The Oamaru Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1879.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1105, 3 November 1879, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1879.

We must compliment Ur. Stewart for having remarked in the House that sly grogsefling should be put down, and that the present should not l>e endangered. It liehovea the authorities to protect those front whi'tn they reccivcliw nst ieest from the lawless encroachment.* of the sly grog-seller. If they fail in doing this, the abolishment of all restrictions in the sale of intoxicating liquors will then have to bv seriously considered.

The Municipal Council the other evening passed accounts to the amount of about 1,700 for payment "as soon as they are in funds." As they aiti not likely to be in fundi until people pay tii«>ir rates, and as their being in funds will place other people in funds. we hope that ratepayers will not much longer delay, a3 they would save themselves trouble and expeiuse by paying before the 12th of this month. The Secretary to the New Zealand Commissioners in connection with the Sydney Exhibition advises the district provincial Secretaries to forward samples of wool as cariy aa possible, to be exhibited at Sydney in December,

A very narrow escape froin what must have proved a fatal accident occurred to-day. A few minutes before the arrival of the express train from Dunedin a little child ibout eighteen months old, with a kitten in one hand and a stick in the other, was seen crossing and re-crossing the road at Spence and Ike's corner, and finally reached the railway cross tug near Orr's coal-yard. The train was at that moment coming in, and a gentleman who wa3 passing, seeing the child's dangerous position, made a rush and took the- little toddler off the line ju-it before the train passed. The child was eventually taken charge of by a constable, as no owner could be found.

■ We are not surprised to leant that Mr. ! Reid. of Ktderslie, President of the North ! Otaco Agricultural and Paatoral Association, I has not been unmindful of the interests of ! the Association white on his visit to the : Sydney Exhibition. He has, we learn with pleasure, induced Mr. Horwood, of \ ictoria, I to exhibit sonic of hi 3 celebrated shorthorn animals at the forthcoming Oawaru show. We trust that this will only be the beginning of a competition with the breeders of the sister colonies. A cricket match was played on Saturday between eight and thirteen of the Oamani Cricket Clnb, the former winning by 14 runs, the scores being— thirteen, 54; eight, CS. The bowling of Mr. Grigg, a new member of the club, was very successful, lie having succeeded in taking five wickets of the eight for sixteen runs. At a meeting of the Committee of the Oiimaru Dramatic Club held on Saturday evening, a comedy was chosen for representation at the performance to be given shortly in aid of the funds of the Mechanics* Institute. , The S o'clock meeting in the New Tceastxeet Hall vu well attended last night. Addresses were delivered from Job xiv. 1-4, "Jf a man die shall he live again ?" and on "'Saved by Faith," illustrated by the history of Rahab. Daring the half hour previous to the service the choir sang several of Sankey's songs and solos to a considerable number of lUtenera.

It is announced in another column that the Hampden Koad Boon! intends levying a rate of ninepeace in the pound. The regular monthly meeting of the Benevolent Society will be hc!«l this evening at Mr. Honiy's office. The weekly meeting of the Directors of tlic f'jletlonian Society will lie held at tlic Criterion Hotel at S o'clock tb:a evening. The half-yearly balance-sheet of the Municipal Council appears in another column, and will doubtless form an interesting study to alt wlvo take delight in examining figures. Tlioae who are desirous of sending Christmas presents l»y poat to their friends at Home should do «o by the mail which clfwes here on the Sth inst., as it will reach London on the 23rd December. At the Resident Magistrate's Court today, John Thomson, uliaa M'Oregor, was charged with having no lawful visible means o! enppcrt. The charge having been fully proved, li« wa3 sentenced to six weeks" impraoDjnGfit sitb hard labor. George Halliburton, for being drank and disorderly, was fined sa, or twenty-four hoars' imprisonment. Peter Dooby, for atiowfog .one home to wander at large, wa* fined ft.

The Excelsior Cricket Club played a match on Saturday between sides chosen by T. Ilewat and A. Hartley, the latter side winning by 34 runs. Marshall was the only one who succeeded in getting into doable figures on Hewat's side, while Brocket, J. Hook, and \V. Hook gained doulde figures for their 3ide.

The members of N'». 1 O.R.V., will meet this cvcni:> >r .it .■> o clock to perforin several military ».:ovemeuts in attack and defence drill. We understand that the Volunteer Hall and neighborhood is to lie the scene of attack. As the besic-.'ing tore.- will iiic nothing more dangerous than blank cartridge, the public will have no cause to be fearful of harm so long as they keep a wise distance from the muzzles of the weapons, and we trust that the "Longing" of this mock war will not shake the nerves of the timid. To avoid any surprise we afford this notification. We would again remind intending exhibitors at the forthcoming Show of the North Otago Agricultural and Pastoral .Association that entries must be made with the Secretary on or before Thursday next, after which date no entries can possibly be received.

Mr. .1. B. Buckstone, whose death is recorded in our cablegrams to-day, was one of the oldest and most popular actprs on the English stage. He was born in 1802, and at the age of 19 took to the stage. After following the chequered career of a country actor for three years, Jic was engaged for the Surrey Theatre, London, and since then lie has almost continuously performed ifi the metropolis of the world, the only breaks being a short trip to America and an occasional flying visit to the provinces. For over •JO years he was lessee of the Haymarket Theatre, and, in addition to performing the arduous work attached to the lifo of a manager and popular actor, he wrote over 150 pieces, many of which have become standard plays. After a brilliant career oil the stage of 53 year*, the most popular low comedian of his day has died a pauper. The entries for the Dunedin autumn racemeeting are published in another column. It will be seen that three Melbourne lioraes, Mr. Eli Jcllett's Richmond (the hero of many a battle}, Boswortli.and Fillibuster are amongst those nominated, but whether they will come to New Zealand is very doubtful. The entries for the Cup are 19 less than last year, for the Jockey Club Handicap one less, and for the Publicans' Handicap seven less. The Canterbury College authorities announce in certain newspapers, amongst which 1 is an Invcrcargill newspaper, that examinations in connection with the School of Agriculture for competitors for scholarships in ithat department will be held on the Bth | December next " at Auckland, Napier, \\ el--1 iinirton, New Plymouth, Nelson, ChristDunedin," Invercargill, and such other places as may be determined upon." These scholarships fsix in number) arc "of the estimated value of Lift per annum," are open to candidates bctwucil the ages of 1(5 and 19 yearn from all parts of New Zealand, land entitle the holders tp board, lodging, and instruction at the School of Agriculture, Lincoln, near Chiistehurch, It is singular that Oamani and Timaru should have been omitted from the list of towns at which thcfo examinations are to be held. Surely there is no reason why these important places should have been passed over. \\ e venture to say that there would havo been as many, or more, candidates from the Oamani and Timaru districts as there will be from Invercargill had the Council of the College notified those districts of their intentions. There is aonietliiiisrwron:: somewhere,and wetrusttliat for thesa Ice of education the wrong will be rectified. Our remarks with equal force apply t(j the action the Governors of the College li:ivc taken in circumscribing their announce, i mcnts regarding the matriculation cxamination. also' in connection with tlio School of | Agriculture. We cannot think that the College authorities would absolutely refuse to receive candidal ?s from Oamani and Ti.'nani, nor can we believe that they have i failed to notify those places because of the additional expense that would be entailed by advertising in these places. The omission can only be the result of inadvertence, j To-day's Daily Times saysWo under- ! stand on good authority that Iliacocks and i Haymau have broken off negotiations with the Lyster Opera Company. Wo believe ! the terms demanded by Sjgnora Antonietta Link are so extravagant as to preclude any ! jiossibility of arrangements being made for a | visit to New Zealand. This is greatly to bo regretted, as there is no doubt this company f/ir the heaL ainl most complete which ! has ever the Colonies.

The Melbourne of the Sydney Herald rays V> o havo been 'iliioially informed that the Exhibition building will cost 1/274,002 2s 4il. It is reassuring to tliink that the Government know so exactly that they can reckon up the price to fourpcuce. Originally it was not to exceed L(>O,UCO, and there were confident people who pledged thejr honor, which to be sure wkb not much, that L 20,000 would cover everything. But the building is not half finished, and, looking at what there might be to do, the prediction that we shall stake half a million over it is far from being a rash one. There has never been a public building yet in Melbourne uhich has been put up for less than double the estimate of its probable cost. At a meeting Of the Grand National Stteeplcchase Club on Timani, it was shown tii.v. the expenditure for the year had been L 7-13 and the receipts L 713, but that subscriptions to the amount of L 164 were due. The Secretary stated that eleven members had declined to pay last year's subscription, which had placed the Club in an awkward position. Ijo thought that a rule ghuuhl In a:'r>i>tcd empowering the Secretary to write to defaulting members that if their subscriptions were not paid by a certain date their names would be removed from the list of members. It was resolved that the names of those members who do not pay arrears before the •20th November ))•■> struck oft' the roll. An amendment, moved by Mr. Hamcrsley, that the names of defaulters should be posted at Warner's Hotel, Cliristchurch, was negatived. The following officers were elected : President, Mr. A. Turnbull (re-elected); Vice-President, Mr. .J. T. Ford ; Committee—W. C. Smith, J. lirahazon,' F. Delamain, W. S. Lindsay, A. Bristol, F. A. Haine, A. St. G. Hainersley, T. Teshomaker. It was resolved to hold the next annual steeplechase meeting at Tiniaru on the 24th May next.

The Lyttelton Times say 3 : That there is no iiuurmountable obstacle "to the manufacture of wine in New Zealand/ has been over and over again asserted, and tlie experiment has frequently been made with more or less snccess. The results of one experiment were yesterday exhibited to a few connoisseurs by Mr. S. Schwartz, of this city, who is appointed sole agent lor their sale. The samples submitted by Mr. Schwartz nuinlier four, two of still and two of sparkling wines. The sparkling a Moselle and a "Cream of liuninuly." Both of these are emphatically Indie.-" wines—sweet anil bright. The still wiuea r^c—one, a light-colored Reisling, ami the other a claret wjth a smack of Constantia—very palatable summer beverages. Mr. Schwartz niijrms that they are of gennine New Zealand growth, and that they can be sold at so reasonable a price that they should be without difficulty placed upon this market, in competition with the wines of Australia, to the best of which they bear a strong resemblance.

Experiments are being constantly made in tiie way of discovering .some sin.pie for cleaning wool, and more particularly separating the burrs from the fibre without injuring the latter. A recent experiment made in England (says the Weekly Chronicle) was more or less successful, but whether tlie process will ever come into general practical use, cannot yet be stated. The process consist* in saturating the wool to be treated with very much diluted sulphuric 3&id, the greater part of which is afterwards removed by means of centrifugal motion. The wool js thus spread upon the floor of a room

which is made very hot. This tends to evaporate the water with which acid is mixed, and concentrates the acid. The theory of the experiment is that the acid, having a great afiinity for moisture, and not being able to get any from the hot air in the room, attacks the wool and the vegetable matter mixed with it, in order to obtain the water which is one of their component parts. The acid, extracts thf waterfrorti the burr <as .it hanjssentangled m the wobl, x leaving little else 'but carbon, w"bich crumbles into dust when the wool -is dry. No 1 sooner had it been annonnced than the objection was raised that acid would ' destroy thcfibre of the wool and impair -its milling property. Experiments have been fn?de in this manner, and 'the wool, when examined with a powerful microscope, showed no deterioration whatever. It is greatly to be tiopcd that science and genius will perfect the system of the theory, , and-give us something to counteract the inconvenience of nature.

Another Tasmania!^-Nightingale has. appeared ; this time from the North. Miss Kate Harvey, who sang at Signor Pompei's concert recently, is a worthy successor to Tasmania's gifted daughter, Amy Sherwin. Her success was surprising from beginning to end, the enthusiasm of the audience being as great as it was deserved. There must be something in our Tasmanian sunny blue skies akin to those of Italy, that our land gives so many stars to the musical world. Marie Carandini, Rosina Carandini, Fanny Carandini, Emma Howson, Lucy Chambers, Amy Sherwin, and many others are all Tasmanians, and now we have another name added to the list, Kate Harvey, well worthy to be associated with them, — Tasmania Mail.