The Evening Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. MONDAY, JANUARYS, 6, 1879.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 850, 6 January 1879, Page 2

The Evening Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. MONDAY, JANUARYS, 6, 1879.

; AfcTEßATtojf* are about to be effected in | the working of onr railways, which have I the appearance of being improvements ; upon the old system. From an early date 'in this month the Amberley-BlutF railway, ! and branches, will be divided intodistricts, I in each of which will be located a traffic 'inspector, whose principal duty we supi pose will be to see that any irregularities | that may occur in the conduct of the ! traffic are rectified. Tin's will relieve district station masters of responsibility ! as regards the conduct of the goods traffic ; department that has heretofore weighed far too heavily upon them. Wc have : always been of opinion that they had too i much work to do, ousidering the onerous | nature of the duties of their position. A | district station master requires a clear ! head under any circumstances, but when I he has to keep all the necessary machinery going connected with both the passenger and the goods departments of a section of a railway, into the working of which the working of so many other sections dovetail, then the position becomes one of such grave responsibility that we would not care about accepting it. In the new system wc see every reason to hope that truck difficulties will in a great measure disappear; if they do not altogether cease to exist, except in the memories of those whose business records show that they hare suffered pecuniary loss. It appears that, irrespective of district station

masters, or even General Managers, the newly-appointed Traffic Inspectors will have the custody and disposal-of. all rolling stock used for goods traffic on the sections for which they are appointed. They will, it is understood, work in harmony with one another. Jf there occurs a scarcity of rolling on this section, it will be the duty of the Traffic Inspector to immediately wire to Traffic Inspectors of other sections to endeavour to obtain the necessary supply, and vice versa. Another good feature in the new arrangement is that these Inspectors will be amenable only to the Commissioner of Railways,, and that matters of complaint will not now have to pass through a multiplicity of officials and red tape, an ordeal which created disgust in the aggrieved, and irvariably caused the defeat of justice.

The meeting of the Chamber of Commerce which was to have taken place this afterrfton lapsed, on account of the unavoidable absence of the Chairman and Secretary.

The Committee of the Horticultural Society will meet this evening as usual.

In anolher column a week of universal prayer is announced.

It is highly creditable to those who have the coaduct of our railways that every facility is being afforded our agriculturists for gaining experience by seeing the results of I'ic operat ; oas of their brethren in other parts. Meeting together and comparing n0«.03 are incomparably more valuable than knowledge gained through read'ng. Those o? onr farmers who wish to visit the Blueskin Show will have an opportunity afforded them of doing so at single fares. The success which is attending the conduct of the Oamaru Stone Company should be highly satisfactory to its shareholders. There has yet been barely time for the Company to get into working order; but everything is looking as promising as could be desired, and a trade is springing up with the Colony, and even Colonies, that will shortly ripen into something handsome, if the future management be as good as that of the past. Shareholders will also be glad to learn that the call of ss. per share, which is announced in another column, is likely to be the last that it will be necessary to make.

Tlic monthly meeting of the Committee of the Mechanics' Institute will he held on Thursday next, at S p.m. The Quarterly Children's Service was held yesterday in the Presbyterian Church, at 3 o'clock. Mr. C. G. Moore presided, and the addresses were delivered by the Rev. A. B. Todd and Mr. T. J. Jeffreys. The attendance was the largest that has yet been present at these meetings, which have now been in existence aliout three years. The attention of the very large concourse of children was most gratifying. The Evangelistic Service of last evening was hardly so well attended as some of the previous ones have been. The addresses were delivered by Mr. J. Mirams and Mr. C. O. Moore. The choir, as usual, led the singing with good effect. Joe Thomson, the "Leviathan" bookmaker, lias been hit for L 15,000 over the Melbourne Cup race, but, as usual, paid up without dispute or hesitation.