The Oamaru Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1879.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1110, 8 November 1879, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1879.

TnfAßtr let off a quantity of its superabundant effervescence yesterday. The occasion the celebration of the completion of the first breakwater contract, and risht royalty did its citizens behave towards one another. Mounted on a concrete block, and surrounded by a crowd of excited citizens on the ..tie"hand and the trackless ocean on the the Mayor of the city of Tiiraru, in a speech full of pathos, made a presentation to the contractors in recognition of their honesty and straightforwardness, and the people cheered as one man. \ esterday nil Timaruvian3 were honest and straight forward. Party feeling was buried in the greatness «>f the event. Mr. Stumbles was the Cicero of the occasion. He said that he could not speak; Hut for a man troubled by reticence, he made a wonderfully good attempt to say something. In the course of a lengthy oration, he remarked that his firm "had always managed to pay tfca way. Perhaps he that this was more than some whom he was addressing could say. But the good people of Timam were not in a frame of mind that favored such an interpretation, and they cheered vociferously. "He reckoned that m less than five years they would have Home ships discharging and loadine under the Shelter of the breakwater. (Hear, hear, and applause.) Dunedin and Christ church people were jealous of them, but the accomplishment of the work would not be prevented : the breakwater would be a success. People had told him ten months ago In Dunedin and Christchurch ; " Oh, you will never do the work. You are throwing the money into the sea.' (ijaitshfer.) He said, ' T will die tinder it rather than give it up.' (Laughter and cheers.) He also said, ' I will hare a vessel alongside in less than twelve months.' They said, 'Bosh,you will never get a vessel in bat the vessel had been got in already. A man crime down here—a Dunedin man—jealous of the harbor. He (the speaker) said, 'We will have a vessel ) drawing 25 feet of water in five years, but ! yoa can't bring in over your bar anyone ! drawing 20 feet.' Then, whatever ! had been said against the Timam district, |he would say that Timam was the garden lof the South Island, and in five yeara | from now Timaru town would be equal to ; what Prtnedin city new is. (Hear, hear.") INo mention of Oamani. No wonder. It < ! would have been »nfrit •ii-j. to allow small thoughts of small places to occupy their minds on such a magnificently important occasion. Oamani may be all very well {, \ but as it is not going to cut Dunedin out within five yeara. its name was not admissible in conjunction with that of I Timani. Mr. Stumbles is a patriot. If (he had not succeeded in performing his j contract his bones would have bleached !on " Stumbles" failure." been crushed befiween two big concrete blocks, or gobbled up by the little fishes. But he has succeeded, and travelling shingle has no terrors for him. A groin to the southward is the idea to meet such a difficulty. More money to be spent bv the Board, bnt more ntoney to be received by contractors. The great Woollcombe. too, was there. He refrained from making a perineal speech this time, although his I-wt was better worth reading than "Helens Babies." He was the representative of England's nary, whilst Captain something Hamerstev represented the volunteers. Aw. in the course of < his speech, he said that " the success of ;the breakwater depends upon the success of the town." He had not time, or he misfit have added that the success of the town depended upon the success of the hri-'Etfcw.Titer. With Mr. Stumbles" speech , opwratimr in his mind, he implied that : when that gentleman's prophecy shall in ar>.t the Timaruvians . shall sit on the ruins of the City of Dun- ' ttltn and behold the crumbled si.'ns of its past gtory, Timarn would need the protection of the army and navy. Of course, he meant that she will be the coveted of all rations. That the Czar of Russia and the King of the Cannibal Island* will wrangle as to. who shall acquire her. with her vast wealth, and her breakwater, and her J people of hich breed. He said he felt sure that the Volunteers would trrow into an army that would nlw.iys be pr-n>ared t»> defend their country, aiM w.mld be a credit to their fathers in the • >td Country. He did not add that his Dunedin experience. a few months ago, taught him this. W* have not space to give a full account "f what the good people of Ttniaru dtd yesterday. But they very wisely appeared to forget everything in the whirl and grandeur of the occasion. They could «»nty imagine the mercantile tleets and the world's ships»f war sheltered ttnder the lee of their great work. W« are not jealous of them. If they should not realise their day dreams, we shall not tauntingly refer to ottr success aiwi their disappointment, and shall ever bear them in kindly remembrance for their courage.

The words "not the/* which occurred in the third line of the second article in last evening's isanc, should have been omitted, i Mr, Montgomery's motion to confine each elector to one rote, was lost hy a majority of tire vote*. This is one of the moat imrwrtant political events that has ever oc-«;r!n-t.'»£ in the Colony. Property holders nf the Colony am utntgglins: for additional political influence. This i»_ one of the liberal acta of the |ijc«do*liheral Government, and by it they will rnonopuliae power that will prove most dangerous. \Ve have said from the first moment that they assumed power, that their professions of Literalism were only tined as a means to attain that power. The rfrat undeniable proof of the correctness of our viciv has occurred, and we suppose that the sweeping away of the land tax and the rc-imposition of the tea and sugar duties, and any others] that will shift the hnnlen from themselves and thoue whom they represent to the shoatders of the middle and poor classes, will follow ere long. By the law which the Government are instituting a wealthy man may swamp the votes of his poorer Colonists by acquiring small sections of land in different electoral districts throughout the Cotony. A soiree, in connection with the Primitive Methodist Church, will be held in the New Tees-street Hall on Monday evening next, cntntnettcing at 6 p.m. Addresses will he delivered by the Rev. J. Guy, of Dunediu, and others. A cricket match was played to-day between elevens from the Windsor House School and the South School, resulting in a win for the latter by 20 runs, the scores bring—South School," O'J; Windsor Houso School The Waitaki branch of the Educational Institute' hell its monthly meeting in the llich School to-day, Mr. "M'Lvmont, President, in the chair. A sub-committee was appointed to consider .-.nd rejiort what subjects or what ports thereof it would be advisable to leave out of the present over- | crowded syllabus of instruction as com- [ pnlsory. A letter was read from Mr. \ Browniee offering to arrange for a class i for instruction in singing no that teachers I and pnpil teacher? might be enabled ! to pass an examination in that snbj jfct. As it is known that a certificate from Mr. Browniee would be sufficient rjualiticatioti. several of those pres-'iit signilied their willingness to become members of such a class. A discussion on knotty grammatical ; constructions, and on the various systems of parsing followed. A vote of thanks to the chair closed the proceedings. The Government have instructed immigration officers throughout the Colony to accept r.o fresh nominations, except those of female servants, nnleaa with tiie distinct understanding that the Government will not be bound to act upon nominations within any given time. The Agent-General also has bees instructed to impend all immigration daring winter. Faith will be kept with

those to whom the Agent-General has already given pledges of assistance. A json of Mr. Gordon, of the Temperance Hotel, aged about eight or nine years, was run over by a cab at Bee's corner to-day. It is hoped that the injury is not of a serious nature.

A meeting of the Committee of the North Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Association was held to-day, when there were fourteen members present, and Mr. H< nderson Occupied the cnair. The minutes "i the previous meeting were read and on-inned, and a number of minor matter* connected with the forthcoming show were considered. It was decided to grant the Caledonian Society the ti-<- „f the ground for their annual gathering on the Ist and 2nd January for the sum of FjlJi. It was resolved to hold a ■special 'meeting on Saturday next to consider certain matters. Several letters forwarding entries, dated and received after the time for receiving entries, were read, and it was decided that they could not be received, the rule fixing the time for closing entries being very stringent. A service of song entitled "The Woman o: Samaria," was piven last evening in the New Tees-street Hall, by the choir of the Voung Men's Christian Association, in aid of the funds of that institution. Financially, it was not a success, there being but a meagre attendance. This fact, as Mr. Milligan mentioned in his opening remarks, was partly attributable to imperfect advertising, and it is to be hoped that greater publicity will be given in future. The musical selections, however, in spite of the depressing effects naturally produced by a small audience, were very well given, the expression and taste with which most of the pieces were rendered showing that great care and attention had been exercised in the preparatory practices.. The Rev. H. Dewsbury gave the connective readings, Miss Bicknell presided at the organ, and Mr. C. G. Moo re conducted the choir, each performing thehr Allotted parts with credit. One of the musical selections, The Living Well,"' was the composition of Mr Rock, and went very smoothly ana pleasantly. At the close, it was announced thpt the service of M Eva," which was very popular in Dunedin some time ago, would shortly be given, when it is hoped that the effort? of the choir will receive greater encouragement than they did last evening. Neither Victoria nor New Zealand are yet represented by exhibits of sheep and wool at tho Sydney International Exhibition. It is not our f}tisinc3s to lecture Victorians on what appeara to us to be their duty to themselves ; but we have a light to register our opinion that New Zealand >vool should not a] low an opportunity that seldom occurs to slip. }iy wool, in a great measure, we have our being, and, as oup products of thi3 material compare favorably with tbpse of the world, we iiavo nothing to fear from instituting a comparison with the world's growers. So far New Zealand has done well. The court which she occupies is a aonrce of great attraction ; and we venture to say that we shall not have to wait long for some return as the effect of the exhibition of our products. Wool-growers, we would remind them, should s,spd in their exhibits before the end of next month.