The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1868.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume III, Issue 245, 15 October 1868, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1868.

Shortly before going to press we received telegraphic intelligence that the Omeo will not leave Wellington until 3 a.m. to-morrow morning. As the mail by the Omeo for Australia and the West Coast -will close at 4 o'clock the same day, it will be impossible to reply to letters re r ceived by her. On her arrival here, the Omeo will not come inside the Boulder Bank, but will leave the outer anchorage about 6 p.m. We have beea requested to state that the overland mail to Marlborough, which should in ordinary course have started this afternoon, will close at half-past four tomorrow. A letter appears in the Sydney Morning Herald, giving an account of fresh hostilities which had occurred at Fiji, between the settlers and the mountaineers occupying the country on the Upper Kewa, not many miles distant from where poor Mr Baker was killed. About 41 natives were killed, including a chief, and also a settler, named Creeloiau. A considerable amount of property is in the hands of the natives, including a large quantity of ammunition. The plantations of Messrs Pfluger, Lukes, and Ridsdale, Kinross, Stanley, and Fisher, are supposed to be entirely destroyed, and the total loss cannot be less than £5000 or £6000. A deputation was appointed to consider what steps were advisable to be taken in this emergency, and Messrs Livesey and Bentley (brother of Mr J. Bentley, M.P.C., of this city), waited upon the Commodore on board the Challenger, and elicited his opinion that the settlers must be prepared to defend themselves, and that there was not the slightest probability that the Government would ever make Fiji aßritish colony, as it 'had quite enough to do with the colonies they already possessed.' This intelligence will, we imagine, satisfy those of our readers who have contemplated a migration to the Fijis, that the islands are not a safe place of residence for Europeans, and that, whilst subjected to sutjh disturbances as that of which we give some particulars above, any commercial speculations there must be in the highest degree precarious. The Charybdis was at Levuka, at the disposal of the British Consul. A meeting was held yesterday evening at the Trafalgar Hotel, for the purpose of taking preliminary steps for the formation of a gymnasium in this city, The meeting was very numerously attended, and much interest was evinced in the project. The chair was taken by Mr Ealph Richardson, and a committee of seven was appointed to raake the requisite arrangements and driw up the rules. Mr Huddleston has, wp understand, accepted the presidentship, and above 70 persons have already eurollel their names as members, the project therefore commences under the most favorable aispices. We extract th* following from the report in the Australasian of a meeting of the Council of the Victorian Acclimatise■s tion Society, held i n Melbourne on the ult:— 'A letter was read from Mr Htwiaiestou, oi.Neltnn, N.Z. conveying the thanks of tk&jGoveuunent o f that provincetothe Coariuj ferN^ ttniraals J hat

were sent down to Nelson in that gentleman's charge. A letter from Mr Huddleston, published in the Nelson Evening Mail, was referred to, giving an interesting account of his proceedings in introducing ova from Tasmania, which he conveyed packed in snow from Mount Wellington, and subsequently in ice supplied by the Ice Company of Melbourne. In the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday the adjourned case S. H. Pike v. C. Mathews, to recover £23 Is, balance due on the sale of 100 sheep, the property of the plaintiff, after very contradictory evidence had been brought forward by the litigants, judgment was given for the plaintiff for £12 10s, .with costs. Mr Pitt appeared for the plaintiff, Mr Kingdon for the defendant. A Wellington telegram states that the District Road Boards Act had been thrown out on its second reading by the Legislative Council, and also that, the dispatch of parliamentary business having progressed more speedily than was anticipated, Mr Stafford. had announced on Tuesday evening that the present week would witness the termination of the Session. Mr Vickermau requests us to add to his letter of yesterday in reference to the late, inquest, a portion which, through want of space, we were compelled to omit, stating that ' it was hard drinking and taking very little nourishment at the same time that produced the state of blood which resulted in the formation of the fibrinous clot in the left ventricle of the deceased's heart, and thus justified the verdict of the jury. According to the Ministerial statement made by the Hon. John Hall, the Government propose to maintain a permanent armed force of 500 men, to suppress native outrages and maintain peace. The pay is to be Is a day above the existing rate. It is proposed to give something to the officers, and the divisions are to be increased from 60 to 100 men. The cost of the Constabulary will be increased from £"47,497 to £81,000. To quote Mr Hall's words: — The Government also in the presence of a great emergency would ask the House for a contingent vote of £45,000, but only £5000 of that vote had been expended, It therefore did not follow that if a contingent vote were given, the whole of the money would be expended. The amount he would ask would be £50,000, making with the balance of the last year's contingent vote, £90,000. The Government thought they would be in a position to put a thousand men in the field if necessary. The Government proposed to meet £33,000 out of loan. It was proposed to issue Treasury Bills. There was no doubt the emergency was great. Not only were storms passing over the West Coast, but clouds were appearing over other parts of the colony. But the difficulty could only be met in one way, by opposing to it a united front. If that should be the case there could be no doubt as to the result. But if their councils were divided, then the prospect was extremely gloomy. The Wanganui Times of the 6th inst. says: — It is expected that Colonel Haultain will arrive in Wanganui by the p.s. Sturt to-day. We have been told by some of the ladies of WaDganui that the women in general intend to turn out, suitably armed, to give him a very befitting reception. We at first looked upon it as a mere expression of indignation and contempt, but the matter is so generally spoken of that it is quite possible the women, as in most other matters, will have it their own way. We quote the following from the Wanganui Chronicle of the 6th:— Wanganui is now one entire camp. Brill in the morning; drill in the evening ; volunteer cavalry exercise at some other hour. It is a capital thing to handle arms properly, whatever comes of it. The Times of the same date observes: — -The men of the Ist and 2nd class militia who are not perfect in their drill parade daily, the former in the morning and the latter in the evening for exercise. Men who had learned their exercise some years ago have only to attend periodical parades. This is as it should be. Every young colonist should learn the use of the rife and be thankful for the opportunity of doing so. The Hauhau spies may now carry back a better account of us. The Wellington Independent of the Bth instant says that the news received in that city from England of the fall in the price of wool produced something like a panic amongst gentlemen interested in the export of that commodity. Various estimates of heavy losses were made. One gentleman,

a distinguished member of the House of Representatives, will lose no less than £4000 by the difference in price of wool. Other losses are staled, at even a higher figure. The first and second class Militia of the Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay Districts have been called out for training. The General Synod of the Church of England in New Zealand was opened at Auckland, on Monday, the sfch instant, and was expected to last over three weeks. It is understood that Bishop Harper, of Christchurcb, will be nominated to the office of Metropolitan. An escort party of the 18th Royal Irish have arrived at the Albert Barracks, Auckland, from Wellington, in charge of two deserters from that regiment, who had been for some time in a state of desertion in the Wanganui district. Mr. Cosley, a shareholder in Hunt's claim at the Thames goldfield, brought 2000 ounces of gold to Auckland on the 7th instant. The Wellington Punch gives the following as the 'Latest Intelligence from the Thames Goldfields:'--The High and Mighty Company have struck a new lead 12 feet wide — it is chiefly gold, with a superficial coating of zinc. It is generally believed to extend across the island to Queensland. Shares are quoted at fabulous prices. Gold is so plentiful that it has quite superseded the vulgar metals for domestic purposes. Mr Barney O'Malligan, our respected townsman, was had up before the magistrate for hammering his wife with a toasting fork of the precious metal. Larry Maguire, son of the wellknown proprietor of the Brian Boru Hotel, was in imminent danger of losing his life from swallowing a nugget of 13oz. weight with which he was playing. Dr Cope was immediately in attendance, and, as the nugget was never seen afterwards and the boy is well, is supposed to have extracted it. Silver spoons are down to 2s. a dozen and hardly saleable! A golden pheasant has been found in the bush! The town is getting too large to live iu! Mackay has recovered the effects of the banquet — says he has feathered his nest, and does not care what he said. A Salting Company, with a nominal capital, has been established. The fleas are terrific ! ! ! The newly-elected President of the Wesleyan Methodist Conference, opened at Liverpool on July 30, in his inaugural address, instead of confining himself to , Methodist affairs, took a wider range, and glanced at some of the external relations of Methodism. He hoped that the Methodists would keep to their via media. Individually they had their political convictions, but they were not disposed to take political action in their corporate capacity, Any union of the Methodist connection with the Church of England was out of the question. They were not partisans of State churches, and could cast off any church that was unfaithful to Christ. He spoke strongly against the Tractarianism and Rationalism of some sections of the Church of England, and intimated that in. some way or other some of the questions now disturbing the public mind might come under the consideration of the conference. Mr Hall's address was listened to with great interest by the conference, and his sentiments were endorsed by his ministerial brethren generally. About 500 ministers attended the conference.