THE EVENING MAIL. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 1877.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 301, 11 April 1877, Page 2

THE EVENING MAIL.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 1877.

Word# artr tNtnjs. and a drop of inte fnltinsr tipon * thoatfht n»»> pewtae* that which makes thousands th'nfe."

Anotubr instance of the glaring exlravaI gance and reckless mismanagement which i characterises the administration of the | present Ministry reaches us from Duns edin. The canse of complaint this time is I the action taken by the Govetnmcnt in | regard to the shipload of Chinese at prei sent in quarantine at Port Chalmers. If : the information supplied by the Guardian \ is correct —and we think it is—the matter !is one of a moat serious nature. It seems that the Government have entered into some kind of arrangement with Dr. BcitJfs, whereby that gentleman makis periodical visits to the Quarantine Station for the purpose of officially inspecting the quarantined Mongolians. For performing this duty the worthy doctor, it is stated — and we have not heard the statement contradicted —pockets for each visit the modest sum of £l2B of public mon y. Here is extravagance with a vengeance. We do not blame Dr. Bvrns for the part he ptay3 in the transaction ; but we do moat decidedly raise our voices on behalf of the taxpayers of the Colony against such a wilful waste of public funds. e venture to assert that had the Government endeavoured so to do they could have procured the services of a medical man to have attended entirely upon the amaU-pox patients for a sum not greater than that paid to Dr. Bcp.n'.s for a single visit. The same tiling has been done before, and had the Government followed the dictates of common sense and common honesty they would have succeeded in doing so in this instance. But no ! They hold the public purse, and so long as they can manage to make things move on somehow money is no object. The money is not theirs, but the public's, and what matters it to them how it is spent. But it is not only with regard to the financial view of the transaction that we wish to speak. The members of the Ministry have been guilty of a far greater crime than that of extravagance. They have knowingly and willingly tampered with the health and lives of a large section of the people whose interests they are supposed to guard. Not only have they permitted Dr. Btrio's to break the quarantine regulations, but they have actually been parties to that olfence. It may be all very well to say that every precaution was taken, by the use of disinfectants, to prevent the possibility of the doctor conveying the disease ashore; but this is no palliation of the crime of breaking quarantine. The doctor may, as we are told he did do, change the whole of his clothing after visiting the small-pox patients ; but this can in no way be pleaded in mitigation of an offence against one of the moat stringent, most proper, and moat necessary laws of the land. Neither are we prepared to admit that no risk was run by allowing Dr. Bcns.s to viait the small-pox patients, and then come ashore and go about the people of Dunedin. No matter what precautionary measures may betaken, the disease is one of so frightful a nature that the very possibility of transferring it to those ashore should not have been allowed. The whole affair is one of so serious a nature as to call for a full inquiry, and we trust that when the House of Representatives meets some member will avail himself of the opportunity of having the matter inquired into.

It will be seen by a telegram in another column that those who succeeded in obtaining an order of the Supreme Court in Dnnedin for the removal of the Fercr Hospital did not represent public opinion. A large meeting was held last evening, at which, our correspondent informs us, resolutions were paaaotl strongly urging upon the City Council to maintain the Hospital.

The regular fortnightly meeting of the Municipal Council will be held to-morrow evening at the usual hour.

The regular monthly meeting of the County Council will be held to-morrow, at noon, in the office, Tyne-street. ,

The proposed new bye-laws for the Municipality of Oamaru are published in another column, and we would strongly advise everyone to read them through carefully.

Tenders are called for by the Town Clerk for the construction of footways on the Severn-street bridges, and must be sent in before 6 o'clock to-morrow evening.

A schoolmaster at Auckland has been sentenced to two months' hard labour for striking his wife and step-daughter, and ordered to afterwards be bound over to keep the peace.

A private letter received at Auckland by the last mail says that freights for the Southern ports of New Zealand are very low at Home, and likely to continue so for some time. It may be mentioned, as showing the prosperity of the town and district, that at the meeting of the Oamaru Mutual Benefit Building Society last evening for the receipt of cash, the sum of £7lB 153. IUI. was paid in. This is, we believe, the largest sum that has ever been received in one night.

Several alterations in the times of departure of trains will come into force to-morrow. Tho.-e chiefly affecting Oamaru are as follows ; —The G 55 a.m. train from Oamaru will run to Timaru only; the 10.45 a.m. train will leave an onr earlier (9.45), and will run through to Cluistchurch, and the 4.3 J p.m. train for I mnru will leave at 4.10 p.m. Intending travellers would do well to bear these alterations in mind.

A meeting of the Macandrew Testimonial Sub-committee was held last evening in the Mechanics' Institute, when there were present—His Worship the Mayor (in the chair), Messrs. Hislop, Shrimski, and Forrester (Secretary). The following amounts were reported as having been received : —Messrs. Shrimski and Steward's list, L 37 17s. 6d. ; Messrs. Forrester, Bodgers, and Thomson's list, L2O 15s. ; Mr. S'uinpter's list, Ll3 Is.; making a total of L7l 13s. Gd. It was decided to wait until Saturday for the return ol some Hits sent into the country, and that the amount then in hand, less the necessary expenses for advertising, should be forwarded to the Central Committee.

The Southland Presbytery have appointed committee to inquire into, and report at the next meeting, the number of public-houses withiu the bounds of the Presbytery in excess of the requirements of the community, and of improperly-conducted public-houses, with the view of securing the co-operation of Christian people in an effort to get the licenses of such houses cancelled ; also to indicate the evil influences which the existence of such houses had upon the young men of the community.

The novelty of a cemetery on fire was witnessed at Creswick, I'ictoiia, on Sunday, April 1. The Adrcrlker says some Chinese visited the old cemetery, situated near the Black Lead, it might be for the purpose of paying their devotions to the ashes of one of their ancestors ; at any rate they left behind them some rice and several lighted candles, which in due course set the grass on fire, and quickly burnt sorwe dozen or so of the guards placed around the graves. But for the timely arrival of Mr. Eeed, the town clerk, and a few others, who carried water to extinguish it, the whole of the guards, and the fencing as well, would have been consumed.

A little girl nine years of age recently entered a broker's office in Auckland, and desired to invest L2 in Red Queen scrip. The amused broker complied with the little lady's wish. An errand boy of the same age has also been speculating in "BedQueen's/' and has made money by his venture.

The following appears in a Home paper just to hand :—" An arrangement has been made by the Albion Shipping Company of Glasgow to take over a portion of the fleet of Messre. Shaw, Savill, and Co.'s Passenger Line of New Zealand packets, and to work the 3ervice to the po'rts of the Middle Island of New Zealand from London, in addition to the service from the Clyde to that Colony. The capital of the Albion Shipping Company has been, in consequence, increased to L 1,000,000. The service from London to the North Island of New Zealand will be continued by the Passenger Line a3 formerly."

The Aucklanders no doubt would be glad to have more frequent visits from ships of war. The Star says that no less than twelve thousand pounds sterling was spent in Auckland by the crew and officers of the German war ship Hertha, during their recent stay.

The New Zealand Herald states that a ■woman who has been deserted by her husband is living as a hermit in a cave among the old lava beds of the head waters of the Manukau. She has two cows and a calf, and is perfectly self-reliant. The night watchman in Nelson keeps a very interesting diary of the names and occupations of owners of premises whose doors he finds insecurely fastened. During the past two years and ten months that he has been on duty, he has entered 110 less than thirtyeight business premises in the town, and in one not only was the door left open, but the safe was also left unlocked. The Argus is indebted to Messrs. Poole, Picken and Co. for information from the Lacepede Islands, which they have received by telegram from Fiemantle, via Adelaide, to the effect that a hurricane of great violence had occurred there, causing the total loss of six vessels, viz.:—The Cingalee, Albert, "V ictor, Helen Malcolm, Aboyne, Mary Smith, and Isabella. There are no particulars to hand, but the telegram makes no reference to any loss of life. We (Argus) believe the cargoes of these vessels are all insured in our local offices. The "trick of singularity" subjected a man named John Mulhearn to an unpleasant share of public notice recently in Kelson. This individual came overland from the Wakamarina, and the facts of his clothes being the worse for wear, and of his hair being worn in the fashion of the first Charles of blessed memory, were deemed proof sufficient of mental derangement, and as a person unfit to be at large, Mulhearn was accommodated with a lodging in the lock-up, Afterwards he interviewed Dr. Boor, anc. being pronounced perfectly sane, was discharged, and went his way towards the Tadmor rejoicing.