The Timaru Herald. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1886.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 3720, 3 September 1886, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1886.

It began to be rumoured just before the close of the session, and has been more than once repeated since, that there were grave doubts as to the Midland Railway Syndicate carrying out the undertaking m which it hud embarked. One of the causes which it was alleged might bring abont tbe brenkdown was that further inquiry would show that the land which plays such a conspicuous part m the bargain is comparatively worthless. A second alleged cause was the outcry which had been raised against the importation of cheap labour for tbe purpose of constructing the line. We cannot say how these rumours originated, but it is a fact that some little time ago they were very prevalent m Wellington, and that some of our public men who are usually -well-informed looked upon the prospects of the Midland Railway as very shakey indeed. But from what has occurred quite recently it is amply clear that at all events a very fair start will be made with the work. We yesterday published an important telegram with reference to tbe Midland. The AgentGeneral had telegraphed to the Government that tbe first contract (for twentyfive mileßi had been signed ; that the first issue of the shares of the Midland Railway Company had been placed ; and that Mr Hoare, one of tbe provisional directors, and also a director of Lloyds Barnet and Bosauquet'a bank, would leave England for New Zealand at the end of this month. All this looks like business, and, although we do not place an extraordinarily high value on any part of the land which will be allotted t» the company, we Bee no reason for believing that its quality and situation will have the effect of bringing about a collapse of the undertaking. Some of the land is o£ fair quality for agricultural purposes; some of it is valuable, m the first instance, for the timber with which it is covered, and ■will be afterwards available for agriculture; and some of it will not improbably yield a grand return m the shape of excellent coal. The men who have gone into the scheme will not be daunted by trifles. So much for the adverse reports based on tbe character of the land. The other supposed cause for a collapse — the outcry against the importation of cheap labour — seems to us to be equally wanting m force. We should bo very glad to see the line absorb, either directly or indirectly, the whole of the surplus labour of the colony, and we have hopes that it may yet do so. But of this we may be very sure, namely, that, however the company may feel on the question, the contractors will proceed with a total indifference to any outcry which may be raised againßt tbe importation of labour if such a method of supplying their wants appears to them necessary. But it is by no means clear that the contractors intend to import labour as long as a supply at a reasonable rate can be obtained m the colony. A contractor writing to a Wellington paper the other day says : — " The contractors' idea, no doubt, would be that by getting English labour at, say 5s per day, the work would be done much more cheaply than by paying the colonial man 8s per day. This is an entire mistake. A large firm of English contractors who came out to make railways m New Zealand imported a lot of navvies at a cost of £40,000 for passage and outfit. In the first place they did not do half as mnch work as the colonial man, and consequently were dearer ; m the next place, finding their rate of pay was so much under current rates, they cleared off, and not only had the firm to complete their works by colonial labour, but I believe they lost £34,000 of passage money and expenses. Were I given the choice of raw imported men at 5s per day and colonial navvies at Bs. from what I have seen I would certainly prefer the colonial man, and I will undertake to say that if the English syndicate will let the line m sections, they will easily get it done by colonial contractors, employing colonial men at current wages, and at prices which will leave quite as much or more profit as they would have by doing it themselves with imported labour." No doubt that view of the case has been presented to those principally interested, and, before going to the enormous expense of introducing labour from abroad, they will ascertain as accurately as possible what can be accomplished

with the supply already here. If the colonial labourer is reasonable m his demands, he will have hia opportunity ; if, on the other band, he stands out for a fictitious standard of value, he may find bis pl:-co taken by navvies from England. On the 30th of last month a member of the staff of the Wellington Evening Press had an interview with Mr Kobinson, one of the Midland Railway contractors now m the colony. A report of the conversation was published, and we notice m it the following paragraph : — " Not the least of the difficulties to be faced were the local jealousies at the various starting points and the question of the rateß to be paid for labour on the line. ' It is monstrous,' said Mr Robinson, ' to suppose that the high rate of wages now ruling on the West Coast should continue, but it is difficult to make the labouring class understand that a high rate of wages simply means a high rate of living and everything else. The process will be gradual, but (he rate of wages will have to be lowered if the undertaking is to be a paying one.' " On which the Evening Press remarks : — " From this it must be gathered that the intention of the contractors is to get their work done. at a uniformly lower scale for labour' than now prevails, but no mention was made of any intention to employ coolie labor aa has been rumoured." That rumour, we may say, we never for a moment believed.

The election of a new Town Board for the Temuka district takes pliico next week. It is probablo tbat most of tho members of the present Board will offer themselves for reelection. John Scott was arrested on Wednesday night about six o'clock, and brought up at tho R.M. Court yesterday morning, on a charge of drunkenness. Ho received 48 hours' hard labour, without the option of a fine. Jeromo Caminele, alias Carnillo, a well known offender, who tecs the inside of a prison on an average about every two months, was " run m" yesterday afternoon. A Government inspection parade of the Temuka Eiflo Volunteers was held on Wednesday evening. Captain Hayhurst, Lieutenants Findlay and Meek, and forty non-comniujioned officers and men were on parade. Tho company was inspected by Mnjor Newall, m the absence of Colonel Bailey, and was put through battalion drill and manual exercises to the satisfaction of the inspecting officer. At tho conclusion of the inspection the company, headed by the band, marched through the town. The officers m command of tho Temuka detachment of the Salvation Army, Captain Wiliams ami Lieutenant Harris, baring been ordered to proceed to Balclutha, the soldiers and their friends entertained them at a "coffee supper "on Wednesday evening. A plentiful supper was provided by Mr Barr, which was dono full justice to by a largo and hungry gathering. Afterwards a meeting was held, at which tho officers bade farewell to tho soldiers. Captain Williams will bo succeeded m the Temuka camp by Captain llelnnes from Biverton, who will arrive on tho lOMi inst. Tho monthly meeting of the committee of tho Mnekenzio County Caledonian Society will bo held at Burke 3 Pass on Monday evening next, at 7.30 o'clock. Tho annual sports meeting under the auspices of this society will be held at tho Pass on the 16th inst., and give promiso m every way of being the most successful meeting over held by tho society. Tho nominations received for the different events aro eiceptionally good, particularly those for the music and dancing, which aro larger than on any previous occasion. Tho Kuihvay authorities are, wo understand, going to run trains on tbo 16th inst., to suit tho convenience of visitors to the gathering, so it should bo largely attended by lovers of athletics and Scotch national games who reside m this district. Tho ordinary monthly meeting of tho Pareora School Committee was held m the schoolhouso on Monday evening, 30th August. Present — Messrs A. Burnett (chairman), J. Guscott, J. Struthera, R. Campbell, J. Campbell, D. Caird, and F. S. Guy. Tho minutes of last ordinary meeting was read and confirmed. Correspondence was read from the Board of Education, advising that tho incidental allowance for tho quarter, £5 16s Bd, was placed to credit of the committee at Union Bank. The Head Master's report was read, and regarded as satisfactory, considering tho wet weather which prevailed for tho last throe weeks. The report showed an | average of forty-five, the highest day's attendance being fifty-five. Mr Caird, visitor for tho past month, handed m very satisfactory report of the Bchool m general. It was moved — " That the chairman see to getting tho girls' swing repaired." Mr Guy was appointed visitor for the ensuing month. Tho meeting then adjourned. In spito of the wet weather last night, we wcro glad to see that tho attendance at tho Drill shed was greater than on tho previous evening. Threo members of tbo High School Cadets again gave a performance on the trapeze. Afterwards several of them wont through the manual exercise m fino form, and later on gave a performance on tho Boman rings and vaulting horse, assisted by tho lato Aehburton High School boy. Two of the cadets during the evening had a bout with quartor-staffs, and their lightweight boxing at the end of part 1 caused a good deal of merriment. Tho bayonet exercise was gone through by the Navals, the Gcraldiue Bides, and by tho C Battery, N.Z.A., m grand style, and the infantry sword exercise and boxing (heavyweights) wero loudly applauded. The Highland dances wore aleo well recoived. Tho gun drill and dismounting, by tho C Battery, was again well and smartly dono tho time occupied being only 2J minutes. Irish dances, tug of war (Artillery and Navals v. Bides), nnd singlestick combat followed m succession, the Hides winning the tug of war. The life saving practice by the Socket Brigade, was exceedingly interesting and well performed. Indian club exercise by SergeantMajor Jones received great applause. The entertainment ended with a mounted infantry combat, the combatants being " backed " by their fellows, and armed with mops full of flour, causing great laughter. During the evening Colonel Bailey presented Quarter-master-Sergeant Cingoftbe 0 Battery, Petty Officer Thickenß of the Navals, and Trooper Ilile3 of the Cavalry with the silver cups won by them at shooting. Tlie proceedings terminated with hearty cheers for the officers of the volunteers. The Half-howday Movement. — The employees of Timaru thank the publio of South. Canterbury for their hearty sympathy m supporting the Thursday half-holiday movement, which under their continued patronage, will prove a lasting benefit. Customers aro requested to complete their purchases before one o'clock on Thursdays to ensure punctual closing.— [A»vx.]

According to the report of tho Canadian Minister of Marine and Fisheries, mado recently, the totn! value of the catch for 1885 w&s 17,722,000d01, of which. Nova Scotia produced 8,000,00"dol worth. Tho total investments m the fisheries are 6,697,000d01. The Directors of the Southern Cross Petroleum Company huve received information from tho works which states that the bore is down 1322 ft. The contractor is now ongaged m piping the well, which will bo finished to that depth m about a fortnight, Tho fire at Vancouver, British Columbia, resulted m the complete destruction of the town. The fire was oaused by somo forest fires which raged near the town. A. galo sprang up, and this caused the fireß to spread towards tho town, igniting a house at tho west end. In a few hours the place was destroyed. Four buildings only remain of 800. There hns also been a serious loss of life. The population, panic-strickon, Bayed little except the clothes. They are encamped on tho adjacent lands. Three thousand persons are homeless. How absorbing the Home Kulo question is will be realised by an announcement m tho English papers, says Public Opinion : — Tho British evacuation of Simkim is now complete, and thn Egyptians havo full charge of the town, forts, and condensers. Such an announcement m quiet times would havo excited the whole of political England ; such an announcement made now hardly causes even a ripplo on tho surface of public feeling. Sunkim was to have been an Englieh port. It was to have stopped tho slave trade across the Bed Sea. It was to have been tho fulcrum by means of which wo wero to supply civilisat;on to tho Soudan. There was to be a railwhy from Suakim to Berber. The trade of the Nile was to be trapped for the Bed Sea frafllo. A very ingenious forgery of bank notes has just been dotected m Franco by means of the now despised stereoscope. The circulation of a number of spurious 100 franc notes had been long suspected, but : o cleverly had the forgers effected their task that even tho experts at the Bank of Franco wero for a timn nonplussed, and made application of the usual tests m vain. At length, however, a sharp official suggested that a note known to bo genuine, and one of the supposed forgories should be placed side by side m a stereoscope. This was awordinzly done, and on looking through the duplicate lenses it was at once discovered that, a loop m one of the letters of tho supposed furged note did not exactly cover tho similar loop m tho genuine one, thus clearly showing that tho two notes had not be:n printed from the same plate. Tho subsequent indent ideation of all the forged notes us they came m became a very simple operation. One of tho chief attractions of the forthcoming Salon do Paris will probably be M. Dalou's design for tho tomb of Victor Hugo. Tho design, which is modelled on a sealo of one-;enth tho intended size, is thus describod by tho linppel :--" Beneath anarch, by its form recalling the Aro do Triomphc, lies the shrouded figuro of Victor Hugo. Above tho arch a winged steed, ready to soar m the 1 hoavf nof poetry. On either side groups of figures, representing— tho one group, Quasimodo carrying off Esmeralda from the threshold of the cuthcdral ; tho other, Eviradnus using ono of the traitors as a club to defend 1 himself against the assault of tho other. In the bac-k ground, a crowd of personages drawn from all the works of the poet. In addition to this smnll sketch, the recumbent figure of the poet is also shown m a second model, this i ono on a scale of half tho natural size." Tho sale of the sketches of (ho late Air ; Randolph Caldecot at Mossr* Christie's galler- [ ies realised the sum of £5770. Tho highest price (210 guineas) was given by Mr Agnew ' for 112 original drawings to " Old Christmas ' from tho Sketch Book by Washington Irving," l who also pnve 9G guineas for cightvfive pen and ink drawings of " iEsop's Fables with , Modern Instances." The original sketch of 1 " John Gilpin " wai bought by the South r Kensington Museum for 50 guineas. The . seven sketches of "The Mad Dog" fetched 14| guineas; " Hey-Diddlo-Diddle" (eight 1 sketches), 20 guineas; "Baby Bunting" ' (twelve sketches), -12 guineas ;" Rido-&-Co?k 1 Horse" (three sketches), 50 guinens ; and " Come Lads and Lasses" (six sketches), 85 guineas. Mr Caldccott's last work — "Negroes ' londing Cotton Bales at Charlestown," a t drawing m chalk fetched £6 6s. : Tho Melbourne Argut writes m referonce to j tho Steward scandal: — "Sir Julius Yogel, on , the other hand, mndo a nice distinction. There would bo an impropriety if a member > allowed his action to bo influenced by tho ' hope of a commission, but there would be no t impropriety m receiving the money, if tho f member kept it out of his motives. As a casuistical picco of reasoning, this is worthy ' of tho most hair-splitting Jesuit. Assassination was no murder if it wero dono for the j g.iod of tho church and not for private revenge. And »o tho accoptanco of a commission is ' harmless, if the member only protests that he • is working for public ends. It is probably , useless to arguo wish such reasoncrs. If they , cannot see Unit such transactions would afford an opening for wholesale corruption, wero they once admitted, then tho wrong is no ' more explicable to them than colour to tho ! colour-blind. Tho public at any rate will , understand the danger. , The Allpemeihe Zeitung quote s a letter from M. Maspero, reporting his progress m the gre»t work of excavating the buried sohinx ' of Gizeh. The workmen have got down as . far as the paws of the crentnro ; on her right hand are a number of Greek inscriptions of imperinl date. It seems that the paws were i hewn out of a kornal of living stone, and . built round with stonework ; the surface of the stonework was painted red with articulations m yellow. The excavators have now got ■ down below tho level formerly reached by , Mariette and Carglia, and they are now at work m layers of sand, which have lain un- ' disturbed since tho first centuries of our era. i This sand lias become exceedingly hard, and, m fact, has coagulated into a material more like stono. Tho face of the sphinx has always been exposed to about 16 metres, but i we aro glad to learn from M. Maspero that . on laying bare the lower part the expression of tho sphinx has greatly gained m " eerenitj 1 and cheerfulness. " Bhe has borne her long i imprisonment well. M. Maspero still needs . an additional lO.OOOfr completely to free this ' captive of the ages. According to tho " Foresters' Direotory" the order still continues to make gigantic ' strides. From the directory we learn that there were on the 31st December, 1885, 294 district?, 4330 courts, 047,077 benefit, and 14,917 hononrary members, showing an increase on tho year of 64 court?, 13,789 bonefit, and 916 honourary members. The aggregate worth of tho court funds was £3,314,336, and of district funds £405,844, making a total of £3.720 200, showing on ' increase on the year of £136,035. During the ! year there were 55 321 new members admitted, and 29,907 returned as having loft through non-payment and causes other than death. The number of members' deaths m the yea* waß 6600, and of members' wives and widows ■1526. The juvonile societies ia connection with tho order at December 31*1, 1885, comprisod 61,987 members, with £73,087 of funds being an increase of 3210 members and ' £16,313 m funds on the year. During the 1 year there was 13,116 members admitted, i nnd m the Bamo poriod 4127 were transferred to various courts as members of tho order. It is reported that M. F. Siemens has perfected tho process for casting glass as if it 1 were a metal, and that m a short time an experiment will bo made with the material i to ascertain how far it will serve for railway . sleepers. In addition to its toughnpss and endurance, the glass cannot be affected by the atmosphere like other materials. The process • is said to resemble the ono m use for proi ducing caßt iron, but, instead of sand, finely pulverised porcelain is used for the moulds. The material ia obtained by depositing molten glass on plates of metal,' and causing the mass ' to cool quickly. The quality will depend on the character of the metal employed for the • plates. When iron plates are used the glow ■ produced is about three times as strong an ordinary glass, but with copper, -which cooli i quickly, tho standard of strength rises to ' eight times. Cast glass will not bo more expensive than cast iron, and m course of time it is Jikely to be tho cheaper of the two. The new material can retain the transparency of , common gloss, and, while adapted for mirrors ' or windows it can be utilised m many way! instead of iron and steel. M. Siemens fcf*. lieves it will cs,use a revolution m trade, '

Post Card Proof. Salisbury, Tonn., April 4, 1883.— Gents : I was afflicted with serious Kidney and Urinary trouble for twelve years. After trying all the doctors and patent medicines I could hear of, I U9ed two bottles of Hop Bitters and am perfectly cured. B. F. Boom. Washington, D. 0., April 3, 1883.— T0 tho Hop Bitters Co. — Sirs: I write this as a takon of the great appreciation I havo for your Bitters. I was afflicted with Inflammatory Rheumatism seven years, and no medicine seemed to do me any good until I tried three bottles of your Hop Bitters, and to my surprise I am as well today as over I was. I hope you may have great iuccess m this great nnd voluable medicine. Anyono wishing to know more about my cure, can learn by addressing mo. — E. M. Williams, 1103 16th street. Prosocute the awindlers! — If when you call for American Hop Bitters (see green twig of hops on tho white label and Dr Soule's name blown m the bottle), the vendor hands out anything but American Hop Bitters, refuse it and shun that vendor as you would a viper ; and if ho has taken your money for anything else indict him for tho fraud and suo him for damages for the swindle, and we will pay you liberally for the conviction. (3) SYNOPSIS OF NEW ADVERTISEMENTS. G. Laing-Meason — Has a houßo and land on Wai-iti road to lot. D. Anderson, Pleasant Pomt — Requests aoconnta owing to him to bo settled. John Elder and Robert Peebles— Have taken over the blaokamith btninoaa of D. Anderson, at Pleasant Point. Daviea and Murphy — Aro now Bhowinjj their firat shipment of spring nqveltiea. Mackenzie County Calodonian Sooioty— Hold meeting of Committoo on Monday. In bankrnptoy — Bo John Burnett.