The Oamaru Mail. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 2 November 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1880.

Wp are informed that some exhibits of whTat beTn view at the forthcoming show of a most interesting and instructive nature These are various samples selected by the Hon. M. Holmes in Amenca, consisting of four samples taken out of the elevators at Chicago ; six froni CaL, fornia taken from the brokers tables at the Corn Exchange, San Francisco; and one of Canadian. Our farmers will have an opportunity of examining the quality °^ will have to compete against; in the London market. The Secretary of the Agricultural Association is informed by Mr. Holmes that the wheat generally is in good condition, out badly cleaned. We would counsel ftur farmers to send forward some of their, best exhibits for comparison with the products of Brother Jonathan, j A special meeting of the Borough Council was called for this afternoon for the purpose of making a special rate of Is to pay interest on the L 50,000 loan. There were present — Councillors Blair, Hardy, Hassell, Prooter, Smith, and Sutton. As the members present did not comprise an absolute majority of the Council, as required by the Act, it was decided to adjourn the meeting until 4 o'clock on Thursday afternoon. To-day Captain Edwin wires that bad weather is approaching from any direction between north and west and south-west.. The glass will ri3e sooil, but the wind backing, the glass will fall after ten hours. Mr. Hislop applied this morning to have the case of Wait and Colljs adjourned till Friday next. His Wprsljip grafted the adjournment. The Oamaru Jockey Club must certainly be congratulated npon the excellent entries obtained last evening for the race meeting to be held on the 9th and 10th December next. The full list is given in another column, and it will be observed that, though the entries for the Oamaru Handicap may possibly fall short of the anticipated number, the entries for thp Publicans' and Flying Handicaps are excellent. fhe Hurdle Race has al3o filled up well. The quality of many of the horses is undeniable, and patrons of* the turf may therefore look forward to some good racing. Our old. friend Sub-Inspector Smith has determined to'quit the police force rather than accept a reduced position. Hp has, we believe, pnrchased some land in the Taranaki Provincial District, and is likely to take up his residence there. We are sure his friends in OamaFij.—and their name is legion—will -wish Mr. Smith prosperity in his new line of life. He wa3 a 'good police-officer, and deserved better treatment than he apd ip»ny others have received at the hands of the Go? vernment.

The usual meeting of the Kakanui Road Board will bo held in the offices, Tynestreet, to-morrow at 2 p.m. The monthly meeting of the Committee of the North Otago Horticultural Society will be held in Mr. Ansted's school-room tomorrow evening, at 7.30. Last evening a committee meeting of the Oamaru Benevolent Society was held in the secretary's office. Present —Messrs J. H, Miiligan (in the chair), G. Greenfield, Ogilvie, Mirams, M'lntosh, J. Falconer, Stevenson, B. Mollison, and A. J. S. Headland. After the minutes, £c., were disr posed of, the master's report for October was read and received. The report contained the fol T owing items of interest:— Six children are at present in the institution; during the month six domestic servants had received admission to the Servants' Home, and three were still resident there; the Society' 3 cottages, on inspection, were found in fair repair, the porticoes having been replaced and the weatherboard? jnended, Messrs 31'Galium and Co.. giving tlie timber } the cottagers have commenced whitewashing the inside of their dwellings, liipe a Pd brushes being supplied to them, An abr stract account of the month's rations ac* companied the report. The collector s ig» port was received, and that of the Visiting Committee adopted after some amendments had been made, A parcel of clothing from the Dorcas Society wjjs acknowledged with thanks. It was decided that the master be authorised to receive into the Homo &ny female immigrants arriving in Oamaru, provided they pay the usual charge. The annual report >vas amended and adopted, and a resolution wa§ carried to the effect that the collector be allowed 10 per cent, on money collected by himself. The usual vote closed the meeting.

A meeting of the Directors of the Caledonian Bccipty was held last evening, at the Criterion HofeL There were eighteen gentlemen present, and Mr. D, Miller, one of the Vice-Presidents, occupied the cjjair, The minutes of the last meeting having been confirmed, Mr. N. Fleming proposed that the names of Messrs. Harper and Mackay, of Dnnedin, be added to the directorate. He said he made this proposition in order that the services rendered to the Society by those gentlemen might be recognised. They had, at their own expense, come to Oamaru from Dnnedin to assist at the Society's last concert, and had, to the best of their ability, endeavored to make it a success. Mr. H. Aitken, ia seconding the motion, remarked that Mr. Harper might be considered the father of the Society. The motion was carried unanimously. The names of Messrs. J. M'Combe, E. Rowland, D. Chalmers, and T. Fairly were also added to the directorate. The Secretary was instructed to write to the Dnnedin Society and ascertain on what days it was proposed to hold the gathering, New Year's day falling upon a Saturday. A recommendation from the late Directors that the Society should consider the advisableness of purchasing a ground whereon to hold the annual sports then came up for consideration, Mr. Fleming said he had opposed the purchase of a ground last year, and lie intended doing go this year. He had the welfare of the Society as much at heart as any man, and was opposed to doing anything that might land the Society in difficulties. Unless every Caledonian agreed to take share and share about, the responsibility would fall upon a few, with the ultimate result that they would become involved, and the land would be sold by the mortgagees He was not personally prepared to take a large number of shares nor to become responsible £pr a large sum of money. They had a good prpund, centrally-situated, at their £ommap4, And the necessity for purchasing a ground was not therefore pressing. He would like to see tnp Society have a ground of their own, and thought the site suggested a very good one, while the investment would be excellent. Still times were so hard and money so stiff that they did not think they were warranted in rendering themselves liable for so large a sum as would be required for the purchase of a suitable ground. He therefore moved, " That the question of purchasing a suitable piece of groupd for the Society's sports be deferred for the present." Mr. T. Kennedy seconded the motion, which wag agreed to. A letter was read from the Sec?etayy to the Rifles Band, asking the Society to grant tfye use of their musical instruments to the Band, the j Artillery Band having been disbanded. The writer also agreed to provide a band of from 25 to 30 players to play at the annual games for a moderate sum. A deputation consisting of Messrs. Couper and Waterworth waited upon the meeting, and stated that it was to re-form the band.- It was probable that t&e njse of the Artillery Gunshed would be obtained for practice, but this was not finally settled. They asked the Society to give the use of the fnstrßjnents on the terms on which they were prevfousjy.Jent to the Artillery, and to render the bahdwhat assistance tbfiy could. A long discussion followed, *nd it w»a ultimately decided to defer further consideration of the - matter uatil next Monday. The fleeting then terminated with a vote of thanks to the Chairman.

Of the exhibits in the New 'Zealand court at the Exhibition {says .the Melbourne Daily Telegraph), the most extensive, and the one which best represents. a loeai industry in tsmt Colony, is that of Messrs. A. and T. Burt, the wfllj-known os. Dunedin. This firm is one of the .oldest injQtago, «nd,giey hayerfgen from a very !*mailbeginning to one of the largest em-,

ployers of labor in the Colony- Th f r ™Js are situated in Cumberland and Stuart ; streets, and besides brass-ware, they *fe -v largely engaged in the manufacture of lead c piping and bronze chandaliers. Owing to t the limited area of the New Zealan4 ' all the exhibitors suffer, and j are among those Who are restricted, as to space. Their exhibits and enginers' brasswork, various P^ tterD ® .< in force-pumps, a brewer s refrigerator, corking machines, lead and composition , pipes, "and improved water-engme Several patterns in gasaliers, billiard kghte.fas brackets, and two handsomely-foiled mafble-top washstands.for lhe manner in which the brasswork leturned out of hand is quite equal to anything shown in the Exhibition, either Australian or Home, and, if we are not much " ifom Australian exhibitors will *•' . mistaken, their laurels when tb'" to look to pronounce their " _jurors go round to of leadwof 1 " decision. The specimens varv cann °t be excelled, and they - in size froun a quarter of an inch to six I if C j G t f The chandeliers made ■ , ° rm of excellent workmanship and design. A five-light gasalier iu knp.wn as the Maori pattern is a beautiful article in its way. It is purely ; characteristic of New Zealand, the chief features being feriis and Maori figures. They also show a row of gasfittings, wrth brackets suitable for long shops, and they have a light . appearance, which is a striking contrast to ; the heavy-looking fittings one sees in our large drapery establishments. In brewers' work the firm make a good display, varying from the corking and bottling machines to a large beer refrigerator. The exhibits are most oroditable to Messrs. A. and T. Burt, and they are such as residents in New Zealand may justly be proud of.

Capt Mackay, of the New Zealand Shipping Co.'s Bakaia, has brought with him this trip samples of Theobald's combination telescope which that well known firm is anxious to introduce into the Colonies. The, telescope is of two sizes, and has received great praise wherever is has been uged-. The smaller size is 17 inches lojig wlien opened, closing to six and a half, and is furnished with six lenses. Night and day glasses are provided, and it is also equipped with a special eye-piece for looking at the sun. The magnifying power of the day eye : piece is 146 times superficial, and of the astronomical eye-piece 324 times superficial. The telescope, it is claimed, will snow thetime by a church clock at four miles, windows at ten, and flags at twenty miles, while the astronomical power will enable the observer tosee the solar spats, Jupiter's satellitqs, the mountains and valleys of the moon, and other phenomena. Captain Mackay informs us that his passengers made such a raid upon the larger telescopes during the voyage that he had great difficulty in saving sufficient for samples. The price of the respective sizes is 12s 6d for the small and 21s for the larger, and juding from the flattering nptipea bestowed \ipou the instruments by the English and other journals, the combination telescope ought to find a ready sale in the Colonies. —Lyttleton Times.