North Otago Times. MONDAY, APRIL 17, 1882.

North Otago Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 3038, 17 April 1882, Page 2

North Otago Times. MONDAY, APRIL 17, 1882.

At tho Magistrates' Court on Saturday, Ilonry B. Luxtou, brought up on a charge of uttemptcd rape, was remanded till to-day. Tho construction of tho Waimato Gorge railway will shortly be commerced, a tender for tho first section having been accepted. On Saturday the fhqa of tho shipping in the port were hoisted at half-mast out of rospeot to Pilot • hand, whose wife died early on Saturday morning. A mcctino of tho Nor'h Otago Coursing Club will bo held at 11 a.m. to-day, in thu County Council on wincra, to elect members and tramact other business. The Government offer a reward of LlOO for informati m that will lead to tho conviotiou of the person who titn pared with tho points on the railway line near Morton station tho week before last. The usual meeting of the Mutual Improvoment Association takes place to-night at St. Paul's session-room, at 8 o'clock, when tho Fecrotary, Mr Macdonald, will read a paper on " A visit to Hanincr Hot Springs " The ratepayers in the licencing district of Moeraki will bo cillod upon on Monday, the Ist of May, to decide whether the number of publicans', accommodation, or bottle licenses aro to bo inoroasja in their diitriot. This evening Mr M. W. Green, of Dunedin will deliver a lecture in the Wesleyan Church undor the auspices of the Federal Temperance Union. The subjeot is s "Tho Looal Option Pranohise." Admission is free, but a oolleotion will be taken to defray expenses. Entries for the Dorby of the North Ot»go Coursing Club (to be run on tho 4th of May) mint be aent to the secretary at the Empire H< tel not later than 8 p.m. this evening. The ago, description, and pedigree of dog. togothcr with LI It, must be forwarded at the same time. Tho Horticultural Society has paid away close on L36 for prizes taken at the autumn show held Ust month. There ia still a balance of over L2O to be carried forward to next show. We believe that this is the most satisfactory result of a year's operations that has taken place since a Horticultural Sooiety haa been instituted in Oamaru. Mr Smythies, of Otopopo, has undortaken to deliver a course of three lectures in the Volunteer Hall, Oamaru, in aid of Sb Mary's Church, Herbert. The lectures will bo givon on the evun'nga of the 25th, 26th, and 27th inst. The following aro tho subjects : lat lecture, The Doctrine of Eternal Punishment ; 2nd lecture, The Evolution of the Body ; 3rd loocure, Tho Soul— its past, present, and future. Tho monthly mooting of tho Wairaki branch of the Educational Institute was held on Saturday afternoon in the High Soho >1. Mr Wallace (president) occupied tho chiir, and thoro was a fair attendance of mombers. Thero was aomo discussion as to tho proceedings at the meeting* of tho branch, and tho institution of a nerios of readings was suggested as advisable. It was resolved on tho motion of Mr Darley, that at the next mooting of the branch a part of " Macbeth " bo read. Messrs Connell and Clowes havo imported from Home sovoral paroels of teol wheat Those consist of Talavera, Sherriff's B«ard, R ugh Kar, and Mold's Ennoblod. They have boon highly recommended, and if tho soil and o'imato of this district suit them, they should be an improvement on the three or four varieties at presont cultivated. Each of the kinds named has a respsotablo reputation, and although the quantity imported is comparatively small, yet it is quito large enough to test tho adaptability of tho grain to the soil and climato of the diatrict. It should be worth tho while of farmers to make tho experiment, for it may prove a very profitable one. A meeting of the residents in the Teaneraki district was hold in tho sohoolhouso on Tuesday evening, for the purpose of electing a library committee for the ensuing year. The Rov Mr Cameron occupied the chair, and read tho annual report, which showed a credit balance of L2O 14s Bd. Tho report was adoptod, and a vote of thanks recorded to tho outgoing comtmttoo The following gentlemen were thou oleoted a committee, j namely, Messrs J. Camoron, T. Common, J, Common, W, Henderson, and G. Davidson. The now oommittee held a mooting afterwards and elcoted tho Rev. Mr Cameron chairman, Mr T. Oommon treasurer, and Mr 0. Davidson neoretary and librarian, Messra Cameron, Common, and Davidson wero appointed a sub-oommittee to make arrangements for holding a concert at an early date in aid of the funds of tho library. An adjourned meeting for the purpose of forming a Farmers' Coursing Club was held «n Saturday in tho Alliance Hotel, when thoro wore present Messrs T, Duuoau (in the chair), T. l<eid, J. Stewart, Rois, p»lgleish, Grant, J Johnston, and J. Marshall. It was resolved that a club be formed, to bo called the Oamaru Farmers' Couraing Club, and that the entrance fee be fixed at 10s 6d, and the annual subscription at the same amount. Mr Neil Ploming was elected president, Messrs 11. Stewart and Thomas Thomson vice-presidents, and Mr J, Mar* shall secretary and treasurer pro tern Messrs Shalders, Ross, J. Reid, Dalgleish, Sohluter. Johnston, Grant, G. M'Lean, Ronayne, and A. Paterson were elected oommitteemen. The following were elected members of tho olub : Messrs Harding Dooley, J. Markham, J. H. White, Dodge, A. Johnston, Harrison, Dennison, C. White, F Aitohison, T, Hall, Cameron, Dalgleish, Watt, M'Mastar, and Cruiokshanks, with power to add to theit number. The seoretary was requested to oall a oommitteo meeting for an early date

for tho purpose of tixlng datos of meetings, Adopting rules, ko. Tho meeting then toiminfttcil. Tho Daily Times is doubtful if Sir George Groy will be able to form a Ministry out of tho members of tho House who side with him in politic*, and mentions how Sir George was treated by his pjtrty, and how Sir George treated them in return, to show that strong Animosities mutt be ovcrcomo before a harmoniously working Liberal Ministry can be placed on the Ministerial benches. 'However willing numbers of farmers may bs to have their positions as agriculturists improved, it must be confossod that they often displayed * great amount of lethargy in making a movement in a forward direction. Muny reasonable excuses may be made for this backwardness in taking advantage of the opportunities sometimes placed within their roaoh, but in many instance* fxousei will not stand investigation Since the district was opened up wo have been in the habit of growing certain varieties of wheat and certain varieties of oats, and these aro unfortunatoly limited in numhor. There tiro one or two instances where this rule has been broken through, notably in the case of Mr Elder, who has for some time been cultivating a variety of whaat new to this district ; but generally the plan is followed of only growing thosu varieties that have been cultivated in the district for a long series of years. Besides running the risk of tho seed deteriorating in vigor and quality, there remains the possibility that other varieties of grain, if cultivated in the district, might prove more profitable to the farmer than the kinds he has been growing so long, Some time ago wo published a list of tho varieties of wheat and onts iu cultivation in Great Britain and other c mntries, and tho list was so long that we fael ccrta u if inexpensive experiments were made, varieties that might bo suitnhlo to the soil, and both in yiold and quality sunorior to those at present cultivated, could be picked out. Homo agricultural papers frequently contain reference! to now vnrioties of wheat and oats, and it would be strange if somo of theso are not of superior merit. Wo plaoe tho suggestion before those who may fell interested in it. A correspondent from Ngapar* writes as follows : Grain has not been coming in so fast during tho week, the heaviness of tho roads after so much r*in being probably the principal reason The weather during the hst two • r three days has been finer, with occasional Apiil showeis. Threshing has been kept back, the ground being too heavy to got the mills moved from stack to stack. The farmers appear pretty well satisfied with the season's yields, prices, and ready market for thoir produco, no grumbling being hoard; and as " silence gives consent," we must assumo tho correctness of our statement. — Tho Ngapara school has been somewhat unfortunate for some time past in the matter of attendance*. Some families have been loaving the district, a number of tho scholars have a long way to travel ; those things and tho long harvest have all combined to lessen tho averages very considerably, the result of it all being that the schoolmistress (Miss Marshall) has been withdrawn by tho Board. This young lady was desorvedly popular with tho pupilu and parrnts, and before finally taking her leavo was presented by tho pupilu with an address and gold locket and nncklct, on Fridiy afternoon last. Tin chairman (Mr Thoa Reid) was unable to bo presont to present tho s.vtig, and tho master ac ed for him. Mi*s Marshall, through Mr Walker, oxpre^sed her plsasure at rocoiving the token of good feeling towards hor, and at tho same time her sinenre regret at loaviug ; sho would not foigot tho pleasant time Bh" had spent at Ngipara, and tho many kindnesses she had experienced from her friondi and pupils, and the regret expressed in tho address at hor loaving was equally felt by horsolf at parting from them. Mr Henry M. Collins, general a rent in Australasia for Router's Telegram Company, writes to tho Ohristohurch Press as follows : "Sir, — With reforonoo to tho letter of th o secretary of the Farmeis' Co-operative Association, published iu your columns on tho 30th ult., I take advantage of my being on a visit to New Zealand to reply to tho statement that this company is in tho habit of quoting the highest price in London for Adelaide wheat whilst giving the lowest prioo for New Zoiland. I have no desiro to ques. tion the aosuracy of tho figures oitei by Mr Williams, but I would point out that whoroas in the caio of South Australia tho bulk of tho wheat shipped from that colony i.i included under one classification, in tho oaso of Now Zealand, on tho othor hand, tho range of prices for the various descriptions is considerable. I believe I am correct in stating that most of the Now Zealand whoat plaood on the London market during the past fow months has been of somewhat lower quality than the shipment of tho previous year, and our quotations have consequently shown a wide range of prices as compared with Adelaide wheat It is scarcely necessary for me to state that my company has no othor desiro than to quoto such prices as give tho most accurate idea of tho real state of the London market, and to remedy tho defect pointed out by Mr Williams I propose to arrange for future quotations of the lowest and highest prices of New Zealand wheat, thus enabling your revlers to arrive at an approximate estimate of tho ralue of any intermediate giadcs in which thoy may bo interested. I shall take tho oarliest opportunity of ascertaining from London the exact basis upon which our past quotations have been arrived at, and I sha'l then do myself the pleasure of cummunicat ing with you again." The following letter from a gtntloman long resident in tho Mokau district to a friend in Auckland is published in the JZerald, and will be of interest to our readers : " I oamo down right through tho King oountry lately. I stopped at the leading kiangas, and the feeling is in favor of roads, Sea, Tho natives (Maniapotos) are astonished at a section of pakohas bolstering up Tawhiao. The natives say that 'iawhiao can have nothing to oomplain of, because he refused a kingdom and an annuity from Sir Goorgo Grey at Kopua. Waihanui will not support Tawhiao in olosing or delaying the opening of the oountry. The proposod railway lino is very level, and there is plonty of timber and stone (principally limestone), for buil ling and ballasting. Tho lino from Te Awamutu to Waitara will be constructed for L5OOO per mile. From To Awamutu to the Mokim it will be constructed for less than L4OOO per mile You are (both sidea) all adrift a« to who is opening the oountry. It is neither the Government nor the officials — the truth is Wetero is the man I told you last April that Wotere had broken away from the King at Hikurangi Well, ever since that he has pushed tho mattnr of opening the country to his utmost, and ho deserves whatever credit there is in the affair. Tauhiio would not have dreamed of giving up his guns last June had ho not been deserted by Wetero previously. I know this as a fact. In truth, Tawhiao had a paper at Hikurangi (1331) for all the chiefs to sign, handing over their lands to him, and it was Wetere that tore it up and burst tho butble, Rewi and W»tere are working together, The land in the King country is good land, and for abouc 20 miles south of Kopua it will bo fit for plough and agriculture, but from there to Motuka the land, although good, is not level for ploughing. It will make good sheep runs and carry heavy stock. I'ho Lower Mokau is entirely valueles^ for either grazing or agr culture, being so broken."