Daily Circulation, 1500. The Oamaru Mail TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1888.

Oamaru Mail, Volume X, Issue 4283, 4 December 1888, Page 2

Daily Circulation, 1500. The Oamaru Mail TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1888.

Thb Wiedemann-Walpole «ff«ir adds another blot to the pages oi the history of onr nobility. There doea not, to the minds of ordinary humanity, appear to be much that is noble io the behaviour of Mr Walpole towards Mies Wiedemann. If one of the commonalty were to act with the immorality and the meanness that have characterised th 6 conduot of Mr Walpole towardß Miss Wiedemann, he would be sconted by all olasses of sooiety, and the aristocracy wouM point a moral by attributing bis grovelling vulgarity to the inferiority of the material of which he was composed. " Blood will tell" is an axiom proudly quoted by the ailslo-

oracy. How does " blood tell ?" It tells in the production of the animal. But the superior animal is hot always the superior man,' either mentally or morally! though he mayhave theartiSolal veneerwhioh society prescribes as betokening respeotabilUy. . From, what we read concerning the case in whioh Mr Waipole figured with snoh disgusting prominence, we should say that that gentleman is a gennine representative of the superior, animal, and .that his only claim to respectability is that he bears an aristocratic name and pedigree. Mr Bobert Horace -Waipole, the hero of the esoapade that has jast been cablegraphed with such unsavory particularity, ib heir to the Earldom of Orford. He was the son of Horatio Waipole, and was bom in 1854. He is, therefore, youog, as well as aristocratic, and his rakishneas will only afford a lustre to the charms of his high estate. The cablegram says that, while residing In Constantinople, Mr Walpo'e sto'e the key of Miss Wiedemann's bedroom, wlroh he entered for a base purpose. One of the Walpole's stole a key ! What a pieoe of impertineace to attribute such an offence to the scion of a nobl9 house 2 He merely toak it. It was not his, it is true. It was Miss Wiedemann's. Bnt Miss Wiedemann was only a governess, and he was a gentleman. No ordinary mm had any right to invade the privaoy of a single woman's sleeping apartment, with foul intent; but in the performance cf such an act, Mr Bobert Wa'po'e conferred an honor on the object of his attentions. True he overcame her scruples by promising to marry her; but the very fact of her compliance proved that ths was cnSt to mix withhlm in . those high circles to which be had the entree. Her participation in the act degraded her—his participation in it was nothing more than a playful freak—one of the necessary preliminaries to getting married and settling down aB quietly aB possible. Aa to Miss Wiedemann, she would have to get out of the scrape as best she oould, and the " little imp"—well that could become a nationalised Turk, or a .Bottentott, or anything else, if the' mother could only earn or beg enough to secure its maintenance,. Mr Waipole would have married" the oreature," and adopted the little Interloper, but the promise of marriage was made In Turkey, and it was not, therefore, binding in Great Britain, and no gentleman ought to honor a pledge unless it oan be enforced by law. Ab to the LIO 000 damiges which Miss Wiedemann claimed, there never waß a more preposterous thing. The woman was "a mere adventuress," and he was a gentleman. In point of fact, she entrapped him, poor fellow. She was at the hotel—the key. of her roam was available—and he could nut resist the temptation of taking is and using it. She had ho right to reside at the same hotel at which he had taken np his quarters; she ought not to have had a key to her sleeping apartment; she ought to have known better than to have trusted him. Had she done wisaly, she would have barrioaded the d*or and kept a revolver under her pillow. But Bhe aid not take these precautions, and she was so ignorant as not to know that an English gentleman's word would not be binding if plighted in Turkey. These "mere adventuresses" are awful bores—they rob undesigning and honorable gentlemen of their virtue, and then, finding themselves in trouble, they demand money. This ia rank imposture. Bat to be dragged into Court and to have one's name coupled with that of a vulgar female is "deuced plaguy." It is a jity that no law can be passed to preserve the nobility from snoh a nuisance. Bnt, In the absence of suoh a law, a pliable judge and a servile jury are a oanvenlent sub* atitute. The judge and jury in the Wiede-mann-Walpole case proved to be of this kind, and, thongh they could not save the distressed and exemplary defendant from pnblio exposure, they saved his pooket by awarding only L7OO damages to the prosecutrix. Hence, though deprived of his character, he is atill heir to the Earldom of Orford, and he has been spared the necessity of parting with that wbioh ia deemed of more value by the world than virtue. With this key and his noble name he will be able to continue to open doors with impnnity, and make any promises of reward to his dupes, so long as he doea these things in Turkey. If pursued to England, he has only to give his word aB a . gentleman and the heir to an Earldom that his pursuer -was a woman of abandoned 1 chaiaoter, and thus show that he waß justified in forcibly entering her room.

The date on which it Is proposed to distribute the prizes to the scholars attending the ToUra school ia tha 20th last., and not the 28th, as inadvertently announced in oar last issue.

The monthly meeting of the Trustees of the Benevolent Nocle'y was held l»st evening, when there attended—Messrs Dunn (chairman), Fraser, Menzioa, and Mo'liaon. MrHesketh reported that there had been no admittances into the home daring the month, and f >ur of the Society's cottage < remained empty. Letters soliciting rel ; e£ and the Viß'ting Committee's report were considered. Mr James Martin, treasurer of St. Hani's Church, forwarded a donation of LlO, the amonnt collec'ei on beh«tf of the Society. The gift was acknowledged with thanks. Accounts amonuting to 135 5s 43 were passed for pa\ msnt. Tenders for the supply of groceries, coal, etc., for A term of 12 months, were order to be called, t j be in by next meeting. It was decided to join with the Ho pital Trustees and hold the annual meeting of both Institutions on tho same night. The, appointing of Messrs Meczies and Spenca as a Visiting Committee finished the I usiness. .

The annml gathering of the Oamaru Tradesmen's Baeing Club will be held on Boxing day, 26 sh December. There are eight events, iaolading a Boxing day handi* cap of L2O and a novel handicap and a time trot handicap of Lls each. Nominations mast be made on the 12th December ; a'si for tha Derby of 1889. Fall particulars are given in the printed programmes. At a meeting of the headquarters Rifle Bange Committee last evening, some ohanges were made in tha days allotted to d fferent corps The present arrangement, bo fir as the adalt companies ara conc roed, wbb confirmed, bnt the following allotment of afternoons to the cadet corps was made : Middle School, Monday; Waitaki High School, Tuesday; North School, Wednesday; Pouth School, i-riday. Jt was decided that Thursday and Saturday afternoons shonld be open ti volunteers of all arms, companies to have the right of firing matches with visiting corps on those afternoons under certan conditions. Some accounts were passed for payment, subjeot to bsing found correct. At the conclusion of the business before the special meeting of the Borough Counoil last evening, his \Vorahip the Mayor said that by the death of the Earl of SeaSeld the community had lost a gentleman whom they could ill afford to spare. It was proposed to hold the funeral on Thursday, and aa the late Earl had shown much interest in the town and more particularly in its poor, he would ask the Counoil to attend the funeral In a body as a ma.b of respect f.-om the to wa. Councillor Sumpter suggested that as the next ordinary meeting of the Cou oil fell upon the evening of Thursday next, the day of the funeral, th?y should, as a further mark of respect, adjourn the meeting until the following Monday. This suggestion waa adopted. At * meeting of the Match Committee of the Oamaru Bifba last night, it was resolved to issue a challenge to all the rifia companies of New Zealand to fire a match of 30 mso aside.

The Government Gazette, of November 29th, contains a notification that his Excellency had approved of the appointment: of Lieutenant Mnlr, of the Palmerston Kifles, as captain of the Company. The Garriaon Band will meet for practice intheTyne street hall to-night. After praotice an important meeting will be held, at which every member is requeited to bi present. ' A deputation, consisting ef Mr Duncan. M.H.R., his Worship the Mayor (Mr W, Christie), and Mr Sumpter (Chairman of the "amaru-Naseby Road Committee}, prooseded by train to Studholme Junction to-day, in order to oonfer with the Premier and the Minis • ters for Public Works and Justice, while the latter were on their way sonth by the express. It appears that the result of the deputation's mission was satisfactory. Ministers will, in accordance with their original intention, proceed to Tnveroargill to-morrow, and will go thenoe to Wanaka, Cromwell Bla kstone, and Naaeby, reaching the latter place on Tuesday next. It was arranged that the members of the Oamaru Boad Committee should meet Ministers at Naseby, and, in conjunction with the XJasoby and Maniototo j people, c r nfer with them on the subject, of the road. Ministers will afte- wards go over the Central Ot'go line, and will then intimate when they will be prepared to meet the Koad Committee ou this side. They will then go over the proposed routes of the projected road to the interior, taking that by way of Livingstone first and coming "down that by way of Otekaike. A deputation from the Kurow settlers, coaBistiDg of Messrs Dasler, <• awthorne Stewart, 8\ Hille, Cornelius (shine, Thos. Milne, and R. P. Sharpe, also waited on the Premier, who promised that he would meet the Bettlers at Kurow and conault with them m reference to their grievanoea re the District Rai way rate, the date of the mee ting to be made known to Mr Dnnoan and duly announced. -

We hive been requested to direct the aHeil tion of our resdrrs to the programme for tbe No th School' prize fund entertainment, which is ci-calated with this issue cf tbe Mail The entertainment will be given in the Public Hall on Friday evening next, and it should be noted that tbe bill of fare put forward 1b exceptionally attractive, that the object to be served i* one worthy of support, that the prices of admission are remark bly low. and that books of words of the ca' tata of "The Flower Queen" will be supplied free to all attending. It is notified in the Gazette of November 29th that old railway reserves, numbered 631 and 632, near the Wattakl, will be sild to the adjoining proprietors, under the pro* vl-i 'ns ot section 95, of the Land dot, 1885, on the 18th January next. Reserve b3l oontaios 9 lots with a total aoreage cf some 81 aces, and in reserve 632 there are 2 lots (numbering 1 and 2) containing 21a Or 30p and 40 .2r 20p respectively. Amongst the runs gazetted as lands suitable exclusively for pasturage in not less than 5000-acre blocks we notice the following: -Kan''ll, 8900 acres; and Bun 464, 9290 acres, Otepopa and Waihemo districts. Kun 21t, 18.860 teres; and Run 217*, 15 100 aores, Kakanui and Waihemo distrio s. Ban . 233 a, 8800 acreß, chitfly in Long-lip district. Knn 235, 23.520 Longslip and Lindis districts. Buns 243 a, 28 340 aores; and 243b, 21,300 acres, Otematata and Mount Baster districts.

The annual meeting of the Oamsru Poultry, Pigeon, and Canary * ssociation will be he'd at Hotel to-morrow evening, at 8 o'clock. A report and balancesheet will ba submitted, showing the work done by the Association daring the year. Members and intending members are asked to be present.

Mr C. P. Stanton has returned from the conntry, and announces that he will receive orders at the Queen's Hotel f >r piaco tuning up to Saturday nex u . As considerable damage has been done to the buildings on thi North Road Crioket Ground by Bome wanton youths, the Seo-e----tary of the Athletic Club notifies that any paraon foand trespassing on the ground after this date will be proseoated. The quarterly meeting of the Fatiakaio Licensing Committee was held yesterday when there were present—Messrs Uoirie (Chairman). Strain, Eaaton, and Turpie. The application cf J*. W, Tbiele to transfer the license of the Papakaio Hotel to W. H. Tolcher w« granted 'I he police having j reported that the licensee of the Waitaki Bridge Hotel hid been recently found in a ! drunken state and of properly coaduoting hiß buslne-s, the Clerk was instructed to write to Mr Johns.in informing him that if any farther report of drankenness were made against him between this and next meeting, tha Committee would take steps to determine and put an end to his license under the provisions of secti n 76 of the Licensing Act. This was all the business bifore the meeting There was a large gathering; of members of the Star of Oamaru Lodge Protestant Alliance Friendly Society, in St. Andrew's Hall, last evening. The chief business before the meeting w»' the nominating of various members to fill this offices. The election will take place at the next fortnightly meeting. A social gathering was held as 'he conclusion of the meeting, which was attended by many ladies, and over which Mr A. Familton, W.M., presided. The time was passed pleasantly, and numerous songs, recitations, etc., were given. ■.