COMMERCIAL.

Ashburton Guardian Oflice, Monday Evening. Alfred Harrison reports holding a sale for the trustees in the estate of George Parkin, at his rooms, Havelock street, on Wednesday (first day), Juno 15, when the properties disposed of were as follows . Dwelling-house, workshops, and three sections, L 660 ; two cottages and section, L 155; twenty-nine suburban sections ranged from L3lls. to L 7155.; six blocks, each 2 acre, brought LlO to Ll 6 per acre. On the second day, Thursday, June 16th, in the same estate, the whole of the stock in-trade, machinery, horses, etc., were disposed of. The stock-in-trade sold at fair prices considering the times. The following also were knocked down to the highest bidder—Four-horse engine and boiler, LSO ; general joiner, L4O ; mortis ing machine, LlO ; six draughts and hacks found buyers at from L 3 to 131 ; light trap, Ll 3 10s.; spring cart, LG ; the har ness and sundries sold fairly. On Saturday, June 19, Alfred Harri son’s weekly sale was well attended. Several hacks and light draughts sold moderately well. A line of pigs brought LI 11s. each, or about 6d per lb. full. A consignment of trees sold very well indeed. Potatoes brought L2 per ton ; chick feed, Is. 6d. per bushel; barley. Is. do.; carrots, 30s. per ton; apples, 6s. Gel. per case ; cheese. 4d. to 4|-d. and 6d. A large quantity of sundries were sold, during the disposal of a part of which (wearing apparel and household effects) the bidding was very lively, roars of laughter re peatedly shaking the structure ; however no accidents happened, and all left heavily laden and well pleased.

MAIL NOTICES.

Mails close at the Ashburton Post Office, as follows : For Christchurch and North at 6 a. m. 9. a.m., and 5 p.m., daily. For Ohertsey Rakaia, &c., at 9 a.m, and 5 p.m. daily. For Dunedin, Tinwald, Winslow, Hinds, Coldstream, Rangitata, Orari, Winchester, and Geraldine, at 10.15 a.m. daily. For Temuka, Timaru, and South at 6 a.m. and 10.15 a.m. daily. For Greenstreet, Ashburton Forks, Mount Somers, and Ashburton Gorge, on Tuesdays and Fridays, at 10.30 a m. For Ashton, Waterton, and Longbeach, at 3.15 p.m. daily. For Wakanui, and Seafield, on Tues days and Fridays, at 6 a. m. Mails arrive at the Ashburton Post Office— From Christchurch at 10.35 a.m., 4.55 p.m., and 8.15 p.m. daily. From Ohertsey, Rakaia, &c. at 10.35 a.m. daily. From Dunedin and intermediate places at 5.25 p.m. daily. From Temuka and Timaru at 9.25 a.m. and 5.25 p.m. daily. From Greenstreet, Ashburton Forks, Mount Somers, and Ashburton Gorge on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 3 p.m. From Ashton, Waterton, and Long beach at 10 a.m. daily. From Wakanui and Seafield on Tues days and Fridays at 2.30 p.m. W. Sr. G. Douglas, Postmaster.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

“ Curious.”- —To make reference to the private affairs of a law-abiding citizen in a public journal would be persecution, and no journal ought to open its columns to anything of the kind. In answer to your query, however, we may state that the law, like medicine and the church, requires long and arduous preliminary training— apprenticeship, in fact—and ability to conduct his own defence before the Su preme Court no more constituted Butler a lawyer than the winning of a case before our R.M. would entitle a layman to un dertake the conduct of yours. We have no wish to open a controversy on the sub ject of your letter—it is one that, given rope enough, will hang itself ; but doub less it will come to the surface in good time.

The Ashburton Guardian. COUNTY AGRICULTURAL & SPORTING RECORDER TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 1880.

The Licensing Bill, as it now lies before Parliament, is perhaps the most compre hensive attempt any New Zealand Go vernment has yet made to regulate the drink traffic. It aims at being conserva tive of the interests of those whom Go vernment have licensed to dispense liquor; and at protecting them against undue competition, increase of which would bo calculated, by injuring their trade, to lower the tone of their establishments and reduce their standard as houses of enter tainment ; while at the same time the Bill has in view the protection of the com munity by restraining, as far as legislation can restrain, the tendency to abuse of aicholic beverages. There are many points of the Bill which even hotelkeepers allow to he excellent, and it introduces reforms which all grant were much needed. But it is not expected by the majority of people that an Act of Parlia ment will ever make men sober who will be drunken, and the present Bill attempts no such Utopian idea. Still, it takes steps in one or two directions that New Zealand legislation has never tried before, and having done so, it does not appear to us very extraordinary that one of the leading newspapers of the colony should not con sider it too much to expect of the present Parliament when it asks that a still further step should be taken. After strongly deprecating the . granting of licenses to unmarried females, urging that though exceptional cases have occurred where females have been successful in keeping orderly houses, the female character is in general weaker in moral force than is that of its sterner opposite, the JVew Zealand Herald goes on to put forth that no female, other than members of the licensee’s family should be employed in the sale of liquor. With this view taken by our contompory we entirely agree, and in much of what he has to say against the employ ment of barmaids we are with him. We grant, as he grants, that the presence of a respectable female in a bar may have an ameliorating and restraining inlluence in many cases, “ but not always, and on the whole their presence is productive of incalculably more evil than good.” The barmaid has come to be held in light esteem as a class because individuals of that class have forgot themselves ; and in consequence of the indiscretions of which the weaker ones have been guilty, their sins have been visited on the heads of all ■who choose bar attendance as a profession. This contumely of the whole gen us is as cruel as it is unjust, for if the condemnation of every profession is to be sealed because of the weakness or wickedness of a few of its members then no calling is safe, from the peasant’s to the priest’s ; for in every flock is found one or more black sheep. Still, notwithstanding, the barmaid, if she have any personal attractions, whether in face or in conversational powers, is eagerly sought after by the proprietors of public bars, simply because an attractive barmaid is as good an asset in a hotel as the hotelkeeper’s character for keeping good liquor. She draws—both beer and custom, and many a man who would be content with a single glass from the hands of a bluff male waiter, will indulge in more when he has a temptation to talk with the owner of a pretty face behind the bar. The barmaid is thus a cause of, or at leastan inducement to, drinking, and as legislation on the liquor traffic is intended to reduce ■ the temptations to drunkenness, the re moval of barmaids would be a perfectly legitimate step. No one denies that excessive drinking habits are an evil, both to tlie individuals who are their victims, and to the communities to which those indi viduals belong; both by the effect of these habits upon the individuals and the money that is uselessly spent and lost to the community ; and if the use of barmaids tends to the increase of these habits and the heightening of the evils that follow them, it seems to us that the pro hibition of the employment of females behind public bars is a perfectly legitimate proceeding. But there are nobler reasons why they should be debarred by law from such employment. No landlord, however he may wish, can fully protect the females in his employ from the influence that they must necessarily come under while behind a public bar. A public bar is available to all classes of men as a place of resort, and amongst our humanity we find those who care not a straw what passes their lips in the hearing of a bar maid, and who are rather delighted than otherwise at the opportunity afforded them of indulging in coarse language and broadly insinuated inuendo in the hearing of these females. The protection of the womanhood ofonr women is as much aduty of the State as is the education by the State of our children, and though the men who consider themselves entitled as they wish to outrage a barmaid’s finer sensi bilities by their coarseness of language, or impurity of thought expressed in carefully chosen language are, let us hope, in the great minority, still there are quite enough of these constantly frequenting every hotel bar in the colony to contami nate the best mind that ever guided the actions of a girl. The only safeguard against the evil effects of the public drinking room upon the employed girl is her banishment by law from that position. We cannot admit the argument that she is there of her own choice, for not one girl in a hundred has a full realisation of all the disadvantages of the position until she has experienced them. To many light-headed and light-hearted young females the bar possesses attrac tions, but there are few houses indeed where they leave their employ with the pure imagination that was theirs in their early girlhood, or even that later period of it, before they came into contact with the rough stream of masculinity that flowed past the counter they attended, and drank the liquor they served, and the more copiously that they did serve it. We know many a good hotel-keeper who would rather a thousand times that he could carry on his business without the bar maid’s aid ; it is not the respectable hotel keeper who ia to blame for the girls’ em ployment so much as the public who seem to demand them by their more extensive patronage of the hotels where the girls are. But a law prohibiting the employ ment of barmaids would certainly reduce the temptations to drink and save many good women from positions where they are exposed to both covert and open insult at the hands of men who would not dare conduct themselves so to women in another sphere ; and save them from dangers which no man would care to see his own female relatives to, and which every honest man would wish to sea every woman escape.

Supplement.— Our “Farmers’ Supple ment” is published with this issue. “ Wicked Marks.” —Another informa tion is to he laid against Henry Marks for fruit selling on a Sunday. Coronation Day. —Sunday was the 43rd anniversary of her Majesty’s acces sion to the throne of Great Britain. Balance-Sheet. —In another column will be found the balance-sheet of the Ash burton County Council for the year end ing 31st March, 1880. To Builders. —Messrs. F< «ks and Son invite tenders in this issue for the erection of certain additions to the County Hospital, and for entrance gates and fencing. Cricket. —A meeting of the members of the Ashburton Cricket Club is called for this evening at 7.30, in the County Council Chambers to receive the Trea surer’s report. Extensive Sale. —Messrs. Jameson and Roberts announce an extensive clear ing sale at Wood’s Farm, Dromore, on Tuesday next, 29th instant, full particu lars of which appears in the usual column of auction sales. Lociked-Out. —The R.M. was away at Longbeach yesterday and his Clerk was at Christchurch, the Courthouse wan locked up, and the police couldn’t get in, so that tw r o men up for breach of the peace had to go away without being tried. The Trotting Match.— The trotting match between Mr. Willcock’s g.g. “Deceiver” and “Gentle Annie,” for L2O a side, was run off on Saturday from Wheatstone to Waterton and back, and resulted in a victory for “Deceiver” by several lengths. Time, 13 mins. 4 secs. A. & P. Association. —The monthly meeting of the Agricultural and Pastoral Association will be held to-night in the upper room of the Town Hall, at seven o’clock, a dinner of the members of the Association taking place in Shearman’s hotel at six o’clock. The Waterton Library. —Mr. George Willcocks, of the Wheatstone Hotel, is to run his coach at special fares tc-morrow afternoon, to accommodate parties wish ing to be present at the Waterton Library tea meeting and hall. The coach will leave Quill’s Hotel an hour later than usual, but of course will not return till the usual time next morning. The fai’es for the double journey will be 2s. 6d. Another Pedestrian Match. —Mr. John Groves, who beat young Montgo mery easily in the recent match of a mile, announces his willingness to give his op ponent fifty yards’ start for another spin, and backs himself for L 5 on the result. This start ought to bring the men together, and make a close thing of it, as Mont gomery was a bit out of condition in the previous contest. Remanded. — At a short sitting of the R.M. Court on Saturday, at which Mr. Guinness, R.M., presided, the following cases were remanded until next Friday, on the application of Constable Warring, bail being allowed in each case Ben jamin Corrie, alleged sheep-stealing ; Charles Ryan, charged witli having no lawful visible means of support (Mr. Branson for accused) ; Win, Watson, on a charge of obtaining money under false pretences (Mr. Ireland for accused). Burnham.— We learn from Mr. Maddi son, master ‘of the Burnham Industrial School, that the Rev. J. Davidson, ChaplainH.M. Gaol, Addington, conducted Divine Service at the school on Thursday last, at which 130 of the inmates Mere present, and hopes to be able to arrange for a permanent weekly service being held there. His Lordship, the Primate, will probably address the children next Thurs day. The inmates have to thank Mr. Maddison for those arrangements. The Shortest Day.— Yesterday, the 21st of June, was the shortest day of the winter season. Tlie sun rose, we presume, although ho didn’t shine, at 7’37 and set at 4 - 24. He gives us a minute longer t.irriance to-d.iy. Tne weather was broken and welcome rain had fallen, and sigusof a continuance are showing. Outdoor work has been suspended, but farmers will be enabled to pursue ploughing as soon as opportunity offers, as the land will be in fine fettle for the share after the wet. Local Christy’s.— The members of the original Ashburton Christy Minstrel troupe, resident in the township, are to give a grand concert on Tuesday, the 20th, to liquidate a small debt still due by the old club. The stamina of the old Christy’s are still amongst us, and from the pro gramme before us, and the list of those who are to take part, we can safely promise a roaring night. The songs are of a good class—amusing and sentimental—a comic trio figures in the list, alongside a song and dance by a local “ steppist,” and a stump speech on local affairs by a local orator. A farce concludes the evening. Wo hear that for the first time in Ashburton a local orchestra will appear. A Plea for the Schoolboy’s.— The Re v. W, Keall on Sunday morning, in a dia :ourse bearing specially on the train ing of children, gave it as his opinion that the entire secular education of our young people should be confined to school hours, an expression of opinion which will be cordially endorsed by all schoolboys of tlie colony, as well as those in the immediate neighborhood. The rev. gentleman said that with all that was commendable in our colonial scheme of education, it was faulty in one respect—it sought to cram the children’s minds too much. When re tiring to their homes every evening, the young folks did not leave their studies behind them, as ought to be the case, but they had to prepare long and difficult lessons for the next day, the consequence being that little or no time was allowed for recreation or to give parents oppor tunities of bestowing religious and moral training. The cramming process which the present educational system demanded materially affected the health of the lads, and medical men had borne testimony to the fact that many children were dying through the mistaken notion of exacting so much from the youthful mind. It will, perhaps, be remembered that Dr. Kemp, in a paper which lie read before the Philo sophical Society in Wellington some few months ago, made use of somewhat similar language. Inquests. —An inquest on the body of Daniel Campbell, who died suddenly on Tuesday last, was held at the Mount Somers Hotel on Thurs day, before Dr. Trevor, coroner, and a jury, of whom Mr. Henderson was chosen foreman. After hearing the evidence of two of deceased’s mates, Mr. Forbes, bis employer, and Dr. Stewart, who bad made a post mortem examination of deceased, the jury returned a verdict of died from natural causes—the immediate cause of death being congestion of the lungs.—-An inquest was held at the Water ton Hotel on Friday before Dr. Trevor, coroner of the district, and a jury—Mr. Wm. Taylor being foreman—on the body of Ellen Frarapton, an account of whose death by scalding we gave in a recent issue. Ann Frampton, the mother of the deceased, gave evidence to the effect that while washing out of doors on the 14th inst., the deceased, who was only four years and a half old, caught her hat in a bowl of hot water which witness was carrying, and upset the bowl, scalding deceased severely. Witness dressed the scalds as speedily as possible, and next day sent for Dr. Stewart, but all efforts to save the child’s life were unavailing, and it died on Tuesday evening about seven o’clock. The evidence of a sister of the deceased, and likewise that of the father, corroborated the statement by the mother. Dr. Stewart gave medical testimony, and considered that every means had been resorted to for the little sufferer’s case, and the j ury returned a vi rdict of, “ Acci dental Death ”

Drunkenness. —For being drunk and disorderly and using obscene language, his Worship, on Saturday, fined Wm. Briscoe 20s. or the usual term in limbo. Coursing and Pheasant Licenses. — Up to the present 185 coursing licenses have been issued this season, as against 90 last year. Licenses have also been taken out for three packs of beagles—one in Christchurch, one in Geraldine,-and one in Temuka. This season, 89 licenses for shooting pheasants have been issued, as gainst 36 last year. Land Sale. —A sale of properties was held on Saturday, at Messrs. Robert Wilkin and Co.’s wool stores, Hereford street, Christchurch. Messrs. Wilkin and Co., acting in conjunction with Messrs. Jameson and Roberts, Ashburton, dis posed of Wood’s Dromore farm, contain ing in all 1093 acres, at £3 10s. per acre. Mr. Wearing, of Kaiapoi, was the purchaser. Interested Councillors. —Mr. Wig gins, one of the Borough Councillors at Akaroa, and proprietor of the local paper, has been fined LlO by the Resident Magistrate there for being concerned in work to bo done for the Council, or in other words, publishing the Borough Council advertisements in his paper. It is stated that a similar prosecution is to be proceeded with at Rangiora against a Councillor there. Entertainment at Kyle.— The enter tainment got up by the residents at Kyle, for the benefit of widow Gordon, came off on Friday evening last in the school house. The school-room was well filled, and Mr. Lambie, who has been the moving spirit in the matter, occupied the chair. The programme comprised the usual selections, musical and histrionic, and gave great satisfaction to the audience. The result will be a sum of Ll2 handed over to the widow, who it will bo remem bered had the misfortune to lose a cow a fortnight ago, the animal having fallen down a well. Mrs. Gordon is the widow of the farmer who died in the snowstorm of last winter, while on his way to Sea tield from Ashburton. A Chinese Joke. —Mr. Warden Broad, sitting on a case on the West Coast, in which several Chinamen were had up for fighting, said—“ Now, you people, so long as you behave yourselves and meddle with no one, we do not interfere with you, but when you begin to smash each other up we must interfere, as we cannot allow the country to be strewed with broken China.” Maori Character. The following shows one trait in the Maori character, with which every shopkeeper is ac quainted : —“Four heufing the bushel,” (4s. a bushel) says our dusky friend. “No,” replies the shopman, “I give you three.” “No, no, kahore Jack; I no take three.” Within five minutes the fiat-nose returns, raying, “ Kapai, me take three herring one piccanini cop ” (3s. Id.). The bargain was struck, and the Maori quite satisfied. An Ocean Waif. — A curious ocean waif was discovered on the beach recently, between the mouths of the Rangitikei and Turakina rivers, in the form of a box about four feet long, with a scantling nailed along one side of it, to which had evidently been attached some ballast. On one end of the box was neatly painted a skull and cross-bones, and on either side the words requiescat in pace were painted. Tlie lid Yvas missing, but a closer examina tion of the case (says the liangitikei Advocate ) suggested the idea of-its having been a child’s coffin, thrown overboard from some passenger ship. A Lamentable Incident — The Hay Standard (New South Wales) reports a lamentable incident which has occurred at G unbar Lake. Mr. Armstrong, the manager of the station, who usually rides about with a troop of fifteen or sixteen kangaroo dogs at his heels, happened to come across two boys belonging to a poor 1 iborcr travelling in search of work. The lads on seeing the dogs ran ; the dogs gave chase, and caught one of the lads, who was from seven to eight years of age, and worried and lacerated him in a fright ful manner before assistance could be given to drive them off. After lingering for a few days in great agony death ter minated his sufferings. Trading to the iSamoan Islands.— The Post sayaj—“ We hear on good authority that a company is about to be started in Wellington to trade between this port and the Sr moan Islands. There can be no doubt that it would be a tine thing for Wellington if a flourishing busi ness could be established with the Islands, and wo therefore wish the Company every success. A glance at the map will show that Wellington is very favorably situated for the purpose. A private meeting of gentlemen interested in the venture has already been hold, and it is probable that in a few days a public meeting will be held, at which the scheme will he fully laid before the residents of Wellington.” Paupers in New Zealand.— ln the House, a few days ago, Dr. Wallis, M.H.R-., moved, —For a return showing in detail how much money was expended during the year ended March 31st, 1880, for the outdoor relief of the poor in each provincial district in the colony, and in each of the chief towns and suburbs ; the return also to show the number, the sex, the nationality (English, Scotch, Irish, Hebrew, Foreign, Maori), and the age (whether under fifteen years, or between fifteen and sixty years, or above sixty years of age) of the recipients of the said outdoor relief ; the return also to show whether paid by Government or local bodies. The Hon. the Colonial Secretary said it would be quite impossible to furnish a return of the character asked. Double Bereavement. —By a strange and melancholy coincidence (says a con temporary) Colonel Pickard, Y.C., the bravo and gallant soldier who died recently at Cannes from a brief attack of illness— violent congestion of the lungs—was buried on the very day which had been originally fixed as his wedding day. His raai’riage to Miss M‘Neile, daughter of Sir John M'Neile, who also died -within the last few months, had been fixed to take place that day. This young lady has lost her father and affianced husband within the short space of three months. The very wreaths which were to have been used at her wedding became funeral gar lands to be thrown on the coffin, and the bridal veil and dresses were lying ready to be put on by the now widowed bride. Death was “caused by the rupture of a blood-vessel on the lungs, and the poor young bride sat up three hopeless days and nights watching the life slowly sink ing away. Corporation Officers.— A communi cation, says tlie Wellington Post, has lately been received by the Resident Magistrate from the Department of Justice, the effect of which will be to subvert a practice which has hitherto pre vailed in connection with informations laid by officers in the service of the Municipal Corporation. Up to the pre sent time officers of local bodies have been regarded by the Clerk of the Court as “ public officers ” within the meaning of the 142nd section of the Justices of the Peace Act, 18G6. This view the Minister of Justice has ruled to be un warrantable, and instructions have been issued to the effect that in future the benefit of this section is not to be ex tended to such officers, so that all sum monses applied for by officers of the Corporation must now be paid for before being issued. The Mayor has had an in terview with the Minister of Justice on the subject, and intends, we understand, to take action in Parliament, with a view to getting the Act amended so as to allow of the former practice being continued.

Two Much Kissing. —At a party of young men in Paris, conversation happened to turn on the subject of kiss ing, and the subject was propounded which of the young men present could boast of having, or being able to give, “ his girl” the most kisses. Various were the replies the question called out. Finally, a young man and the girl to whom he was betrothed bet two hundred francs that they could kiss ten thousand times in ten hours, provided they be allowed to take an occasional glass of wine “ between.” Two persons were appointed a committee to count the number of kisses, and the work began. During the first hour they counted two thousand kisses. During the second hour the kisses were not nearly so numerous, for the committee only counted one thousand. After the third hour, during which they managed to score but seven hundred and fifty, further operations were brought to a sudden standstill. The lips of the young man were seizsd with a sudden cramp, and he was carried off in a fainting condition. The girl, a few days after, was stricken with brain fever, which nearly carried her off to a land where kissing, under any form, is unknown. When the people who had won their bet demanded their money, the parents of the girl re fused to pay her share of it. The matter was then taken to the courts, and there it was decided that the bet must be paid. Members “ Photographed. ” Mr. McCaughan, the Southland M.H.R.. is thus handled by the Wairarapa Standard : “ Those who frequent the lobbies of the House of Representatives while the Assembly is sitting, will see a man in glistening raiment smoking a largo cigar. Not partial to gorgeous vests, after the manner of Thomas Fisher Shepherd in days past, but prone to display rings on many fingers, and saucer-shaped and sized lockets pendant from a massive gold guard. A noticeable man. Loud. In last century language a buck not a blood. One who could be taken or mistaken as pursuing any calling or avocation in life. No oi;e would mistake him for a gentleman as Englishmen understood the word. A now type of the Anglo-Saxon race formed from mixed varieties, bred under a new heaven and a new earth. An Australian larrikin possessed of money, turned politician. Bad form, electi’o plated ; not common Britannia metal is Mr. Patrick McCaughan. A shareholder or promoter in Vogel’s Southland Rabbit Company. Interested in district railways. Though only four or five years in New Zealand, garnering largely in the harvest field of unearned increment. Connected with Victorian land rings. Affiliated with the most profitable order of the gridiron in New Zealand.”

CORRESPONDENCE.

VYf. do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions expressed by our correspondents.

To the Editor,

Sir, —From the terms of your remarks about the Courthouse, you appear to credit the story which has reached you, and lest my constituents should do the same, I desire to inform them that your story is a false one. No plans for a brick Courthouse were about to be undertaken by the Public Works Department. The building in course of erection will cost considerably more than the sum voted for it, is upoi the same scale as that at Greymouth, and will afford .all reasonable accommodation ; and I venture to think that the public generally are quite sick of the extravagant and unproductive expenditure that has been lavished upon all classes of public buildings during the last throe or four years. —I am, &c., Edward G. Weight. Windermere, 19th June 1830. [We are glad to give publicity to Mr. Wright’s denial of the story as it reached us, and have sent a copy of his letter to the place whence our information came. —Ed. H.] ___________

POVERTY AND SUICIDE.

A sad end. At the inquest in Dunedin, on Wednes day, on the body of William C. England, who was discovered in a dying condition on the footpath, on Monday night, evidence was given showing that the deceased was a civil engineer and surveyor, 58 years of age, and had lately got into bad circum stances, through poverty and failing health. After hearing evidence, the Coroner then read a letter written by deceased, which was as follows : “ Cox’s Temperance Hotel, “ Maclaggan street, “Dunedin, June 14, 1880. “My Dear Friend, —I am so nervous that I can scarcely direct my pen, but I could not well do what I am forced to do without saying a word of farewell to my last friend. “lean no longer exist I know not where to lay my head at night, or to find the price of a meal to appease the constant pain of hunger. You can have no adequate idea of the abhorrence with which I regard the idea of suicide, yet I am compelled to this course as the only one open to me. lam old, disabled from rheumatism, and cannot under the most favorable circumstances expect a long lease of life. If my mind was free as to the morality of the act, I would have no hesitation as to what I should do ; but seeing myself so pressed by insuperable difficulties, I have no alternative.— Yours in death, “W. C. England. “ P.S. —I haY r e seen some people since I have written the first part of this note, and I see no hope for me. Oh, David, it is dreadful to think a man in the full possession of all his intellectual facul ties should be compelled to do what I am going to do. It is horrible. Yet, what can Ido ? Nothing but that is left to me. Even as if all these things were not enough, the conditions of life in New Zea land are enough to discourage anyone to endure life here. Pity me, your poor friend, W. C. England.” The Coroner stated that the de ceased no doubt died from the effects of strychnine administered by himself, and the jury returned a verdict to the effect that he committed suicide while in a state of temporary insanity.

GOLD-MINING INTELLIGENCE.

[By Telegraph.] Dunedin, June 21. The Vinegar Hill, Dunstan Creek dis trict, is looking well. Mills and Co. com menced washing-up last week. Three buckets of stuff from Uie head of tail-race, before the paddock was cleaned down, yielded 220 ounces. The company ex pect to get, on the whole, 700 ounces this washing. Holversen’s claim, at Hyde, continues to give good yields. Invercargill, June 21. Parties working on alluvial ground some thirty miles up the Waiau river lately came to Riverton to sell gold and get miners’ rights. They have set out working on an area sufficient for 500 men.

A SHINING LIGHT UNDER- 1 SHADOW.

Our Saturday’s telegrams informs us the fact that William Acton Blakcway Adams, Esq., an M.H.R., and a luminary of the barrister’s roll is at present under a cloud. He gave some very shady evidence a month or two ago in the R.M. Court, Nelson, in reference to professional trans actions he had had witli a client, and his evidence was of such a nature that it was deemed advisable to lay a criminal infer

mation against the legal legislator for per jury. The Grand Jury sat on the case yesterday and brought in a true bill against Mr. Adams, who will appear on Wednesday next, in the new role of a prisoner at the bar. Mr. Adams’ weak point is his intense personal vanity, as witness the triumphant manner in which he received a testimonial from the Nelson College boys, a number of whom were a week or so afterwards arraigned for some facts bordering upon petty larceny. “ One fool always finds others to admire him,” and in this case the Nelson College larri kins, and the Nelson city representatives seem to be well met.

THE NO-CONFIDENCE DEBATE.

The debate dragged on on Friday night .again, Colonel Trimble defending the Pro perty Tax as against the Land Tax, and holding that no exemptions should be made in the taxation of laud, neither Maori, European, nor Crown. He denounced the Native Lands Purchase Department as a great blot on our civilisation, and the sooner it was swept away the better. He defended the maintenance of an armed force on the West Coast until the country was opened up. Mr. Ballance followed, urging a land tax in lieu of a property tax, and held that there had been no saving, but an increase of expenditure, despite the outcry. He attributed the disarrangement of the colony’s finances to the falling-offin land sales, and a similar alling-off had taken place in all the Aus tralian Colonies. He said the making up of the railway accounts to March showed the late Government in a' false light, for it showed the year's work without the most profitable season—when the grain traffic was on. He deprecated the with drawal of the subsidies, which would press hard on some districts. Mr. Reader Wood said he thought the whole question before the House in this debate was—who was to be in power. There was really no other question. Both sides were agreed as to the colony’s difficult position, and Government did not put it forward that the proposals they were making were a blessing to the colony, but were a stern necessity. After Mr. Pyke and Dr. Wallis had spoken in favor of the No-confidence motion, the House adjourned at 12.30.

FAVORITISM.

Tho report of the Civil Service Com mission, a document covering some six columns of small type in the Christchurch Press, was laid on the table of the House of Representatives late on Friday night—after all possibility of telegraphing it had gone past. How comes it, then, the Times naturally wishes to know, that the Press was able to publish the document almost in full 1 Unless the report came into the Press' correspondent’s possession before it was available to the members of the House, it could not have been tele graphed. Those who know' anything of newspaper work, know that that report could not have been produced unless it had been in the printers’ hands at an early period of the evening. The telegraph office in Wellington is closed to press correspondents at ten o’clock, and accord ing to the Times’ correspondent the report was not laid on the table of the House till 25 minutes past 12. It is thus apparent that the Press correspondent must have ob tained a copy of the document surrepti tiously, or have been unduly favored by the Government It is certainly unfair on the part of Ministers to show partiality of this kind, and it is unwise as well ; for it courts hostility from quarters that are only too glad to show it. Ho w the Press ob tai ued this report before it was laid on tbe table cf the House wants some explanation. The Times’ correspondent says that, to have the report placed on the table, the Hon. John Hall interrupted Dr. Wallis’ speech four minutes before the time for adjournment, and stole the opportunity the interruption gave to lay the document on the table. This trick w r as necessitated by the appearance on the scene of Mr. Chantry Harris, proprietor of the New Zealand Times, who already had the re port in type, but could not publish it before it had come before the House. Surely there was no necessity for all this diplomacy over a document which was public property, and due as much to all the newspapers in the colony as it was to the favored ones who obtained copies.

THE CIVIL SERVICE REPORT.

Tho report of the Civil Service Com mission has been laid before Parliament, .and as was to be expected it shows a most unsatisfactory state of things. The Com missioners state that they are conscious of having loft some large and important branches of the service uninvestigated, of having inquired only superficially into some, and exhaustively into none. The . time at their disposal between their ap pointment and the sitting of Parliament prevented them in fact from making such a thorough and searching inquiry into the state of the Civil Service, as the colony would doubtless wish them to do, and as they themselves desired, but not withstanding, their work has been suf ficiently comprehensive to show that the colony has to pay a very large amount of money for services that are useless, for work that is blundered, and requires to be done over again ; and that throughout the whole Civil Service large saving’s could be made without decreasing, but rather increasing the efficiency of the service. They find that there are no less than 10,853 individuals in all departments of the Government employ, but tho Commissioners devoted most of their time and energies to the railway, as early in their investigations they found that it was in that department reform was most needed. With the management of the South Island Railways by a Commissioner, they found groat fault, and accuse the management of an evident tendency to extravagance. Men with no special training or ability for the positions they hold have been appointed to highly paid offices, and to perform duties that were either unnecessary or that could bo done by ordinary clerks. There are three separate departments of the service, which are jealous of each other, and the work is carried on by these in a spirit of antagonism to each other. The Royal Commissioners hold it as in dispensable that one head should have com plete control of the whole service, but find on our railways that the traffic manager can give no orders to the engine-drivers ex cept through the locomotive engineers, and an instance of how this red tapeism works is given in the fact that a points man under the traffic manager’s control refused to comply with the regulation in sisted on by the drivers under the engi neer’s control —in consequence, trains were brought to a standstill. To get rid of this red-tapeism, the Commissioners suggest that a competent man be obtained willing to control the whole system, and work the many reforms that would be patent to the eye of a jrerson capable of managing the railway. Against Mr. Conyers they make a charge of incapacity —that, however well he may discharge the duties appertaining to a subordinate position, he possesses insufficient admi nistrative ability for the position of Rail way Commissioner he now occupies, and they recommend his removal. They further accuse him of, having a pecuniary interest in a large company doing a very great aniount of contracting business with the railway, and this connection, they say, cannot fail to militate against Govern-: ment’s chance in the market, when they ask for tenders for stores, Altogether they denounce the management as waste ful in the highest degree, and recommend a sweeping elimination of highly paid but really, useless officers, and others that could very well be spared. Notably do

they refer to a u manager ” on the Nelson line, at L4OO a year, where only twenty miles of line are open, and two trains run per day. A gentleman in Dunedin has L6OO a year for telling a fully qualified foreman in the locomotive department that he has to repair such damages as the engines may have suffered—the L6OO a' year man having no training for the work he is called on to perform. There are sixteen different kinds of engines in use, and this variety of stock causes incon venience and cost. Recommending a general reduction in salaries of 12|- per cent as a rule all round, but not neces sarily without exception, the Commis sioners think L 52,000 per annum could at once be saved. The Commissioners are not nearly so severe on the lines in the North Island, but they_ too obtain a share of adverse criticism and all over the colony instances of gross blundering and costly mismanagement have beeen made apparent to the Com mission. The union of the postal and telegraph departments are recom mended. There are too many police men attending the horses and car riages of officers, and altogether the gaol and police services are too costly, inasmuch as prisons exist where they are not required. In one case, at Arrowtown, they have one prisoner about two days in the month, and the cost of looking after him is £2,833 los per annum. It is im possible in our limited space to give more than a very partial summary of the report, but enough has been given to show that the Civil Service has been reported on by men who are not afraid to speak what they think, and are painfully aware of the existence of gross abuses and wanton ex travagance in the management of our public business.

TELEGRAPHIC.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN

(By cable from Reuter's Agency.) London, June 17. Consols have further risen one-quarter, and are to-day quoted at 98J ex dividend. New Zealand securities are unchanged. The markets for Australian and New Zealand breadstuffs are quiet, and without change in price. The total quantity of wheat afloat for Great Britain is 1,850,000 quarters. Three per cent. Consols, 98|. Adelaide wheat per 49G1b., ex warehouse, 50s. ; Adelaide flour, per 2801 b., ex warehouse, 375. ; best Australian beef tallow, 325. per cwt. In the House of Commons to-day Sir Wilfrid Lawson introduced a series of resolutions re Local Option and Licensing. The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone strongly opposed the same, but the House agreed to the resolutions. The match between the Australians and Dublin University team was continued to day. The attendance of the public was large, and the weather very fine through out the day. The Home team, in their first innings, were all disposed of for 98 runs. The Australians then went in for their second innings, and when the stumps were drawn, had lost six wickets for 132 runs, Bannerman being caught out for 69 runs. London, June 18. The match against the Dublin Uni versity Eighteen was concluded to-day. The Australians continued their second innings, which closed for 156. When the stumps were drawn, the Dublin team had lost seven wickets for 88, The match was thus drawn in the Australians’ favor. The day was wet, and the play was frequently interrupted by the rain. The Wanganui Hax’bor Improvement 1 Loan of L 60,000, at 6 per cent., is an nounced to-day. 1 Consols have again risen, and are now quoted at 98 g. Adelaide wheat is declining, and is now at 495. 6d. per 49Glbs., ex warehouse. Bank discount 24. The total reserve in 1 notes and bullion in the Bank of England is L 17,375,000. The match between the Australians and ’ Dublin University team at Dublin was ■ commenced to day. They played against ; eighteen of the latter. Great .interest is being taken in the Australian matches. They went in first, and were all out for 1 220 runs. Slight was not out for 56. The Home team then went in for their first 1 innings, and have lost one wicket for 7 runs. In the House of Commons a Bill for Irish Relief has been read a second time. Beedin, June 17. The European Comference commenced its sitting to-day. Prince Hohenlohe was elected president. The proceedings of the Conference are kept secret. Athens, June 18. i The Greek Government has sent a cir cular note to the Great Powers, setting forth a claim for territory between Janina and Prevesa, south of Albania, and for an extensive district in the Pro ■ vince of Thessaly. The demands of the Government, it is announced, will be re ferred to the Special Commission to be dispatched by the Berlin Conference to settle the Turko-Greek frontier question on the spot. f AUSTRALIAN. (Per Reuter's Agency. ) Melbouene, June 19. The Intercolonial Exhibition Building in the Carlton Gardens, has been handed to the Victorian Commissioners. In the Assembly last night, Mr Service made a speech, in the course of which he said he was aware his party was on the eve of a great political battle, but he would not abandon his position, as he was con vinced the country was favorable to his scheme of reform. Melbouene, June 21. The division on the Reform Bill, which is to take place on Thui’aday, is expected to be very close, and it is thought to. be very improbable that Government will be found to possess the statutory majority in favor of the measure. INTERPROVINCIAL. (Per Press Association.) Auckland, June 20. An inmate of the Hospital, named W. John Harris, died yesterday, 102 years of . age. Auckland, June 21. At a meeting of teachers regarding the Pension Bill, a resolution was carried approving of the principle of the Bill, but disapproving of its details. John Fraser, Edward Whalch, and Alexander Martin, were charged with forging and uttering a deed of conveyance. The prosecution was withdrawn against Martin and Fraser, and Whalch was com mitted for trial. Antonie St. Just Mackay, charged on remand, with endeavoring to induce Jules Juliot to commit an unmentionable of fence, was discharged this morning, the Resident Magistrate stating that the evi dence was insufficient for a committal. New Plymouth, June 19. The Parihaka meeting closed last night. The number of natives present was esti mated at 800. Tohu and Te Whiti both spoke, and were both very earnest in their exhortations to their followers to restrain themselves under any provocation given, and keep the peace. They said that the -only way they could succeed in any undertaking was to avoid war, no matter what provocation was given. A great deal of Scriptural language was used, and the natives were told that the prophecy which related to the end of the world alluded to the present time. The work in which To Whiti and Tohu are engaged is to be concluded at once. Only those who are followers of Te Whiti will partake of the advantages to be derived. The natives are the lords of the world, said Tohu, and although they were troubled with in-

vasions, the burden was light in compari son to that carried by their adversaries. The natives had proved themselve superior by avoiding war, and, continu ing to do so, they would be successful. Nblsok, June 18. The Supreme Court sittings before the Chief Justice, opened this morning. A bill was also presented to the Grand Jury in relation to the charge of perjury against Mr. Acton Adams, M.H.R. Just before 5 p.m. the jury returned a true bill against him for perjury, and the case will be tried on Wednesday. Wellington, June 19. A deputation from the Benevolent Society waited on the Colonial Secretary this morning to ascertain what assistance the institution would receive after the end of the present month, when the Corpora tion subsidy would cease. The Secretary replied that the question was a difficult one, and he would consult the Colonial Treasurer. Wellington, June 20. At the conference of licensed victuallers the following propositions will be dis cussed :—One is to the effect that a Licensed Victuallers’ Fire Insurance Com pany be formed, and the other affirms the desirability of forming an amalgamated association for the whole of the colony, to be registered under the Friendly Societies Act. Wellington, June 21. Nine cases are set down for the next criminal sitting of the Supreme Court. A large number of men have been dis charged from the Corporation works, there being no work for them. A further number will be dismissed at the end of the present week. A petition now lies for signature by the working men of Wel lington, requesting the American Govern ment to grant them free passages to the United States. This is to supplement the original petition started at Chrishchurch. Timaru, June 20. A truck load of first-class coal was brought into town last evening from a new mine near Albury. June 21. George Gleeson, pedestrian, has been sentenced to seven days for gambling with an under and over table on the race course. Yesterday, three working men named Alex. Gardiner, Francis, and Peter Ken nedy, were found by the landlord of the Washdyke Hotel, very drunk .on his pre mises. As they had called for but few drinks, the landlord’s suspicions were aroused, and on search he found in the stable two empty gin bottles, which the men had evidently removed from the bil liard room. They were sentenced to-day to one week’s imprisonment. O’Connor commenced his twelve hours’ walking match against time on Saturday. He covered thirty miles in the first five and half hours. After completing forty-eight miles in nine hours forty-two minutes, he had to yield the sponge to an in jured foot. o amaru, June 19. The official declaration of the poll took place to-day. The numbers were un changed. Mr. Jones left for the North immediately afterwards. He was at tended at the railway station by about one hundred, who cheered heartily as the train moved off. Dunedin, June 21. The Benevolent Carnival so far as realised L 1,400. The Standard Insurance Company to day received a telegram to the effect that 1 Houghton and Company’s steamer Wanga nui had been wrecked between Sydney and Clarence river, and two lives lest. The vessel is valued at L6OOO. She was 1 insured for L 3500, which was distributed as follows:—Australian Alliance, L 437 10s; Derwent and Tamar, L 437 10s ; Batavia, L 437 10s; Union, of New Zealand, L 437 10s ; Colonial, of New . Zealand, L 437 10s ; National, of New Zealand, L 437 10s ; Globe, L 437 10s; Imperial, L2lB 15s ; Universal, L2lB 15s. Invercargill, June 19. A meeting of the Eastern District Re form Association passed resolutions de nouncing the Property Tax as wrong in ; principle, urging that if retrenchment were carried out it would be unnecessary ; but if further revenue were wanted we should have an income tax. A resolution was also passed deprecating the stoppage of subsidies, and suggesting exemption clauses. The principles of the Land Tax Act should be extended to the Eating Act, allowing local bodies to exempt im provements. Rabbit skins have locally increased in value a half-penny per pound. Stock and Co., local merchants, are buying them for export to the United States, whence a demand has sprung up, The Kakanui Meat Preserving Works has sent an order for several thousand rabbit carcases, at 4d. per pair. Invercargill, June 21, A draper’s shop, situated in the middle of a large block of buildings barely es caped being burnt djwn on Saturday last. A man, who was lighting the gas in a dressed window, accidentally ignited some lace goods, making a great blaze. It was fortunately extinguished through the pre sence of mind of the man who stuck to the fire until he had knocked it out, THE ENGLISH COUNTRY NEWS PAPER. From “ Hodge and his Mastersby Richard Jefferies. THE ADVERTISING COLUMN. It is becoming more and more the practice for the carter, or shepherd, who desires a new situation, to advertise. Instead of waiting for the chance of the hiring fair, he trudges into the market town and calls at the office of the oldest established local paper. There his wishes are reduced to writing for him ; he pays his money, and his advertisement appears. If there is any farmer advertising "for a man, as is often the case, he at the same time takes the address, and goes over to offer his services. The farmer and the labourer alike look to the advtrtisment columns as the medium between them. AN AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTION. The vitality and influence of the old fashioned local newspaper is indeed a re markable feature of country life. It would be thought that in these days of cheap literature, these papers, charging twopence, threepence, and even fourpence per copy, could not possibly continue to exist. But, contrary to all expectation, they have taken quite a fresh start, and possess a stronger hold than ever upon the agricultural population. They enter into the old homesteads, and every member of the farmer’s family carefully scans them, certain of finding a reference to this or that subject or person in whom he takes an interest. Some such papers practically defy com petition. In the outlying towns, where no. factories have introduced a new element, it is vain for the most enter prising to start another. The squire, the clergyman, the lawyer, the tenant-farmer, the wayside inn-keeper stick to the old weekly paper, and nothing can shake it. It is one of the institutions of agriculture. THE OFFICE INTERIOR. The office is, perhaps, in a side street of the quiet market town, and there is no display to catch the casual purchaser. No mystery surrounds the editor’s sanc tum ; the visitor has but to knock, and is at once admitted to his presence. An office could scarcely be more plainly fur nished. A common table, which- has, however, one great virtue, it does not shake when written upon, occupies the centre. Upon one side is a large'desk or bureau; the account books lying open show that the editor, besides his literary labour, has to spend much time in double entry. Two chairs are so completely hidden under “ exchanges,” that no one pan sit upon them. Several of these ‘ ‘ ex

THE ASHBURTON GUARDIAN, TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 1880.



AUCTION SALES. Tuesday, July 6. K. F. Gray, at his salerooms, Temuka— Freehold Town Sections. Sale at 1 o’clock sharp. Tuesday, July 29. Jameson and Roberts, at Wood’s Farm, Dromore —Horses, Sheep, Pigs, Imple ments, Harness, &c. Sale at 11 sharp. BAR Framed BEE HIVES. T. A. Gates, Saunders’ Buildings. 828 g WATERTON LIBRARY. TO accommodate all parties desiring to attend the TEA MEETING and BALL at Waterton, on WEDNESDAY, Mr. George Wilcocks will leave Quill’s Hotel at Half-Past Four on that after noon. Fares for this occasion 2s. 6d., in cluding the return journey next morning. 581c-9?3g ALL CLAIMS against the Estate of Sheakek and Galloway, Tinwald,' are requested to be sent in to the under signed, duly attested, on or before FRIDAY, 25th inst., otherwise they cannot be recognised. JOHN ORR, 971 g Trustee. NOTICE OF PARTNERSHIP. MATSON, COX, & CO. Messrs, h. matson & co. having taken Mr. C. PERCY COX, who has lately been acting as their agent at Ashburton, . into partnership, their business at Ashburton will for the future be conducted under the management of Mr. Cox, under the style of MATSON, COX, & CO., And they hope by erecting large business premises, and thus giving increased facili ties to their clients, to merit and obtain a fair share of the business hitherto so liberally accorded to them by the public. MATSON, COX, & CO., Ashburton. June Ist, 1880. 936 g MATSON, COX, & CO. will hold Fortnightly Sales of Stock at Ashburton and Tinwald alternately. Next Sale at TINWALD, TUESDAY, JUNE 22nd. 910 g MATSON, COX, & CO. NOTICE TO FARMERS. PJpHE undersigned will be prepared to treat with farmers and others in Ashbur ton, every Wednesday and Saturday, for the PURCHASE of GRAIN, or SHIP MENT on ACCOUNT of GROWERS. JOSEPH CLARK. February 28, 1880. 550g* CENTRAL TEMPERANCE HOTEL, BARING SQUARE. THOMAS BROADBELT, PIiOPKIETOII. PRIVATE ACCOMMODATION FOR BOARDERS. 947g-563c CHRISTCHURCH AGENCY. MR. GEORGE MAULE, is authorised j to receive orders and accounts for j the Ashburton Chuirdian and Evening \ lie -aid. All orders f<r Advertisements I left at his office, near Tattersall’s, will , receive prompt attention. I 955g* WEEKS & DIXON.