NEWS OF THE DAY.

Globe, Volume VI, Issue 603, 25 May 1876, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

Blacksmith's Protective Society.—A general meeting of the blacksmiths of the city will be held to-morrow evening at the Forester's Hall. All smiths are invited. Mr Charles Bright.—This gentleman, assisted by Mr James Yule, gave a lecture on " Yankee Humor," at the Colonists' Hall, Lyttelton, on Tuesday evening last. The attendance was, we are sorry to say, only fair, but those present seemed to much enjoy the pleasing way in which Mr Bright connected the humorous anecdotes he related with iluent narrative. Mr Yule gave several funny renderings of Mark Twain and Josh Billiags, which were well received. It is to be hoped that Mr Bright will give another lecture in Lyttelton and be more extensively patronised. Oxford Fire Relief Committee, —A meeting was held at the Road Board office on Tuesday evening for the purpose of allotting the funds subscribed, Mr John R. Pearson in the chair. Mr Wilkie read his report, which showed that ten families were deprived of their houses and effects, and required relief; that the men thrown out of work by the destruction of the saw mills had in most cases found other employment, and that the resources of the district are so elastic, and the subscriptions given so freely, that no assistance would be required from Government. The report 1 hen gave a list of the cases in detail. The treasurer reported that the amount subscribed was d£:3os, and Mr Gorton moved, and Mr Sladden seconded—" That £l5O be allotted to-night." The motion was carried, and tha sum stated divided according to the circumstances of the cases. On the motion of Mr Sladden, it was resolved that the following gentlemen be appointed as an executive committee to expend the amounts allotted, viz—The Revs F. T. Opie and J. J. Pendray, Dr Weld, and Messrs "Wilson Fisher, and James Wilkie, three to form a quorum. The secretary was directed to write to the Government informing them that their aid would not be required, and the meeting adjourned for a fortnight.

Fatal Locomotive Explosion.—The Oaraaru correspondent of the Daily Times telegraphs the following particulars of this accident, which happened on the 22nd : "A terrible accident occurred at 8 o'clock this morning at the junction of the Waiareka and Maheno lines. The contractors' engine, the Hover, was just getting ready to move some ballast trucks when the boiler exploded with a terrible report which was plainly and audibly heard in Oamaru. Portions of the engine and boiler wore scattered iu all directions. A young man named Alex Tajlor, clerk of works, who was standing on the engine at the time, was blown up into the air a distance of 30ft, and his lifeless body fell on the main line in a fearfully mangled stato. Dugald Mitchell, the driver of the engine, was fearfully scalded and bruised. All hopes of his recovery are given up, and it is even reported at the time of my sending this that Mitchell has succumbed to the injuries he received. John Orr, stoker, only commenced work today for the first time, and has been greatly disfigured and injured. He lies in a critical condition, The origin of the accident is attributed to the boiler having a flaw in it, and to the safety valve being tied down. Taylor only insured his life a few days ago for £SOO in the New Zealand office, Orr is insured for a similar amount. An inquest will be held to-morrow.

Ilma de Murska,—This talented lady commences to-morrow evening her series of concerts in Chriatchurch at the Oddfellows' Hal!, assisted bj Siguori Rosuati (tenor), Susini (basso), and Giammoria (flautist), together with Mr John Hill, whose talents as a pianist and violinist are well known throughout Australia. A short sketch of the career of Mdllo de Murska, condensed from the New York Herald, may not be uninteresting :—''Mdllo He Murska made her first appearance at Vienna, and at once assumed her position as one of the Queens of Song. Her marvellous execution, and the way in which she treated the vocal scale as a mere plaything, was something astonishing. Such facility, in its peculiar way, had never been known since the time of the prima donna for whom Mozart composed the part of the Queen of Night, in his great opera '• Die Zaubeiilote," which Beethoven held to be of all German lyric dramas, in a musical sense, the greatest. In this very character Mdllo de Murska obtained some of her earlier and most memorable successes, sing ing the two great aira in the original, being a feat which, for half a century, no singer, except A una Zerr, had done before her. As her repertory extended, her fame travelled far and wide, and at last she was persuaded to accept the liberal terms proposed to hoi by Mr Mapleson, of Her Majesty's Theatre, London. In 1865, Mdlle de Murska went to London, and on the I lth of May in that year, she made her debut as the heroine of Donizetti's " Lucia de Lammermore." Her reception by a crowded and fashionable audience was, in the highest degree, tmthusi astic. The scene of the contract took every one by storm, but even the impression created by this was surpassed in the scene of the madness, which raised an enthusiasm almost uaprecedented in the remembrance of the oldest frequenter« of the opera. Next day the morning papers were unanimous in hei favor. The judgment of the London Times after the second appearance of Mdlle de Murska in the character of Lucia, was given in the following words:—"The second appearance of Mdlle de Murska more than confirmed the impression created by her first. In procuring the services of this you mlady, the director of Her Majesty's Theatre has been eminently fortunate. One of the

most remarkable features in her impersonation of Lucy Ashton is the utter absence of conventional stage business. Her conception is exclusively her own, never reminding us of any peculiarity in any other singer. * * * * But the scene of the madnessis the culminating point, and sweeps all that precede it clean out of the memory. Nothing more original has been witnessed for years, nothing more vivid, intense, and while thoroughly dramatic, at the same time thoroughly true to nature."—lima de Murski and company will arrive this evei i )g by the train from Timaru. We understand that tie sale of tickets is going on rapidly ; and it is to be anticipated that there will be an overflowing house to-morrow evening.