NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume III, Issue 220, 22 February 1875, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

I.O.G.T.—The Hon S. D. Hastings will deliver his first public lecture in Christchurch on the objects of Good Templarism at the Oddfellows’ Hall to-morrow evening. Auckland Superintendency. —lt is stated that Messrs O'Rorke and Dargaville are likely to be candidates for the Superintendency of Auckland, Goods’ Sheds, Lyttelton. —The Provincial Government notify the acceptance of tenders for the new Exnort shed, and additions to the Import shed, at Lyttelton. North Otago Turf Club Handicap.— The following weights have been declared : Exile, 9st 101 b ; Ringleader, Bst 71b ; Maid of the Mill, Bst 61b ; Medora, Bst 41b ; Unknown, 7st 121 b; Ada, gelding, 7st 81b ; Selection, 7st 31b ; Blackbird, 7st 31b ; Merriman, 6st lOd ; Koro, 6st. Baker’s Hibernicon. — Both performances on Saturday were well attended, and the various members of the company were, as usual, enthusiastically applauded. Mr and Mrs Baker take a benefit to-night, on which occasion we hope to see a full house. Theatre Royal. —The “ Geneva Cross” was the attraction at the theatre on Saturday and a good house assembled to witness the performance. An adaptation from Tennyson’s poem “Dora” will be produced this evening. Charles Eeade is the adapter, and the play has been fairly successful in London. Miss May Howard will, of course, take the part of the heroine Dora. Sporting, —From our Australian files arrived to-day we gather that Lurline has been handicapped at Sst lib for the Australian Cup. The top weight is Protos, with 9st, next to whom stands The Diver, with Sst 13lbs. The New Zealand mare stands fourth in the list, and is handicapped at the same weight as Haricot, the winner of the last Melbourne Cup. For the Newmarket Handicap, which is to be run at the same meeting, Calumny is entered, and she has Sst allotted to her by the handicapper. The top weight in this race is Newbold, with 9st, and Calumny and Lapidist are handicapped ou equal terms.

Waltham Church. —A meeting of the committee appointed at the recent meeting held to consider the best means of obtaining Church of England services at Waltham, will be held in the Colombo road school at 7.30 p.m. to-night. MASONIC. — The Auckland Star states that recently an application was made to Sir Donald McLean, when at the Thames, that he should accept the high rank of Provincial Master of a to be established Provincial Grand Lodge of Freemasons of the North Island, under the Scotch Constitution, and that he deferred giving a definite answer pending certain proceedings at Wellington, to the result of which he stood committed. These were with reference to his being chosen Provincial Grand Master under the English Constitution for the North Island. It appears that since that time he has been so elected, and consequently is not in a position to accept the position in connection with the Scotch Constitution. Salmon Grilse. —Another capture of grilse is recorded by the Hobart Town Mercury , which says—On January 22nd, Mr John Bradbury wrote us to have it recorded that, while he and a party of anglers went out with a seine net on Thursday night, on the opposite shore of the River Derwent, near Howrah, they were fortunate enough to catch a true salmon grilse ( salmo salar). Mr Bradbury adds that he brought the fish home, * and after fully 150 gentlemen examined it, among whom were our local judges, Messrs Morton Allport, W. G. Weaver, J. Buckland, and others, all at once acknowledged it to be the real salmon pure. Its weight was lib lOoz, and of good form and condition. I may as well tell you that lots of similar fish jumped high out of the water each time we dragged the seine close to shore, which I am of opinion are from all appearances the selfsame kind of fish.’ Teachers’ Association. —His Honor and the members of the Executive received a deputation from the Certificated Teachers’ Association on Saturday, consisting of the president, Mr Oumbcnvorth; treasurer, Mr Mitchell; secretary, Mr Hill; an 1 Messrs Camming, Elwin, Morgan, and Phillips, on the subject of a Government grant in aid of a superannuation fund. His Honor, while expressing his sympathy with the object of the deputation, said that circumstances had entirely changed since the last interview they had had with him, and in the present uncertainty as to the continuance of provincial institutions the Government did not see their way to proposing a scheme, which would have to include other branches of the public service, to the Provincial Council, After some remarks by Mr Montgomery, Mr Gumming, aud others explained what steps the Teachers’ Association had taken to raise a fund among themselves, and Mr Cumberworth having thanked his Honor for his courteous reception, the deputation withdrew. Sheep Shearing Machine. —The trial of a new sheep shearing machine (says the Argus ) was made on January 30th at the stores of Messrs J. H. Clough and Co, Collins street west. The machine is one of American invention, and was introduced here by Mr Couche, of Stuart, Couche, and Co, under whose attention it was brought during his recent visit to the United States. He was there informed that by means of this machine experts could shear as manyathirty sheep in the hour. The trial yester, day was merely of a preliminary characters and it is intended in the course of a few days to publicly test the merits of the machine in a satisfactory manner. The shearing apparatus consists of a comb, across which two small knives are moved rapidly, the motive power being furnished by turning a wheel, whereby these knives are set to work. The shearer, who was entirely unaccustomed to the machine, took about a quarter of an hour to shear a large ram. This time can scarcely be taken as an indication of the value of the machine, for no doubt with practice far more satisfactory results could be obtained.

From Auckland to Taranaki. —The Taranaki Budget supplies the following account of an overland journey from Auckland to Taranaki:—“Three men have walked overland from the city of Auckland, simply on account of hearing the place talked about as being on the move, and a likely place to get work. One of them, a shoemaker, named Edward Charles Patrick Stanton, has been a soldier in the 57th regiment, and is wellknown in town. They left Auckland on Friday, the sth instant ; they are all in town to-day. Stanton having arrived yesterday at raid-day, but the others being tender footed, were left a stage behind. The route taken was from Auckland to Ngaruawahia, thence to Raglan, Mokau, Urenui Town, The natives on the way received them with pleasure, and treated them to high tack in the shape of food. Te Kooti was met with, and he took the trouble to send natives to put the travellers on the right track. At the Aotea Harbor the natives willingly passed the travellers over making no charge. The men are safely in town, and Stanton makes light of the tramp —does not see any particular danger, or anything to hinder others from following suit. Kaiapoi Borough School Committee. —The ordinary meeting of this committee was held on Friday evening. Present—All the members except Rev W. W. Willock. The chairman declared Mr Beswick’s seat vacant through absence from three ordinary meetings, On the motion of Mr Pashby, seconded by Mr Lock, it was resolved that Mr Robert Coup be elected a member of the committee to fill the vacancy. In reference to a letter from the head mistress, asking for allowance of £25 for house rent, it was resolved that the Board of Education be written to, asking the same to be granted as in the case of other mistresses receiving the same salary. It was decided that the application of the choral class for the use of the schoolroom for practice of singing one evening in the week, be agreed to. In reply to a circular from the Board of Education, asking for estimates of receipts and expenditure for the current year, the chairman, Rev W. W. Willock, and Mr Lock were appointed a committee to prepare the same and report to a special meeting on March 3rd. Accounts amounting to £l3 9s 6d were passed for payment, A letter was read from the Board of Education, sanctioning the appointment of Mr Camfield as assistant master. The resignation of R. Wake as pupil teacher was accepted, on condition that his brother act in his stead till another is permanently appointed, It was decided to appoint another female pupil teacher. The committee resolved to write, asking the Board of Education to authorise an expenditure of £SO for the salary of a caretaker, and £2O per annum as house rent till the cottage is erected on the school premises by the committee.

O.J.C.—A special committee meeting of the O.J.C. will be held this evening at Warner’s Hotel, at eight o’clock. Narrow Escape. —The Greymouth Star gives some particulars of the recent narrow escape Greymouth had from being blown to pieces : —“ About three o’clock a lady in a very excited state entered our office and informed us that a wash house in the rear of Mrs Jones’s premises was filled with powdei, and a fire was blazing beside the bags containing it. Upon proceeding to the place without loss of time, we found the fire freshly extinguished, the embers still smoking, and within two feet of where the fire had evidently been burning a few minutes previously, were three ordinary corn sacks each containing five kegs of blasting powder. A fourth sack similarly filled was lying outside the door of the hut, having seemingly been dragged out from between the other three and the fireplace. This, we were told, had been done by Mr H. Wickes a few minutes previously, his assistance having been asked by Mr Jones’s servant, who had lit the fire and found the bags (contents unknown) in her way, and likely to get burnt. Wickes, knowing the contents of the bags, removed one, and another man threw water over the fire, to the evident chagrin of the girl, who wanted to continue her domestic occupations.”

Gold under the Thames Foreshore. — A recent telegram announces the discovery of gold-bearing quartz under the Thames foreshore. A Northern contemporary supplies the following particulars : —The extension of the wharf now reaches over 600 feet ; the first erection was something over 800 feet—so that now the structure extends more than 1500 feet below high water mark. As we are informed, a layer of black sand has been carried right out as the extension proceeded. Embedded in the mud and in this sand, was found a boulder, similar in appearance to many which were found in the creeks. In the black sand were noticed flaky specs of gold. Some of the wash was carried away in order to be tested by careful washing, but we (Thames Evening Star), have been unable to learn with what result, The specs of the precious metal were sufficiently large to attract attention ; the black sand is in many parts pregnant with gold, especially on the West Coast. Without exciting expectations which may not be realised, we look upon this discovery as important, and it may happen that ere long the foreshore of the Thames will become valuable for its auriferous resources, and once more invite the investment of capital for their development. The difficulty which formerly existed having been removed, every encouragement ought to be given to anyone, or any company that would undertake the sinking of a prospecting shaft.

Harewood Road School Committee. —A meeting of this committee was held on Thursday evening last. Present—Mr G. A. Durey (chairman), Messrs Donald, J, Durey, Grimsey, Nunweek, Stanley, and Watson. The following correspondence was read : From the Board of Education, stating that a voucher for £39 was passed for payment, being the amount of contract for fencing. From the same, informing the chairman that the sum payable to teachers for the current quarter had been paid to the credit of the committee, and directing that teachers be paid monthly from the amount. Also from the Boa d, requiring information respecting description of stoves used in the school and master’s house. From the same, containing extract from inspector’s report in reference to the lower classes. The chairman reported that the contractor’s account for fencing had been paid. With respect to the information required by the Board, as to description of stoves used, the chairman was requested to supply it. At the same time, the committee considered the stove at present in use in the school was not adequate to the requirements of the room during the winter months, and unanimously agreed that a brick chimney with a large open fireplace would be in every respect superior. It was agreed to supply the mistress with a copy of the extract from the inspector’s report for her consideration. Some business in connection with the library was then transacted. The treasurer (Mr Stanley) reported that the committee were indebted to the contractor to the amount of £6. Mr Nunwtek informed the committee that Mr H. J. Hall, chairman of the Riccarton Road Board, had promised two guineas to go towards the liquidation of the debt. An unanimous vote of thanks was passed to Mr Hall for his liberal donation. It was resolved that the master be offered the use of the library as a classroom. The meeting then adjourned.

Temperance Sermon. —The Hon S. D. Hastings, Past Right Worthy Grand Templar, preached last evening in the Wesleyan Church, Durham street, to a crowded congregation. Mr Hastings selected as his text Proverbs xx. 1, and Proverbs xxiii. 29—32. He stated that whatever might be the opinion as to the wines mentioned in Scripture, it was evident that those alluded to in his text were of a hurtful character. He defined true temperance to be the moderate use of things which were good, and total abstinence from those which were of a hurtful character. Amongst this latter class were alcoholic beverages, Recent investigations had proved beyond all controversy that alcohol was a poison, and as such produced most injurious effects in the system. Some were of opinion that the Bible sanctioned the use of intoxicating liquors. This he would submit was not the fact. There was always harmony between natural and revealed religion, both emanating from the same author. Those, then, who supposed that the Bible sanctioned the use of those drinks which every day experience proved to be most injurious, must undoubtedly err in their judgment. The truth was that there were two kinds of wine mentioned in Scripture, the one intoxicating the other non-intoxicadng, the use of the former being condemned and the latter commended. He stated that the wine (the fruit of the vine) used at the institution of the Lord’s Supper was of a non-intoxicating character; it was at the time of the Passover, and the wine then used was unintoxicating, As the wine used by Our Lord himself at the institution of the Lord’s Supper was unintoxicating, he (the preacher) would appeal to Christ’s followers to banish the intoxicating cup from the Lord’s table. Seeing how great were the seductive qualities of alcoholic drinks, total abstinence was the only sound basis of temperance reform. The hon gentleman concluded with an appeal to all to banish intoxicating drinks from their homes, especially those who had children, as a fondness for liquor, often contracted at the family table or social festival, frequently produced t' rrible consequences in after life. It is well-known fact that when Carbolic is used in Soap it is a thorough disinfectant, and strongly recommended,—[Apvi.]

A correspondent explains that married men have their hair cut short during the vacation because they do not, in the absence of their wives, need it to deaden the blows of the rolling pin.