The Oamaru Mail. WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1284, 19 May 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail. WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 1880.

On Monday one of Mr. Roxby's sons acci<Bantally shot himself in the foot, shooting «dF <me of hi 3 toe 3 and so seriously damaging aneSter titat amputation was deemed necessary. The Otcpopo Volunteers were inspected by General Davidson on Monday. There ■was a very fair turn ont, the parade state showing .the numbers present to be as follow:—1 •captain, 1 lieutenant, 1 snb-lientenant, 5 :sargeants, 27 privates ; total, 35. Captain IDieal was in command, and the men acquitted rthemselves remarkably well, being complimented by the inspecting officer on their .-general appearance. Some twelve months ago we had occasion ito mention that Sir. Forrester, our townstman, had prepared a design for a vase calculated to set forth the capabilities of the (Oamarn stone for decorative purposes. The design was placed in the hands of Mr. Levis ffioflfrey, of Dunedin, by the Oamarn Stone Company, with instructions to represent the same in stone in his best style for the Sydney Exlribition. As Mr. Godfrey had already a number of works of sculpture on hand, inending the beautiful bird piece shown here ilast year, it was determined to postpone the • execution of the Vase for the Melbourne Mr. Godfrey arrived in Oamarn rwith his work last, r.ight, and we had the jpleassre of inspecting it this morning. It is a ;peitfept work of art and a credit to the •artists w&o designed and sculptured it. The "Vase stands SO inches high and measures 22 "inches acros3 the lip. The outline is adapted :from the best Grecian type, but the orna--mentation is of a fine renaissance style. All :the mouldings are ornamente I with appropriate leave?, and the bell is encircled by a -wreath of flowers and bird*, etc., in the 'Grinting' Gibbons style. The manner in -which Mr. Godfrey has succeeded in working •ont this principle in Oamaru stone is mar■vellous to a degree. Roses, lilies, tnleps, : sunflowers, primroses, etc., are here repre:seated true to nature. The swell of the Tbottom of the Vase is encircled by acanthus Heaves, and the whole work faithfully follows 3he design in every part. The Vase is on exhibition at the offices of the Stone C'om■pany. and we think that the universal ver■dict will be that the Company will get its •deserts, and be as successful in the Melbourne as they were at the Sydney Exhibition, in •which they obtained the first prize for stone. The thanks of the community are dne to the Company and to Messrs. Forrester and Godfrey Io»- the pains they have taken to demonstrate the excellence of the Oamaru stone for ornamental purposes.

Captain Edwin wires^ —There are same indications as wired yesterday. Glass will fall again soon. Single tare tickets 011 the railways will be issued on the 22nd and 2-lth instant and will be available up to the 25th instant. The Oamaru Battery of Artillery and the Citizen Cadets were inspected last .evening bv General Davidson at the Gun Shed of the f-Trmcr corp.. The Artille-y Band saluted the General with the "Banner of Old England," and the inspection then took place. General Davidson complimented the corps on their general physique, military appearance and uniformity of dress. The corps were afterwards put through a number of movements, all of which were satis- ! factorily performed. We have received from Herr Siegfried Franck, a lengthy printed circular, anent I his infernal machine, yclept the Totalisator. In this redoubtable document, Herr Franck says that we added insult to injury, by brinaincr his name in connection with the totalisator frauds at Auckland. Herr I' ranck may draw what conclusions he pleases from our remarks, as we certainly mu3t oppose the legalising of anymeans by which gambling is to be made attractive or legal. Our objections are therefore general, as all experience proves that where there is gambling fraud flourishes. Herr Franck says that he, with his machine, was kindly received in Sydney. He forcot to add that experienced detectives there swore that the very machine which he worked could readily be made the means of frandnlentlv deceiving his patrons ; and that it was only upon his agreeing not to again work it in that colony that he was discharged from hi 3 bail and relieved from an impending criminal trial Herr Franck is at liberty to patent any machine, but we fail to see that he is thereby justified in using his patent for gambling pnrposes, and we strongly advise our police authorities to test the question whenever Herr Franck or any of his agents attempt to use this most undesirable machine for illegal purposes. A much-respectcd agriculturist residing within twenty mile 3 of Oamaru was the other day proceeding "to town" in company ■with a lady, in a spring-cart. Being a victim of that vile habit, smoking, he lighted his pipe and threw the match he used for the purpose, as he thought, out of harm s reach. Presently a party of road-men saw approaching them what they considered to be a travelling pie-stall, and the weather being cold, they prepared themselves to warm their hands and excite their chilled systems with some of its delicious contents. But no, alas, they were mistaken. As it approached more nearly, they descried a lady and gentleman enveloped in a cloud of smoke which was proceeding from the body of the vehicle. They gave the alarm; the vehicle was stopped, and it was, after interrogation, concluded by "all hands" that the match had been thrown by the disciple of Walter Raleigh on the lady's best dress—accidentally, of course. Moral—Don't smoke. The Froliques made their first appearance at the Volunteer Hall last evening to a very good audience; hut we regret to say that the arrangements were anything but satisfactory, and that a very great amount of unpleasantness was experienced. Owing to a mistake on the part of the agent, the price of admission to the back seats was advertised as one shilling and a large number of persons presented 0 their single shillings for back seat tickets. They were then told that the charge was two shillings, and, as may be readilv supposed, there was a great amount of dissatisfaction, added, in many cases,, to considerable disappointment. In their very pardonable exasperation at being misled, many of those present made a rush for the door, and a disturbance took place, the assistance of the police being called into requisition. This is the third or fourth time that similar unpleasantness has been occasioned bv the or carelessness of those entrusted with making arrangements, and people are beginning to believe that these thing 3 are purposely done. If managers desire to secure the goodwill of the patrons of entertainments they will take care that the public are not misled in future. Of the entertainment we can only speak in terms of qualified praise. Some portions of it were really excellent, bnt others were not above mediocrity. The first portion of the programme partook somewhat of the usual "chair business" of minstrel troupes, the chief difference being that the vocalists of the company consisted mainly of ladies. Some of the songs were capitally rendered, particularly "Long ago,*' by Miss Carrie Godfrey. Messrs. Reed and Gilbert were the fnnnv men, and kept the audience well amused. " In the second part of the performance Mr. Martin Simonsen treated the audience to one of these excellent violin solos that have obtained a name for him throughout the Colonies, and was loudly applauded. Mr. Thompson's cornet solo was also greatly admired. One of the best items on the programme was the skipping rope dance by Miss Elliott, whose graceful dancing met with hearty applause. The singing of the ladies, and the comicalities of Messrs. Reed and Gilbert gave diversity to a long programme, and the several performers were applauded. The company will appear again this evening.