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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 69, 22 March 1871, Page 2

In Canterbury there are forty miles of railway, and by means of it wheat can be put into the ship's hold at Id per bushel. The line is being pushed on, and before lousj will extend as far as Timaru. The commander of the Memento, which recently arrived at Dunedin, says that tbe Whirlwind, a large ship of about 900 tons, was laid on at Hong Kong for Dunedin, when be sailed, aud was expected to sail in December with about 400 Chinese passengers and catgo.

There are now on French soil 247 I permanent and 85 moveable postal stations belonging to the German mail service. Uninterrupted communication by mail is thus obtaiued over 3000 square miles. The northernmost point is Ameins, the most southern Dijon, and tho furthest West is Chartres. At Klanaburg, a small town near Vienna, a young couple had just returned from the church where they had beeu married and were receiving the congratulations of their friends, when the bridegoom suddenly fell dead from apoplexy at the feet of the bride. She gave an awful shriek, tore the bridal veil from her head, and with it in her hand rushed to her own room, aud, locking herself iv, knotted it securely around her throat and hanged herself, so effectually, that life was extinct before ihe door could be forced open. A Steam Garden. — We rather pride ourselves in Nelson on the fertility of our soil and the suitableness of the climate for growing vegetables and garden nroduce generally, but we have not yet arrived at the perfection of the art, as will be seen by the following paragraph from the iVews of the World: — " Hatching eggs by steam, ploughing by steam, brushing hair by steam, and getting killed by steam, have all been wonders iv their respective days, but nowfltynes a big garden where vegetables \xe r aised by steam. It is two acres\in exteofy and is situated at Lake View, '.near Chicago. The entire space is covered with glass, and a powerful engine and boilers supply through a network of pipes laid beneath the beds, the warmth and mot3ture required. Already, lettuces, radishes, onions, cress and other salad "stuff," are above ground, and in a week or so will be in the market. Cauliflowers, cabbages, beets, turnips, and other vegetables, have been sown, and will make their appearance in due time. This is cheating Jack Frost with a vengeance." A Popular General. — The Versailles | correspondent of the Times says : — The • man of the day at present is Von Moltke, and I am afraid to say what the Count does not receive daily from his admirers in England. The other day it was some bottles of patent elixir for the prolongation of his life, sent by an English lady. Then there was a book of water colors by the delicate hand of a Scotch damsel as a token of her profound admiratiou and veneration. Photographs and photograph albums arrive without numbers, and requests for locks of hair (the Count is quite bald) are of frequent occurrence. But the most impudent request of all was that contained in a letter from one of our American cousins in New York, which ran something as follows : — " About one hundred chassepots would be very acceptable for my show, and one of each of the different French uniforms is absolutely necessary, all new if possible. As you have so many mitrailleurs, you might perhaps spare me a few ; I guess they would be very acceptable." The letter went the rounds of the German officers, and created no end of merriment, as you may suppose. The requests for the Count's autographs are so numerous that were bis Excellency to sign his name all day long, I don't believe he could meet the demand made upon him." A Good Character. — An old aud hardened criminal was recently found guilty of burglary at Christchurch, when the prisoner said he wished to called a witness to speak to his character. His antecedents being pretty well known to the auditory, their curiosity was aroused to ascertain who the witness could be. The announcement of Mr. Reston, the gaoler's name, by the prisoner was the occasion for loud laughter. Mr. Reston stated that the prisoner had been under his care on three separate occasions, and informed the Court that Johnson was ri an excellent prisoner " — (laughter) — " that he had learnt to be a good practical blacksmith during his incarceration, and that he always endeavored to induce his fellow prisoners to observe the rules of prison life." His Honor, addressing the prisoner, said that but for Mr. Reston's evidence he would have passed a much severer sentence upon him, but under the circumstances, he would sentence him to penal servitude for three years. TaE damage done to the roads and bridges in Wellington Province by the late floods is very extensive. Numerous landslips have taken place, and it will be a considerable time before there can be any traffic to Wairarapa by wheeled vehicles. It is j/kid that it will require 100 men for six months to put it in the same condition in which it was before the floods. J ANErfglish paper contains the following: — For some time past electricians have been trying to discover a way to send two messages at the same time along a single wire. We understand that the problem has been solved by Mr. C. F. Varley, who has devised a method by which four currents can be delivered by a single wire.

Mr. Tupper is reading his own works. Now he will know what others have suffered . A Physician said of a quack that " he ■was such an ignoramus that if he could take a lantern and go down inside his patient, he couldn't find out what the matter was." There is one passage iv the Scriptures to which all the potentates of Europe seem to have given their unanimous assent and approbation, and to have studied, and so thoroughly, as to have it quite at their finger's ends. " There toent out a decree in the days of Ccesar that all the world should be taxed.'" Tt is stated, says a contemporary, that a single man in Auckland can live well, if he can dispense with a horse and gig, for nine shillings a week ; yet strange to say, one of the journals states that there were fifteen buudred tneu in that, city who do not know how a meal is to be obtained. We always did relish a bit of fine writilg now and then, and this from the For^jftcott Telegram is peculiarly good: — "D£«h.^with fleshless knuckles, rapped at\t\ieUajbr oil Mrs. L. N. B.s soul, and obldjieot to the inexorable call, the spirit of ' that lovejfl woman floated up to its Creator, leaving, her beloved husband, children, and frie*nds to mourn over the mortal casket." v > Fiji is becoming lively, if we aire believe the following paragraph from t»i«P| local paper : — On Saturday last/ several shots struck our printing office^evideutly fired from the hills at the back ; one shot struck one of the printing frames inside. The back of the consulate, too, came in for a share of the discharge. No doubt it was accidental. We learn from the Cromwell (Otago) Argus that the Chinese throughout the goldfields celebrated the advent of their New year with the usual feastings and rejoicings. Large numbers of fowls, ducks, geese, aQd pigs, besides unlimited quantities of rice, flour, ale and porter, brandy, &c., &c, were consumed on this festive occasion ; Aid there was a general cessation of work among the Chinese miners. J " Only a SolJdier's Wife." — As a specimen of the wjay Euglaud remembers the services of her soldiers or sailors, or their wives, we pive the^ollowing extract from a West of England paper : — " Mary Shattock, after a pilgrimage of 99 years, recently died in the Taunton Union Workhouse. She had been the wife of a soldier and went through the whole of the Peninsular campaign, waiting on the sick and wounded? Another Florence Nightingale, ljut with feathers less gaudy ! A Canterbury paper says : — " Mr. Lennon, Colombo-street south, Christchurch, has recently completed a very fine hawser for Captaiu Wood, of Lyttelton. It is nine inches in circumference, and it is intended for mooring vessels to the buoys in the harbor. As a specimen of rope manufacture, it could scarcely be surpassed, and it is probably the largest sized hawser ever made in New Zealand. Auckland is the only place where it may possibly have been equalled. The fibre used was ail of Canterbury manufacture, and the total length was seventy-eight fathoms. Mr. Peerybingle on WeatherGlasses : — Did you ever keep \ a baioraeter, and if so, could you make peVd or tail of it ? A man gammoned me into buying one about a year ago ; and it's been the trouble of my life ever since. If it isn't going to rain, that lying barometer says it is ; if it isu't going to change, my barometer marks " change " as sure as a gun ; and if its going to baywet, the impostor makes out that " v ]J|/ dry " is the ticket. Some time ago, iF took it to a doctor iv the barometer line to know if^ the blessed thing's bowels were out of order ; but he swore it was as hearty as it could be, and only wanted to be let alone. So I let it alone, and it goes on lying worse than ever. Whatever you do, if you'd lead a quiet life, don't make yourself miserable by buying a t barometer. Trust to your corns, or if you haven't got any, grow one or two, and you won't ask for a weather-glass outi side your boots.