The Oamaru Mail. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 28 December 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1880.

The meeting of settlers to discuss the representation proposals of the Government as affecting this district, will be held this evening at 7-30 at the Schoplliouse, Otepopo. It was desired by a number of the settlers in the districts north and south of Otepopo that the meeting should be called for 3 o'cloek in the afternoon instead, so that they might be able to return to their homes during daylight. This has not, however, been done, and we suppose that, the meeting having been announced for 7.30, it was found impossible at such a late hour to notify all the settlers of such a change in time. ,We hope that the settlers will, nevertheless, attend in large numbers from all parts of the district.

The barque Bernica, Captain L. Z. Cariton, cleared for Cape Town on Friday evening, and sailed early on Saturday morning. Her cargo consists of 4572 bags of oats, which were shipped by Messrs. Cunningham and Anderson, We have already stated that the captain was highly gratified with the treatment he received during the period that his vessel remained in port, and the despatch with which he was enabled to load. "We may now add that the vessel was loaded by Mr. Pristor, stevedore, in 17 working hours, another fact which, we think, should encourage those who have held steadfastly to the belief that the Port of Oamaro would enable us, by the exercise of system, to realise the most sanguine expectations concerning it. We hope that this time henceforth there will be ample work not only for Mr. Pristor, but for several others of his calling. A meeting of the directors of the Caledenian Society will take place at the Criterion Hotel at S o'clock to-night. Intending competitors are reminded that nominations for the different handicaps to lie run at the Oamsra Caledonian Society's on the Ist and 3rd January, must be to the Hon, Secretary (Sir. R. L. later than 2 p.m. to-morrow. - to be able to state that Mr, who was prominently coqtimber work of the Oamaru has just signalised hini--3 the first and second prizes Road Board for two were sent by him, stream The the second LSO. 3e prizes, a tnor of *yed sufficient what

Captain Edwin reports : —Bad weather is approaching. The glass will rise,, aud. there will be a heavy gale from "the? .southward after six hours.

The warder of the Oamaru Hospital has to acknowledge with thanks the receipt of the following as Christmas gifts to the patients : —From Mr. Orr, Station Peak,; sucking pig, pair fowls, eg?s, butter, 'arid-' vegetables; from Messrs. Spence and Bee, five fruit flakes 5 from Mr. John Smith, fruit cake ; JMr. G. Amos, turkey; from Mr. • and illustrated papers. . .. On pine trees near *< carria ge gate of' the house lately occupied fir. Harney, in Nen-street, was observed fi re . The flames, .having once got-.a upon such appropriate fuel, made a great orlo, and had it not" been for certain of the. neighbors who deluged them 'with buckets of water, the whole garden, together with the honse, would have been consumed, as the wind was blowing strong from a direction to bring about such a calamity. When the flames had been subdued, a garden hose was brought to bear upon the partly dismantled tree, and would have effectually quenched the fire had that not been already clone. This reminds us of the advantages that would accrue if garden hoses were made so that they could be screwed on to one another. Such conveniences are pretty plentiful now, and would be of great value in the incipient stage of a fire if they could be connected. The children ' attending ] the Awaip' Ao school were afforded, with their fr'--** cls > an opportunity of spending a day on Thursday last, the School remittee having determined to dispena° with usual bestowal of prizes and L ° substitute a pic-nic. This was held i«= a paddock kindly lent for the occasion Mr - A • M'Donald, and proved - very enjoyable affair. A number 0 f pports were indulged in, comparatively valuable prizes being given in the majority of cases. In the case of the elder boys and' girls, the prizes consisted of money, while to the younger children toys of various kinds were awarded. A number of useful articles were also given by Mesdames Kope, Johnston, Poison, and Cosgrove, while Messrs. Bailie and Humphrey and Mr. Blyth presented tins of lollies, which were distributed amongst the children, An abundance of refreshments were provided by the ladies of the district, and partaken of freely by all present. To the Misses M 'Donald a word or two of praise is due for preparing the refreshments.

The following are the winning numbers in Mr. Anstead's Art Union, whicli was drawn on Friday night:—ss (Ist), 2 (2nd), 42 (3rd), 30 (4th); 28 (sth), 5 (6th), 47 (7th). '

We had the pleasure of viewing, at the Commercial Stables to-day, a very finelooking mare yclept Polly Dowse. This animal, which seems to possess all the prinpal features of a gemiDve Clydesdale, has ju3t been purchased by ■'Mr. Flaherty from Mr, Charters, of the Taieri. She took first prize as a three-year-old ij) 1879 at the Dunedin and four other shows, and last year at the first-mentioned place she earned the same distinction as one of a pair. It must be a meritorious animal that can accomplish so much against such keen competition as that which now obtains at our shows. A ball is announced in another column to be held in the Assembly Rooms, Maheno, on Friday, December. 31. An occasional correspondent writes: — Although the New Zealand Meat Preserving Company's works are still closed, the Kakanui township is beginning to show some life, through the number of fellmongery works which have started into existence on the banks of the Kakanui River, the waters of which are specially adapted for their purposes. There are also a few miners working the beach for gold, who make a fair living at it. The gold is fine, and the sand is put through a cradle or sluice-box. It is a wonder that the Otago goldfields, such as this and other beaches, are not more patronised by the unemployed during the dull seasons of the year. They would earn fully as much, if not more than is offered then) on the Government relief works, and they would be tjieir own masters. The harbor works at the Kakanui mouth are a perfect wreck. The piles are, many of them, washed away, and others swinging about in the tide. The concrete work has sunk, so that the shingle has worked through and silted up the mouth.. This, together with the fact that there has been no fresh in the river for many months to scour out the mouth, has made the harbor so that ifc ; s of no use whatever, except as a shelter for a few fishing yachts. No steamer has entered its heads for about three or four months It would require L4OOO or LSOOO to make it as it was when it left the contractors' hands three or four years ago, and the Harbor Board have not as many hundred pounds in hand.—Timaru Herald.