The Clutha Leader. BALCLUTHA: FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 1880.

Clutha Leader, Volume VI, Issue 339, 9 April 1880, Page 5

The Clutha Leader. BALCLUTHA: FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 1880.

The;" unemployed "agitation has broken down somewhat earlier! than was anticipated. The offer of wages sufficient to meet, 'current /wants' has" evidently given the imitators to* feef that the popular sym : pathy they- so industriously courted is , against :: them; while the firm stand the Government lias taken gives no encouragement ' to .expect further favouis in/that direction. '.-'_ The unemployed/ -therefore', Md that > tliey have;only two alternatives" — either, to jgoio .work at the rate .of wages offered ior * starve. ; f Most , of , them have with the<best * grace they:could .command,; wisely/ 5 aecepte'd the "former.: A:' few discontents arif still /to i \be found r in the large centres of population where they ,ke.ep up a running^fire, of,. complaints through the columns of the Press., With the offer, continued of what; must,' under the~circumstances',^ be regarded as reasonable wages/, all/: such complaints remain unheeded, j^nd the; zealous .agitators must feel. that their cause -is -a. hopeless one; that tHeir trade is indeed gone. . It is fortunate'ihat the respectable portion of the unemployed refuse longer to be made toplß^pf, and' therefore have quietly taken to work. .All colonial experience is against the idea that the present low rate of wages will be of long continuance. Those who now jut\ their .shoulders to the wheel ! to maTie'thebest of matters* during the present season of depression, r aad to mitigate the. influence of .that depression, may rest satisfied;; that^ more favourable circumstances'will shortly transpire, and that they will then have no cause to regret having cast, in their lot with the colonists of ONew Zealand. . . :. ;>■-■ • : ■■-.: .♦ ■ ;••-. -■■ • .'. Wb notice that complaints are everywhere being made of the irregularity of the trains for the past week or two. This irregularity^ can only be accounted for oii the hypothesis that sonieone .altogether ignorant of such matters possesses and has exercised the power of giving a very absurd order regarding the running of the trains. The engine-drivers have been instructed that they must not make up lost time. To show the utter absurdity of this we would point out that the present timetable allowß for no stoppages at stations. It indicates that the train will arrive at a given minute, but of course the trains must stop, and not unf requently there is a good deal; of shunting to do. Hence " time is lost " . and the drivers are instructed that tjjey must not make it up. Thuß, the further the train has to run, and the more stations it has to stop at, the longer it gets behind.time. We notice that this lost time -sometimes amounts to hours before the train reaches its destination. We are sure that the order to the engine-drivers never originated with the Commissioner nor with the Managers. The question is, •' who has stepped in thus to disorganise the service, and so seriously iiiconyenience the ; : public ? It is wellkiibwn' that the. Minister for Public Works has^ been pottering about the railways,! «uggesting all sorts of absurd alterations. It is possible the Commissioner may have . given him his own - way for once, just to teach him a lesson. . But surely the experiment has been quite long enough in operation. It is all. very well thus "to take it out " of an officious Minister^but unfortunately it is taking it out of the public at the same time. We trust the matter will be put to rights before greater damage arises. . [Since the above was in type, we have been informed that the order prohibiting engine-drivers from making up lost time has been rescinded. We are also informed that some.alterations. inthe running of the trains- will be made about the middle of this month. We have,^however, been unable to ascertain what the exact alterations are]. ' "*' _„ " ';■ .. ' : ' :i %' — =-- — • •■ •

On the evening of ' Monday last the Rev. ( Professor ' Salmqnd; re-deliyered his lecture on Thomas Chalmers in Puerua Church. It was in celebration of the centenary of the birth of this, in many respects > the greatest Of Scotland's sons, that the Professor prepared and originally delivered the lecture in the First Church, Dunedin, on the 17th nit., the corresponding day of 1780 on which Dr Chalmers was born; TKV lecture was' at once worthy of the i author, and worthy of its, theme' In lan- i guage the, purest, and /rising not unfrequently to eloquence of a high degree,. Professor Salmond pourtrayed the career, .' the character, 1 the talents, the work and labour of th'V great and good man who fanned, the subject of his discburse, giving to. Ibis ; hearers not, only a great literary treat; but setting before them aniUustrar. , tioxf of the very much that j *may be accom-, pti^hedtui a lifetime, and that not; one of tie.ip^estj'whe^e' piety, dilligence/ ahd ; ! : patrio&m.cqmbjiie to stimulate to. aciiqn', \ that wasgwell fitted, ,tp stimulate . one andj i i3iitb^do''V(rhatev.e^ ( Aheir hand founds to .do ; in® pTOmp%ihgs the' sum i oi -ahuman-happi- ! nelsfi^vni^ riot for themselfes but' seeking the gooft of tie greatest number. " Taffle were glad to see so .large an attendance. It .speaks well for the Puerua district that on a moonless night no fewer than nearly 150 should be found present

bnthe occasion* of "*tiie^lecturiF bein'g *cle-' ■ livere'd -within .their,, church. s ,How. s they appreciated" the lecture raridrsympatised with/the' J entfrusia^nv'of '-• the lecturer was evinced, by , the. freejuent applause that folio we(Lhi§; utterances. Previously to attending, the lecture, -we had read the critique of -the Tablet :(the Roman Ca- . fchtolic. organ) on the lecture when first delivered/ and -from that critique. expected to. find some very different statements to those which fell from the lips, of the Professor.:: • Speaking of , the part: which £>r "Chalmers, took' in connection with what is knowii as Catholic emancipation, advocating as |he did, the, giving to Roman Catholic, equal civil rights, with Protestants, the . Prof essor expressed, his : full accord with this -the position of Dr Chalmers. I Recognising, however, what Di r Chalmers by actual fact was made to learn, that such equality would not content the Roman Catholic priesthood, and that their claim was domination. and exceptional privilege I,'1 ,' the Professor spoke , as follows : — "His position was' that which "we, I trust, will, ever occupy in this "land ;to give to Roman Catholics every "equal -right as citizens, and with firm " determination to resist every most subtle "demand lor exceptional privilege or "domination, giving them to know that " the Vatican claims, if they are to be " realised in this land, will have to march "to victory over our dead bodies, for "yield to them one inch, neither we nor "our children "ever will; for we would " rather not live than live bereft of our "jewel of civil and religious liberty." Here our. readers will observe that Professor Salmond allows and seeks for Roman Catholics " equal rights as citizens" with Protestants, but protests against their claims for exceptional privileges and domination. Having read the following in 'the Tablet, we: were led to expect that the Professor had said the very opposite of what the above" extract shows, to have been his real utterance, viz. , that he had refused to Roman Catholics the same rights with Protestants: — "In Dunedin " last week a reverend professor in the " midst of fustian of a panegric delivered j "by him, and with an immense effort "of bravery, declared 'his intention of " providing ■us * . with : stepping-stones "formed of his entrails, if it must " needs . come about that we. should " attain to a position of equality with " our f ellow-colonists ; and answered somej " what rashly, it strikes us, considering " the march of modern ideas, for his chil'f dren and his children's children, that " they had rather never appear upon the " stage of existence than that Rome should " have anything to say towards the direc [ " tion of their destinies, — a howling and " gnashing. of teeth, indeed, that it was \ " most pitiable to witness, but that still i " suffice to show us the irrational fury " that rages in such empty minds against " us ready to break out at the least proj " vocation, or without provocation on any " practical pretence, into acts of violence " or repression to our prejudice and sub- " jection." Such is the version given by the Tablet of the 26th ult. of what ProSalniond had said. We ask our readers to compare the two statements. They will not fail to see that the Tablet makes Professor Salmond to say the very reverse of what he did say, and in' this they will find a faithful specimen of the pabulum furnished by this organ week by week to our Roman Catholic fellow-citizens. We think- our readers will agree with us when we say that no greater proof could be given than that the Romanism of the Tablet is a gross imposture, than what is furnished by the necessity under which the Editor of the Tablet is forced in its defence to have recourse to so great a lie as is implied in the representation he gives of .the Professor's utterances.

It is expected Government will call Parliament for the despatch of business on the 3QthMay. ' . We notice that the Harvest Festival will be held at St Mark's ' Church on Sabbath 25th inst., both morning and "evening. .. W& nave ,to acknowledge receipt of the Report of the Board of the Educational District of Otago for the year ended, December 31, 1879. Four {of the Invercargill Rifles are likely to be expelled from the force for iusubordination at the Christchurch Review. One : never appeared on parade all the time the Com-' pany was in Christchurch, , In our present issue we publish the opening chapters of an original tale by Mr W. Hay Dickson, Dunedin. As the scene is ia and around Dunedin; and the characters those of every day life, we think it will prove interesting to a large portion of our readers. ; "When one ;of the southern trains' was about six miles from Palmerstoni on Tuesday, (say 8 the, Morning Herald) seven or .eight trucks laden, with merchandise;- ran, off _ the line, , and ■ were precipitated > down the embankment into a : garden. The merchandise was scattered broad T • cast, and the trucks were more ; or,less damaged.; . At a meeting of the Southland Obimty Council, on Wednesday, it was stated that the credit balance in. the bank was L6i,2(JO. This throws Bruce .quite, into the shade." „ By the way_ aTlarge:petition was sent from Southland some- ! ~ time "ago asking ; the Government. to erect the Balclutha bridge; Southland .; then had -a deep ! interest- in ! the ! m'at f er..-' The .Government could . not "see its way to 'erect the bridge. Southland j evidently has tHe ways and means to- assist with the work; Has' it the, will? ; ' It' has now a : grand opportunity to show the sincerity of the reqWst to the Govefiiment and also the unselfishness of that request. Were Southland to come forward with a" handsome donation now there can be no doubt petitions from that quarter would have much more weight with the Government for the future. They would be regarded &a squally sincere and unselfish.

*TMf ""P.*** CUnnin^hame;" of this year a splendid crop of grapes ,in his .vinery. The clusters are. very 'large and J numerous. ''A*' considerable, portion, of .the, , 'fruit, is ripe and?, the. remainder, is 1 . rapidly .progressing. ,*No .doubt; the fine warm- weather of,the,pa9t season has tended much.to the. satisfactory result .with the vines this year. Mr Cunpinghame employs no artificial : heat, and when this fruit is. thus, proved to he so easily brought to maturity in Otago, it is surprising that many more do nott cultivate the vine. ' : '• = -'' ■''■•■'> , . The only cases at the R.M. Court liei'e on Wednesday were Police v.- Thomas Webster, charged with haying been drunk,, and disorderly in the public streets of Balclutha on the 6th inst. Prisoner pleaded guilty; and was flis-', charged. — Macdonald v. Macpherson — claim of' L3'6s 3d for goods supplied. There was no appearance for defendant. Judgment for amount claimed, with 6s costs of Court.— Farquhar v. Keenan— claim of L2B 12s lOd for butcher: meat supplied in 1878. Mr Reid for plaintiff, 1 Mr Taylor for defendant. After hearing evidence!'* the plaintiff was nonsuited without costs. . A few humorous scenes occurred on the homeward drive frony the Hillend Bachelors' ( Ballon Saturday morning, in one of which 1 a young man, not altogether unknown in eques- 1 trian circles, took . a leading 'part. It appears \ .that a certain driver who prided himself in haying a spirited , horse and a heavy load was , "•ncliued to pass aU other vehicles ou.the way. After passing all save the foremost,, he was dodged from one side of the road ,to . the other. The. "dodger," like Gilpin, won the race but,lost,his hat, it having got blown off and he found he must either lose it or the race. He preferred); the former. ' ' ' • : ••'■"■'..!■■! The fine dry warm weather ,we have enjoyed for so many months broke on.Wednesday when rain: commenced. The soil is now prntty well moistened, and the water tanks which have so long been empty have again been, filled. This rain has been very acceptable in the country districts where the grass is much withered and the prospect of winter feed was the reverse of encouraging. . The turnip, crops especially have suffered severely many of the .roots withering in the ground for want of mois" ture. It is now late in the season 'to expect much progress to be made with the crop, but ,with r warm weather, it may revive a little. Capt. Hayward, Harbourmaster,. Catlins Fiver, reports under date April 1st :— The number of vessels that entered' this port for the past month was 13, equal to 540 tons reigistef, and the same number sailed with an equal tonnage. Eight loaded at the Owaki Mill and five at the Company's Mill. One was sent to Lyttleton, the remainder to Dunedin, The weather during the past month has been remarkably fine, with little or no rain. The JTuon Belle for Lyttleton, the Catlinj Princa Rupert, Jane Hannah,. Kestrel, and Janet Ramsay, sailed .early this morning. The Isabella from Dunedin -arrived at 3 p.m., and proceeded to the Company's Mill to load. > The Owaki Belle is laid up, being moored in the Owaki, abreast of her owners-Mrs -Mr M'Phee — property. Anyone contemplating the erection of a building for public purposes should pay a. visit to the Tokonmiriro new District High 'School!, and study the system of ventilation- there adopted. We think it would be difficult to devise a system nearer to perfection.' The test on Friday afternoon was a very severe one, when for several hours during the afternoon o£ a very warm day, two of the large class-rooms separated by a sliding partition were crowded 1 to excess. Yet the rooms were perfectly cool. In the evening when the crush was still greater and a large number of lamps were burning, the atmosphere was . slightly oppressive, but by some oversight only about half the ventilators wera open. Had the whole been open we believe no inconvenience would have been felt. We are sure it would b® conducive to the health and alertness of pupils in many other schools were a similar system of ventilation applied to the buildings. We are sorry to have to record a case > of larnkinism that recently occurred at Warepa, where, of all places in the world, one would : least have expected such a thing to occur for the youths of that district have always been models of propriety. One night last week as the family of a much respected and inoffensive settler near the bush were retiring to rest. they, were thrown into a state of consternation by a cry that the house was on fire. Happily, the alarm proved untrue as a fire in the bush in this very dry weather would have been attended by most disastrous consequences. As it is the settler's wife received such a nervous shock that she has almost been an invalid ever since. In deference to the respectability of the parents of the lads ' who were guilty of this heartless. and senselesstrick we refrain at present from giving their names with which we have been furnished. But should anything of the kind occur again we shall, have much pleasure in giving them due publicity. On Sunday last; Sergt. Comyn, office*., in charge here, received information that the body of a newly-born female child ' had been discoveredfin the' water-closet at Mr Houlston's hotel, Stirling. He at once' took the necessary steps in the matter, and an inquest was held by the Coroner for the district, and a|jury yesterday afternoon. The evidence miay be briefly stated : About 10 o'clock on Sunday 'the 4th, Mrs ; Hou"U ston observed the body, in, the closet, informed her husband whp communicated with the police.. On Saturday 6th|March,. a respectable-looking girl, came to „the: hotel and asked for lodgings till she could find; a situation. She , remained till .the following Tuesday, when she left for Dunedin. She had a* pretty large ; parceL wrapped- up in i a newspaper when; she arrived./ The parcel was smaller when she left. She would have nothing'tb'eat on Saturday night, ag she said she had had tea at the Clutha.. Bur-' irig Saturday night "Mrs Houlston heard someone,', she believed, to be the girl, entering the house by, the back] door' as if she had been out Tat the back yard..; She, noticed, nothing unusual' about the girl. , , This girj .was, ? the 'only oneVthat had been in the hotel. for,. some months except the servant. ,'Dr, Reid,-, of; , Milton, ,-xpade, a, post mortem examination o^thebodyjpnMonday, 7~th- ! March. ;He gave, full particulars, as to? the, con- * dition of the bodyiLwhieh>was much decomposed., It Was the body of 'afuil-grbwn female child, ; ' which he believed to have been born at least » month previous. He could not say that the child had been born alive, but'he was satisfied , it had breathed. Tho jury, after retiring for an ' hour and twenty minutes, returned a verdict of '. murder against some person unkuown.

a ::elt w.ill'W'^ on sufficient' pupils being enrolled^ an efficient ' teacher of llancing ' f rofn ? llfuri'edin wilt 1 'conduct 1 ' ; classes ,iii"*fr Wood's 'half ? h'ere: ' ! TlYe hall uf an ' exicelle'nt' one Ifor the 'pwp'6sei l andHo r n f si'derin^ ' that dancing- is.' such a favourite e2Le"rcise?not''only i . irußalclutha, but ,thr6ughb« ; fc'tlfe^diß^rict, there should' be ,no ; difficulty pi- .securing •* a' Sufficient* number to warrant the commencement of clnsses.. Block : I.- of the : ne W ! Municipal >Build- : ' ings, Dunedin-,' was formally handed^ over to the ' Corporation by* the contractors^ ; Messrs' "Herder and Low, on Tuesday./' '■ \'' '" t "' <! "' ' ! y" ; .' ! "'' ; . : -Mr. T., Gorman's i rKiriileburri.fiiotei; and Store, j nine miles from ; Crom well, hay;e r been totally destroyed by fire. 1 The fire ; was, purely ; accidental and'Mr Gorman though insured is<a , : heavy loser. ''i '• ■.*■'"' uv.-.f '■■ :.".<.y<, -i-.,; -; At a meeting of the Inver'cargill Reform' i Association on Tuesday night, a' letter was read , from. Sir George Grey ,to the effect - that as soon , as he has recovered , he wiU.jvisit Chrlstchur.ch,' and come on to Inver^cargill ! if the Association wish him to do so. ■..{, ..,;;'- .. ;: . . * At the Inverbargill, ' Police 1 Cbiifrt bn> Tuesday a toy named Arthur, Cox,' who; was one of the' principai, witnesses' at' the late:ih'quest : at, .Walkcetown, .was charged Jth'e murder of the ooy Ilobert Curtis'. A ! was';ap-' , plied for and granted. y „..,-. j- ','■'■< r . -• We, hear (says/ the s Southland f.Ne,ws); that'the sum offered to tlie JEnvercargill iGfarrison ' Band 'for playing at'Christclnirch 'for two" days was LIOO. ..The • selection' of ; fch'e v Tnverckrgill men, and. tKe' price offered for , ! their services, is the best evidence as to which was regarded' as the .premier band at the late'review. '" ' A man,. named John. Robertson was killed near Oamaru on Tuesday night: by a fall from his horse. He. was retuonihg home, when, , in going round a corner of "theroad his horse fell*' and threw its rider with so rmnclv force on his head that he sustained concussion ' of the brain and died' the same nigh.t. >He leaves a widow and six of a family. ' ' • Edendale has .this, week contributed largely to the meat market of Duuedin (says the Southland News.) By, a, special train' of 22 trucks, there was conveyed to the city. on ; Monday evening 42 head of splendid cattle, including some black polled Angus, which .were in excellent condition, 1 considering' ' the dry: season. Other 15 trucks were filled with sheep, also in' good condition. ' ; ■ ■ .< • ,-7. r William Streeter, a bullock - driver, Auckland, was on • Tuesday gored by a bullock which he was driving with ; a; dog. The latter bit the bullock in th!e heel, and the latter ; turned suddenly and gored Streeter in the abdomen. He was removed to the;hospital, and died there on "Wednesday morning. ; 'He was well-known in the South; ! _ ■'" '"'■'• ■ ' • .'..-••' MrW.H. Levin, M.H.R., senior member for- Wellington City, addressed .his constituents on ,Tuesday..,eyening., ,., ,1n.,,a lengthy speech.. he gave a recapitulation of his actions during tlie late session. ' He estimated -the' deficiency, up to M*afch'~3lst 'at 'about" LI,OoO,OQQ, bvit this would be reduced by' L 230,000 through retrenchment iv various departments." At the conclusion of his address, Mr > Levin received' a unanimous vote of confidence. *> -•■ 7 • At an adjourned meeting 'of ~T;hV'Presbytery of Southland, held oh Wednesday 1 eveniung in'the First Presbyterian Church,' the' "con-"' gregation being present, a sermon was preached by the Rev. Ilobert Ewen, Moderater. After sermon, the Presbytery proceeded to moderate in a call to a colleague and successor to the Key. A. H. Stobo. A. petition was presented, with the object of delaying the moderation, . but the Presbytery determined to proceed. On a. name being asked for to : be inserted in the call, the Rev.. John Ferguson and the Rev. J. M'Cracken were nominated. On a vote being taken, 120 members and 54 adherents declared for Mr Ferguson, and 17 members and 1 adherent for Mr M'Cracken. A large number of members and adherents signed the call to Mr Ferguson'' on' the spot, and it was resolved by the Presbytery to allow a fortnight.for receiving further signatures, after.which it would be determined 'whether the oall should be sustained.— Southland Times.