Untitled

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1270, 3 May 1880, Page 2

Rnmnr is still busy with the names of

probable candidates for the vacant seat in f the House of Representatives. The latest I phase of the matter is that the farmers had on Saturday resolved upon presenting a j strong requisition to Mr. John Church to allow himself to be placed in nomination, I !' but we understand that Mr. Church will not come forward. Mr. W." H. S. Roberts has definitely determined to go to the poll, and, . jf he does so, Mr. Jones will, of conrse, not a oppose him. ■lt is not yet known whether or not either Mr. JJnncan Sutherland w Mr. John Reid will come forward. An effort is, we are informed, being made to prevent a split in the votes by inducing one of these gentlemen to resign. It is also stated that a portion of the community is anxiously waiting for a reply from Mr. John McLean, and that Mr. James Lees and Mr. Feldwick willenterthecontest. Itisthereforedoubtful who the candidates will he, bntinth® course of a day or two the public will be in fuUinformation upon the question. Since writing the above we have received the following regarding the intentions of candidates; i a meeting of Mr. Reid's supporters held to-day, it was resolved, to send a requisition to that gentleman asking him to come forward. Mr, Reid will, therefore, ' positively be a candidate. Mr, Sutherlandwill, we understand, definitely decide tomorrow as to whether or not he will be a ; candidate. Mr. Roberts announces himself in our advertising columns. rifc is believed that Sir George Grey will address a meeting iii'Otaiaru, when on his way south, next week, No. 1 Company and the Citizens' Cadets will meet for parade it the' Old Cricket Ground this evening, at 7.30 o'clock, The announcement that they, were to-have met on Saturday evening was erroneous. . A meeting of the members of- the old North Otogo Tnrf Club will be held at the ::

Empire Hotel to-morrow evening at 8 o'clock, A meeting of the Bo»rd of Governors oi the Waitaki High School waehehl to-day al Mr. Sampler's office. There were preseni —Messrs. Shrimski (Chairman), Sutherland, Gibbs, and Sampter (Hon. Secretary). The first business done was the selection of a site ipr, the proposed High School and grounds, the site chosen being that portion of the land facing the sea, and consisting of 30 acres. After some discussion, it was resolved; " That the area between the injun road and the railway be let by public amotion for 14 years in lots of five' acres each or thereabonta, with the right of renewal for another seven years at a rent to-be-fixed by arbitration, subject to the incoming tenant paying full valuation for all stone buildings, and two-thirds for all wooden building* that may be erected; and that the Remaining portion ; be let for one year, excepting such portion (if any) as may be at present set aside for | the Board's purposes.** The npset"prices;of the sections fronting the "Main {were fixed atL7 10s and of the back sections at L 5 per acre per annum. It having been decided that the sale shonld take place on Saturday, 15th inat., the Board adjourned.

An accident of asi occurred to ) the evening train from Duntroon on Saturday. When at Uxbridge the couplings of ?. some of the unfastened, and the engine and the train proceeded, on its journey as far as Aitchison's, before stopping, the driver not observing the loss of some of the carriages. After the engine stopped, the disconnected, carriage ,64me down the line at a tolerablerate, withthe,,, result, that in the concussion between the; two portions "of the train two carriage buffera were damaged, and the guard (Mr. Scott),, who "was standing on the platform of* the guard's van, was. thrown, off the train,, but fortunately escaped any serious injury. The passengers were startled and shaken a little,; but no further damage was done than we have stated. : : j Mr. George M'Lean will shortly address his constituents. ; . . Our own. correspondent at Timaru wires us thatLthe-woman'Reilleyi who.;fell -off .the 'express on Saturday afternoon. waa well enough to take, her passage in tie. .train which will arrive in Oamaru from there this evening. " She explains that she jumped' off because' she - dropped her parse containing three pounds, which she thought was too good to lose.' : - v - L The ignorance certain of our eontemik>raries are displaying in dealing with the railway question, is extraordinary. A few days ago we exposed the fallacy of the Dunedin Star's statement that the cause of the meagreness of the railway-revenue was the unpaying nature of branch . lines. • The Wellington Post has evidently' fallen into th«j same error, for it says:— " In-, a • recent article we analysed- the- last official report on our railways. We showed incontrovertibly that while the ' legitimate' railways, the.main trunk lines, have proved .faifty reproductive, the ' political'., railways, •including numerous branches and- short-lines clamorously demanded by Otagoand Canterbury, not only failed to be profitable, or even to defray interest of cost, but actually have not paid their current. working expenses, have been ran at a dead loss to the rest of the Colony." - These remarks are so absurd that it i 3 scarcely necessary to contro. -vert them. : The reason why branches pay less than main lines," in proportion to expenses, is, because they are so much shorter. Our contemporaries appear to forget, too, that the receipts from the main line is very considerably swollen by the traffic that flows into it from the branches, Reference is-made, to .political, branches:in Canterbury and Otago. We are unabletocall to a single branch line in either of those districts that was not rendered necessary as

a means of transporting agricultural produce

or coal. If lines that traverse for some thirty miles or so thickly populated and well-cultivated agricultural districts cannot be made to pay, what can? Our opinion is that the main line could no more afford to do without them than they could afford 'to dowithout the main line.'Besi'des, i' should be remembered that they have been constructed with the idea of-extension, every mile of which will still further and appre-

ciably increase their paying capacity and that of the main line.

Queen's Birthday is likely to be observed with true spirit. During the day jthere will be a Volunteer review, in which the seyeral Oamaru Companies,- the Hampden Rifles, and the Otepopo Rifles will take part.' In the evening there will# we believe, be a concert, and ball at the Volunr teer Hall, the proceeds from which will! be

devoted to the funds of No'. 1 Company's . band. The. band is now engaged, under the conductorship of Mr. G. Jones, practising operatic and other selections for-the occasion. In connection with this, we may jremind pjeipbers that a practice will be held at the Volunteer Hall to-morrow evening..

Since /writing our paragraph wijiel) appeared/in Saturday's issue in reference to. Mr. Heywood's show of clirysantliemus in Mr. Mote's -Window, ~ Mr. Heywood has adde4 to the collection a large number : of other choice varieties. We understand that this is the first public show of chrysanthemums ever made in the Colony by the profession, and we feel called upon to again (Congratulate the grower on the variety and excellence of bis exhibits. We hope that Mr. Heywood's example will enjujate others to cultivate this beautiful pjapt. p possesses the rare advantage of enlivening gardens winter whose only adornment would be the faded remains of less hardy annuals. .It comprises colors of unsurpassable brilliance, Sftd.. is. withal, easy of . cultivation and infexpensivVjS. W-& have already hacl the pleasure of reprinting from thp Jjyttelton Times testimony as to the excellence of Mr. Forsyth's exhibit? at Chrjstchurch of this favorite herbaceous psrenpfel. He seem? to have quite taken the Canterbury folk ; by surprise and eclipsed all their, efforts, and we see :no reason. why a chrysanthemum show should not be arranged far this district by the florists (amateur and professional). We know that the magnificent results attained by Mr. and Mr. Forsyth have brought the chrysaathepjun* Into great favor amongst the amateurs of this di?tyict. W§ should like to s«e the idea taken up..

■■■The, North Otagb. Coursing Qlftb will inaugurate its third season on Wednesday iiert'with a Puppy Stakes, of' Ls' 5b each, ■for which 34 youngsters have entered. At the same meeting the Vice-President's Plate, for 16~d09s »f all ages, atX4 each/ will also be ran, Ip the .money prizes, a bracelet, valued at L 5 5s will )be givop'by Mr. J. D. Kett. of the Royal Hotel, • to' tb.e winner of this Puppy Stakes, and the VicePresidents of the Club (Messrs. Hedley and Otterson) will present a piece of plate to the winner of the All-Aged Stakes. ' Entries for the Vice-President's Plate and acceptances for .the Puppy Shakes Oiugt be lodged, with the Secretly (Mr. W. ..jjf. Rpijayjie) hot later than 8 o'clock fco-mopro,w evening, i/p.mediately after whiaH the ' draw, .will take place at the Royal Hotel, .. r " . , ,

j. The Kakanui. Dramatic Club announce a I- performance to be : given on' Friday evening in the local Athenamm. The programme 1 will comprise "To Paris and Back for £5," , a musical interlude, and "Found in a Fourafter which a ball wilf bp held. I .The, price of admission to both portions! of the entertainment is fixed at- reasonable; figures, 1 and, added to the known ability; of i L the performers;should be the. means of at-; tracting a" large andience. In order, to, give; residents'in Oamaru an opportunity of being , present, jani paying a flying visit toKalca-i nui. a cab will-leave- tjie Star and Garter ;■ Hotel athalf-pafifc6o : ~ j ! At the Resident Magistrate's Court to-dsjy, | before T. W. .Parker, Esq., 8.M,, Thonias j Alexander, for haying been drank and, dis-1 orderiy,' was fined ss, With the 24 appeared for thefourth jfcirne, was charged with having been drunk and disorderly, and, vu fined lA, with the option of going 'to gaol for 15' days. Patrick Lane, on suspi- ' eion of being of unwind ipind, was re*, Qanded, Joseph Jenkins, for

the peace,JjrM 1 sriUi the option ct 28 day*' fopnsoipinent.' I'i Warden'a Conrt wiil be held : *fc liiete* Ifrhfcnua cm Wednesday, - Mr. Towsey, the - organist of St. Paul's, Dunedin, arrived from. Londou on Saturday-; ■r -The-South* Canterbury* Times pnder,a ; ' nusapprehension as 'to -the nature of our' 'harborr^"l£ says Hirtior "Board "is j fwp>wrtg-fnir' rencounter -with'-th& floating dungle- -It-is proposed, if the shingle will only permit, to make the Breakwater secure as a dock." Would our contemporary be good enough to indicate where the shingle is? It must he the ' shingle theyare short of in our contemporary's office. Stacey's Panorama of Australia and New Zealand was well patronised again on Saturday evening, when a second collection of prizes were distributed. The Stewarts, who some time ago performed with so much success in Australia and this Colony, are doing a splendid business at the Theatre Royal, Bombay, of whiih establishment Mr. R. Stewart is pow lessee. Mr. Frederick Buckstone, eldest son of the late Mr. J. B. Buckstone, is suffering severely from pulmonary consumption, and will probably visit Australia for the benefit of his health. ! M. Henri Ketten, a pianist of groat gkiU, j was to leave San Francisco by the laßt mail steamer for a tour through Australia and New 7*4W, He is pronounced by the San f i Francisco Post "a most remarkable and wonderful pianist." : As an example (says the South Canterbury Times) that some of the threshing machines in this district are not the duffers represented in a recent letter to a Tjmaru contemporary it may be mentioned that ope working at Makikihi threshed out 2045' bushels in one day lately, and has averaged 1505 bushels per day for the last seven weeks' work. '' „

Major Willis, in a letter repudiating the charge laid against him of being a party to pre-arrangement that he should retire ;in favor of Sir William Fox, says :—"Now as to the sense of talking of a pre-arrangement. Twenty years ago such 3> thing might have been done. It is a case of another king having arisen who knows not Joseph. The old settlers are in a minority; more than j half the electors of Rangitikei are newcomers and strangers to Sir William Fox and his antecedents, and with them he has no personal influence whatever. A resignation in favor of f-ir William Fox is therefore a most patent absurdity." The Major here implies, perhaps unintentionally, that as the bulk of the electors of the Rangitikei district were not acquainted with Sir Wm. Fox in the days of his political glory, and only kncftr him as the aire opponent" of Sir George Grey and his party, pnd seemg-to- think it necessary to indicate that, because he once worthy of the of the settlers, and ; not • .because of any virtues which he at present possesses, he should be elected t6 fill the position that he (the Major) has-vacated. The area of land taxable under pasturage lease and license in tfye several districts is as follows bury, 3,093,754 acres; Otago, .6,253,975 acres. The total amount of land tax payable i\- L 9952. ' r

Mr. George W. Lovie the ■ Ssui Mateo Gazette) has triedvajiexperiment with oats which has prpvpd very satisfactory. He sowed sojne oats which had been gpaked in diluted carbolic'acid,-.-and the grain has turned out three times the yield of that sown in the ordinary way,- both ; bping in the same kind-'Of soil:' I

The Home .correspondent of the Auckland Star writes jfrbin London as follows : "Ourselves," the successor of "Our Boys," apd '• The Girls" proved a complete failure, and «ill p^yer r gee. Jight. ill the colonies. Mr. Frank B'urnand is the author, gn4 op the first night a jovial god shouted out, " Look here, Frank, the last piece you gave us was that play; 'Unlimited Cash,' arid this is ' Unlimited Trash.-'" ; - -

We sympathise' with -the Ashburton Mail when it denounces ttye Property Tax Department for oniitting to publish its announpe r ments in that paper. It contends that all concerned should be made aware of matters of such jpjportance by,means of the fullest .possible publicity. Of course the Ashburton: Mail is read propter p.ever read any, other paper. How are these to be made answerable their ignorance of the demands "and intentions of the Government' regarding"the tax If Jth6'department neglects through carelessness or a desire to exhibit a virtuous regard for public money by saving a few shillings, to adycftise in papers that haye b,een raised to important pogffcioijs through tlje support of people who have a right to T>e eijljgfxtened on matters their jgnorapce of wWeb inight be vexatious %nd s costly to them, A novelty has been introduced In the working of the Fell incline on the Riniutaka, which promises to be a great improve-. ment in economy. Hitherto, as is well Jijjowiij the Fell engines have been used? to push the trains up tlj.e steep ass nt of 1; in 10, so tha| in 'the event' of ft gotypljug breaking the engine would be able, by its powerful brake, to prevent the too rapid descent of the train down the declivity, This, however, involved a heavy loss, in tractive power, which Mr. Ashcroft haa i been' endeavoring, we believe, for some tijije past to find a means of remedying. ffip plan ftfiw adopted is to push the waggopg, To this Fay, two ojp %se extra vehicles can bp tftken per trip up tlje incline, and a proportionate saving in work' ing expenses effected. Thus a passenger train is pushed, a goods train pulled, and when the train is a -mixed one the engine goeg jn noddle, with the passenger carriages iij fr.ont »n,d thjj gogiis waggpns beblnd, The appearance is odd, buttle result highly satisfactory, "

Writing of the resignation of Major Willis and Mr. Hislop, the Timaru Herald says Mr. Hislop, one of the members for Waitaki, has also resigned now. He was a prominent member of the Opposition, and, it mustibe admitted, one pf ttje most troublesome of the. obstructionists session, ffjß avowed reason for resigning, we understand, is tfyafc he cannot spare the time from his business' to attend properly to his Parliamentary duties. . . . There seems to be a

great deal of indifference in the as to filling -up his seat, but we hope that pftvqepnp will yet be found worthy to. represent so important a district. The South Canterbury Times gayg siat it hears on tolerably good authority that Mr. Sperrey, Chief Commissioner of tjie Property Tax, has issued instructions that in cases where assessors are in doubt as to any property coming within scope of the Act, which a lipjit of LSOO, they are to fix an excessive, valnation, and i)?ake necessary for -persons aggrieved to appeal,!

fete i I and' prove-that tijie yJue 1 , o|,their property: is leas thaiithe amount esiainatedVlf tHe information; received by 'our contemporary be the action 1 contemplated by Mr. Spertey is subversive hi the-Brightest ted most admirable of British principles. We arc aware of the difficulties that stand in the , way- "of • the administration -of theAct'j but that is not the fault of the people, but of the GoverniPeiit to whom the Act owes its existence. It ? is' quitev possible that men, innocent of any "intention to misrepresent their position, and who may, indeed, afford assessors correct estimates of the value of their possessions, may be harassed and incur loss of time and money through the officiousness of assessors.

"The Rev. Father LarWn (says the Wanganui Chronicle) whose career in New Zealand has not been altogether untroubled, but whose conscientious efforts on behalf of his Church and co-religionists none will deny, is qbout tq leayq this Qolony .for San Franoisco, He has just had two addresses presented to by the Catholics of Wellington, and the other by the Hibernian Society, The first was accompanied by ,a purse of sovereigps. Father Larkin, in returning thanks, stated he was leaving New Zealand fqr ever," ,

Some people , argue that unionism effects no good, bat the success which has followed the Kent apd Susgex Agricultural Laborers' Union is convincing proof to the contraryr Looking -the balance-sheet -for the past year vre find ~ that the income during the- twelve mouthsof 1879 reached the . sum cf L 14,000..„ As, our readers 'are aware, one the means" of . increasing the rate of' farm wages: adopted by the Union is the emigration of - surplus labor to the. Colonies. In the.beginning, oi the year J879, OOQ pep were sent to New Zealand, and it is: satisfactory-to note that all obtained employment immediately on their arrival. A personal .inspection of over twp hundred who had previously emigrated to and settled/. W : vSriops parts of N BW 35e$land the auspicesof the Kept and Sussex Union showed that all. were found to be doing well, and thirtyrfive of the homsteadswere. the property' of the 'laborers inhabiting | thein, 'vrbo ef i«w*. it,is.j not top pmch to say that many of these laborers vouldneyer risen to the copipetency tbejr now enjoy had they? remained in England.—Edglish paper,- j