ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1222, 17 March 1880, Page 2

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

' TO THE EDITOR OE THE OAJ|4»U MAPi. Harvesting operations in thia district are fast approaching completion. Threshing has commenced in a few places, and the returns so far a,re sufficient to satisfy the cravings of the most exacting minds. Some fears were entertained by the farmers as to the injury the• unstacked grain would sustain through-last week's rain, but with the : exception of the uneasiness caused them, I am happy to say there have been np other evil results. It seems that our local talent is not much appreciated by outsiders, for notwithstanding that it was one of the great inducements held out to entice the public ,to visit us, the concert of the 12fch was but very poorly attended, about a dozen persons putting in an appearance, more than half of whom were residents of the town.. This conoer-t, as your readers ate aware, was held for the purpose of clearing up the expenses in connection with the late Christmas sports. f The principal topic of conversation at present'is a ciancing match which is to come off on the 20th inst. between Messrs. Barry and Murdock, fo,r, a, case of English ale. It that the former gentleman's performance on the light fantastic toe at the recent concert elicited sonie derogatory remarks from the latter, whereupon a challenge was given and accepteid. The dances chosen Irish fig an 4 SftUftr's hornpipe to, b.e performed Thf.'fudges appointea to act on the occasion are Messrs, and burner, raon mrv*ql} esteemed by their fellow qitigens 5 in the meantime speculation is rife as to who will be the winner. The Irishmen are sure that Barry will be the man ■, while Scotia's sons feel confident their countrymen will bear off the palm. As both of them are considered adepts in this particular art, it is difficuit for me to surmise what upshot-will be:' i

The loafer element Is becoming conspicuous here, for the past fortnight our town has been infested by a set of disreputable characters, : whose only ambitionis t6 get disgracefully drunk, and although they beet} ref«s§4 admittance private (3P RVjbiig h<3ij§ps, yet persist on j remaining, continually the residents, the government, and thg coun-: try,| and..faking this oth§rwi§§ delightful litfcl§ retreat "anything but pleasaqt to live in. : Jf the preserve? .fli 'hep Majesty's peage legated here would only be a little more rigorous in the execution of his duty towards'these" incorrigible ruffians; : a gteat deal of annoyance and vexation wolild be saved . the residents, whioh at present they must grin and bear. The weather .is . delightful, and there is every prospect of its continuation for some time.

j Subscriber. iigapara, March 17, r 1 ■ ■ qio 5-HB EDITOR OF TgE OAMARTJ MAIX". Sir, —I see your bilious contemporary is at it again ; this"time the Gamaru School Committee is rousing his bile. Here, however,; he. is -convicted his ; usual ignorance of facts in addition to his usual spirit" of * envy and thinking evil of all other people's actions. . - • i : iii:

J]or, the p§veE thp tfl qut of Zea!^ land (for i take his word "transmarine" to imply" beyond the seas") fona matron for the High School. - It was merely desired that the advertisement should appear in papers circulating through thip Colony ?

whereas the Board has narrowed the announcement to Dunedin journala. • - Secondly, it was a natural wish of tho Committee's Chairman and of the Rector, '>■ before, proceeding to recommend a can- / didate for the not unimportant position,, to judge personally by her conversation, >* and also by her demeanor, in, say, taking: a class before their eyes experimentally. Surely Mr. Editor must be somewhat of a fool to imagine that women are made of such ultra-tender stuff as to feel any delicacy in a trial of that sort, particularly when a substantial salary is involved.

Your " bile-o'erflowed" contemporary's " obligato" has the usual amount of "rot" as an accompaniment, but this is beneath the notice of Paterfamilias, WHY IS IT ? Said the beetle to himself, " It's an abominworld ; I'm the only respectable per- | son in it." —Hans Andersen.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE OAMARtT MAIL. Sir, —Of what stuff is the J. P. Madeira this youthful and original Colony? Must he have a special intellectual endowment! Memory travels round among all the= available specimens near at hand and returns with a resolute No. ; Must lie ba morally " one among ten thousand ? No, no ; whitewash or veneer is quifce-goocL' enough for common use, and, so far aS/hii.r own castle is concerned, lie may be a. regular Bluebeard if he likes, so long ast he keeps his little weakness decently in a. ' secret chamber. There is no religious difficulty in the way. He may be a Jew, a. Catholic, a Presbyterian, or a Church-of-England man. He may be as sleepy as Major Ponto, as jovial as Sir Toby Belch, as bigoted as old Calvin, and yet be perfectly eligible. -Truly the .door, is a yirids;, one, but yet " there is a great gulf fixed" somewhere, for we see Very ordinary persons pass in, while their }jetiers are kept out in the cold. And why ? What is tho secret? ' 'Here it is, and it'is 1 worth a» Jew's eye. A man may be' never so we 11.,, fitted to hold and adorn such an office,, ; but if a grudging neighbor has a cousin, or brother, or particular . friend in,,. thei Government Offices,:there is an invisible speaking-trumpet, through which suspicions, light as thistle dowti, and slender statements from the same prickly nest, are borne , to the ears of dull authorityThe moral ofall this must needs be, 1 "Get wisdom, get understanding " —j&y'ou like'j but above all things get interest enough to fight your, .neighbor's giant, for if you are not first a Justice of War, you will,' never' be a Justice .of the 'Peace.-r-I am, &c. ■ HTTPIITOfn

yCERIST. Moeraki, March 16. .TO THE EDITOR OF THE OAMAKP MAIE. . Sib,—SQme.little timet, ago,'.you said in,, your paper that it was rumored that there were to be. cattle, yards, &&., for trucking cattle put up at Corrie<Jale. JSfow, sir, it is no rumor at all, but a fact. Not that farmers of Ngapara care about that,i£ justice were done us. It is a fact that Ngapara is surrounded with no less than 20 farms; varying from 150 to 1500 acres, not including a portion of Mr. Menlove'a magnificent estate of about 8000 acrea. It is too bad that we should be put ta so i much inconvenience when we are sending away stock. Trusting, dear sir, that you will put tl»a scribble into shipshape, and that the, rail-* ivay department will see to this grievance,, I beg to remain yours, A Ngapara Farmer. Fern Cliff, Ngapara, March 16.

. : ♦ : ■ OUR LADS AND LASSES. TO THE EDITOR OF THE OAMARTT MAIL. Sir,—So Mr. " Beware" lets his leetle out, bit by bit. He is the father of a young lady who was. insulted by " two or three lads, sons. of reputable, well-to-do, and well known tradesmen," and yet, instead of demanding from the parents of these culprits some solace for his wounded feelings, and an abject apology from these lads, he madly rushes into print, in order to back up the grossly outrageous state* meats made by your Ml\ "Beware," if he ted read the original i casus bsM., must have* seen that all our I young ladies course his amongst them), were branded as being " loud and hoidenish," and that their parents (of course " Beware" included) were vulgar and boorish. Now, Sir, whether your contemporary took his text from his personal of the frailties of Mr. " Revere," 1 Mwt "Beware," and her t\va associates, and ; jumped to hi§ hilipvts collusion that all werp similarly tainted, or whether ho mixed up this experience with what may be seen in the " Seven Dials" of Oamaru, and so got troubled in his hazy brain * immaterial to the issue, which i$ this : That a gross calumny h^ 3 . uttered against all Piijr and old ; all QV\r yo.upg their parents, r and qvw ieashWj bath male and female, If Mr. "Beware" insists that these charges are really true, of course he CiVfl only plead guilty as to himself} h,Q wishes to be designated a bftof his wife and daughter Wqpwiv&S (ft be as " Jo.ud hoidens,"- fcynoy in commo,n justice h© p,ught' ta get their permission first, unless, like his view of your trenchant article, " Beware" thinks that they are " contemptible and do not merit notice." Sir, I do not care about this subject further, as the original, keeps " $ i£k only. rea,3on,9Me t» he the justness of tha lashing received \ and ware"' a,nd, that other W&s> w Qhawver," (query, snab&erver) would like to divert attention to small side issues, and so get away from the question, yet the original offence only smells the more rank. J freely admit we have boors possibly Mr. " Beware" is thp. sample ; I freely ad]s# we. hi a W W. 4 hoidens, her companion not ftaip.ptea i and X deny altogether, the assertion that even. one of our good " cits" deserves to be styled a boor, or that any of our respectable; girls are either loud or hoidenish, I am, &c. ? PWPK, lfth M ar #-.