The Evening Mail. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1876. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 165, 31 October 1876, Page 2

The Evening Mail.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1876. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wont* ate rff»f> vt ittlc foltlnr tipon a Uiiousfft.t m;vy jivoiitice thai whieh Buta thousand* think."

From a telegram received from osir Special Correspondent in Ihmedin we learn that a deputation from the IV! it sunt Association waited ttpotv Uu Honor the Superintendent this morning to a.istt re hint that the Association would give him its hearty .mid and support tit all the measures he may deem it necessary to take t> protect the interests and revenues of the Province : and the Association farther requests* him to protect against and teatst as iar aa lies! in his power arty interference with its affaire a» they now exist, Knt.il he is advued by the Convention called for the special purpose of considering the present financial state of attains. Iu reply to the deputation. Mr. Macaudrew stated that he was much gratified at receiving such an expression of sympathy, and promised to do bf.-t best to comply with the term* of the resolution passed l»y the Political Association.

We wish to remind members of the Headquarters Companies that tiic usual Parade Inspection will take place this evening before the Major commanding the district. It may he also stated that immediately after the inspection Mrs. Steward, on behalf of the ladies of Oamara, will present the several trophies won by the successful competitors. The Caledonian Band will be present at the ceremony, and we are given to understand the proceedings will be graced by the presence of a large number of the fair sex. Intending travellers by the Oamaru-Wai-taki line would be wtae to note the alteration of time in the starting of trains, which commences from to-morrow. By the notification published by the Tnvtiic Manager it will be seen that the trains to and from Waitaki will leave both ends of the line half-an-hour in advance of their former time, namely, frota Oaroaru at 2.43 p.m. instead of 3.15 |>.m. ; leaving Waitaki at 4 p.m., not 4.30 p.tn. as formerly. There h a story told of a certain Irish alderman noted for hi» bibulous propensity, who once boasted that hewa3 the most regular man in his ward. The assertion hiing received with surprise and doubt, the point waa freely conceded by his audience when lie explained that the plea upon which he based his claim for regularity was, that for the previous six years he had wjularly taken fifteen glaasesof wh iakey before breakfasteach day. It strikes us that the Public Works Department of this Colony can fairly lay claim consistency—and that consistency lies in their efforts on all occasions to have the contracts carried out at the greatest possible expense and outlay. A short while since we

had the Brumer Bridge disaster, and ntfwwe learn that the Fell locomotives imported by the Public Works Department for the Eimutafca line are found to be too large to go- > through tiie tunnels, so that either the tunnels will have to be enlarged or new engines ordered of smaller size. In either ca3e delay and enormous expense will be eD tailed. Truly the Department is to be lauded for its consistency, but it is a pity that commodity ta such an expensive luxury. As an appropriate pendant to the foregoing we clip the following from the Aryu-i: —'"How not to do it,' is being specially exemplified in the case of discharging the Birchgrovc of the jarrah timber for the Thorndon reclamation. The Public Works Department is, we believe, doing the work, and practical men say that at a moderate computation it will cost about three limes what it ought to cost. One of the latest exploits in the matter has been to tumble the crane over into the sea." In the Govn-nmait Gaelic of the 2Gth, among the appointment of Examination Sited.-, wo iind the following:—"Port of ' Oamant —The Warehouse marked 'A,' adjoining the Eailw.-vy Goods Shed, situate on Tytie and Avon streets, to be Warehouses where Good.» may be deposited for Examination on the landing thereof." An incident oecur.ed at Kycburn Station (any* the 3fon:il Idn Chronkk) the other day which we might have had to chronicle as an accident, it being a very near approach to one. It appears that a cow had been found entangled in a wire fence in the immediate neighborhood of the station, and the manager, accompanied by a man named O'Grady, proceeded to the spot to release her. They cut the wires, and so set her free, but experienced much difficulty in getting her upon her legs, the animal appearing to be so exhausted a<: to be unable to stand. No sooner had this feat beiii accomplished, however, than the ungrateful beast, under the evident, but quite erroneous, idea that her deliverers were the cause of all her sufferings, made a rush at them, and, soon overtaking O'Grady, caught him from behind, and threw him violently on the ground, standing over him with much fury, while retaining on one horn, trophy-like, the entire scat of a pair of tmusers, besides fragments of flannel and other underclothing. The position was a really perilous one, and, were it not for the prompt action of hi:; employer, who set his dogs on the animal, and so withdrew her attention, might have been attended with serious results. That no boner, were broken is due to the fact that, fortunately, there are iio boms t" break in the immediate locality whereon the cow attacked him. O'Grady was recent 1>" an inmate of the Hospital, where h<- had become somewhat celebrated for his freethinking, it not atheistic ideas, and for the manner in which he withstood t!ie assault.* of the visiting clergyman. He has now expressed his iuUntiou of giving a hntuLome donation to the church as a token of thankfulness lor his deliverance. The Ol't-jn DnVj 'J'i-iv•■■* of a recent date contains the following:—"The lie v. Mr. Tipton Davies, in hi-; morning service yesterday, introduced somewhat of a novelty, by specially directing the intercessions of the congregation on behalf of 'those who have the direction of the Press in this place.' We have often wondered when Kings, Governors, House* of Parliament, Ministers, and teachers, and all those who influence us and exercise control over us, have been specially prayed for, why newspaper editors and writers should be so systematically omitted. Perhaps it is that they are looked upon as hop.-L-<:-, or it is just possible they are regarded as livah: ; but looking to the enormous influence and power of the Press of the present day, wc cannot help thinking that if the Christian Churches showed a little more of the community oi feeling and work which is implied in the recognition of them in public prayer, there would be fewer misunderstandings, and less antagonism. For ourselves, wo accept Mr. Davies' act as an omen of a better state of things, and thank him for the kindly, liberal spirit in which it was done.