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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1880-03-05, Page 4- 4 - THE HURON EXPOSITOR. NEW ADVERTISEMENTS .- Seed Wheat—Andrew G-ovenlock. By-Law—Town of Seaforth. Bullfor Sale—W. S. Mundell. Estray Steer—Joh/a Govenlock. Servant Wanted—Rev. R. McCosh. Bank of Commerce—A. 11. Ireland. Abstract—Wm. McConnell. "Wellington "—J. H. Carter. Agricultural Grounds to Rent. - Spring Show—G. E. Creswell. Kinburn Cheese Factory—J. McMillan. Belmore Cheese Factory—J. Johnson. Auction Sale—Thomas Miller. Auctioneers—Delgetty & Barrows. Cottage for Sale—Edward Cash. liven txporiitor. SEAFORTH, MARCH 5, 1880.: THE Ontario Legislature is expected to be prorogued to -day, Friday. SENATOR Campbell stated in the Senate, the other night, that the Gov- ernment had received no informatio-n from Senator Fa,bre, now: in France, to the effect that he had been success- ful in having the duty (bia. Canadian ships sold to the Frenchgreatly re- duced. There is a hitch` somewhere, for notwithstanding the Ministerial as- surance, the Conservative papers have for weeks ,been claiming that Senator Fabre had been successful. THE new constitutional work of, Mr. Todd, Parliamentary Libraria,n at Ottawa, a recognized authority on con- stitutional questions, has been issued. It is a volume of 600 pages and is dedi- cated to the Earl of Dufferin. Arafang the subjects dealt with at length is- the dismissal of Lieut.:Governor Letellier. Mr. Todd contends that the Governor in Council has the right to dismiss a Lieut. -Governor, but the power ,should nob be exercised without grave cause and never on party grounds. The Government should have taken the initiative in the dismissal, and not the House of Commons and the Senate, the resolutions passed by Nahich he declares to be vague. The dismissal is also held to be an interference with provincial rights. A FEW days ago, when Mr. Me wat announced in the Ontario Legislature that the G-overnment intended giving a grant of $20,000 in aid of the _Irish sufferers, Mr. Miller, the member for Muskoka, renaarkedthat we had thou- sands of poor at home who were in need of aid, and. he thought it would be well if the Government would com- mence their charity at - hoMe. The Mail, always ready to make political capital, even if to do so it has to drag in the poor Irish sufferers, -seizes upon Mr. Miller's remarks and. Comments as follows: "Ontario, with a large surplus "amounting to millions in this treasury, ; "a Reform member—and. these grum- "biers are always Reformers—can be "found, who objeats to a grant which "will take just one cent from every "head. of the population.'' What we wish to direct attention to is the fact, that when it snits its purpose,the Mail unhesitatingly admits that Ontario has "a large surpkus amounting to naillions.!" Not long ago this same- Mail tried its a, no _surplus ; that the extrava- gantlevel bes to convince its readers that there w G -rt Government had squandered it, and that as a consequence the Pro- vince was on the verge of direct taxa- tion. For their own satisfaction, some of the organ's admirers should obtain - from it an explanation.' If it was right in June last, it must be wrong nclw. It is impossible that "a surplus t2f mil- lions" can have accunaulated in the short space of six months. Mn. BISHOP M. P. P., has hadcarried through the Legislature a bill incor- porating the Bayfield and South Huron Railway Companywith power to build a railway from Bayfield to Clinton or any other point on the Grand Trunk - Railway. The Provisional Directors of the Company are Messrs. Robert Mor- - rison, Tudor J. Marks, Robert Barker, John Morgan, Paul Cleve, Richard Stanbary, Wm. W. Connor, Andrew Rutledge, Jame S- Thompson; John Es - son, of Bayfield, and Malcolm, C. Cameron, of Goderich. The capital -of the, Company is to be one hundred thousand dollars, divided into shares of $50 each. So soon as twenty thousand dollars of the capital stock has been subscribed and twenty per cent. paid thereon, the Company can be fornaally organized _ and the permanent officers and directors appointed. What the prospects are for the successful carrying out of the project we do not know. The Bayfield people, however, seem to - be very sanguine, but we fear the pro- vision contained iia Mr. Mowat's tax bill requiring the votes of a majority of those qualified to vote on a bonus by-law, to be recerded, will have a, prejudicial effeet upou the scheme, as it will be very difficult, if not impo4sible, to fget out a majority of the 'Voters in most of the municipalities from which it is ex- pected bonuses can be got. T But, al- though this provision may be hard on our Bayfield friends, it is a good one, and one which will work advantage- ously to the country. Hitherto it has been entirely too easy a matter to carry by-laws entailing enormous burdens upon the munieipalities. The promot- ers of these scherneaare always active ar7orking men, while it is too often the case that the opponents are indifferent and lack organization. As a result, votes of all those favorable to the incur- rii g- of the debt are usually polled,' w ile 94 majority of those opposecl to it, th ou)gh lack of organization, are left u polled. Of course, we only speak of railway bonuses generally. We do not intend oar remarks to refer particularly to the Bayfield scheme, as we . do not know the feeling of the people in the m inicipalities interested towards it. TlIiey may sufficiently recognize the im pojrtance to them of this particular scheme, to come forward voluntarily a d proffer it aid, but even under the m st favorable circumstances the a endment spoken of will tend to in. er ase the work of the promoters, and wi I render the expected municipal aid m ch less certain; and, consequently, if hey wish to carry their work to a su cessful issue, it will be necessary for th m to exercise greater vigilance and pu forth increased effort on account of th change in the law referred to. IF A POLITICIAN'S usefulness and pop- ularity can be judged from the abuse I which his opponents heap upon him, Mr. D. D. Hay, the clever representa- tiv of North .Perth in the Local Le islature, may justly claim to be the mot popular and useful man in Cana- da. The Conservative papers of his Co nty, and notably those of Stratford, weekly pelt at him the most disgraceful and foul-mouthed epithets, such as no paper professing respectability would deign to use even to the most abandon- ed of the land. Mr. Hay can well af- ford to laugh at the impotent rage of his detractors, so long as his constit- uents appreciate his services and abilities. That they do, was made amply manifest at the last election when he beat the strongest man his opp nents could bring against him, and thatlin al -constituency which is admit- , ted y all to be strongly Conservative; and whAt he did last June he could do agaib next week should the opportunity offei. It is a knowledge of this fact that -So enrages the Stratford organs. THE -ONTARIO Government have de- cided to discontinue the granting of aid to railways, at least for this session. In this respect the Government have come to a wise and prudent decision. Ontario has done nobly in bhe way of aid to railways, and as a result this Province has now a greater mileage of railways in proportion to its extent, than any other country in the world. and she has as many roads as -she can furnish work for. Of course there are many sections and many people still, who think they want more railway lac- commoclation, but this would- be the case if we had double. the number we now have. The Provincial aid to rail- ways has been distributed very fairly and equally over the Province, and as a stop must be made soon, the present is as opportune a time as any. The revenue of /the Province is fixed. For the past two year, owing to the large, amounts the Government have return- ed to the people in the war of railway and other aid, the expenditure has out- run the income. This is a state - of things that cannot be permitted to con- tinue, and the Government are forced to hold up somewhere.; They have evidently selected railway grants as the first to cut,off, and we think their selection a judicious one. Money can now be much more advantageously spent in aiding municipalities to drain and reclaim their waste lands and to naaintain their insane and otherwise -unfortunate, than in bonusing ,. ad- ditional railways 'except for coloniza- tion purposes./ The action of the - Government, although it may be dis- tasteful to -railway promote-rs and speculators, will be approved of by the people of the Province eefierally. Mi_LE=___Inmemminommel FOR SOME unexplained reason our Ottawa letter has not reached us in time for this issue. There is not much to write about, however, in this con- nection. Vinisters and members alike seem to be ?enjoying life, and dinner parties and balls are the order of the day. The financial statement has not been made yet, and there is no definite opinion when it will be. The Govern- ment have not yet submitted any of their ire portant bills, and as a conse- quence members are trying hard to make some show for their money by moving for returns and provoking discussions thereon. Mr. Colby's bill for the repeal of the Insolvency Act has "reached its third reading and the general opinion is that it will become law, and that a substitute for thapresent law will. not be attempted. According to explana- tions recently made in the House:by the first Minister, the Government are waiting upon the clerks, members are waiting upon the Government, and. last but not least, especially in the way of expense, the Senate is waiting upon:the Commons, and none of them seem par- ticularly impatient. It is more than suspected that the G-overnment are holding off so they can have an excuse for rushing their measures through on the plea that the session is getting too lengthy. This is a too common prac- tise with all Governments, but the resent Dominion. Government seem etermined to take the lead as procras- tinators. The Finance Minister gave a dinner party the 'other night, and a newspaper correspondent has since sug- gested that it would have been better had he been preparing hisi financial statement and that it would have been in the interests of the country had the dinner part z been left over uutil this work was cotnpleted.' The correspond- ent was about right. Finance Minis- ters, as well as common people, would do well toefollow the good old adage " Work First and Play Afterwards." IN,TriE House of Commons the other day Mr. Farrow, M. P. for North Hu- ron, *complained that the salary of the Postmaster at Blyth was only $180, while the receipts of the office were $1,120, and that the salary at Boboa- geon was $404 and receipts only $1.090, „ so that it would be seen a great injustice was being done the official referred to. He also directed attention to the fact that Ontario post offices paid ninety per cent. of the expenditures occurred in that Department in the Proviisice, while Quebec paid only sixty per cent., and New Bruuswick but fifty-three per cent.. He advocated a change in the ,Legislative Section of the Department, and thought that the Government should take hold of the expressage of small parcels by which he believed that the revenue and expenditure , of the Department would be balanced. We heartily agree with the menaber for North Huron that the Government should assume control of the express business.. As now conducted it is nothing -short of a base imposition upon the public, and no adequate service is rendered by the companies for the ex- orbitant fees tIley impose. It is a \monopoly of the , vorst ' kind, and the railway companie's,seem to combine to keep it So. If the Government had charge of this service, and conducted it as the Postal service is conducted the public would have all the advantages they now enjoy, and at one half the cost, and in addition the Country could receive from it a considerable revenue. We hope that Mr. Farrow will not look., back now. that he has placed his hand to the plow, but that he will persevere until he accomplished this much desir- ed reform. Should he prove successful we would feel almost inclined. to sup- port him at his next election, Tory and all as he is. The Ontario Legislature—Note From the Gallery. (From Our Special Correspondent.) A GOVERNMENT BLUNDER. One of the Ministerial mistakes of thi session—and there have been severa of them—is the refusal of the Govern ment to allow the bill constituting th municipality of Neebiiig to pass. few words of explanation will mak this clear. Around Thunder Bay an along the Kaministiqua lie several so called townships, all of which are fo the present grouped into one large, bu not populous, municipality under th name of Shemiah. Everyone wh knows anything about Thunder Ba knows that there is a deadly -rivalry be tween 'the people of Prince Arthur's Landing and those of Fort William on the river. It is only natural, therefore, that the inhabitants of the latter should seek separation and a. municipal organization of their own, and the request for a special act appears so reasonable that it is difficult to -Under- stand why it was refused. The bill on the subject, which proposed to create the Kaministiqua townships into the municipality of Neebing, was rejected by the Private Bills Committee on the ground that it had not been sufficiently advertised in the locality, but when satisfactory proof of its sufficient ad- vertisement was afterwards produced, and when the House was asked to pass the preamble of the bill, it was thrown out at the instance of Mr. Fraser, who acts as Chairman of the Private Bills Committee. That a mistake has been committed will easily be understood by all who know how the Landing influ- ence has been used to injure both the town plot of Fort William and the Mowat Administration. Those who were seeking separation were asking for a simple, legitimate privilege. They had complied with every required con- dition, and simply because proof that they had done so was accidentally de- layed by irregularity in mail carriage, they are left for another year at the mercy of a hostile majority, whose in- terest lies in developing the lauding' at the expense of the Kaministiqua and making other _people pay the piper. A few such blunders will make Algoma a more thoroughly Tory constituency. than it now is. been so completely taken up with "corkscrews" and "Apollinaris water" that they have not only to a great extent lost sight of the most serious objections to the trip, but have diverted - public attention by treating the whole affair as a huge joke. His Honor having sent down hiseheque to pay for the "luxuries" out of his own pocket, there remained little to do but pass the item. This was done on Friday last by a majority of 54 to 25, and subsequent- ly a motion of Mr. Meredith's con- demning the trip was voted down by 53 to 27. It is just as well for the Gov- ernment that the affair has received so much ventilation, for long before another general election comes round, what might have proved a dangerous Attie scandal willeE.. numbered amongst the dead issues. It is astonishing to see the interest -taken on this subject in the House. The bills for the protection of game have caused more discussion - this session than any other measure except the Division Courts Bill, which, by the way, is not yet read a third time. The chief question in dispute in connection with game was whether hunting deer with dogs should be allowed during the whole shooting season or during only a part of it. Those who favored still hunting described the dog hunters as wanting in _sportsmanlike instinct, while the dog hunters retaliated by de- scribing still hunting as inhuman and brutal. Ultimately the bill was passed with a provision allowing deer to be hunted with dogs only during the first six weeks of the season. S UPERANNUATION OF CIVIL SERVANTS. An interesting discussion took place in connection with the supplementary estimates on the item for gratuities to retiring public servants. The sense of the House was not taken on the matter' but there was a strong and somewhat widespread feeling that the utility of the retiring allowance system was very questionablen and that if allowances are to be made, they should be confined to very old civil servants. UPPER CANADA COLLEGE. Quite a breeze sprang up this after- noon on the floor of the House in con- nection with a resolation introduced by Mr. Crooks for the ratification of an Order in Council appropriating $30,000 from the capital of the Upper Canada College endowment fund for the erec- tion of new boarding houses as appen- dages to the College. Supporter after supporter of the Government rose and earnestly protested against the proposed expenditure; the members of the Op- position saying nothing. Mr. Crooks, after a time, undertook to reply to the attacks made on the College, and it was very easy to see that he was con- siderably "riled." The debate was ad-: journed, but at present the Minieter of Education seems disposed to press the s vote, and a large proportion of his followers seem disposed to vote against the Order in Council. The quarrel is .unfortunate, but it is clearly due to mismanagement. The Order ie. Council is ill-advised, because Upper Canada College is doomed to extinction, and - this expenditure is intended to act as a o means of keeping it alive, and the reso- lution springing the order on the House '7. with very insufficient notice is doubly e ill-advised, for members had no chance dto state their objections privately, but were compelled either to swallow the bitter pill in silence or rise and rebuke r the minister. A few more scenes of t this sort and we may bid adieu to all e discipline and healthy morale on the Government side. Toronto, March 2. NEW PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS. The Government scheme for the erection of new Parliament buildings was so carefully elaborated and so cap- tivating that the Opposition had no chance to pick flaws in it, much less at- tempt to defeat it. Briefly the plan is to erect the new buildings in the Queen's Park, at a cost of half a million of dollars, to sell or lease the old site, which is valued. at $25,000, and also to dispose of 80 acres of land held by the Government in the west end of the city, valued at $2,000 an acre. This Wifl leave a comparatively Small sum to be made up ,by the Province out of the supplieSrand will furnish excellent new buildings at a cost which will never be felt. Mr. Meredith, instead of merely protesting against the expenditure and throwing on his opponents the respon- sibility of incurring it, divided the House on an amendment which was perfectly silly, his proposal being to keep the present site and add a fire proof building, which would cost a considerable sum of Money. As matters now stand, the Government have not only got safely out of a situation that might easily have been made embar- rassing, but have won an easy and -useful victory. THE GOVERNOR 'S TRIP. The strategy shown by the Opposi- tion leader in connection with this un- fortunate expedition has been quite as I disappointing as the tactics just referred to. The attention of the critics has The Biddulph Tragedy. The examination of the Biddulph prisoners was continued at the Court House, London, before a bench of of magistrates or Saturday and Monday last. On Saturday Wm. Don- nelly appeared in the witness box, and his appearance created the most intense excitement. He was the principal witness examined and his evidence was of the most important character, and fully displays his great tact and iron will. He says he was awakened by his brother John going to the, kitchen door about two o'clock. He heard Martin .111cLauchlin's and James Ryder's voices calling, "Fire I Fire! Open the door Will." Immediately the door was open- ed he heard two rapid reports in quick succession, and John fell back saying, "Will, I am shot. May the Lord have mercy upon my soul." There is a door with glass upper panels in William's bed -room. He turned back the corner of the blind, and on peeping , out saw John Kennedy, his brother-in-law, standing about two feet from the win- dow and heard him remark to James Carrol and James Ryder, who were standing about six feet from lain, _that "Brother-in-law will rest easy now." Saw other men standing near the fence and think they were Patrick Ryder,Jr., Wm. Carrell, and Richard Heenan, but is not positive. At the close of Wm. Donnelly's evidence James Maher, Sr., James Maher, Mrs. Maher, James O'Shea, and Pat Jr.,yder, Sr., were dis- charged,and bail was accepted for Wm. Carroll and Pat Ryder, Jr. The court adjourned until Thursday, yesterday. The inquest was resumed on Tuesday but no new developments were elicited at this enquiry. The jury returned verdicts to the effect that deceased came to their deaths at the hands of some persons unknown. News of the Week. BISMARCK IN BED.—Bismarck is still indisposed and confined to bed. IRELAND.—Fresh accounts of greatly increased distress from famine comes f from Ireland. SHEEP DISEASE.—An epidemic among sheep in the west of England is proving very destructive. EARTHQUARE.—A telegram from 3-apan states that a severe earthquake was felt 0 at ,Yeddo on the 25th inst. a BAD WORE.— Further evidence has been brought out as to the rottenness and inefficiency in the work of the Tay t Bridge. LOSS OF S TOCK. —The recent severe ri storm has resulted in the loss of $20,000 t head of stock in the winter ranges of t I,daho, and in Eastern Oregon the losses s still continue. A GREAT CANAL .—The German Gov- w ernment is about to -revive the scheme t of cutting a canal navigable for war vessels between the Baltic Sea Enid the a, Ger an. WHOLESALE DESTRUCTION .—The vil- t lage of Bergen, Genessee county, New _hi York State, has been nearly destroyed w by fire set b i trains of powder. Nearly the whole business portion of the village has been swept away, entailing a loss of $100,000. CHINESE COMING EAST. — Owing to the bitter anti -Chinese feeling in San Francisco, the Celestials are leaviRg that city for the Atlantic Coast cities in large numbers. THE CZAR'S ANNIVERSARY CELEBRA- TION —The celebration of the twenty- fifth 'anniversary of Czar Alexander's accession to the throne passed off peacefully at St.Petergburg on Tuesday. IMMIGRA.NTS FROM IRELAND. — Otter eighteen hundred immigrants arrived at New York on seven European steamers on Thursday last week. Most of the better class of refugees are from famine stricken Ireland. STARVATION IN BRAZIL. —It is stated that in one of the drought -stricken provinces of Brazi1200,000 persons have died from starvation, and 300,000 from pestilence, and that a quarter of a million are now being fed by the Government. GENERAL GRANT IN MEXIC0.—On the night of the 21st ult. General Grant and party arrived in Mexico City. 10,000 citizens were present. The main street was blocked with Vehicles for a mile. The streets were lined with double files of troops, each bearing a torch, through which General Grant passed. A FORTUNE FROM PILLS. — The late Dr. Brandreth, of New York, who realized an immense fortune from pa- tent medicines, bequeathed his home- stead to his wife • Brandreth House, on Broadway, valued at $400,000, to -his seven daughters, and the remainder of his estate and trade marks to his six sons, on condition that they should pay his widow $1,000 a month. VMS The Tuckersinith School Question. MR. EDITOR, —Sif I admit it is not easy to answer "Parent's" last letter, it is such a curious compound of ignor- ance and error. I did not say the state- ment laid before the County Council by Mr. Dewar was fallacious. What I did say was that I had obtained from Mr. Dewar the cost per pupil in Brussels and Tuckersmith; the cost per pupil in the other townships will show the op- pression we suffer under the school board, as well as the truth of "Parent's" statement, that we pay $2 to $4 more per pupil than any other township un- der Mr. Dewar's inspectorate. Aver- age attendance—Howick, per pupil,$11.91 ; Hullett, $11.33; Turiaberry, $10.57; Grey, $10.56 ; Brusselsi $10.28; Tuckersmith, $9.69 ; East Wawanosh, $9.41; Morris, $8.71. "Parent" says with truth on his side he can laugh at Satan's rage. Now, the trouble is, he has not got truth 0/1 hi 5 side, and. need not fear his displeasure, although the old gentleman who has been looked up to so long as the father of lies, may feel a little hurt at the likelihood of losing his reputation, owing to the improve- ments made upon him by his disciple esvho claims a residence in Tuckersmith, and signs himself "A Parent ;" yet the alienation will be only temporary. Gnid frien s never jar WP ane anither. his full mark baith keel and tar, If not a brither. Wm. MCCONNELL. Glea-ni-ngs from Grip. IMPROBABILITIES. That the Mail will ever see anything witty in the Globe, or anything but a dreamer in Mr. Blake, or anything but utter beauty of conduct lin Sir John, anything but eloquence in its own columns or anything but humor in its little gram /II atical errors. That the Globe will ever believe tha it is opposed -by any but" base hounds,' that it will ever be a liberal newspaper that it will ever forgive Senator Mc Pherson, that it will ever support Goldwin Smith's claim to be the greatest of prophetic writers. THE RIVALS. There is a probability that in the not remote future the boots of the vener- able Premier of the Dominion will be left vacant. In view of this contin- gency, the question of a successor is being more or less talked over. The Bystander, in his latest manifesto, in- timates that Sir John can have no successor; that the Conservative party does not contain the material for another leader. Mr. Grin> is obliged to dissent from this. The very opposite appears to be the fact, and that is where the trouble is going to come- in. Un- fortunately there is material for two leaders, and although neither of them could worthily fill both of the Chief- tain's boots,each of them can adequate- ly fill one, and is determined to do so. The rivalry of these two worthy Knights is already plainly manifest to spectators in the House of Commons, and a seat in the gallery commanding a view of the ministerial benches, dur- ing any temporary absence of Sir John from his place, is one of the most in- teresting things that Ottawa can offer to the student of human nature. ONTARIO SELFISECNESS There is no limit to the selfishness of Ontario. Why, only last year the th Province got all e taxation that it asked for and now it wants more ter- ritory. Its inhabitants have had the privilege of paying for their own railways one which Quebec is ready to surrender o the General Government. Ontario people have had the honor of contribut- ing more per head to the general treasury than :the inhabitants of any other Province, and they don't seem to think that they should surrender any- thing in return for this distinction. It s said that the Dominion is bound by the award. But the interests of the uture inhabitants of the territory added to Ontario should be considered. The General Government wants to give better terms" to them at some future period, and more representatives in the Dominion Parliament than they would therwise have. The Ministry must iso consider the interests of Ontario which are neglected by its Grit Govern- ment. If the award. is not recognized here will be no excuse for costly Gubernatorial picnics to the new ter - tory. Moreover Ontario will be empted to spend money in developing hat new country, and all temptations hould be removed. Again, the timber, he minerals and the agricultural lands ill add a handsome sum to the general reasury, a sum which Ontario is better without, especially as the province has surplus. It would be wrongto en ourage the Local Legislature in ex- ravagance by adding to their available nds. Of course the circumstances ould be very different if Ontario were onservative, because then its Govern- ment could be trusted to de what is right. It is said that good faith should be kept by both parties to an arbitra- tion. Pshaw—is not the Government of a great country above the rules of mora.li by. CANADA'S rem. Nil desparanduml Let all the pro- moters of Canadian nationality take heart 1 Their cause is not yet dead. The Globe may frown, and Goldwin Smith may grow cool, and Messrs. Fos- ter and Howland may cease to nurture .the tender plant, but no matter, so long as Canadian nationality is recog- nized by the world it large. From the neighboring Republio such arecognition has lately come, which gives \occasion for the foregoing remarks. In a pro- minent American paper we find the fol- lowing flattering statement: "The smokers of Canada—true lovers of the pipe—are the best judges of smoking tobacco in the world." There, now! who will dare say we are not one of the great powers after that ? Other nations may outshine us in literary brilliancy, others may sur - past, us in wealth; others may boast of greater achievements in arts and manu- factures, but Canada—this Canada of ours—notwithstanding that our powers are as yet by no means developed, already leads the van of modern civil- ization—as judges of smoking tobacco ! Fellow Canadians,put that in your pipes and smoke it! Friendly Advice. MR. EDITOR,—Sir : I feel just a trifle bashful in essaying to suggest any mat-. ter, even in seeming, which would ap- pear to imply an improvement on the management of your very well and. thoughtfully arranged paper;but having been for many years a constant reader, perhaps I may give a hint or two, the adopting which or otherwise must rest with you. For many, many years past Tuckersrdith school questions, in one form or other, have been so frequently and largely ventilated by you, that to suspect any special party of carrying on the correspondence requires a -very great stretch of imagination. One might ire- . aginethat a whole club had been or- ganized, say a debating club, on Tucker - smith school questions, and attached thereto a secretary umpire, who has your ear to report- to. Another, but doubtless a base and baseless sugges- tion, has been ventilated in my hearing, namely, that the EXPOSITOR man made up the Tuckersmith school questions as filling stuff. Now, not noticing the latter, and being quite unwilling to smother public exposures and explana- tions, I would not recommend any sup- pression of the articles referred to, even though the Tuckersmith, assume to be the only vexed scheol questions in the County of Huron, albeit, in one shape or other, they have gradually attained to their majority, and, being of mature age, are -deserving of respectful atten- tion. I now suggest for the benefit of those questions and your host of readers, that you appropriate one special column, and not more, in any one issue, headed as usual "Tuckersmith School Ques- tion," following which, whether that column be full or not; might as a whole- some change appear all and sundry items of large public inteiest, such as long straws, a large egg, or potato or carrot, a mink killed, a quilt of thous- ands of pieces, a weighty -lamb, big threshing, lightning chopping, the thin- nest man, (not the Era one), the fattest woman, the largest baby, the biggest brood, and as a caution to the public, the unissued one dollar bills of banks which cannot issue one dollar bills, in- geniously forged to represent fours, mayhap of the Dominion issue, of t which no fours exist. All and sundry , following quick, tlaick and heavy like a thunder shower, would. probably so daz- zle your readers as in effect to largely y ncendiaries, by means of C increase your already plethoric subscrip- tion list, and, as a special favor to some crusty ones, would. indicate a space in your paper which they might skip in accordance with their questionable tastes. SMALL POTATOES. McKil I op. PERSONAL.—We regret to learr that Mr. Archibald Ferguson-, of the 7th concession, has been suffering from se- vere illness for some time. He first took a bad cold, and he has been con- fined to the house for several weeks, and does not seem to improve much. It is to be hoped he may soon take a change. WHEAT STOLE:N.—OH Thursday night of last week some vagabonds entered the barn of Mr. James Nichol, on the 4th concession, and carried off a quan- tity of wheat and other grain. They pried. open the outer door, unlocked the granary door, took out the wheat, and locked the door again. Unfortunately, however, they did not wait to shut the barn doors, but left them open, and a number of fine steers got in and gorged themselves with oats, which were on the floor. Mr. Nichol has not the least suspicion of who the guilty parties are. They must be pretty daring, however, as the night was beautiful and clear and they could easily have been dis- tinguished had they been seen. A good, faithful watch -dog is a serviceable animal around a place, and every far- mer should have one. Scnoon Rnronrs.—The following re- port, based on proficiency and good conduct, shows the correct standing of the pupils in the Roxboro school for the month of February: Fifth- class - 1st Jas. Hays, 2d W. Story, 3d Betsy_ v Dodds, 4th Ellen T. Hays. Fourth 1 class -1st G. Brown, 2d T. Dodds, 3c1 Jas. DoddS, 4th W. Gray. Third class —ist Jeannie Dickson, 2d J. Scott, 3d. J. Dorrance and J. McClure, 4th Mary Sparling. Third. class —1st Annie a Dodds, 2c1 Alex., Cuthill, 3d Geo. Dick- son, 4th R. Dodds. Second class—lst 8 J. L. Brown. 2d J. _Dorrance, 3d J. si Walker, 4th Bella Dickson and P. liDodds. First class -1st Adeline Spar - ng, 2d A. Sparling, 3d W. McClure, v 4th C. Dodds. i ---The followine is the standing of the t ,-, pupils of Union School Section No. 1, displayed McKillop, for the month of February : Senior 4th—lst Katie Nash, 2d Henri- etta Kale, 3d Lewis Nigh. Juniorfourth—lst Ellen McNamara, 2d Mary Ellen Devereaux, 3d Joseph Dorsey. Senior third—lst Mary Jane Dorsey, 2d. Jas. Purcell, 3d Nicholas Kehoe. Junior third—lst Thos. Kehoe, 2d Sarah Nash, 3d Lizzie Devereaux. Second class—lst Katie Devereaux, 2d John Moore, 3d Lizzie Donovan. COUNCIL.—Pursuant to adjournment the Council met at Beamish's Hotel, members all present, minutes read, &c.c. The auditors report being presented, read, and examined carefully. Moved by Alex. Kerr, seconded by Wm. Evans that the Auditors Report be received and considered as Correct, the Auditerg be paid $9 each, and the cletk author- ized to have 50 copies of the abstract printed and circulated Carried. Solomon Shannon ,was reappointed Treasurer, and instructed . to furnish • proper security. The followmg accounts were ordered to be paid, viz.: $7.5 te Solomon Shannon, Treasurer, 180 to John C. Morrison, Collector. Charities. $15 to Widow McDenald, $5 each to Amos Robinson, Widows Toole ana Cahill, and $10 to Joseph Stoary. $2.25 for stone hammers, 83 to J. Morrison, uncollected dog tax from Christina Booth, Edward Durrant and Joseph Storry ; $14.40 for gravel to Wro. Horan ; $31.70 to the Clerk for registration of births, marriages and deaths, electien expenses, express Char. ges, &c., and $2 for use of School House School Section No. 6 for the nomination of councillors. Moved by Geo. Hot: land, seconded by Wm. Grieve that Peter Ross be appointed fenceviewer in place of Alex. Gordon,resigned--Car. ried. Moved by Wm. Evans, seconded by Wm. Grieve that the next meeting of couneil will be held at Leyden'a Hotel on Wednesday the 17th of March next, at 11 o'clock A. AL for the purpose of opening the tenders for the erection of Roxboro Bridge and other business transactions. - Hay. DISAPPOINTED .—Air. Charles T. Shaw, who engaged. to teach the school in sec- ' tien No. 2, Hay, with the expectation of receiving a certificate, was chagrined, after two months' teaching, to findhim- self unqualified. He accordingly re- signed, and the board. of trustees adver- tised in the daily and weekly Globe, one insertion, with the result of 35 applica- tions. The application of Mr. Andrew Morton, of Toronto, at a salary of $400, wits received, and he was telegraphed for and is now on hand. Soctars.--A social was held in Sex - smith church, on Monday evening, in order to consume the provisions left over at the tea meeting. `A. good reps.st was partaken of, and a splendid literary - and musical entertainment was render- ed by local talent, assisted. by Mr. C. Diehl. The proceeds of the tea and social, which amounted to $24, are to assist in defraying expenses of addition to the Kippen parsonage. Rev. Mr. Smith occupied the chair in. an efficient manner during the rendition of -the prO- gramme. DASTARDLY.—It is usually considered a ripe joke for boys and girls to send. presents and caricatures to each other during the valentine season, leaving to the recipient the task of finding the sender's name from the nature of the anonymous token or the handwriting of the address, but when one young man sends another his anonymous and per- nicious compositions, it shows his lack of self-respect, and is a cowardly way of showing dislike or disapproval. Now, if the recipients of certain infamous communications and illustrations dis- cover the names of the offenders, they will be legally heard from unless an th ample apology is forcoming. They have strong suspicions as to who the persons are, and as these actions have now reached. a climax it is time they were discontinued. TEA MEETING.—On Friday night last one of the many successful tea meet- ingsklield at Sexsmith, took place in the Canada Methodist church. At 7 p. a bountifctl repast was served up, to which the visitors did ample justice, and after the table was cleared a good. literary and musical entertainment was b sfiven. A choir composed of Misses Marion and Bella Whiteford and Jane Chapman, and Messrs. 131air and Brown did good service in promoting the pleas- ures of the evening, Mr. Simon Days was elected chairman, and after a few introductory remarks he called on the choir, which sang "Sing it out with a shout." The Rev.Matthew Smith then addressed the audience on various sub- jects. The choir then sang "The city of jasper walls." Mr. Peter Henderson recited. "The self righteous man with good effect. The juvenile Misses Carrie, Chapman and Tina, Shirray gave a duet "The poor_ old slave," and elicited a. well deserved applause. The Rev. A- Y. Hartley was then called upon, and. for a short time dwelt upon the bene- fits of tea meetings, both in a social and pecuniary sense. Then, turning his at- tention to the -youth, he advised. them to sow early the seed.s of righteousness, and adnaonished them to rIVS piously and shun evil society and influences. The choir then sang "The prodigal son.' Mr. Harry Marshall recited "Curfew shall not ring to -night" withith good effect. The customary votes of thanks were tendered, and the choir sang "Ten thousand times ten thous_ and. ' The benedicticn was pronounam and the crowd dispersed, after having spent_ an enjoyable evening. Bluevale. — 'SocIAL.The social held on Wellies - day evening in Farrow's Hall for the benefit of the Canada Methodist Church came off with the usual grandeur and. display, having a larger attendance than usual on such occasiceas. The proceeds foot up beyond the expecta- tions of the promoters, and will be ap- plied to the support of the minister. FIRE.—About half -past twelve on Wednesday morning the usually quiet illagers were startled by the cry of fire. On turning out, the flames were s een escaping through the roof of Mr. Wm. 31cIntosh's new franae dwelling. With much difficulty the most of the - furniture was saved, and some of the oars and windows. There is a sm.all surance on the building, which will ase the loss to Mr. McIntosh coil- derably. --r v ---On Thursday night of last week a ery daring attempt was made to corn - n it a robbery in Goderich, and but for he unusual self-possession and courage by a lady, a burglary might have been effected. It appears that late in the evening of the day in ques- tion a man called at the house of Maa Wm. Mitchell, and said he had been. sent by that gentleman for the funds of the Odd Fellow's Lodge, of which he is Treasurer. Mrs. Mitchell had heard. someperson walking around the house previously and thinking that something might be wrong she went up stairs and took a revolver, which she held in her hand when she went to the street door. There she found the man who wanted the funds, but Mrs. Mitchell said she would not give them up unless Mr. 0 coo he li ' won ed, evi effe off, Th deli ob and Mi. eqti won mit itt 14131, Ten .and ther cpnc rece Chic ham P°Pn the mod tion - but of t Agrli town J. B fine s the sion er Que Chee as m Spri expe to b .16th offe a lot -cone pos tion eion tie whic is an chits hotel ture good lanal farm Stan Thos prop term 331all Clem vsas of time th,' —1 with Wed] chop nosh ing h Bon Waa% bald It meaS ap still ohoic om lefisn open game trees' was F. M Anni t 3310133 in th This knots Gods at th oil : W - with' of Ul view raisei Exeti --2 his V Exp Wistl plac ti0n at will men beef Lief (Ea, Shitl Hurl —Ja Cas miss Wm _ Mee had for nei den SOIlt he raSS hon pay a I Eeil the ere euii tion all tow