TIMARU.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1277, 11 May 1880, Page 2

TIMARU.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) May 6. At a recent meeting of the Geraldine County Council, one of the Councillors, moved that the Governor be respectfully asked to issue an orddr prohibiting cattle comiqg to this} island from other parts. It ia much to he hoped that his Excellency's seal will speedily be given to an order of the kind, so as to check the spread of pleuro-pneumonia now so prevalent in the northern districts ; for what with semistarvation in our midst, and a shilling bushel for oats, we should soon be driven clean daft were the vital organs of oqr cattle attacked by this malignant form of disease.

In the various classes of domioilea preparations are being made far the reoaption of the property assessors, The Indefatigable Town Clerk, who recently had to get assistance on the ordinary work of the Borough, is to assess all property within his dominion, whU§ Mr, John Thompson, a well-ljnown knight of the theodolite, tastes the position of assessor for the Levels Road How these genial gentlemen are to arrive at a oorrect estimate of the value of our goods and chattels is a problem as yet shrowded in mystery, and one that, to my mind, will never be solved. Nothing is to be overt looked, eatables and baby-linen, I under-, stand,, coming indiscriminately vfith\n the province of ths may over-ride the scruples of cro.chety old ma;ds and nervo.us fyonfjewive® ihta year, but ere twelve worths pass away it will probably fijnd its level, together with its ingenious inventors, Still the sheep row ia unsettled. An aqtion to reoover damages for illegal seizure has been oommenced at the in- ! stanoe of Mr, James Macleish, who seema somewhat determined to give the ball th,o last kick. Of course it is not quite tha thing to anticipate, but; we may lae pap. doned if we venture to guess that when the case oomesi on .for hearing the presiding Judge will, without much ceremony, preoipitate it into oblivion, actuated by the belief that vindictiveness i$ the agent that is inducing litigation A few dayg ago Mr, Thomas Howley exchanged the office of Clerk of the Qaun fw that of Deputy Commissioner under the property Assessment Act. Mr, Howley has occupied hia late post foe

many years with much credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of the public. His appointment is in all directions considered highly satisfactory. There is no improvement in trade. Farmers are flying too and fro with samples of grain, bat buyers at a reasonable figure are nowhere to be found. Just imagine oats going at one shilling ! This shows that a screw is loose somewhere. There has been something wrong for two or three years past, a wrongness that will never come right until the farmers begin to study their own interests, instead of those of exporters. It would benefit agriculturists themselves especially, and the whole Colony generally, were societies organised in every farming district. Why

should hard-working men give away the cream of their earnings to exporters, who must make some profit, while the grower is voluntarilysatisfied with the whey, every season feeling disappointment at his bargain, and from year to year continuing to starve. Let the farmers at once form a club, and charter vessels to convey their own produce to the Home markets, waiting patiently for advices, when they would learn to their chagrin that they have been for years contributing largely to the wealth of others, while they themselves are almost in a state of collapse. In the live stock market very little is doing. Heavy draught mares and geldings. that would have fetched L4O and LSO twelve months ago, are now selling at ISO and L 25, while a very serviceable hack can be had for LIS. At these rates it cannot possibly pay to rear horses, neither i 3 grain-growing profitable just now, and as neither sheep nor cattle are changing hands in any noticeable numbers, it is evident that farming in this district 13 being carried on at a dead loss, whatever it may be elsewhere. Messrs. Murphy and Patterson have jnst completed a stately brick building in JBeswick-street, to do duty as livery stables, and so far these stables promise to eclipse all the others in town. They are built on the site of Cornelius and San' 3 old building, part of which, by the way, still remains at the back. It is certain that money ha 3 not been spared in the construction of the building, showing much of the spirit of enterprise on the part of the proprietors, who certainly deserve a, fair share of public patronage. At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, a young man named Pound was ordered to pay 8s per week for fourteen years towards the support of his illegitimate child, besides L6l4s expenses incidental to the birth. The happy father was just going on board a steamer at Auckland bound for San Francisco, but was caught in the nick of time, and compelled to defer his visit to America for gome little time to come. Touching the weather, it has set in wintry. We have had a drenching downpour of rain, which is being followed by intensely cold mornings and nights. All traces of summer have disappeared, and, in the absence of remunerative employment, many poverty-stricken families can only sit at their cheerless firesides, mourning over their accumulated misfortunes till the season again comes round for renewed activity.