STATISTICAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2200, 30 April 1896, Page 13

STATISTICAL.

The postal revenue for the quarter ended March 31 was £62,244 against £71,094 for th* similar period of last year. Auckland contributed £7228, Christohurch £6127, D acedia £5712, Wellington £9623.

The teleg-»ph revenue for the quarter wa« £29,738 as against £25.220. Auckland paid £4967, CifristohuTch £3694, Danedin £3569, Wellington £5498. Government telegrams ate not included in tho above*. They were 6632 as sgaiost 7013 for the «ame quarter last yea*. During the quarter money order* were i«sue4 to the amount of £211 046 against £189,699, and those paid to 192,202 agaioet 173,092. The postal notes) sold amou&tdd to £31,475 ac against £27,824-. The postal notes paid amounted to £30,798 against £27,912. During March raiu fell in Wellington on 17 dajs, in Duuedin on 13, ia Aucklend on 9, and ia Canterbury on 9; tbe rainfall in Inches being: Wellington 8 292, Canterbury 8-710, Dunodin 2644. Auckland 1181. Tha Savings Bunk tTiuinaoHocs were as follow :—: —

There was a young lady of Niger, Who smiled as sbe rode on a tiger, At the cad of the ride, the girl was inside. And the &mile en the face of the tiger. This old nars«ry rhyme illustrates tb* credulity of tbe female character, and the fond* ness for beautiful male animals ; for, without doubt, an African tiger is indeed a beautiful animal, but man is an animal, notwithstanding his humanity, and we are iramraolesl on all sides by numberlecs examples of bis innate savagery. The hopcfoi* mi«ery of women tied by the marriage bond to debased, drunken, igaorant brutes who are dubbed by Nature's laws as lords «f the creation it, perbapn, one of the most lamentable thm«s to be witnessed in modern times ; for tha Victorian era «xhibits-» perhaps, the highest type of refined civilisation known in history, with its awful opposite splendidly depicted by Charles Diokeus, in bis characters of Bill Sikes and Fafia. We hear of philanthropy in its thousand forms— th« noble efforts to rescue lads from the snr> roundings of vioe and crime, but it seejts at* hopeless a tssk to stop juvenile depravity as th* engineering impossibility to dam Niagara. Way, it miy be asked, all this disquisition ? is to impress by all the force of pen the desirability to onltirate habits of philosophy and reflectiveness, and here we are met with the beneficence of Nature, which gives to the Old Dominion Virginia the weed broaght to England by Sir Wnlter Raleigh, the inhaling of which in the form of Indian Chief Cigarettes induce* that calmness of thought and happy frame of mind under which the present condition of socalled civilisation may be pondered over witb benefit. Anglican, Presbyterian, Wesleysn, and Con* pregstinnal ministers co-operated at Tlmaru on Friday night at a meeting, at which about 300 persoß« were present, when resolutions ware passed in favour of the Irish Scripture Text Book being introduced into tbe public enuoola. Arrangements were made to canvass tha distriofc for signatures to a petition to Parliament. Mr Maslin, M.HR. for Rangitata, fa addressing his constituents at Gera'dine, criticised the Premier's manner of conducting tlje business of Parliament, and demanded a large measure of reform in this reipect. He complained that the Assets Realisation Board were not energetic enough. The large estates in South Canterbury ought to have been pub into the market before now. But while criticising the Government aa-a candid friend, ha declared them infinitely preferable to their opponents. A vote of thanks and confidence, was carried. Herbert Spencer defines evolution as a change from an indefinite, incoherent homogeneity to a I definite, oohewnt heterogeneity by variou* I integrations and differentiations. We don't j know abomt that, but we are certain about th« ' evolution of the wonderful new Waterbury Watch called " The Trump." Obtainable everywhere.

Deposits. V Aurfelon-l £109,339 81-riJieim ... ... 10.802 Cbristohurch ... 138,368 Dunedia ... ... 1)2,67(j Gisborne „. 12,190 Graymouth ... .„ • 12,059 Hokitik* ... M . 8,804 InvftrcarglH..^. • „, 24,460 Napier ... „. 38,701 ' Nelson ... M 18,224 New Plymouth ... 18,010 ■ Oamaru .... ,«, 12,309 Thames ... „. 21,833 Tiinwu 19,360 Wa«gumi 35,898 Wellington 134.470 Westport ... ... 5,728 Totals ... .^ £732,834 Corres. quarter, 1896 X 725.273 (VithdrikwM J6V7.858 10,439 13O,3?« 96,480 13*588 6434 23,504 59.016 18,:«2 17JL65 12^59 is,m 15,^6 35,843 128,903 7,977 £671,213 £568,148 to,