The Evening Mail. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1877.

Oamaru Mail, Volume II, Issue 491, 24 November 1877, Page 2

The Evening Mail. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1877.

It-wil 1 be obssrved with sitisfacti n that the pre<eur,-Muiistry have auncweed t ieir int-in.au- to. undo .-not her of the » upnl actions of their predec ssors, N>me time snce the whole of the police in the Colony were c> epelled to bo enrolled in the Arm-jd Coustabula'-y, ad turned iut-> a i-inl of n.iufcuy thief-catching body. At the timi <his proceeding vat protected against, more es ecLilly in <*tag<> an i Canterbury, in which Provincial di.tret \\'i police hid reached a state of abno-t perfecci >u. It was felt tlisit the eilic;ency of the foroe was oreatly jeopardised b\' their being com °el ed .o assume a kind of military nature. 'lhi present Ministry have taken a similar view of tiff-matter, and have d termined to AemiHfciri.se the police in the Middle Island, ami place theiri on their former footing.

It must now be pretty evident to those of s'ciety. the sly-grog-- e'ders, that th ir perni ous little g me has been nearly finished. 'J he whole=a'e manner in which they have been dealt with during the past two ilay--, and the substantial penalties mflic'eil, inut i rove a salutary warn ng to the whole of the defn.u iing crew, and thes. o n.r th y beta e themselves t > s me h mesr, and respectable m.de of gai-dng a bv< ddvod tlie better it will be for them. Thci fin s iufhcted ye-derdayand to- ay amount to no le.-,s a sum than LI 43. We in id r.,taud that one or two other ei-es are likely to come before the Court shortly.

It. is probable that Mr. Tetrie, Inspector of Schools for will coinmenc.- his txa ni.ii ition of llu Oamaru schools on .Monday nex'- VVe un Urstand th.it t' e (iramniar .-eliool will le fcd,en first, and it isto.be hoped he will b:« able to assure us that cur educa'ional establishments are a credit to the town.

A sitting of the District Court will be held on Monday, when the onl\ business to be brought forward will be c 11-.ng upon Mr. Jaii.es S'cou;ar, trustee in the estate of Thomas Hiilik r, to verify his report. A number of members of the Artillery Volunteers went thiviijh a portion of their class-lirieg this. ii'< r>..ing. In the thud c !s lS s—-15U, 2;:0, 200. and 300 ya d.=, rive shois at eac.i—the following w-re the ;.(.,„., S: —Corporal lioulston, 59; Uu.uier Filluel. 42; Hodsworth, 3G ; Niuiuer Johns, 18. 'lhe ranges for the second cla-s were 400. 450, and 5 0 yards, live shots at Ihe first two, and ten shots at iiliO >ards; and the following we.u the sco es : Corporal Kouiston 57 ; S.jgeantM jor IL.ldswo th, 31 ; Corporal I inosay. 2S ; Gumi-.T I'd.nel, 24. Another squad wid fire this .afternoon.

Mails for Sydney, per s.s. Hero, will clo eat Auckland'at 10 am. on luesday mxt.

Mr. Jeffreys is announced to preach in the Volunteer ilall at 7 o'clock to-morrow evening.

The Daily Times says:—Unless there is a heavy fall of i>in during the next week or two ihe want of water in the city will be felt most severely. The Corposation officials cannot be too persistent in their efforts to pi event waste, and it is to be hoped that all offenders in this respect will be detected and punished. Ihe police at Kuma-a lately arrested an old man, who had been s.-eu to Fteal a Crimean shirt from a shop front, concealing the >ame under a large plaid, which lie was in the habit of wearing. On searching him, they found on him a belt, from the back o: which depended a bag. On opening tlu bag, they were greatly astonished to find it contained gold —mostly Melbourne sovereign^— LI 16, notes LIS, silver 8s , and a d. posit receipt from a Colonial lank for 1.556. He was thus actually, at ihe time of his arrest, in pos ession of 1.600 Bs. He also had <>n his person a few articles of jewellery, 'i he prisoner is an Italian, but speaks E.n'jlish perfectly. He. s;.ys lie had been hawking through" the Colonies, partly in Queensland, and that he walked to Kumara from >.eison.

The Wellington Aryvs tells the following : —A worthy dignitary of the Church of England is in the habit ot visiting one of the pubbc schools in Te Aro, and ir-m time to time communicating religions instruction lo the < hildr. n I ast week he w s engaged hi this labour of love, and anxious t<> impress up- n ihe youthi'ul mbd that t'ie p op->sed s:. orifice of Isaac n r a- meant as ili-: type of a higher and gr. ater sacr.fi e. But ihe c >r ct idea of a type w;>s diihcul.b < f appi ehension by the chi'drc-n. The good i lergyinan tried various devices, but failed to m dee himse I under food. dancing round tlie walls ot the tcho'ilronm his eye lighted upon a picture. I'ointiiig to it, the following c>l oquy took pa-.-e : ''What is this?' " A ducU." " .Vo, hot a duck," lie explained, only the picture or type of a duck. Do you uude - fctand what I have b«en saying now?" "Yes,' from half-a dozjn voicjs. "Very will, undt-rstanding t is, t,< 11 m* wliat was Isaac?"' "A duck." was the a most, mi uiiimais answer. " Oh. 1 am ashamed of you, thirk, and try agasn " A pause, a: d tl) n came the happy th nght of the more advanced, rt'li n one of ihe class shouted out in triumph — "Isaac was a d ake." 'ihe catecliisL subsided. 'lhe New Zealand Tivies, in noticing a constabu aiy parade i> the Eniph-j City, thus facetiously rema>k-< :—" A portion of a liu st imposing semi-military spec aHe came off on Thursday last. I or tie first t;me s.nce their incorporation with the Armed C n.tabidary, the Wellington [ olue were ordered to parade for insp' c; on. ■ h' I a-ade ground is sbm.ttdat the rear of the police .-ta'ion, and in sizo and general appearance is not nnhke tl*e Champ do Mais on a vi ry reduced scale. It is about 20ft. * 10ft, is i.oi::r:ed on ihe north by a corrugated iron fence, on the by a wafer tank, on the wett by a g.,r=e thicket, and on the east by the Insolvent Court. Ac the hour appointed f.-r the parade there were present Brjgadier-G-neial Moule, Colon-1 Shearman, Major Atcheson, Capta'n Smith, Leu ten ant Fa - rell, two corpoiab, f.-ur privates, and tiicook. The band consisted of two small boys with tin whistles, who out of compliment to the Colonel played the *• March through Georgia." The parade ground was in excellent order, owing to the exertions ox

i two ge 'tlemen committed for twenty-four ! li.uir.-T for drunkenness, aid d by a garden [ rake and awa "erhi--pot. Tlie troops having come t > attention, one of the corp«ua!s said : •'There'll be i o inspicSioa to .lay, bekase the Suprame Co.»t is .-ittiu', and yez might disturb it." 'ihe parade was ilx-n-« i m ssed. The whole proceed.ngs passed oif without a hit. hj, if we except a caiple of rliiJit ajei-d-nts. One private sa r . down oi a bayou :t, | and the legs'of the M.ijor had a difficulty i with his sword, which caused him to try how far he coul I dig his no-e the earth. The se; vices of three eminent med'eal men, however, prevented any serious injury."