POST OFFICE NOTICE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 6496, 7 December 1882, Page 2

POST OFFICE NOTICE.

Mails cloaa at the Chief Post Office, Diuiorfln (wihfcci to any neccußary alterations), as \mder :— Tuw Day (Tiujrsdav), December 7. For the United Kingdom, per tioir<.nto, lor letters specially addressed, at 9.20 a.m. For Northern ports of New Zealand,'per To Anau, at 1.60 p.m. Late letters, guard's van, Port Chalmers train, at 2.30 p.m. For Wo^tport direct, per Kangaroo, at 11.20 *.m. For Grcyiuouih and Wont Coast, per Star ot the South, at 1.30 p.m. For Southland, Australian ColonieH, India, China, Alrica, Continent of Europe, United Kingdom, &c, per Wairarapn, at 2.60 p.m. Money orders, registered lotters, and newspapers, at 1.60 p.m. Late letters, guard's van, Port Chalmers train, at 3.30 p.m. Letters, &c. for tho United Kingdom must be specially addressed, and paid 8d per }.iz. Saturday, December 9. For Northern ports of New Zealand, per North train, at 6.45 a.m. Late letters, mail-van, North train, at 8.10 a.m. (Signed) ARCH. BARR, Chief Postmaster. Chief Post Olfina, -.- • ■ ■ Dunedin, December 7,1832. Mails f>r United Kingdom, via, Suez, per Sorrento, cose at Port Chalmerb to-djy (Thursday), 7th inst., at 11 a.m. Mails for the Australian Colonies, United Kingdom, and Continent of Europe, via Hobart, close at the Bluff at noon on Friday, Bth inst.

ABSTRACT OF SALES BY AUCTION. rms D*r. ID. M. Spkddino, at Rooms, Princes street south— Clothing. M. I'YM,.at X Railway Shcd-Potatoos; at Rooms, High street—Pickles. G. T. Clarke and Co, at Rooms, Manse. street— Drapery, &c. D. Siro.vach, at Palmerston—Property.

terrible inequality there has been in the administration ot justice, -In Dunedin the chances of a man, once ih gaol, getting his sentence extended for a longer or shorter period were, io A>vr appears, enorniously greater than in any other gaol of-the Colony. The number.of individuals on whom such punishment was inflicted siuce 1873 i", according lo the return, 163; but inasmuch as several sentences were in many c-isirs accumulated on the lioid of the same individual, tbo total number of sentences sujn3 up to no fewer than 341 ! H! here are not a'Jew instances of sen teiiccs being ropea'ted from 6 up to 10, and in one case 11, times. In that particular case the sentence of six months was extended to" nearly '■ 16 ' months by the following successive sentences : — Oue week .for. secreting tobacco, one month malingering, 21 days idleness,one week obscene language, one month refusing to go to work, two months obstructing the officers of the prison in the execution of their duty, one month purloining a pipe, two months idleness, one week purloining a ration of bread, 14 days disobedience of orders, -.three', weeks leaving the works without permission. Could it be that this prisoner had such a love of free quarters at Government expense that he was determined not to leave them in a hurry? If all: this punishment was really necessary in Dunedin, how is it that in Auckland 18 separate punishments, 13 of one month and 5 of two months, and in no case repeated, sufficed 1 The average number of prisoners in Auckland Gaol by last return was 157, and in Diinp.din there were only 130. Or take Lyttelton, with an average of 127 how is it that there three such punishments sufficed, one of them inflicted by the Judge on a prisoner for escaping from prison, and the other two only of a month each, although in • one instance the offence was the very serious one of an assault on a warder? Why, as compared with the other gaolß, the Dunedin Gaol must have been a very terror, and we unhesitatingly sny the gaoler nm*t be in great measure responsible for this state of things. Visiting Justices, one after the other, have been led on, following the first bad precedents established, to commit acts of severity not heard of anywhere else in the Culony. It is fair to say that, from an examination of the punishment-books at the Gaol, they have been less frequent of late under the administration of Mr Logan ; but why were they resorted to at all except in very extreme cases 1 We believe that the clause in the Act under which all these sentences were passed, though it unfortunately permits them, could never have been intended'to bear the construction put upon it, and wo are borne out in this view by the manner in which it has been interpreted in all other parts of the Colony. Oau it be pretended that criminals are worse here than anywhere else in New Z naland, or that they should be worse treated here—so much worse treated,

indeed, that once they get into Dunediu

Gaol it becomes exceedingly uncertain when they get out again, if ever? To recur to the Act under which these

cruelties have been committed, it is clear to us that an extension of sentence was intended to be the last re-

source—only to be resorted to aftei

repeated offences. Clause 22 gives power to punish offences against the rules by the following means : Keeping in close or other confinement-, either with or without irons, either in a light or dark cell, but not more than 48 hours in the dark; feeding on bread and water, and forfeiting the marks by which an. ordinary sentence is short-

ened in length. As a matter of fact these punishments have beeu resorted to in Dunedin Gaol in many cases, ex cept the dark cell ; and we understand there is no dark cell available, and that in other respscts the prison it inconve-

nient. But surely it will not be contended that all the extra sentences

on which we have been commenting could properly be imposed because the prison is imperfectly constructed. The

23rd clause gives power of imprisonment for any term not exceeding one year "if auy criminal prisoner ia guilty of repeated offence"." It may be a question whether a drunken man committed for three days in default of payment of a fine of 10s is a " criminal person " within the meaning of 'the Act; and it is also open to question whether under

ho head " repeated .offences" can be

reckoned those for whidlf-^prisoner has already suffered punflhmln'-. But. it is quite evident/that the Act needs amendment, so tllat a much clearer definition may be given of what is meant by " repe.ifcad offences "; and there should certainly be some limit to prevent sentence after sentence being accumulated, which may last for the

term of a man's natural life. The In-pector of Prisons is, wa consider, to blame for not calling the attention of tho Minister to the state of things which lias so long existed hore and riowhero else in the Colony, and tho consolidated Act of last session ought never to have been passed without this clause being amended. If1 the Gaol needs remodol-

Hug in order that prisoners may have fairplay, in the Jname of common justice Jet it. be done. We would again strongly urge the necessity of all such sentences being imposed in public, and would further suggest that they (should be gazetted month by month, so that light may be let in on - the - interiors of- -the gaols, and fair comparisons may be made between one gaol, and another. The Minister of Justice will be very much to blame if he allows another session to pass with.out making necessary amendments in the law. Meanwhile the public discussion of this extraordinary return, and the change which has now taken place in the gaolership, should iead to reforms which have been only too long delayed.

Several local reports and letters to the editor appear on our fourth page. It is to be hoped that the sky will be deal' this morning, so that good observations of the external point of contact in the transit of Venus will be obtained. During the transit in 187-1 the weather was unpropitious, the sun's face being obscured to most of the parties who were watching in New Zealand just at the periods when observations would have been of scientific value, and the photographs taken by the American party at Queenstown, where views were obtained, were useless. Full arrangements for the observation have been made by Messrs Ross and Skey at Roslyn. They will use on the occasion a superior instrument, a large Newtonian reflector (the property.of Mr A. H. Ross); and the telescope; the astronomical clock, and the transit instrument are placed on blocks of stone or concrete, so that vibrations of the floor cannot affect them. Besides the observations by these 'gentlemen, by Mr R. Gillies," aiKF.by Dr Hector, Mr A. Beverly intends to take observations at his

observatory, and Mr Percival to do the same from a " trig." station at Blueskin,.

omittod details, but we did him an unintentional injustice in not mentioning that ho proposed that the 9in : pipe at pre&Bnt in Princes street south should be connected with tho 12in main. Tho following is an extract from his report. Ho says: "Assuming there wero no intermediate drawoff, the delivery of 4,500,000 gallons at Hillside would bo reduced to 4,200,000 gallons at tho south end of Crawford stieot, and 3,000,000 gallons at Rattray street. It is possibly from this that the misapprehension with reference to the Bize of tho pipes has arisen. All that roquires.to.be done in order to deliver the 4,500,000 gallmis that como to Hillsido right into the heart of the city is to continue the old 7 or.9in pipe, now in Princes street south, along tho St. Kilda, road, and connect it with the 12in main from Silverstream. The 7in pipe would be quite sufficient to bring forward the present surplus at Hillside, but in view of the second pipe being laid from Caveraham it would be well to continue the 9in one instead. Ab already shown, the second pipe from Caversham would increase tho delivery at Hillside to 6,000,000 gallons. The present 12in main by the railway and Crawford streot, and the proposed Sin junction with Princes street south, would bring this quantity right into the heart of the city, where the demand is greatest. It should, of course, be borne in mind that the above figures represent the discharge from the pipes in 24 hours, and that the quantities given cannot be delivered in less time. The working day is only about 16 hours, consequently twothirds of the delivery at each point must bo taken as the available supply for ordinary purposes. The balance is, however, available for fires, which generally occur at night, as well as for operations carried on outside the usual working hours." Mr Thomas Bracken, M.H.R. for Dunedin Central, addresses his constituents this even" ing in the Lyceum Hall. The distribution of prizes at the Boys' High School takes place to-day, at 2.30 p.m. The Land Board has been communicated with regarding the recent conflagration in the Hawea Bush, and has decided to place the matter in the hands of tho police, with a view to having the party or parties who originated the fire prosecuted at law. Mr D. S. Currie, who has for many years past occupied the position of local manager of the New Zealand Shipping Company here, has relinquished his position. Mr Currie intends entering into business on his own account. He has won golden opinions from all with whom he iias had business relations, and it is pleasing to relate that the directors of the Company have testified their appreciation of Mr Curries conduct by presenting him with a very substantial mark of their approval. Mr Currie is to be succeeded by Captain Boyd, of the ship Piako. The case of Proudfoofc v. Cameronj a claim for the recovery of a tram fare, was heard at the Resident "Magistrate's Court yesterday, and resulted in a verdict for the plaintiff. The defendant, it appeared, was one evening a passenger by a car running to North-East Valley, and had refused to pay the extra fare chargeable for the journey boyond the city boundary. He raised the defence that the double fare had not been charged on all occasions, and that the promoter was not entitled by his agreement to make the charge until the line was completed to the terminus originally projected. He admitted, however, that he had been carried to the limit of his journey. At 11 o'clock this morning, in the N.Z.L.

and M.A, Company's premises, the specimen cask of American beef brought by Mr Amphlett, who is inviting tenders for the supply to the Royal Navy, will be on view. All interested in the meat trade, and particularly those who may bo thinking of tendering, are invited to inspect the cask.

At the Gore Agricultural Show on Tuesday, a perambulator, in which was the infant son of Mr M'Neil, town surveyor, was ridden over by a lady. The perambulator was smashed to pieces, but the child escaped with a slight bruise on the temple. The Mission-house in Russell street, which has recently been purchased by the First Church congregation, has just been enlarged

;o a considerable extent, and a soiree was held

in the building last night. Fully 300 person 3 sat down to tea, which was admirably prepared by the ladies to whom arrangements had been entrusted. At the meeting hold afterwards, the Rev. L. Mackie presided, and addresses were delivered by the Revs. R. li. M. Suther-

land.j. M. Sutherland, /E. M'lntosh, Messrs Wood and J. M. Smith. The choir of tho Kaikorai Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association also contributed some selections, Mr James Strachan acting as leader, and Mr P. Barr presiding at tho organ. A special meeting of the Dunedin School Committee was held last evening, and was attended by Messrs Bolt (chairman), Green, Low, Robin, and Nathan. A letter was received from the Secretary of the Ayrshire Association stating that the Association had agreed to give a prize of the value of a guinea to each of the schools, for competition by non-winners of the prizes given by the Society last year, and it was resolved to acknowledge the donation with, thanks. It was decided that special prizes must come through the Committee, and be delivered at the secretary's office before 5 p.m. on the 11th hist. The sum of £10 was allocated to each school from the proceeds of the forthcoming concert for the purchase of prizes, the Committee resolving to appropriate any balance which remained for a picnic. The quarterly meeting of the Dunedin Bell Licensing Court was held yesterday in the Town Hall. There were present—Messrs J. Robin (chairman), A. Sligo, and A. H. Koss. The following transfers were granted:—Sussex Hotel, Thomas Oliver to Thomas M'Guire (Mr Callan appeared in support of the application). Royal Albert Hotel, I'Vancis O'Kane to Joseph Strong (Mr Macdonald appeared in support of

the application). The renewal of the license of the National Hotel was granted to Martin Connellan on the application of Mr Howorth. Applications by James Irvine and William Tiniiock, for the removal of bottle licenses from old to new stores, were refused.

At the Resident Magistrate's Court, Oamaru, on Tuesday, Thomas Gillespie, late of Nga. para, was charged with having on, the Ist inst. feloniously and unlawfully enticed away a certain child named Margaret Stevenson Watson, five years of age, with intent to defraud John Watson, the father of the child, of her cuitody. Mr O'Meagher appeared for the accused, who pleaded not guilty. On the application of Sergeant Beattie, the case was remanded to

the 12th inst., the accused being admitted to bail—himself in £50, and two sureties of £25 each.

The Tapanui Courier states that a public meeting is to be held, at Swift Creek on Tuesday, 12th inst., with a view to urge Government to go on with the permanent way of the Swift Creek extension. It is hoped that the line may be finished in time for the carriage of next season's crop.

The Government have agreed to grant a subsidy to the Tuapeka Prospecting and Mining Association not exceeding £150, as a final con. tribution in the proportion of pound for pound towards the actual expenditure by the Company in labour for prospecting.

The Wellington correspondent of the Lyttelton Times says :—" It is probable that Mr Justice Richmond will be asked to make the presentation of prizes at tho Wellington College previous to the Christmas vacation. In case he consents to do so, his Honor will doubtless deliver a speech on education that will be read with deep interest from one end of the Colony to the other."

We learn from this month's " Churchman " that the Vestry of St. John's, Milton, recently decided to make all sittings in that church free. The Vestry of St. Peter's, Caversham, have sent out circulars asking the consent of the congre gation to a plan of making small weekly contributions from each attendant, which, if carried out, would enable seat rents to be done away with.

One of the Wellington constables, named Shea, had what the local paper rightly terms ii tough job the other night. He had .to arrest a Maori damsel named Hohi Mahapuka for ■drunkennosss. The festive" Hohi was not violent; the difficulty lay in her immense weight. Though she has not probably seen more than 25 summers, she could turn the scale at about 17st; and until the burly Ser. geant Anderson arrived to render assistance, Constable Shea was unable to move her.

The Wangaratta Despatch narrates the following particulars of a remarkable accident

child's body, entering at the right breast and coming out at her back by tho shoulder, and then entering the ground, pinning her to tho" earth. The mother of tho poor girl, after several ineffectual' attempts, succeeded in dragging the stick out of the poor little sufferor's body, the end being still covered with earth after coming right through, the precaution of cleaning the end before drawing it not having been thought of. So great was the force which sent the wood through the child's body that all the bark was peeled off, Dr Haley did all in hia power for the poor little sufferer, but considers the case a hopeless one." !

Mr J. L. Hall, the comedian, lectured in Wellington the other night on his stage expe riences at Home and in the Colonies. The New Zealand Times says that "Mr Hall's lecture on his stage experiences at Home and in the Colonies was one of the funniest we have ever listened to. Talking to his audience in a conversational style, he told them that he was born in Liverpool, and left the paternal roof at the early ago of nine to join an opera company, his principal duty being to blacken his face and carry on a casket in one of the pieces produced by them. He then joined a company of strolling players, who played at the various fairs, performing five act dramas in 20 minutes and pantomimes in a quarter of an hour. He afterwards found his way to America, where he had a varied experience, and then visited Sydney, where he arrived with threehalfpence, but made a big ' rise' by dancing jigs in public-houses. Ho then related his Victorian and New Zealand experiences, the narration being replete with humour from beginning to end."

From time to time the growing of wattle* has been urged on the farmers of Otago as likely to pay handsomely. It seems that there is a great scarcity of wattle-bark just now in Victoria. A deputation representing the tanning interest in the north-eastern district waited on the Minister of Lands recently in reference to this subject. They said that the supply of wattle-bark for tanning purposes was becoming rapidly exhausted, and that if something were not done to recuperate the failing supply the trade must come to a standstill. They said thero were very many persons ready to go into the speculation of wattle-planting if tho Government would offer inducements in the shape of cheap land. Mr Madden said it was the intention of the Governmont to insert a clause in the Land Bill providing that land should be let on easy terms to persons proposing to cultivate wattles. Mr Forbes is to give two lectures in Timaru, the Presbyterian Church having been placed at his disposal by the Rev. W. Gillies. The proceedings in connection with the Carnival were brought to a close yesterday by a fancy-dress ball, which was held in Mr Donald Reid's building. The gross receipts cannot at present be exactly ascertained, the returns from several quarters having not yet come to hand. Up to this date the actual amount banked by the Committee is £1650, but this does not include the receipts of either the sports, the ball, or various other items. It is roughly estimated that the net amount, after deduction of expenses, will slightly exceed £2000. ■

Mr Montagu Pyra will potatoes to-day at the Rai way-shed.

Messrs Maclean and Co. will sell tho stock-in-trade of ihe Otago Foundry on Tuesday, 12th inst.

The general meeting of the United Victory Coi pany will be held on Wednesday, 25th inst.

Messrs M'Landress, Hepburn, and Co. will Bel books on Saturday.

Frim Walton Park and Fairfield district (ho sum of £20 13s 6d hag been forwarded, as the proceeds of a concert and subscriptions, for tho Carnival.