NEWS OF THE DAY.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2773, 11 February 1882, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Elsewhere will be found an. account of a disastrous fire at Napier, which is stated to have destroyed £15,000 worth of property. An inquest on the late .still larger conflagration at Gisborne will be bo ca.mmencod on Monday.

A cursory inspection of the roads in the borough is . sufficient to convince any Observer that the Council have done their utmost in the formation and no ope could grudge them a need of praise foi the work they have accomplished. But when we observe that all this good work has been prolonged over many months we are satisfied that much valuable time has been lost and that the citizens have been ..put to a good deal of inconvenience in traversing the streets, through simple mismanagement. For months past the employees of the Council have been engaged in levelling and forming the streets. The result is that now things are beginning to look shipshape ; but, during the progress of the work it has been very rough on the townspeople to have to walk in fine weather,' through beds of dust and in wet weather, through muddy bogs. Had the work of levelling and formation been let by contract it would have been accomplished in a far shorter lime, and why, in the then state of the labor market, the Council did not adopt this plan we are at a loss to conceive.

An inebriate was fined 5s this morning by His Worship the Mayor. This was 11 the business in open Court to-day, 1

Traffic is expected to commence on the Mount Somers railway about the end of March.

Mr F, J, Jeffrey, of Oamaru, preaches in the Barnard Street Hall at eight o’clock to-morrow evening. ' •;

The weather in Southland during the past few days has been very stormy, and it is feared the heavy showers and high winds will have seriously damaged the crops.’

Messenger has issued a challenge to scull anyone in New Zealand for £IOO, but declines to row the match in Wellington, 1 It is expected that a match between him Hearn will be arranged. The latter wishes the’distance to be 3£ miles.

The enquiry into the Oxford, (Auckland) stabbing case is concluded, Mikare stands committed' for trial, Mr Whitaker reserving his defence, and declining to prosecute Penia, lest in doing so he should disclose Mikare’s defence.

The Ashburton Cheese and Butter Factory Company have come to terms with Mr. John Grigg for a site for the proposed factory. The locality is nearly opposite the Flemington School, and the building will be proceeded with as soon as possible.

The Southland County Council have decided to call the attention of the Governto the want of funds experienced by the Couuc|l since the withdrawal of the 20 per cent of land fund, and the reduction of the subsidy ; it was further decided to invite the co-operation of other Councils in urging upon Government the claims of the Counties.

The Licensing Victuallers of Timaru and the Good Templar Lodges have agreed to confer together re the appointment of a Licensing Committee for the Boroughs A representative from each of the three lodges will meet three members of the Licensed Victuallers Association, and agree to nominate five gentlemen, to form the Licensing Bench, '

Mr J. C. Boys, of Eangiora, has. just buried a mare 35 years old. He imported her from Sydney m 1852 when she was five years old. Mr Boys estimates that he must have ridden her 30,000 miles, though he had not ridden her for the last ten years. She.died from an accident after all, and not from old ago.

The weather during the past week has been very cold and damp fur the season, and in various parts of the colony heavy rains have fallen, to the great detriment of farriers with ripe crops on hand. This mom ing the sky looked very lowering, a dense hank of cloud obscured the hills; and another fall of rain seemed imminent. About one o’clock a heavy downpour began which continued for half-an-hour and then ceased. It has been ascertained that the great majority of thunderstorms take place; oh the margins of rainy areas of t e atmosphere, and as such an area has been passing over this island, the heavy shower of this afternoon, which resembled those of thunderstorms, may indicate that, the margin of the wet blanket is near, and portend a clearing of the weather. Latest advices from Australia state that the weather is fine all over that continent.

Preparations for the appearance of the Williamson Company at the Theatre were rapidly being pushed forward to-day, the stage appliances being arranged,-and Mr Williamson’s special scenery; erected. No pains are being spared to make the representation of the famous “ Struck Oil ” as perfect as the limited stage will allow. Those'who have booked their seats beforehand will be able to obtain those they have chosen without fail, the whole of the seats in the circle having renumber ed in accordance with the plan. An advertisement elsewhere calls lor “ supers” and fife and drum players for the the itre.

It is said that the cancer in the mouth and face, to which the late Colonel Anderson, of Victoria, finally succumbed after many months of hopeless suffering,- was brought on by the constant smoking of a peculiar kind of cigarette, of which deceased was very fond, and which is made in Mexico, where a similar disease in a mild form frequently prevails amongst the manufacturers of the article. It is said that in rolling the cigarettes the natives are in the habit of wetting the .outside covers with their saliva, those suffering from cancer thus sowing the seeds of contagion amongst the consumers.

During the quarter ended December 31, 1881, the exports of wool exhibited, a diminution of nearly 10 per cent as compared with the corresponding quarter of 1880, while the value of the rabbit skins exported show an increase of 75 per cent, the increased value being some £36,000. The quarter’s exports of gold displayed a reduction of 15 per cent; oats, 25 per cent; and kauri gum 40 per cent. But, on the other hand, the wheat export, which was only £5316 in the last quarter of 1880, rose to £107,650 in the corresponding period of 1881. The b’ortrose correspondent of the Southland Times ” writes:—“A gang of divers have commenced operations on fho wreck of the ill-fated Tararua, but with what success I cannot say. I hear that the position of th - o .'1 is the same as when they went down some months ago. It is lying on a shingle bottom surrounded by noulders. The hull, though opened out, still holds firmly together. The labors of the divers are very uncertain, as anything like a swell prevents operations, and that is a common occurrence, smooth water being the exception,”