MONDAY, OCTOBER 12. 1885.

North Otago Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4082, 12 October 1885, Page 2

MONDAY, OCTOBER 12. 1885.

There was a fair r.t tendance ab M sa'fl Plem'ng and Hedley's auction room on Saktrday last, when that firm submitted to the hummer (under instructions from the Deputy-Official Aes'gnce in tho csttte of B. Balmer), section 1, block 14. Oamaru, a» d section 3, Wook I°, Oamaru. The bidding for each of these aeot'ona waa aomew hit kcoo, and both fell to the Ba«ne buyer at LI OO and 103 respectively. Allotment No. 22, in the township of Newborough, was withdrawn at 162 10^, The drought i* beginning to make itself folt in reveral parts of the distiict. On the Papakaio Plain the lambs are beginning to succumb to the want of food, the ewes being hardly able to obtain as muoh food as is necessary for their owa sustenance, an 3 the lambs are in consequence starved to death On the north side of the Waitaki the loss is still heavier. In the direction of the Hakateratnea the deaths can Lj counted by hundreds, and it rain does not fall soon the loss to «tock-owners will be heavy indeed: from other parts tf tho district unfirorable ace unts have also been received, bat the number of daaths is comparatively small. For Beveral seasons pr".t the quantity of grf is in the district, ow.ng to tho unusually Urge quantity tf rain that has fal'en, has been sufficu nb to allow of the number of stock being considerably increased in the paddocks, and now that a deficiency in the raii fall has occurred, the paddocks are soon eaten bare of grass, and stook in conao- j quence suffer. This applies more l articnlariy to the northern part of the dlatrio 1 ', where very little rain has fallen. A good shower of rain would bring the grasa along rapidly, aatheie is plenty of warmth ia the ground. A telegram from Auckland Bays : " The following distinguished passengers arrived by the island mail steamer Janet Nicol this morning frcm Samoa — Maka Arime, Queen of Raratonga ; Maks Tane, Prince Cons >rt of Raratonga and King of Atui ; Tapor (Jte Rangi, Keejer of the Great Seal; Terakl TareeToka, Speaker of the House of Lords ; Wakapora Matipo, Minister for Public Works ; Tutioa, First Maid of Honor to the Qaeen ; Makora, Second Maid of Honor to the Queen; Enoka, Usher of the Red Rod and Keepe" of the Royal mats." The royal party, according to further telegrams on the subject, are being made a good deal of at Auckland. The Mayor has shown them round the city, and free passes have been granted for the railways. It is not unlikely, therefore, that the Mayor of Auckland and the Premier will be knighted. Nothing ia said about the object of the royal visit, bat as the Raraton^aian Speaker of the House of Lords and the Minister for Public Works are amongst the visitorp, it may that the former has come to ascertain how our " Lords " conduct their business, and the 1 the latter to obtain a wrinkle or two from Mr Richardson (if Mr Richardson has a wrinkle or two to spart) on the subjects of railway construction and railway tariffs*

We regrafc io learn fcn*t aa aceiaetfe 1 hsppenedto Mr James Craig, timber merohant, of this town, on Saturday morning, white he was superintending the construction of the new bridge over the Otematata River. Mr Craig sustained % fracture of the right ankle joint. He was conveyed to town, and attended by Dr de Lautour at the Star and Garter, where ha now lies in a fair way to reoovery. In onr report of the Duntroon races published in Saturday's ißsue eeveral errors ocourred. In the lntrodnothn our reporter is made to say that the Duntroon Handle vp wa« run 111 1 2mlns 41£aec8, wheras it should have been, as it w»s given at the cad of the description of the race, 2oilna 48Jsooa. Ia th 3 Novel Handicap MariDgo is pat down as the second horse. Ec did not start in this event, bat Mwion did, and it ig the lat f 3r'e name that appears la the description of the race which f llowed. A Maori troupe, under the conductorship of Mr Te Ao, M.H.R. , will appaar iv the Public Hall this evening in an entertal ;- ment that is difßoult to describe, but on that account is not the less interesting. The troupo appeared firsb at the Exhibition, and travelling aouth performed at Chriatchurch to full homes. They have appeared at Timaru and other towna, and the no\elty of the performance has a'traoted good housea. Ie may be otated tint the entertainment, while it is unique, hai nothing offensive about it, and is highly spoken of by cur northern contemporaries. Neap Zealand horses are fortunate, or uafortunatr, as the case may be, in being made favorites for the races they aie entered for in Australia. It will be noticed that Mr D. O'Brion'a Trenton heads the list in the betting for the Melbourne Cup, and is apparently a good deal thought of. Welcome Jack was a'so much and favorably wriiten about, bat ha« done nothing yet to entitle him to the position he occupied. For one of the h.n lioaps at the Sydney races he wr - heavily backed just before the race started, and finished fifth. A writer in a Sydney paper says that he Is an over-ratei horse, and if ever he wins a race with 9it on hia back It mußt be in seoond-rate company. Many New Zjaland owned horses have visited Australia, but none have performed 10 well as the mare Lurline. Cut of the large number at present there it will be rather disappointing if none of the -good things fall to tr.oir share. At a meeting held in Adelaide oa Soptem | ber Bth to consider the action of the editor of the Licensed Victuallers' Gazette in reprinting tno Pall Mall Gazette articles, it was mentioned that Dean Jbussell, of Adelaide, had written to the editor expressing bis approbation of the reprint. A day or two alter the Dean wrote to the P-eaa deprecating the use of hia name In the matter, as hia letter was marked "private." He goes on to say : "My opinion is that but for the publication in the Pall Mall Gazette the conscience of the country would not have been so thoroughly roused, and that ia the rousing of the general conscience the result has been a positive good. To my own congregation I have openly spoken in the following language: "If those who are set as the watchmen in Israel should prove to be dumb dogs that c-inot bark ; if in tleir spurious refiaement they diould be too much ashamed to apeak of the existence of actu?! sin, then from sorre unexpected quarter will leap forth a voice of WotrniDg, which wi'\ be as fire in men's bones,' 1 had quite recently had facta brought before me showing that there is in Adelaide something like a traffic in vice ; that seduction is being carried on to a far greater extent than the public have any suspicion of, and that wealth Is being need for the gratification cf luat and for the purpose of purchasing protection from exposure ; and to my mind this startling warning is not wholly surjifluons even here."