THE EVENING MAIL. THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 1877.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 267, 1 March 1877, Page 2

THE EVENING MAIL.

THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 1877.

Wort!* %tm tflinvpv and • drop «t ink fal'ing tiporv * t&«U(fhe ma# [h'ihluco thiv. \vr>kh. luuku.f tshouxaiui!*

Dr. mad Mil Ot Lautour bod a very nar- , ttmtaeapek»« evening. It *pr'Bemog: wltcs tk®

aim. The Doctor and Mrs. De Lautour wore, of course, thrown out, and were very severely shaken, bnt fortunately escaped without having any bones broken. The horses afterwards came in contact with a lamp-post, and when they were stopped the buggy wan broken to pieces, and one of the horses seriously injured. The horacs and baggy belongnd to the Doctor himself, so that the loa-j will be pretty severe, besides the injury done to himself and Mrs. De Lautour. A two-roomed house in the vicinity of the Cemetery was burnt to the ground last night. It seems that the wife of the owner of it was baking, when some fire fell out of the fire-place and set fire to the floor. She was outside at the time, and before she discovered the accident the house was iu flames. The furniture was all consumed. We believe the place was not insured. The City Council will hold it 3 usual fortnightly meeting to-night, and a special meeting to-morrow night. A witness named Alexander Wilson received a well-merited rebuke at the Resident Magistrate's Court to-day. It was in the case of Macdonald v. Johnstone and Kennedy, and he wa J asked where he had been working on the -4th. His answer, given with ail imhwile grin and a vulgar wink. was. " Shrimmy's L" "Speak intelligibly," said Mr. Parker, looking at him severely; "we do not want any slang when people are giving evidence." Mr. Short, the energetic arjent of the Mutual Provident Society, will lecture in the Teaneraki School-house to-morrow evening. The subject chosen is " Happy homes, and how to make them." The lecture is to commence at 7.30. and ladies are specially invited to be present. Many of mtr fellow-townsmen will learn with regret of the death, in a most melancholy position, of Mr. W. S. Burton, late of the Turkish Paths, Dttnedtn. He was well known to people tn all parts of the Province, not only through his connection with the Dunedin Paths, but also those of Melbourne. The worst anticipations of the accident to the steamer Express seem to be confirmed. It will be seen by our special telegrams that she is entirely submerged. An important telegram appears in another column in reference to the milling firms in Dunmiin. We await our exchanges f'it further partxulars. We have to thank Mc. Sumpter for a copy of the report »>£ the faying of the foundation stone tjC the new offices of the Australian Mutual P-ovident Society. The report is in 1 pamphlet form, and contains an engraving | of the new building, and 33 pages of icatling matter, containing a history of the Societv from its start, and useful information of kind in connection with it. We shall take an early opportunity of commenting upon it. Mr. and Mrs. George Darrell advertise their tirst appearance for Tuesday night. It will be seen that their rrp#rt'y.rt includes "Bast Lynne." "Hamlet," " Ilomeo and Juliet," "School for Scandal," "Leah," "Merchant of Venice," " (Catherine aud Petruchto," and "The Honeymoon." and that the pieces are to be played in full, and net contracted in any way. Alexander Proctor, Esq., ha? been appointed Registrar of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, and Vaccination Inspector for the District ot' Waimate. ! The usual monthly meeting of the Committee of the Mechanics* Institute will be held this evening at S o'clock. Two Mormans who came to New Zealand to proselytise the benighted inhabitants have been compelled to return without any additions to the Latter-Pay Saints. They say that the New Zealand people are toostraightlaeed and demure, and that the population is composed of Methodists, Quakers, and money-grubbers. William Coayers. Esq., has been appointed a superintending engineer of opened lines ; John Lawson, Esq., tratlic manager on the railway from Amberley to Mocraki, and all branch lines connected therewith ; and John Henry Lowe, Esq., resident engineer of constructed railways at Christchureh. A splendid salmon trout, measuring 2ft. 3in. in length, lEt. 4in. in girth, and weighing S.Jlb., was found a day or two ago in the lower part of Fulton's Creek, West Taieri, in a dying condition. On examination it was found that its gills were silted up with tine sand. It was a female fish, and had two wtil-defined bags of spawn. The late floods have been the cause of an unfortunate' city councillor in Dtmedin making a slight error in classical history. The GnaniiaH says Councillor Xhbmson showed by conPluvius. He over-

flowed." He should hunt up the back pages of " Maunder's Treasury of Knowledge." An absurd charge against our local hotelkeeDcrs appeare in the shape of a letter in the Lyttelton Times. The only explanation we can offer to his charges is that he must have been a Canterbury man on a visit to Otago, and the sight of Dunedinand Oamaru being so much ahead of Christchurch and Timaru must have made him bilious. Finding nothing to relieve his bile, he must needs trump up a paltry charge, which all travellers, we are bure, will refute, in order to bolster up Timaru at the expense of Oamaru. The bilious one saj-s:—"Upon arriving at Oamaru at half-past 5 p.m., I went to the principal hotel to remain for the night—the train going no further than this. I was informed that there was no room for me ; I then went to another, with no better results ; a third was tried, and not only was I informed that there was no room, but that I should not obtain a bed in the town. I was, however, at length fortunate enough to obtain a bed, for which, by the way, I paid 4s. Now, sir, all this, it appears to me (although but a stranger), might easily be overcome by the train £ouig on as far as Timaru, where there is ample accommodation, and where, by the way, I only paid 2s. Gd. for my bed, with kindlier and politeness given in. which seemed to be a very scarce commodity at Oamaru on the occasion of my visit.' It will be remembered that fearful damage was done by the late floods in Kelson, whole farms—land, stock, and everything—being washed away. The Government have determined to allow the settlers to select other land in the place of that lost. The Post savs :—"That these people should now, without payment, be allowed to select an equal quantity of Crown land in other parts of the Nelson Provincial District, is a concession which will commend itself as being only right and just to the mind of every right-thinking man." The _Yi ;/• Z,<ihnvl Gazt ll ' notifies that his Excellency the Governor has made the following appointments : John Carrutliers, Esq., Engineer-in-Chicf ; John Blackett, Esq., Assistant Eng:nccr-in-Chicf ; Charles ncnjunin Knorpp. Esq., Superintending Engineer for the North Islands? Xew Zealand : and U?.vrv Vasley Higginson, Esq., Superintending Engineer for the South Island of New Zealand. In describing the voyage of the yacht Secret from Wellington to Auckland, the Auckland evening paper mentions that from nine until ten p.m. on the 19th inst., the sea was beautifully illuminated with phosphorescence. The vessel appeared to be sailing through a field of fire, which was encompassed on all sides (within a radius of about two miles) by a hedge of pitchy darkness ; whilst above, at a height of about 4:>ft., and covering the whole space within the apparent hedge, hung a canopy of equal darkness. | A day or two ago we had a telegram in rei ference to the failure of C. H. Hart, of W elI lington—the liabilities being £13,000, and the assets viL The Post, in speaking of the meeting, says :—A scene of terrific uproar resulted, the strongest epithets being freely cxchanged, and at length one indignant creditor declared tiiat as he could not get any nmnev out of his debtor, he would take satisfaction out of his body, and forthwith began to punch him. Two blows were struck, but then the legal advisers of the respective parties interfered to prevent furtlier bloodshed, the debtor loudly proclaiming his willingness to " take any of them ; one down, t'other come one." The meeting broke up "in most admired disorder."