The Oamaru Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. MONDAY JANUARY 12, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1166, 12 January 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. MONDAY JANUARY 12, 1880.

TifZ Maori prisoners arrived at the Dun««Kn 'gaol on Friday last. They (we are informed By the Morning Herald) had a Wi, w then • upper, then a smoke, and then* were properly domiciled for the night. We are so glad. The information has relieved oar anxiety as to the comfort of these sons of old New Zealand. They -were so considerate when they, without hope of fee or reward, undertook to prepare the lands of a number of Taranaki settlers for the reception of seed, that they should be treated to a warm bath—- & particularly warm bath—a smoke, and comfortable beds, now that they arc xcQtmg from their labors. To bo serious, Maori prisoners hare been removed from Weilingtcn to Dnnedin so that they may fie fiaced beyond the reach of the blaßtthihrnefiM of Te Whiti, their mentor and the fomester of their troubles. The snaocearre will somewhat obfuscate the Jlaori high priest and prophet. The gospel according to Te Whiti averred that the experience ot these Maoris was to be «ne of great glory. There was ctrtaraSf »o hint at the ignomy of being marshalled at 4 o'clock in the morning down to -a steamer and shipped for DtinVomeoiioa of an action pregnant

with, suspicion, such as that of " tabbing" before the formal investiture with any of the rights and privileges of the Danedin gaoL Their release from incarceration in "Wellington •was ito be effected with numerous tragic Apocalyptic and Jetichoiab accompaniments. A blast from a trumpet was to rase the gaol walls of Wellington to the ground. That blast has not; yet been heard in the Empire City; bnt there has been an earthquake' in Port Chalmers, and perhaps elsewhere. Te "Whiti's god .has digressed from the programme laid down by Te Whiti, and he has, we dare say, incurred the Maori prophet's displeasure; but any unusual natural phenomenon will be laid hold of by him as a substitution for what should have taken place, and will be accepted by him as were the" insipid onions by the peasant who, we were told in a school book, dropped his basket' of savory stew that had already suffered through the incursion of a dog, into a stream. He will make the best of it. There is no limit to Maori belief in the humanly' impossible. The natives under Te "Whiti's influence will probably be again hoodwinked by this arch humbug. Determined action is now more than ever necessary. The eyes of the natives must be opened, so that they shall see Te Whiti in his proper character, and be more amenable to common Bense. We have no sympathy with those who mistake undue leniency for justice, and argue that these Maori prisoners should in every particular be treated as Europeans would have been who had committed a similar offence. At the risk of being a" little harsh, Maori superstition, which has led to the commission of the most horrible crimes of which humanity is capable, must be put down, and, in the present instance, ! the only method of effecting such a desirable result is to adopt every legitimate coarse for neutralising and exposing Te Whiti at every turn.

Sparrows and linnets are becoming, just as numerous here as they are in Canterbury. We hear that they are so plentiful at Weymouth that a crop of oats belonging to Messrs. Bruce Brothers is being cat for green food. In Canterbury, poison is being used as a means of getting rid of these nuisances; but the objection to this is that useful birds —the starlings, for instance, who make sad havoc amongst grubs, &c.—would also fall a prey. It appears to us that our farmers, to a great extent, will be compelled to grin and bear it. The usual monthly meeting of the Waitaki Boad Board will be held in the offices, Tyne-street, to-morrow, at 11.30 a.m. The police have received a telegram stating that Mr. Mathew Anderson, a settler at Herbert, fell down dead in his garden last evening. He was known to have been suffering from heart disease, and his sudden death is attributed to that cause. The deceased was about 50 years of age, and possessed of some property. He has no relations in the district, and has died intestate.

We acknowledge with thanks the presentation to us by the Postal Department of a copy o£ the Postal Guide for January, 1880.

The meeting of the promoters of the Ngapara Farmers' Club, held on Friday evening last, resulted in the establishment of the Club. But there was not much enthusiasm over the event, nor did we expect that there would be. Such enterprise is usually delegated to a favored few, upon whom devolves the honor of instituting such reforms. The ball has, however, been started rolling, and it will now be the duty of all the agriculturists of the district which has taken the initiative in such a good work to keep it going.

The Money Market Review thinks there is " good reason to believe that, although the depression of the agricultural interest must necessarily cause a black mark to be placed against the present season, 1879 will prove to be the last year of manufacturing stagnation. We seem to have reached the turning point 03 regards the business of the country generally. The lessons of the past, however, ■will not be lightly forgotten. Econony and retrenchment are still, and must long continue to be, the order of the day, alike in the household, the office, the warehouse, and in joint stock business. There will be no heart for the old scale of expenditure for a long time to come. All trade will be sounder, for it will depend relatively less upon credit and more upon ready money. Certain old-fashioned business virtues have once more been impressed upon us, and probably we shall be well inclined to recognise, some time hence, when the good times have fully returned, that 'sweet are the use of adversity.' "

The adjourned annual meeting of the Fire Brigade will be held at half-past 7 o'clock this evening.

[ The circus was again liberally patronised on Saturday evening, the large marquee being nearly filled. The programme presented was, if possible, a more attractive one than that of any previous performance, and included the best-trained horses that we have ever seen at any circus, besides a number of other novelties. The performers were liberally applauded, though the high wind blowing militated greatly against the full enjoyment of the performance. The company, with their paraphernalia, left by a special train yesterday morning for Palmeraton, where they appear this evening. The annual meeting of the North Otago Coursing Club will be held in the County Council Chambers at 11 a.m. to-morrow. At the Resident Magistrate's Court, today, before T. "W. Parker, Esq., R.M., Henry PJujnmer was charged with having been drunk disorderly in Thames-street on Saturday night, and was ordered to pay' a fine of 10s., or go to gaol for 24 hours. Henry Luxon was charged op remand with having, on the Ist instant, unlawfully and maliciously inflicted grievous bodily harm on one Eliza Dale by striking her with a tomahawk. Mr. O'Meaghcr, who appeared for the accused, applied for an adjournment until to-morrow, stating that he lmd only just received instructions. The request was granted.

A meeting of the Oamaru Jockey Club will be held at the Kropire Hotel at 8 o clock this evening. Captain Bayldon, of tho steamer Wanganui, reports having recently seen 12 whales off Banks Peninsula, and other reports have lately reached us of whales being seen near the shores of tho Kast Coast of the Colony. The old days arc surely reviving, and the v/at<:-r» where these monsters have been seen should offer a sufficient inducement to whalers to remain nearer home, instead of going so far afield in search of their prey. But how can this late return of our old associates be accounted for? Have they, too, Jijte the foreign fishy visitors, been carried hither by Dr. Hector's genial stream?