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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 18, Issue 1192, 8 December 1871, Page 2

The "Wellington Independent, in its issue of the 29th November, says : —An intimation that may prove useful to persons in business is that under the Stamp Act of 1871 the stamps must be cancelled in a manner different to that provided under the Act of 1870. Hitherto adhesive stamps have been cancelled by Hiiting upon them merely the initials and the date. Persons now drawing cheques or orders, must cancel them by writing their names in full continuously over the. .stamp, so that part of the name shall appear on the left ami part on the light of the stamp, the date being al<o wiitten on its face. Parties failing to comply with this portion of the Act will render themselves liable to the penalties provided for neglect of this portion of its provisions The Government are open to some blame for not having the Act ready for circulation throughout the country. Tt may be that this was not possible, for reasons well known throughout the country, namely, the stoppage in the printing of rice in the early part ot the session; then the coming into force of the Act should have been delayed. How can it be expected that the great body ot the public can compl}' with an Act they have never seen ? We feel sure that when the Ist of the month comes there will be no little confusion from want of preparation in the public mind.

Reviewing the work of last session, the Thames Advertiser, of the 21st November, says :—The position of the country is one which should enlist the sympathy and earnest reflection of every right-thinking man. Weigh the probable issues of the future. We are drifting, and the men at the helm, can they sa »e us from wreck 1 "We think it doubtful, when they entertain the idea of the next Parliament in Dunedin, at a cost of ,£20,000. It more resembles the reckless mania of the gambler than the efforts of grave and sensible men to extricate the Colony from difficulty. The Evening Post, December 1, says: The uses to which the Taranaki sand can be put, other than in the production of steel of the finest quality can be manufactured in the world, we hardly think are yet known. Mr Smith, who has hitherto taken so deep an interest in the development of this colonial product, has most successfully turned it to other account in the manufacture of what is popularly known as emery paper for polishing and burnishing metals. To-day we had an opportunity of seeing the imported article and that roughly manufactured, tried on a rusty piece of metal. The New Zealand production proved immensely superior in every respect, and as the same piece oi metal, though on different sides, was operated on, there 9a.11 be no doubt as to the fairness of the trial. Both polished the surface, though less time was needed with the Taranaki paper, but that was not the only respect in which it excelled. The Colonial paper left a trie polish, without the slightest

visible scratch 5 that imported, causecl a series of scratches, though it removed the rust. One was a burnisher, the other only a scraper, leaving the metal completely disfigured. The process of prepaiatiou of the Colonial paper, 01? rather cloth, is most simple, and we should think, judging from what we saw, that no one will in future import material that can be prepared at half the price, and of a vastly superior quality, in the Colony itself The best cloth for it to be laid on, is said to be that spun from flax, and thereby another outlet for native industry is afforded. The crops in the south of Canterbury are ao far in a splendid condition, and give promise of an abundant harvest. The cereal crops in the D.unstan district are greatly in want of rain, and: are expected to be below the average. Potatoes have suffered in soine degree from night frosts. At the late Horticultural show in Christ church there was shown a sam,ple of guano from Akaroa. It is said to be rich in ammonia and valuable as. manure, while the deposit of it is reported to be extensive. At the Thames, a man fell down stairs but proceeded about his woik as. usual, apparently none the worse for his fall. At the expiration of a week, however, he began to feel severe pain, and on going to a doctor, he found that his collar bone was broken in two places. At a public meeting held at Nelson a few days ago to consider the desirability of the Nelson and Foxhill railway, one of the speakers said that even women and children could earn money by digging for gold in the. Buller and Grey (list riots. He knew of an instance where a woman, while her husband was otherwise employed, making thirty shillings a week in this way. The Southland News is informed that a gang of recently imported Chinese coolies, under a "boss," has been engaged by a settler on the North RoacJ. They are working at ditching, fencing, clearing, &c, and it is saidj give great satisfaction to their em? ployer. The Akaroa correspondent of the Press states that Leicester wethers, which ha>e just been shorn by MrShad bolt, have produced fleeces weighing and 131bs respectively. They were bred by Mr Innman, of German Bay. A very simple mode or communication between the various fire brigade stations in Christ church, by means of lamps at night and flags in the day time, has been invented Fire Superintendent of that place and; answered admirably. Its chief encj: is to prevent brigades, turning out unnecessarily in cases of false ala,rm, or where tires are speedily got under. The Cromwell Argus very properly comments very severely on the fact ot[ a horse race at having come off on Sunday, the 19th ult, at which "the eliteof Cromwell, including certain professional men," and the .sergeant of police, in charge of the station, were present. After this was decided, a tro.ting race and a foot race wound up the sports. A sale of wool was held by Mr James Smith at Wellington on the Ist hist, when the following prices were realised :. —Washed wool, Is 2|d ; greasy wool, 10|d ; locks, sj-d. There was a large attendance of merchants and others, and the bidding was very spirited. The Wellington Independent, 29th November, says :—A case, the result of which is worth being remembered by business people, was decided in the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday. The case was that of Evans v. Srtiith, in which the defendant had contracted a debt for board and lodging, in 1867, had failed to satisfy the amount of \he claim, was sent to jail, and was by the plaintiff on the understanding that he should make an effort to pay, but on regaining his liberty entiiely forgot his promise. The plaintiff, seeing nouhing profitable in throwing good money after bad, took no more notice of the matter, until .seeing an announcement in the newspapers that Smith had recovered an amount of £SO from another person for com mission on the sale of a station, when he immediately

.applied that the mon«y to be paid into CJourt as the yerdicfc in that case should he impounded until the Resident Magistrate had an opportunity of deciding on the validity of Mrs Evan's claim. In this case Mr Allan conten ded that the release of the defendant from jail was a complete discharge of the debt, and quoted the English Act in support of his argument. The plaintiff did not appear hy counsel, hut her son, Mr Evans, of Lambton Quay, requested his Worship 10 adjourn the case to give him time to examine the Colonial Act on that point. It will be a« en from the decision given yesterday by his Worship that Mr Allan's contention was perfectly correct as regarded the law of England, but the Ne*v Zealand fctesidenb Magistrate's Acts of 1858 and 1867 controvert this by providing that the consent to release by the plaint ifj does not exempt the defendant from liability, and the amount of Mrs Evans's claims, with costs, was ordered to be paid out of the money recovered by jSraith from Cemino, which had been impounded by tfye Court.