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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 28, 1 February 1872, Page 2

Mr. Brogden's Staff have commenced the survey of the Hutt railway. It was reported in Christchurch on the 23rd (says the Lyttelton Times), that an extensive fire had occurred on the Hon. John Hall's run, destroying the woolsbed and other property, to the value of about £2,000. The Tradesmen of Christchurch are very much exercised over the half-holiday question. They tried it on Saturday, and found that day would not do. They then went in hot for Thursday afternoon, but the movement was not a success, and now they are again mooting the question of the Saturday half-holiday. — Post. The Overland Telegraph Party. — ;• A telegram from Adelaic?e says : — News i received from the outer camp of the OverlaDd Telegraph parly" reports that Mr. Millnor, 1 whilst on his way overland with

sheep, was attacked by blacks at Attack Creek, and both he and hia brother killed. This is the same place where Stuart was attacked by natives. Three attempts at incendiarism have lieeu made during tho month, in all of which proof of the intent was very conclusive. In one case an inquest wns held, :md a venlict inculpating a person unkuown returned. In one of these cases the Jewish Synagogue was plundered and the inflammables for a conflagration left behind, whicb, fortunately, were not fired. — Independent. A Large Quantity of Wool is being shipped this season to the United Stntes. Both the Wellington and Phoebe will take full cargoes for transhipment per Nebraska. A huge trade iv this commodity is springing up between this country and the Uuite'd Mates, the favorable news brought by the last, America mail having created a demand which has assisted greatly to the development of a permanent trade. — Independent. The Timaru Herald of the 22nd iust., reports : — Wo are informed that the grain crops on the Timaru Downs, to the westward of the town, about Walker's track, are, in spite of the dry weather, looking extremely promising. One gentleman informed us that be has a hundred acres of whf-at whicb, should nothing unfortunate occur, will yield fully forty bushels to the acre. The question of the reduction of the p.iy of the Canterbury police U atfi-Hciina considerable attention in Clirisiolmrdi. "Public- feeling," says the Times, >s against the reduction is increasing, aiH J a suggestion has been made to call a public j meeting in order to permit of the citizens | siving expression to it. The police still express a determination to resign in the event of notice of a reduction being given to them. 1 ' Wellington Wealth. — The foundation stone of (he. new provincial buildings has recently been laid at "Wellington with great ceremony. At the luncheon "which followed, several speeches were made including one by Mr. Gisborne who, says the Post, " alluded most humorously to the condition and lodging of the Provincial Government in Wellington, and said that, he believed the delay which had occurred in erecting the provincial buildings was in consequence of the Provincial Government being unable to raise the funds to provide the necessary coin to place in the bottle under the stone." CO- OPERATION IX WELLINGTON. — The half-yearly meeting of the Wellington Co-operative Society (Limited), was held on the 16th insfc. Nearly the whole of the shareholders were present, to whom the balance sheet and other papers forming the record of the society's transactions for she past half-year announced the gratifying aud encouraging fact that the Society's operations showed a profit of over £20. after paying all expensqg. The vslue to be attached to this is not" the- mere money consideration, but, as proving -the success of the cooperative system, it is matter for congratulation the the officers and shareholders of the society. The writer of " Casual Notes " in the Qtaqo Daily Times, says : — " It is an ill-wind, however, that blows nobody good, and it seems likely that one class of persons at least will be beneGited by the drought. The lawyers have, a plum in prospect in the shape of the case already mentioned in Court regarding the hush fire on Pine Hill. _ I -am*/ not going to remark on that cas^n&V, for several good reasons, and we shall probably hear enough of it before i*M§ decided. I may he permitted Xq remark, however, that with 34 witnesses to be examined, it bids fair to be a Tichborne case on a small scale." Auckland. — Telegrams from Auckland state as follows : — The men employed on the Waikato railway works have struck, in consequence of an attempt to introduce the nine hours' system. Mr. Broaden refuses to give way. — Messrs. Ormond and Gillies have gone north, for the purpose of officially taking over the Kaipara railway from the province. — Captain Morrow is the only Auckland volunteer who has qualified to compete in the Colonial prizing firing. Auckland w*s entitled to send eight representatives. Great dissatisfaction is expressed at the wretched firing made. The Thames has four qualified. — Some unknown ruffian fired several shots through the windows of Mr. Thomas Eussell's house. No one was hurt.— -Caledonians are fluctuating, £26; Thames, £7; Tookeys, £14. A Clerical Joke. — The Rev. Charles Clark is not (theoretically, at least) favorably impressed with the morality of commercial speculation. In an amusing and clever address last Sunday evening — an address too lively to let his congregation fall asleep — Mr. Clark had occasion to refer to stealing, "or," said he, "as we might less offensively call it in polite society, peculation, or, if we wish to be still nicer in speech, we might prefix an S,

and call it speculation." Mr. Clark apparently does uot consider that any very broad line of demarcation separates theft from enterprise. Or, perhaps, in the boat of the evening, he could not fongo the opportunity of a little hon tnot, irrespective of the exactness of defiuiuon. I wonder if the Rhv. Mr. Clark considers the n.fil-j for Father Barry's buggy aud pair of horses a very immoral speculation. — JE^les iv the Australasian. | The Wool Crop of New Zealand. — Many ingenious calculations have bepn made with regard to the amount which lims been realised by the wool- grower owing to the advance which has taken place in the price of this staple ; but it lias perhaps never been noticed that the mldiiion to the income of the colony, owing to the increase in the quantity of wool produced, has been obtained by this rirfe in price. The quantity of wool exported from New Zealand in 1870 amounted, iv round numbers to 37,000,000 lbs. ; and it may be safely estimated that the quantity which will be exported this season will reach 50,000,000 lbs. Even an advance of 3d. per lb. on the whole of this quantity would only realise £935,000; tiut if the prices of wool had not advanced ut all, ami remained the same now as it ■fid in 1870, the value of the increased qunntity at 2n. per pound would amount io no ltss than £650,000. This large increase in price, must have a more iieueficial influence on the prosperity of i lie country. The production of wool will go on increasing year by year; but it is probable that the rise in its price has already reached its limits; though this is by no means certain. — Independent. The Grey Argus says " the balancesheet of the Church of England Bazaar shows the gross receipts to have been £665 15s 3d, and the expenditure £66 2a 2 1, therefore giving the net proceeds of £599 13s Id. This handsome sum not on-ly dears off the debt on the Church, but leaves a small balance in hand. In Chambers at Christchurcb, the other day, his Hon. Mr. Justice Gresson announced a decision of some importance — i.o the effect, as we understand, that it will no loDger be necessary for a creditor desiring to have the power to arrest his debtor, to obtaiu the order which has hitherto been usual, withdrawing his protection during the suspension- of the order of discharge. The protection will henceforward be taken to be withdrawn by the fact of the suspension of a discharge; and it will in future be necessary for debtors desiring to avoid arrest during the time of suspension to get a continuance of their protection endorsed upon the order. — Charleston Herald. Immigration. — It was recently stated that Dr. Featherstou, the Home Ageut, had made arrangements to send out emigrants from the north of Europe. How easily these may be obtained, and what class of immigrants they may be expected to prove maybe gathered from the following, which we take from the San Franciso Bulletin: — "A correspondent ot the Bulletin, Frans Peterson, writing from Goteburg, Sweden, states that there are thousands of men and women in that country who whould gladly emigrate to California if assisted by parties who want ■heir labor, whom they would serve faithfully so long as they agreed to. We have turned his letter over to the Immigrant Union, but some facts are stated to which we will refer in this place. The wages of a Swedish servant particularly of a female are barely sufficient to provide her with clothing. They are about 12dol. per annum, gold; in exceptional cases only, say for first-class cooks in the houses of the rich, rising as high as 25i101. a year. Men servants are usually paid 25d01. a year and found. Farm laborers are, in some places, paid as low as one-third of a rix-dollar per day — hardly more than a bit (,6d.) of our money. Io many places a man is paid half a rix-dollar for felling a tree, cutting and splitting the logs, and piling up the wood into a cord. This is a hard day's labor for a man living like the Swedish laborer, on a little thin oatmeal gruel, a few potatoes, and now and then a salt herring.

Bulls and Beaks. — Says the Melbourne Argus: — There has been a bottle a outrance in the ehsre maiket. A bull and » bear have had a toujrh fiaht, with varying results, and the tussle isn't quite over. Persons outside the arena who (at least eorno of them) suppose that stocks rise and fall on Iheir merits solely, have been curious to understand the determined I advance in Great Gulf shares. The | secret i?, that some short time ago a dealer sold speculatively, for future delivery on a day fixed, 500 or 1000 shares which he did not ihnn possess. The price agreed on was about 455. There was a little brag about the matter on both si.les, and the seller speculated for the fall. Then commenced the fight. So soon as tin; over-sold dealer commenced to buy in, the enemy began to run up the price. His bids were overlapped, until the market rate was, shilling by shilling, forced to £5. The poor bear was treed. The riug had been caught in their toils. Both fought fairly, but the game was one way. There is, however, a sad sequel to the story. One of the parties to the bargain has succumbed mentally. Whether from excitement about this matter, or from over application to business, or owing to both causes combined, there is an abberation of intellect, which, it is hoped, may bo hut temporary. But, in the meantime, the Great Gulf pot shows symptoms of boiling over, as artificial combinations usually do. For remainder of news see fourth page.