Untitled

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1183, 31 January 1880, Page 2

In onr yesterday's issue v.-e erroneonsly d escribed the Isabella Prate as a yacht. Certainly as far as fine lir.es and cleanliness are concerned she may fittingly be compared to a yacht, bat as a matter of fact she is the well-known trading schooner which carries away so much of the produce of the Oamaru district to Napier and o her points in the North. Her mission yesterday was of a semi-business nature, with, however, a good modicum of pleasure attached, judging ftom what wc learn from those who had the pii% ilege of cruising in her. At the termination of the voyage, and before leaving the \essel, the guests of the day assembled together around the wheel and gave expression to their gratification by toasting the health of the captain, the owners, and the crew ; and thi3 business having been satisfactorily negotiated, three hearty cheers concluded the proceedings of the day. One of the incidents of the afternoon was the amusing movements of a gentleman well known at the end of Tyne-strcct, who, eaconccd in the stern-sheets, had to undergo the painful ordeal of removing from one side of the ship to the other at every tack—an ordeal wliich we are told was most grievously felt after luncheon, when a white squall struck the schooner. The other gentlemen present might have been seen Lending a hand at the ropes, or vainly en- ! to take in a reef, but our Tyne[aider, wrapt in a horse-rug, was observed to | make a movc/jjcjit more nearly resembling the antics of a benr than of a human being a kind of a crawl and a TO 11 combined—but considering the jerky nsoit.on of the vessel, hia performances were executed with litarvfllMU agility, and, singular to say, he maintained his ttMtni placid throughout. Another of the pjoudo sailor*, hailing from bdow the p-jvtico of the National Bank, known in Itanking circles, and professing to Le acquainted with the working of a vessel, might have been seen doing the double revtiutf business in the middle of the fijjuall. lie succeeded —well, so so—but to cot the natter abort, owe of the genuine tars had to undo the knots and ret/ afresh. Not with standing theee little trifles, tiie dq.y proved a in oat enjoyable QU£| Bod i£ fIQ tyH-9 1

on airs when they go to sea, why it simply affords them a little harmless, and perhaps pardonable pleasure, and hurts no one. The particulars of Michael Angelo J ones' insolvency arc—Debts, L 295 15s 2d; assets, L' 3.5 7s Gd. At "Wednesday's sitting of the Wesleyan Conference, it was resolved to dispos^of. the clmrch site at Kakanui, and applyfthe .proceeds to the acquisition of another site in.the Oamarn district. • ; The Rifle Range Committee, at a meeting yesterday, decided to have the- range put into proper order for firing purposes. Mails for Sydney, per Rotomahana, will close at Auckland at 1 p.m. on Tuesday next. Mails ,for ; the United Kingdom}, via SanFrancisco, per City of Sydney, close at Auckland at noon on Tuesday, -February 3. The match announced to be played to-day between the Oamaru and "Waimate Cricket Clubs lias been postponed indefinitely. At the meeting of the Wesleyan Conference yesterday, the stations of ministers were fixed. From the published list of stations we learn that the Rev. J. Crump (Chairman of the Otago District) has been appointed to the charge of Oamaru, and that the Rev. H. R. Dewsbury lias been appointed to Auckland. The Rev. J. J. Lewis will take charge of "Waimate, the Rev. T. Fee being appointed to Lawrence. At the Magistrate's Court to-day, before T. "W. Parker, Esq., R.M., George Dixon, charged with being drunk and disorderly, was discharged with a caution. Elizabeth M'Kenzie, for a similar offence, was also disharged, but for using obscene language in a public place she was ordered to pay a fine of 45s or go to gaol for 10 days with hard labor. Thomas Griffen Green was charged with stealing one pair of blankets, one bedrug, two pairs of drawers, two pairs of trousers, and two pairs of shears, all of about the value of L 5, the property of "William Fortune. His Worship remanded accused to Hampden, where the alleged offence was committed.

The various properties submitted to auction by Mr. Maude, this afternoon, on behalf of the First Oamarn Permanent Building Society, found a purchaser at prices sufficient to secure the Society from any loss by the realisation of their securities.

From our notes taken on the occasion, we observe that, at the Bums' anniversary ball, when Mr. Peattie proposed the toast of the "Oamaru Caledonian Society," he said that lie hoped the Society would take an example from the sister Society in Dunedin, and evince some interest in the education of the youth of the community. We believe that Mr. Peattie referred to the Caledonian Society's evening classes, whichareheld in the Normal School. The subject of evening classes is an important one, and if the Society feels that at present it cannot do justice to it, it is to be hoped that it may at least be able to grant prizes or scholarships of a moderate amount. Last year, under the wing of the Mechanics' Institute, classes were opened in the High School by the Hector, and one of his assistants. We do not know whether or not the same gentlemen contemplate opening such classes in the coming winter, but it is a subject which, we feel assured, ought to occupy the attention or the Institute at its approaching annual meeting* We believe that the new School Committee, in common with the past, will allow every facility to the teachers who may wish to form such classes, and with the influence and support of the Institute and the Caledonian Society, and the several members thereof, classes opened by them should be successful. We have been told—of course with a politeness and in language suited to the nature of the information—that we had been inveigled by Professor Wallenburg, who lately visited Oamaru as an occulist and aurist, into assisting him to impose upon the public by inserting announcements to the effect that he had been successful in his operations on persons in this district. It was even hinted that our having done so was attributable to the circumstance that Professor Wallenburg was a good advertiser with us. The last imputation is, of course, unworthy of our notice, more especially as it was uttered thoughtlessly, and by people who understand only such means of doing business. With regard to the first, we think it only just to ourselves to state that we, like the public of Oamaru, only knew cf Professor Wallenburg through the medium of the newspapers of the towns lie had visited until he came here ; and we had not up to that time seen a single word unfavorable to him. His career northwards is being marked by the same success, for all newspapers, big and little, write of his accomplishments in a most flattering manner. Here is what the Lyttelton Times says about him : —"At yesterday's meeting of the Hospital Board the thanks of the Board were passed to Professor Wallenburg for his kindness in gratuitously curing two of the inmates of the Asliburton Old Men's Home of blindness, thus enabling them to go out and earn their own livelihood." If Professor Wallenburg is the charlatan that he lias been dubbed here, he at least possesses the merit of being the cleverest one that has ever stumbled across our path. As we got our information from the mouths of those who were operated upon, and we presume that other papers have done the saiiie, ! it is only reasonable to conclude, if the Professor is really a fraud, that the patients have been gulled, and the paragraph just quoted indicates that the Ashburton Hospital Committee have been gulled. . Should people be surprised if the Press, too, has been led astray, for it eearcely likes to tell a man who says that whereas be was blind he can now sec, or whereas he was deaf he can now hear, that he is not speaking the truth. A■ return presented to the Legislature last session gives the quantity of sawn timber produced at the various mills in the Colonyexcepting nineteen, from which no returns were received—for the eighteen months which expired on the 30th June, 1879, as follows:—Auckland, GS, 052,770 feet; Taranaki, 3,243,459; Wellington, 26,694,091; Marlborough, 16,651,095; Nelson, 5,715,582; Wcstlan'd, 8,507,610; Canterbury, 22,377,563; Otaffo, 37 585,930. The totals arc—For the year ISJS, 128,565,004 feet; and for the half-year ending 30th June last, (54,657,002 feet..

Asliburton is feeling quite rejuvenated. It must have been the dullest town iu, the Colony for the last twelve months or so. Now that the crops arc promising handsome ixtuuis, the Kakaia and Alford.Forest District railway is on .the eve of being opened, and the Colony generally is shaking off her e-iniiiiurcial lethargy, Asliburton, like 'most otiuy towns in tlie fcols that there is reason to rtjoioe. ;• The preface to " Captaiji 1 Jack Barry's " book says : —" On perusing the pages pf my wiirk lyou. may. ppmpare,imo,;-jbo Dickens' '-Micawber' ; but J have aiways looked upon wy^elf 1 as tl/e : revise'of thai celebrated'<3iaracterr" I Jiftvo never 'jyaited for something to turn up,' but have gone OB

turning up something; much on the same principle as a plough, however, leaving the furrow behind it, and thus Micawber and I by different routes arrived at the game goal—poverty. I will not apologise for my work ; it is the production of an unlettered and almost self-educated man, but leave it in. 'your.-,, hands for , judgment. .The ,recitalof my . life's history ftiay. serye to. ' point a moral if. it does not adorn a tale,' although personally on' one occasion,! as you will find on perusal, I have adorned the tail of a bullock while crossing' the deep and rapid River Clutha, in Otago, New Zealand. With this wretched joke, I remain, dear readers, yours faithfully." At the end are the portraits of several identities, and Sir Julius"; Voget and Mr. Macandre\y," ♦ Cabbaged Wilson cf Christchurcli (who is spoken of' in eulogistic terms), and an.old friend named G. M'Gavin, are amusingly grouped together." : . : :