LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 251, 10 February 1877, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

| The disposing of the charge against one George Williams, accused of Wing drunk and disorderly, formed the whole of the business be .We Che Bench this morning, ile was discharged with a caution. A numerous and intluentt.il deputation of citizen-* introduced by Councillors Scott and Morten, watted upon Mr. Hidop, M.1t.1J., this afternoon with a request that he would address his constituency on Monday night, and give an account of his stewardship during the- past Session. Mr. Ilislop very jwstly made serious objection to the short notice which he had received, and wished for a postponement: hut after considerable persuasion absented to the request of tlie d |»tttation. Arrangements are being made for securing the Volunteer Hall for the occasion. We would remind our readers that the Rev. Father Kelly will deliver his lecture this evening *>n ,k Paris, the Battles. dirges. and Fortunes .She has Passed." The lecture uu»->t prove a interesting one at the present time, and from the well-known ability and eloquence of Father Kelly an intellectual treat may be expected. The Waitaki did not leave port this morning till tang after her usual time, the delay being occasioned by the getting on board a large quantity of wool which formed part of her cargo. She also took away a large number of passengers, amongst whom we observed Mr. Sturimskt, M.H.R. It will be seen by advertisement elsewhere that l>r. Carr will deliver a free lecture on '•Modern Materialism and the Unman Soul" iu the Mosonie Hail on Sunday evening In the course of a conversational discussion last evening (says the Southhmd New) cna of the Invereargill Town Councillors suggested that, for the sake of economy, advertisements should only appear on alternate days in the daily papers. Hi-. Worship the Mayor remarked that from his knowledge of Press business, he could say no economy would be effected thereby—in fact, so far as the newspaper proprietors were concerned, they would actually lose by the cost of taking out and putting in, even if full rates were charged. His Worship was quite I

right, and deserves credit for the practical application of his experience in the working of a paper. By the way, it may be remarked that savings effected in the matter of advertising are often more apparent than real. A striking illustration of thi3 has just been afforded in the sale of 100 acre 3of Crown land at Balclutha township. It appears that it was only advertised in the newspaper appoiutcd to be the Gazette, which does not circulate in the district, and the first the residents knew of it was by a telegram from Dunedin (where the sale took place) published in the local paper. It is said that by this "economy" the Government has lost more revenue than would cover the cost of advertising in the Otago district for many years to come—to say nothing of the injustice done to those who were awaiting the opening of the land for sale, and opportunities for the perpetration of neat little swindles afforded by the comparative secrecy affected. The Colonial Journal says it lias been determined by the Maori chiefs now assembled in AVcllington that a meeting shall be held in March next, to consider the whole question of Maori lands in this island : how they are to dispose of their lands in the future, and what steps they shall take as to the restoration of the confiscated lands of friendly natives. The meeting will probably be held in Ohtncmutu. The Napier Tth'jruph says :—" At Mr. Scott's .Amcri. an Cowling .Saloon is to be seen a novelty in wine decanters or waterbottles. At the bottom of the decanter there is a small dome of opaque glass, within which is a musical box that commences playing as soon as the decanter is placed out of the perpendicular. This ingenious contrivance would he well adapted for public-house bars at which customers help themselves; the duration of the music would warn the bnsv bar-man as to the allowance someone thought he was entitled to for sixpence.