Daily Circulation. 1640. The Oamaru Mail. SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 1895.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XX, Issue 6230, 13 April 1895, Page 2

Daily Circulation. 1640. The Oamaru Mail. SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 1895.

The Palmerston Times says :—" We believe that the Government Land Purchase Commissioners have at last taken action respecting the acquisition of Mount Royal estate for settlement, but it will, we are given to understand, take some lyeeks to decide or complete the negotiation." Mr Paulin's forecast at 9.30 last evening was as follows" 8. W. to S.E. winds and rain showers."

There is a probability of the telephone exchange being kept open until 10 p.m. from June next, but nothing definite has yet been settled.

Mr Sumpter reports having sold sections 9, 10, 11, bleck 69, sections 9 to 16, block 70, Chelmer-streefc, containing 2f acres, with stone dwelling, to Mr Black, for L 175. Members of the Hope of Maheno Lodge, I. 0.0. F., are requested to attend the funeral of the late Air James Oliver at 2 o'clock tomorrow.

Mr James Oliver, of Maheno, who was injured recently in a buggy accident at Timaru, had a relapse on Thursday and died in the evening at the Hospital. General regret is expressed at the unfortunate ending of the mishap. Mr Oliver was a most popular man in the district. Ihe funeral will leave deceased's residence for Maheno cemetery at two o'clock to-morrow. " No Sweater " writes as follows to us in reply to a letter which appeared in the North Otago Times, and as prompt publicity is necessary from our correspondent's point of view, we insert this reply instead of referring him to our contemporary, in which the original letter appeared. But we wish it to be understood that we will not submit to a transference to our columns of a band wrangle:—"l notice by a letter in your morning contemporary that a ' Fair Wage' has accused th^'Hibernian'Society of 'sweatting the bands' by offering the Navals the sum of IA, 10 play at their sports on Easter Monday. But the Naval Band played at the last Show in Oamaru for L 8 17s 6d for two days, or L 4 8s 9d per day, and, if they considered this a 'fair wage' from the Agricultural and Pastoral Society—a wealthy body—surely they should not expect L 7 10s from a young society just making a first attempt. But, had the Naval Band not known that the Garrison Band was going to the Easter Encampment, they would never have asked for* L 7 10s. When the question of tendering was before the Naval Band committee, it was said by a committeeman that the tender need not be low, as the Garrison Band would not be here. It may be asked where I got this information—well, I got it from a committeaman. Again, I may say, if ray memory serves me aright, that it was the JSiaval Band who first began - to lower the tenders, simply to cut the throat of the Garrison Band. Xhis is now beginning to recoil upon themselves,. and they find that they have simply ' cut off their own nose to spite their face.'"

The following are the numbers of the 1 0 corps in camp:—Oamaru Navals : l ijlj tenant, 2 petty-officers, 21 rank and «i U " total, 24. I Battery: 1 captain, 2 lj e °' tenants, 2 sergeants, 14 rank and file; total' 19. Oamaru Garrison Band : 1 sergeant oJ rank and file; total, 22. North Otno Mounted Rifles, 42. Grand total, 107.

To-morrow evening at St. Georgo's Hall the service will be of a somewhat special character. Instead of the usual (!osp 0 | course, Mr Ludbrook will answer varioii questions which have been put in during hi' term of service here, and there will bo aoin' special singing. 6

The result of the ballot taken by tho No* Zealand Workers' Union on general question, is as follows:—Shifting Head Office t n Christchurch, for 390, against 450 ; New s . paper, for 516, against 317 ; Benefit schen)»' for 437, against 434 ; Iniportini; shears, 498, against 324; Raising subscription t<t 10s, for 429, against 393. Our Ngapara correspondent writes Friday was a dirty cold day. Towards evening the wind changed from the sea and rain set in, and to-day at 6 a.in., it looks dull and heavy and is raining slightly, J ,j n not think there has been a great deal of rain but the weather seems very unsett led. 1

We understand that the N.0.J.0. do not now intend to re-open the Aldershot enquiry. To-morrow they will probably con , sider it well to reconsider this decision; on Monday they will award the stakes to Th s Arbiter ; on Tuesday pay out on Aldorshot. on Wednesday disqualify Hobbs for running second ; on Thursday consider tho advis a . bili f y of awarding the stakes to tho third horse; on Friday order M'Kewan to l. s hung, try him on Saturday, and then niako up their minds to finally make up their minds to do something definite.

It is perhaps hardly necessary to finally remind lovers of good music of tho concert to be given in the Public Hall to-night The programme, which appears elsewhere, speaks for itself, is an ample assurance of a musical treat, and is one which should suffice to draw a large and appreciative audience. It is unfortunate that the weather should bo rather bad, but those who bravo its in. clemency will be well repaid. The sacred concert to be given to-morrow night should also be worth hearing. Under the heading " To-night's Concert" Mr Hanniug, hon. sec. of tho Hibernian Concert Company, says :" 1 L'Allegro,' who, I suppose, is 1 Another of the Trades, men,' has, by an ingenious shuffle, tried to shift his ground with regard to the question as to whether or not Miss Blaney ' the Pro. mier Sopr.mo,' will sing here to-night. Ho says he has a programme before him, and that Miss Kitty Blaney is put down thereon as a contralto singer. If this be so why was she advertiser! in both papers for over a week as the ' Premier Soprano t' Is this not suf. ficieut proof of ' Misrepresentation Extraordinary ? ' He says : 'As a matter of fact ho preferred Miss Kitty's singing.' I never said I did. He also says that we were not ablo to secure either of the Misses Blaney. Wiong again; we could have got Miss Kitty Blaney, I have never once said anything to detract from the talent obtained by the Hutton Family, or tho ' Tradesmen' who are running the concert; but, what I have alwaysohjectel to is running Miss Kitty Blaney, a contralto singer, on the fame of Miss, or Miss Rose, Blaney, ' the Premier Soprano.' Re Miss Ada Geddes, I suppose, since neither * One of the Tradesmen ' nor his supporters, have denied advertising her without authority, we may consider their silence an admission of their guilt." Commenting on the Aldershot case tlio Cante bury Times says : —" The sentencoij not the least bit too harsh. To every unprejudiced observer the case was a very glaring one, and the stewards of tho North Otago Club undoubtedly acted wisely. They discussed the question patiently, and »t some length, and when there wa'i not t shadow of a doubt that a fraud had been committed, they punished the offenders. If any exception may be taken to the action of the stewards, it is that the punishment wai not sufficiently severe. The ofl'enco of pulling horses has become so common that men's senses have almost become dulled to the fact that it is a serious fraud. It ii regarded merely as one of the many (actio employed by persons who wish to make money by racing. It is quite a comtt'oa occurrence nowadays to hear that No-and-so'i horse was not trying, and although the owner in question may be a man of some position, there is very often some truth io the statements. Of course, on the other hand, many of these reports are absolutely untrue, but certainly among a certain class ol professional owners pulling is an everyday affair. The offence is committed freely od both metropolitan and country racecourses, but it is on the latter that it is so common. It is therefore all the more pleasing when a country club comes down heav ly upon nn offender, and it is sincerely to be hop :d that other institutions will f >llow the good example set by the North Otago Jockey Club." The Witness disapproves of the disqualification but adds :—" The North Otago stewards having decided the protest should have treated the whole affair as disposed of, and paid out on Arbiter. They no doubt acted with the best motives, having a desire to prevent the possibility of the - take going one way and the machine money another; but still, I think it would have been wiser to pay over to Arbiter s backers."