The Evening Mail. TUESDAY, JULY 18, 1876.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 75, 18 July 1876, Page 2

The Evening Mail. TUESDAY, JULY 18, 1876.

LOCAL AND GENERAL. The latest method adopted to draw an i editor's attention to an inaccuracy in his paper; is to cut out the portion of the paper containing the supposed error, drop it in the post, and mark on the slip ? Last evening we found in our letter-box a copy of our Wellington telegrams, published on Thursday last, on Loam. The portion of the telegram, na objected to by our correspondent, reads as follows:—" No portion of the £30,000 guaranteed bonds have been sold, but £'269,000 have been hypothecated to the Crown Agents." This message was forwarded to us by the JPres3 Agency, and, of course, should be identical with the information published by the Dunedin and other ! papers. We find, however, in the Dunedin ; journals, that the message reads thus:—"No '. portion of the £BO,OOO guaranteed bonds have been sold, but £2>>9,ooQ have hcecn hypothecated {to the 30th April, 1S7«) to the Crown Agent*." It will thus beacon that the words in parenthesis were not sent to tts, which, of course-, makes a great difference in the reading of the telegram. Mr. R. Matson, engineer and machinist, of this town, has shown us one of Column's patent rubber type printing rollers. The patentee resides in Melbourne, and has appointed Mr. Matson as his agent. The great advantage of Caiman's roller stamp is that it is self-inking, and when the rollers are once covered with ink, printing can be continued for a day without replenishing. The stamp is similar to the Rubber Company's, but the self'acting patent, of course renders it greatly superior. We are given to understand that the patentee has spent over £2,000 in bringing the stamp to its present state of perfection.

[ There are some people in this town who imagine that a newspaper should be a sort of [ rubbish cart, into which to throw all their t nonsensical effusion?. The other day we received a letter from a correspondent on a ; subject which could have no earthly interest to Oatnarn, or oar numerous readers. As we were greatly pressed for space to insert more ; important news, we very naturally declined ; to publish our correspondent's production. The nest day that man affected with cacccthe3 scribendi called upon us. and commenced to abuse the editor in terms more forcible than polite. He said the paper had sunk low enough, and if we didn't insert this letter he would know the reason why. We may now explain to him that the reason we refused his contribution was to prevent the paper sinking any lower, as personal abuse is certainly not calculated to raise the tone of an} - paper. Tins is the explanation we offer for refusing the contribution in question. Mr. Call, a police magistrate in Victoria, has inaugurated a new style of dealing with cases of drunkenness. A man summoned his wife fur using threatening language towards him. but in the course of the evidence it appeared that both husband and wife were given to drunkenness and quarrelling. Mr. Call dismissed the case, but said that if both parties would solemnly promise to abstain front intoxicating liquors for twelve months, and keep that promise, he would, at the end of that period, present each of them with a pair of gloves. The offer was at once accepted, and it will remain to be seen if the couple will win their gloves.

A few days "ago the two Dunedin morning papers published a statement that the wife of James Todd, a farmer, living at Mosgiel, had been found dead in a stable adjoining the dwelling-house. This item of news would, no douGt, have been very heartrending had it been correct; but it wasn't. The word "drunk" should have been written after "dead." Mr. Todd is candid enough to confess that his wife was suffering from the effects of drink.

The Globe Variety Troupe were rewarded with another excellent attendance at the -Masonic Hall last evening, on the occasion of their, second appearance in Oamaru. The tricks of Professor Hennicke, in his Temple of Magic, were loudly applauded, while the characteristic songs and dances rendered by Mr. and Mrs. Hart called forth an immense amount of enthusiasm. Miss Harrison contributedsome*pretty ballads, and Mr. Moran, in his Irish comicalities, met with a storm of applause. The company will appear again this evening, and we advise those who appreciate an enjoyable evening's amusement to patronise this really talented troupe. Wellington may be the political capital of New Zealand, but, if its Press is a reflex of the public mind, the following extract from the local " Argus " would augur little for its refinement. The polite conductor of that paper says : —" We are requested to state that the paragraph which appeared in the " New Zealand Times " this morning about Mr. Giilon and Mdile. De Murska is absolutely false from beginning to end, being simply one of those malicious and wilful lies for which that paper is now infamously celebrated." It may be noted that both the papers are worshippers of Sir Julius Vogel, and it is said the struggle between them is, which will be most servile to the Premier. He must find it useful to be able to play off one against the other. Nearly two-thirds of England's wool (say 3 the "Times") comes from Australia, from which quarter we received, in 1874, a quantity much beyond all precedent, amounting to no less than 2-25,383,631 lb., or 38,718,6851b. more than in the preceding year. A remarkable decline occurred in the import of wool from South America, which fell suddenly to 11,305,0951b., or less by 9,791,1641b. than in the preceding year, and a smaller quantity than in any year since 1860. Our total import of wool in 1874 reached 344,470,8971b., a larger quantity than in any preceding year, and more by 26,434,1181b. than in 1873. But this increase over that year was chiefly not for ourselves, for there was exported from this country in 1874 as much as 144,292,6631b. of foreign and colonial wool, or 21,048,4911b. more than in the preceding year, leaving us 200,176,2341b. more than in the preceding, which, like 1874, showed a larger foreign supply for the United Kingdom than any year which had gone before it. The " Napier Herald's " Wellington correspondent writes that by the kindness of Messrs. Lyon and Blair, Wellington, he had an opportunity of seeing the new seal for the l Napier Harbour Board, which is being cut at I their establishment. It is, he believes, the I first seal of the kind cut in the Colony ; the | Thmedin Harbour Board, at any rate, had to send to Wellington for theirs. It is of the 'hardest steel, and about two inches in diameter. The legend that runs round the circumference is simply "Napier Harbour Board, a.i». 1875." In the ceutre there is an engraving of the Bluff, seen from the east, with the waters of the bay at its base. One or two vessels are entering the roadstead. On the watera is engraved an anchor, with a scroll above it bearing the legend ■*' Anchora spci." Altogether the seal is a work of art highly creditable to the industrial progress of Wellington. He remarks that the lighthouse in the engraving is situated on the top of the Bluff, and wonde-s if the designers mean to take steps to make the reality correspond with the picture.

Tins is what the " Waimate Tribune " has to say about" larrikinism in our Masonic Hall: —" That this peculiar mania assumes different forms is evidenced by numberless examples. The Oatnaru type rejoice in cat-calls, roosterejaculations, uncalled-for and senseless remarks, kicking, whistling, screaming, stamping, and hammering with the legs of chairs, interluding the refrain with quotations from the best (and the worst) authors, setting at defiance the police, and behaving in a manner becoming to the birth-right of true Britishers, who delight in disgusting and distressing the ladies, especially when they are endeavoring to amuse them. Whys professionals should be made the butt of these pests or why it should be allowed, is a problem for Mr. Superintendent Weldon's solution, as it is high time that the larrikins of Oamaru become a thing of the past in forthcoming entertainments.'' To which we fervently ejaculate, Amen.

At a recent meeting of the Kaipoi Farmers' Club, a gentleman gave an account of his shipment of grain into England, which will be particularly interesting to agriculturalists. La3t year he sent away 325 sacks, some of which, namely, 152qrs., sold at 545., some as high 565., and other prices varying from 525.; 362 bushels (damaged) fetching 245. to 31s. The average of the total 425qr5.—4961b. per quarter —was 505., or, in other words, 6s. 3d. a bushel. The cost of sending it from Kaipoi to England was 2s. 6d. per bushel, and on that sent by him. he had received a price

which here would be equal to 3s. lOd. per bushel. The freight this year was the same as last, so that, if wheat were to realise a higher price in the Home market, the profit will be increased—a consummation which is 1 anticipated. ' There was a civil sitting of the Eesident Magistrate's Court this morning, but the proceedings were of no public interest. On reference to our advertising columns it" will be seen that those citizens who are willing to act in securing the return of Mr. John Falconer as Mayor for the ensuing year are I requested to meet at the Oddfellows' Hall, this evening, at eight o'clock. It is notified by the Telegraph Department that a mail will leave Townsville for Singapore, on the 19fch inst. In addition to rate from New Zealand to Townsville, the charge will be six shillings and threepence per word. Policemen have often most unpleasant work to do, and of this description may be classed that of runaway husbands. Given a crime committed, as a rule, it becomes a pleasure to hunt down the criminal, but when the offender is of the class mentioned, there is a something which renders the duty distasteful, more particularly as, from the present state of colonial law, the chances are it would be fruitless. Most people will be apt to suppose that the local force cannot be much troubled on this score, but unfortunately such an idea is erroneous. Within the last few weeks (says the " Southland Times") the authorities have been applied to by no fewer than four deserted wives, who have suddenly been left to " fish for themselves " and their families. The men in each case are supposed to have fled to Victoria, where they can snap their fingers at "incumbrances," unless the latter are in a position to pursue the fugitive. As a rule this is not the case, and so they are bound to become a burden on the community. A great check on the evil would be such an arrangement between the Australian colonies as would enable the authorities to reach men 'of that stamp whereever they could be found, and either bring them back to be dealt with by the local authorities, or have them punished by law where apprehended. A mournful story, prefaced by a villainous pun, comes from Eockhampton. In a paragraph on poultry, the local " Argus " says : " It is quite certain that none of our Justices, or just asses, are likely to have their stomachs 'with fat capon lined'—neither are they, or anybody else, likely to have—so far as we can see, for scarcely a fowl, wild or tame, of any description is to be had, for' love or money, particularly the former. Even hotels, which always pay highest, are unable to secure anything approaching the necessary 'supply, while private families are condemned to the eternal beef and mutton food, which is getting almost too much for our kanakas and aboriginals." The cause of the dearth in town is set down to the absence of a market-place or shop, where country producers coxdd sell their fowls." The amenities of New Zealand literature are, at times, anything but delightful, but 1 our A r ictorian friends seem able to surpass us even in that 7 Some short time since Mr. Dalzill, the proprietor of the Melbourne "Echo," not wishing to carry on the paper, issued a valedictory address to the public of Melbourne, giving his reasons for relinquishing the task of attempting to establish a firstclass evening paper in Melbourne. This was met by the entire country Press with feelings of regret, andspme very flattering remarks at the way in which the " Echo " had been conducted. Not so, however, with the Melbourne "Herald" (the opposition evening paper), who, thinking that the "Echo" itself was dead, appeared on the following evening with a most scurrilous attack on the valedictory. The "Echo," as it happened, was not dead, but had merely passed into other hands, but feeling the remaz-ks keenly, published the following evening an article at which even America might stare. We ("Guardian") give a few of the finishing sentences .as a sample : —"lt is, therefore, only just to say that neither in the account they give of this journal, nor of that in which they are published, is there one single truthful statement. They are utterly, entirely, deliberately, maliciously, and abominably untrue, and they are in complete keeping with the general tone of that miserable compound of stale news, stolen paragraphs, indecent advertisements, bad grammar, wet printer's ink, and dirty brown paper, which is known to the obscure "denizens of Little Bourke-street and Romeo-lane as the Melbourne "Herald."