The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 1879.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1034, 13 August 1879, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 1879.

It is high time that those candidate* who intent! to contest the representation of this district in Parliament announced themselves, in order that the electors may have time to make their selection, should such a course be rendered necessary. We are in a position to state that the nomination day has been fixed for some day in the last week of this month, and that the election will take place ■in the first week of September.

We are in a position to state positively that the Rev. Mr. Barclay will at the coming eteutka contest Geraldine with Mr. Wakefield!. Mr. Barclay will do so in the Liberal interest, aaad it is, therefore, pretty plain that 3lr. Wakefield's days arc numbered. We learn that the protest entered by Mr. Sutton's representative against Mr. Snrnam's dogs taking the President's Cop in the late contest hss been abandoned, and the stakes will be paid. The stakes will also be paid this week to the various winncre at the meeting.

The annual meeting of the Hampden Road Board will be held at noon on Wednesday next. A statement of the Board's accounts can be seen at the store of Mea3T3. Dunbar and Son.

The Post Ofßcc at Duntroon is now established as a Government Insurance office. Jlails for Australia and Tasmania will close at the Bluff on Friday, the 15th inst., at II a.m.

The Hampden Road Board is determined to have the district roads cleared of gorse. ami gives owners of land two months to effect a clearance of any gorse that may have .encroached front their property ou to the roads. After that date, the Board will undertake the removal of the nuisance at the expense of occupiers who may neglect to curopty with the order. Thece seems to be some disagreement between the Oamani Artillery and Lient. Greenfield, tiic oldest officer of the company, bat of the nature of the unpleasantness we have not been made aware. From what

transpired at a special meeting last evening, it would seem that Lieutenant Greenfield bad promised to resign, but had Bince declined to do so, and the meeting therefore had been called to take steps to induce him to comply with the request. The meeting wa3 very fairly attended, and Corporal Cruickshank having been voted to the chair, the following resolution, moved by SergeantMajor C'rcagh, and seconded by Sergeant Lindsay, was carried unanimously : —"That this meeting, having heard that Lieutenant Greenfield —in direct violation of a promise niaiic by him at a previous meeting of the Battery—declines to resign, alter having l>ecn requested to do so by a large number of members of the Dattery, desires to express its surprise at his refusal : and. being convinced that his resignation would be very much to tiie interest of the Battery, hereby requests him to place the resignation of his commission in the hands of the Captain commanding." It was then proposed by Corpora! Gardiner, and seconded by Gunner Waildell, "That a copy of the foregoing resolution be forwarded to Lieutenant Greenfield, and that lie be requested to be kind enough to send a written reply to Captain Morton." This resolution was also carried, and the | meeting terminated. No matter from what cau3c the disagreement may have arisen, it is a matter for regret that there should have occurred anything calculated to cause a feeling of dissatisfaction in a company of Volunteers which now occupies one of the foremost positions in our Colonial force. It is certainly not calculated to promote the welfare of the corp3. We are informed that Mr. John P. Armstrong, tceth-extracter and amusing lecturer, will be a candidate for the representation of C'ollingwood (Nelson) at the coming general election. Mr. Armstrong comes forward in support of Liberalism, and in opposition to Mr. Gibbs, the present member, who was never popular, and is still less so aincc he "ratted" on the no-eonfidence motion.

We have inspected a silver collar presented by Mr. R. Richardson, and won at the Derby Meeting of the North Otago Coursing Club by Mr. J. S. Caver hill's two sluts Ilinemoa and Juliet, who divided the stakes. The collar is a very massive one, lined with blue velvet. It is of very chaste design, and i 3 a trophy of which any sportsman might be proud to become tlio possessor. This is the second prize of the kind given by -Mr. Richardson, who is deserving of credit for the encouragement he has given to coursing.

We are requested to state that there will be a rehearsal of the Philharmonic Society this evening, when it is hoped that, in spite of the unfavorable state of the weather, tiic attendance will be as large as it should be considering that the next concert will take place within a few days. The usual monthly meeting of the W aitaki Road Board was held yesterday, when there were present —Messrs. Connell (in the chair), Procter, Smillie, Dcnnison, Borton, and Oliver (Engineer). The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed, and the outward correspondence was approved. Mr. Burnett, Assistant Engineer of Working Railways, wrote intimating that the crossing complained of between blocks I. and IV., Awamoko, had been considerably improved. It was decided to direct Mr. Burnett's attention to the condition of two crossings on the main line which require attention. A letter was read from the Waiereka Koad Board stating th->.t Mr. T. f.ilcutt had been appointed Assessor for the Board in reference to Mr. William FenwiVk's claim for compensation for land taken for road-line ill block IV.. Oamani Survey District, and suggesting that the Waitaki Road Board should appoint the oatiie assessor. On the motion of Mr. Procter, Mr. Calcutt was appointed to represent the Board. >lr. Hugh Boss' application to open a road to his property, Awamoko, was ordered to lie on the tabic till next meeting. Mr. J. Church wrote complaining that the pigs belonging to one George Baker were becoming a nuisance in the neighborhood, and praying the Board to take some steps to have the nuisance abated. The matter was ordered to stand over for the present. The Engineer having reported upon the condition of various works in the district, consideration of the matters dealt with was ordered to stand over. It was resolved that tenders be called for metalling roadline from Town Boundary to Mr. Sumpter's residence. It was resolved to recommend the issue of a Crown grant for road line exchange with Mr. M •Master at Boundary Creek. Accounts amounting to L 95 133 3d were passed for payment, and the Board rose. It is not uncommon in the Gulf and southern Atlantic states for large bodies of land to sink below their original level, but such phonemena have generally occurred in the low and sandy countries. The Toccoa, Ga., Herald, however, reports the subsidence of a whole mountain in that country, which is composed of at least half rock. A heavy storm was felt on the 20th March, accompanied by thunder and lightning, and a terrible shaking of the ground. Immediately following this, it was found that the whole of the north side of Chattanooga mountain, sloping down at an angle of 45 degrees to the Chattanooga river, and 1200 feet in height, was gradually sinking. There was a break near the top, and at one point, over the top of a sloping ridge, a perpendicular rock showed itself, the depth of which was about 1G feet and the extent thirty or forty acres. The bank was in the form of a horseshoe, the toe being at the top of the mountain. Trees were standing with their roots up, and large stones cast out upon the surface. About three years ago an earthquake cracked the mountain at the top, where the present break occurred, but no notice was taken of it at the time. Some fear is manifested by the inhabitants as to the results of this subsidence and the depth to which it may extend. The Lyttelton Times' special Wellington correspondent has sent the following choice item to that paper :—Bellamy's is supposed to be sacred ground, into which the foot of the picker up of unconsidered trifles may not (unless he also enjoy the supreme felicity of being a legislator) intrude. Nevertheless, little birds flitting about the building occasionally perch upon the newspaper man's shoulder, and whisper their little stories. Why, one particular little bird has told me the followingA day or two ago some members of the House were dining in Bellamy's at a safe distance from another member who. as distinguished from dining, wad feeding. The subject of their conversation was C;e.-iar*a Commenta? io~, r.ijil one o; the number remarked, that, read in the light of the present day, there was much that was false in Julius C':esar. Now, the honorable the feeding member, who plumes himself npon enjoying the friendship of the clever Agent-General and also of Sir William Fox, overhearing only a portion of the remark, broke forth in this wise—"Gentleman, wh' inshults (hie) Mr, Vo (hie) Vogel,

or Sir Julius Fox shults (liic) me." Then, turning to another member, he proceeded, " Look here, ole flow yourefrenomine (hie) I plashe m'honor (hie) in your hands." The gentleman upon whom this mark of distinguished confidence was conferred said he didn't care about dirtying his hands. The member in question is well known. I hope he will not be in Bellamy's next session.

" Atticus," in the Age, says : —The license of the Bar lias often been the subject of complaint on the part of those unfortunates in the witness-box subjected to the crossexamination of a 'barrister endeavoring to conceal his want of legal lore by playing the privileged bully. These gentlemen of the long robe, however, sometimes find their match. In a recent case in the Supreme Court, a witness who had patiently stood the insulting questions put to him by a barrister was at length asked, " Come, sir, have you any opinion at all upon the subject?" "Yes," was the answer, "I have a decided opinion about you." " Well, tell the Court what it is." " I consider your conduct most ungentlemanly, and that if you indulged in more law and less bullying you would get 011 much better." The cross-examining barrister had no further questions to ask that witness. The following letter, which appeared in last night's Post (says the Wellington correspondent of the Lyttelton Times), has been the subject of much comment to-day : "The two M.H.R.'s and the Doctor. To the Editor of the Evening Post. Sir,—lll reference to an article appearing in your paper of Monday under the above heading, will you allow me to say that I am the medical man referred to, and to explain the circumstances under which I came in the Under-Secretary's room. I was asked into the room by a member of the House, who left me there for a few minuteswliilehewas called out into the lobby. In the interval I was engaged in a conversation with the head of a Government department. The ' gentleman witli the military appearance ' then came in, accompanied by a waiter, and ordered the latter to remove my glas3, telling me that I had no right in the room. I left, stating that I expected he would have told me in a more polite and gentlemanly manner. In order that I might not be insulted in a similar manner again, I took particular notice of the lion, member, with the view of recognising him, should I ever again have the misfortune to meet him. The result of my diagnosis would be expressed in medical language as follows : —' Fiery, unctuous skin, with its secretions reeking with volatile, fatty acids; large, protruding, red, and ferret eyes, possessing a fitful glare rather than gleam; furred tonirue ; fetid breath, &e.'—l am, &c., R. Vox Mtkbacii, M.D. August G, 1879." The simple fact 3, which have not yet been published in any of the exceedingly "live" papers here, are that, while Dr. Mirbach was in the room alluded to, Mr. Pyke and Mr. Hamlin went in to have some private conversation, at the conclusion of which Mr. Pyke said to Mr. Hamlin, " Well, I think I'll go home." Dr. Mirbach, who is known to neither, interjected, "I think it's time you did," a remark that may be taken in a variety of offensive senses. When out in the passage, Mr. Hamlin said to Mr. Pyke, "Did you hear what that fellow said ? " Mr. Pyke replied in the negative, and on Mr. Hamlin telling him, he said, " Oh ! well, let us go back and have it out at once." On re-entering tiie room, Mr. Pyke rang for a waiter, and ordered him to remove the doctor's unfinished glass of grog. At the moment the doctor did not observe it, and when he asked, "Who took away my glass ?" Mr. Pyke replied. "I ordered the waiter to take it, and you had better follow.'' The fact is, that Dr. M irbach was not grossly polite to .Mr. Pyke, and the honorable member for Dunstan promptly retaliated in the only way open to him. As a matter of fact, the doctor had no right to be in the room.