The Oamaru Mail. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 10 September 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1880.

The administration of the law under the present Licensing Act will always be provocative of an amount of hardship to a section of grocers, providing the constitution of the Licensing Bench remains as it is. This is forced upon the public mind through the refusal of the Licensing Bench yesterday to grant a bottle license to Mr, TF, Dixon, of the Co-operative Grocery Store. Several times has that gentleman applied for a license, and on each occasion he has been refused, sometimes without any sensible reason being assigned ; at others a vague and indistinct set of platitudes have been uttered. Yet what seems most puzzling to ordinary mankind, or at anyr»te to those not gifted with the power of seeing through the particolored spectacles of the present occupants of the Licencing Bench, is the fact that while the Commissioners yesterday refused a license to Mr. Dixon (who does a large country trade, in addition to an extensive town business), they granted a licence to another applicant in Thames-street who does very little, if any, country trade, and whose business is, comparatively speaking, not bnlf that of the applicant refused a license. Mr. Dixon can show almost innumerable applications from his country customers for the supply of wines, &c., yet he is compelled under the circumstances to go to another grocer for such necessaries. It is dilEcult to tell the motives actuating such uncontrolled gentlemen as the occupants of the Licensing Bench ; but this much is certain, that while they benefit one set of men at the expense of others in the same line of busine33, they inflict on the latter not only a hardship but an injustice that the Legislalature should seek to remedy at ife3 ripxt session. The system of granting bottle licenses should either be revised or abolished. The construction of the Duntroon-Haka-teramea railway is being pushed on with vigor. Messrs. Allan and Stumbles, the contractors for the construction of the line as far as the Upper Waitaki Bridge, have, we believe, 103 men engaged, and. wjlj. shortlv be prepared to take on 300 or 400 more, if the right class, of men are obtainable at reasonable wages. The contractors are evidently determined to lose no time in completing the work. During the month of August 2100 tons of coal was conveyed from the Shag Point Coal Mine by railway, north and cojith. Last night a train comprising 21 waggons loaded with coal from the mine arrived in Oamaru. The Company Is now employing a double shift of men, and the output amounts to from 150 to 200 tons a day.

Captain Edwin telegraphs : —" 1 p.m.— Indications show strong winds between north-east and north and west. The glass will farther fall."

Messrs. Anderson and Co. yesterday afternoon received a telegram stating that the three-masted schooner Alma had become a total wreck on the Greymouth bar. The statement published by us last evening in our telegraphic columns that the vessel was likely to be got off on the next day's tide doc 3 not appear to have beep realised. Efforts to bring about this end lye.rg apparently made, for we learn that the whole of the cargo of coal was thrown over' board. The Alma was an iron vessel, with a carrying capacity of about 300 tons, and belonged to the Alma Shipping Company, Westpoit. She was, we believe, well-in-sured, The cargo of coal lost was for Messrs. Anderson np>l Co., and was insured. From an advertisement in another colnmn itwill.be seen that a meetipg will beheld at the Star and Garter Hotel oft JVjQnday next, at S p.m., for the purpose of forming $ Committee to provide an entertainment in aid of the fnnds of the Fire Brigade. It is expected thai representatives from the Municipal Council, Caledonian Society, the insurance companies, and tha Fire Brigade will attend, and that a joint Committer will be formed to carry ont the object in an: enthusiastic spirit. For some time Mr. Edward Gilford, the well-known local artist, has been engaged upon a painting of the Oamara breakwater with a bird's-eye view of the town. The result of these labors, still unfinished, was on view at the Harbor Board's meeting toI day. As the picture is not yet completed, jit would be an injustice to the artist .to criticise it in detail, because the defects that are now apparent may very possibly feaye disappeared when Mr. Gif Ford has finished his work. This much, however, to may aay, that t&e painting gives promise of being one of Mr. Gifford's best efforts, and that is saying a very great deal. The representation of the Breakwater and it* immediate surroundings is very faithful, bnfc the artist is scarcely as happy in his portraiture of the the town, his bird's-eye view of Oamara giving bnt a poor idea of its. size. TJjb Chairman of the Board, in drawing tfee attention of members to the picture, said it would bo remembered that

some time ago the Board had authorised him to arrange with Mr. Gifford to paint a picture of the breakwater and town for exhibition at the Sydney Exhibition, but Mr. Gifford was then unable to do the work. It was for the Board to say whether or not they would purchase the present picture and send it to the Melbourne Exhibition. Several members thought it would be unwise to devote any of the Board's funds to such a purpose, and this opinion being very general, it was decided to intimate the fact to Mr. Gi fiord. There was only a moderate attendance at the Volunteer Hall last evening at the second entertainment of Bachelder's Combination. This was a matter for some regret, because a capital evening's enjoyment may be derived from accompanying the pantascope across the continent of America, viewing the grand scenery, and listening; to the lecture of Mr. Chalet with its witticisms. In addition to these pleasing features, throughout the entertainment there are others equally attractive, and not the least of these are the mechanical effects. To be understood these effects must be witnessed, the changes from day to night, the sunset, &c., being all excellently manipulated. M. Chalet is a really clever ventriloquist, and the performances of the automatic acrobats are decidedly wonderful and puzzling. The , pantascope will be exhibited again this | evening, and to-morrow afternoon there will be ft matin<Se for the benefit of children. At the Resident Magistrate's Court today, before T. W. Parkpr, Esq., R.M., a man charged with being drunk and disorderly on the gaol premises was cautioned and discharged. John Murray, for allowing two cqws to wander at large in Lune-street, was fined ss. Thomas Austin was charged : with allowing two horses to wander at large, with tether ropes attached, in Hull-street, on Sunday, September S. The two ends of the tether ropes were fastened together, and complaints had been made to Mr. Toms about the matter. Under the circumstances his Worship inflicted a fine of 403, The Oamaru Football Club will close the season to-morrow with a scratch match between sides chosen by the Captain and | Deputy-Captain from the followingplayers A. O. Hardy (Captain), E. Booth (DeputyCaptain), Snow, Jones, Clayton, G. Grenfell, Fort.eg, M'Donald, Crawford, Cooke, A. E. Hardy, Baliner, JJf/binspn, A. Church, D. Church, M'Leod, Ham, Legge, Blakely, Williams, Coats, W. Grenfell, Crawford, Finch, H. Moore, Walls, Ferens, Bannerman, Little, Buxton, Ridsdale, and D. j Gardiner, The Saturday Advertiser, in commenting upon the fact that Mr. P. K. M'Caughan, M.H.R. for Riverton, is to be banqueted by his constituents in recognition of his services in Parliament, draws attention to the fact that Mr. M'Caughan alone of the Otago members, exclusive of Ministers, voted for the impounding of the 20 per cent, of the land, and concludes :—Had Mr. M'Caugbaf} Voted with the other Otago members, the 20 per cent, of tj>e L&nd Fund would have been saved to Otago, As it is, his one vote lost it—a fact to be remembered hereafter. And it is this conduct," forsooth, which is declared to have "given the greatest amount of satisfaction," and has procured for him the honor of a publio banquet | A correspondent at Wajniate writes:— "Times being so bad, and business in all lines so dull, some interest was felt in the sale by auction of the baker's shop and dwelling, now in the hands of creditors' trustee in the estate of William M'Donald. The lot eonaitjt3 .of a fine two-storey brick building of eight rooms, including shop and offices in front, besides the large bakehouse and other out-buildings at the rear. It was offered for sale by Mr. Riekman, auctioneer, at his mart yesterday. The highest bid was by a local banker for LllOO. This amount not reaching the reserve, the lot was not sold. The amount owing to the Building Society on the property is LBOO, and had the lot been knocked down to the highest bidder, the creditors would have enjoyed the balance. The action of the trustee in not selling is considered unwise, and is freely commented pn.—Three of our Town Councillors having Served their term to the dissatisfaction of the ratepayers, to-day was appointed for the nomination of candidates. Seven ambitious ones were duly proposed, and we look forward to the 21st of this month (the day of election) for some fun. Ido not send you the names of candidates, because it is rather hard spelling; but I may mention that the Macks are to the fore, and if the chosen ones he gifted with the usual prudence of their countrymen, we may hope the lavish expenditure of money qn salaries will be reduced to a reasonable sum. At present, the Council's officers manage to pocket two thirds of the Council's revenue, though some of our corner financiers tried to disprove this."

Yesterday's Lyttelton Times tells the following story : —"Not long since a traveller took U P h' s quarters for the night in a waggon" belonging to Messrs. Murray and Forbes, carriers, of Ambprley, and afterwards told Mr. Forbes" that he had been robbed of upwards of L 5. Mr, Forbesthought no more of the matter until two days ago, when he was surprised at receiving a letter containing money, with the request that he would remit "to the man who had been robbed in his waggon." The writer, who simply gives initia's, states that he took the money, but on arriving at found there a cheque for a large amount awaiting him, and that fee had since been so troubled in his mind that'he couhj. Sflt rost until be returned the money taken; A3 hp Pfi olue to the rightful owner, he sent it to Mr. Forbes with a request to forward it. Fortunately Mr. Forbes happens to know the person, and will do so. It may be mentioned that the amount returned is exact even to 4Jd, which is made up'in stamps."

The New Zealand Times thus sums up the results of the session The net product of the financial policy of ISBO is the imposition of a threepenny beer tax, the arrangement of succession duties on a graduated scale, and the substitution of a simple form for a explicated form in the assessment for the property tax. flip 0 f those is, no doubt, a serious evil. The gecqnd is pf no particular importance one way qr the pfihep. The third is an unqualified blessing, and fully compensates the burden of the first, Thus X=X, and nobody has anything to complain of."