LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 107, 24 August 1876, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

\YV fcfl sure our loaders will notice with -surpri.-e and extreme regret the name of Mr. .fv.hu/. -I. Ham in our obituary of to-day—-surprise at Mr. Ham's sudden regrefc at losing :i highly respected resident from our midst. Mr. Ham had been suffering for some time past from indisposition, but the symptoms of illness were not of such a serious nature as to lead anyone to imagine his end was so near. The deceased was a brother of the Messrs. J. and T. C. Ham, of Melbourne, the well-known auctioneers. Since leaving Victoria, he has been connected in various capacities with the Press of this Colonv. \

Tiiu Telegraph Department informs us that mails per Alhambra for Australia close at 11 a.m. on Friday, in Duncdin, and that telegrams will be rcceived-'at' the Oamaru office up till 10.30 a.m. of tliat'dafcc. ( . A landlady (says a Wellington paper) had a.lodger who would not go.to bed at two o'clock in the morning, although he was tight, and in arrears beside. So she usett gentle force. Next day the indignant iiifi.nusdfc)}?*- that lie had appealed ±p*|||| 1.--w sfecdjes3, having taken out a suinjai«n&|j for order, perhaps, to syughjca 1-: counts. The reply of the dame and to the purpose... Seeing a horsewhip, which lay close by, she.cxelaimed, 'yl&£- am to be summoned, it shall Be/for sometlhng," and thereupon she administered a sound and summary personal chastisement, which was taken in the most lamb-like manner, and a fresh information was immediately laid in the Police Court. The Tokomairo district appears to he getting notorious for seduction cases. According to the Brno: Herald another action for seduction will occupy the attention of the Supreme Court at its next sitting. The plaintiff and defendant are residents of the Tbkomairiro district. Our -contemporary is*'not in a position to say much about the case at the present time, but it heat's that Mr. .Walter Taylor will appear for the plaintiff, and that Messrs. Stewart and Denniston have been retained for the defendant.

Two accidents which occurred on the Port road yesterday (says. Tuesday's Stai-) illustrate the necessity there is for at once fencing some dangerous .parts of the road. In the afternoon, as Mr. Carey, of Blueskin, was driving into town a horse and express, the animal took fright and holted down the hill between the upper and lower junctions. After passing the first bend in the road, the horse turned sharply, with the result that the vehicle was sent over the bank, a distance of twenty feet. How the occupants of the express escaped with such slight injuries as they received is a mystery. Mrs. Carey, sen., sustained a bruise on one of her legs, and was much shaken ; and though the horse and express rolled over Mr. Carey, he was protected by the scrub into which he fell. Another express was run over the same bank in the early part of the morning. Under the heading. " Which is the Prisoner," a correspondent is very severe on the subs of the two Dunedin morning papers. He says, "Sir, —Both of your morning contemporaries state that Detective Bain has been sent to Christchurch in charrje of Robert Thompson, a prisoner. What has Detective Bain done that he should be in charge of Itobert Thompson, and what has Robert Thompson done to lead him to be entrusted with the charge of Detective Bain ? Possibly I may mistake their meaning, although their words are so plain, and that really Detective Bain has Robert Thompson in charge. A course of English at the High School might be of service to your contemporaries.—l am, &c."

The "special" of the Olago Daily Times wires from Wellington on the 22nd inst. that Mr. Ormond will succeed Sir Donald M 'Lean as Native Minister. Alluding to the probable change, the New Zealand Herald observes :—" Sir D. M'Lean has attained high honor and much credit, and it is always a safe plan for a public man to retire upon Iris laurels when ho lias any to retire upon. Mr. Ormond, who is spoken of as his successor, has the reputation of being a good administrator, but is said to be narrow-minded and ill-tempered, and he has manifested special dislike to Auckland." We (Lytttllon Times) have to report what is rather an unusual occurrence in Canterbury at present—namely, the sale of a station by auction. We allude to the sale of Heslerton, on the Rakaia, by Mr. C. Clai-k, on Thursday, when this property, comprising 440 acres of improved freehold land, 13,000 acres of run, with 8,500 shcexj, was knocked down to Mr. J. J. Loe for £G,OOO.

The ordinary fortnightly meeting of the Oamaru Harbour Board will be held to-mor-row afternoon at the usual hour. It is announced that a concert will be given by the members of the Lodge Rescue, 1.0. G.T., to-morrow evening, in the Oddfellows' Hall, the proceeds to be devoted to the Fleming Relief Fund. A varied programme has been arranged, and we hope to see a good attendance. On reference to our advertising columns, it will be seen that his Worship the Mayor invites the clergy and citizens of Oamai'u to meet hint at the Mechanics' Institute on Monday, the 4th September, for the purpos of taking the necessary steps to form a Benevolent Society. The postponed inspection parade of the Head-quarters Companies will be held tomorrow evening, at half-past seven o'clock ; and that of the Grammar School Cadets at three o'clock in the afternoon.