The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. TUESDAY, MAY 6, 1879.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 951, 6 May 1879, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. TUESDAY, MAY 6, 1879.

Laat Sunday night Mr. M. A. Jones, of Wharf street, hearing a peculiar noise outside htst house, got out of bed. and arming himself with a tomahawk, went out of the house. On looking about, he saw a mail lying down in the grass, apparently to hide himself. On finding that he was discovered, the fellow said, " Don't take me, ami I'll go away." Mr. Jones then got hold ot him, and took him towards the Police Camp. On nearing the gaol the man resisted, and got away, Mr. Jones returning home. Going over the place, he fottml that some articles abstracted and put into a sock. Information was afterwards given to the police, who, apparently, lost but little time in tracing and eaptnring the culprit, for lie-was arrested last night and brought up this morning. The fellow's name is John Smith, and no less than four previous convictions for larceny are recorded against him, for each of which, in addition to a charge of vagrancy, he has served terms of imprisonment, ranging from fourteen days to eight months, loday he was sentenced to nine months imprisonment. The monthly meeting of the Committee of the North Otas;o Benevolent Society was held last evening at the Secretary's ollice, when there were present— Messrs. Falconer ( PreAllen, X. Fleming. C>ibbs, M'Parlane, Milligan, Moltiaon. Ronayne, and Hardy (Secretary). The minutes of the previous meeting having been continued, letters in connection with the money collected in aid of the Kaitangata Relief Fund, and handed to the Treasurer to be forwarded to Dunedin. were read, and the President and Treasurer were deputed to wait upon Mr. Smith with reference to matters of detail in connection with the fund. A considerable amount of routine tmsiness was gone through arid several accfwnts passed for payment, after which the Committee adjourned until the llMt instant.

The meeting of the St. Paul's Young Men's Association last evening was only moderately attended. The -Rev. A. B. Todd re-delivered an account of his visit to the stations of the Upper Waitaki mission, and was listened to with attention and interest. There will not be any practice of the Philharmonic Society th:s "week. \\ e understand that the Committee have not yet determined '.E what the next concert shall consist. • .j> Mails for the United Kingdom and Australian Colonies, per Arawata, close at the Blntf at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Sth iust. A special meeting of the shareholders of the Oamarnt Public Baths Company is called t'or Monday evening- next, at eight o clock, at the Mechanics Institute. The business te» be brought forward is the consideration of the financial condition of the company. The Waitaki Road Board advertises for applications for the position of ranger. Tile second of the winter series of lectures in connection with the Oamnra Young Men's Christian Association, will be given on Monday next, by the Rev. \V. Gillies, of Timarn, the subject to he treated being " Aurora Leigh."

| At the meeting of the Horticultural Society Committee last evening, Mr. Forsyth, igardenert® the Hon. M. Holmes, exhibited some blooms of chrysanthemums similar to those shown by him at the Christchurch show last week, and which carried oil" the first prize. The blooms were greatly adtftlred. as well they might be, for they arc grand specimens, and Mr. Forsyth was complimented upon his success. The blooms are now exhibited in Mr. PTarle's window, and are really well worth seeing. We may mention that Mr. Forsyth and liis brother for years carried all before them in England for the growing of chrysanthemums, the cuttnre ©t which Mr. Forsyth has apparently made a special study. The plan proposed for a railway np Vfisnvias involves the construction of an iron elevated railway about three feet al>ove the ground, on which is to run a train of eight ears operated by a steel cable, which will be double. Pitch car is to he furnished ■with two automatic brakes. The ground has l«sw chosen where there is least danger of an eruption : bnt in case of one, the ■ materials are moveable, and can be easily taken up and stored i:i tjie observatory. The railway, it i» expected, »}!} be commenced ; during the ensuing summer. The Penryn Penny Bank, which ha* been in successful working since i Sl> 1, ha» failed, owing to the stoppage of the Caxiusii Bansc. i» v hit-i: L3f;o was depiwilud. Wit, J. Williams, the treasurer of the penny bank, fibers to pay UU in the jKianti as soon as? tU .«>>mj#h Bank p?ys it* &v»t (Bralemt. A jcscUrg ,vi editors was held ea Friday to wmanlsr the.vfer, it was nnanrnuraaJjr n>jg(?tsd, .and a ,com.mittce was appointed to Imet jgaanagmrs and officers of the book.

The statement made by the Morning Herald to the effect that Mr. Ronaynehad been offered aiid had refused a large sum to have Camclia withdrawn from the All-aged Stakes, which she won at the Metropolitan Coursing Club's meeting -yesterday, is not true. The usual monthly meeting of the Mechanics' Institute Committee will be held at the Institute on Thursday evening, at 8 o'clock. The receipt of a quantity of clothing for the North Otago Benevolent Society's home, from Mr. John M 'Lean, Rcdcastle, is acknowledged with thanks, and we are requested to state that similar donations will be gladly received by the Barrack-master. We are authorised to say that the meeting of the Committee of the North Otago Coursing Clul) will take place on Thursday rirst, in Messrs. Council and Clowes' offices, instead of the County Council Chambers as usual, the Council requiring their own room on that day. As the arrangements for the Jjerby Stakes (run on next Tuesday) must be made at this meeting, it is hoped that there will be a good attendance of members. A meeting of the Committee of the newly formed Fire Brigade was held last evening. Mr. Sinclair occupied the chair. The following members were enrolled : —Messrs. T. Falconer, J. ivay, T. Hamilton, J. Hamilton, \V. Newton, W. Baker, .John Sinclair, H. B. Hook, K. A. Atkinson, J.Fulton, John Mainland, W. Waddcll, John Main, A. Johnston, I). .Sinclair, H. Sinclair, W. Hook, J. Ogilvie, J. (liven, S. Newey, H. Gibbs, E. Rowland, \\*. Irav, J. (Ircenfieid, and J. Scott. A Committee was appointed to frame working roles, and the Secretary was authorised to send for helmets and uniforms for the Brigade.

Til e usual monthly meeting of the Kakauui Road Board is called for to-morrow, at 11 a.m. By a printer's error the signature to an advertisement in last evening's issue, calling a meeting of the Baths Company, was made " \V. J. l'ooth," instead of " W. J. Smith." The regular fortnightly meeting of the Municipal Council will he held on 'lhursday evening, afc the usual time. The usual monthly meetings of the North Otago Permanent and First Oaniaru Permanent Building Societies will he held at the offices of the respective secretaries this

! evening. The monthly mceti of tiic Committee of the North Otago Horticulturl Society was , held last evening at Mr. Earlo's rooms. There were present—Messrs. Montagu (in the chair), Forsyth, Kidd, and Spratt (Hon. i Secretary). The minutes of the last mcet- , ing having been confirmed some routine . business was gone through, none of which t was of any importance. The llcv. Mr. Baird, who has for seven , years held the position of pastor to the Pres- [ bytcrian Church, Hampden, has accepted a . call to Winton, Southland. On Sunday, the • rev. gentleman preached his farewell sermon, • taking as his text, 2 Cor. xiii. 11, "Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good . comfort, be of one mind, live in peace ; and . the (!od of love and peace shall be with ; you." Both preacher and congregation were • visibly affected, the separation being deeply felt by both the pastor and his Hock. The r Rev. Mr. Baird, during his residence 111 ; Hampden, has secured the friendship and ! good wishes of many besides his own congregation, Piul his departure from the district is viewed with very general regret. In order ; to mark their appreciation of the rev. gentle* man's worth, a deputation waited upon him t and presented him with a sum of money as a , token of their friendship. i The Oainara Stone Company are leaving ( no stone unturned in their efforts to spread I the fame of the Oaniaru stone, and to obtain an extensive trade. Every available means ( of achieving this double end is readily . adopted, and the Company in consequence | bids fair to not only -secure good markets for the excellent stone so abundantly ol.tainI able in this district, but to confer upon the town and district very substantial !n::ief;ts. Some time since samples of the :)tone were | forwarded to Brisbane, the capital oi Queensland, and as .1 sequence to thai preliminary step a trial shipment of 100 tons -is to be ' sent to Brisbane by the barquentinc May Newton. As Queensland is destitute of building stone, there seems every prospect of a good market being established there for • the Oamaru stone. The Hamilton Spectator says : —"lt would ' appear that amongst other places it is still ' expected that the Kelly gang will pay Penola a visit, as, we are informed, the cash, etc., ■ belonging to the local Bank of South Aus- : tralia is nightly conveyed to the National Bank for greater security, the latter being a ' substantial two-storey building, and the ! former a wooden structure. A gentleman who was in Nantimuck last week states that : he had a long conversation there with the ' man Quinlan, who shot Morgan. Quinlan, if words go for anything, is extremely anxious . to try his ' 'prentice hand ' on the Kellys ; he believes he could soon ' pot the whole lot.' If so, the LSOOO reward should be a sufficient inducement for him to have a cut in. ■ It is really surprising what a number of men there are, living at a distance from the Stratlibogic ranges, who think they can do more than the two or three hundred police stationed in that locality." We (Tapanni Courier) have heard doubts expressed as to whether oats would grow upon the silt deposited by the recent floods. To set the matter at rest, we may mention that upon pure silt on Mr. Willock's farm, Inch Clutha, the produce of one pea of oats was 2010—or a pretty good hatful of oats. There were 33 stalks with an average of 170 oats on each. The following extraordinary story is told by the Taranaki Herald:—"A cool thing thing was recently enacted by a certain man in business in this town, who has since distinguished himself by another act which is becoming too common here. He was at a loss for a candlestick, and as a substitute placed the lighted taper in the folds of some bank notes. As might fairly be expected, the notes were burned—charred to a cinder, so that even a trace of their numbers was not left; and this wily noodle had the pre* snmption to go to the bank manager and ask that the value of the notes (the numbers of which he could not tell) might be redeemed to him. Of conrse, adds our contemporary, he got it!" A correspondent writing from Greymouth to the Temperance Herald states : —" The publicans here are going down the hill fast, and next license day will see one or two more closed. During the last IS months two fyayc died (cause, drink), one bolted, j leaving his creditors in ignorance of his ! whereabouts, four iiave failed, and there are ! two or three others who couhj ;;ot pay 20s. ' in the A" if asked to do so. You v;JJ sue they have not got it all their own way here," ! The Premier Company, Wetherstones £enit«K, hare (says the Tnapeka Times) taken their Iftvcls fpr water, and find that by i canyiiig the pipe? up to the Phoenix Com- V.

pany's race will give them a fall of 250 ft. This, however, will entail a large extent of piping. For the Tuapeka claim it would take 1200 ft., and for the Premier ISOOft., but should the two companies act conjointly by using the same pipes, a large saving will be effected. We understand there is some probability of their agreeing to this course. A rather smart action on the part of a constable is reported to have occurred lately at Palmerston. A man was entering the coach, with his dog, to come inland, when the constable stnek him up, and demanded a registration fee for the dog. Notwithstanding that the traveller exhibited the authorised collar worn by the dog, which had been issued by the County in which he was last residing, the constable remained inexorable, and the fee was paid. Taking a dog with one on a journey (remarks the Mount Ida Chronicle) would be rather expensive if a fee had to be paid in every County passed through. Referring to the appointment of a Royal Commission to inquire into the claims of the South Island Maoris, the Lyttelton Times savs : —" Quite apart from the political aspect of the question, the student of local history will watch the progress of the inquiry with deep interest. In the giving of the evidence tobe adduced there will be unfolded a deeplyinteresting page in the annals of New Zealand colonisation. Much will be made known through the columns of the Press that is now entombed in musty blue-books or hidden away in the uncertain memories of the very oldest of identities. To hear from the lips of a race whose traditionary lore is marvellously minute the story of how their birthright was bargained away to the paiccha will be abundantly interesting, whatever, from a political point of view, inay be the ultimate outcome of the inquiry. ' An American paper records an ingenious construction for quickly ridding the streets of snow. The snow from the thoroughfares is shovelled down a sewor-trap, where it is met by hot iilates of fluted iron, and the snow, dissolving, passes through the sewers, just as rain water and sewage do. Each of the " shoots " the sewer men have to descend could he made available for the purpose.

It is not often the decease of a local resident (says the Beiuligo Advertiser) has to be chronicled at the ripe old age of 99, but such nevertheless took place at the Sandhurst Benevolent Asylum, in this city, on Monday last. The deceased was an old identity named Paul Jones. It is stated that Jones, who was a sailor by profession, arrived in Sydney per the ship Bounty, with Governor Macquarie, who administered the Government of New South Wales from 1810 to IS2I. He was first admitted into the Asylum on October 12, 1577, but about April 1, 187S, he left the institution. A week later, or on April S, 107S, he was readmitted, and remained in the institution up to his decease.