The Oamaru Mail SATURDAY, JULY 31, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, 31 July 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail SATURDAY, JULY 31, 1880.

Captain Edwin telegraphs that there are indications of an increasing sea. The inward San Francisco mail arrived todav by express from Christchurch, and arrengements have been made for the counter-delivery of letters and newspapers during the evening. There will be no delivery in town to-day by letter-carriers of; this mail, but the Post-office will be kept: open till S p.m. to-night. It will be gratifying to farmers holding large quantities of wheat and oats to learo that improvements have taken place in both cereals. Wcliaveheardof acaseinwhich3s lid was offered for a large parcel of wheat, and refused, 4s being demanded, with the stipulation that unless the transaction was closed to-day, it wou d be withdrawn. Long oats are now quoted at Is 2d and milling oats at Is 6d. The dignity of the House of Representatives has received a terrible shock. Major Paul, the sergeant-at-arms, the bearer of that "gilded bauble" the mace, as Mr. Swanson calls it, has resigned, in consequence of the House ruthlessly cutting down his salary l»y LIOO. The head messenger has been pressed into the service, and carries, after the fashion of a nurse, the gift of Sir Charles Clifford in his arms and places it on the table ss the Speaker marches into the House every day with majestic step, and opens the, often unseemly, proceedings with prayer. It may be mentioned that some two years ago, Major Paul bought out his predecessor, Mr. Greenwood, at a sum equal to two years salary, so that he has hitherto received no direct benefit from the occupancy of the po3t.

It would be well for those doing business with the Telegraph Department to bear in mind that the change of hours during which the office mil be open will come into operation on Monday, from which date the offices at Auckland, Bluff, Christchurch, Dunedin, Grahamstown, Invercargill, Lyttelton, Napier, Nelson, New Plymouth, Oamaru, Port Chalmers, Timaru, Wakapuaka, and j Wellington will be closed daily between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., so far as the transmission of messages is concerned. A clerk will be in attendance to receive telegrams between those hours, but the messages will not be transmitted until seven o'clock. The extra charge of sixpence on all messages despatched to or forwarded from no less than SS small offices will come into force on the same day. Among these offices are those of Duntroon, Hampden, Herbert, and : Kakanni. Miss M. Nicol, who has finished her term of service as a pttpil teachei - under the Oamaru School Committee, having been for two years in the High School and two years in the North School, was yesterday presented with a handsome chain and locket, the gift of teachers and children of the latter school. Mr. Fleming, Chairman of the School Committee, made the presentation. He said that a gift of this nature showed that there existed a cordial feeling between the teachers themselves, and a feeling of respect and love between Miss Nicol and those whom she had taught. He ex- | pressed the belief that Miss Nicol would not : have received this present if she had not deserved it. Miss Nicol, he said, had the sympathy of the School Committee in her endeavors to better her condition, and j especially in her wish to raise her status as a teacher by attendance at the Normal School- Mr. Forbes suitably responded on I behalf of Misa Nicol.

Mr. J. D. Rett's atnd dog Geelong Comet, the sire of Morning Star and Kathleen, and coupled with Almond Water as the sire of Petrea, Queen of the Seas, and Little Queen, all sluts well-known upon the coursing field, died at Temuka at the beginning of the week. Geelong Comet was bred in Victoria, and was by Wellington out of Venus. Through the quintette of pints above mentioned, he obtained a name as being one of the best stud greyhound dogs in the Colony, and his death is a severe los 3 to Mr. Kett. Fortunately Mr. Kett had obtained another litter of pups to maintain the name and reputation of old Comet.

It has been decided by the Crown law officers, we believe, that in view of the fact that the Borough of Oamaru will shortly—probably within a few days-be brought under the Municipal Corporations Act, 1876, and that a general election of Councillors will be required in November, that it is not necessary to hold the annual election the Otago Ordinance. Therefore, the election which should ordinarily take place early next month will not be held, and the present Councillors will continue in office until the time for holding an election under the Colonial Act. At that election the whole of the civic fathers will go out of office, #nd the ratepayers will be called upon to elect a Mayor and twelve members of the Council.

Raymond's Lime-light Diorama waß exhibited at the Athenreum Hall, Otepopo, last eveninu, before a capital attendance. The diorama proved highly entertaining. A capital evening's amusement was provided for the children attending the Teesstreet Hall and Sonth Oamaru Sunday School, when a panoramic, musical, and otherwise instructive entertainment was given in the Tees-street Hall. In order to cover the cost of the entertainment, which is one of a series to be given on alternate Friday evenings, adults were admitted at the small charge of one shilling. There were a .out 150 children present, besides a good sprinkling of grown-up people. The first portion of the programme was devoted to photographic views of Palestine thrown on the canvas by means of lime light, and accompanied by descriptive comments by Mr. C. G. Moore, and sacred selections played by Mrs. Moore upon the harmonium. During the interval Mr. Bock gave an exhibition of his high talents as a performer upon the English concertina by playing Bach's "Meditation" in fine style. The solo was admirably accompanied by Mrs. Moore on the piano and Miss Bi^knell

on the harmonium. The concluding portion of the entertainment was the reading of a touching poem entitled "Jane Conqiiest, freely illustrated by excellent views, and accompanied by soft plaintive music. Mr. Moore read the poem with considerable pathos, and the lnnstc supru'-'-d oy .-irs. Moore at the harmonium lent; an additional charm to the exhibition and reading. A comical view called "The Wheel of Life," in which a number of figures were thrown with amusing effect into a number of grotesque positions almost at lightning speed, concluded the entertainment. Mr. and Mrs. Moore are certainly to be complimented upon the excellent entertainment provided for the children, who showed their thorough appreciation of the efforts of their entertainers by behaving in a most creditable

manner. The Maoris are evidently becoming more audacious, and less thoughtful of the laws of the land Alluding to the tollgate set up by the Maoris at Fox ton, a township about half-way between Wellington and Wanganui, the N.Z. Times says: "A member of the firm of Messrs. Woods, Crosbie, and Co., of this city, states that since April last these Maoris have levied black mail on him to the extent of L 6 7s 8d for cattle, &c., passing along the road. They keep the gate locked, and put travellers to the inconvenience of rousing up a lazy, loafing Maori from his whare to bring the key and open it. Even the co,ach is thus detained. The tolls levied are—Cattle, 2d per head ; sheep, Id ; horses, Is ; foot passengers, Gd; coach, 3s 6d, and every passenger therein 6d per head; and the gatekeepers insist upon payment in cash or kind. A few days ago a swagger travelling from Wanganui got put across the ferry free, on conning to this gate, as lie had not the money to pay the toll, the Maori gatekeeper took a woollen coijiforter from him by force. It is said that intimidation of this kin 4 is by no means unfrequent."

A novel production of that branch of industry presided over by St. Crispin is on exhibition at the entrance to the shop of Mr. Hinchliffe, in Thames-street. This novel covering of the pedal extremity of man has created a considerable amount of amusement to passers by the shop, and there has been much speculation amongst the juveniles as to whether this is the veritable shpe in which an ancient dame is recorded in nurs.ery literature to have lived, with a numerous and incorrigible family. Its dimensions are as follow : —34 inches round calf of leg, 36 inches in length of sole, 30 inches over instep, 24 inches round the toe, and 14 inches across sole. Query—To whose order has this boot been made. We should very much like to meet tli£ man, unless he has a mouth in proportion. He might then be dangerous. The football match between the Zingari (Dunedin) and Oamaru Clubs, played today, terminated in the hollow defeat of the Oamaru team, who scored nothing, while their opponents obtained two goals and several touchdowns.

The following is a cheerful piece of information, if true "An American paper of May 14th says : South-western Minnesota, has just been visited by Foster,' whti was deputed by 500 Lincoli lire farmerage inspect New Zealand, with a view porting to them as a spot suitable for -them to emigrate to. He was so favorably impressed by Minnesota that he will recommend his countrymen instead of going to New Zealand." If this' statement is correct, we are not likely to receive very good value qf. tjac •pubjic exjjendituro lavished upon theXincqlhshire delegates. vl%. & ..* The says:—When the Stafford Ministry'was in office for some six i weeks in 1872 five votes were offer td Mr. I Stafford for sale. Their price was.duly set forth; but the Premier declined to buy. The same thing took place last year, and almost the same number of votes were for disposal. They were again rejected. Fox and Yogal bought the votes Stafford would not purchase. Mr. Hall followed in their footsteps, So far had this practice prevailed during the corrupt career of the Continuous Ministry that Vogel declared it cost the Colony three million sterling to keep himself and his many colleagues in office. Many people have expressed surprise at the manner in which Mr. Wakefield, M.H.R., turned against Sir G. Grey and his colleagues after assisting to put them into power. Is the explanation to be found in the following lines appearing at the end of a paragraph in a Northern paper?—" The member for Geraldine often declares orally and in print that Maori representation is a farce. Would his votes bear the scrutiny of an equally rigid analysis we wonder ? We have the recollection while we write of his application to Sir George Grey for a pension for a member of his family, which he did not get.',

Mr. Forbes is about to visit the Colonies and the United States. He will lecture on a new subject, one which will no doubt gain for him the largest and most appreciative audiences, <jnd which is to be entitled, "Royalties I have lj.nown." probably (says the Home News) no man living could do more justice to the task. Mr. Forbes, in the course of a long and highly adventurous career, has been privileged to make the acquaintance of crowned heads under all manner of circumstances. As a leading representative of an enterprising journal, he has had many opportunities of knowing our Royal Princes, with all of whom, from the Prince of Wales downwards, he is on more or less intimate terms. As a war correspondent he has been thrown more than once into the society of the soldier Sovereigns and warrior Princes of tlje Continent. He wa3 especially well received by the Czar, to whom, it will be remembered, he conveyed the earliest news of the capture of the Schipta by General Gourko, one of the most brilliant episodes of the late Russo-Turkish war. He has known the Czarewitch, the Red Prince, the late Prince Imperial, and others too numerous to repeat. Besides these, the more legitimate royalties of civilised life, Mr. Forbes has interviewed barbaric potentates of distant lands. He is one of the few Englishmen who have seen and spoken to Thebau, the gloomy tyrant of Burmah, while he has also met Yakoob Khan and Cetewayo and many others. A lecture based upon such rich materials cannot but prove highly attractive, and Mr. Forbes can count with certainty almost upon a great success. He is to start for America within a week or two, whence he will proceed to Canada, and he may be expected iu Australia about the end of the year.