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Wairarapa Standard, Volume I, Issue 23, 8 June 1867, Page 3

Drumming Out. —The “ Wanganui Times of the 28th ult., says;—“ One of those rar e and very rarely merited occurrences in the Briti-h Army, took place yesterday at Wanganui. About 10 a.m. the whole of the 18th Royal Irish were marched from the Rutland Stockade to the parade ground, and formed into a hollow square. The prisoner, private William White, was marched to the centre and had his sentence read to him. The Regiment deployed, formed two lines fronting each other, and the prisoner was marched through, the Band playing “ The Rogue’s March.’’ On reaching the end of the line all the honourable and distinctive marks of a soldier were stripped from him, and he was handed over to the Military Train, to be conducted by them to Auckland, and thence to England, where he will be imprisoned for the period for which he was bound to serve as awarded by Courtmartial. This does credit to the 18th Royal Irish, and rids them of a man who was a discredit to their chivalrous regiment.” A Large Loan. —ln the Otago Provincial Council on May 6, the following resolution was discussed in committee ;—“ That it is expedient to raise a loan of £BOO,OOO for the following purposes;—lst. To repay the expenditure in excess on the harbor, and for further improving the harbor. 2nd. To repay the Otago Loan Ordinance 1856, for public works and for immigration." The Treasurer in moving the resolution, suggested the alteration or the amount of the loan to £1,000,000; and Mr. Julius moved such an amendment, believing that here were many works which it was almost an absolute necessity should be carried out; and that to carry them out as they ought to be, it was necessary to have large funds at command, Mr. Shepherd seconding, the amendment was agreed to.

The Bathurst Burr. —About eighteen months ago we called attedtion to the fact that the seed of this weed had been introduced amongst the forage frou Australia, imported during the war. The seed was partially sown from the commissariat drays, as they passed along the Great South Bead, and when we wrote the first season’s crop was just springing Of course, wherever the forage was carted and littered, there the burr took root. It speedly adapted itself to the soil and climate, and it is now well distributed over the province. The seed has been carried in the tails of cattle and horses, and the fleeces of sheep, and distributed far and wide. A gentlemen who knows the burr well has informed us that he saw Id flourishing luxuriantly on the North Shore. He has likewise plucked it on the top of Mount Eden. It is, we know, well distributed in the Southern district; and the Scotch thistle nuisance, the dock nuisance, or any other noxious weed what ever, will in time be found quite harmless compared with the Bathurst burr. It destroys the fleece, and works into the flesh of the sheep; and it seriously interferes with the cultivation of the soil. When this noxious weed, which was introduced from Chile to Australia, by sticking to the tails of imported animals, and first made head at Bathurst (whence its name), appeared along the line of the Great South Koad, we directed attention to the fact, and invited the authorities to have it eradicated, Our remonstrance was neglected. We now repeat our warning: another season, and it may be too late. Country settlers for their own protection, ought 10 combine for the destruction of this weed; and we take leave to tell them that every shilling spent in eradicating the Bathurst burr u.;l save them pounds sterling hereafter.—.Southern Cross.