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New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4572, 15 November 1875, Page 2

Several o£ the distinguished persona who recently visited Otago experienced something of the fickleness of popular applauso, and came away from the South wiser if not better men. Among the show places of Dunedin, the clothing factory of Mr. Hallenstein, which employs 200 females, is not the least important. According to a local paper, it was visited by several members of the General Assembly, “ who speak of the establishment in terms of the highest praise.” The local reporter then descends to particulars. We quote his words ; —“ On Friday, Mr. Donald Reid and Mr. Buckland, M.H.R.’s, were shown over the establishment by the manager. When it was known who were the distinguished visitors, they were greeted by the women with hisses and other sounds, in appreciation of Mr. Reid’s interference with Mr. Bradshaw’s Employment Act of 1873 during the last session of Parliament. On Monday Sir George Grey, Sir John Richardson, Mr. Macandrew, Mr. J. B. Bradshaw, Mr. Bunny, Mr. Sheehan, Mr. J. 0. Brown, M.H.R.’s, and Mr. Main visited the factory, and were shown over the whole establishment by Mr. Hallenstein and the manager. These gentlemen, as they passed through the upper part of the buildings, where females principally are employed, were cheered by them on several occasions, and were received with clapping of hands and waving of handkerchiefs, in which demonstration the male portion of the operatives took part." The females in this establishment appear to be advocates of what is called “Woman’s rights,” and are certainly not less demonstra- ' tive than men. When General Haynau visited London, the men employed by Barclay and Perkins, brewers, made themselves famous by mobbing and inflicting personal chastisement on the Austrian woman-flogger ; but his punishment and degradation was as nothing compared to what befcl Messrs. Donald Reid and William Buckland, on account of their vote on the Bill amending the Employment of Females Act. What was a kick from a Thames coalheaver, or a cuff from a London drayman, to the “ hisses and other sounds" of 200 women, which greeted these illustrious legislators ! The reporter does not describe how Messrs. Reid and Buckland looked, nor has he attempted to analyse their feelings, but wo venture to say that we could hit, at the first guess, what Mr. Buckland said when he regained the street and found himself safe from the fury of Mr. Hallensteiu’s lady assistants. We have seen Mr. Buckland under peculiarly trying circumstances, and can understand somewhat the direction in which his mild and placid temper would lead him, after such an ordeal as that in the Dunedin clothing factory. But it would be impossible to interpret the feelings of the other illustrious men, who were cheered by the same demonstrative and strong-lunged ladies. “ Their feelings may be more easily imagined than described.” Our sympathy, however, goes entirely with the amiable twain, Messrs. Reid and Buckland. Their fate was a hard one certainly, but it is to be hoped that they will come to see the wickedness and folly of not shortening the hours of labor and increasing wages until production becomes impossible. They will then be cheered to the echo, and share with Mr. Bradshaw and Sir George Grey the fickle popularity of the crowd.

A telegraphic paragraph informed ua the other day that iu a quiet and unostentatious manner the importation of salmon ova into this colony had been accomplished. Probably the reason no fuss was made over this was that the ova were American, and a most erroneous impression has got abroad that American salmon are very inferior. This is not the case, and we are happy iu giving every publicity to the circumstances of this last effort to stock our streams with the king of fishes. An Auckland contemporary has the following extended notice of the importation:—“ A fortunate windfall has occurred for the Acclimatisation Society of this province, and one which wo hope will be most beneficial in its results. Twenty thousand salmon ova have just been pi-esented to the Acclimatisation Society, and Mr. Firth, with commendable dispatch, proceeds to the Waikato this morning, iu order to place some of the ova in that stream. The manner in which this boon came to Auckland was this: —On board the Vasco de Gama was a quantity of salmon ova, from one of the rivers of Columbia, some 40,000 in all, sent from San Francisco to the Acclimatisation Society of Hawke’s Bay. The gentleman in charge of the ova, on reaching Auckland found their condition so far advanced as led him to fear that the whole might be spoiled before they reached Napier. In older to divide the risk and in the hope of securing some successful hatching iu Auckland, lie determined to leave 20,000 in charge of the Acclimatisation Society here. This was done, and Mr. Firth employed his workmen in malting boxes for

the immediate transit of the eggs, which laid in moss and surrounded with artificial ice, made for the purpose, will to-day reach the Waikato. It is intended that portions of the ova shall be sent to the Thames river, and also to the AV a ' roa, > an d P el 'l l£l P s > if possible, to the Hutt river, in Wellington, which being a river fed by cold streams coming from snow-clad mountains, is well adapted for the habitat of the salmon. The rivers Waiwa and Motueka, in Nelson province, are also rivers well suited for such a purpose ; and as Nelson possesses excellently arranged hatching ponds and a most attentive and earnest curator, a couple of thousand eggs sent there would have an excellent chance of being productive. It was well that Hr. Tanner conceived and earned out his idea of leaving a portion of his charge here, for they appear to have been lauded not an hour too soon, as yesterday morning on examining the boxes, Hr. Firth found half-a-dozen of the eggs fairly hatched, and the embryo fish looking lively and well. We hope to be able to congratulate the province on the possession of live salmon in its rivers, produced by ova brought from the American coast, from which the Southern Cross has repeatedly suggested the propriety of drawing such supplies. We also hope that Mr. Firth’s promptitude and energy will find a pleasant repayment in a successful result to his labors. There is, however, one danger in this matter which should he guarded against as much as possible. In the Thames River, and many of the other rivers and creeks in this province, and in some of the rivers and creeks in Nelson province the brown trout is acclimatised, and in some places are numerous. Where these fish prevail, the young salmon would have no chance of passing beyond the stage of babyhood. The rivers selected for hatching the salmon ova in should be those in which, neither in the main streams nor their tributaries, have been placed any of the brown trout—the greatest enemies the young salmon have to he protected against.”