NEWS OF THE DAY

The San Francisco Mail. —The mail, which was to leave London on January 12th, is due at Auckland to-morrow. Waimate Steeplechase. —This meeting is fixed to take place on Tuesday, the 18th May. The stakes amount to about £3OO. Theatre Royal. —“ Camille ” was pro duced last night at the Theatre with fair suc cess. Wilkie Collins’ dramatic version of his novel of “ The New Magdalen,” will be presented to-night. Baker’s Hibernicon. —There was, as usual, a very full house at this entertainment last night. The troupe perform in Christ church for the last time to-night, aud will play in Lyttelton to-morrow evening. Cricket, -On Saturday the match Tall v Short, began last week, will be continued. Papanui will meet an eleven of the U.C.C.O. —viz, E, Cotterill, H. Cotterill, Oondell, Dawe, Deacc n, Nalder, O’Connell, Ollivier, Parkerson, Tosswill, Webb. The Lyttelton Times will play the Stage Club. Play in all these matches will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday-School Union.— This associa tion will hold its annual tea-meeting to morrow evening, in thenew Wesleyan school room, Dnrham-street. It has been arranged that each connected school in Christchurch is to provide a table; the proceeds to be devoted to the purchase of a grand moving panorama of the Holy Land, for exhibition in the various schools during the winter season. The annual report will be submitted and various addresses will be given, inter spersed with vocal and instrumental music. Suicide on the Berar — A. Wellington contemporary gives the following parti culars regarding the suicide on board the Berar :—“ On the 6th January, at about six p.m,, Joseph Potten, chief steward, went into the captain’s cabin, and, having ob tained the key of the medicine chest, took out a bottle of laudanum, from which he drank two ounces. After he had taken it he went forward to the cook, and said, ‘ Good bye, cook ; I shall be a gone coon in about ten minutes.’ The cook of course did not believe him and told him so, whereupon the steward said, ‘By , I shall,’ and went away. The cook, fancying something wrong, went to the boatswain and said he thought the steward had been up to some thing. 