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Oamaru Mail, Volume II, Issue 572, 2 March 1878, Page 2

"During the month of February 30 birth? were registered in the Oamaru oilice, 2G o which were for the town, and 4 for tli. country districts. The number registered • hiring January was 34 —21 for the town am 13 for the country. The deaths recorde. during February were 10 in number, 7 o> which ocjurred in the town and 3 in th country. The same number of deaths wen registered during January, the town con tributing fi and the country 4. During th month just ended 7 marriage certificateswere taken out, as against S in the prcviou.month.

No less than four drunkards presentee their woe-begone faces before T. W . Parker, Ksq., 11.M., at the Resident Magistrate'Court this morning. James Welch, for being drunk and disorderly in Thames street yesterday morning, contributed 10-. to the treasury of his offended country : Joseph Jackson paid a fine of ss. for er: deavouring to carry more than a legitimat. quantity of exhilarating beverages alone Itchen-street, and, failing painfully in theffort ; Andrew Kerens, olinn James Robinson, who seems to be possessed of a considerable amount of uncertainty as to what hi proper name is, was charged with beinj. drunk in Thames-street last evening, am dismissed with a caution ; while .Tame Pobinson, for being drunk and disorderly ii Wansbeek-street last night, paid a fine o! 10s. and regained his liberty.

We would remind heads of household that the census papers which have been left at their households must be filled up in proper form and signed on Monday morning reaily to be received by the sub-enumerator;-when called for.

An advertisement appears in another column from the agent of the M'C'ormick reaper and hinder, inviting farmers to insueet tiie working of one of those.machine? on the farm of Mr. John Turnlmll. It appears that the crop now heing operated upon is not l.iy any means a favourable one, and will thoroughly test the capabilities of tiie machine. We would advise those interested to take advantage of this opportunity of carefully watching the working of the various parts of the machine, which, in consequence of a mishap to its connecting rod during the late contest, prevented th possibility of those present doing so on that occasion. The machine purchased by, and now reaping and binding on, the farm of Mr. Turnbull at Totara is the same that was entered in the late competition. The sitting of the District Court has been postponed from Thursday next until the following day, at 11 a.m.

The monthly meeting of the Committee of the Benevolent Society will be held at the Mechanics' Institute on Monday evening, at 7 o'clock.

At the meeting of the Waste Lands Board on Wednesday, a letter was read from Mr. J. T. Maekerras, on behalf of the Otago Slate Company, applying for a fresh lease of 300 acres adjoining their present area in the Otepopo district. It was decided to request the Company to furnish a plan of the land.

There will be no lack of amusement in Oamara during the race week, as we are informed that the United States Minstrels will appear at the Masonic Hall for three nights, commencing next Saturday evening. The agent for the company arrived in town last evening to perfect arrangements. The Minstrels are at present playing at Christchurch, where, as in other parts of the Colony, they have met with the greatest success. We have seen most of the members of the troupe in other companies, and have no hesitation in saying that they are first-class performers.

The Assessment Court, for the hearing and determining of appeals against the Municipal valuation, will sit at the Resident .Magistrate's Court on Monday, at 10 a.m. The following cablegram, published in the Melbourne Argus, contains information of very considerable importance in the present condition of European affairs: —"At the sitting of the German Parliament Prince P.ismarck declined to take part in the Conference of the European Powers to be held at Baden-Baden. He stated that he did not believe there would be a general war, and would not interfere unless to mediate. The President of the Austrian Council of Ministers has stated that Austria reserves for herself the right to act in defence of the interests of the Austro-linngarian Government, and would object to the disturbance of the balance of power."

The New Zealand Herald of a late date publishes the following extracts from a "Wellington letter: "Mr. James Mackay is again here, and will, in all probability, take up his residence permanently in the Wellington Provincial District. He is engaged for a number of wealthy Wellington gentlemen r-o commence and complete the purchase of ■several blocks of land in various parts ; and, with his knowledge of Maori manners anil customs, there is no doubt of his bringing the negociations to a successful issue.—There is a rumour here that Mr. Stafford is likely *o be offered the appointment of AgentGeneral for tne Colony, and that Mr. Kolleston is in negotiation with some of his friends as to his accepting a seat in Sir George Grey's Government. There has been what until a day or two ago promised •o be a ' strike ' amongst the telegrauh officials, owing to their small pay and long hours. A ceutral committee had been formed at Wellington, with branches in the various centres of population, to watch the combined interests of the officials connected

.vith this particular department, l>ut owing o the Cabinet having considered the claims of most of the pc'sons employed in this 'ranch of the public service and authorised ■regressive increases and bonuses, the agifcacion will, no ihiul.it, be altogether abandoned. It is iveli it is so on both sides, for if the just claims of the persons attached to the telegraph were not recognised, quite an exodus from this service would quickly follow. As it is, many able and faithful clerks and operators have already relinquished their connection with the Telegraph Department, i'he Post Office officials will also receive -heir increases and bonuses, and deservedly o; for amongst all the Government officers .1 'enow of no harder worked or more underpaid public .servants."

The latest idea of J. G. Bennett is to stablish a branch of the S\ T ew York Herald .11 London. His plan will be that the two •japers interchange their American and Knglishnews so as to be free, if possible, of other journals on both sides of the water. As the Xi'iv York Hemld now finds its cablegrams xpeusive, an interchange, it is thought,

\vuld greatly cheapen them in the way of charges, correspondents' salaries, &c, while .t is the opinion of Mr. Bennett that he could make the London Humid a success besides,

As a moans of popularising art, the re-cently-invented process entitled the heliotype in America, and photogravure in France, is the most remarkable that has yet iieen discovered. The photogravure, as its wame implies, is both a photograph and a •■riiit, and, being produced with permanent ■nk, can never fade. Most persons know how a "negative" is taken, and how the ig'inry of light has to be employed in obaining all the subsequent "positives." Tt is at this point that the new process takes .ts departure, by the production of a "positive " from which an indelhiite number of impressions can bo taken by the mechanism >f an ordinary printing-press. The plate ■s prepared by a mixture of common cooking gelatine, I>i - ehromate of potash, and chrome alum, on a basis of glass or metal ; and, when dry, it is placed in contact witli the '' negative," the latter uppermost, and both are exposed to the light, the immage impressed upon the former becoming che "positive,"' from which several thousands of prints can bo taken on a common printing press ; the plate itself resembling i Steele engraving in so far as its printing lines are depressed and not embossed ; while it is not unlike a lithographic engraving, because it preserves the same chemical distinction between ink and water which characterises the working of the lithographic stone. T/he A-njns says that the new invention has been introduced in Melbourne.— Star.

The following are B. L. Farjeon's opinions of Jews. When interviewed by a, reporter in America, after having seated that his mother was a Kentish woman and his father a Jew, lie said :—" When I left home, some seventeen years ago, and went to London to work out my career, I made a study of Jewish character, and I found it as represented in this book. The Jews are a hardworking, domestic people, hut I have never heard such sentiments from their lips as those uttered by Daniel Deronda or Alordecai. -My Jew,. Solomon Isaacs, is the foundation Jew ; he is the stock from which spring our best known and most highly respected Jews. Moses and Eachel Levy are also to be found in every city." Speaking of the cleverness and success of the Jews, he said : "I have a great deal of faith in phrenology, and I find that the Jews have the best balanced heads of any nation ; and unless a man lias an equally balanced mind he is not apt to succeed."

It appears that the terrible strain upon the exchequers of certain papers in London, consequent upon sending special correspondents to the seat of war, is telling its tale. It was at first thought that the stiuggle would be short and incisive; but such is not the case. The war fai!ed to take a hold upon the public, and the proprietors are alarmed at the terlible bills for telegrams which are constantly being showered upon them with-

out any corresponding pecuniary advantage being gained. It appears that reports, the expense of procuring which could have been borne for a short period, are now being cut down and correspondents are being recalled. The Daily News, which has obtained so much world-wide kudos for its enterprise in sending to the seat of war Archibald Forbes, the war correspondent par excellence, has been compelled from financial pressure to discontinue his services, which the London correspondent of the Toronto Globe says will account for that gentleman's jjresence in Loudon at this critical period. The correspondent goes on to say: "The New York Herald has re-called all its war correspondents as not being worth their cost. The Telegraph and Standard are drawing in their special intelligence, and I expect that during the present winter The Times will be the only paper which will go on with its present system of wholesale telegraphing."