The Evening Mail. MONDAY, JUNE 26, 1876. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 56, 26 June 1876, Page 2

The Evening Mail. MONDAY, JUNE 26, 1876. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

In answer t> a rjuestion regarding the IlallForbe* mail contract, Sir .Jstiuts Yo-el stated that the " toss entailed Upon the Colony was N*" money had yet been recovered, t>nt he might say that there «ns reason to expect some portion would he recovered, a compromise having been proposed, He hoped to be able t»> lay more infoßiKitinn on the matter before the Hostse before the Session closed.'' It seems strange that, with these figures staring them in the face, the Government should actually allow Hezekiali Hall to be connected with tfie present contract. All the money likely to be reeovered from Hezekiah wilt not add rmteh to the Treasury. The winner of the English Derby this year is a colt by iSciccaneer. dam Mineral. A late Home paper states the still unnamed Mineral cott. one of the Derby favourites, continues to. eterctse the ingenuity of those who fancy they have a tnra f»'r equina nomenclature. Among the suggested names the best we have seen is that of " I'.ioodstone." which fairly combines the associations or actualities connected wil-h the name of and «la»n—lineeancer and Mineral. Alluding to Petrarch's chance for the bltte ribband of the Knglish tttrt". the "Graphic" stays : —" Bnt the turf talk of the week has been more concerning the unhappy Petrarch, who for a fortnight past has taken no realty strong exercise, though, after many days' walking. lias indulged in a canter »>r two. The most probable explanation of tfie matter is that he has been ' pricked' in shoeing—i.e., if they nse stteh a common expression in turf circles, wherein a shoe i* called "a {date;' but rumors to a more sinister effect are still afloat. He is coaic'iuently dethroned from hts premiership in the Two Thousand market, and only just holds it En that for the Derby, for which All Heart is considered likely to start first favourite. If anything really serious has happened to Petrarch all trite sportsmen will sympathise with Lord Dupptin. his recent purchaser, who invested a

" little fortnne* in securing an animal v>hich he hoped would win him his first Derby. ' As events have turned ont, the public will have to sympathise with Lord Dupplin, for his hoffijeran fourth."

A nice little war has been going 011 between the Southland, Otago, and Wellington papers as to the advantages of the harbours of Bluff, Port Chalmers, and Port Nicholson. • The " Southland Times " evidently sides with Wellington as against Duuedin, and in a recent issue our contemporary says :—"The Dtinedin papers are once more jubilant over their splendid harbour. 1 heir mode of reasoning is, however, rather funny to an outsider; it is what is generally styled ' the coU'ce-pot calling the tea-kettle black.' Information has come to hand that a small vessel had struck somewhere outside Wellington Heads. Well, perhaps the Wellington people ha\ e known plenty of vessels long before this that have struck somewhere outside "Wellington Heads —the somewhere occasionally being Port Chalmers. But as neither the " Times " nr.r {he " Guardian " have given us any instances of vessels coming on " soft patches '' inside Wellington Harbour or at the Bluff, we must still assume that the popular prejudice about Wellington and the Bluff being safvr places for shipping is correct."

News reached Hokitika by the Christchurch coach, on Thursday (says the "Grey liiver Argus "'), that two children, daughters of Mr. Patrick Griffin, were missing since midday on Wednesday. The two girls, aged eleven and eight years respectively, were sent to look after, and bring home some cattle, as they had been in the habit of doing f. r ->>,>e f iir.<\ They did not return as usual, and a ;mali search party, late in the afternoon. went to look for them. No trace of their whereabouts could be discovered. On Thursday morning at daylight the search was again renewed, but with a similar result, and it is now feared that the poor young creatures have perished in the bush. Y\ ednesday night, it will be remembered, was a fearful night of rain, thunder, and lightning, and both girls being of such tender age it is almost- impossible that they could have obtained shelter, or taken means to protect themselves from the cold and exposure. The circumstances were reported to the police, and Detective Browne was to leave for the spot bv t!ie coach yesterday morning, where he will, on arrival, cause another search to be made, 'I lie place where the children "\\oic lost i-: about a mile on this side of the laipo river, between tin: Wainini ami Taipo. A knotty ease is likely to come before the Divorce Court of this Colony very soon. A tieiitle'.iian married a lady in Auckland about five years ago, and afterwards went with licr to San Francisco, where he obtained a divorce on the "round of her having separated from him. He then married again and returned to Auckland, where the second wife is about to sue for a divorce : or, in the event of the marriage not being recognised, to institute a prosecution for bigamy, so says the "Wanganui llerald."' If the second marriage is not recognised as binding in law, there cannot po-v-;ihl.j be sustained an action for bigamy. American law, it appears, allows divorce on the ground of the wiie having separated from her husband.

A meeting of shareholders of the .MlltlUi.l Holleiit Permanent Building Society will be held this evening, at the Me-i-h:t nio-f Li -iitut-:, at eight o'clock sharp.