10s with the alternative of 48 hours in the lock-up. A first offender was fined ss.

Sir James Prendergast (says the “ Dunedin Herald ”) evidently does not believe that people should embark in enterprises concerning which they do not possess sufficiently accurate ideas of the responsibilities they incur. Two cases came before him in bankruptcy yesterday, in which it appeared that the debtors hardly possessed the requisite experience and knowledge for the successful accomplishment of the undertakings in which they engaged, nor a proper degree of sensitiveness for those upon whom the loss of ill-considered speculations fell. In each case the debtor’s discharge was suspended, in order to give him an opportunity of maturing his business knowledge.

In a review of the Revised New Testament the Hobart “ Presbyterian Magazine” has this extraordinary sentence —“ It is only a immolation ; an I as such it is not insytiml. Like every other work done by fallible, imperfect man, it is capable of improvement. This being the case, it is a superstitious, ignorant conservatism which characterises the learned revisers as meddlers with the Bible.”

A shocking accident occurred at Waratah, New South Wales. Two boys, named Russell and Howe, were playing with a pick-axe, seeing how far they could drive it into the ground. One of them bent down to examine the hole made, and his companion, making another stroke unfortunately buried the pick in his brain, causing instant death. A gathering of old identities lately took place at the leading hotel in Newcastle on the occasion of “ pension day.” There were three veterans present whose ages were 91, 74, and 09 years respectively. The first of these old warriors fought under the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo, and was one of the few surviving warriors who were present at the memorable meeting of the Duke and Blucher. The second (who for many years has been living on a pen sion) saw 22 years of active service, including campaigns in the West Indies, North America, and the Mediterranean ; whilst the third (a naval pensioner) served in the Crimean, China, and West Indian struggles. Each of these old warriors has received numerous medals, and notwithstanding their advanced ages all three arc bale and strong.

If Mr Brudenell Carter is right in the opinion he expressed at the Society of Arts’ meeting recently, that out of 9200 engine-drivers 400 arc colour-blind, railway travellers have indeed some cause for anxiety. Red and green are principally used for signal lights, and it is these very colors which people who arc colour-blind are most apt to confuse. At a London theatre the other night the audience were electrified for the moment for the moment by the appearance of a wellknown leader of fashion in her box, apparently robed in her nightgown, It was soon discovered, however, that, following the popular desire to be considertd outre, the lady had enveloped herself in a white satin ulster with cuffs and collars of white velvet.

The Melbourne “ Argus” of the 9th says : —“ A shocking tragedy occurred on Thursday night in Richmond. John Bullock, a painter, aged G2 years, and lodging in Cubitt street, when alone in the house, was visited by his wife, who was living apart from him, and at 11 o’clock both were found dead in his room, with their throats cut. From the surroundings it was evident that Bullock, first murdered his wife with a table-knife, and then cut his own throat with a pocket-knife. The unfortunate woman was found lying in her blood on the bed, and the man in a kneeling position by the bedside, with the open pocket-knife clenched in his right hand.” Mr A. T. Clark, a member of the Berry Ministry, recently said, in explanation of some remarks he had made in a former speech, that he did not intend to refer to Sir Bryan O’Loghlen as acquiring his title by “ cattle dulling” or the “loss of virtue of his female ancestors.” He mentioned those points, but he said that the hon. member’s title went as far back as Judas. The House received this curious explanation with laughter.

Great difficulty is experienced by the authorities in- Sydney in inducing the Chinese to admit that they have >ick perons in their quarters. -Recently on a visit of inspection, it is reported that “as the inspector had failed to induce the redd ntsto speak the truth, he selected one of them and chastised him across the shoulders with a whip, while Inspector Larkins treated another in a similar way. This had the desired effect, for the Chinese then admitted there was a sick man in the hou'-ic and expressed their willingness to bring him out. The patient was then brought out and on examination by candlelight, Dr Hudson came to the conclusion that the case was one of smallpox, and directed that the sufferer should be taken inside again.

There has been another publican’s scandal in Sydney, a man named Thomas Craig, a woolbroker, haring jumped out of the topmost story window of a hotel, while in the honors, and thus met his death. He had received £3OO from Home some short time previously, and had been lodging at the public-house for two months, being latterly almost continuously in a state of drunkenness. The Coroner at the inquest made some strong comments on the practice of many hotelkeepers furnishing liquor as long as the poor slave of intemperance had the money to pay for it. M. Gambetta recently returned to Paris, after a visit to his native town, Cahors, where he was received with the most extraordinary enthusiasm. His journey to and from the place was one long triumphal jirogress. In his speeches M. Gambetta was very moderate, and evidently inspired by a sense of the approaching responsibilities of office. This visit has more clearly than ever demonstrated M. Gambetta’s omnipotence in France, and that he must eventually succeed M. Grevy as President. The Dixon gas shares rose as high, in Melbourne as, £3 12s 6d. Now that the specification is known, chemists declare that the chief, if not the only, gas-procluc-iug ingredient mentioned therein is kerosene, and Lire shares have recently undergone a rapid decline. Dixon the inventor, is stated to have carried on business in Dee street, Invercargill, at one time as a tinsmith, Ac. He was then best known as“corrugated John.”