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Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 24 September 1880, Page 2

It may not be generally known that the special rate of 6d in the £, which is to be levied on account of the LIO,OOO loan which the Council has procured authority to raise, will realise about the amount necessary to pay interest on the lpan. Ql course, it will! occur to the ratepayers, that the balance will be available for appropriation as a sinking fund. But We think that it would be wise to utilise this mpjjey fop the purpose of extending the pipeg to those portions of the town in which they are at present laid. TJins the Council >vould create a revenue which «wild prove a sinking fund of the b:-st kind. The southern portion of the San Francisco mail was brought to Oamaru during the night by special train. The Oamaru letters were delivered this morning by carriers. The abolition of the L 25 qualification to entitle a burgess to be nominated for Municipal honors Will not mark a new era in elections for the Oamaru Borough Council. The same qualification —that of paying rates, no matter how small the aiuouut—.-was in. •orce under the old ordinance, which only «ave place to the Municipal Corporations Act a few weeks since. TVe learn that the water supplied from the reservoir is muddy because it is running frorji a low lovel, When the foundations of the trestles of the bridge pf tlie yafye tower are completed, the water will be run from a level nearer the surface. Then it is believed that, as a more copious supply will also be let into the reseyvpjr, it w?U hp apd purer.

We understand that tlie contract documents for the construction of the north wall have been compTeted, and that Messrs. M'Gill and Forrest, the contractors, will arrive in Oamaru early next week to take the preliminary stew.s for the commencement of the work, 'it wilt probably be some time before the actual work of quarrying will be begun, as the necessary bridges and \ iaducts have first to be made.

It is particularly creditable to Messrs. it);! Stumbles that, although the Government have reduocd t}}? wages of its employes by from 10 to 15 per cent., are paying the "unemployed" a pittance that fcoargtly suffices to keep body and soul together, they ajra p&yjffg tfcpir Ijands—between j 300 and 409 in immber—tlje rate tljat ruled prior to the perpetration of the mean and nnjuqt apt pf re4upt?C>» of the pay of the wages classes by the Cjoyepiiinent, If we of Oanwu are proud of anything at all, it is that we.are supplied with water from the rolling Waitaki, which is of exceeding purity, and which will, when the works are in fair order and have become accustomed to the ample flow, be seljghtfy,lly pellucid. Mra.irewquiteoffendedtheOamaru folk therefore when she applied for compensation fqr damage done to th<j water used in her establishment for household purposes by the infusion of the water from the race with that in the creek running through her property. ]f»dy was not prepared to sccgpt even a rr.pdicupj pf tljafc we havo to drink in its unadulterated form and be thankful for. What an uncharitable commentary upon our expenditure of L 120,000 for our water supply. This is the unkindest cut of all, just as we have entered into the Ffew-ition of our dearest hopes. We heav V> railway bridge has been erected by the contractors over the Maerewhenua at Duntroon on their own responsibility. Th' y have done this in prder that the con veyance of phc material necessary in tlie construction of tlje line may be facilitated. It is a matter fpr very great f'pgrpt that where so muph energy and enterprise are stjp}ayed tlje Government, or the Jieid of the Railway Ijepartr ment, docs not more fittingly attempt tp sepojjd the efforts of Messrs. Allan and Stumbles. Pot spine £in)e these geqtjornen I haye been negotiating for the lpaji of a few ballast trucks, to enable them to carry on their work expeditously. There are plenty of trucks available, and Messrs. Allan and Stumbles are prepared to pay a reasonable sum fop their use for a time ; but for some insprutpbic tlje (jpyernpient and. the Railway Peparfcuieflfc «ire unr able to make up their minds as to the proper sum to charge for tlie hire of the trucks. The application has been referred from one to another, and subjected to all the red-tapeism that characterises our higlily circumlocutory style of carrying on tlie work of Ctovef-iifftefjt. Thug private enterprise are crippled by excessive officialism and unnecessary delay. j

The trial of the Maori prisoners at Wellington has resulted ia their conviction. Bis Honor sentenced the prisoners to two years' jn the Jjyttelton Gaol, and to find a security ip tfte alijpunt of £sjo each to kgpp the peape for six njontbs after the expiration of the sentence. He also told the interpreter to tell the prisoners that the length of their sentence depended upon how the natives they left behind behaved themselves.

Captain Edwin telegraphs Bad weather js approaching from any direction between north and vest sn.4$ n .4 south-wast. TJiq glfts's will fall again, but rise after 12 hqurs. jt ip likely that there wiU be a har(l southerly galo, • We understand that Mr. W, M'lntosh, of the firm of Watson and M'Jntoeb, Ironmongers, is coming forward as Councillor for Thames Ward.

The telegraph station at Malvern, County of Selwyn, is closed, and the station at Sheffield in the same County, which was closed some time sifi.ce, Jjas been re-opened. A man named Thomas who is wanted in Christchureh on a eh&rge of deserting his illegitimate child, was apprehended at Duntroon yestoi'day and brought into town. He was brought up at the Resident Magistrate's Court this morning and reminded to Christchurch, wliithcr he was forwarded tO'iJay. -Acting-Major Siimptep,- tb'9 officor commanding the battalion, notifies by advertise? ment elsewhere that the Artillery, No. 1 and Band, and the Citizen Cadets; will parade Qfy the' Old Cricket Ground on Sunday morpiog fl'cjpck for the pose Qf attending Church." frope*} siat there will b? fityfge mflstprj j 77 | i«T. .. •}•

•The meeting of tlife Harbor Board, called fof to-day, lapsed, owing to there nofi being sufficient members present to fdttu a quorum.

We are desired to cali atte'ntititi to the advertisement of Messrs. t Fleming and; Hedleyi referring to the sale td-mbrrowiof' section, and .house in Ure-s'trfeet.' It is situated in block 42, not. 47, as advertised previously. It is scarcely necessarjr to remind our readers that this evening Mt. A. R. Kelsey, of Dune'jin, will give an organ recital in St. Luke's Church. The pieces to be performed include" selections from the works of Welz; Schubert; and others. • The choir will give selections from Handel, Haydn, and Mendelssohn, and the pleasure of the gathering will be enhanced by the singing of " Hear, ye Israel" by a lady amateur now on a visit to Oamaru. The seats are to be considered free on the occasion.

The only case dep ( lt with at the Resident Magistrate's Court to-day was that of-Jo.hn M'Phail pn a double-barrelled charge of drunkenness. He had beep arrested yesterday morning and admitted to bail late inthe afternoon, At night he ag?W f°vmd drqnk ip the str?e|s, and again conveyed to the lock-up. He was fined Ss for the first offence, and 103 for the second. A match will be played on the Old Cricket Ground to-morrow afternoon by the membora of the Crioket Club, between sides chosen by Messrs. Snow and Bannerman. Hay to commence at 2 p.m., when a good muster is requested, The Union Cricket Club will play their opening match on Saturday next, sides to be chosen by the captan and ,depiity-capta}n, from the followingA. Hartley (captain), Gray, Slater (deputy - captain), J. Steele, Ridsdaie, R. Aimers, J. Hendry,; S}up}a4r, Thompson, Sinclair,. Ogil vie,. Maw,, Pallant, Hart, Hook, T. Steele, Jones, Marshall, Maddern, Church, Harris, Gardiner,: Hewat, Berry, Matthews, and Keith. Mem-, b.ers are requested to turn out in uniform. ! Local option is now on its trial at one of the seaport tqwa flf England,. The Earl of Zetland, has a feudal right as proprietor pf Grangemo.uth to close a,ll.tb,e places forthe . sale .of ijitoxicaqts in tli;\t povt t (says the '-'Alliance News"} 1# the decision us tq liquor traffic to the inhabitants themselves; Six of the police commissioners, as representatives of the ratepayers-, forwarded a memorial requesting his Lordship to allow matters to remain as they are. A few days before, however, a memorial was forwarded to Lord Zetland, by the Chief Magistrate, hy in'di, viduaia pf all cesses, from sixteen years of age and upwards, including all the clergymen of the town, and at least four-fifths of the householders and parents. These memorialists stated that in their opinion the proposed prohibition would "tend greatly to advance the welfare of the town, and add very much to the comfort and peace of the eorpmunity." Lord Zetland lias now decided tq be guided by tfye expressed wish of the bulk of the inhabitants,

A curious trial has just taken place at Rpuen. Sq lqrig ago as 18QQ, a shipowner papiec} Duregp, and p, master mariner, named Gelletfc, chartered the t)on Juan, from the port of Havre, under the pretence of sending the vessel out to oarry Chinese from Macoa to their native country. She was, however, taken to the coast of Guinea, where a Portuguese man-broker sold the skipper 800 slaves, at the price of 164 franoa per head, the whole cargq casting 164,000 franos, or some L 6600. Sickness and hunger killed 103 of the negroes on the voyage to Havana, but the planters bought the remainder at the rate 0f'3500 francs 3 bs}d. As sioqq as the PSPgq owt.> the ship was b.urnftd ir\ the op.eu sea, in, order to efface all traces of the horrible crime, which had involved ti\e deaths of aefffiy 200 Jjutnai} feejflgs, ■ 'JL'he owner- cleared L 40,000 by venture, the captain L 20,000, the first rnate L2OOO, and each seaman Ll2O. In apite of the precautions taken, the French authorities hoard of what had occurred, and opened an inquiry in 1801. Most of the accomplices were tried at Rouen, before the Court d'Assizes. Those who were arrested were condemned, the rest were sentenced in their absence par contumace. One of the latter, Charles Sprel, h|s the other day, an 4 was brought, before the court. In view, however, of the long period fjf tiir,o which })fid ehypaed, am} of the difficulty of hringing forward certain p.rqof q£ guilt, and of the honorable life led by the prisoner since the occurrence, lie was ac= quitted. Tlie following is a novel , mode of taking off t|je ten per cent, reduction, and may prpve interesting- to some of our friends under the influence of the Conyers fever : In Nelson the other day a railway was paying his storekeeper for His monthly stores account, and, as a joke, requested the

creditor to reduce the amount of the account in the proportion as his screw had b.eep by the Gftveifaiment, v-i?.., by t&kigg

qff thp ten per cent, The grocer, who hailed from tlio northern part of auld Scotland, replied in the vernacular, " We'll na tak it off the sugar and tea, ye ken, but we'll just tak it off the fut o' the bill." What was the astonishment of this intelligent railway official to find that no cash was about ten per cent, of the spare paper at the foot of the bill was torn off, and handed back to this railway payee.—Christchurch Echo.

In response to the United States Senate resolution of March Bth, the Secretary of the Treasury has just to. tfta.t feqc|y an elaborate statement slipping tl}e expenses of the (jOverniTient on aegount of t}ie war of the rebellion from, July Ist, 1881, to June 30th, 1879,- inclusive." The statement exhibits the gross expenditures, the ordinary expenditures, and the expenditures growing out of the war in all the various branches of the service, either directly or indirectly affpgtgd by the war. fP 8$ dols. ;' ordinary expenditures, <509,549,124 dqls.; expenditures growing out of the war, G, 187,243,385 do]s, The' principal items of the war expenses gpe thp fqllpwjiig; —lqt§Pf3s|; on the publip debt, 1,"ir64>256,19S ijols, } pay of two and three years Volunteers, 1,040,102,702 dolß. ; subsistence of the army, 381,417,548 dols. ; clothing of the army, dols.; army transporta-f tion, 336,793,855 dols.; purchase of horses, 126,672,423 dols.

Although it is stated tliat efforts are being jpatje to aaopjertjto thp Rearing of she actions | against Mr- Pradlaugh, there Is nqt thp lpasfc likelihood of their being tried before the Long Vaoation, whioh begins on 9th August and ends on 2nd November. So Mr. Bradlaugh may continue to receive writs for some months to come. After the trial there may! be two appeals, which would consume a poriod of time only to bo reckoned by months.] What thg pitjflii|,te njay bo. be rash po con|ej?ti|rq, bjjt hp£lj fjje Amendment Act of 1869 and |be Faylianien-; tary Oaths Act of 18(36 are yeyy qdsly The former provides fop an instep of sffl Qfitl), wjiere ij witness satis§e§

presiding judge that an gath would have po binding effect tipon hia?.<&nsc incfi This clause can hardly mean win tit says,-for the testimony b£ a man' who would tell lis3 on his dath.oughticlearly-not to b& feceived in any Court of Jiistice. The section inthe Parliainentarjr Oaths Act which provides for the recovery : of. penalties, imposes them on all ; iriembera sitting, and voting without having taken the oath; and says not one word about the affirmation which an earlier section expressly legalises in the case of Quakers and other persons "for the time being by law permitted to make such affirmation in :Keu oath." Unless the Courts should .-assume that Mr. Bradlaugh's -name, being on the roll of the House, must have been inscribed thereon according to law, they will have sotu© very- nice points to deal with.