The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1880

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1194, 14 February 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1880

The inward San Francisco mail will not reach Oamarn by the express train from Cliri3tchurch, as was expected, the steamer not having readied Lyttelton until 9.20 a.m., too late to catch the express. The mail, however, will be brought on by a special train, which left Christchureli at eleven o'clock and is expected to reach here between six and seven o'clock this evening. The mails will be sorted on the way down, and placed in the private boxes immediately on arrival, and for the convenience of the general public there will be one hour's delivery over the counter. Those who are desirous of obtaining their letters by this means should attend at the Post Office at seven o'clock. Messrs. Grant and Foster, the Lincolnshire fanners' delegates, arrived by the late train from the north last evening, and were met at the station by Messrs. Council and Church, as representing the Agricultural and Pastoral Association. To-day they were interviewed by Air. John Reid (President of the Association) and other gentlemen, and a plan of operations in connection with the inspection of the district was agreed upon. We hear that a fire occurred at the North Town Boundary last night. Some children set fire to a gorse fence near Mr. J. T. Evans' house, to which the tiainea spread and did some damage before being extinguished. These are the only particulars we have been able to obtain. That the parenta of Oamarn are availing themselves of the advantages provided by the Education Act is evidenced by the fact that there are now nearly 1200 children attending the three public schools.

The Insurance Companies are now settling the claims in connection with the late fire in Thames-street. To-day Mr. Markham received his first cheque, that from the New Zealand Insurance Company, and the Colonial has settled the insnrance of Messrs. Bailie and Humphrey's stock. Now that a settlement has been arrived at it is probable that in a few days the re-erection of the Queen'a Hotel will be commenced. With a view to rendering the Baths popular, and to beget a desire to excel in the art of swimming, the directors of the. Baths Company have arranged for a series of matches, to take place on Tuesday next, at 3.30 p.m. A large number of prizes, elegant and useful, have generonsly been given by various tradesmen, a list of which may be found in our advertising columns. The Band of No. 1 Company, at a meeting held after the last practice, voted a sum of money towards defraying the expenses of the Band's representative at the New Zealand Rifle Association's meeting, to be held at Nelson shortly, and at the close of the parade last evening Captain Snmpter presented the amount to Bandsman King.

The determination of Pastor Chiniquy to remain a few days longer in Cbristchurch has necessitated an alteration in his programme for this district. He will arrive in Oamaru on the 23rd inst., and will lecture the same evening and the following evening. The place where the lectures will be delivered has not yet been determined, bnt the pastor has notified a preference for St. Paul's Church, as it is the largest building. Admission to the lectures will be by ticket, one shilling being charged. The pastor has abandoned the idea of lecturing at Waimate and Otcpopo, ns his time is fully taken np, arrangements havii.g been made for his arrival in Dtinedin on the 25th instant.

For some time a practice lias been in vogue of catting and otherwise destroying papers and otber periodicals in the Athena.-iu», and this practice has now assumed such proportions as to necessitate the posting of a notice in the reading room, expressing the thanks I of the librarian to anyone who will give information aa to acts of this kind, and thus lead to'tlte punishment of the'offenders. Invariably the portions of the papers cut out contain items that above all othcra should remain . intact aud be kept for refer- nee, for which purpose the librarian m particularly auxiomi to keep complete fit;.-* of the papers. Those who are in the habit of mutilating the papers should scarcely need reminding of the f;u;ta that they inflict an injury upon the subscribers to the institute, and that they are guilty of actions very slightly removed from petty larceny. The inoutbly inspection of Volunteer# last uiqht waH exceedingly well attended. es-jM-cia'.ly by So. 1 (V.tnpniy, which mustered in :;troiig foicv. After the usual inspection of arnr>!, A.C., liad been completed, a Miort in ireil oat tool: place, tin; band-t of the Artillery and No. 1 Company playing lively aiiii. On retuiiiing to th<J wlied, ft hollow Kip tare wrif" formed, and < aplain .Su-iijftcl" presented the district prizes to tho winners, Vol. Ijarding, the wiuncr of tho firat rifle

to the front. Captain Sumpter also presented Captain Lindsay, of the North School, with lua commission. The Primitive Methodist congregation have for some months been dependent upon the courtesy of the Resident Magistrate for a place wherein to hold their meetings for worship, but they seem determined to make an effort to raise a suitable chapel in the town. A site has been secured for the edifice at the corner of Reed and Eden streets, and the work of erecting the building has already been commenced. On Monday evening, at half-past six o'clock, the ceremony of laying ,the ; , corner stone will be performed by . his "Worship the Mayor. Messrs. T. W. Hislop, M.H.R., G. Sumpter, and J. H. Milligan, and the Revs. A. B. Todd, H. Dewsbury, and J. J. Lewis are expected to take part in the services. Yesterday morning the North SchoolCadets held a Battalion drill, Captain Lindsay being in command, and the boys did very well. There were sixty on parade, as follows : 1 captain, 1 lieutenant, 4 sergeants, 54 cadets. In the afternoon the High School Cadets paraded,, under Captain Peattie. The parade was well attended, 93 of all ranks being present, as follows: -;1 captain, 1 lieutenant, 1 sub-lieutenant, 4 sergeants, 86 cadets. The' drill was movements in battab'on, and was very well gone through. Tobacco has some distinguished female devotebs in Europe. Emily Faithful, it is declared, smokes like a Michigan tug-boat, the Duchess of Edinburgh takes a quiet puff now and then, and the Princess of Wales keeps a little cigarette case which she hides profoundly from the smoke-abhorring nose of her royal mother-in-law, while the list might be extended by naming Elizabeth Thomson, the artist, Ratazzi, of Italy, and others. A very interesting document was handed to a reporter of a Wellington paper the other day. It was a bill that was made out in "Wellington in the year 1842. We find that the wage 3 for carting shingle, &c., per day,, was 30s ; turkeys were sold at 16s each ; geese brought 10s each ■ fowls, 8s per pair; butter, 3s 9d per lb. In those days very long tick tais given, as this account is dated from January,-1542, to December 25 m the same year.