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Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 956, 13 May 1879, Page 2

A meeting of the members of t!ie newlyformed Fire Brigade was held last evening in the Royal Hotel, Mr. .1. Hamilton in the chair. On the motion of Mr. Rowland, the draft rules were read and adopted, and the .-leeretary was empoweird to gut 100 cop'.es printed. also a number of subscription lists for distribution. The entrance fee was fixed at r.4., and th- otlio.rs were th.n elected Mr. John Sinclair, captain ; Mr. \V. Dakcr. lieutenant ; Mr. K. Hamilton, foreman of the hook company ; Mr. Newton, foreman of the ladder company ; Mr. Falconer, foreman of the hose company ; Mr. J: Hamilton, treasurer; Mr. J. Fulton, Secretary. Tlie usual vote of thank 3to the eliair terminated the meeting. A pigeon match is announced to take place at Ngapara on Saturday next. A meeting of the North Otago Benevolent Society will be held in Mr. Hardy's oflice, at 7 p.m. this evening. Something should be done with the railway crossing En Thames-street to lessen the smoothness of the planks Wsidc the lines, or else something should he substituted for them. We suppose that those in the Railway Department whose duty it is to see to such things know nothing about the accident that happened to Mr. Sumpter a fewdays ago, or, if they are not so ignorant as this, they have perhaps permitted it by this time to have quite escaped their recollection. We arc not road or railway engineers, but it seems to us that something better | might be substituted for the planks beside the rails on the crossing in question, which become so dangerously slippery in damp weather. If hard stone would not answer the purpose, and if wood must be used, why should it not be "bushed" in some way? ! At the Resident Magistrate's Court today, before T, YV. I'arkcr, Esq.. K.M., Richard Fos, charged with committing a breach of the pence, and also_ with being drunk and disorderly last evening in Teesstreet, wad fined 405., with the usual alternative. ! Some attrairers 1 of the late Sir John Richardson have resolved to issue a circular, asking the public to contribute not more than LI each towards the expenses of erecting a monument to the memory of so useful and admirable a colonist.

An extraordinary meeting of the Public Baths Company. for the purpose of ton.-!.tar-ing the financial position of {he t 'ompany. tta held at the Mechanics' Institute last night. The Chairman {Mr. Cibbs) stated that the Company's indebtedness to the bank and otherwise wm such as to render it nectssary that sortie steps should he taken to place the Company in a more satisfactory position. He then called upon the Secretary to read the report and balancesheet. The Chairman said the propositi of the directors was that the number of shares should he increased to -OCO. Ihe meeting was called to discuss this matter. It had hewn suggested that the Mayor should rait a public meeting to considet the propriety ot getting the Corporation to take over the Whs. lie thought there would he no disunity in getting "the public t»> .T.rce to thiV, tut it could lioC he carried out immediately: and, as it was necessary that something should W done at once, it was thought that the suggestion contained in the report woutd meet the difficulty for the present, in reply to a unestion from Mr. Headland, the ('['.airman said that the pipes were carried out into the water in the same manner ad before the damage occurred. but that they were supported' by a greater number of piles. Mr. M'Ltsod had expressed his opinion that the pipes might he safely taken further out to sea if kept sutlieiently near the bottom. The Chairman moved the adoption of the rep'tit. which wait seconded by Mr. Headland. _ Mr. . t'»nnelt thought that tFve business of the meeting should be to c -twitter irnat r-l:«-«l.| be done to meet the liabilities ot* th-> CornCompany, and tfiat the Company he v.v;ind up He mwctl that the Company be wound lip volnntarily by the shareholder I .'. Mr. Headhuul thought that an effort should be put forth to extricate the Company from its present position and continue to carry on. Kven if the property cotihl be sold, which was very much doubted, sufficient would not be realised to pay the Company's debts. Mr. Council aaid that it had been suggested to him that the Corporation might purchase the property, in which case they need not pay cash, the Company would take debentures. In reply to a question from Mr. Rogers, the Chairman said that he thought the Corporation might entertain the proposal to take over the baths. Public bodies in other places had hatha under their supervision. lint, although when tirst mooted thev could have done so. they were nut in a position to <!>» so now. He thought that tlifV might carry on until matter* improved. Mr" Kogk'rs seconded Mr. Council's amendment. *"Th» Chairman explained that if the amendment was carried it would be necessary to call a special general meeting to confirm it. The amendment and the motion were put, and the latter was carried. The Oaroant Young .Men's Christian Association and the Itev. Mr. Gillies deserve o«r thanks for the interesting ieeture which was delivered at the Tees-street Hall last niirht- The Kev. Mr. Gillies is a facile and intelligent lecturer, and it is a pity that _so few assembled last night to hear him discourse on Mrs. Browning's poem " Aurora Leigh." There were two causes that militated agaittot the attendance. Several other met 1 tings were held hut evening, and lectures never do attract a good audience in this town. I'ewle seem afraid of the very word, and sFinn a" lecture as though it would inevitably end ifJ a month's tit of hypochondria. I Lecturers often make the mistake of being ; very prosy and prolix ; but the days of long lectures, as wed as of long sermons, are passing away ; and we think that lecturers aiv the literary fans that wiuuow the chaff from the grain—that condense, s;vv. a volume that would take a week to read into, a lecture Luting an hour and a half, full of the best and most attractive points of a root! work. We have iu> apuco to give the lecture in full, and, as to attempt to epitomise an already condensed discourse wonhl bo doing the rev. lecturer an injustice, we content ouratjves -with saying that the lecture was one of the pjoat instroctue and interesting that we lisvj listened to in Oamant. The president of the Association wast in the chair, and daring the evening the choir sang some hymns very nicely. At the conclusion of the Iccttire Mr. Gillies wa3 tondty applatuled, and received a hearty vote of thanks. The heß.}<lictton by the Kev. Mr. Todd concluded the jn««:cp{ling3. Representations having been mtuia to Mr. J. P. Maitland, Commissioner of Crown Landd, that a temporary lands office should be established at Puntroon in order to receive application* for the Kurow Block, that gentleman ha# replied that such a course is unnecessary, a* applications may be lodged in the office, Dtincdin, l»y an agent. Thj Municipal Council will meet tomorrow evening, at 7.13 p.m. Business— To receive report from Committee re waterworks I an. Mr. M'Kay. of Maercwhenun, had his house burnt down during lits in Oamaru on Saturday last. Mrs. M'Kay states that she left the house, in which a fire was burning in the gTate, in order to sec to the horses, which •pfWffml to be restlesS, leaving her two babes, aged two years and a half and one year, in it. She retarded shortly afterwards, and, finding the house in flames. hiui as much a* she could do to rescue her children with the assistance of her neighbour*. It is supposed that the eldest child, whilst playing with the fire, drew out some of the cinders and ignited the paper oil the walls. The house, which was built of soda ami wood, with a thatched roof, was insured in tins Transatlantic Co., for L2OO, which will be, according to Mr, M'Kay's valuation, LIOO short of covering bis 100.

Our suggestion that Sir Julius Vogel should be asked to help us in floating the second Waterworks loan was not, judging from the experience of the Tiinaru Borough Council, a bad one. The Borough Council of Tiinaru sought Sir Julius Vogel's aid, by cablegram, to Boat their "Waterworks loan, and by the same means they have received a favorable reply. "We this morning had the pleasure of inspecting several views of various sections of the Oamaru Waterworks, which Messrs. Ferrier and Rock have been enterprising and clever enough to take. They are quite artistic productions, and give a capital idea of the nature of the work. As affording an idea of the pluck of Oamaru, a set of those pictures would be a most handsome and interesting souvenir to send to H- me friends, whilst one can glean from them almost as good an idea of what the work is like as he could if viewing the reality. A fine-toned Smith organ has been placed in the Tees-street Hall, and was played upon for the first time in public last evening, on the occasion of the Rev. Mr. Gillies' lecture. Previous to Mr. Barley's opening prayer, the choir sang Moody and Sankey's hymn, No. 171;, "To the work," accompanied by this instrument, and it appeared to us to be everything that could be desired. It can be lire!.; as -oft as a whisper, whilst its fortissimo is loud enough to iill the Hail. The Tiinaru Herald says : Wc are rather curious to know how it is that the Oamaru people, through their Chamber of Commerce, have been able to get the open hours of the local telegraph office extended till S p.m., while the representations made by the Tiinaru Chamber in a similar direction, have had no eftcct whatever." Our advice to Timaru is to wTestle as Oamaru did. Storm the citadel of the Government in Wellington. I'res3 the newspapers into the service. Have paragraphs in their every issue, and let the papers containing them be forwarded to the Postmaster-General, bordered with ret ink, emblematic of the terrible consequences that will follow non-compliance. Let occasional leaders, written in the Herald's usual style, sans the bitterness towards the Government, occupy the Postmaster's thoughts during his waking hours, haunt him like ghouls at night, and spoil his appetite. Catch him as lie is 011 the wing, tickle liiin under the ribs until he is good humored, and then extract a promise for what is desired, which will be carried out—in the course of a few years.