THE EVENING MAIL. SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1877.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 292, 31 March 1877, Page 2

THE EVENING MAIL.

SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1877.

Words ars thins and a ttfnp of inKi faEtin? upon s Blvurrhß nuvy j,>r*u-lu«:i«r 6*ta<f. winch nwfwi* Cli'Mk. ■"

The coming week promises to he a very lively one for Oaniani. owing to the holding of the ra<;e meeting. Already a large number of visitors h:wc arrived, and numbers more may be expected in town dining the next few days*. We learn that already hotel accommodation is getting a scarce comtuodtty. The work of getting, the course in order is progressing very rapidly, and the temporary grand stand is beginning to assame a somewhat definite appearance. Several of the principal horse-* have already arrived, and next week the work of training will be in full swing. Yesterday the two top-weights, f*ey Fawkcs and Templcton. arrived by the train from Hampden, the former nndr-r the care of his owner, Mr. Kedwo-id, and the tatter in charge of Jemmy Monachal*. The balance of Mr. tJclaniaiu's team.consistingof Frtngawerewerc.ElfinKing, I and Titanb. arrived to-day t>y the mid-day j train from Hampden. We understand that I Fishhook, the winner of the Ifctnedtn Cup, | will arrive by the fi o'clock traiti from the same place. There is no probability of. Fariri. JPanebary. Bribery, or Zetland being j among the list of acceptors for the different ! handicaps*, alt of them having, we believe, gon<* north. The list of hones already here wilt be greatly augmented on Monday by the arrival of others from both north and sooth.

The banks will be clo3ed on Monday next in consideration of it being Easter Monday. The second quarter of the present session of the Oamaru Grammar School commences on Monday next. There was no sitting of the Resident Magistrate's Court this morning, there being no business to transact. Choral services will be held to-morrow at St. Luke's Church, morning and evening, in celebration of Easter Sunday. The meeting of the Harbour Board called for this afternoon lapsed for want of a quorum. After waiting for some time, the only members "who put in ail appearance were Messrs* Stimpter, Borne, and Shrimski.

The Oamaru Dramatic Club will give two of their performances at the Masonic Hall on Thursday and Friday evenings. The pieces chosen for representation are " Tweedleton s. Tail Coat," " Fast Train," and " A Fearful Tragedy." We would again remind members of the Oamaru Cricket Club that a general meeting will be held at the Northern Hotel this evening at S o'clock for the purpose of considering a proposal for the formation of a new ground. \Y<; notice in the shop of Mr. G. W. Draper, fruiterer, some splendid specimens of the Kinpernr Alexandria, variety of apples, the heaviest weighing l.Ubs.; also some Napoleon pears weighing considerably over a pound. Owners of dog 3 and goats are reminded that the fee.i become due on the Ist prox. (to-morrow), and they would therefore do well to pnv their amounts without delay to the collector, in order to avoid the possibility of additional expense or the destruction of valuable dogs.

Yesterday being Good Friday was of course observed as .a closed holiday. The usual services were held in the various ehurohiw. A large number of persons av.aitc 1 themselves of the opportunity of a dav's ottttn.tr. and the trains both north and M-ntth were freely patronised, the gloriously tine day inducing many to pay visits to adjoining townships.

The f? l 'u!)"'! I Xen: Zmfund Herald for this month is a very good on<\ and contains besides a fair epitome of the month's news, a number of verv creditable illustrations. Amongst thes- is one giving a view of the Timaru Stirf-lioafc Service at work ; another shows a large concourse of people waiting on QucensclitT pier for the .Saturday's steamer ; while a third represents the ship Grandee in collision with an iceberg. There is also a picture entitled " Painful Thoughts," representing a little girl pair-sing outside A dentist's shop, evidently n: initiating which of the two evils t3 choose—the toothache or the dentist.

. A n incident occurred yesterday in town which we think worth noticing as a warning to othr-rs who arc troubled with a too free h*c of thoir organ of speech. A well-known .centlonian was walking in Thames-street yesterday forenoon when a blackguardlylooking fellow' came up to him, and made me of a lot of scoundrelly epithets towards him. The gentleman referred to adopted the proper method on such an occasion, viz., bringing a policeman on the scene. When he made his appearance, the fellow apolo-gi-red to the gentleman, and said he had been Irtbotiritig under a mistake in regard to him. Thi aggrieved party, luckily for the offender, took the apology in good part, and the matter dropped.

A curious story is told (say 3 the Welling.ton Argn*, by a man recently arrived from Melbourne. Calling Upon the head official of a Government institution, he first made application for relief, and then stated that he arrived here about three weeks ago in the Arawata ; that he had been an inmate of the Kew Lunatic Asylum, Victoria, and that two officers of that institution having placed him on board the steamer, gave him £2 to provide for his pressing necessities on landing in Xew Zealand. His name is Michnel John O'Connor, and his appearance and manner were strongly corroborative of the statement that he was or had been a lunatic. It may be open to question whether the statements of a person of deranged intellect are to be relied upon, but these particulars were circumstantially narrated by O'Connor, and it

would lie diliicult to believe that he invented tlicni. Under these circumstances it would : seem that the Ivew Asylum officials have been guilty of conduct which should he brought under the notice of the Victorian Government at the earliest possible moment. It is to be hoped that the Government will fat ones institute inquiry into the fact. If they should be borne out by proof, the captain of the Arawata has rendered himself liable to a heavy penalty for bringing O'Connor to the Colony. The public of New Zealand will desire to hear more of this case.

A worthy bdst, iff! from Clyde Quay, has a fav6\liffi.stf\£&ffs a Wellington paper). When h<S ®&M s&&:iiight to that pig on St. Patrick's Eir£ 4 was "white as the driven snow." When he arose on St. Patrick's morning he paid his customary visit to the stye. A startling spectacle met his sight! The pig was no longer white, but "green as emerald." At first the owner thought it was a miracle, and said his prayers. Now he is going about with a cudgel "like unto a weaver's beam," looking for any. man who owns a pot of green paint. An elector at one of Mr. Hutchinson's meetings in Wel'ington is stated by the Argus to have made, unintentionally, a very funny joke. He referred to the question of religion and nationality, and said he did not like to see such questions brought up at political meetings. What did it matter what a man's nationality was ? For his part he was an Englishman, but he could have been bom in Scotland or Ireland if he liked. It was nothing to do with anybody. This created a roar of laughter, in which only the innocent elector could not join. The laugh was still more furious when he indignantly repeated that he was an Englishman, and that his "old woman" was an Irishman, but for all that it concerned no one.

A teacher of 20 years' standing, who has had some experience in denominational schools, writes to the New Zealand Times a< follows: —"It is asserted that religious instruction to the young is of great importance. If the clergy think so, why do they not take the matter in hand themselves ? If they can save souls in this way, why ask others to do the duty for them ? In plain English, they are paid for it, and the schoolmaster is not. It is a notorious fact that the teaching power in Sunday schools is miserably weak. Do we ever see the minister there, or do they instruct the ignorant Sunday school teacher ? The excuse that they have not time is one that no one believes. In Victoria the denominational system had full swing for twelve years, and the evidence taken before the Royal Commission proved that although they might give religious instruction when they pleased, only two Protestant clergymen in the whole Colony troubled their heads about it ; and even that the teachers in more than half these schools gave none." We clip the following from the Daily Times of yesterday :—" The unusual circumstance of a Minister of the Crown having to send for the police, in order to effect the removal from his office of a gentleman who was therein interviewing him, occurred on Tuesday aftrnoon. Mr. David Proudfoot called at the ofiice of the Hon. Mr. TJeid, in order to come to an arrangement over a disputed account. It appears that the Government have deducted from the Western Piailways award payment, an amount which has been paid on their behalf to Mr. Proudfoot's agents in London. Mr. Proudfoot, however, cl ims the whole amount awarded, and as to the sum paid to his Home representatives, sa}-s either that the Government knew at the time when the award was declared that this payment had been made, or that they should have known of it. High words ensued at the interview, and Mr. Keid, who objected to Mr. Proudfoot's mode of stating his case, intimated to'him that he would have to call in a policeman if Mr. Proudfoot did not retire. Mr. Eeid despatched a messenger for a policeman, but by the time one of them arrived at the building, Mr. Proudfoot had quitted its precincts."

An action of a very remarkable character (says the Guardian), and one that will tend to throw some light on the methods by which some of the large and valuable estates in the Colony have been acquired, has been commenced in the Supreme Court. The plaintiffs are G. A. Chalmers and C. B. Chalmers, the former lessees of the Morpeth Estate, comprising 45,000 acres, and one of the finest properties in the Province. The defendants are William John and Joseph Clarke, JR. H. Leary, and John F. Kitching, executors for the late Mr. W. J. T. Clarke. The declaration sets forth that the deceased held a mortgage on the Morpeth Estate for money advanced, on which he charged 17£ per cent, interest; that in 1868 he pressed the plaintiffs to discharge the mortgage, and, without any default on their part, exercised his power of sale. The conditions of sale, requiring as they did one half the purchasemoney to be paid down at once, were so arbitrary and oppressive as to preclude competition, and the property is alleged to have been sacrificed. Mr. W. J. Clarke was the nominal purchaser, but it is stated that the deeds were never transferred, and that the property was included in the will of the late W. J. T. Clarke, out of whose hands it never passed. The plaintiffs allege that there was fraudulent collusion between the deceased and his son, and that the sale was only a colourable one, by which the mortgagee endeavoured -wrongfully to acquire the estate. '

The Timaru Tomahawk has the following : —"The present harvest season has brought with it a greater amount of drunkenness, and all its attendant miseries than, perhaps, any previous one. The criminal statistics of t'je current quarter will be something terrible to contemplate; and all because the great mass of the laboring class are overpaid and tsrribly dissolute. We cannot think without pain of the wretched life which these poor people lead. It seems to be made up of the most arduous toil and the lowest forms of joyless dissipation. The leisure hours of the New Zealand laborer—wealthy as he is, beyond the wildest dreams of his European compeer—are occupied by brutal intoxication and quarrels involving the keenest suffering. Every day now furnishes its quota of these ravolfcing frays. Yesterday morning a poor quivering wreck of humanity was brought before the Court charged with an assault", while he himself was so bruised and battered that he could not stand, and seemed to be more dead than alive. In the afternoon another man, yet raving with drink, was taken to the hospital with one arm crushed to splinters by his barbarous companions. And so on, and so or. Can no steps be taken to save these poor fellows from themselves, and to teach them the happiness of reasonable self-constraint '.''