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Oamaru Mail, Volume III, Issue 714, 1 July 1878, Page 2

"We have received from the Press Agency, confirmation of the information obtained by ns from a private source on Saturday as to. schooner Lady Don having gone ashore at Waikato Heads. The Press Agency is incorrect in one essential particular. The. Lady Don's cargo was not insured in the National Company, as stated in thetelegra.ni which appears in our shipping column. The' vessel's ca-go and freight were insured in the I New Zealand Company for LS7S. The Lady Don left this port on the I7th June, with a cargo of produce shipped by Messrs. Anderson and Co., destined for Waitara. The total amount of revenue collected at the Customs House during the month of June amounted to LISI7 19s 2d, showing a very considerable increase on the corresponding month of last year. The receipts for the quarter, including L 385 for license fees in the County, amounted to L 5413 2s 4d. The appeal made to the public lately by the Early Closing Association, not to shop after nine o'clock on Saturday night would appear to have had the desired effect. We are informed by several of the shopkeepers that on Saturday night last, their business, which up to nine o'clock had been tolerably brisk, immediately fell off afterwards, scarcely any customers entering their shops after the hour named by the Early Closing Association. Should such a condition of affairs be continued, there is every prospect of the early eloping movement being successful ; for, although several shopkeepers at present refuse to concede the boon asked for by the Association, they wiil soon see that there is nothing to gain by keeping their busine-'s places open after nine o'clock on Saturday nights. It is to the sympathy and assistance of the public that the Association jiust look for success, and not to the display of spirit of coercion on the part of its members, fSO long as the public create a necessity for the objeryange of late hours by itio nUuplt.ov.poro, eo long will tradesmen keep their premises open for the conveni nee of the public; but once get the public lo display in a practical manner its approval of the movement, by abstaining from late shopping, and the greatest difficulty in the way of working a change will be removed.' The only eases brought urider the notice

-I his Worship the Resident Magistrate this morning v. ere a couple of charges preferred by Alexanuer Lamb against the Packwood family. Edeu Packwood was charged with on Lamb's property at Kakauui on the lain June, and Lizzie Hill and Thos. ■ i-.r.-. cwo .-hildreu adapted by Packwood, •.. . u ac.usi.il Oi throwing stones Lamb's chadivii on t'.ie 21st Jii!ie. .Mr, O'Meagher .pjtii.-ed for the defence. Both cases were dhnu.-^d.

A iui:uti::g of gentlemen desirous of forming a drauiuiic club was held on Saturday t-L-uiug ui, the Royal Hotel. After a long discussion, ic was resolved to form a club, to Le called the Oamaru Amateur Dramatic Club, and the following gentlemen were elected (subject to their approval) officebearers for the ensuing y ;ar : —President, -Mr XV. J. SfceWMi'd.; vice-presidents, Si'thorc Thompson.and .John. Lemon ; treaMl:::, Mr. F. Cov'ueit ; secr.j: .Try, Mr. XV. Kerr; manager, Mi-. \\ r . C. Hickey; and a committee of three was elected for casting and business purposes. An entrance fee was fixed and some other preliminary work done, and the meeting termiuated with the usual vote of thinks.

I A meeting of the Committee of the North' Otago Couraing Club was hell on Saturday, at the offices of Me.-isra. Fleming audHedley ; but as we received no intimation of the intention of tli-; C-iinniittL-c to hold a me'etlug, we were debarred from giving a report of the proceedings in our last issue. The members present were : —Messrs. Fleming (in the chair), Hedley, Duucan Allen, and Ronayne (Hon. Sec.}. The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. A letter having been read from the Hon. Mr. Holmes, asking for particulars as to the ji:i;j.tipti>ju to be put upon the Awamoa won by Mr, Surmau, it was resolved—ii' That' if the President has not already aent to England for the Cup, the 1 sonfiirltteo :jSuggest to him the desirability of obtaining it within the Colony, would be occasioned be,presented to flna winnoiSr' ">¥fthTegard to the inscription they :— ' North Otago Awamoa Cup. Pre^tfi^yibe^M^U^pcg^-Hoimes. 187.8,1 But &ey;|i» willing to leave the final cnolci to the Pr«Sd#nMl6w'h' judgment." It waf d©atall[tha4itfie I J9pening day of the be held at Awamen be allowed to M^r^ljlrnrorod»]- when slipped, as !'?pic*irio gentlemen ■shall was . It was ng Stakes it should 3 gniueas te stakes; dogs oneirminated be House Punedin, ; en one of tjjg. most&MtN&HlVle events of the kind that has occurred in the colony. Both candidates are avowed supporters of the present Ministry, both entertain almost. the same vi ws upon the leading political topics of the day, both are "gentleman held in ysry high repute by their fellowrcitizens, ana either of them would make a very good reprewntive } but, notwithstanding all

these things, the contest throughout has been one of the keenest that* has taken place in Dune Jin, and a very considerable amount of unnecessary personality has been introduced. Parlia--inentary fapfcf Tffis result, perhaps, is the-absence of any principle strata forf,": narrowed/the I contest dpwJa-to one"?, {of nature. The..most thing: hi connection 1 with the election has been the manner in winch the Dunedin papers have sided in the contest. Thus we find the Daily Times, the staunch supporter of the Ministry, and the-Star,' the -opposition paper, stronglv supporting;Mf.'Oliver ; .and .thq-Herald, the supporter of-nothing .in particular, and the opponent of everything,in general, fighting the battles of' Mr. ' Reeves ; while the Tablet is the uncompromising opponent of both candidates, on account of their views upon the education question, and the Age and Saturday Advertiser occupy neufral positions', contenting themselves with leaving the choice of a representative to .the electors themselves. One after another, tho3e members, of the (General Assembly who formed the joints in Major Atkinson's political tail, ara dropping out of the House of Representatives. Resignation after resignation follows in unprecedenteflly rapid succession. What is the cause of all this shirking of public duties ? Do these retiring gentlemen quit the political arena because they find it unprofitable to continue in it now that a fresh Government is iu power, and the snn set for ever upon their little day of glory as friends of a Ministry which was dependent upon such as them for support? Doubtless, they feel keenly the change which has been: brought about. They are no longer able : to- take Ministers by the arm and chat as freely .with them as if they had been very old and dear friends. No, for the future .they would either have to become the tag-rag and bobtail of the rowdy mob designated her Majesty's Opposition, andhob-nob witha pack of greedy place-hunters, or do as Mr. Henry Handera h;is done —become turncoats and untrusted followers of the proauut, Miaiotry. The adoption of such a course would be distasteful to such men as Mr. A. J. Burns and Captain Kenny, both of whom are said to contemplate resigning; but to the former would; such a proceeding be especially unpalatable. He has tried it; and therefore ought to be an authority upon the subject of reversible garments. Poor Burns ! He is, we are told, afraid to faeo his constituents

'' .according to his usual custom," aad prefers resigning iris position as a member of Parliament to undergoing the trying ordeal of meeting publicly those whose trusts he betrayed. As for Captain Kenny, he never did anything during his political career worthy of notice, other, than record iris vote jn favor"of thf late Mi:iUtry. His retirement from the K- 'ise will n't be much felt, aud may the means ot making I'ooux for a man -with opinions of his own aud the ability to give utterance t-"> them.

AVe would remind members of the Committee of the Horticultural Society that the monthly meeting will bo held this evening, at S o'clock, in Mr. Earle's rooms. The fortnight'}' meeting of the Commercial Building S iciefcy for the recjipl of subscriptions, ftc, takes plac*.-. this evening. A special meeting of the Oamaru branch of the Railway Employes Benefit Society will be held at the Railway Station at 8 o'clock to-morrow evening. The monthly meeting of the First. Oamaru Permanent Building Society, for the issue of new shares and the receipt of cash, will take place to-morrow evening. The monthly meeting of the North' Otago Permanent Building Society will take place to-morrow evening. The election of auditors will take pi■■;;;;: during the evening. Mails for the United Kingdom and the Australian Colonies, per Arawata, close at the Bluff at 11 a.m. to-morrow. ' There is likely to be a contest for the representation of the Taieri in the House of Jlepresentative3. Mr. W. IT. Outten is is announced as a candidate for the seat r,end3red vacant by the resignation of Mr. Donald Keid, and a requisition is said to be in course of signature asking Mr. William Snow, a local man, to come forward. Mr. Robert Gillies, who contemplated seeking election at the hands of the Taieri people, will, it is understood, woo the electors of Roslyn instead. , ■