LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 99, 15 August 1876, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Postmaster'has requested us to intimate that the English- mails, via 'Frisco, which are expected here on Thursday evening, •will have to be fumigated before delivery, owing to the prevalence of small-pox at San Francisco.' This will cause some dflay in delivery, but the letters "will be put into the boxes the evening they arrive, but, of course, a little later than usual. Newspapers -will not be sorted till twenty-four hours after arrival. This intimation on the part of our postmaster will doubtless save the public a great waste of time in the lobby of the Post Office.

Visitors to Palmerston will no doubt have noticed the comfortable hotel recently erected and conducted by Mr. J. Duncan. The proprietor, encouraged by the support he has received, has erected a very commodious twenty-stall stable at the rear of the hotel. This stable is under the immediate charge of Mr. Robert Cameron, and, therefore, travellers can rely upon having their cattle well looked after.

There was a satisfactory attendance at the Masonic Hall last evening, on the occasion of the fifth representation of Everett's Hibernicon. The various performers were highly successful in their individual parts, but to Miss Be Vere must be awarded a special meed of praise for her admirable rendering of several songs during the evening. She was in excellent voice, and sang with great feeling and expression. At the close of the first part of the entertainment, Mr. Everett thanked the audience for their patronage, and stated that he had had an interview with some of the members of the Oamaru Hospital Committee, and tendered to them a benefit performance in aid of the funds of that institution, but that the offer had been declined. He was, however, desirous of giving a benefit in aid of some charitable object prior to his leaving Oamaru, and at the suggestion of one or two gentlemen, he had determined to give one half of the gross takings of this evening's entertainment in aid of the Fleming Family Relief Fund. This announcement was received with loud applause. A number of tickets were at once disposed of, and we expect to see a crowded house.

The concert and ball announced to be held under the auspices of the Kakanui Choral Union is unavoidably postponed until Friday, September Ist. The ordinary monthly meeting of the Oamaru Hospital Committee will be held this evening, at the usual place, at eight o'clock.

The following is from a Xelson contemporary :—A third attempt has been known to succeed after a first and second failure. Twice have we in Nelson seemed to be on the eve of succeeding in obtaining a theatre, the want of which is peculiarly felt when a Madame Goddard, a De Murska, or an Opera Company make their appearance among us. Thus impressed, a number of gentlemen interested in the matter are obtaining information and data on which to act with a view to forming a Joint .Stock Company to build a theatre suitable to the necessities of the town, with the necessary adjuncts and conveniences. We are sanguine both as to the prospects of success in the undertaking and as to its early consummation." The end of the recent troubles of the Bruce Herald is thus-referred to in that paper of yesterday's date : —The last seven issues of the Brim IL-rald have been printed in Dunedin. We think, however, that few of our readers will be disposed to disagree with us when we state that we have done our best to give every attention to local matters. ' The friends -who have shown such a marked appreciation of our hospitality during the last few weeks have reluctantly departed, and once more we are able to view ' those scenes so charming,' proudly conscious of the fact that when strangers came amongst us we ' took them in. ' We need say 110 more." It is well known that, notwithstanding the number of sovereigns coined, there is scarcely ever one issued without bearing the usual impressions 011 the obverse and reverse sides respectively. Yesterday, however, we (Southbuid Tih/<iK) were shown one from the Melbourne Mint, which had the same Queen's head and inscription on Loth sides, but on one of them depressed instead of raised. Commenting upon that absurd portion of the San Francisco mail contract which provides that the largo ocean steamers shall travel from Auckland to Dunedin to their own risk and the injury of our local boats, the New Zealand Jlemld says :—"Now the City of New York is imprisoned, and the whole mail service, with its junctions and ratifications, is thrown out of joint. The present arrangement of the mail service is the result of mere log-rolling. This debtburdened Colony pays £20,000 per annum for the purpose of having its mail delayed."

Dr. Lee, who died at Motueka a few days ago, was a M.R.C.S., and one of the first coroners appointed in the Colony of Victoria. The Nelson Times says the doctor was a celebrity upon the West Coast goldfields in their early days, and in the indulgence of his peripatetic propensities met with many strange companions. He invariably travelled upon, foot, for turning the scale at twenty-two stone rendered the obtainment of a horse " up to his weight" a difficult task ; while carriage roads were unknown in those days. Upon his pack he always fastened his card,

and in 1865, while tramping between Greymouth and the Teremakau, he was accosted by a digger, who asked if he really was a doctor, and on being assured that he was requested to have a tooth drawn. The root of a tree served for a seat; the pack was unstrapped, and the tormentor extracted. The relieved party then produced a parcel of gold dust, and dividing it as fairly as he could by guess, handed Dr. Lee one half, saying, "There, I put past eight ounces to take me to Nelson ; you have savec l me the trip, so there's your share." The gold sold for! £ls 4s , and the doctor used to say it was the best patch he had struck on the Coast.

In an article reviewing the political situation, the Alcciroa Mail asks : " Are the people of New Zealand prepared to submit to be governed or rather misgoverned according to the scheme chalked out by Sir Julius Yogel and his confreres. Will they tacitly consent to hand themselves and their possessions over to the tender mercies of a Ministry, whose chief coolly avowed that he did not pretend to be economical ? Will they burden themselves with a debt the repayment of which means increased taxation for years and years to come ? Provincial institutions contained faults and great faults too, but there was a dignity about them which stands forth in bright relief when compared with the hybrid local Government proposed as their substitute. They too have done good service in the past, and it would be better, far better, to remove their defects than to plunge into a sea of confusion, from which it would be difficult to emerge. In plain words we ask, are the people prepared to give up the form of Government which they now possess, and to accept one which seems to promise nothing but disaster ? Will they do this in order to bow down before the miserable abortion of local Government produced by Sir Julius Vogel and his followers, and cry, " These be thy gods, O Israel ?" We trow not. An American skating rink has been established in Berlin under the most fashionable auspices. It is said the Berlin papers in speaking of it, use the words skate and skating, bodily dumping the English word into the German language. When it is known that the German for a skating rink is " Eollschlittscliuhbahn," or, worse still, " Holzraedersclilittsehuhfahrhalle," it appears excusable to steal the word. It would be of interest to know that the German for a skate factory is " Salconholzrollschlittschuhfahrfabricationsanstadt." The death of a compositor was occasioned by his trying to get the last word into his composing stick.