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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 92, 17 April 1873, Page 2

The following extract will be interesting to many of our readers, so far as recording the change of name of a brig whose old name will for ever be remem** bered in connection with the criminal records of Australia :— "The brig Surprise, which arrived in Auckland on the. 10th uit., from Levuka, comes under a new name, she being no less than the notorious slave ship Carl, on board which the horrible massacre of Polynesians took place a few months ago. Even now,- notwithstanding the overhaul the Carl bas received, she bears many a mark to remind those on board of the black deed of blood formerly committed in her hold. She was purchased by her present owner- — Captain Thompson — -under whose: .command Bhe has entered on a career of peaceful trading among the islands." *'*':■••.■. A Humble Apology .—Judging -from' the following we should say it was nearly time that Mr Richard Cuming of the Ross USTews, gave up, , editing and publishing, ai newspaper and went into some ; other-' 1 lineof business. The apology * he has be'en! compelled to make is to Mr Warden . Aylmer of Ross, arid reads as fqil6ws:^^,Sir, Referringjto, a, leading .article in my issue " of the. 3rd instant, -written by my self : p | wherein I made certain statements and comments respecting your conduct , pays a Magistrate,' I beg to retra'ct7them* alffas being false and malicious; and I havo* further t to apologise for the' gross lioel' contained therein,- and to express my«deep regret that I should so far have forgotten myself as to have inserted* in*' myl paper, not only upon the occasion alluded to, but upon many previous occasions, that which was untrue,%nd calculated td defame' and injure you— Signed Richard Cuming, Printer and Publisher, RossNowb.- • ,

While the'^steamsbip^NeVaSa was abo'ot eighty miles .off one7)of|<'the minor ißt-%*Dds of^Micronesia.lon ks way up from Austral ia 7to San Francisco, at about six o'clock in the morning, a strange animal of a, dark figure was -observed to light on the highest peak of the foremost mast. Attracted by its peculiar appearance, the officer of the watch, Mr. Burns, the second mate, offered one of the sailors a bonus to secure it. The man clambered up tbe mast with ja heavy cloth in his hand, and after a slight struggle, in which he was severely bitten on the hand, it was secured. Bringing it to the deck, on examination, the beast proved to be a fine specimen of the vampire tribe. This animal closely resembles the pterodoctyl of the antediluvian ages. Iv appearance it is like a huge bat. It is in the bead of the animal, however, that the main distinction resides. That of the present one is the perfect counterpart of a black-and-tan terrier dog. Its teeth are over half-an -inch in length, and are; called in constant requisition to discountenance all attempts at familiarity. When flying,* the wings of this ill-omened beast stretch from tip to tip at least five times the diameter of its body. It is of a deep, jet black color, the body being covered with a heavy fur. It is very savage, being on the constant alert to attack any one approaching it. Whether this animal is a full and perfect vampire, whose feats of lulling man to sleep with the waving fan-motions of its wings while sucking into the victims' very heart-blood, ia yet a question, for as yet it has not been examined by any scientific men. Its appearance is, however, enough to suggest the truth of such a horrible surmise. Beit as it may, tbe little Micronesian island has always borne a weird and frightful reputation among the native inhabitants of the adjoining ones. Strange stories of cannabalism', tales of savage idolatrous practices, poisoned valleys, &c, are constantly connected in their minds with its name, and in the small matter of being possessed of blood-imbibing vampires, in addition to all the other horrors, few of them would think the matter extraordinary or the least doubtful. Tbe beast, we believe, will shortly be placed on exhibition at some of our places of public resort.— Alta California. , Judge Johnston at Auckland. — In his recent charge to the Grand Jury at Auckland, Mr Justice Johnston said :— - It is now nine years since I addressed the Grand Jury of Auckland, and it would be impossible for me to discharge that duty and say the few words I will have to address to you without reverting, at all events

For remainder of news, see fourth page,

THE NELSON JTrßNO^'Jli^^

cursorily, to some .of the **; facts connected with the history of. the colony since I last sat in this * place. The nine years iust passed afford the material not for pages but for chapters. The student will find in them the record of serious and grave events tending to excite sympathy, astonishment, and surprise. He will read of,, gray.e reverses, and of a variety of vicissitudes affecting tbe public community, more especially affecting tbe inhabitants of this island. He wiilVead tales of horrors, of distresses, but, thank God, by the time he arrives at the pages which record facts of to-day he will be able to indicate a prospect of the most assuring and satisfactory character — tending to prove that through all these trials and troubles of the. . past, the perseverance, vigor, and courage with which tbe colony met its difficulties have not: been unattended with success, but, on the contrary, now give promise of great and increasing prosperity. It is not for me here to allude even to those topics upon which men's minds have come to various conclusions, but are ordinarily called politics; but it is peculiarly within the sphere of my duty to remark upon the condition of the country as evidenced by the laws which prevail, and the manner in which these laws are carried out. And if we have seen those public events more strictly related to the public life of the colony to which I have just alluded, there are other things greatly to be regretted. I think we may see even now, iv this city and neighborhood, scenes of a character much to be deplored, but out of which one may confidently bope that good may arise. If I allude to a certain epidemic — to a sort of moral and social disease which may be prevalent— it is not, I assure you, with the pretensions of a censor but merely to impress npon the public mind, as I may legitimately do, the importance of learning the true lesson which such things ought to teach as a source of future action. I more particularly allude to the unfortunate rage which arises out of the unlimited desire to procure unearned wealth while there is no more legitimate object of labor and self-denial than the possession of the means which enable us to enjoy material benefits and diffuse them around us. When riches are acquired by energy, assiduity, forbearance, skill, perseverance, — which are the legitimate "means to obtain them, then material wealth can make a nation truly prosperous. But if ever there should arise a state of society where there exists in a large section of it an uncontrollable desire for sudden wealth, unearned and undeserved, I can only say it will be happy for that society if it comes out of the ordeal with as little . scathe and as little ultimate mischief as I < hope has been the case in this portion of the colony.

All Fools** Day. — The following account of a great All Fools' Day joke, played by some wags at Creswick, is given in the Ballar at Courier of Wednesday : — ** It appears that in the shire a license fee of £25 is imposed, wbich some 15 or 20 refusing to pay, were lately summoned and fined for selling without a license. Taking advantage of their dissatisfaction, some unknown wag, evidently well acquainted with the facts, conceived an idea, since successfully carried out, of writing to nearly every publican in the shire, asking his attendance at a meeting to be held at the British Hotel, Creswick, yesterday, to give evidence before a commission there sitting to inquire into and report on tbeir grievances, and finally soliciting the attendance of the president of tbe shire to preside at tbe said meeting. Never was a bait more eagerly snapped at, for yesterday morning, from 9 till half-past 10 a.m., the town was quite alive with buggies and horsemen rapidly pouring in, much to the astonishment of the townspeople, who were quite at a loss to account for this sudden irruption. By 11 o'clock, the hour fixed, the president of the shire and" a large number of tbe genus Boniface (amongst whom were two buxom hostesses from Kingston) were assembled; and now the cry was, 'Where are the commissioners?' But here all inquiry was at fault. The worthy host of The British did not know, nor did anyone else. No one there bad heard anything of such a meeting previously, and all seemed wrapped in mystery. At length some one with more brains than his neighbors, recalled to recollection that oo the letter sent him, in one corner was a mysterious. ' A. F. in red ink; and as it often happens that one discovery leads on to something 7 greater still, so it proved here, for presently another of the party, who bad been for sometime severely scrutinising the missive he had received, made the startling announcement that it was^ All! Fools'; Day — that; was what 'A. F. meant. The signature was only an anagram on SAprii Fool,: and the speaker believed they had all been made fools of toget^er.^77S^ ;liesua pass over the scene which ensued. Vows of veDgeance,ycpuid; they but find the wag, accorapanied by a wish from the ;-i*ft-dies";tb"at: r^h©^

clutches for five minutes; then an edjournmeut for drinks, followed by a departure for home/ and; they klfr-went their way, ' not rej oicing,7 but -sadder > if not wiser men and women."

An Englishwoman's; experience in an American sleeping car is thus described: — Journeying from Boston to Washington the authoress had her berth made into a bed, and divesting heiself of her outer garments, retired behind the curtain and slept till daybreak. "I knew," she proceeds, " that at each end of the sleeping car there was a toilet room, white marble basins and washing paraphernalia. I put my head out between the opening of the curtain to see if the place was unoccupied, when, to my amazement, what should meet my eye all the way up and down the narrow corridor but stockinged-no I mean socked — feet struggling into boots of the most decidedly masculine persuasion. As I was contemplating the possibility of threading my way through this novel living hedge, I came to the knowledge that I was the only lady in the car, andj tbat unknown and unprotected, I had been passing the night in the most ignorant and reckless security with about twenty men ! In any other country this discovery would have been horrifying in itself, and extremely disagreeable in its results, but short as my experience, of American chivalry had been, it was quite sufficient for me to know that I had absolutely nothing to feel uncomfortable about. Most -of the gentlemen did nic the honor to ignore my presence completely, thereby, making me feel very much assured. Those that did not neither stared nor spoke, but as the train slackened at the Jersey City station two of them helped me down the steps of the platform, and one taking my shawl, aod the other my band-bag, said, "Allow me, madame, to see you to the ferry," whither they accompanied me, and bowed themselves off.

A Medical Professor's Idea of the Doctors op the Future. — Professor Da Costa, a new member of the Faculty of Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, delivered his introductory lecture the other day. He said : " I look to the day when we shall have a clearer idea of the inception, extent and advancement of tissue alternations than we now have; when the amount of force expended in diseased action, if I may so express myself,- shall be more accurately gauged, and the progress of disorder more readily detected; when we can measure the something of life that is all the time undergoing the changes of life even in gathological textures, and estimate more closely tbe finer physical alterations beiug made and tbe upshot of these alterations." Much is to be hoped from the improvement of instruments. The microscope, the thermometer, the laryngoscope and the opthalmoscope are constantly used by skilled physicians. Professor Da Costa apprehends, however, that by-and-bye it will be impossible for any man to be master of tbe skill required to manipulate all these instruments. As in the mechanical arts, there will be a division of labor. Every doctor wili necessarily become in a certain sense a specialist. He thus humorously sketches a professional visit of the future: "Madame is in ber boudoir, reclining on a sofa, in expectation of her medical attendants. A drag drives up, from wbich alight two servants with heavy bags, who assist two qr four doctors to descend. The fraternity is announced, and, followed by the servants, enter the room., The bags are deposited, the servants withdraw, and after the exchange of a few remarks, the examination begins. Dr Beady, the junior practitioner, conducts, the first inquiries, makes the ordinary investigations of the different organs, and before finishing, pulls out pf his pocket a tablet contaiuing the volumetic examination of every fluid in the body, completed -since the last visit. This is looked at. Dr Reckoner then takes traces or the movements of the heart, of the pulse, of the action of the muscles, records the velocity of their contraction, and estimates the amout of nerve supply, showing diagrams and figures of the patient, who inspects them; with the look of a connoisseur. Dr Eyeman now applies the improved ophthalmoscope, which .photographs as well as is used to see by. Again Madame shows active interest and 'declares that the picture is very pretty. A mysterious nodding and whispering has taken place. .There has been indigestion; with pain at the pit of the stomach; 1 can there he anything -wrong with the blood. . vessels there? Dr. Magnet, who is a yery.;. accomplished physicist, steps forward. 'If'you will permit me I will make; you transparent.' And by means of a modified, portable-.;-' Ruhmkorg coil, and.; ■■'•an. pin-i. i strument with lenses, dexterously; passed into the stomach, the patient is really rendered transparent. <• - The examination is completed; fortunately, ; ; , i np7 r serious, lesibria;;exis^ i - room -rosui ts .in;-*ti»e\:^ glasses of water and a daily '<nd^ pOWK? '■-■ y „,; l.y yyyypi^yPyprip^yiiPiP, •!.-; .'■'7-v^.*---:*^^^