RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume II, Issue 246, 19 October 1867, Page 2

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Saturday, October 19. [Before J. Poynter, Esq., R.M.] The charge against Robert King Tamer, of allowing a horse to be illegally at large, was adjourned until Monday next, for further evidence. Edward M'Luskie and Edward Grant, for allowing horses to be illegally at large, having admitted the offence, were each fined 10s and costs. The charge against Charles Moore fora similar offence was dismissed, sufficient" evidence not being forthcoming. Thomas Brown Louisson was charged by James Stockwell with unlawfully assaulting him yesterday morning in Tra-falgar-street. It appeared that the complainant had committed an assault on Mr Louisson's son in Bridge-street on the previous Tuesday, under the impression that he had carried off his whip, and Mr Louisson had retaliated by chastising him in the manner complained of. Mr Louisson, for whom Mr Wigzell appeared in the absence of Mr Pitt, admitted having committed the assault, but pleaded great provocation, and was fined £1 and costs. A counter-action brought by William Louisson, the youth alluded to above, against Stockwell, was next heard. The boy stated that he had picked up the whip in question, not knowing to whom it belonged, and was walking down Bridgestreet to his father's house when he was overtaken by Stockwell. who commenced hitting him -with his fist on the back of his neck, and then flogged him severely about the legs. The assault was witnessed by Mr Merewether and Mr Harrison, the delegate from Westland, who were passing down Bridge-street together at the time, and who were so impressed with its cowardly nature that they at once interfered and separated the parties. The Magistrate, being of opinion that the whip had been carried off out of malice prepense, fined Stockwell in the lowest penalty, Is, and eosts,'

f^We understand that Mr Thomas Newton has sent to Melbourne for a large number of kangaroos, for presentation to the Acclimatisation Society, with a view to their naturalisation in this province. The Argus states as a proof of the extent to which kangaroos increase on some of the Australian sheep stations, thus occasioning a serious nuisance to the sheepowners, that on some of the Riverina stations, the squatters offer 6d a head for their extermination; and it is said they are so numerous that the work of killing them could be made to pay well. Then it is stated that on some runs in the western parts of Victoria these animals are so plentiful as to keep the sheep in low condition by eating the best of the grass, kaugaroos being as numerous as sheep on several of the runs. Hunts on a very large scale, in which these animals are driven in by hundreds, and sometimes by thousands, into yards and there slaughtered, are often undertaken with a view of thinning their numbers, but apparently with little effect.

Whether the more numerous aod fashionable audience which attended the Oddfellows' Hall last night was attributable to the remarks which had been elicited from the Press by the previous scanty patronage bestowed on the company by the Nelson public, is a matter of little moment. It suffices that the audience present last night was of such a character as could thoroughly appreciate the efforts made for their entertainment, and we trust that the sinister influence to which we alluded yes* terday is now effectually crushed, and that the "company's career during their stay in Nelson will be a success ul one. The performance of that highly sensational drama, The Corsican Brothers, was a bold effort on the part of the management, which however they contrived to carry out very successfully, by the aid of new and appropriate scenery and all the illusions of the magnesium light, and other spectral 4 contrivances, which have combined to render this drama perhaps the most attractive which has been produced for many a loug year. The plot, to those who see the play for the first time, is somewhat complicated, and turns upon the old story of a Corsican * vendetta/ worked out through the extraordinary spiritual affinity which has been asserted to exist between twins, enabling one to be conscious of the actions of the other, however distant they may be. The twin Dei Franchi were personated by Mr W. H. Newton most effectively, whilst Miss Annie Merton appeared to hardly less advantage in the two characters Madame dei Franchi, themother of the two brothers, and of Madame de Lesparre, the 'objet aime*' of both. Mr Seymour, as Mons. de Chateau Reynard, the villain of the piece, played with excellent effect, and the duel scene, at the conclusion of the drama, called forth the loudest plaudits. The various tableaux were capitally managed, and those at the conclusion of the first and third acts were redemanded by universal consent. The afterpiece, Nan the Good-for-Nothing, in •which Miss Annie Merton played the heroine and Mr Newton Tom Dibbles, h'er father, provoked the most genuine laughter, and sent the audience home in the best possible spirits. To-night The Corsican Brothers will be repeated, with, the Eough Diamond, and the success which attended last night's representation will doubtless have the effect of filling the house to-night. We observe that Shakspare's Taming of the Shrew, or Katherine and Petruchio, is announced, with . the pretty operetta of the Swiss Cottage, for I Miss Aunie Merlon's benefit on Monday i next.

learn that Mr Carter's contract for laying down the pipes for the new Waterworks, according to the plans and specifications of the Provincial Engineer, has been accepted by the Government. The total amount of the contract must necessarily depend upon the extent to which the works may be carried out, and cannot therefore be given; bat the contract for the five bridges amounts to £643 18s, and that for laying the, pipes will be at the rate of 3s per joint for the 7 and 5-inch pipes, 2s 6d for the 4-inch, 2s 3d for the 3-inch, and 2s Id for the 2-inch. The fixing fireplugs with masonry, etc., complete are to be performed at the rates of 30s each, and fixing the sluice-valves at 3Os each, the rubble masonry at 9d per cubic foot, and the granite blocks at Is 6*d per cubic foot. J^ correspondent suggests that 'an inquest should be held to enquire into the suspicious circumstances attendant on the late untimely ead of the pukatea tree/ bat

we are inclined to doubt whether the Coroner's powers are quite so extensive as to admit of this procedure. An Adelaide telegram, published in the Argus, announces the arrival of the Edith Smith from Mauritius, with late dates. According to her advices the young Prince was actually off the Cape in August; and it was uncertain whether he would visit Mauritius, although it seemed probable he would do so. The South Australian Government intend to grant a whole week's holiday to the officers of the civil service during the visit of H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh. The suite of rooms in the western wing of Government-house is to be devoted to his use duriug his stay in Adelaide. The murder of the Rev. Thomas Baker and seven native teachers at Fiji is one of those events which, however appalling, must be expected to occur in connexion with missionary enterprise. As the story is told, the murders seem to have been an act of gross treachery on the part of the chiefs and members of the Navoso tribe. King Thakombau chivalrously undertakes the chastisement of the murderers, not wishing any interference from the whites, the only assistance he requires being in the way of ammunition and other waj stores. The sable potentate is represented as enraged at the massacre, and he has determined to open a campaign against the Navoso tribe so soon as the yamplanting season shall have terminated, which will be during the latter half of the present month. He declares that the whole tribe shall be brought to Bau, the capital of the island; that all who had any hand in the murder shall be hanged ; the rest, with their children, to be slaves for ever; and that the Navoso tribe shall in all time coming be known as the * Murderers' tribe.' There are 1000 acres of strawberries on the line of the Illinois Central Railway.