LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 154, 18 October 1876, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

After we had gone to press last evening, our Special Dunedin Correspondent telelrgraphcd the successful launching of the Harbour Company's new dredge Vu'cau. Tiie »pcation wa» witnessed by upwards of '2.(103 person*. Unfortunately, as the dredge slid into the water, the orthodox bottle of champagne fe 1 overboard, so the christening had to ba performed over an unbroken bottle. It would appear that there is every probability <>t" to-morrow being ob-ervc.l as a g :nvi-'.l iiolH.-.y, <<n account of the Stceple-ch-Ti.-? Meeting. A n<>ti!i.ati >u appears in another column, intimating that it has be-211 proclaimed a bank holiday, and there is little d»ubt the general public will comply w.tli the request of the stewards of the club, and close their pi ices of businesses from noon. For the convenience of those visiting the

Course, the railway department intends despatching a train at i'2 !o, returning at 4 "20 p.m., and another leaving the station for town at o. 10, the charge being only one shilling for the return journey. We are pleased to observe by the published report made by the Hour-e Committee of the Oamaru Hospital, that the labors of Mr. and Mre. Moore are not very arduous at the present time, there being but two inmates in thrr institution. This is a matter for congratulation, and we heartily hope th.-it on the di-'.-harge of the present invalids, it may be a long time before their places are filled.

We have to acknowledge the receipt from the {.overnment Printer of a quantity of Parliamentary papers, 2so. 30 of Hansard report-, ami other interesting documents. The adjourned parade inspection of the Head-quarters Companies took place last night, but the attendance was anything at ail but creditable to its members. Captain Locke was in command of the Artillery ; Captain Sumptcr, No. 1 Company ; and Captain Morton, the Cadets—the whole being under the charge of .Major Steward, the commanding officer of the district. The men. accompanied by the Caledonian Band, were marched down to tiic Town Belt, and on their return were put throi'gh a number of evolutions in the Drill-shed. Before dismissal the men were informed by Major Steward that the priie i won by the different competitors would be presented by -Mrs. Steward on Tuesday fortnight. When a Frenchman wishes to convoy the impression that a person has imbibed more than is good for bim, he finds a simile in stating that lie has been a3 drunk as an Englishman. Judging from the following, the European bears ;ibout as good a reputation for abstemiousness in the eye 3 of the Maori, as John Bull in those of hi; Gallic neighbour:—"Some Maori witnesses in the Supreme Court, Wellington, in a case the other day, were rather pointed iu their replies to questions put to them throu.h their interpreter. One, an aunt to the prisoner, to the qnesti'-n, whether she kept drink in her house where the prisoner might have obtained it, replied, ' Am I a European that I should keep drink in my house for friends.'''

" From the sublime to the ridiculous." A footpath has been made in Turakina, and this is the way in which the consummation of that national work u announced by the liaiiyi:ih-i Adrocote : —"Turakina has at length been caught by the current of improvement* and tangented from the eddy in which it has so long circled without making

any appreciable advance. A footpath. Has" been gravelled and formed to the limits o* the township, and the large heap of earth which so long obstructed the road, removed." What a falling off was there ? Woman's wit* is proverbial, and the^follow, mg-.inethod' of wiping off an old score is unique. A number of girls at one of the country State schools of Victoria, who took a dislike to their teacher, and wished to wreak their spite, effected their purpose in this ingenious but discreditable manner. At their examination by the Inspectors, they, by common consent, answered every question wrongly, and their teacher, of course, lost all her hard-earned money from this source, the mode of remuneration being that of payment by results. That was turning the tables with a vengeance, and teaching the teacher a lesson she is not apt to easily forget. Jlr. William Swanson is a decidedly sensible man, judged by his utterances on the debate upon the question of granting free passages to members. Upon that occasion, the member for Newton is reported to have said :—"There was; however, a class of men to whom it might be worth while to give free passes on the railwaj'S, and they were the newspaper editors and reporters, whose duty it was to collect information of all sorts, to be placed before the public. Those were the men whose special business it was to go about the country to obtain information. They had a. special aptitude for doing so, and every facility should be afforded them for acquiring information, which the public could read every morning at the breakfast table." The New Zealand Times shares (says the Wellington correspondent of the Auckland Htrakl) were going begging at a shilling a-piece some six months ago, are looking up ; 475 sold at 10s. 6d. a share to two of the employes of the company, who are well acquainted with its working and prospects, and would not have bought unless they j looked for a return for their money. We are pleased to hear so, and should be more pleased were we sure the statements were correct ; but in these degenerate times there are so many wheels within wheels, more particularly in " Our Own " department, that we should like to pierce the identity of the Herald's correspondent before implicitly believing the story.

The Palmerston Times says:—"The delicafe organisation of some people is truly wonderful. A few clays ago, a lady whose nerves appear to be of a very flimsy calibre, and who resides not a hundred miles from this place, was recounting to some of her lady friends how she sometimes experienced most unpleasant effects, even from the per fume of flowers. "I have," said she, "a sort of giddy, unsteady sensation." "Ah, yaas," said a would-he exquisite. "2?o doubt, it's weally vary sad ; it is indweed." At this moment a handsome girl came into the room witli a flower in her bosom. The lady of delicate nerves lifted up her hands in a beseeching manner, and then. became ap. parently insensible. The new-comer was informed that the odour of the flower she wore had caused the indisposition of their friend, but the astonishment of all, when convinced that the flower was only an artificial one, may be better imagined than described." % A correspondent, writing to the JDunedin Star, throws out the following good suggestion :—" As one of those so situated, I have been looking forward to the 9th prox. for obtaining a whole day's enjoyment. I have been carefully looking up the steamer advertisements in your paper to see whether any of (ur steamboat companies intend laying on their boats for excursions on that day, bu* none are yet announced. Might I suggest to the Union Company the desirability of running .one of. their boats—say to Oamaru and back. By leaving here about six o'clock, or later, on Wednesday evening, we would be in Oamaru in good time for spending the day there, and - could leave on our return about the same hour on Thursday, arriving in Dunedhi in good time for business on Friday, thoroughly refreshed and prepared for another term of close application to duty. I feel sure that if the company I have" named would lay on one of their boats for this trip, and give timely notice of their intention so to do, a good many would take advantage of the opportunity—certainly a sufficient number to pay the company well."