LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 7, 29 April 1876, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wc arc making arrangements for the publication of an early edition of the The Mail, to suit the convenience of our numerous country subscribers. We shall deliver The Mail every evening at Ileidston, Kakanui, Malieno, and Otepopo, at five o'clock. An edition will also leave tliis office by the 3. lo train for all stations 011 the Waitaki line. The May Time-table of trains 011 the Oamaru and Waitaki section of the Otago Railways contains several alterations. A train will leave Oamaru for Awamoko at 10.30 a.m., arriving at the Junction at 11.5. Tlie afternoon train for Waitaki, which lias been leaving here at 3.30, will now start at 1 ."i, Tlie evening train will leave \\ aitaki P>ridge at 4.37, instead of 5 o'clock as heretofore. We arc unable to publish the May Time-table in the present issue. It will appear on Monday. Three drunkards were summarily dealt with at the Resident Magistrate's Court this morning. One scoundrel was also charged with having entered a private dwelling in broad daylight, and committed an act of indecency. It is deeply to be deplored that trie Bench had not tlie power to deal with this case, and the sooner a clause is inserted in the Act, giving jurisdiction to the Justices, the better. A special meeting of the committee of the Northern Agricultural and Pastoral Association took place at the office of the secretary tliis afternoon ; but, owing to the lateness of the hour at which the meeting was held, we arc compelled to hold over a detailed report until our next issue. We notice that Mr. Courtis is making preparations for an early start at the C! as Works. Lying alongside the railway line and the creek may be seen the engine and pumps which are intended to be used 011 Tuesday to fill up the tank in the gas-holder. The water will be forced along some 450 ft. of piping to the holder. Mr. Courtis informs us that he hopes to have the town lighted up very shortly, providing,' of course, that 110 unforscen difficulty occurs. What is technically known a3 the benches arc now being heated, and wc arc glad to hear that everything connected with the: .retort-house is working moat satisfactorily. Mr. James Kidd, the secretary for the Institute, in an advertisement elsewhere, draws attention to the committee requiring all books and magazines,' to . be returned,-imme-diately, in order to complete the catalogue now in preparation for the press. We are son-y to learn that persons visiting the read-ing-room are not content with reading the books, but impudently take them away. Several papers and periodicals arc now missing, and those persons who have purloined, them would do well to return the missing property. There is a strong suspicion as to who the guilty parties are. The " Guardian" thinks it would not be a bad idea to send Sullivan, the New Zealand murderer, over to the Philadelphia Exhibition a : ; a ropreprcsentative of the biggest scoundrel nn'nung that New Zealand can produdc. It will be seen on reference to our telegraphic intelligence that the Prince of Wales is 011 his way home from India. His Royal Highness was at 'Alexandria'• on the Ist of April, en route for England. A telegram from the "Times " correspondent at Wellington, dated yesterday, states that the City Council voted £I,OOO to commence drainage by appointing a consulting engineer, .•undeij v.'hose direction levels may l>e taken ami a scheme of drainage devised. Tlie Cotuicil also raised the salaries of the Town Clerk and Surveyor £IOO a-year, and other ofticcra in proportion. Some persons well informed in Native matters (telegraphs a correspondent of a contemporary) consider there are are signs .of . a hostile movement amongst, the A remarkable eagerness is manifested—by all Natives to get powder. ..; It is gradually dawning ugon Sir. Crawford, _R.M. (says the Wellington "Argus "), that assaults upon the police are beefiming frequent. Better Jate than never. .It is to be hoped he will now mete out to 3orrie of the ruffians of the town the punishment they so richly deserve. For some time past the notion has passed currant amongst the rowdies in the purlieus that a con (table was a fair mark upon which to work "off their superfluous brutality, and-tlie force has suffered proportionately. In London the magistrates trait this kind of tiling in a becoming manner. The last papers state that a man was. aires ted for theft, and. became Vary violent 'upon arrest. The constable was roughly, .handled^.

iand When the case g|pg hear|(jshe magistrate Sentenced the priscgier to tKree ipwiths for laie tlMi; and six iflSftths f<flysie Msault on sthe c«nstahlc. "'Bttring, tlie S.Christmas festi—. fvitiesafr'tlie magistrates releasedj.'6fiehders "without fine who had merely got into drunken squabbles, but where there had been any assault upon the constables various sentences .of imprisonment, up to a month, were imposed. Treatment of this kind will lia\e a . great effect in-putting down rpwydism. The mere knowledge of the intention of the Bench tocleal with cases of assault upon constables after this fashion will -haveea. strong deterrent effect. . . The Dunedin "Star" says:—"lt is earneatly to be hoped that the news received from Queensland of the failure of the Palmer Rush may be in time to prevent many from from leaving this Colony on so risky a gold limit. All the accounts received concerning the Palmer diggings tend to show that more than ordinary uncertainty of success is involved in working there. The gold does not appear to lie near the surface in old river beds as in Victoria, or, as in New Zealand, apparently, as a lacustrine deposit spread pretty evenly over large' areas, but in patches somewhat capriciously dotted over a vast extent'of country, or in quartz matrices, involving great outlay of capital for crushing plant. „ The " .South Canterbury Times announces that as socyi as arrangements are completed, it will be published daily. Things must be looking up in Timaru. Greyfcown, a Wellington village, according to the " Wairarapa Standard," is alike celebrated for tine local boards and splendid potatoes. A settler this season is clearing about twenty tons of the latter off one town acre. We weighed a sample potato of this crop, and found that it amounted to exactly three pounds. Australia (writes "Attiens" in., the "Leader") is still regarded in the mother country as a place for the reception of old clothes and damaged reputations. A young scamp who had robbed his father of £2O was convicted of the theft, but instead of sending the offender to gaol, the Chairman of the Middlesex session deferred sentence in order to allow the culprit to emigrate to Australia. I think our local vagabonds may fairly protest against being exposedljjp the competition of foreign swindlers. # . It is said that a young lady resident in Lawrence recently expressed a hope that ladies would take up their residence in Lawrence, "as there was. really no society for her." This is "rather rough," as Mark Twain expresses it, on the female residents of this thriving community. A Calcutta correspondent, writing to a Plonie paper, says " Amongst other singular incidents in connection with the trip is the fact that one newspaper went into deep mourning on the morning after the Prince's arrival. It appears that the Chief Commissioner of Police, Mr. Stuart Hogg, obtained tained permission to-read the address to the Prince. Against such an arrangement the editor of one of the papers set himself, and when tlie 'address had been read revenged himself by placing the fourth of the paper in deep black. For all that, however, matters have passed off pleasantly, though not quite o jovially as might have been wished."