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Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10066, 6 February 1909, Page 2

The Vancouver mail which left Oaraaru on Monday, 21st December, arrived in London on February 2nd. . There were present at the monthly meeting of the Acclimatisation Society:, last •evening Messrs Glen (president), Sinclair, Swinard, Drummond, Duncan, Jones, ■Sumpter, Mitchell, Gunn, Farr, and Mackintosh. A letter was read from the secretary of the Greymouth. Acclimatisation Society pointing out that some of the societies, in their efforts to limit the depredations of shags, paid! for heads, while others paid; for feet, with a result that may be surmised. It was decided to reply that the Waitaki Society paid for heads. A Qetter had beerr seht forward- to- the Internal Affairs Department asking for the gazetting of the deerstalking regulations on the same terms as last year. Messrs Mitchell and Sumpter reported on the proceedings at the conference held in Dunedin regarding the deterioration of d'eer in the\ forests of Central Otago, "which they had attended as delegates from the Waitaki Society, and on the steps that it was proposed should be taken by the two societies interested'. Both referred in complimentary terms - to the fairness of the proposals made by the Otago Society. A vote of thanks was-passed to the delegates for their services.- It was mentioned that ■ "■during the month a pair of mallard ducks and a pair of New Zealand grey dtacks j had been purchased, and that a Mongolian , duck and a Mandarin drake had been ' ordered. A vote o'f sympathy was passed I with the family of the late Mr John ington, who had for Jong been a keen fisherman audi lately a, member of the Council. Accounts amounting to £l9 8s ■were passed for payment,, and ..a vote of thanks to the chair concluded the meeting. , The; s.s. Koonya arived at Oamaru at midnight from Dunedin, bringing with her 20 tons of general cargo for local tradespeople, after discharging which,she shipped 90 tons of produce and 60 sheep for Wellington and West Coa6t ports, and sailed at 4.30 p.m., via lim'aru. Mr Alex. Goodley, who has been, in business as a general merchant at Allandale and Shag Point for upwards of 20 years, has purchased a business afe, Arrowtown, and- will be leaving- for his new home -on Tuesday next (says the Palmerston Times).

During his long residence at Shag Point Mr Goodley took a keen interest in anything pertaining to the welfare of the district and its inhabitants. He has been chairman of the local School Committee and the Library Committee for the past 10 years, and he was also chairman of directors of the Allandale Hall Company. Owing to the closing down of the Allandale mine Mr .Goodley recently relinquished his business at Shag Point. The Railway Department have decided to run a tram on Monday night from Oamaru to Pabnerston, leaving liere at 10.45 p.m. This will enable residents south of Oamaru to attend the circus and return to their homes the same evening. The Stirling School Committee has selected Miss Ella Hutton, of Moeraki, as assistant in. the school. A meeting of members of the Oamaru Boating Club will bo held in the boatshed at 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday next for the purpose of electing a treasurer. Entries for the Club Fours will be received up to 7 o'clock on '.Monday evening. The late Mr David Given, whose untimely death is recorded as having taken place yesterday at Timaru as the result of an accident, was a native of Oamaru, and spent his younger days here with hie parents, and will therefore be well remembered by many of the older residents. Mr Given started life as a bootmaker, but crave that up in order to take up masonry work, his father being a stone mason. Even in his younger days Mi- Given was regarded as a lad of promise, and it is not surprising that he should have developed into a first-class tradesman, which led to his being entrusted as foreman with the oversight of many important public buildings in different narts of the Dominion. The late Mr Given was very popular with his associates, and was much respected by those Who worked under him. For the past eighteen months he had been in Timaru in connection with the erection of the new public library and: the completion of St. Mary's Church. As a worker of stone Mi' Given was exceptionally clever, and the fine work'on the front of'the Roman Catholic Basilica and other prominent edifices will stand as a lasting testimony to his capabilities. Mr Given for many years past has made m Dunedin. He was a married man, and had eight children. Changes in the railway organisation necessitated by the staffing of the North Island Main Trunk railway have resulted in the transfer of Mr E. W. Carter (of Oamaru), a railway official who is well known on the Otago section of the railways by reason of his position of relieving stationmaster. Mr Carter was a very popular official, and while his friends wil rejoice that the Department lias recognised his past services, they will regret his removal. He left Oamaru far Auckland on Thursday to enter on his new duties. In view of the fact that Mr W. G. Grave and his party first proposed the linking up of Milford Sound 1 with Lake Wakatipu bv means of tunnelling through a wall which alone barred their passage, nronress having now been made to that point from both sides, the following statement made by "the Minister in charge of the Tourist Department to the Otago Daily Times reporter is particularly interesting:—We should keep in view the piercing of a short tunnel through the wall of rock which now fences off Milford Sound and the Cleddau Valley from all the interior country of Otago. Some 4000 yards would be sufficient, at a cost. 1 reckon, of £IO.OOO, without estimating the cost of the approaches. That would enable steamers to come direct from Melbourne into Milford Sound. The tourist would then traverse the Cleddaui Valley, obtain a view of Mount Tutoko, Mount Christina, and the glaciers which lie -,n the Cleddau Valley. On reaching the Hollyford he would see the great rocky buttresses and glaciers that lie on the shady side of the range behind Milford Sound. The distanco by that route from Milford Sound to Wakatipu would be about 35 miles. The tourist could 1 then proceed to Wanaka and down to Dunedin, or he could strike into Te Anau, visit Manapouri, and by the Waiau Valley reach Invercargill, via Otautau, or te could take the present route by way of Lumsden. We should endeavor to get our tourists into our scenery country as quiciclv as possible. Time and . cost are the two great factors to consider. At present it takes two days to <ro from Dunedin or Invercargill to 'Te Anau and Manapouri, and two days to return.

Railway transfers to the No: lb Island still proceed. Mr T. I'. Kane, c.:e of our well-known booking clerks, ha'u received instructions to transfer to Auckland. His departure -will be muicb regretted by the local railway staff, as bis courteous demeanour has made him a great favorite here. The transfer of Mr D. M. Mafheson, which was previously reported, has been cancelled, and he will remain in Oa-maru.

Yesterday's Akaroa- Mail says:—The weather on this side has been all that can be desired since our last report, but easterly fogs have prevailed in the eastern bays, stopping threshing—especially high up on the hills. On every side we hear of great disappointment about the yield, crops that looked splendid standing giving -comparatively poor results. It is quite certain the total output will be much less than was anticipated a. few weeks ago, but the quality of the seed seems very good. The deficiency is said to be caused by the strange unsettled weather causing fresh -growth after the first heads were seeding. On some floors three distinct growths 'were shown, and as a matter of course they will ripen at- different times, which means that some were too early and some too late for the flail. The straw is "very strong and coarse, and where the seed has been cut long or not laid carefully, alien growths have smothered the sheaves, making lifting imperative. "The surrender by Sir Joseph Ward to the demands of the miners oMvew Zealand that policies should be issued under the Workmen's Compensation Act by the State Insurance Department to cover -miners' phthisis without a. preliminary medical •examination" (says the Melbourne Argus of January 27) "may, in a negative way, db good. At first the Government refused to allow 6uch unknown risks to be taken, because to do so meant that the State would be giving 'a blank cheque to cover all cases of. miners' phthisis at the present time.' For arming at that decision th-j Ministry was loudly applauded outside direct labor circles. Journals which have consistently followed the Prime Minister and his colleagues in their Socialistic propaganda described such a course" as correct. To have yielded to the miners' wishes, they said, would have been to strike a serious blow at 'every phase of State -enterprise.' Sir Joseph Ward's volte face completely reverses the position. Pressure from an organisation possessing political strength involved the signing of 'the blank cheque.' A department of State enterprise has been subordinated to the exigencies of the movement, because of the clamor of one section of the community. It is the taxpayer generally who will have to meet the bill, for the liability under the indemnity to be given to the State Insurance Department to secure it against -loss can only be met out of the consolidated revenue. The gain is that the action of the Ministry, has demonstrated to policyholders in the State Insurance Department and to taxpayers generally that when political -exigencies demand it a departure from sound business principles- must take place. Am. indemnity is now promised. May not the occasion arise when that concession will not be forthcoming?" Under date December 24, our London correspondent writes :—"The British Admiralty is not at all likely to embark on any demonstration so large as the cruise of the American battleship squadron, which,.xit is estimated', will cost about £10,000,000 before it is finished. The coal bill alone will total £5,500,000, maintenance charges of the battleships will aggregate £3,500,000, and.it will-cost another £1,000,000 for the maintenance of the auxiliary vessels with the fleet. American naval officers • agree that the exjrerience gained -by all those connected with the fleet is cheap at £10,000,000. They assert that when the fleet gets back to home waters it will be the most efficient in the world, and its officers will have a fund of knowledge never before possessed by Americans. Still, the Admiralty has taken the hint from the Americans, and the showing of the flag by Admiral Sir Percy Scott's squadron in South American ports has bean highly successful. The hostility to the British which has been long-standing in some of the exclusive South American Republics, such for instance as Uruguay, -has been dispelled by the tactful conduct ol the British Consul and the officers of the fleet.

Eules for the improvement of the game of Rugby football have been agitating the mind of the New Zealand Rugby Union for 6ome time past (6ay& the Wellington Post) The v proposed, amendments have been ~3rafted! and were brought before last night's meeting of the Management Committee for approval But the Union's 'troubles evidently do not end there. It has now been' found out that before the

regulations can be brought into force the constitution of the Union will have to undergo amendment. To do this it might be necessary to "cut the painter" attaching the New Zealand body to tho English Union. One member present did not agree that such a drastic move would be required. He thought that there was nothing to prevent New Zealand and Australia agreeing to certain improvements in the game without disaffiliating from the parent body. It was finally resolved, on the motion"of Mr E. Wylie, that a copy of the proposed aniondments be forwarded to the various Unions, and that they he informed that the Committee is of opinion that under the present constitution of the New Zealand Union it will be necessary for the proposed amendments to be approved by the English Union before they can become operative. Also, if any Union desires the proposed alterations to take effect during the current season it will be necessary to give notice to amend specific rules. While the population of Xew Zealand is increasing at a fairly vapid rate, thanks to immigration and, in..a lesser degree to a low death-rate, New Zcalaudcrs do not demonstrate an equally growing desire to venture into the blessings anil possible tribulations of the married state. There was a mild exhibition of conlidi". ' .'■> matrimony during 1907, when '.' . number of marriages per thousand of line population wis 'nearly nine, but the HegistrnrGeneral's figures for last year show- a backward tendency, the rate having receded to 8.70. The European population went ahead by 31,158, but there were only 28 additional marriages, the actual total (excluding those contracted between Maoris) being 8220. Nothing is moro unpleasant than a troublesome cough or a persistent cold. Nothing can possibly cure or give relief more quickly than Baxter's Lung Preser ver.

It is hard to say what emotions have prompted Mr A. P. Whatman, of Wairarapa, to "enter into a legal bond to pay £IOOO towards the cost of a. to be subscribed for by the people of New Zealand and presented to the British Navy." If patriotic fervor has impelled Mr Whatman to sign this "legal bond" and make himself liable for a thousand pounds, it is much to be regretted that there is not even a remote possibility of him having to disburse the amount referred to. It will, of course, be a sad disappointment to Mr Whatman, but to no one else. The population of New Zealand is no more likely to subscribe £900,000 for such a purpose than it is to pay the Kaiser's tailor's bill. We have previously had a proposal to make a private subscription in New /(inland to buy a battleship for Great Britain, and it fell as flat as a pancake. Now, if Mr Whatman would only open a fund for, buying ,New Zealand a good, fast-steaming cruiser, there would be some practical sense in his munificence, because it might, conceivably, be possible to galvanise the publie into taking an interest in the project. In any case, this country wants that cruiser very much more than John Bull requires what Mr Whatman's scheme is not going to give him.—New Zealand Times. The nervous strain of household care wears out even the strongest women. Take Steam's Wine, the peerless tonic which builds up the body and makes the weak strong. Pleasant to the taste. 3 VALUA BLE INFORMATI ON. Mothers, for your children's coughs and "•ilds use Tonking's Linseed Emulsion. Xo better skin preparation made than "Red Ctoss" Ointment. Cures roughness, chaps, cracks.—ls 6, everywhere. , Mr GEORGE ROBINSON, Dental Surgeon, may be consulted at his residence, '2DIsN STREET (opposite Wesley Church), For eczema, burns, scalds, cuts, or sores, "Red Cross" Ointment—Button's Miglny Healer—gives instant relief. —Is Cd, everywhere. Mr S. J. Davys, Dentist, will visit Ivurow on Thursday, 11th instant, and may be consulted at Mr Spiers' Hotel. "Red Cross" Ointment is a powerful antiseptic; is non-irritant; soothes and heals. —Is 6d, chemists and grocers. The Summer Sale at Penrose's is now in full swing; every article in this store has been reduced. Bargains in every department. Good Washing Prints, light, and dark grounds, only 3s 9d per dozen vards ; Emdry-edging going at Is 3d per dozen yards. Your pick of our Trimmed Hats for 6s lid. Nice Embroidery Box Blouses going at 2s 9d, 3s 6d. Call early and have a look at the bargains.—PEN - ROSES'S Drapery Establishment. Ladies will find a very nice range cl Tweed Costumes, from 32s 6d to 4 guineas, at the North Otago Farmers' Co-op., opposite the Monument, in Thames street.

TONKING'S LINSEED EMULSION is a. certain cure for coughs, colds, croup, and that hacking cough at night. 450 Lace Curtains! Lace, Curtains! Laco Curtains! Is lid, 2s 6d, 2a lid, 3s 6d, 4s 9d, to 30s a pair at the- North Otagu Farmers' Co-op.. Nothing like the value in any other establishment. Oneo tried, always used. "Red Cross" Ointment soothes and heals all skin diseases.—ls 6d, everywhere.