North Otago Times. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1879.

North Otago Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2106, 1 February 1879, Page 2

North Otago Times. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1879.

The thanks of the community are due to Mr Anderson for having brought vividly before our Harbor Beard the question of the reputation which our port has in London and other centres of commerce. Ihe Board has, unfortunately, though with considerable room ior excuse, been so rapt up with .i feeling of self-satisfaction that it has been exceedingly neglectful of the feeling entertained of our shipping; capacity by others. We are not aware, though the matter i»as been frequently suggested, that any effort has beer, made to impiovc our standing by sending Home to Lloyd's, or other places, any account of our works, which would tend to I'etute such unscrupulous Bt.itements as those winch Mr Anderson hi ings under the Board's notice. While, however, wp think that the Board has been, to a certain extent, to blame, we cannot but share in the feeling that such sconndreli&in as that which is evidenced in the letter of one of the members of the Australian and New Zealand Underwriters' Association, dated from Dunedin, ought not, if possible, to go unpunished. We have, for long, had to contend against many natural influences, which weie against our progress, and when we hud begun to congratulate ourselves tint they had been almost overcome, we 6nd that the greed of some of our neighbors is making itself felt in widespread slanders. Insurance Companies Lave done what they could to handicap the commerce of the Port, even after they could have carried on a safe business. When, however, outside companies weie likely to make themselves felt in competition, we find that writers, such as the o'je particularly uuder notice, endeavors to creite a scare among vessel owners and insurance agents in London. It is a matter for congratulation that we are able to refute the malicious and stupid statements of this water by experience. He had not the pleasure of writing by the subsequent mail that either the GViberfeidh or the Celestial Queen had become a wreck on Oamaru Beach, nor although large vessels have been here' and loaded frequently since, has he yet bad the satisfaction of being able to hold up, as a scarecrow, the skeleton of any of them. However, when we consider the proneness of mankind generally to believe the worst, and to avoid risks, we shall recognise the necessity of having the writer's statements refuted in the right quarter. It is almost useless to remind our readers that no wreck has taken place in or about our port for three years and over, or that among the vessels which have been loaded here within the last year, all of them inside tJte breakwater, arid which have left in safety, were the Ceylon* between 600 and 700 tons; the Ulysse, 500 ; the Cabarfeidh, about 500 \ and others too numerous to mention. The destinations of these vessels ■were : London, the Cape, and various ports in the Australian Colonies ; so that to a certain extent, the lying statements of which we complain, have been practically refuted. We hope, however, that the chart which it has taken the officials of the Board so long to prepare, but which we are told will soon be ready, will be very complete

when doue, and that copies of it may be sent to such quarters as will make them available for the purpose of iuforinatton by anyone who cm be interested to know what capacity our .port has acquit ed since the wreck of the Star of Tasmania and other vessels. jTb would, wo think, not be out of place, too, if this friend of the town could be traced, so thai he might be exposed to the scorn and 'derision which aie liis due from those who can see the untruthfulness of his statements and evident intentions. The narrow feeling I which exists in the miuds of some men, , that the progress of oue port means loss to 'mother, is evidently at the root of the communication. It is a feeling which is utterly foolish, aud when it is the parent of lying and misrppresent.ition. it is utterly contemptible. We take it that the association of which the. writer is a member, exists not for the purpose of misrepresentation, but for that of mutual protection. If it wishes to be useful for this purpose, it must see th it its members do not lend theinsplvps to statements, which, from their disregard to truth and the evidence contained in them of a desire to hurt any port for the benefit of another, will bring it into contempt. As, however, we are sure to meet frequently with such persons in every quarter, we again would mge upon the Board to raise itself from its lethargy and self-satisfied condition to one of vigilance. A. committee to draft a letter may be a very good institution, but we fear th>«t it will be but iudifferently useful for the purpose contemplated. No doubt it will be drawn up with all care, and in such style as will command attention ; but we believe that a chart with soundin«s, and showing the lay of the land, and the bearings ot winds aud waves, would be much more effective. As a concomitant, no doubt the letter would be useful ; but by itself, notwithstand ing the weight of the signatories, comparatively useless. Let the Boar j see that this chart is soon completed and distributed, and then make efforts to unmask the slanderer of our po t, and expose his uniruthfuluess ami his interested and dishonest intentions, and they will deserve well of the community.

The cricket match O.C.C. v Palineraton comes off on the ground of the former today, commencing at 10.30 a.m. The mcetingof the Acclimatisation Society, called for yesterday, at the County Council Chambers, did not take place, there not beiug a quorum in attendance. Constable and Mrs Walker have been appointed gaoler ami matron of the Oamaru gaol, vice Constable and Mrs Coulborue resigned. We remind our agricultural readers that the trial of the Harvester King reaper and binder will take place at Mr Donaldson's farm, Awamoa, at 10.30 o'clock this forenoon. The monthly meeting of the Waitaki Branch of the Educational Institute will take place this forenoon, at 11 o'clock. The business is to receive the annual report and to take into consideration constitutional matters. The following Church of England services in the outlying districts of St. Luke's have been arranged for February : —2nd — Otepopo, 11 a.m. ; Maheno, 3.30. 9th— Hampden, lla m. ; Otepopo, 3p. m. 16th — Duntroou, 1 1 a.m. ; Otekaike, 7 p.m. 23rd — Otepopo, 11 a.m. ; Hampden, u'.3O p in. We learn that Mr Sumpter has been appointed one of the Board of Governors of the Waitaki High School. The Board now consists of the following ; — The Hon. H. J. Miller, Messrs S. E. Sh rim ski, George Sumpter, the Chairman of the Waitaki County Council, and his Worship the Mayor, the two last being ex officio members. A correspondent, writing from Kakanui, says :— The late raius h.ive made a wonderful improvement in this district. The crops are looking well, and promise a good yield. The potato crop in particular is looking splendid. Harvesting operations ai'e now pretty general, and if the weather continues tine the harvest here will be a very short one, the late hot winds having hurried it considerably. Several of our farmers have adopted the reaper and binder this season, and I believe they are making good work. As the working of these machines becomes better known, no farmer will be without one. At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, before T. W. Parker, E>>cj., William Aitken, for allowing a cow to wander at large, was fined 3s. lit the case Clydesdale v. Grant, adjourned to allow counsel on either side to sum up, Mr O'Meagher, for defendant, contended at some considerable length that plaintiff was not entitled to any damage, on the grounds previously urged. Mr Newton, on the other side, claimed that the commission of the assault had been proved, and that consequently plaintiff was fully entitled to the damiges claimed. His Worship, in giving judgment for plaintiff, said the assault merely resulted from indiscretion, and did not in any way affect the character of defendant as licensee of the hoiibe. He would re3ervo the question of the amount of the award. Several civil cases were disposed of. The subscriptions received by the Treasurer of the Benevolent Society during the months of December and January (the la3t of which is published in another column) present a very satisfactory appearance. The total amount is L609. Add to this the Govornment subsidy of £ for £, and we have the handsome sum of LI2IS. Several of the items included in the list have to be devoted exclusively to the purposo for which the money was subscribed,. but the society oan use the 'Government subsidy for the purposes of general charity. Each year the calls on the society's funds become heavier, and no doubt these calls will increase as the population of the town increases. For the <e reasons we are pleased to see the society in a position to be able to meet the demand* on its funds in a manner commensurate with the necessities of the different cases brought before them. We were yesterday shown several potatoes which had experienced the ravages of a small grub or caterpillar. In our last issue we extracted from a Timaru contemporary the information that an insect which, from the description, we take to be similar to that now under notice, had been causing great destruction in the potato crop in the district surrounding that town. The potatoes which were shown to ua hid been completely riddled by the grub. As it works its way through, the potato begius to decay, and is rendered unfit for use as an article of food . The excavations of the grub are so numerous that hardly any portion of the potato can be made use of, even by those who exercise the greatest economy in domestic matters. We are not aware whether the pest has extended its ravages to th« late crop, which will shortly be coming into use. If it has, it will no doubt cause a considerable rise in the price of this, one of the staple articles of diet. The potatoes shown us were of the early varieties. With the Colorado beetle there is an opportunity of destroying it through its devastations being principally confined to the leaf and stalk, but with this pest there is, we would imagine, no chauce of annihilating it without destroying the tuber. We do not know whether it is very general in the district or whether the unprecedentedly dry season has anything to do with its origin and growth. We can only hope that its de&tructiveness will be of a nature which will have exhausted itself

before the late cropomnwlQ. Paft»pswe may hear further of it in the cour^^jf * fair days. ..' ( „*> We are requestW-t.) stfts| tHtJmJtdvm to annual custom, the . bffertorw at' «£ Luke's ChurcV«n SmiMbjruAxt (being the*' last Sunday in feh« Splphaty Reason) will be given in ai<{ of the Melauesian mission. It . t is doubtless generally known, thaj; i Church of England mission to theMelanesun i Islands was inaugurated by Bishop Selwyn, { first Bishop of New Zealand, in consequence *+l the then Archbishop of Canterbury ««• 1 pressing a hope, upon the young Bishop setting out for the Autinodc;. in 1841, that so far as he could he would extend the blest* j ings of the Gospel to the aborigines ot the almost innumerable islands of trie adjacent sea3. This he did in labors and perils that [ i are well known, »nd was followed in the work by the late noble Bishop Pattesou (ton of Sir John Color dge Pattesou) who, it will be remembered, after carrying on the miision w-'th eminent success for some years, laid down his life in the ciuse, by the hands of the natives of one of the islands of the Santa Cruz group, not long ago. The present head of the mission is Bishop John Selw yn, sou of the pioneer of the work, whose labors hive already borne much fruit, and have excellent promise for tho future. It may ba interesting to state that tho present Bishop of Melanesia, who, with his wife, visited Oamaru a few years ago, and preached in St. Luke's Church for his mission, has been left a widower, and is now on a visit to England to meet his mother, recently widowed by the death of the lamented Bishop of Liohfiehi. The above circumstances lend a special interest, among other things, to the cause referred to. A ease of some importance wna decided at the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday. Mr Sheedy, a butcher of Dunedin, sued Mr Campbell, of Ngapira, for LI S, amount of damages sustained by him through the nonfulfilment of an alleged contract entered into by the defendant to supply plaintiff with 11 pigs at the time specified in the contract. Mr Hislop appeared for plaintiff, and Mr O'Meairher for defendant. Prom the evidence adduced the facts of the case appear to be as follow. Campbell agreed to forward 1 1 carcases of pork to Dunedin, on tho 19th December, plaintiff promising 1o provide a truck for their carriage. On the day in question, defendant had everything in readiness to kill the pigs, but before doing so he took the precaution of going down to the railway station to see if the truck had arrived. He found that it had not, ai»d, under the circumstances, concluded that it would not be advisable to kill the pigs, as the carcases would have become worthless. Hence the action. For the plaintiff, it was contended that a truck had been promised, and no matter whether it had arrived at Ngapara or not, defendant would, by killing the pig*, have completed his part of the contract, and would not have been subjected to loss. Mr O'Mea<*her quoted authorities to show that before a breach of contraut could be proved . it would have to be shown that the plaintiff had carried out his portion of such contract. In the present case plaintiff had agreed to send n truck to Ngapara to receive the pigs, but this had not been done. To kill the pigs, therefore, without any prospect of getting them away, would simply have been the act of a madman. After a considerable amount of argument, his Worship gave judgment for defendant with cost*, reserving to the other bide the right to appeal. The frequent recurrence of tires in Oamaru has rendered it necessary that some organised means should be resorted to, by which to some extent their evil consequence may be mitigated. We are glad therefore to notice that a number of residents in the town have determined to form themselves into a Volunteer Fire Brigade. The preliminary steps were taken some time ago, and now the promoters are making a very reasonable appeal for assistance. It must be patent that an organised body of man, however small, under an efficient chief, would be of fur more service in the event of a tire than a thousand impromptu volunteers, each individual of whom generally seems to consider himself in the light of " boss." The consequence is in many cases wanton destruction of property, and a tardy extinguishing of the flames Were it not that there are always to be found a few men possessed of the* necessary courage and coolness, we think that, speaking generally, it would be more satisfactory to all parties to allow the fire to have its own way. However, we trust this state of things is at an end, now that we have a prospect of more methodical management. It has, we learn, been proposed to raise funds for the purchase of a lire engine, and with this view application has been made to the several Insurance Companies for monetary aid. We oanuoc, however, entirely comineud this step. Until we get the water iu from the Waitaki, an engine would be comparatively useless, as the only sources at present available are too remote or too inadequate ; and when the Supply is brought in, we presume that the force given to the water in the mains by gravitation will send the water sufficiently high for all practical purposes —at least in the lower parts of the town ; and as regards the higher levels, an engine will bo useless until the water supply is laid on. Any mere tankful would be of very little service. We base our objection solely on the ground that the purchase of an engine would be an unnecessary expense. But this need not retard the movement. No better time could be selected for enrolling a body of men, and subjecting them to a severe course of training, iu readiness to act when a plentiful supply of water is at hand. Nor need they be useless in the meantime. The assistance necessary in case of fire, under ordinary circumstances, can, as we have pointed out above, be infinitely more serviceable when rendered by an organised body of men, and they will thus have an opportunity of acquiring in u practical manner tho skill which they ought to possess. Tho annual general meeting of the members of No I Company, 0.R.V., was held after the usual weekly parade last night. There was a fair attendance, and the chiir was occupied by Ciptain Snmpter. The minutes of the previous annual meeting were read and confirmed. Cor pi. Atkinson was appointed to audit the accounts, and the balance-sheet was then presented and adopted. From this it appears that the total receipts fur the year amounte I to L125 19a sd, and the expenditure to L99 6? 6d, leaving a credit balance,, after making allow ance for all outstanding accounts, of LlO 03. It was decided to at once procure the necessary black patent leather accoutrements and helmets from Home, the uniform of the company to remain grey, as at present. Before proceeding to the election of otfice-l>earers, the ohairhmn referred in terms to the manner in which the duties of secretary and treasurer had been performed by Lieut. Headland during the past ye^r. It was now their duty to elect a person to till thos9 offices, and he thonght they could not do better thau to re-elect Lieut.Headland, provided he was willing to stand. Sub- Lieut. Morris was of opinion that the offices of secretary and treasurer should be divided, and Sergeant King was in favor of paying the secretary a small salary, and ho make that officer a servant of the company. Lieut. Headland quite agreed with Serge wit King. He however wished to be released troni the office. It was then decided to separate the offices of treasurer and secretary, and Lieut. Headland was appointed to the first, and Sergeant King to the second. Corpl. Atkinson moved that the Secretary receive an honorarium of Lo annually. Sergeant King objected. He would not accept it. Corporal Atkinson said he need not do so. He could make the company a present of the amount ; but it was only proper to fix a salary to meet the case of any possible successor of Sergt. King. The motion was then agreed to The following were elected a match com- - mi t tee : — Sergt. King, and Privates It. Harding and A. Han.lv. General committee — Corpl. Bust, Privates Adams, R. Harding, A. Hardy, and A. Anderson. On the motion of Corpl. Atkinson, it was decided to refund a portion of the cost of the second dummy target, erected by the North Otago Rifle Association. It was resolved to set aside LlO for competition in firing, to be decided as follows :— lst prize, L3 10s ; 2nd, L2 10; 3rd, LI 10a. 4th, LI. oth, loa.

6th, IQi. 7th,*fr. feujn* 20Qy*fc 400yd«, and SOtydi, udtUtl donditiotts. *PU d»te» of .firing #»r# fix«d for J2kh, 14^ .Mid )9th Suit. »<4bnie other unimpnrtont bnnineis r havifcf lM«n trahs»ct4d, ttks meeting tcrminiiwd with the uniat VOt« of thanks to the Chair.