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Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 31 August 1880, Page 2

The monthly meeting of the Kakanni Road Board will be held at 2 p.m. to-morrow.

We learn from head-quarters that the time for sending in the Property Tax Assessment forms has been extended to the 30th September, and that it is probable that new and less confusing forms will be issued* We suppose that an official announcement will shortly appear concerning the matter ; but at all events, taxpayers • are. relieved from all responsibility till the end of .September.

At last the Oamaru Waterworks, which have cost so large an amdunt of money, labor, and anxiety, are all but completed. All that now remains to be done is to finish the erection of the bridge from the valvetower, the contract for which has been let to Mr. George Day, and will be completed in about three weeks, to do a little cleaning up along the race, and to put in a few overbves. The water was turned on this afternoon as far as the flood-gates, for the purpose of cleaning out the race. It will be turned on permanently on Thursday next, upon which day the completion of the work will be celebrated by a half-holiday and a 1 demonstration.

The nomination of three candidates for election of Councillors in each ward will take place to-moriwy at noon at the following places Thames Ward, Mr. Hardy's office, Wear- street; Severn Ward, Oddfellows' jjali, Coquet - street ; High Ward, South School, Greta - street ; Jetty Ward, M*,! Colljs 1 store, Tyna-street. In order that there may be no misunderstanding v/e may mention that, under section 0Q of the Municipal Corporations Act, 1576, no person is eligible ior Section as a Councilor unless he is enrolled in respect of rateable property in oqe or more wards of the annual vaiue 01 L 25. We n)ay also mention that any ratepayer possessing the necessary qualification may be nominated for any ward irrespective of where his property may be situated, but his proposer and seconder must be Ratepayers in tjio ward for which the nomination is made. T'f e clause from which we have quoted from the Apt wiJJ intefpqse an obstacle to one ratepayer being nominated who has been mentioned. We aro informed that Mr. llitchie Young, who has been named, is disqualified from sitting in the Council, his property not being of the required value, and the ratepayers of High Ward will have to look out for another candidate. Di> Garland has, we believe, definitely determined not to ssek The Hon. the Commissioner of Telegraphs has directed that from and after this date the Dargaville station, in the Provincial Pistrict of Auckland, is not to be included in the list of stations bearing the sixpence extra charge. From and after this date' the telegraph station at Riverhead, in the Provincial District of Auckland, will be closed. On Friday evening, at eight o'clock, the next illustrated lecture of the series will be delivered in St. James' Hall, on which occasion the subject will be a temperance poem by the author of Sir Jasper, entitled "An old story"—not the " Old, old story." The £u?in ia l general meeting of the iSTorth Otagp Permanent Building Society will be held this evening at S o'clock.

When the names of the jurors for the Coroner's inquest were called over this afternoon, it was found Messrs. John Bulleid and Martin Taylor weye absent, It transpired, however, that they had sent substitutes, both in the persons of their assistants. The Coroner, while accepting the services of the substitutes, remarked that when persons were summoned to serve on a jury, their attendance personally was required, and they could not of their own motion send substitutes. Mr. William M'Kay who had been summoned to act, attended and explainjscj. that _ when served with the summons he was on hisjway to attend a race-meeting at Whare-Kuri, and unless he went there to-morrow morning he could nop go at all, He asked if he might be permitted to obtain a pubsfcitiite. In reply to the Coroner, he said if he went to Whare-Kuri he could not return until Saturday. He further stated that he had come from Otepopo this morning, and his Worship thereupon remarked that Mr. M'Kay should not have been called upon to serve, as he did not reside within the radius from which jurors were supposed to be obtained. Having found in the person of Mr. Swinard a man who was willing to sacrifice himself for the benefit of his country by acting as a juror, Mr. M'Kay wa3 released from attendance.

A witty remark is going the rounds of the press, and, as we liear4 it from the lips of the author (Captain Fairchild) we are in a position to give it in its original form. The Te Anau and the Hinemoa were sailing out of Vv ellington at about the same hour, and, viewing the .circumstance as a favorable one for indulging in batting, bets were laid and the captains of those yeasola informed that they would be expected to £0 their best to beat each other. Captain Fairchild, with his usual pluck, agreed to do his best, but exr plained that his vessel was foul, and he feayes] that the result of the contest would be unfavorable to her. .So it proved. He was afterwards good-natursdiy chaffed about the beating which he had suffered, but, equal to the occasion, he replied thus: " How can you expect us to keep up our speed when .the Government has taken so many pounds off our screw ?" Sattbi'jJ whose farms are contiguous to the railway lines \yill be glad to learn that spark-arresters placed in' th.e fujnipls of the engines will obviate the fires that hitherto occurred through the falling of sparks from passing engines. The settlers of the southern portion of the North Island are complaining of the depredations which were committed by sparks from engines last summer, and demanding that their engines also should be fitted with spark-catchers.

A correspondent pf tlje Hawera Star who attended the recent meeting at Parihaka, thus alludes to the famous game of fencing that is now going on in that district" The land fenced is a gqiiayp block, lying between Parihaka and the sea. It does not appear to have been previously used by the Maoris, till they found that the road was going through it. Then they planted on it, and fenced it in. The road runs nearly through the centre of it, and the fences thus cross the road twice within a distance of a quarter of a mile. The A.C.'s, when they first took the fences down, erected them along the sides pf the new cultivation, but the natives came and JijiQpkcd them down. From this circumstance it will b£ se<?n that it is not to protect the cultivation that' tfie fences are erected, but merely to carry out le' Whiti-'s instructions to stop the road. So far as I could see, the fencing has not been carried on recently near Major Goring's camp." The sawmillers, among the reasons which they .compiled to show why the railway tariff for tjie cajrrjagg of timber should not be increased (says the Southland Times) urged this one—that the sawmilling' industry employed such a large number of men that the unen)pioyed cry badnotbßen hoard in Inyercargill yet. As aujonftrmation of this fapt it may be noted that in the tenders for work which were opened by the Borough Council last night for four separate contracts, there were only ten separate persons who tendered, namely, twa for one contract, three for another, fpur for the third, and six for the fourth contract, §eycral of course tendering lor two .<?f the contracts.

According to the latest news from Fiji the colonists arc greatly exercised projected removal of the seat of Government' t.Q Suva. The residents of Levuks have sent in a petition to Sir Arthur Gordon with 65g signatures appended against the proposal, It is also signed by the chief Maafu who is a recognised leader of opinion among the native population. On the other hand, Mr. Paul Joske is busily engaged with a counter petition on behalf of Suva. It is understood that the Sydney houses which have invested capital at the present seat of Government will oppose removal. Sir Arthur Gordon is profoundly indifferent so far as he is concerned, and will, no doubt, be glad to get out of a decision which will displease at least one half the population, by coming to New Zealand. We (Wellington Post) have received ' a letter from qne of the men who recently left here for the Okaritq goldfield. He says that the storekeepers on the diggings are about to stop credit. There are old daggers at Hokitika who will not go near the place, and those who went there in the first instance are leaving every day. At present there are only 150 men on the field. The writer adds that it is no use for persons to go to Okarito who have not money enough to last tljem at least four months while they try their luck, and even he says he would not givg much for

taeir . chance. A water-race is needed before much godd- can be done.-' Our correspondent, in. conclusion, states that he is now on his way back to Nelson.' The S.S. Grafton, which arrived in Wellington ;; from the West ; Coast this morning, brought five or six ,men, who confirm the statement given by. our correspondent, and in fact state that some of. the men left be? hind are absolutely in an almost starving bondition.'