The Oamaru Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1164, 9 January 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 1880.

' -A Msrespondeut jnforiti3 As-ihafc-tlie •crops in the Papakaio district are looking; Remark-, ably well, and that tlie harvest will unques-tionably-be fcb'e- r bfcsi'one 1 -evfer kncJWm'tf the OjgjSPct,,,!??. .thopglk.A tsmall .^vuioyni--of tlaniagc was done to some of tlve c.ropa by long way more than counterbalanced by the vast amount of done to the main portion* of frhe fcrfips. 'ffarvesftng will be commenced Mr. Donald Borrie will open the ball by harvesting 90 acres of barley, which is in fine heart, and likely to average from 45 to oO bushels to the acre. The 3easitJif" "has been an exceptionally good one ion barley, but very little has been grown in the Papakaio district outside of Mr. Borrie'scrop. Wheat and oats harvesting will be commenced about the first week in February. The term of the Municipal Engineer's engagement expires at the end of the present monui, but as yet no steps have been taken to make any new arrangement. The question came up at last nighf s meeting of the Council, and it was decided that the matter should be taken into consideration at the next ordinary meeting of the Council. Mails for Melbourne, per Rotomahana, will close at the Bluff on Monday, 12th inst., at 11.30 a.m.

Thefemaleimmigrants ex Auckland arrived in Oamaru per train this afternoon, and went direct to their friends from the railway station.

Mr. P. G. Prvde has just made a tour throughout this district, in order to ascertain the merits of various applications to the Education Board for school extension. We have not of course been informed of what Mr. Pryde's ideas are in reference to the matter, but he will report at the Board's next meeting, and then we shall know. We would not even dream of asking the Board to do anything that would confer a special favor upon this district or any portion of it. All we ask at this opportune moment is that if increased school accommodation is required, whether it be in this district or elsewhere, for the sake of the cause of education and the comfort and health of the children who are to make the men and women—the fathers and mothers—of a generation that shonld substantially lay the foundations of a great empire, they ■will grant it, even if doing so should necessitate the diversion of funds from any other channel. It is much more important that facilities should be afforded for the education of all children, than that a comparative few should be stuffed with knowledge that, after all, i 3 only gilt, sometimes without any substance. But if there is not sufficient school accommodation this cannot be done.

At last night's meeting of the Municipal Council, it was mentioned by Councillor Mainland that the taps connected with the street lamps had on several occasions been found to have been tampered with by mischievous larrikins, and thattheg3Smight have been escaping for some time. Several members remarked upon the necessity of a sharp look-out being kept upon the taps. It is to be hoped that the mischievous larrikins will be caught, and that they will receive a sound thrashing. This would be the roost effectual means of checking the career of these graduates for a felon's degradation.

At the Resident Magistrate's Court today, judgment was delivered in the slycrog cases heard lately as follows: Elizabeth Dunn (of the South Australian Boarding-house), and Matilda Piper (of Weston) were fined L4O and and L2O respectively, the tines to be recovered summarily ; the charges against Bridget Dinan, William Shaw, and Emma Wright were dismissed.

The usual monthly meeting of the Athentenm Committee was held last evening, when there were present —Messrs. Hislop (President), Forrester (Vice-President), Peattie, Davies, and Williamson (Hon. Secretary). After the minutes of the last meeting had been read and confirmed, a number of accounts were passed for payment. The President, Vice-President, and Mr. Peattie were appointed a Sub-Committee to consider the best means of investing the proceeds of the bazaar, when received, until such time as it may be required, with power to act. The meeting adjourned until the 22nd instant.

The proprietor of the circus, in compliance with the usual liberal custom, has announced that school children will be admitted at 50 per cent, of the prices charged to admit adults. But children mast be accompanied in bodies of not less than 25 by their teacher*. As the schools are disbanded during this holiday period, the ordinary means for carrying out this stipulation are not available. At the request of the Beetor of the High School, therefore, the proprietor of the cirpns has announced in the advertisement in nnofhgr column that those children who wish to visit the circus should assemble on the Cricket Ground at I.JSO p.m. to-nior-row, "when tbey will be taken iu charge and marshalled by their teachers. It has been decided to of _ the articles remaining from the bazaar in aid of the Athenienm and Mechanics' Institute, by means of a large art union, at Us, with 111 subscribers. Everyone will get a prize pome of which are of a valuable nature, while none of them are estimated at less value than the price chained for tickets. Already a large number of subscribers have been obtained, aud as soon as it is full the art union will be drawn, of whiflh notice will be given. At the Resident Magistrate's Court tjii.s morning, before T. W. Parker, Esq., Richard Baker was charged with assaulting and robbing one Thomas Kitchen of a silver watch, value L 3, at Dunedin on the 30th December. Prisoner was remanded to Duncdin. Patrick M'Custer, was again charged with being drunk and disorderly this morning, and waa ordered to pay a penalty of 255, or go to gaol for four days. Henry Ltixon, for wife beating, was pgain remanded tall Monday. Robert Keenan, for allowing one horse to wander at large, was fined fis. • AVe have been favored with a copy of The New Zealand Freemason, a new journal designed for the spreading of information specially interesting to the Masonic craft. The paper consists of eight folio foolscap pages, printed in plgar type, with a red border and title, and is a highly respectable production, reflecting great credit pppn the printers and publishers, Messrs. Mackay, fyackep and Co., of the Saturday Adver-

tiser office. The Freemason contains a largs amount of information interesting to the craft, and should meet with a fair share of support from the Brotherhood, whose interests it is designed to promote and conserve. It will be issued every month until such time as the received warrants the more frequent publication of To-morrow Mr. A. H. TAsSSBj structed by the trustee in jSKjeaam/ of Messrs. Lees and Moore, offerHlr saHiby public auction, at his rooms, MrounjHffj of freehold and leasehold town aBB | sußlgfoan properties, as enumerated inttoMMr qHftnn. This sale, coming as it does aflßne teraination of a period of depression which has doubtless had the effect of considerably reducing the prices set upon the property to be offered, agd chasing could possibly arise. Money is now cssierthan it has been foEyrar-year . paat,and if those who feel inclined to invest to-morrow are sceptical;6n *this point, let them consult their bankers. We have ncr fear but that our assertion will be borne Out, but we.haye feaj,that, before, very long, our financial institutions arid money lenders will be as anxious as ever to place their superflous capital, and that again the speculative mania will be as strong as it was about two years ago. Then people will have to pay for their purchases, j1 he Auckland Star says : —" Mr. Sykes, the principal in a large industry, is now in Auckland, having visited the Sydney Exhibition for the purpose of exhibiting his weaving machinery. Mr. Sykes proposes to co-operate with ■ any persons interested in the establishment of a Woollen manufactory in Auckland, and to assist the scheme by supplying the latest Machinery on favorable terms." If Mr. Sykes had arrived a few months later his advice and co-operation might have been of service to us. We must not lose sight of the Woollen Factory scheme that promised to meet with so much success until fnoney suddenly became scarce and necessitated delay. A few months more over our heads, the projectors should be able to resume their agitation in connection with the establishment of this industry in Oamaru. It will scarcely [be- to give their labors a fillip by pointing to the success of woollen factories throughout the Colony, and the still brighter future before them, i The Wellington Chronicle has the following : —The new morning newspaper which is to result from the amalgamation of the New Zealand Times and New Zealander will shortly make its appearance. Radical alt er atiohs are, it is rumored, to be ii\trodueed into the management of the new venture, such for example as the reduction of the composing price from'ls 2d to Is Id per thousand letters, and the introduction of female labor. Both these announcements, if well founded, will have special interest for the printers of Wellington. It is said, also, that the staff of the New Zealander have determined to start a new Liberal morning paper, of which a veteran member of the Fourth Estate, at present connected with our expiring, contemporary, it is. said will be the sub-editor. We give all these floating rumors for what they are worth.

The Dunedin Stair says under the heading of "Postscripts" -.—"The grand indictment preferred against the Hon. John Hall,-the Hon. W. Rolleston, Mr. Moorhouse, and Mr. Saunders by 500 residents in the Nelson Provincial district, at the instance of Sir George Grey, seems somehow to have fallen still-born. The affair altogether was so ridiculous and preposterous, that, beyond, a smile, it excited very little interest. Sir George, however, about the last day of the session, gave notice of motion that the petition be printed. It would b6 well that the names, of the signatories should also be made public." The grand indictment was never preferred against the aforesaid Minister and their two friends by 500 Nelson residents. The telegram that ltd people into the error which the writer in the Star has committed was incorrect. It was the Canterbury people—incensed at the gridironing system in connection with the land administration in that provincial district-—that forwarded what is termed the grand indictment to Parliament at the instance of Sir George Grey. It will/psrhaps, be apparent to the writer in the Star that a petition from Nelson denouncing the conduct of the beforementioned . persons, and. one of the same tenor from Canterbury would be totally different as regards importance. In the one case it might portend meaningless and reprehensible political obstruction ; in the other it means an exposi of the way things weie sometimes worked in the early days of Canterbury. The writer in the Star need no longer wonder why nothing has been heard of the petition. It was from Canterbury, and not from Nelson, and the difference is of very considerable importance to certain members of the Ministry.