The Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 1877

Oamaru Mail, Volume II, Issue 379, 11 July 1877, Page 2

The Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 1877

A blank sheet was presented at the Resident Magistrate's Court thi-j morning. A meeting of the C>unity Cuuueil will be held at noou to-nio: row. A general meeting of the members of the Horticultural Society "will be held this evening at S o'clock, at Albion House. A meeting of the ratepayers of Otepopo •was held in the schoolroom on Friday last, relative to the closing of tli2 road through sections 24, 2.3, 2i' ? U, and S, block V, and section 79, block VI. ilr. Anderson, Chairman of the Road Board, presided. Oil the motion of .Mr. Ross, seconded by Mr. M'Donald it was decided that the road should Le closed, and the plan forwarded to the Comity Council for further action. This being all the business, the meeting was brought to a close by the usual comp.iment to the Chairman.

A meeting was held at Mr. M'Kenzie'.-s Hotel, Maerewhenua, on Saturday evening last, with reference to the ploughing match to take place shortly in that district. There was a good attendance of farmers and others interested in the afi'air, Mr. W~. Gai diner being in the chair. The Secretary made a statement showing the state of the funds at the disposal of the promoters. The following gentlemen were elected a Committee. five to form a quorum : —Messrs. Eell, Johnstone, Hall, l)ownie, Gard, A. Hutcheson, H. Aitken (Oamaru), Lewis, C Hutcheson, Sutherland, Dalgleish, William Aitken, and E. C. Smith. It was arranged that the Committee should meet on Saturday evening at Mr. M'Kenzie's Hotel, to make the necessary arrangements for the match. About L3O was subscribed in the room in aid of the match, and the meeting then concluded with a vote of thanks to the Chairman.

Another step in the onward march of civilisation and progress is about to be taken by Oainarn. On Monday next, we are creditably informed, our postmen will ajipcar in full uniform. This ii to be similar to that worn by the London postmen, viz.— blue, with red facings. Caps, gaiters, and proper letter-bags are also to be pro 1 , hied.

A meeting of the Otep<>po lioacl Board was held on Friday, at which there were present—Messrs. -Anderson (in the chair), M 'Donald. X»>wla?ids, Watson, Darroch, and Ross. Messrs. Falconer .and Mitchell, new members, were also present, but did not take their &ea;..~, j'ending the decision regarding their election. The minuLes of the previous mct.tiig were read and confir '.eel. The outward' correspondence was Zealand approved. Tiie inward correspondence wai al-o rc:;i.l, but not dealt with. So je accounts having been passed for payBU .t, the Board adjourned.

The Mr. Hooper referred to in our last evening's issue as having been whipped by a woman is the gentleman who carried on the business o f rent and debt collector in Dunelm. He is overflowing with philanthropy, and, about eighteen months ago, established a paper professing temperance principles in Dunedin, entitled the Liberator. Uncharitable Deople used to say to him, " Physician, heal thyself," because they expected him to be as temperate in other matters as he was with regard to intoxicants. His personal appearance is a little against a man of his professions. But we don't despise men because they were once in the " horrible pit and miry clay." " Speak of a man as you find him " is an admirable axiom, and, after all, nothing but a broken nose mars the benignity of Mr. Hooper's countenance, and the beauty of his conversation. Everybody knows that, as a rule, genuine virtue reaps no substantial reward in this world, and Mr. Hooper seems to prove no exception to this '.ule. The tears roll down our cheeks as we contemplate poor Hooper's wrongs. The Liberator having expired, his facile j>en was engaged in writing for the Temperance Times; and, in. his endeavours to "wash the Ethiop white " —to hasten the happy Millennial period when all men will be as good as Mr. Hooper—lie put his foot in it, and wns transferred to now journalistic fields in "Wellington. His life there has been one of turmoil and anxiety. The good man has been compelled to have recourse to legal means of teaching gross libellers righteousness ; and others, conspiring against him, have arraigned him before justice for the same transgression. He lias suffered like job, and is the very embodiment of all the virbues of that holy man. What, if the woi Id thinks otherwise ? They are, of course, in error, and are wanting in the power of discrimination between good and evil. Some people may assert that he has been harsh and inconsiderate in his treatment of widows who were indebted to him for his rent. This is a fearful calumny, fie loves everybody quite as well as his own family. lie lias, indeed, left wife and children and a comfortable home to go to "Wellington to liberate the souls of its citizens. He is now liberating them, and, as three actions for libel are now pending, it is not unlikely that lie may be doing this at the expense of his own liberty. If Mr. Hooper should ever go to "limbo," the world may look forward to the publication of another " Pilgrim's Progress."