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Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2786, 22 January 1872, Page 2

Legal. —Mr Frederick J olm Wilson, of Messrs Smith and Anderson’s office, has been admitted and enrolled a solicitor of the Supreme Court of New Zealand ; and Mr D’Arcy Haggitt has been appointed a perpetual commissioner for taking acknowledgments of married women. Coroners’ Juries. —Coroner's’ juries do give queer verdicts sometimes. The other day an inquest was held on the body of a waif, a poor drunkard, at a farm on No 2 Line, Wanganui. Mr M‘Kay a settler, stated in evidence that he was compelled to strike the man (then dead) in self defence, and he gave him one blow. Dr Earl deposed that the man died from the effects of the blow. The jury brought in a verdict to the effect the the deceased died from the effects of a blow, but how or by whom given did not appear. Billiards. — A correspondent sends us the following extract from a home paper, “A curious match at billiards come off lately in London between two men named Izar and Stammars. The latter, who is a professional player with the cue, and the former with his lingers. The match was one of 250 cannons, Stammers receiving 50 points. The game, which caused a great

deal of amusement to the spectators, Izra winning by six points only. It is said that some of his manipulations were simply wonderful.

Major Ropata.— The Southern Gross is informed that Major Kopata has acted really handsomely in his method of dealing with the well-earned £IOOO reward, paid by the Government for the capture of Kercopa. It is usual for the leading chief wlm may sell land, or otherwise obtain possession of money, to appropriate all of it, or as much as he possibly can for his own exclusive benefit. Upon receiving the £IOOO, however, ilopata divided it amongst hia followers, every member of the party receiving as large a share as their leader. Such an act is nob only creditable to Ilopata, but shows that the confidence which the Government have reposed m him is not misplaced.

As Others See Us.—The Cork Constitution publishes an article upon “The engineering of the future,” in which allusion is made to this colony in the following words:—“ New Zealand will be in a fair way to make good its claim to be the Britain of the South, and its beautiful clime and fertile and mineral-yielding soil will be the home of a populous aud prosperous nation. Only let the War Demon be kept under foot, and the industry and genius of men be left free scope to apply themselves to their normal task, the task of subduing and replenishing the earth, and the next generation will witness tha accomplishment of engineering works, which the Telfords and Stephensons and Brands of former days would have regarded as the day-dreams of an enthusiast. ”

Poor Fellow.—“ Atticus ” in the Melbourne Leader thus laments over a terrible case of destitution which has come under his notice:-‘‘A poor man, named Jock Winter, residing near Ballarat, has felt the pressure of the times so severely that he has been obliged to curtail his expenditure very considerably, and to reduce his annual subscription to one of the local charities from L2O to L 5. As the whole means of the unfortunate fellow are not believed to exceed L 20.000 a-year, and as the necessities of his position compel him to keep up an establishment which must cost nearly LSOO, his case is an extremely hard one. Is there no mining millionaire at Bendigo who will rush to the rescue of one of his own order, who is in as bad a plight as the alderman who had not tasted turtle for a whole week ? ”

Popular Error as to Wills.—A popular delusion exists relative to the making of wills, viz.—That unless writb.n with pen and ink they are invalid. A contested will case—Harris and Warner, was concluded at the Supreme Court, Sydney, recently, when His Honor Judge Hargrave (among other remarks in reference to the drawing out of wills) said that it did not signify what a will was written with, provided that in other respects it was genuine and properly attested. The will, which was disputed by Mr Joseph Warner, on other grounds, was held to be perfectly valid, although but a scrap of paper written upon with a lead pencil. This simple document will, doubtless, prove a valuable frieud to the mother and four children whom it concerns, as it puts them in possession of a handsome fortune.

Port Chalmers. —ln consequence of the want of rain for the last two months, a general scarcity of water has lately been felt at Port Chalmers, the inhabitants of which place depend upon that which is obtainable from the roofs of their houses, during the frequent falls of rain. This supply, with economy, is generally sufficient for domestic purposes, a well or two, whose waters are neither convenient to the many, and whose quality is not remarkable for its pur-ity or excellence, is all that is available ; nor is the quantity from the latter sources sufficient to meet the general requirements of the town. During a season like this, water must therefore be brought in by means of tank or cart ; this supply is expensive, and in the emergency of lire would be uselesr. On Saturday, the Mayor (Mr Dench) placed casks, and employed a water cart at his private expence to supply water free to all who might avail themselves of it. His act will 110 doubt be appreciated by those for whose benefit it was performed.

Aquatics. of our readers who take au interest in the approaching inter-provincial boat-race, to know that in Christchurch it has been decided to form an amalgamated club of the Canterbury, Union, and Heathcote Clubs, so that a crew or crews—for it is not yet decided whether one or more boats shall be entered —may be trained and entered on behalf of Canterbury, in the iuter-praviucial race. The Kaiapoi, Lyttelton, and Avon Clubs have decided to enter their respective boats on their own account, the latter club wishing to test the quality of their lately acquired boat, the Endeavour. M r Herdson has been chosen as coach for the preparation of the men, and we believe that all boating men will agree with us that a better selection could not have bcon made. A correspondent of the Press says : - I have no doubt but had the Dunedin Boating Club applied to the Cure Boating Club at Kaiapoi, who have a number of boats, they might possibly have obtained one of that club’s boats for practice for the Interprovincial Regatta till their own boat was built. It appears now, that the new boat will be built in time for the crew to practice in it.

A vocal and Instrumental Conceit under the auspices of the Dunedin Abstainer’s Union, will be given at the Odd Fellows Hall, on Wednesday evening next, for the benefit of Master Barker, the juvenile violinist.