OAMARU SEWS MOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2622, 15 June 1904, Page 26

OAMARU SEWS MOTES.

(Fnoii Oue Own Corkespondext.) OAMAIU', June 7. The commii-ion appointed by the Government to collect evict-men- as to the proportions in which local bodies should contubute to iho upkeep of combined iraffio and railway bridges sat in Oaniaiu tc-day. The evidence of a nuvube-r of business people v,is taken, with the object of deciding how much of the ccoi of maintaining the- Lower Waitaki bridge should be borne by tho Oamaru Borough Council. 'I he council objected to being asked to pay any part of tho ccsc, on the ground that this should bo borne by the- county councils on either side, of the river, if by any local body. The consensus of the. evidence was that the traffic over the bridge to Oamaru was very light, and the removal of the decking so as to make it a purely railway bridge would have little effect on " business, as it would still r^och Oamaru by rail. ZWost of the witnesses thought that it "might be worth £10 to £20 to the borough to keep tho traffic bridge open, as it was a convenience, if not of great value. A tally had been taken of the traffic over the bridge in a given period, and this disclosed that the traffic to and from Oamaru amounted to about one-seventh of the whole, -excluding travelling stock. June 9. The Committee of the North Ota-go A. and P. Association met to-day and appointed! Mr E. Piper secretary, at a salary of £72 per annum. The committee expressed its sympathy v.ith. a motion passed by the Hawke's Bay Society pointing out the necessity for an amendment of the Slaughtering Ace so as to pilow cattle and other anitnals slaughtered at any registered abattoir being sold in any municipality or in any local market. The committee discussed at some, length the subject of entering for the county bay competition at the next Dunedin wini-er show, the concensus of opinion being that •the County of "VYakaki should certainly be represented, though ?. good deal of work might be anticipated in arranging for t'ie> exhibit. The committee appointed a comrnitteo of the whole to consider and report at next meeting. The sale of the property of tie- 'j'ctara Tree and O.K. Stone Company :. ok r»aee to-day, the New Zealand Lean and M. A. Company being tho auctioneers. T'.>*re \ias spirited bidding, and eventually H'c property was knocked down to VTv Il'*d< rick Mackenzie, of Dune-din, for £7603. It is understood that the property was x-u. chased for Messrs Perry and Macnherson, tl c defendant parties in a prolonged parttK-rship dispute in which Mr Oay was the- r-iaintiif. Developments in connection vrirL tbe division in the Auctioneers' Associ-itio.l are creating some amusement in toy. n. In the past farmers and dealers of North Ota go have themselves had to find the colonial Robert with which to pay for their lunch on Tuesday's, but now they are confronted with two groups of auctioneers jealously competing for the privilege of paying for "their clients' meals. At the meeting of the A. ai.d P. Association's Committee to-day an invitation was received fcr the chairman, committee, end every member of the association to lunch at the Eveline Yards next Tuesday, and someone men»t» iMti ,**^r*vi yssaau mvaaag.' sgsg*gs3 T ;'aggß= ! asrasE! l .j>*«'W:a3fc»si

tionod that (here iia= an opno-inon -pieic? at the Junction Yni'd". Tlie invitation was aec&ptecl, but tho quen.on for each Urmcr and dealer is, Who i> to htuo tho pu\i]-ege of paying- for his h'rch on Tuesday? It is i-ratifying to the K'lIo:;i1 <-i.cuon of the community 10 know that <-o far the c ul,jeot of champagne has been c=chovicd. June 11. Tho annual muster parade of the Wairnki Mounted Rifles took place on Thursday afternoon, whori 60 ofliecis an r l nvn responded to the call of ','aptain L'reagh. The ccrns was inspected by Colonr-1 Robin, r.id ho \\£3 accompanied by Lieutcnnnt-colonc-i Nichols, tho office.- cDinmandiug No. 1 Regiment, Otago Mounted Rifles The lurn-oufc was an excellent one, and tho inspecting officer.* expressed theoisch es well pleased with the appearance and the work done by tho corps. Sergeant D. M. Jack was elected to a vacant, lieutenancy. Captain Creagh has received permission to ic-cruit hi-. c quadron up to 125. Ths North Ota^o Mourned Rifles held its annual muster on l i iic li iy afternoon, when there was a good turn-ort, thoso on parade numbering 4-9, which is tho more satisfactory considering the time of the year and the fact that the corps is Mmc-t entirely a country one. Colonel Robin and Lieut-enant-colonel Nichols liisnected the squadron, the former expressing his E.ctlL=factioa at retina tho improvement since r h.3 last iiiu&.or. During tho -afternoon Lieutenant GeorgeMacdonald. a very popular officer of the corps, who resides at Ravensborne. was elected to the captaincy in. succession to Captain A. W. (iil''<=s (re?ijnecl). Mr H. Orbell, a sergeant, of the First Contingent to South Africa, and an old member of the Otago Hussars, was elected to tho vacant lieutenancy. At the corps' annual dinner in the eversing the retiring captain was made the recipient of a handsome marble clock, and the e-teern in -which he was held by the rank and file of the squadron ■\vas proved by a scere of jnuch enthusiasm, in tho midst of which ho was carried round the room on hi« chair shoulder-high. Tho Waitaki Acclimatisation Society has decided to erect two huts on the Kakanui River for the ben-efit cf fisher-neu, and in conjunction with the kindred society at Waimate the scciety is also going to erect a shelter shed, pump, etc., on tho north bank of the Waitaki River. The two auctioneorins companies which are establishing saleyards ai E>. eline nowintimate their intention of erecting jards at Deborah, south of the present Junction yards, so as to Fuit clients to the fouth. of Oamaru who do not care for the idea of going- out to Eveline. The plot develops apace. The Farmers' Union to-day resolved to initiate a canvass for support foj the mutual insurance. It; was stated at the meeting that existing insurance companies are circulating pamphlets extensively among farmers on the subject.