Untitled

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1246, 15 April 1880, Page 2

The following telegram was received by Messrs. Hialop and Shrimski, M.H.R. s, in reply to their message of Monday last regarding the W indsor-Livingstonc railway unemployed " Arc you really of opinion that it is necessary to open Windsor section for the unemployed. I hear from Mr. Blair that the demand for employment is not so gre*t a3 it was a few weeks ago. —E. Oliver." To thi3 the members have sent the following reply" Yes, certainly; otherwise live would not have moved in the matter,"

We and tba public have long prognosticated that some day a serious accident would occur on the level crossing over Thamesstreet. On several occasions this gloomy forecast lias too nearly approached fulfilment, and this morning another instance of the jeopardy to life and limb caused by this awkwardly-situated crossing has been added to the list. This morning's narrow escape occurred in this wiso Mr. Thomas Patterson was crossing the line from Hood and Shennan's corner in his new landaa, in which were a number of passengers, a3 a train for the south was approaching the 1 the crossing. He says that he heard no whistle, and we believe him; for, although oar reporter, who was near the spot at the time that the train waa approaching, heard the whistle, he was informed by a number of persons who had been warned by the flag of the keeper of the crossing to await the passage of an approaching train, that they did nob hear it. Seeing or hearing no warning, lie essayed to cros3 the fine. V« hen on the point of crossing, the keeper bade him go back. In trying to obey, the heads of his horses became turned towards the engine, which was within three yards of the vehicle, and travelling towards it. There was no time to be lost, and lie whipped liis horses over the line, fortunately succeeding in getting clear just in time to avoid the cowcatcher and a fearful smash and loss of life. It is not likely that a' man would so recklessly and wilfnlly rush into the jaws of jjeath as to cross the line when a train was speeding towards the crossing down a steep decline. It may be a matter of surprise to those who

arc not aware of the whole of the circumstances attending the narrow escape, that Mr. Patterson neither Baw nor heard any of the several indications of the approaching train. He could not see it from the street because a view of the line is obscured at, this point by the intervention of the Council Chambers ; he did not hear the whistle, because, perhaps, of the rattle of his and other vehicles on the road ; and he did not see the flag of the crossing keeper because he was directly behind him, and the keeper held, aswe believe is his duty, theflag straight" before him, in order that the engine-driver might the better be able to see it. So far as our reporter could see, no particular blame is attachable to anyone. 'J he cabby, as we have shown, can scarcely be charged with carelessness the engiiie-driv er thought that he was blowing a whistle sufficiently strong, and the crossing keeper was obeying to the letter his instructions. To obviate accident at this point, drivers should blow their whistles -loudly, and keep up the screech until danger is over; travellers should carefully look up and down the line, and look out for the crossing keeper, who should be dressed in a red coat, so as to render him readily distinguishable, and, "to make assurance doubly sure," the keeper might wave, or, if possible, hold his flag in such a manner that those directly behind him could see it. So far as this crossing is concerned, the bye-law contained in the Public "Works Act is a monstrous absurdity. It forbids crossing the line within a mile of an approaching train, and, as a matter of course, must necessarily be infringed twenty times a day, as the train is not visible at a distance of even two hundred yards, being shut out from view by intervening curves and buildings, some of them Government buildings, viz., the Post and Telegraph offices. Besides this, even if the whistle is blown strongly enough to be heard, there is an echo, which leads hearers to suppose that the train is approaching along the Esplanade from the north. In short, it is the most dangerous crossing in the Colony that we are aware of, and will some day be the scene of disaster. Let the railway authorities see to it. It may be more economical to prevent an accident than to pay for one. An all-aged stake was advertised to be run under the auspices of the South Canterbury Coursing Club on the 14th of this month. As is, of course, well known, the event did not come off, it having been indefinitely postponed. Strange to say, no intimation of the postponement was sent to the nominators of this district, whatever might have been done in the case of other districts. We need not say that this unfa usiness like remissness of the Club occasioned the nominators of this district no little expense and much inconvenience, as they had trained their dogs uo to the moment that the event was to have come off, in order to render them fit to compete. Experts in coursing matters will know that this means an expenditure of canine energy which can be ill afforded for the sake of mere fun. Nor will the Club find their forgetfulness or neglect advantegeous. Owners of dogs, in this district at all events, will reluctantly come forward on future occasions, as they will be suspicious of a repetition of the sell of which they now complain.

We have been informed that Mr. Haddon Dennison has kindly sent to the Hospital what was left over from the bachelor's table at last night's Wesleyan soiree. At this evening's meeting of St. Paul's Young Men's Association a lecture will be delivered by Mr. G. Brownlee, on the " Songs and Ballads of Scotland." This subject, in such able hands, should be of a very interesting and instructive character. The meeting will commence at 7-30, aud all young men are cordially invited to attend.

We are informed by Mr. M'Kerrow that statements which appeared in our columns a short while ago, headed "A Scene at the Hampden Road Board Meeting," to the effect that he called Mr. Munro a toady, and that the meeting broke up immediately on the conclusion of a warm discussion between Mr. M'Kerrow and Mr. Munro, without passing a vote of thanks to the Chairman, are incorrect. Mr. M'Kerrow wishes us to correct our report by stating that he called Mr. Munro " a tout," and not a toady, and that when Mr. Munro objected to the designation, and said that if it was not withdrawn lie would call Mr. M'Kerrow a liar, Mr. M'Kerrow, for peace's sake, qualified ljia statement, and said, "If you are not one, it looked very like it." The following business affecting this district was transacted at yesterday's sitting of the Waste Lands Board Mr. A. H. Chapman applied that sections 5 and 6, block 3, Kurow, be reduced to 20s per acre, .and offered by auction. The applicant pointed out that the land had been previously offered 3t 403 in vain. It was in the bed of the Waitaki, and was subject to floods. The Board agreed to offer the land at 21s per acre.

At the Resident Magistrate's Court today, before T. W. Parker, Esq., R.M., Michael Kelly was charged with drunkenness, and was fined ss. Richard Jenkins, for a similar offence at Duntroon, was mulcted in a penalty of 10s, or tg undergo 48 hours' imprisonment ; and for using obscene language the same prisoner was ordered to pay a fine of 403, or to go to gaol for 10 days with hard labor. Alfred John Young and Emma Jane Young, charged with being neglected children, were sent to the Industrial School, the former for 10 years and the latter for 11 years. James. Dunn was fined 10s for neglecting to keep his yard clean.

Mr. Hallenstcin, the head of the firm of Messrs. Hallenstein and Co., clothing manufacturers, has performed an act that is worthy of the prominence that has been given to it by the Press. Being on the eve of his departure for Europe, his employes signified their intention of making him a very handsome and valuable present of silver plate. Instead of accepting such an evidence of the goodwill of bis work-people, he expressed himself as sufficiently gratified with their disposition to show their approval of him as their employer, and proposed that a benefit fund should be established amongst them, and that they should, instead of making such a present to him, devote the amount, which he would supplement by a present of LSO, to forming the nucleus of such a fund. Tl>e suggestion was accepted, and it is impossible to predict th§ good that may result from this act of generosity.

We have received from Chicago a copy cf the Tribune of that city and an exhaustive pamphlet on the Andjpho&e, invented . by Mr. Hi chard S. Rhodes. The Tribune eon_tains a long statement of how people are being gulled by a spnrious imitation manu. factured by the American Dentaphone Com. pany, wliich is fearlessly denounced, in Yankee fashion, as a pack of swindlers. TJie Pall Mall Gazette reiterates an opinion which it holds with no less anxiety than conviction, ope of the most important

of all facto Mtire of" Englandis this : Thrptigii the extraordinary develop-, ment j>f the grain-growing industries abroad; and operation; Of an irreversible system of free trade, arid the multiplication - and aggrandiseritent of foreign navies, the.people of this country are exposed to great peril of starvation, or panic of starvation, in the event of any hostile alliance against us ; which does not seem impossible aa things go.;

A remarkable of = t he value of the Rotorua Lake, ~ medicinally" considered, 'has just come to our knowledge, which proves most incontestably the curative properties of the hot springs near that locality. Some six weeks ago Mr. W. Boyd, of the Wellington Trust and Loan Investment Company, was lying at what he considered to be death's door. He was then, and liad been for some time, suffering most severely from paralysis. As a last resource he acceded to the wishes of some of his friends to visit the hot springs near Lake Rotorua, and, accompanied by his wife, he took passage by steamer for Taurauga. So convinced was he that he would never return alive that he refused to take a return ticket, although Mrs. Boyd had one, and in melancholy tones bade good-bye to the various friends who went to see him off. On arrival at Tauranga he had to be carried ashore, so helpless was he; but before leaving the steamer he made some small presents to the steward, among them being a pair of boots; which he said he should never want again, as he felt he was approaching his end. The journey to Tikitire was made by coach by Mr. and Mrs. Boyd, the lady having to act as nurse to her husband, who was thoroughly despondent, and apparently resigned to his fate. Tikitire is nine miles from the springs] and the invalid was carried this distance, >and he and his wife took up their lodgment in a deserted Maori whar6, where the lady made herself and her husband as comfortable as she could under the circumstances. And then the invalid commenced to take vapour baths daily and regularly. The result was that in three weeks he was thoroughly cured, and felt as strong and hearty as he had ever done in his life. Be returned to Wellington a few days ago, and his friends were hardly able to recognise in the hale and hearty man before them the paralysed invalid who had left Wellington six weeks before.—N\Z. Times.

The following letter appears in to-day's Timaru Herald:—"Sir,—l scarcely think the explanation in your issue of the 12th instant of London wheat quotations to be correct, as the difference 10s per quarter (Is 3d per bushel) is far in excess of the warehousing and other London charges. I take it rather to rise from speculative causes in the following manner : —At the principal grain ports of England it is an every-day occurrence to buy cargoes of grain to arrive. In the case of wheat cargoes of Adelaide, bought at an uniform price because the quality of South Australian wheat is uniform and well known. In American wheat a sorting at the various grain- depots place, and cargoes are shipped of uniform quality, but in the case of New Zealand shipments, as everyone knows, a ship may contain all sorts, and all qualities, and such a cargo bought to ; arrive : means being bought at a pig-in-a-poke price, the purchaser running as safe a risk as he can with the contingency of his ship turning out a heavy proportion of inferior qualities. I see no reason to fear that when New Zealand wheat is exposed for sale in London, it will bring its fair and honest value; but. under speculative conditions it will be open (so long as our shipping is conducted as at present) to bringing arbitrary and unsatisfactory values. A season like the present,.: unfortunately giving the farmers of this district a very unsatisfactory quality, suggests, to. me the necessity which exists for doing something to prepare these inferior'qualities for 'shipment Home. If the grain were dried, cleaned, and sorted, it would be a much more satisfactory method than , risking each parcel on its own merits. The production of the district would warrant such an enterprise, and until something of this sort is done our export in seasons like this will continue to be a source of vexation and loss, besides lowering quite unnecessarily our .character in England as a grain producing colony.—l am, &c., W. Moody."