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Temuka Leader, Volume I, Issue 65, 31 July 1878, Page 2

TVe have received from Mr T. M. Hardy Johnston a revised copy of his report on on the Kllesmere Drainage and Akarwa Railway. Our correspondent "Hydra," and others, may be interested to learn that the number 5000, expressing the millions of cubic feet of tidal water flowing into and out of the lake, is a misprint. Mr Johnston informs us that it should have been 500, and in another place 5025 millions should be 525 millions. Mr Johnston went down to Oamaru on Monday, for the pin pose of bringing up levels from the ascertained low-water mark at that place to the MiJford Lagoon, in order to ascertain the depth of the lagoon from the low-water line.

... The anniversary examination and distribution of prizes in connection with the Kakahu Sunday .School was held in the schoolroom on Sunday, the 2isfc instant. The children were examined on tlie Book of Exodus by the teacher and the llev. James Preston, who expressed himself exceedingly t pleased with the way in which the children answered every question. The rev. gentleman then distributed some very handsome prizes, whichwereawarded in value according to the number of marks obtained by each child during the year. Every child received a book. Robert Speight, highest on the list, obtained the '■"Giant Cities of Eashan," and Ellon Rooke, second, received a fine edition of (i Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress." The parents and children were afterwards addressed by the minister, and also by Mr Stewart, in earnest and. auction ate terms. Several hymns were spiritedly sung by the children, who seemed delighted with the result of their year's work, as were also their parents, of whom a large number were present. After an interval of a few minutes divine service was held. The sermon, by the Rev. J. Preston, was applicable to Sunday Schools, the claims of which were urged with effect on those present, resulting in a collection amount-

ing to £2 oi 8 !, (his, add< d (o £3 17s.Sd, the proceed* of a collection at ;i service previously held by Mr. Stewart, leaves a credit balance of 12s in favor of the funds of the school. It may be added that the ■school, being undenominational, is intended to supply a want cuised by the cession of Bible teaching in the day school, and. so it is presumed will merit the support of all in the neighborhood.

A special general meeting of the members of the Temuka Institute was luld last nig!it, to consider the question of opening the re uling-roouis on Sunday aft.Tiioons from 2tolo p. in. Dr Hayes proposed, and Mr Wareing seconded, an affirmative resolution—Mr Gray proposing, and Mr Wi'son seconding, a negative amendment. The chief argument advanced ia iavor of opining the rooms was, that many persons have not -time to attend on week-days, but might become subscribers if they could us ! the rooms on Sundays, and so aid the Institute financially, besides miking it more generally useful. On the other side it was urged that it is improbable that so many more persons would become subscribers, that the additional receipts would counterbalance the increased salary which the care-taker would require in consideration of his Sund.iy labour. It was also urged on the one side that the opening of the rooms would tend to decrease drunkenness, but this argument was met by the counter one that those who are likely to get "a drop too much' 1 on Sunday, are uot likely to vHt a reading-room, and further, that it is not the province of such an .institution to play, the part of a municipal police in keeping men out of bars on Sunclays—they are supposed to be inaccessible on those days. Eventually the amendment was lost, and the reso'utiou carried by 21 vot -s to 8. A letter was then read in which Mr Pierpoint tendered his resignation of the office of secretary in consequence of his leaving Temuka. A vote of thanks was unanimously accorded to him for the manner in which be has performed the duties of the office. Dr Hayes was then elected his successor. A vote of thanks to the Chairman, Mr Fildes, President of toe lustit ite, terminated the meeting

The Australians beat the Crewe Twentytwo by 100 runs, their score being 130 and 102 against o 4 and 78. Spoilbrth and Boyle played havoc with ihe Cheshire men. The next match is against Eighteen of Keig dey, a Yorkshire village.

A company is projected in Melbourne to start wirh a capital of £30,000. in shares of 0,1 each, for the purpose of colonizing New Guinea. The Queen is to he petitioned to annex the island. Bands of iifty men are to he sent, and steamers provided to maintain constant communication between the colony and Me'bourne.

A good lode of copper ore lias been opened on D'Urville Island.

A meeting of delegates from a-rcul-tnral associations is to be held at Oamaru on the 28th August to consider the advisability of holding a national exhibition of stock, &c.

The value of gold exported from New Zealand during, the past 21 years was £64,476,495. The weight was 8,826,7950 z.

An irreverant paragraphist in the ' Dunodin Age' thus discourses :—A pleasant, and we should fancy also an amusing incident, occurred at the conclusion of the Maungatua ploughing match. A committee of our young ladies was appointed to select the best looking ploughman. Their choice fell on Mr John Millar, who was presented by one of the committee (Miss Margaret Murray) with a very handsome rosette. This is a slight advance on the old system of selecting the best team of horses. What is the intellectual animal coming to 1 Fortunate John Millar! The pride of the female ciod-hopper of Maungatua ! Fortune will smile on his path, when beauty sheds rosettes by the way.

From the ' Lyttelton Times' of yesterday we extract the following particulars of floods in the North : —On Sunday evening a telegram was received at Kaiapoi from the B-aley to the effect that the Wainiakariri was coining down. At daylight on Monday morning the river was running over the railway near the bridge. At frm o'clock an immense volume of water was running over the rails. Front all appearances traffic will be stopped for at least a week, as the whole line from the bridge to L'haney's—two and a half miles—seems to be damaged. Owing to some temporary railway embankment backing up the water, the island was more flooded than it lias been before. Passengers and mails are carried by coach from Kaiapoi, Mr T. Millet having undertaken the work. The Rakaia was ,;< bank and bank" on Sunday, the heaviest fresh that has been seen for five years coming down. No damage was done to ihe railway line. The Ashburton, on Sunday, was higher than it has been for some years. The high wind which blew during Saturday-eight did some damage, blowing down frames of houses and smasning windows.. At West Oxford the lock-up. was the Road Board stables blown to pieces, several chimneys destroyed, and many windows smashed. The Orari was very high, "Wadsworth's old hotel having eighteen inches of water in it. I

An iron foundry lias been added to the list of industries at Ashbnrton.

A Rifle Volunteer Corps has been formed at Waimate. There are about GO members.

" Will England decay like the great nations of antiquity ?"■ A debating society in Wellington voted that she wont. At a trial made lately at the Oamaru Gasworks, Grey coal yielded 12,000 feet to 12,440 feet of gas per ton —Newcastle from 9,540 feet to 11,100 feet.

The Colonial Bank recently declared a divided at the rate of seven per cent per annum for the hast half-year, besides adding .£'20,000 to the reserve fund.

The Auckland Education Board estimate their receipts for the ensuing year at £45.700, and their expenditure at the same amount. They reckon on au average attendance of 10,000.

A correspondent in Geraldine informs us that he felt an unmistakeable shock of earthquake between two and three o'clock on Friday morning last. We have not heard that it was felt by others. Probably our friend was mistaken.

Mr Ross, a candidate for Roslyn, suggests that lands sold on deferred payments should be sold at a fixed price, and if more than one person applies for a section it should be balloted for. Plow would this method answer 1 •

A late Yankee notion is the Eureka post-hole digger. It is something like a couple of long-handled shovels hinged together, face to face, at the bend in the handles. It is said to be very efficient Edmond, Forsyth and M'Neil, of Dunedin, advertise them. Mr Driver, another candidate for Roslyn, has got into hot water for denouncing trie employment of young women in hotel bars, as tending to induce drinking among young men, who, but for such adventitious attraction would not frequent bars. Mr Driver is in the right. At a meeting of the Oamsiru Harbour Board on Friday last, it was resolved that the members of the district be requested to introduce and support a Bill for the purpose of increasing the borrowing powers of the 130 .rd to the amount of £IOO,OOO for the following purposes : Extension of the Breakwater by 450 it, return of breakwater by 200 ft. Wharfage and Reclamation.

A table published by the ' Timaru Herald' shows that 192,938 bus'els of wheat, 41737 bushels of oats, and 11,922 of barley, 152 sacks of mail, 90 tons of flour-, 15i-tons of bran.-;5 tons of sharps, 8.225 cases of preserved meats, 449 eaaks of tallow, 4000.bs of bacn, 132 sa.-ks of potatoes, 9G casks of gr :ss seed, and 1837 biles of wool wero shipped at Timaru during the half-year ending June 30th, 1878.

What's the use of making so much fuss about the extension of the franchise 1 Not half of those whose names are on roll vote. Mr Pyke is reported to have stated that only 1552 out of 3335 electors iii Dunodin recorded their votes at the last election. At Koslyn only 272 out of 843 and at Caversliam only 462 out of 933. A similar statement could be made respecting most constituencies. To be sure, if these statements are absolutely true, tliey afford no argument agiinst au extension of the franchise, but only against making a very great noise about it. ■ .!■

Smith O'Brown snys he was much'interested by the account of the experiment made by the American Chief Engineer of carrying a glass of whiskey over a longdistance on the seat of a Pulman car. Commenting on it he says:—"l can't imagine how that C.E. did it. I should have gone mad watching that whisky bo long ! Eve's o temptation couldn't have been a circumstance to this. If her apples fell, they were not lost. But the whisky ! I tried the experiment myself, but our cars are too rough by a long chalk. I gave 'em a chance ; I didn't try with a glass, but with a flask of whisky, and four of us held it by turns as steadily as we could. In less than three minutes that flask was empty ! The queer tiling is that, just like that C.E.'s glass, 'the outside was as dry as the desert of Sahara.' "

The ' New Zealand Times' says : " Our system of education is really national, and affords great advantages to all who feel at liberty to avail themselves of it. The education now imparted is in most of the schools sound,, and sufficiently advanced to fit a young man for many stations in iife ; and iu the case of those who desire to reach a higher standard, they obtain a grounding that will enable them to hold

their own at the high arid grammar schools of the colony." , The *N. Z. Times' of July 4th, gives a full nccount of a very interesting ceremony —the presentation by the Governor of prizes awarded to children in the public schools of the city of Wellington. The presentation was made in the Imperial Opera House, and was witnessed by a large number of ladies and gentlemen. The prize list surprises us : the highest standard named is the Fourth. Surely this list does not indicate the true state of the city schools. Why, there are but few country schools in Canterbury that do not contain children who have passed the Fifth, and not a few that contain those who have passed the Sixth.