THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 202, 24 August 1872, Page 2

THE WEEK .

The periodical sittings of the Supreme Court have taken place since Jast I wrote, and Lave given rise to a deal of grumbling on the part of those who, rs the law says they are to be paid for their attendance, expected to receive what was due to them as soon as their part of the bargain had been completed, instead of which they were met with the assurance that the Registrar had no funds at his command with which to satisfy their claims. This, however, has already been commented upon, so that I shall do no more now than give expression to the hope indulged in by all the parties concerned that better arrangements may be made for the future, whereby all such inconvenience and delay as were experienced on the late occasion may be rendered unnecessary. There was another subject in connection with the late Circuit Court that was very freely remarked upon out of doors, Damely, the sending over for trial by the magistrate at Colliugwood so petty a case as that which came from Golden Bay. A man steals a twopennyhalfpenny saddle, and instead of being dealt with summarily, is committed for trial : at the Supreme Court, thereby involving the attendance of a large number of witnesses, a considerable waste of time on the part of the jurymen and others whoso avocations necessitated their being present in the Court, and an expense to the country of something like £90. What is the use, is asked on all sides, of paid Magistrates, if they decline to take the responsibility of dealing even with such trumpery cases as the one in question ? Let us hope that in the event of any more such cases being brought before the same official, he will divest' himself of his native modesty, and display a little more confidence io bis own judgment and discrimination.* • A battle royal is raging in Wellington just now, and the Ministry have been compelled to listen to some very sharp criticisms ou their administrative capacity, to which, so far as we can learn, they have no 6 yet made any very satisfactory reply. There is no little difficulty in the way of ascertaining- the real state of affairs, as the accounts we receive of the probable chance of victory or v defeat awaiting the Government are so highly colored by the. writer or telegrapher, according to the side on which his sympathies are enlisted, that what reaches us can only be looked upon as expressing an individual opinion and nothing more. For instance, the two telegraph companies which have undertaken to supply the New Zealand papers with news appear to espouse^ the one the cause of the Government, the other that of the Opposition, and while" Greville tells us that Mr Stafford made an excellent, and Mr^Fox a, weak speech, the Press Association exactly reverses the statement, tlius leaving the public at a loss to know; the rights of the case; as of. course no satisfactory opinion can" be formed from' the brief telegraphic abstracts upon winch they have' to idepena in the absence of the impartial Hansard. From the latest?' accounts tohand, it would appear that the' fate, of, -the .^Ministry; restsi entirely |withr Mr Maclean,^ who. evidently /ienjoyjSL the full confidence of the House.- Apparently

there is little question th*t4f ;Mf Stafford can, indu^the^rese.Dt Native/Minister to jton?|hin?£|be £is flperfeetljr/ secure of a fqrraida^majotiiy, '^ufc iii^tlw event of his .faHlirfg^ia this' resp^ct^oth! public and private advices agree in stating,,.^hat the present Ministry will probably retain office for another year at least, although the division with which the debate now in progress will close will show that they have only escaped defeat by a very narrow majority. Strange disclosure** are being made, as member after member rises to open fire upou the Government from some uewyand occasionally unexpected point, but of all the speeches that have yet been made, none has been so damaging as that of Mr Donald Reid, a shrewd, loug-headed Scotchman who hails from Otago. If onehalf of the allegations ho advances are correct, and as yet 'there appears to have been no attempt made to refute them, it will be. passing strange if the Ministry rotains the confidence of the House auy longer. But all. that can be said at present is but pure speculation based upon very inadequate ground?, and it yet remains to be seen whether the announcement of the division list in the newspapers is to be heralded by the sensational headiug "Victory" or "Defeat. of the Govern^ raent." Newspaper proprietors have received a good practical lesson within the last day or two. It may be embodied in a very few words : — lf you are anxious that your investment shall prove a profiiablc one, support the Ministry; through thick and thin stand by your friends, and they, holding ac they do the colonial purse strings, will see that you have your reward. If, on the other hand, you have not unbounded faith in the Government of the day; if you venture to differ from them with regard to "their policy or administration, why, don't expect much of their, or rather of the public, money, for if, poor deluded mortal that you are, you. venture to think that you have as good a right as you Ministersupporting neighbor to the loaves and fishes, you will indeed speedily discover your error. Let me quote a few instances for the benefit of such individuals as may have an eye to becoming the owners of newspapers at some future date. The difference in tb.9 receipts for Government advertising in favor of the Ministerial journal in the town best known to my readers, as compaiei with these of its morning contemporary which does not recognise Air Yogel ag its "own true love," is (I like to ba precise in such matters) exactly £424 15s 8d; in Wellington the same principle is carried out to the extent of £323; in Canterbury, £131; aud in Greymouth the Argus is indebted to its patrons for £350, while the Star, which is not so struck with the Ministerial charms, has received the munificent sum of £15. Clearly, it does not pay to think differently from the powers that be, or at all events to express your thoughts

if they do not coincide tyiikthflirs. News* paper proprietors,^whetheif ,think they are right t wrong|' always support the Governmepff;-! Sjicjht is Jt&B /jpjjbral conveyed by 'that pr6oii)uß^li^|l'ad by Mr Coliius in, the House of Representatives. Musical criticisms, I observe, are becoming absolutely overpowering ia this little town . of ours. We have two Societies that occasionally provide the public with ,very pleasant musical evenings, but I am sure , the performers must be astonished to see how all that they did do, and all that they didn't do, but were very near doing, looks when placed before them in print a flay or two afterwards. Imagine the joy '■ or sorrow— l am not quite clear which of the two sentiments ought to , prevail-— of • the members of the Harmonic Society on (lading that the Mass which they performed ;: so creditably laat week was totally free from " all. contrapuntal complexities." I wonder if, at the lime, any of them were aware of the absence of these polysyllabic difficulties from which they had so providential an escape; lam inclined to doubt it. The hearing of the . Mass and the * perusual of the prodigious critiques upon its performance have suggested to my mind the idea of composing", not a "long," but a ' short " prayer," to be Bung at the next concert. ,The music to which it is to, be set I leave to be supplied by some one more competent than myself for such an . undertaking, and I may meution that I do not much care whether the Italian or English sound is given to the Latin vowels that occur in the words with which it closes. Ifc is as follows : — From clover critics, from contrapuntal complexities, and from curiouslycontrived crackjaw combinations of any kind soever Domine lihera nos.

The Pacific Line. —A writer in the Australasian remarks that there was never, any probablity of American steamers being::, good enough to keep the ocean against British vessels. The translantic steam trade proves that. The reasons are obvioiiai enough. American vessels are wooden — British are iron. The screw boat, as was foreseen by its early friends, has beaten the paddle. The submerged screw is not subject to the risks of the exposed and unwieldly paddle-wheelaud covering-box. And iron screw boats ars superior to wooden, because in tho latter, to get strength aft to sustain the .thrust of the For remainder of news see fourth page.

screw, the, lines, most bo clumsy.. In an iron vessel a fiie run aft is quite compatible with- great' strength: When a Pacific mail j HriV is opened it requires but little foresight to see, that it must be with iron screw ship's, ancl not" with " Noah's Ark " or the "Roll ing Moses." Some of those •American Congress men who wouldn't agree lo the Webb subsidy put in plain words what most people knew about the ch.ariactier of that worm-eaten wooden fleet, which even the rats had deserted. The Eaii?Eß<ijt op CnittA has sent four young Celestial damsels to be educated at Paris. When sufficiently conversant with European arts and sciences they are expectedy on their return, to be able to instruct .the rest of their countrywomen; As, the population, of the empire is something like 377,632,907 souls, their task may be, considered of a herculean nature. How to Quiet, a Baby.-— A farmer, who had passed innumerable sleepless nights immortalised himself .by discovering a method of keeping babies quiet. The mode of operation is as follows: — As soon as, the squaller wakes, set it up, propped by a pillow, if it csnnot sit alone, and smear itSr fingers with thick treacle, then put half a dozen feathers into its hands, and it will sit and pick the feathers from one hand to the other until it drops to eleep. As soon as it , wakes again, treacle and more feathers, and in place of the nerveastounding yells, there will be silence and joy unspeakable." With regard to the female Scandinavian immigrants settled 'in the Wairarapa district, the Masterton correspondent of the' Wellington Independent writes : — "There is a homely thrift and industry about these Scandinavian women that reminds one of what our great-grand-mothers were in merry England. These women buy the raw wool, which . they wash clean. They, collect a plant that grows by the small creeks, and make ;it into a beautiful brown dye, which is readily imparted to the wool. The wool is then put through the usual carding and spinning processs, and stockings and other useful household articles ore knitted in spare time." " Atticus," ia the Leader, hits upon a colonial absurdity which is carried to 'great excess in New Zealand, as well as in Australia. He says: — I wonder who is responsible for the Australian custom of semi- public funeral., The most obscure person in the community must be followed toh.is last home by a horde of persons who would not have walked a mile to save his life, but now risk theirs in order to do his memory honor. I say they risk their lives because I believe that during the winter season at least two persons catch seyere colds at every funeral. There is something very absurd about the whole arrangement. We decry the living man, and glorify the dead one." An American Traveller deairing, while ia Paris, to" take a bath, his physician recommended a wine bath. In the employ of the establishment was a colored man whom ho had known in America, and, of him he inquired how they could- afford to give a wine bath for seventy- five cents. "Why, massa," said the negro, " that wine has been in the bath room one week, and you are the thirty-eighth person that ha 9 bathed in it." " Well, I suppose they throw it away when they have done with it." " Oh ! no, massa; they send it down stairs for the poor people, who bathe in it for twenty-five cents." "And then what do they do with it ? " "Bottle it up, and send it to Almerica where they sell it for French wine." The, House hod a little relaxation again over the Deceased Wife's Sister Marriage Bill yesterday afternoon. Mr. Steward proposed 'ah amendment, striking out the •word "duly" before "solemnized" in referepce to marriages which should be made legal, but; Mr. .Stafford pointed out that the change ; might appear to conduce to bigamy. Mr.. Bunny wished the act to be further .extended so as to legalise marriages with a deceased husband's brother ; Mr. Stafford that marriage with a deceased wife's niece might be advisable ; Mr. Gisborne thought that a ! man's wife's mother should be eligible ; ..while Mr. Sheehan asked for disabilities with regard to one's wife's stepmother to be removed. Mr. Luckie ventured to lecture Mr. Stafford on his abuse of his knowledge of the forms of the House, and for so doing, he was made .a laughing stock by Mr. White, who recommended him to hold his tongue, since from his' funereal manner he was eminently suited to play the mute.—rPost. : A Bot" named Ferguson, was recently shot accidentally by his father under rather remarkable: circumstances.. The JBendigo Advertiser thus reports the occurrence*:—^ It appears 'that the father was credited with i having given information to the authorities about thje; 'iJames: faniily,; being^iety^wiM's^ goodact he has come u'niierTthe displeasure of James's friends; '■■ T - This^^ilf ifeeliag haf

■ more particularly by throwing stones on Ferguspn's.;bouße v at B'gbk 6 . anDo 7*' auce ibecarae rspigVenfr for some time ' paist that the police h&ve beenput on to watch. On Saturday night the police kept watch until midnight, and then left.. About 3 o'clock in the morniDg the family were disturbed by a shower of stones on the roof. The boy. got up, and seizing a tomahawk ran outside, while the father got hold of a gun loaded with shot, and went out at another door, and .walked round the side of his house, when, seeing a human figure before him in the dark he challenged, and, getting no answer, fired. The figure fell, and on going up to it he found it was his son. Medical aid was at once sent for,, and Dr Atkinson was soon ,in attendance and dressed the wound, which was on the side of the check, and, happily, is not considered to be a dangerous one." It is probable, says a Landon contemporary, that before long the usual notice to bo seen on board steamboats, "'No smoking allowed abaft the funnel/ will have to be discontinued, owing to the absence of any funnel abaft which smoking, can be prohibited. Smokers will be simply requested to discharge their smoke into the water. According to the Swiss Times, two Austrian marine officers and a marine engineer have discovered by united experiments a method of conveying away under water the smoke from the stearaengiue, instead of through a funnel into the air. They make use of double ventilators, which compreßs the smoke and force it overboard. For propelling these ventilators they employ, according to circumstances, either water-power — that is, the pressure of the water between the surface of the water and the place where the apparatus is fixed — or, for smaller vessels, steam power. The advantages of this discovery are the greater security of ships of war, as in armor-plated ships the only vulnerable part, the funnel, will be taken away. Other advantages will be the saving of space now occupied by the passage of the funnel through every deck,, as well as security against danger from fire; complete regulation of the draught, and in consequence of that, the application of a method for consuming the smoke, thereby effecting a saving of fuel; and, finally, better ventilation ■of the boiler. For submarine and torpedo ships and monitors this discovery willjbe^of great value, as these last will be rendered quite invulnerable. The trials that have been made have, it is alleged, resulted in a complete success, even to the smallest details.