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Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 976, 5 June 1879, Page 2

On Tuesday the train that leaves Dunedin tor tiie north at 3.30 p.m. encountered a formidable obstacle to its pursuing the even tenor of its way at Olendiannid, where it tried conclusions with the train from Port Chalmers which crosses it at that place. The Port Chalmers train was rather longer than usual, and in going on to the siding to await the passage of the Oamaru train the driver slightly overshot the mark, and before he had time to retrace the Oamaru train was upon him. He had taken his train just far enough to secure the shaving off of one of the side water tanks which are carried by Fairlie engines, the smashing of windows, ami the bending of numerous handles ami other projections. The attacking engine—for tlx; Tort Chalmers one was, we believe, quite still at the time of the collision—was somewhat the worse for its encounter, sundry hand-rails, a sand-box, &c., being bent, wrenched ofi", and broken, besides some damage being done to the strong wooden forepart of the engfne with which it fought its wr.y past its opponent. The first sensation was the very reverse of "as smooth as oil the next was an involuntary cold hath for nil who happened to be in the way of the stream which issued from the lairlies damaged side-tank. Some thought that the strange jerky sensation occasioned by the grinding of the two trains was the effect of an earthquake, and that the water which .spurted over them without respect to grade or si x was a tidal wave. Many were the speculations, but the solid reality soon became apparent. In broad daylight, on a Sine on which there is comparatively little tratiic. had occurred a railway collision. It •./us not attended with loss of life, as railway •.."•ii:.-!oits usually are, but uam.ige was to property, ami nervous pa-: en.'cr.-i were frightened out of their wits. So:iiei»ody | mt:.--: be; responsible for the accident, and. j who J he is, he should not have a.', oppor- <">: repeating the dose. It might have been a bitter one. T. W. Parker, H-q.. 11.M.. held a Revising Court for the revision of the ratepayers' rolls for the several ridings of the county, to-day. One or two slight alterations having been , suaue. rolls were duly signed, j The following elections of members of the | different Ko.-.d Hoards have taken place j Waiareka Hoard : Windsor Sub-division, i Me.-srs. J. 11. Ki'ier and. 11. Litile ; Teane- ! r.'.ki Sub-division, Mr. J. C. Gilchrist (i'cj elected J. Kakaitui Hoard : Lambonrne, Mr. | Thomas Walker: I.ambton, Mr. T. CoUis. I It is liotiii' d that the land tax valuation • j roll for the County or Waitaki !S 0:1 view at the Ofnee, Maheno, in.itead of at the | S;:i.!t>lllOUse. I At the Resident Magistrate's Court, this in riling, before T. Vt . Parker. Mary ' ■lister, ' who had previously been before the Court j 0:1 several chargeof potty lar.vny, was] again brought up, and further remanded until Monday next. Hector Munro, for neglecting to have a light burning at night upon building material lying in 1 hame:;str> et, was fined 10s. John M'Comb, charged with a similar breach of the Corporation hyelav.s in Dee-street, did not appear, and the ease was adjourned until Monday. A tire broke out shortly before eleven o'clock last night, in the temporary shop of I Mr. Hugo Lippert, who was burned out some short time since, but it was fortunately extinguished before a great amount of damage had been done. Mr. Lippert had, we believe, left the premises about half-past ten o'clock, and can give 110 idea as to how the tire originated. W hell the alarm was given bv passers-by, who noticed the glare, the door of the premises was at once broken open, and the flames were seen making their way up the wall, having originated in a corner of the front of the shop. With the aid of a supply of water, a number of willing Stands—amongst them I>r. Fleming—speedily extinguished the incipient conflagration. It was then feared that the fire had made its way between the ceiling and the roof, as large volumes of smoke were seen issuing from that part of the building. All uneasiness ; 011 that score wr.y, however, allayed 011 several sheets of iron being removed from the roof, when it was found that the fire had not reached that portion of the building, and had been completely extinguished, 1 without any great damage having been done to the premises. Mr. Lippert's stock, however, suffered considerable damage from the ; lire and removal. We understand that the I Victoria and Colonial Insurance Companies, i which had policies 011 the stock, have moved ; for an enquiry. j Mr. Mollison wiil read a paper 011 "Labor" i at next Monday evening's meeting of St. : Paul's Young Men's Association. | A gentleman—a passenger by the Oamaru | train which lately came into contact with a Port Chalmers train—after having rei covered from the first sh ck, thrust his head ■ out of the window of his carriage uitd inquired in a stentorian voice if there was a life assurance agent handy. Mr. Stuart, representative of the Government Assurance Office, who was a passenger by the Oamaru train, was awakened from a contemplation of the uncertainty of life and what a splendid harvest he would be aide to reap—if spared to get to his journey's end—a; tl/e result of the accident, and was quickly 011 the spot whence the voice proceeded and announced himself as the person who was wanted. But, alas, so improvident is hiiflisn nature that, 110 sooner was the scare over than the gentleman's desire to insure his life for the benefit jof his relatives fled. We can imagine how Mr. Stuart will make use of this circumstance in setting forth the advantages of life aseiironce ; in fact, how all life assurance agents will be able to point to it as another reason why life assun»uae agents should not be met by the old excuse, "Go thy way for this time ; when I have a convenient season I wijl send for thee."

We remind ratepayers in the Waitaki Road District that the nominations for the several sub-divisions will be taken at noon to-morrow. It appears that our local in last night's issue, commenting upon the delay which occurred in the transmission to us of the San Francisco mail news.' from Auckland, is : thought to be capable' of a meaning , other than that which we intended to convey. The delay occurred in the transmission from Auckland, and not in~ the receiving at the Oamaru office. We have never been given cause to complain of delay occurring in the office here. Although the weather and the state <3f the streets last evening were anything hut calculated ~.ta induce people to leave their homes, there was a very good attendance at the Volunteer Hall, to hear the lecture given by Mr. M. W. Green, under the auspices of the Young Men's Christian Association. The Rev. Mr. Barley occupied the chair, and after opening the proceedings briefly introduced the lecturer. It is needless to say that Mr. Green handled his subject, "Luther, the monk that shook the world, with great skill. He displayed a very close intimacy with the life and workings of the groat reformer, and at times his language was both eloquent and earnest. The lecture, which was a remarkably interesting one, was listened to with great attention, and at its close a hearty vote of thanks was, on the motion of Mr. Milligan, President of the Association, accorded to the lecturer. The Chairman announced that the next of the series of lectures would he delivered on the 19th inst. by the Rev. Mr. Byng, of Dunedin, and the subject would be "Mental Phenomena."