The Nelson Evening Mail TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 1872.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 8, 9 January 1872, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 1872.

Embezzlement by a Government Officee. — A telegram in this morniug's Colonist states that Mr. Ingpen. the Registrar of the Supremo Court fit Invercargill, has been arrested on a charge of embezzling public moneys. The San Francisco Mail. — The telegraphic news by this mail, which should have reached us last Wednesday, is not yet to hand. Not having on our staff either a clairvoyant or a spiritist such as the Melbourne people cau boast of, we are unable to afford any satisfactory reason for for the long; delay, but did we possess any such supernatural source of information, we should probably be in a position to state that it was entirely owing to the epidemic technically termed " busting," which is so prevalent among the boilers of American steamers, having broken out on' board the Moses Taylor. Inangahua Reefs. — A correspondent, of the Grey River Argus writes under date, December 30: — More excitement. Another reef discovered, gold bearing, in the vicinity of a gully known as Lanky's Applications for leases, machine sites, &c. are pouring into the War Jen's offic6 , hourly, employing the time of the \ Warden's Clerk, whose appointment is certainly anything but si sinecure. Illustrative of the reigning furore, the demand for miners' rights has been so great that | the Clerk of the Court has had to issue them pro Warden, the Doctor, on his | visit, considering that a matter of 200 bearing his autograph would be equal to the demand. Caledonian Society. — This Society has not been formed solely with the view of providing for the public one day's amusement in the year, but it has higher objects in view, one of them being the rewarding of individuals for any special act of heroism. For the first time, it. is about to exercise its functions in this direction, the directors, at a meeting held last, tnehr, having decided upon presenting John Kid»on, tho lighthouse keeper, with a silver medal, iv commemoration of the courage and humanity displayed by him iv saving three individuals from a watery grave, on the occasion of the upsetting of a boat from the French Pass, some few months ago, which resulted in the deaths by drowning of Wiiliam Webber, and Miss Reynolds. The medal, we are informed, will be publicly presented to him who so gallantly earned it. Stoke. — At the monthly meetiug of the Farmers' Club held last evening the discussion on barley-growing was resumed. Mr. Rout read a paper on the subject, at the same time stating that the conclusions at which he had arrived were not the results of his own observation, but were based upon the information derived from old and experienced farmers in the Waimeas, who said that the Nelson breweig always excused themselves from buying barley on some pretence or another, as they preferred using sugar. Ha believed that if farmers in the Waimeas were to adopt the system of cropping in rotatiou, the yields would very soon bo largely increased. The opinion of the meeting was that at the present rate of wages, and the low price of produce, barley conld not be made to pay the grower. It could not be expected that barley could be produced in large quantities of a better quality than one or two samples that were exhibited at the previous meeting, and if the brewers would only give 3/3 when the supply whs small, it was not likely that they would j give a higher price when the quantity for sale was much larger; on the other hand, farmers could not afford to grow barley at a smaller price than 4/6 per bushel. — Communicated. The Risks taken by the Government Insurance in Canterbury amount to over £80,000. At the Regatta to be held at LyMelton next month upwards of £300 will be giveu in prizes. Wkt Weather on the Coast. — The following from a West Coast paper has a tantalising sound to Nelson ears : — " The flooded state of the streams prevented the Christchurch coach from starting from Hokitika on Tuesday."

The people of Ross appear to have somewhat singular ideas as to what constitutes Christmas sporls. In the programme for Boxing-day appear the followin'; interesting items : — Smoking match, one prize, £l; eating hot porridge, £l ; grinning through a collar, £l. It is a pity that the names of the successful competitors are not published for general information. The subject of bee-farming is creating a considerable amount of attention just, now in England, more especially as affording au iucrea.se to the iucome of the working man. Oue authority oh tlie subject says that he should like to sco a fair trial between agriculture and apiculture — that is between the farmer und his laborer. He states that if any farmer, amateur or practical, will pit five of his best acres, cultured to the highest degree, ngainst ten hives of bees, ho will accept the challenge; the trial to last three years in order to cover a rotation of crops by the farmer, and to give the bees a chance nt getting a favornble year for gathering honey. Tub Maoius in Cantmibury have so far adopted the habits of the Pakebas as to play cricket, and appear to be by no means despicable plovers. A correspondent, writing to the Li/tlelton Times, gives the following account of a match in which the Maoris gave the Pakehns a drubbing : — " On passing by Little River district en route to Akaroa, I was agreeably surprised to see cricket so Tar advanced iv that locality. A match was being pl»yed between eleven white men and eleven Maoris. Unfortunately, I arrived too late to see the batting of the Maoris, especially that of Ihstka, Herniatai, and Hernipere, which was really a creditable performance. The white men scored 76 in the first innings, and 11 in the second. The Maori?, whose names I append, are the following :— Kiore, 10 ; Ihakn, 24 ; Wiremu, 8; Tamatiwaka, 5; Wareria, 10; Herniatai, 20, not out; Teonepere, 0; Ruern, 4; • Heruippre, 10 ; Euru, 3 ; Mataia, O. Total, 97." Trout is Nkw Zealand. — The breeding of trout having proved so successful iv Nelsou, any peculiarities observed in their habits, &c. in various parts of New Zealand are likely to prove of interest to our readers. The iollowing is from the Otago Daily Times : — ln will be of interest to lovers ot the rod to learn that the trout in New Zealaud does not rise to the natural fly as it does at home. This is accounted for by the fact that the ground food in our streams is very abundant, and also that there are numerous shoals of small fish upon wbioh it is known the trout feeds. There is no doubt also that this abundance of food sufficiently accounts for the immense siz3 to which the trout attains in this country. We mentioned last week that several trout had been observed recently in the Shag River, which were estimated to weigh about, four or five pounds ; and we have since learned that trout as large have been seen in other streams in Otago where these fish were liberated by the Acclimatisation Society. We have heard also that, a short time ago, a trout, weighing about IJ-lb., which must have been a year younger than the Shag River fish, was found dead in the upper part of ihe Water Works Compauy's Reservoir. The salmon trout, however — some of which were lately turned adrift from the pouds atPalruerston — seem to follow instinctively the habits of their progenitors, as they have been noticed not only rising but leaping at the fly. As in Tasmania angling for brown trout was opened to the public about six years after the introduction of the fish ; it may reasonably be presumed, after the great success on the part of our Society in acclimatising the trout, that the rod may be used in Ougo in the ceurse of two or three years. However disappointed anglers may kel that there is no prospect of their being able to take a " rise " out of these noble fish, it will be some consolation to know that they will be able to fill a basket with a "spin."