The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, MAT 20, 1873. DECLARATION OF THE POLL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 120, 20 May 1873, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, MAT 20, 1873. DECLARATION OF THE POLL.

The Returning Officer officially declared tbe result of the recent Suburban election, at the Provincial Hall, at 12 o'clock today. The numbers polled were as follows : Elliott 70 Selling ... ... 0 Richmond ... ...» 146 He therefore declared Mr Andrew James Richmond duly elected. Mr Richmond thanked the electors for placing him at the head of the poll by such a triumphant majority, and said he looked upon it not so much as a proof of their confidence in him personally, but as .an expression of tbeir entire faith in the policy. of the present Government. His large majority was also no doubt due, to a great extent* to the chivalrous retirement j of Mr Railing, j Mr Elliott thanked the 70 independent electors who had voted for him, who, he had also no. doubt, had done so to express their approval of hia views regarding the present reckless expenditure. A vote of .thanks to tho Returning Officer concluded the proceedings. The Eleventh Annual Meeting of the Permanent Buildiug Society will be held at the Temperance Hall, to-morrow evening, at half-past seven. Inland Communication Committee. — The deputation, after an interview with the Hon. Mr. Vogel this morning have decided to remain a day or two longer in Wellington for further conference with the Government.

Sir George Bowen has written to the effect that he misses the picturesque scenery of New Zealand, the Victorian scenery being flat and insipid. He wili always regard New Zealand as the most fasciunting country he ever knew. A Party of gentlemen in coming down the Wapganui River recently, counted no fewer than 170 rapids in a distance of 180 miles', their canoe often coming down at tbe rate of ten miles an hour. This will give some idea of the nature of the fall from the Taupo country. Forty- nine applications were recently received by the City Council of Auckland for the office of market inspector. The list of applicants according to the Southern Cross comprised the names of those who had followed every pursuit in life, from an ex-policeman to a general in the army, and from a decayed merchant to a preparer of tripe by a new process. A tery moral merchant of Auckland was astounded a few days ago at finding his name amongst the drunkards who had been fined at the Resident Magistrate's Court. ; -'Mt turned out on inquiry that the name was given by a facetious rogue who had got a little more than " half squiffy," and had fallen into tho hand of the Philistines. Mr Robert Vaile, the respectable citizen, very foolishly went out of his way to declare solemnly that he was not in the habit of getting drunk and tumbling over kerbstones and breaking his head, and that his name must have been assumed for some, ulterior object, Blenheim Building Society.— Tho Marlborough JVews May 15, says :— A meeting of the promoters of the above Society was held at the Institute on Monday last ; J. Barleyman, Esq., in the chair when the following report was read : — " To the Shareholders of the Blenheim Building Society. — GeDtlemen, — A public meeting was held in this hall on the 4th November last, when ifc was .determined that a Building Society should be established. A Provisional Directory was then chosen ; the Directors so appointed at once issued a prospectus. On the 28th of February, 234 shares had been applied for, and the Directors called a general meeting of the Shareholders to consider what course should be followed. The result of that meeting was that the Society should go on and the Directors should be guided by the number of shares which might be taken up in the succeeding 3 months ; Bince that time 86 shares have been taken up, making a to^al of 320 shares, but as payments on 84 shares have not been made up, the actual number is reduced to 236. The Directors are of opinion (.hat the share list being in such an unsatisfactory state, the most advisable course for the Shareholders is to wind up the Society, it being evident that the majority of the inhabitants of the locality are not in favor of, nor do they want a Building Society. — Wm. Nos worthy, Secretary."— lt was ihen agreed that the books of the society should be closed, and Mr W. NoßWorthy was appointed to wind up the affairs of the society. Sullivan's Murderers. — Mr Gillies, the Superintendent of Auckland, has written to the JV. Z. Herald detailing the circumstances under which he suggested to Mr Vogel that a money reward should be offered for the capture of Sullivan's murders. He says that he " waited upon Mr Vogel to urge upon him the propriety of offering a reward of £1000 for the apprehension of each of the persons directly implicated in the murder, Mr Vogel agreed that it was probably a very proper course, but urged delay. I urged that, to be of any value, the reward should be offered at once, and be sent up the Waikato by next morning's (Saturday's) coach. Mr Vogel hesitated, and suggested that Mr Mackay should be consulted. I sent for Mr Mackay, when he counselled delay until the attitude of. the King in the matter could be ascertained. I urged that, while it would be well to ascertain tho views of the King party, the prompt issue of a large reward would tend to cause them to hesitate, by exciting their cupidity, and could do no possible harm. It was suggested tbat perhaps it would excite some rash settlers to form marauding parties, to which I replied that the settlers could be warned that nothing of the sort would be permitted, and that the offer was intended for the natives. Finding that Mr Vogel was not prepared at once to offer the reward, I stated that I would do so as Superintendent, and accept the responsibility, unless he was prepared to take the responsibilty of requesting me not to do so. After considerable discussion, he did so request me* and I did not therefore feel at liberty to take what, I am convinced, would have been a wise course. As I have already said, no word was spoken by me suggesting any employment of force; but, on the contrary, my whole desire and recommendation was to take the steps which might render any appeal to force unnecessary. It will be for the country to judge whether my recommendation was not a wise one. i The Netu Zealand Herald was a little surprised because the Chinamen who left New Zealand in the Nebraska had no ambition to see Auckland during the stay of the vessel at that port. The Herald says all they cared about was to remain below comfortably seated around the tables, or squatted in groups upon the floor; and here they passed the-time, hour after hour, much after the same fashion us that •* heathen Chinee" described by Bret Harte. With their packs of cards, their small piles of gold, .and an occasional paunican of rice, they played on and on, and doubtless before they reach their destination the fifteen hundred ounces of gold in the possession of* the crowd will have often times changed hands, and probably, in the end find its way into boxes .or belts of a few only of the Bmarter of the card players. But John Chinaman roust have some amusement, and why not card-sharping as well as any other—it is all in their code of morality.

The Christchurch branch of the National Bank commences business in Herefordstreet this week. Whooping- Cough is still exceedingly prevalent in some of the country districts of Otago. In a recent article the Spectator, noting the slow progress of settlement in South Africa, says :— -People are afraid of the very word " Africa," and New Zealand rises faster in a year than South Africa in a decode. This is said to be the best pun ever made in America: Horace Greeley, during the Scott campaign, declared that he execrated and spit upon tbe Whig platform. A Western New York editor remarked that if Greeley spit upon the Whig platform he couldn't expect-to-rate as a Whig. The London wool-brokers, the Argus states, divide, it is said, amongst them between £70,000 to £80,000 a year, which considering the fewness of their j number is a very handsome sum. An Earthly Paradise — The Auckland Star concludes a glowing description of the Bay of Islands by stating that " those who foster a desire to live with nature, purity, and pretty girls will find the Bay of Islands tbe home of their fondest dreams — the sea-circled ' Canaan, flowing with milk and honey.'" Co-operative stores in the Auckland country districts are proving a great success. The Mahurangi storo divided ten per cent profit after a few month's operations, and had a large f bonus also to distribute to customers not being shareholders There must be plenty of pleasants in. the province of Auckland. Every steamer that arrives in Wellington from the North brings a quantity of dead birds of beautiful plumage, which it seems absolutely a pity to kilJ. On tbe previous trip of the Taranaki nearly every passenger was loaded with either ducks or pheasants, nnd yesterday there were [plenty of dead pheasants to be seen about the vessel. It seems rather anomalous that while at one end of the colouy ths acclimatisation societies are doiuv all th<-y can to introduce partridges and pheasants the latter are slaughtered in such . an indiscriminate manner at the other. — Independent. The origin of the word " steeplechaso " is thus explained : — Such was the difficulty at the commencement of this century in. solving these oft-recurring disputes as to the rival merits of horses or riders, thos recourse was had to the simple plan of choosing a distant steeple, whicb, as being placed upon some eminence, might be easily distinguishable, and in the direction of which the two litigous horsemen were instructed to make the best of their way across country. To him who alighted first in the churchyard was awarded the victory. Hence the word "steeplechase" grew to be regarded as symbolical of those cross- couutry races with which, although its name is still retained, the village spire has loug ceased to have any connection. A Nioe Law Point. — During the late Criminal Sitting of the Supreme Court, a man named John Henneesy was arraigned for forgery and uttering, the prosecutor being a publican in Timaru named Melton. When put on his trial, ihe Crown Prosecutor called the witness Melton -to prove the charge, but while giving his evidence he was seized with an epileptic fit, and the case was consequently adjourned until the last day of the Sittings. The, jury who had heard part of the case being discharged, the case was heard before a fresh jury and the prisoner convicted. It is now believed, we understand, that the conviction was illegal, inasmuch as the jury having had the prisoner placed in their charge could not be discharged unless agreeing to a verdict, or failing to agree together, and that, therefore, the conviction by the second jury was not legal. The case will be reserved by his Honor for tho opinion of his brother judges at the Court of Appeal. — Canteri bury Press, i An Australian on the People of New Zealand.— ln an account of the Rev. A. J. Campbell's trip to New Zealand; — published in the Geelong Advertiser -^■"that gentleman thus speaks of the people of Dunedin : — '- The people of Dunedin are full of activity, very comfortable, and in all reppects, I should say, prosperous. They are busy in al! kinds ot industry. One of them, the son of the late Dr Burns, has succeeded in establishing the woollen manufacture. Wages are higher than with us — 7a for labor work and lOs to 12s for skilled work, other things, however, arealso higher. But the workman has almost constant employment, and the eight-hour system has been in operation since the foundation of the colony. As most of the traJesmeu seem to be owners of their own cottages, you will see at once how well off they ought to-be. Add to these the advantages of a bracing climate and a well-ordered administration of law, you will be inclined to think that Otago is what it claims to be — -the poor man's paradise. I havVt j seen a beggar on the streets, nor a drunken | man, although I learn from the police reports that drunkenness, with all its bitter j home miseries, is not unknown here. There is much less of the " prid« of life," much less of the show and ostentation of wealth than you might expect in the capital of the proviuce. There are persons who have risen-- to position and wealth; but they don't affect that style and luxury which is corrupting the upper stratum of Melbourne Bociety. Hard work and happy homes eeem to be the two conditions of life; and there still survives among many of them the recollection of the early struggles of settlement, which is a source of much good feeling and helpfulness."