Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 1872.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 19, Issue 1275, 16 March 1872, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 1872.

Still no .sign of the steamers Keera or Star of che bouth, from the North.

On Monday next, we understand, the .Napier Volunteer Artillery will compete at Port Ahuriri for the prizes set apart by the General Government for the Artillery force, — being a sum of money not exceeding in the aggregate MS per gun on issue to corps. As our local Artillery have but one gun (an Armstrong), £3 is the sum for ■which they will fire.

In the Resident Magistrates Court this morning there was one civil case— Barrows v. Gillon, a judgment summons, plaintiff ha\ ing recently obtained a judgment for £B. Two hours were allowed the defendant to obrain £2 to pay on account—a further sum of £2 to be paid in a month.

By advertisemenl it will be observed that the N.Z.S.S. Co.'s ss. Keera will he despatched hence for Wellington and Nelson on Monday next, 18th inst. The N.Z.S.S. Co.'s s.s, .Rangatira left Wellington for Napier at 10.30 this forenoon. She will steam hence for Poverty Bay, Tauranga, and Auckland on Monday next, 18th instant.

Tie Bine Volunteer and Cadet bands ■will perform in the Government Lawn this afternoon, commencing at 5 o'clock. The Artillery Band will also perform to-night, between the hours of 10 and 12, on the green opposite the Herald office.

The Auckland Protection League is soon likely to be a thing of the past. Even now a quorum of it* members cannot be got together.

The Lancet comes forward as the advocate of the custom of writing prescriptions in English, In a leading article on the subject, it points out the intense absurdity of the present system of abbreviated Latin, and asserts that it has long been the practice of many eminent physicians to write their prescriptions in their own language.

The election of a member to represent the Wairau district in the House of Representatives, recently concluded, was solely a battle between Protection and Free Trade, and the latter, which in Mr Seymour has a decided ad\ ocate, was triumphant.

A correspondent informs the "Western Post that on a recent date a violent storm passed over Terembone, Castlereagh river. A number of young cattle were in the stockvard. The lightning, which was very vivid, struck them, knocking the horns off seven, striking one dead, and many blind; it also broke in half one of the caps of the yard. Only one horn was knocked oft each beast, but in every case it was the near side, or left horn. Tt is supposed that the animals w ere crouched along the fence with their heads against a rail.

The Adelaide Observer has been induced to alter its estimate of the wheat yield of the colony. In its issue of the 3rd inst. appears she statement that hi new wheat is begining to find its way to market on a large scale; but prices are hardening rather than falling ofF. This is partly clue to the news arriving from various localities that the harvest returns will not be so favorable as was at one time hoped. In consequence of these revised reports we have thought it necessary to make a slight reduction upon our original estimate of the wheat yield. It is probable that the total quantity gathered will not exceed five million bushels, thus diminishing the average per acre to a trifle over seven bushels in place of the seven and a third bushels, which we calculated a fortnight ago would be realised. The exportable surplus is not at all likely to exceed 60,000 lons."

While ffivinoc botanical evidence in some thisile prosecutions at the Creswick (Victoria) Police Court the other day, Dr. Daniel Bunce, curator of the Geelong Botanical Gardens, stated that an infallible way to destroy thistles was, just before the bud began to form to cut the roots through with a spade about two inches the surface ; also, that the practice of cutting them above the s-irface was an utter waste of both money and labor, as the thistles thus treated invariably sprang up again with a greater number of heads than before.

We extract the following from the " Life of Harness" :—'On our conversation turning one day upon the fact that clergymen generally wore destined to witness but small results from their labors, Mr Harness renaiked that allusions had been made to the same subject previously when he was visiting a prison chaplain. Mr Harness asked him whether his ministry had been attended with success. " With very little, I grieve to say," was the reply. ' c A short time since I thought I had brought to a better state of mind a man who had attempted to murdei a woman, and had been condemned to death. He showed great signs of contrition after the sentence was passed upon him. and I thought T could observe the dawnings of grace upon his soul. I gave him a Bible, and he was most assiduous in the study of it, frequently quoting passages which he said convinced him of the heinousness of his offence. The man altogether gave such a promise of reformation, and of such a change of heart and life that I exerted myself to the utmost, and obtained for him such a commutation of his sentence as would enable him .soon to begin the world again, and, as ] hoped, with a happier result. I called to inform him of my success. His gratitude knew no bounds; he said I was his preseiver, his deliverer. " And here," he added, as he grasped my hand at parting, " here is your Bible. I may as well leturu it to you, for T hope that I shall never want it again."

" Our Major," says an old American soldier, " had very long feet, and also a horse that threw everyone but che major. One evening the major's servant was out on the parade-ground with the horse, and as Usual, got thrown off, when one of the boys spoke up and said, ' T know why the. horse don't throw the major.' ' Why 1 ' was asked by a dozen or more. ' Well, the major's got such long feet that the horse thinks he is in shafts,'"

842 tons of. tailings from the Caledonian mine were recently sold by auction at from 19s to 30s per ton. The steamship St. Olaf, Captain Hille, which arrived at New York on the 29th November, had on board Captain Owens and 23 men of the British ship Sublime, which foundered at sea on the 16th September. The following is the statement of Mr D. James, the first officer of the Sublime : "On the Ist September we set sail from Quebec. All went along plea santly up to the 15th, when our ship met with a sudden squall and a sudden shift of the wind from S.W. to N.W. On the 16th a terrific storm arose, such as I have not seen during my 22 years' experience as a mariner The storm increased in violence on the 17th, splitting our mainsail, and causing our topsail sheet to give way. The carpenter, in trying to recover the lee fore braces was very seriously injured. We tried by all means to get the ship undei command, but without avail. She was now rapidly making water, and all hands were ordered to the pumps. The sea washed the decks fearfully, and at 10 o'clock p.m. we found the I ship full of water, and the crew were all obliged to go on to the poop for safety. During the night everything, including the two best boats we had, was washed away. Soon the starboard side of the deck broke n\). and the forecastles and cabins, except the roof, wete swept away completely. We had no time to look after saving anything until it was too late. On the 18tu the weather moderated a little, but nothing whatever could be done. We were without any water to drink, and with only a very small quantity of undamaged bread. Every man was lashed to the mizenmast, so violent was the gale even now. At about 4 o'clock a.m., we espied a ship on the port bow, and we made signals to her by burning oakum and paratfine oil. At daylight, she sent her boats alongside, and t»»ok us oif, our rescuers behaving in the most gallant style. The ship proved to be the Pride of England. On the 13th November, a steamship hove in sight, and proved to be the So. Olaf, bound to New York. The cutpenter and others being in great need of medical assistance, our captain begged that they might be transferred go the St.. Olaf, and captain Hille very kindly consented to the request, and treated with the greatest kindness until we reached New York." The Sublime, when abandoned by the crew, was rapidly settling down in the water, and could not long keep afloat. She was a vessel of 1,129 tons register. A mountain of silver, or at all events a mountain containing vast quantities of the metal, has been discovered in Nevada, the State just admitted into the American Union. Ps name is Silver Peak, it is east of San Francisco, and about 70 miles south of Austin, and twelve immensely rich lodes have alieady been opened. The whole of Nevada is rich in silver, but this particular spot will, it is believed, produce more than any mines yet discovered. Close to the Peak is an extinct crater, ; near it a vast deposit of salt, within I sighr a hill of pure sulphur, and around an endless stony desert, the whale scene suggesting strongly the picture which Milton drew of hell. Neither poetry nor superstition are, however, likely to j stop the miners of the Par West, when they see their wav clear to sudden and ! limitless wealth. i