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Hawke's Bay Times, Issue 1633, 1 December 1874, Page 446

At Adelaide a woman named Cleggatt drowned herself while in a state of insanity, caused by measles.

The Poverty Bay folks are overjoyed at the presence of an English ship in their harbor, and have accordingly arranged to give a " complimentary dinner" to Capt* Burch—tickets £1 Is each.

A new seam of good coal has been found about half-way between Ngakawhau and Westport, and lying between half a milo and three-quarters of a mile from the railway now in course of construction.

Recently, at Fryerstown, Victoria, according to the Mount Alexander Mail, a miner fell down a shaft 200 feet in depth. When his mangled remains were sought for, he was fouud very little the worse for his fall, and after a day or two of rest was able to resume work.

Numbers of persons have been hoaxed at Padham. It was announced by placards that " Signor Unsinque " would perform extraordinary feats on the river Calder concluding with a drive on the river, drawn by geese. "The geese," it was stated, " will previously parade the banks of the river." There was a great crowd on each side of the river.

Commenting upon the statistics for 1873 t which have just been issued, the New Zealand Times points out that the Government have, in 1873, paid the passages; wholly or in part, of 8754 immigrants without colonial experience, of which number 1509 are children; but that, during the same period, 4761 per* sons, a large proportion being experienced colonists, have left the colony. The Times attributes this result to bad laud and mining laws.

A Poverty Bay paper reports that Mr Parsons the manager of the Petroleum Company, in sinking a shaft lately for water, struck a spring of oil at 17 feet from the surface, which yielded from 8 to 10 gallons per diem. This is not a very extensive flow, but he has yet not struck the bed rock. The sample of oil is very good. Operations will now be very soon commenced, and Mr Parsons is very sanguine—does not think there is the slightest possibility of failure.

The owner of a popular menagerie telts a New York editor these facts about the cost of wild animals, and how long they live : Lions range in price from $1,500 to $3,000; African lions, being the largest, sometimes cost above $4,000. They live from Bto 20 years. The Bengal tiger lives from 15 to 18 years, and costs nearly as much as the lion. African elephants range from §BOO to §4,000, and live to three score years. Camels and llamas are worth about $1,200* the quagga $2,000, and monkeys from $25 to SI,OOO.

The Guardian says:—Good Templarism is the order of the day. The success this Order has met with in Cromwell has induced them to establish a Lodge at Bannockburnj which has also met with fair success. Cromwell and Bannockburn together number about 100 members. This is beyond the expectation of the most sanguine. The Order has in Mr Peach, W.C.T. of the Cromwell Lodge, a very able, active and energetic officer. W. Watson, engiueer, is W.C.T. of Bannockburn Lodge. He, like all the other members of this Lodge, is nefr to the Order,

Writing of the late abortive libel case in Wonganui, the Chronicle says:—"lt will readily be seen what scope the present defective laws give to any unscrupulous attorney, who, unable to gain a livelihood by the legitrnate exercise of his profession, fans every neighbors' quarrel into a lawsuit, and grasps eagerly at cases, which, defying the rules of the Court and the practice of his respectable legal brethren, he undertakes on the " no cure, no pay " principle. And it b certainly an astounding violation of right and propriety that a man of this stamp should be invested with all the privileges of an accomplished and honorable barrister. In England it is not so. Pettifogging attorneys are common enough there, unfortunately, but they are kept in their place, partly by the higher tone of society, but more effectually by the division of the profession, by which an attorney stands on a different level from a barrister, and by this means, while an honorable attorney gains the respect to which he is entitled, the pettifogger is sent to Coventry, and if he undertakes dirty work all the world knows it. But here, in some extraordinary fashion, any ill bred youth who manages to scramble through the examination, is forthwith dubbed a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court, and becomes entitled to wear a wig and gown, with all the privileges which are bestowed upon a highly educated gentleman. The thing is preposterous ; but we allude to it strictly in connection with the actions for libel to which newspapers may be subjected by such men, for the extortion of money, or perclian-.-e, for the sake of revenge upon a political opponent, who may thus be attacked without a chance of reaching his enemies through the man of straw pitted against him, whereas they can make every blow tell; and while these actions have fortunately been hitherto rare, it is well for journalists to comprehend thoroughly their position in this respect."