Untitled

Oamaru Mail, Volume III, Issue 781, 12 October 1878, Page 2

The Harbor Board appears to be determined that the port shall not suffer through (.he opening of the railway, to Dunedin. In addition to the very considerable reductions made in the harbor charges -*i short time back, it is now proposed that the charge for shipping wool shall be reduced at once from Is. to (sd. per bale. This has been rendered necessary in order to bring the cost of forwarding wool from all parts of the county to Port Chalmers slightly under that attending the sending of clips from stations by rail to the same port. The' following petition, adopted by the Presbyterian Synod at a meeting held on Thursday last, has been transmitted to both Houses of Parliament :—To the Honorable Speaker of the House of Representatives, New Zealand, in Parliament assembled. The oetition of the Presbytery of Oamaru, in the Provincial District of Otago, humbly sheweth : That upon the application of tne Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Otago and Southland, an Act was passed by the '"■ieneral Assembly of New Zealand, entitled the "Presbyterian Church of Otago Act, 1566, by which one-third of the income accruing from properties possessed by it (which third was originally intended to be applied to primary education in connection with the Presbyterian Church) was set apart for the endowment of library chair or chairs in any University, or College, that might be established in Otago. That one of the conditions .n which the Church agreed to endow such jhair or chairs was, that the Professors should be appointed by the trustees, with the concurrence of the Synod. The Presbytery has learned with astonishment and regret that the Hon. Robert Stout has introduced a Bill into your honorable House for the purpose of depriving the trustees and Synod of the power conferred on them by foresaid Act.

The Presbytery' considers that it was due to the trustees and Synod, as_ interested parties, that notice shouhi* have been given to them before the introduction of a Eill which seriously interferes with their rights and privileges. The Prasbytery respectfully yet earnestly requests th&'£ under the foregoing circumstances your honorable House will reject said Bill, as an arbitrary attempt to take I away rights legally conferred. And your I petitioners shall ever pray. Signed by. i authority, and in behalf of the Presbytery, Iby Alexander B. Todd, Moderator, and James Clark, Clerk of Presbytery. We learn that the dispute between the Committee'bf-the Steeplechase Club and the owner of Silverstreani, arising out ox the fact of the winner of the Maiden Steeplechase at last meeting haripg run under a wrono- ace, has not yet been settled ; in fact it has'become even more aggravated through the conduct of Mr. Osborne in the matter. A meeting of the Club will, 'we believe, be held on Friday eve ing next, to take decisive action.

The last of the series of special services Wider the auspices of the Oamaru Young Men's Christian Association will be held at 8 o'clock to-morrow evening in the Volunteer Hall. The Association 8 choir will lead the singing. The Secretary of the Oamaru Mutual Benefit Building Society announces that shareholders can withdraw at a bonus of L 7 10s. per share, and that parties desirous of at once paying off their mortgages can do so on very advantageous terms. Owing to the smallness of the attendance, the meeting of the Committee of the North Otago Turf Club called for last evening did not take place. As will be observed by an advertisement clsS"here, a special meeting of t}ie Committee has been called for Monday evening at S o'clock, at the Empire Hotel, and it is to be hoped there will be a full attendance, as several matters of importance are to be brought forward. Services in connection with the Congregational Church will be conducted in the Velunteer Hall to-morrow, at 11 a.m. and 6.30 p.ni.j by the Rev. Mr. Maxwell, of Port Chalmei's.

At Wesley Church to-morrow, sermons will be preached by the Rev. Mr. Fee, of Waimate, in aid of the Home Mission and Church Extension Association. On Monday evening a public meeting in furtherance of the same object will be held in the church, on which occasion addresses will be delivered by the Revs. J. Crump, of Christ church (President of the Conference) ; A. R. Fitchett, Dunedin ; and T. Fee, Waimate. Collections will be made at all the services in aid of the above fund.

The usual evening service in the new Tees-street Hall will'be held to-morrow, at | 0.30 p.m. instead of 7 o'clock, in order thnt ' it may not clash with the Special Ewwg-.;- | listic Service in the Volunteer Hall. •■' '■ 8 p.m. At a meeting of the Taieri Agricultural Society, held on Thursday last, it was resolved to write to the following gentlemen asking whether they would act as judges at the show to be held shortly ;—For shorthorn cattle Messrs. Boag, M'Croft, and John Deans, Canterbury; James Gall, Switzers ; T. Murray, Glenore: ami M'Aulay, of Totara Station, Oamaru. For Ayrshire cattle—Messrs. J. Muir, Palmerston ; W. Cowan, Waikouaiti; J. M'Farlane, Wangaloa; W. Waddel, Gore; K.Ferguson, Waitati ; D. Warnqek, Seaward Bush, Invercargill. For. draught horses Messrs. \ M'Farlane, Rangiora, "Canterbury ; T. Mur- ! ray, Glenore ; R. Hamilton, Benmore Station, Southland ; C. M'Gregor, Palmerston ; J. Blues, Waihola Gorge; J. M'lntosh, Otautau, Southland. For thoroughbreds— Messrs. S. Nosworthy and W. S. Webb, Canterbury ; D. Corsan, Tokomairiro ; W. H. Taggart and G-. Dowse, Dunedin. For sheep—Messrs. M'llray, Canterbury; W. Sherman, Conical Hills .Station, Waipahi ; W. Young, jun., of the Mercantile Agency Company, Oamaru. For swine and poultry —-Messrs. S. James and C: Armstrong, Dunedin ; H. Mitchell and Watson, Oamaru. For dairy produce —Messrs. M'Farlane Bros., ft. Esther, J. Wallace, F. Meenan, Dunedin; and W. Barron, Caversham. For implements and manufactures Messrs. l\ Duncan, Cliristchurch ; J. Davidson, Dunedin ; and T. Bryce, Tokomairiro. The society has decided to offer prizes of LlO and Lo for reapers and binders. There was not a good an attendance of Volunteers at the monthly inspection parade List evening. The Artillery and No. 1 Company were inspected by Major Steward, and were afterwards put through a serviceable drill of an hour and a half. The newlyformed Volunteer Band made its first appearance in public, and played several small selections in a passable manner. It was arranged that the Band Committee should meet on Friday evening, at 7 o'clock, to consider tiie question of providing a uniform for the band. &c.

The quarterly meeting of the Oamaru School Committee announced for last evening lapsed for want of a quorum, the Chairman and . . 'IS. Fleming being the only members who . ore present ; the Secretary, the High Sehc-'il Rector, and the Master of the North School were in attendance. The meeting was adjourned to Monday evening, at 7.30.

A popular entertainment in aid of the funds of the Hampden school was given at the hall of the Mechanics' Institute last niplit. Mr. Bremner occupied the chair. The room was filled by an audience from all paits of district, and the performers consisted of ladie3 and gentlemen residing in the vicinity of Hampden and from Oamaru. The arrangements were well made by the Committee, and, as was only natural, the result was satisfactory, There is much praise due to Mr. and Mrs. Watt, of the Hampden school, for the amount of pains they must have taken with the boys and girls of the school, who sang at intervals (luring the entertainment some well-known school songs and Scotch melodies. Mrs. Watt also acted as accompanist in the majority of the pieces during the evening, the lady who was to have done so having been unable through indisposition to attend. We pve credit also to these who compiled the i)] - 0!r>"-r.iino, wlsvoh was sufficiently diversified to keep up the interest of the audience, although they were in anticipation of a dance. We must not omit to mention the singing of Mesdames Manning, Dunbar, Neil Campbell, and Watt. The first mentioned lady possesses a finished style and beautiful voice, the second sang her song with simplicity thnt won the approval of the audience, and although the absence of an accompaniment somewhat marred the effect and made the performance tiresome to the singer, the third lady is to be congratulated upon her choice and manner of singing Scotch songs ; and the fourth, as might have been expected, sang in a way that proved that she is a favorite. Mr. Brine performed a number of cunjuring tricks in a very clever manner, although a portion of his paraphernalia was absent.

Thfi North Otago Benevolent Institution

Hill, which has p;ssod thr- of Representatives, in addition to incorporating the Society, vests' in it t e fuliowi g land': — P.-u-p of liloc'-; XXXI . CWnnr" rn-v • snrvev. r supctivtJv mini' ere 1 1. 2 3 5, fi. 7. S. 9. 10,' 11, U.'\3 15. 16. 17 ! 8 19 20, 21, and 22 on the record nvu>or t'ne town t.f i >amaru ; also 1 acie 2 roods and 9 pwches (more or le-s), bounded on tre ronth by Test-streot 326 links and by (.'rowa lav.ds 474 links, on fhe north-east by the Hreakwater road 7SO links, and on the north-west by a street line SBO links and by Crown lands 50 liiiKß.

Ozi Monday evening a public meeting will' be held in the School-room, Otepopo, at 7 ! o'clock for the purpose of considering the j local alterations in the railwav time table. I We le.u-n from the Daily"'iimes that a I heavy storm of wind was experienced yes- i terday, and occa i..nd a goo I deal of! daniage. One ..f.tha m ist serious casualties was the demolit on of one of the spires -of 'he Fir-t (Jiureh. -A couple of partifimi.walls, which had been got up to the height '" of e ght ieet or ko hi ilik new b-ick bui dmis i.-r Messrs. botMild i'e-'d and Co, m High-f-rreef-. w.-r« bJo.m down, The roof ..{.-, '< .shed «.t the rear of.the h.isf>i- a l wa°, iift-.-d ■ ■i:d landed about 50 yards awav, A num-" her of .shops had the r windows blown in, ;>nd oi:e of the windows in the u-iper sfcorev of i. e j-'enihili < 'lub was served similar y. Tlse t.Taa-1 stand &'. the Caledonian So iyiy's ground sufiv-ed great, v. :he earetak'e •, I afraid of mi h.ip, was upstairs., tryn.g to i profr ct the -hnCcers. wh.-n rhev blew io. < k.i- e!-.mg him d<:wu At the s<lm« tiaio n , b'.t-.ek of the roof wai iif.«l e'ean off. - and whirled r yhi nv.»r fch- gaslioM r i >t" - the gasworks yard, fuliy furt>* yards airav. \uother large piece a ; so came off. and j Lin.led at the gaswo'kg gate.- bi\t shortly afterwards was oauthfc by anoiher guafc and < deposited on the other side of the gtre t. ! - he grand stand at Korbury Park was ai*o j ii'iroo ed in part, and ■•- stable at Moloney's ! Hotel, at Son'h Dunedin, met with the sanssort of mishap.