The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. FRIDAY, JULY 25, 1879.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1018, 25 July 1879, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. FRIDAY, JULY 25, 1879.

Communication ts now restored between Port Darwin and Baitjoewangt. OTien oar local contemporary remarked "til* Breakwater has suffered more from the effects of the recent storm than was at first supposed,"oiur contemporary did not act with its ttsu.il wise discretion. The paragraph has. of course, found its way into a Dunedin paper, and the etlect it is likely to produce will neither be satisfactory to our contemporary nor to this district. It would not jnatter if people would accept the statement of oar contemporary as being the whole truth ; but they witl reason in tins way : "If a Oamant paper admits so mticii. what must he the real extent of the dam."'-''' done!" X»>w. a .-Uteiner.t which issttpp>.-'d to have tic«a authorised by the engineer to the Harbor flood lias been inndtr to the Board that the amount of damage done through the late storm ii lto more serious than "that which is usually occasioned by heavy seas to the nnfinished portion of the work, and witl rost hut little trouble and expense to rectify. _ The Hon. Minister for Public \\ orks (Mr. Macandrew) took the opportunity of asseverating, during the course of a defence of the Government, and h ; s own actions in particular, that he had "not made a single promise that h>wt not been fultilted. or was not in course of being fulfilled, or j'ov th*\ noti' f/tMmml of vt»>-h th-iv ir-re not yowl nml vttlul m'tsnxs. The reservation was wisely introduced. It places the hon. gentleman beyond the charge of having intentionally misled the country for strategic reasons. "At Ic.ast, he has appealed to the fiest nature of Parliament and the eountrv ; bv the insertion of the .[Ualifying addendum. ' a tut an undoubted ven We" cannot possibly ' be arrived at until he chooses to unhoiowi the reasons why lie should have been compelled i to act in such an extraordinary maimer as :to make the t'ultilment of his promises very 1 much the exception rather than the rule. , But people will have their own opinion I about the matter, nevertheless. ! A correspondent asks us to inform him as ; to the season during which ducks may be ' shot. Alt native game may be shot from the tst of May to the end of Julv. At yesterday's meeting ot the Committee of the North Ot.v.'o Agricultural and Pastoral Association it was decided to add to the prize-list for the nest show a prize for a pump most suitable for farm purposes. A proposition was made to give a prize for the best farm household cooking range, but it WiVij lost. A scratch match will be played by members of the Oamara Football Club on tiie • old Cricket Ground to-morrow afternoon : Kick off at 2.»> sharp. It is to be h ,ped that ever}" lover of football will attend. If one wants to tiud varicy in the grievances that poor suffering humanity libb to undergo he should wade through the petitions presented to Parliament. Here may be I wind i variety with a vengeance. The latest in- : stance of the extraordinary nature of some I of these things may be found in a petition presented in the House of Representatives i yesterday from a resident at the Thames, I altering that Captain Fraser, R.M., had been ! guilty of cheating at cards, and praying that ' jijj infinity he made into the circumstances of the case. . We were greatly pleased with the performances of the Surprise Party at the Volunteer Halt last evening. It comprises six ladies and four gentlemen, three of them being instrttmentatists. and the remainder vocalists, comic sketch actors, and dancers The audience wvs not large, but the hall would have been tilled had it not been that the public are disinclined to expend money when in doubt as to whether they are ItkcK to get something genuine in return tor it or not. and it is not improbable that now that the entertainment is known to be well w.irth the money charged for admission the hall will he well filled this evening. The firet part consisted of vocal music, with violin, pianoforte, and comet accompaniments, tastefully played. Miss Burton carried away the palm for ballad singing, and deservedly so, for her purity of voice and simplicity of ! style entitle her to the first place amongst a I very fair lot of lady vocalists. The Surprise ! Musketeers was irresistibly funny, and drew roars of merriment from the more demoni strative portions ot the audience. The ! pedestal dance of .Mr. Hudson is clever. It j consists of most du; cuit steps, mark- the ! more difficult and exciting fro-i: l«at»g lie:- : formed on a pedestal, the platform ot which is aulhcienttv small to necessitate exceeding | care and dexterity. Miss Vena de Gay's i violitt t'autafi.Ti waa sweetly aii*l waa jttst the class of music to call forth universal ! approval. Her playing of "Attld Robin Grav rT would have been exquisite had it been played with a little more deliberation in those parts where expression is everything. Bat. nevertheless, her playing is alone worth the price charged for admission. We need SIW jr£tte abont Mr. Hudson's and Mr. Wrllfcomicalities. They are two old !"ivonijiid are known to be at the top ni their profession. There is one feature w Inch we think should be noticed, and that is the entire absence of anything approaching vulgarity, the chief quality of so many variety entertainments. There will be an entire ei&itgc of programme to-night.