The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1877-03-06 00:00:00

"GOSSIP GP THE TIMES."

They my we have not heard the jut of the Ogmore yet.
Some holy of shipowners have taken the matter up, awl
the memorial sent to the Hume Secretary is to be
serutini,,,l to tiyul out if all the signaturaw were wri;ten
by different keels. " I kin Quixote" Was the death of
chivalry. in Spiii. and some friends opt the shipewners
talk mi if the Ogmor, memorial Mai to turn out like the
famous knight's tilt at the windmill. But I hope the
I•ati+e will be properly taken up. If we have Mr.
It its n, M.P., to the rescue of the shipowners, the sailors
uni.t cry out to Mr. Plimsoll, whom storm of indignetion
was too touch even for the Parlionentary Sphinx. Mean-
while the peer 041110 re looked ikitiable from the Portland
railway, with a pair of shears in the place of the mainmast.
Her owners may stand the loss, for I hear they bare about
a quarter of a hundred other flue snip.; but 'ti, provoking
to them to think 'that had she sailed earlier, she might
• have been out to Belt London, perhaps to Sir John (node,
by this time, and I'm sure we could spare them both. But
some of her sailers wanted her cargo out, and to he,k at
her bottom, and If they are to stop mending her rigging
on that account, we may next expect labourers tu refuse
to ds thatching till they have stripped the fonndatiens of
the house. The only question I can make ally sense out
of. is whether 20 tons le., than a regular cargo is enough
allowance for the Oguiore carrying iron I ran Mr. Tunier
tell us that? Four leen Mae are said to have been
brought from Wale. on Friday to the Ogmore ; but when
they got to her, they 11l not like her. Why should net
thy work till the 13 aril of Trade declare her safe she
cannot go while hi, register is impounded, awl surely
they are not afraid of her in Penland. Wads ! Let the
Ogtuore he made lit, whatever it costn, and send her on
her voyage, for every hotly here is as tired of her as they
were of the liatrunui, which emigrant ship, I all. happy
te see, has safely arrived at Wellington. The Government
otatht to provide for sod. cases as that of the Hurunui,
instead of laying the burden on us.

While I sun thinking of the Rends, do you know we
might have had a Northffeet disa.ster the other 1400
Our townsman, Captain D. Roberts, was burning blue
lights, and they nay sending up rocketa, on Want the
emigrant ship Ilermiene, and the spertatiirs seem to
have thought she was a sort of merry-making yacht Biit
what was fun to these might have been death to the
Ilerrnione's people. The Battle Axe had come in on a
sudden, and was near cutting down the Ileriniene, and the
lights were signs of I sith ships wanting help. Considering
the fearful catastrophe to the Northfleet, and that the
B turd of Trade hail settled regulations for signals of
distress, it is asked "What are the coastgurixd alseitr
They say that no rockets were seen by them, only the blue
light for a pilot Guns at intervals are a signal of dis-
tress, also datum shown from the vessel, and a signal
rocket about every minute. The matter ought to be
decided, for had the Ilerniione and the Battle Axe lost a
few score of lives betwen them, the question would have
been asked—" Whom shall we hang r
The ceastenard path was threatened by the late /an d-
ship in Newton's Cove. What a pity we have not enough
nioney and to spare ! If only we could afford it, 'twould
he a capital job to make a small breakwater with tram-
way on it round the south of the Cove, and continue the
tramway through the low lands to Itosiwell station. Then
the proyerty would be protected, the Great Western could
have any nurnher of steam cranes without frightening my
friends in the Council, or driving away visitors from Wey-
its nith. Moo-vs. Devenish, Mr. Steggall, and °then,
would gain another fortune in the increiiivel valise of their
property, and I almost think it would lie worth their
while to consider the scheme, with our Council's help.
But the Council are troubling themselves about sitting
on the magistrates' Bench. Well! if they were only
hound over to hold their tongues when there, some of
them would le glad to go below again. Meanwhile, our
J.l'.'s will "rook no rival near the throne," for where
are you to draw the line I have seen a nian on a side
seat .d the Bench, who, when addressing the magistrates,
roared out the proof of his bad manners. We cannot
have such lez shouters alongside tho magistrates, who
have to give all attention to the case being beard.
Peril-1M if any gentlemen would give us some new
mate, worthy of the Iswough, he might purchase the
de sree of a chief sett in the synagogue. A worthy abler-
man tells me the great gilt maces are only second-hand
Irish cones, so I should be glad to time the really old
Weymouthian silver ones restored to view.

If no one one can afford us new maces, let the Town
Council raise the money, like young ladies do at a bazaar,
by their own silver tongues. Mr. Wallis is fretting to be
understood, and others of our Councillors rival Cicero
and Demosthenes. Let them meet in the large hall, the
Mayor in the middle chair, the Aldermen around him, the
Councillors close at hand. A small charge of —say Is.
for reserved seats, and GA. for the promenade behind,
would bring in a revenue for little extravagances, and our
I.scal orators could emulate the Athenians. Now the
Working Men's Club Discussion Class as waiting for a
new opening, aml the Cobden Club have yielded up their
spii its, we want a forum here, fur Wbymouthians are
always ready, either to tell or to hear, some new thing.
The local sanitary rate alarm seems to have died down:
but Mr. Walker is so restless as a public mat% that I'
shouldn't wonder if a page or two of fo ,Iscap have gone
up, closely written, to the Lical Government office. How
suitable the word board ('wed) le to them we can all
judge, if there are many such public spirits as our Hume-
and-Rieleck combined. I only speak of Mr. Walker as a
111/IMiC f11:1,1, for there 13 not a bit of Hume siseit his
religious opinion*: I believe he is a good Methodist
minister, and an Episcopalian to boot.
The minister that is making the greatest stir in WeY-
mouth is the Rev. Mr. Fox, whose preaching at Christ's
church, and the Bible classes called by the musiral chimes
of our solitary peal, are drawing folks in swarms. Let us
hope that—heside those who go to hear the preacher,
some go with the proper object At present we are all
anxious that the rector may find the rev, preacher suit
him, and also disposed to stay in Weymouth, and that
Mr. Fox may not he one snore of the preaching curates
whcm we loose as soon as they gain power.

I hear that • couple of other " reside." have not yet got
over the result of their after-dinner talk, but are still
engaged in • paper war. Reverend gentlemen want to
have a sermon preached to them sometimes by • la 3 man.
Perko, these gentlemeri would understand each other
if they e <changed work—the Episcopal minister trying the
manogement of a church, and the Dissenter that of a Large
and good schoolhouse.

Schoolk are to overflow very so in, for an Invector is to
drive in all our gatniac and civilise them off hand. Whom
shall we have for lipmector Mr. Webb wanted to do a
share of the work, so as to save the ratek and tia said the
worthy merchant would have preferred Victoria-terrace,
the Belvidere. awl Crescent. If. now, he were not limited
by age, but could send all idle boys to school, some
'scion, of noble houses" would be the better for being
sent from the Front to achool, if I may judge from what I
saw at the concert the other night.

The freaks of our gamine are costly enough, sometimes.
An hillocky done. throws by the flower el the family. in