The Evening Mail. TUESDAY, JULY 9, 1878.

Oamaru Mail, Volume III, Issue 721, 9 July 1878, Page 2

The Evening Mail. TUESDAY, JULY 9, 1878.

The following notice of extension of time has been handed to us by the telegraph department -.—Mails per Hero, for Sydney, close at Auckland at 10 a.m. to-morrow, Wednesday. The regular monthly meeting of Lodge Waitaki, 1111, E.C., will be held on Thursday evening, at half-past 7 o'clock. Artillerymen are reminded that the annual meeting of the oorps and inspection of arms and accoutrements takes place tilis evening, at S o'clock. There was a full attendance at the rehearsal of the Oamaru Christy Minstrels llast evening at the Masonic Hall. The greater portion of the programme to be presented at the concert in aid of the Hospital, i on Tuesday next, was gone through in a I very satisfactory manner. It was decided to i hold another practice on Thursday evening I at the hall, when the programme will be J gone through in its entirety. I The usual monthly meeting of the County Council will be held st 11 a.m. on Thursday next.

The railwav employes are to be drusscd m uniforms. We think that the public will approve of this means of enabling them U> distinguish the railway officials from other people.

The question as to what is the correct] sylc of addressing a.Judge—in the Colonies— j cropped up in the Supreme (.'ourt at Napier recently, in the case of Wiremu To Hau. | The prosecutor, in replying to his Honor, | addressed him several times as " My Lord," which at length elicited the remark from the 1 Bench that " your Honor" was the correct style. Mr. Maynard excused himself on the 1 ground that it was the first time he had > given evidence to the Supreme Court. "Well," remarked his Honor, "you erred ' on the right side ; you gave more honour, , and not less." The Government have promised a reserve of 40,000 acres of land in Canterbury as an endowment for the Milforil harbor scheme. At the Resident Magistrate's Court this '• morning, Elizabeth Campbell, alliu Morrison, for being drunk and disorderly in Thames-street "last evening wa3 fined '2os.. or, as an alternative, adjudged to suffer thrre days* imprisonment. The New Zealander says :—" Scarcely a week passes now without an announcement I that the engines on some of the North Island lines have broken down, while in the Middle Island—atthoush the extent of lini»3 and amount of traffic are both larger—occurrences are comparatively rare. \\ e do • not know whether the fault is iuherent in ' the Northern locomotives, or whether they • are not looked after so well as the Southern ones, but wa suspect the latter to bo the fact In Canterbury there is a skilled Locomotive Superintendent, who hsc full charge of this important department, seeing that the locomotives are kept in proper repair, are entrusted to competent drivers, Ac. In • the North Island the locomotives on each • line are under the control of traffic managers • simply, who probably know little übout I ► them, and are quite in the hands of the dri- • Ters. We believe that since Mr. Allan Smith i was appointed Locomotive Superintendent in the South, great improvements have I been effected. It seems that a similar appointcntlutit for the North Wand might be productive of good results." The Kaeeeourse Keservc Trust met at the Emt>ire Hotel yesterday. Present—A. H. Maude (Chairman), S. E. .Shritnski, J. O'Meagher, and T. A. Clowes (Secretary). "" Routine business having been dis- . posed of, liife draft lease of the racecourse to Messrs. Shaidero ■»■<! Paterson was read, and, on the motion of Mr. Klirimekt, seconded . by Mr. O'Meagher, it was resolved that the t attention of the solicitor to the Trust be drawn to various notes made in the margin of the draft, and that the alteration suggested be made in the lease, more particularly that the excepted promises be accurately delineated in the plan on the margin of the defd, showing by measurement the actual situation and b"lindanes of the same. Mr iShrimski proposed, and Mr.O'Mcagi rsceoudei!, p,-o/orni't "That, in future, before any races be held on the Oamaru racecourse by any Club in existence, for the time being, such Club shall apply in writing to the Secretary of Trust for permission to use the course: and that, in the absence of a quorum of the Trust, the Secretary shall have power to grant permission." Carried. Kesolved—"That the balance of the credit of the Trust be re-invested for six months with the Bank of New Zealand, and that the halfyear's rent now dne, so soon as paid, be also dealt with in the same way." Proposed bv Mr. O'Meagher, and seconded by Mr. Shrtmsfci—"That a short Bill be drafted to be laid before Parliament at the ensuing session ■ vesting the Oamaru Racecourse Reserve in the present members of the Trust, or any such mombers thereof as may be then existing, and thejr successors in office ; and that Mr. Hislop be requested to draft and introduce the Bill as earty as possible." The usual compliment was paid to the Chairman, and the meeting concluded. Several local agricultural societies in France have, with the view of encouraging the porchasa of reaping and mowing machines, adopted the admirable plan of granting a bounty for a number of years, at ; the rate of ljfr. per acre operated upon. Several farmers clubs to purchase tho . machines. The great obstacle to the steam , ! plough was its cost. M. Debains continues j to be successful in simplifying the process so as to reduce the price 50 per cent. An ordinary traction engine is employed. The farmers are looking forward to the agricul- s tural machinery at tbs Exhibition with an 1 anxious pleuuz*. . ( . ..;, ' - u ''. ■ - ■■ '•<: ■-;

The Bruce Herald say 3 : —A private letter from Wellington states that the tactics of the Opposition next sestion will not be to defeat the Government measures, as it is plain the country is in favor of these. But every opportunity will be taken to show up the Government actions in such matters as the Proudfoot case, subsidising newspapers, and other things that they consider will scarcely .bear the light of day. If these are all the charges they can bring against the Government, they will not do much damage. The fact is, that whatever may be said in reference to the first mentioned matter, the latter is chimerical, and the " other things " only exist in the imaginations of the Government's disappointed opponents. It is better, however, that there should be some opposition ; and as real charges cannot be brought against the Government, it is, perhaps, just as well that a few should be trumped up in order to give undeniable proof that an Opposition exists. The oft-postponed annual concert in aid of the Teaneraki school funds, will be given on Friday evening. A capital programme has been arranged, and the list of performers includes, in addition to local talent, a host of amitcurs from Oamaru, who have promised to lend their aid to make the entertainment a success.

The Evening Age has got into trouble through publishing a strong article in denunciation of the action of a money-lender of the name of Benjamin, which was brought to light in the Resident Magistrate's Court, through tho hearing of the oase of Benjamin v. A- Solomon, in which the plaintiff sought to recover a piano and £5 damages for the unlawful detention of the same. A Mrs Thompson driven to extremity by her financial difficulties, procured assistance from a gentleman of the name of Moss Moss, to cover whjch she gave that gentleman a bill of sale over her furniture for £6O. The The amount borrowed she was supposed to recoup in weekly payments. Being unable to do this, she sought the assistance of a second gentleman, whose sole object in manipulating his money is to assist the pecuniarily unfortunate. From this gentleman the applicant asked for £6O, with which to liquidate her liability to Mr. Moss Moss, and an amount in addition that would enable her to clear her house of an unpleasant visitor in the shape of a bailiff. The liberal Mr. Benjamin at once realised her position, and recommended that she should have £l2O, to secure which lie received <v bill of sale covering that amount. The thoughtful Benjamin was to p.iy Moss Moss and other amounts that wero pressing heavily, the balance of the £l2O to be handed over to Mrs. Thompson. Labouring under the hallucination that she was to pay 10 per cent, fir the borrowed money, the transaction I having been placed before her in a manner somewhat confuting—of course not pur- [ poselv —she signed the bill of sale. The ! deed having Leon fully executed, the balance \,%3 not forthcoming, and in her difficulty'she Vawiied ha:- pjauo tr. Mr. Solomon, who kindly allowed her £ls on it, being a moderately good instrument, U'e regret to have to chronicle tiio sequel. Benjamin the Benjamins have fallen away since the good old days of the usurer's namesake—took p■■ssessii--n of the remaining furniture ; and, in order to make up for the loss of the piano, he seized Mrs. Thompson's and her children's clothing and proeeeeded to take aetion in reference to the piano against Mr. .Solomon, as related above, At the hearing of the case, it was elicited that Mr. Benjamin had been charging the plaintiff rates of interest varying from 1200 to 4000 per cent. The Bench g*ye a verdict for the plaintiff, as the law would not admit of his doinz otherwise, but the amount claimed was to be reduced to Is. on the return of the piano. The smallest possible sum was allowed for professional costs. Money lending must be a harassing occupation. Only •1000 per cent. It is enough to ruin any man.—the borrower, we mean.