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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 35, 10 February 1871, Page 2

A number of larks imported from Nelsou have been turned out on the hills near Wellington. Stoke Farmers' Club. —A special meeting of this Club is to be held at the School-room, on Monday evening next, for the trausaction of business of importance. The Rev. E. Bailey, who recently visited Nelson, has been instituted to the curary of the church and parish of St. JohVthe Baptist, at Christchurch, the late incumbent, the Rev. J. 08. Hoare, being about to leave for England. Divorce Act. —Notice is given in the Government Gazette that the sittings of the Supreme Court for the despatch of business accruing under " The Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act," will be held at the Court House, Nelson, on the 17th March, 26th April, 30fch June, 18th August, 29th September, 10th November, and 22nd December. City Volunteers.-—The newly-formed company of City Rifles now musters nearly seventy men, and promises well. The following officers were elected last night : —Mauson Sinclair, captain ; T. Garrard, lieutenant ; and W. M'Cabe, ensigu. The company will meet ' for parade for the first time on Wednesday eveniDg next. Wangapeka Land Purchasers. —The rule nisi for a mandamus obtained herein by Mr. Fell was argued by Mr. Acton Adam 3 for the Commissioner of Crown Lands, and Mr. Fell for the purchasers on the 3rd February. His Honor, in delivering judgment, this day said the. rule must be discharged on the ground that uojder the 24th Section of the Nelson Waste Lands Act, 1863. Land must have been specially classified by the Waste Lands Board to bring it within the provisions of that Act for the sale of rural land, which in this case had not been done. His Honor refused costs, saying, however, that nothing like moral blame was to be attached to the Commissioner, who had acted throughout with perfect bonafides, and that in his opinion he ought not to be mulcted in costs in his private capacity. The English News. —We have heard many doubts expressed with regard to the reliability of the news relating to the commencement of the bombardment of Paris which we published yesterday, in reply to which we can only state that it was copied verbatim from the Melbourne Leader of the 28th January. At the same time we may say that no mention was made of it in the Australasian of the same date, nor have we seen it quoted in auy of our Southern files, received by the Wanganui yesterday, although the Tararua, which brought the intelligence, has been on the Coast for nearly a week. It is, however, quite possible that it may be correct, as the P. and O. Company's steamer Avoca, which brought the Suez Mail to Australia, did not leave Galle until the 29th of December, on which date, advices to the 27th, as this professes to be, could easily have reached Galle, although the news which we received by the Rangitoto did not extend beyond the 25th. All doubts will be removed on the arrival of the San Francisco Mail which is due at Auckland to-day, and may therefore be looked for here (some time next week. Motueka Election. —To-day is to decide whether the large and important district of Motueka is to be represented in the ensuing Parliament by Sir David Monro or Mr. Parker, and

although there can be no question as to the respective merits of the two candidates, a large amount of personal feeling has been brought to bear upon the contest, and no efforts are being spared to ensure the defeat of the first-named, candidate, whose abilities have been so universally recognised by the House of Representatives, that he has twice been elected to the important post of Speaker, an office which he has filled greatly to his own credit, and to the immense advantage of the body over whose deliberations he presided. We have every reason to believe that, notwithstanding the unflagging endeavors of those who are opposing him, a majority of the electors will he found to declare in his favor, as although he may be in a minority in Motueka and Riwaka, the districts of Upper Moutere aud Waimea West will vote for him almost to a man. Between twenty-five and thirty electors started from town this afternoon, for the purpose of recording their votes for Sir David at Waimea West, and we hope to be called upon to state to-morrow that their praiseworthy effort shave not been in vain. Fatal Accident .■^•WeVegrefc to have to announce that a telegram was received this afternoon from Mr. Warden Whitefoord, of Cobden, reporting the death by drowning of Mr. Davis, of the Government Geological Department. The unfortunate gentleman, in company with Mr. Dent, was crossing the Ten-Mile Creek last evening, when he and bis horse were carried out to sea. Mr. Dent had a narrow escape. Mr. Davis' body has been recovered, and the inquest was to take place this afternoon. Sir David Monro. — We take the following from the Lyttelton Times t — As Speaker he had deservedly enjoyed the unqualified respect and esteem of the members, and it was admitted on all hands that the high character which, the House has always maintained was in no small degree owing to the dignity, tact, and judicious firmness with which he has presided over its debates. It was felt that there would be considerable difficulty in finding a fit successor, and it was hoped that Sir David might be induced to change his mind when the time came round for the general elections. Such a change we are happy to cay, has taken place. The late Speaker is a candidate for the representation of the Motueka district, in the Nelgpn province, and so far as appearances go, stands a good chance of being returned. Ho has said it is true, that it is not his intention again to seek the office which he has so worthily filled, but there can bo little doubt that, should he be elected to the House, it will be the unanimous wish of members that the well-known figure should continue to occupy the accustomed place.* General Synod. — The General Syuod of the Church of England in New Zealand is now in session at Dunedin. At a recent meeting Archdeacon Harper moved, " That a Committee be appointed to consider the Fundamental Provisions of the Constitution of the Brauch of the United Church of England and Ireland in New Zealand, and to report whether it appears that the time has come for the General Synod to assume full power as couteraplated by clause 4 'to make such alterations in the Articles, Services, and Ceremonies of the Church in New Zealand,' as its altered circumstances may require. Such Committee to consist of the Primate, the Bishop of Wellington, the Bishop of Nelson, Rev. Canon Wilson, Dr. Buchanan, Sir William Martin, Mr. Hunter Brown, Mr. Hanmer, and the mover." To this the Dean of Christchurch moved the following amendment : — "That a committee be appointed to consider to what extent alterations might be made in the services and ceremonies of the Church in New Zealand consistently with the fundamental provisions of the Constitution." Oue readers will perhaps remember bearing that a short time ago the Independent, assisted by "an old colonist," caught a live meteor at Goathurst Farm, aud put it in a bucket of water. An attempt to emulate this fact has been unsuccessfully made in the North, according to the Southern Cross, which in its issue of 31st January, says : — Our Wairoa correspondent writes : — " A meteor of extraordinary size and brilliancy, with a tail several yards long, and like one continuous sheet of flame, appeared in the heavens towards the mouth of the Wairoa, in the north, and swept along in a southerly direction, lighting up the whole firmament as if it were day. It fell in the paddock of Mr. J. S. Wilson, on the batiks of the Wairoa, at about 9 o'clock p.m. on the 27th inst. Search was made in the paddock on the following morning, but without finding anything. In 1870, according to the • General Government statistics, 28,540 acres were under barley in all New Zealand, whereas the number of acres taken up in growing barley for Bass and Company's establish-

raeut at Burton-on-TYcut was 42,200 ; so that, assuming New Zealand barley to be equal in quality to liome bnrley, which it has not yet arrived at, and the laud in each country to bear as heavy a crop, all the barley grown i v jj ew Zealand would supply that establishment for about seven months only ; brewing operations in England beinjj suspended for nbout two months during the heat of summer. " Raising the Wind." — There is always a considerable class in a colony which has no interest iv its permanent prosperity, but every temptation to stimulate its temporary activity — a class of men who do not regard the colony as their home 5 whose whole plan of life is simply to realise as large a fortune, and that as .rapidly, as possible, and then to go to England and ODJoy it. To men of this class a period of great commercial activity, which may set money flowing and so enable them 1o realise their idea is a positive gain, whilst 'the period of depression which may follow when they have sold out and fjone home is a niattet^" 1 * of indifference. But to jraen who are - bouud up with the interests "d$ the colony, • who are permanently settled on the land, or who are laboring &ith a view to the settlement of themselves \ and their children after them,' all these violent, .fluctuations in the pros-", perity of the community are severe trials. ' We deprecate the borrowing of so large a sum as a million quite as much as the raising it by land sales. The true interests of the provioce will be best consulted by advancing steadily, aud ns rapidly as we can with safety ; borrowing to construct railways as fast as the railway can be made to pay, and so being able (o expend the proceeds of the land saleß upon other works, such as immigration and ordinary public works. Above al! things let us not stimulate the sales of land for speculative purposes, being assured that lands not occupied might just as well be left the property of the Crown until actually wanted for use. — Canterbury Press, Feb. 15, 1866. Chicory Farjiing-. — The Lxjttelton Times devotes a large amount of space to the description of the Chicory Farm and Manufactory of a Mr. Trent, who appears to have been very successful in the growth of the plant. "It is bow," says the Times, "about three years and a half since Mr. Trent essayed the growth and manufacture of chicory. Hey'purchased one hundred and fifty acpesfof land near the Templeton Rtriig^otatiou, which he subsequently increased ■by au additional fifty acres alongside, making iv all a farm of two hundred acres. The land proved, as he bad judged, admirably adapted to the growth of the root, and this, aided by judicious tillage, and a close observauco of the seasons, resulted from the first iv successful crops. Up to the present time he has had four seasons upon the farm. la the first, he cropped only twelve acres, which yielded ten tons of manufactured chicory ; iv the second, he increased to twenty-five acres, which produced twenty tons of chicory; in the third, he cultivated fifty acres, yielding forty-five tons of chicory; in the fourth, seventy-five acres, which, owing to the very favorable nature of the season, gave one hundred tons of chicory. Thus it will be seen that each, year the extent of land cropped has increased, and when we say that the average value of the chicory is £50 per ton, some idea may be formed of tha benefit which must have accrued to the province from Mr. Trent's enterprising efforts. A correspondent of the Thames Advertiser, writing from Ohinemuri under dated the 20th of January says : — "Kiraball Bent, who, whilst io. the rebel pa of Ketetnarae, shot Captain Hassar\J whilst in the act ofcharging the pa, visited .. this district in company with Reihana T^ Tauhau, who picked him up at Taranaki. Whilst here he was recognised by one of the Defence Force men who was at the attack on the Ketemarae pa, and saw him shoot Captain Hassard. Ha has been- au armourer's assistant, and is therefore very useful to the rebels. He has left the district, thinking, no doubt, that it would not be very safe to stay in the vicinity of the Europeans ; he is a miserable looking man, dressed in an old shabby trooper's suit." The New Zealand Herald thus concludes a recent leading article : — " There is one thing of great inoporfauco to the colonies of England, viz., that they should be declared neutral, as is Switzerland, and that no matter what may be the quarrels of England } the colonies shall not be made to suffer for them. We have no interest ia these wars. Our work is that of peace. New Zealand should join Australia iv urging as strongly and as wisely as possible the perfect immunity of these colonies from war, merely od account of their connection with England." -Payment of Members. — Speaking of the lately passed Act of the Victorian Legislature for the payment or members,