OAMARU.

(From our own Correspondent). Oamaru is not an exception to the general commercial depression. Insolvencies are the order of the day, and I nblic works are at a stand-still, with- the ( reception pf the Livingstone Railway, the : first section of which ia underway. About 1 jO men are employed on it, and great i_tcignation is expressed here in 3onsequence cf the letting out of the mason work to Dunedin contractors. The Government is credited with this sub rosa business. Our Court House and new passenger station are held in abeyance, it is publicly '- believed, from want of funds ; but Mr Shrimski, M.H.R., stated at a recent public meeting that the town was indebted for it to the unauthorised interference of self-constituted deputations — whatever he meant by that. A singular feature in this . public demonstration was the absence of his Worship the Mayor. Speaking with, reference to the latter gentleman, I learn that he has declined to stand for the ChiefMagistrates' Chair for the ensuing year, so that his pet project, the finishing of the water works, will be accomplished by another. Mr Gibbs lias acceded to the desire of a large body of the ratepayers,": and has signified his intention of contest-. ing the Chair, rendered vacant by. Mr W».JT». Steward. He pvomises, if elected, to maintain the prestige and wellfare of the Municipality. Mr Gibbs was Mayor for Oamaru several years ago, and has been for a long period a hard-working councillor ; he is a kindly, hearty, and shrewd rtan of business * universally respected, and fortunately able to devote a great deal of his time to the requirements of the office. Notwithstanding the volubility of certain croakers the harbor of Oamaru is destined to become one of the best and safest in New Zealand. Under the direction of the secretary of the Harbour Board, Mr Thomas Forester, experimental borings through the reef forming the bottom of the basin enclosed within the breakwater, have been effected ; and the, results have proved that only a thin strata of conglomerate exists, covering a deposit ■» of sandy clay and gravel which can be easily removed. This means that we can find water enough for ships of any tonnage inside the breakwater, and is a triumph as unexpected as it is pleasant, and it means that Oamaru will one day become one of the largest towns in this Colony. In two or three years at the furthest we shall have ocean-going steamers laid on for Melbourne direct, and English mail boats, via the Panama canal. Then the Dunedin mails will be sorted at the head office at Oamaru, and sent on by rail to Dunedin, while passengers from the Athens of the South, will come up by express to the white stone city, and seat of Government. No wonder the hon. Minister of works endeavours to Bnub us, when he sees what we are going to become. The news from the Maerewhenua goldfields are good, tbe miners report plenty of water, and the probability of fine yields of the precious metal. What a pitf it is that the Government does not assist in the development of this highly auriferous field of labor ; they might also take in hand and finish our waterworks for us, along with other little works we stand specially in need of.