The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1871.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 45, 22 February 1871, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1871.

Signs of the Times. — Nearly twenty small debt cases were called for hearing at the Eesident Magistrate's Court this morning, most of them., however, were settled out of Court. Perseverance Company. — We call attention to the advertisement concerniug a meeting of the shareholders for Wednesday, March Bth, to elect a director in place of Mr. Sclanders, who has resigned in consequence of his intention to visit England shortly. The Supplementary Mails via Suez, which were despatched from Nelson by the Phoebe, were forwarded from Wellington by the Luna, and arrived at Dunedin in time to catch the Alharabra before she left that Port for Melbourne. Phantasmagoria. — We are requested to call attention lo the Phantasmagoria to be exhibited by Mr. S. C. Brown at the Temperance Hall to-morrow evening. The views are said to be exceedingly good, and, as the proceeds are to be devoted to obtaining new slides for the Magic Lantern which has so often delighted the children of Nelson, we have no doubt there will be a large attendance. The English Mail. — Up to the time of our going to press no news had reached us of the Rangitoto being signalled at Hokitika. Immediately upon her arrival we shall publish an Extra containing the English telegrams. We may state for the information of our readers, that we have made arrangements with G-reville's agents by whom we shall for the future be supplied with English and Australian telegrams immediately upon the arrival of the steamers on the coast. Culliford's Reef. —We understand that news has been received in towa of several rich pieces of stone having been fouud in working this reef. The first crushing, which is to take place in about three weeks, is anxiously looked for, not only by shareholders, but by the public generally, as it is to that district mainly that Nelson now looks for relief from her present state of depression. The accounts that are received at various times from both Doran's and Culliford's reefs fully justify the sanguine hopes that have been formed of the richness of the stone in that part, and most earnestly do we hope that they may be fully realised. Nelson Cloth. — We clip the following from the Canterbury Press : — For " some years past a small establishment in Nelson has been unobtrusively working, manufacturing the raw produce of the country in the shape of wool into very excellent tweeds. Gradually, the proprietors, Messrs. Webley and Sons, have introduced new improvements into their business, until now quite an imposing factory has been, erected, and the friends of encouragemeut of local industries will be glad to learn that some really excellent cloth is now being manufactured by the firm. With a laudable desire to encourage the development of these industries, thß Government has recently given Messrs. Webley and Sons an additional order for 1000 yards of their cloth for volunteer uniforms, the firm haviug executed some previously. We have been shown some samples of recent productions of this mill, and they are really excellent ; being composed entirely of wool, the feel and appearance of the cloth is a decided improvement on the harsh, half-cotton, half unknown substance, dignified by the Dame of cloth, which reaches us from other parts. Mr. W. Nation, senior, has been appointed agent for Canterbury for Messrs. Webley and Sons' tweeds, and we are glad to learn that they are going largely into consumption here. The price charged is very moderate, and the quality so good that the tweeds spoken of only want to become generally known to induce a very large demand for them. Wakefield Steeplechase. — The great Waimea holiday has come round once more, and great are the preparations beiug made by the Wakefield people to

carry out their aunual rjtces in such a manner as to give their visitors to-morrow the same satisfaction they have always experienced in attending these pleasaut meetings. The principal event of the day will not bring so many horse 3to the post as appeared last year, only three having been entered, but these are of the right sort, and betting men are a little at a loss whether to back tho veteran Rustic, the game little Quicksilver, or tliß honestgoing Butcher Boy, the handicap having placed them more on an equality than if it hud beeu as hitherto a weight for age race. The second race is also a handicap, and forHhis, in addition to the three horses named above, wo find, a youngster entered underNthe name of Sailqr, with regard to whoso merits we are quifaxun the dark, as indeed we should be as j,o his' age had we not received private information on the subject, for, iv the advertisement which appears in one of the local journals, we find it given as 9st. 81bs. This however may be only a. speculation of the printer's as to the probable weight to be put upon him. In addition to these two events, there will be throughout the day various hurdle and flat races for hacks, which invariably afford an immense amount of amusement. The weather, as we write, looks a little unpromising, but those who are knowing iv such matters, predict a fine day -to-morrow, and we trust that they may prove correct, as, from what we hear, the promoters of the Wakefield meeting are not likely to have cause to complain of any waut of interest in their races on the part of the townspeople, large numbers of whom are looking forward to enjoying a pleasant drive, and a thorough good day's sport. Maori Elections. — Relative to the Maori election, a correspondent writes : — In the native mind of the Middle Island, the election of a member^! the House of Representatives for th^Southern Maori Electoral District, jjfliich takes place at the various pollinjPplaces, is a subject of very consideraj^re interest. Not only have the candid^l^s been prose.cuting an active canvass, but their agents have beeu busy everywhere, and have written to their friends to solicit "their vote and interest." The district includes the whole Middle Island. All the native men, by manhood suffrage, are entitled to take part therein, recording their votes under the old open system. When a would-be voter is not already registered, the Returning Officer receives his claim (the only qualification the applicant requires is to be above age, and a Maori or half-caste) it is registered on the electoral roll and forthwith he can proceed to record his vote. There are three candidates nominated — Taiaroa, from Otago; Green, ffDm Kaiapoi; and Katene from Nelson. Here it may not be uninteresting to know the cause of this opposition. The Otago Maories thought they had n right to return the member this time, as Kaiapoi, or Cauterbury, was allowed to do so last election, and the Nelson Maoris took a similar view regarding themselves. The older Maoris iv Canterbury would have conseuted to leave these two to dispute, and arrange the matter, but the younger men stood out for a condition being imposed to the effect that the member Otago or Nelson might choose should be conversant with the English language, or, in default, they were prepared to bring a candidate into the field. They asserted that Paratene, their late member, never did anything for them, because ho did not understand what was going on in the Assembly, and did not understand their language, and they therefore preferred to be represented by an Euglish-speaking Maori. This was the cause of the three candidates being brought forward. The Nelson and Otago men are descendants of high and influential families among the Maoris; while Green does not, we believe, claim any blood-relationship to chiefdom. No effort will be spared by the Canterbury section to return their man, and their voters have for some days been pouring in at the Kaiapoi pa to await today, and there will be no small stir at the principal polling place for the district — Kaiapoi Courthouse. In reviewing the speeches of Mr. T. L. Shepherd, now member for the Dunstan district, the Cromioell Argus says : — Ego was to the speaker what Alpha and Omega were to the ancient Greeks ; ego was the first, the last, the middle, and the mainstay of all. It did duty over 500 times in various connections in the course of the evening. It reminded one of the old story of a man who wrote his life, and filled it so full of I's that when the book was half finished, the printers type was exhausted : he had not au I left, and had to give it up in despair. The I's ruined both the writer and the printer. From the frequent use of the ego the people would learn how much the good government of this country is due to Mr. Shepherd. If modesty rsquired him to mention the help of others it was only in passing, and then bashfully. " Hansard" has the

ill-bred method of using the third person inplead of the first. This is not sufficiently soothing to Mr. Shepherd's vanity, and he embraced the opportunity in Cromwell of setting it right, and restoring the 1 to its respectful place in the blue-book. An Australian in California. — The Melbourne Argus publishes a letter signed "Sydney Duck," dated San Francisco, Dec. 6. The following is an extract from it : — Being a miner, my first thought was the mines (now comes a, sample of freedom). After due inquiries, I found that I could not hold n, claim without being a citizen, as I was liable to be jumped any moment. On further inquiries I found to get my papers, i.e. to become an American citizen, I'd have to swear allegiance to the United States Government against all others, England in particular ; that I could not do, so put mining aside. In the face of this you hear daily blowing of the freedom of this Government compared with the English Government. I acknowledge more freedom in this respect: — If a man feels inclined to shoot a fellowbeing with whom he has a tiff, he can do so with safety provided he has a few hundred of what are correctly termed almighty dollars. After one or two trials he is free agaiu. The above is not a rare occurrence by any means. I take the liberty of sending the Examiner — you will see a case in it. We have had a shooting or knifing case every day since in the streets with one exception. I trust that you will give this space, and^also that the Sydney and New Zeai^Sd papers will copy it, that it may smto some from comparing California vtiui the colonies. A Confidential Circular prom New York. — The* following is from the Shippers' Monthly Circular : — A firm in New York have forwarded printed circulars to many persons in Englaud offering to supply them with aluminium sovereigns. They say that the base coins are " minted with the express design of circulating in Great Britain, being of such perfect execution, and so admirably calculated, both as regards weight, color, sound, and resistance to acid tests to deceive the most accomplished experts, that their detection is almost beyond theVb'ouuds of possibility." " The alumua^ra of which they are composed" is &fjfted to have been " discovered in a valLjy among the Rocky Mountains, and w,»6 at first mistaken, not only by the ruirieVs, but by dealers in the precious metal for pure gold. It was more than a month before its true character was discovered, for it was so much like pure gold that the difference could be detected only by its lighter weight." The price of these imitation sovereigns is annexed in the " strictly confidential circular" — namely, £2 for 20, 53 for £5, £10 for 108, £20 for 218, and £50 for 550. "No more than 550 sovereigns will be sent at one time to any one person, for fear they might lose their prudence and pass them off too rapidly, thereby causing suspicion, for they are so easily passed that some persons might get too greedy and overdo the business." The circular also contains directions how to send an " order for sovereigns" to a firm of tobacconists in the Broadway, New York, who in the list of prices, also printed, which accompanies the " strictly confidential circular," boast of having '♦paid over £3,100,000 dollars taxes to Government in four years." It is recommended to " word your letter in sending an order for sovereigns so as to make it read as if you were ordering so many pounds of smoking tobacco." Acclimatisation Mistakes. — It would appear, to judge from the proceedings of the various Acclimatisation Societies in New Zealand, as if each was profoundly ignorant of its neighbor's proceedings, and of what was being done in the adjoining colonies. Only the other day we observed that a shipment of 60 skylarks had left Loudou for Dunedin. Why this waste, when skylarks may be had for the trouble of catching them in Nelson? Again, if we mistake not, we read in a southern paper of a proposal to introduce lobsters and crabs at considerable cost from England. Now we believe that one, if not both, of these very excellent fish can be obtained from Queensland. Then a ship arrived in Lyttelton a week or two ago with three hares, the survivors of a shipment of ten. Had the necessary information been ob-/ tamable, the captain would doubtless have saved himself the trouble and risk of this shipment on being made aware that hares are plentiful in the neighborhood of Melbourne. We would suggest that a very important end would be gained if the various societies would keep one another informed of their work, so as to avoid wasting money upon the introduction of birds, fish, or animals that are really acclimatised in these seas. Mark Twain says of his horse : — I have a horse by the name of Jerico. He is a mare. I have seen remarkable horses before, but none so remarkable as this. I wanted a horse that would shy-, and this

fills the bill. I bad an idea that shying indicated spirit. If it is correct, I have the most spirited horse on earth. He shies at everything he comes across with the utmost impartiality. He appears to havo a mortal dread of telegraph poles especially ; and it is fortunate that these are on both sides of the road, because, as it is now, I uever fall off twice ia succession on the same side. If I fell on the same side always, it wouhl get monotonous after a while. The creature has shied at everything he has seeu to-day except a haystack. He walked up to that with an intrepidity and resoluteness that was astonishing. And it would fill anyone with admiration to see how he preserved his self-possession ia the presence of a barleystack. This dare-devil bravery will be the death of this horse some day. He is not particularly fast, but I think he will do all the work I waut. He has only one fault ; hie tail has heen chopped off, or else he has sat down on it too hard some time or other, and has to fight the flies with his heels. This is all very well, but when he tries to kick a fly off the top of his head with his hind foot, it is. too much of a variety. He is going to get himself into trouble that way some' day. He reaches around and bites my W legs, too. Ido not care particularly about ™ that — only Ido not like to a horse too sociable. Some time back Lieutenant Hoffmann, 12th Company Royal Grenadier Regiment, being at the Crown Prince's, happeoed to speak. of what went on at the outposts, what houses were in front, and of the people they saw, whereupon his Royal Highness in a laughing way observed, " I wish you would bring me a late Paris newspaper out of one of them." The young officer said nothing, but when next he was on duty he went out in advance of the sentries, and in the dusk he managed to enter a house within a few hundred yards of Valerien, which was occupied by an Englishman. The apparition of a Prussian officer, revolver in hand, was startling, and the demand for the last Paris paper equally astonishing in its way. " Needs must," &c. The paper was produced, and carried off with an addition, for the master of the house entreated the officer to receive some wine, in order that he might say to the French that the foray had been made for t\te sake of the drinkables. I tell the tale as it was told to me.