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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 137, 9 June 1873, Page 4

A Lucky Find is x thus reported in the ; Ijyell Mrghs:^" Besides the more than average discoveries that have during the jfe'Jast; few, days reyearded the exertions of ; out 1 quartz miners, 'we have to-day to announce, a very lucky. haul. made by a party who are working alluvial ground in Lye! l Creek, near the foot of Cartels Terrace. Mr Auckett and his two mates have been for" aoine time employed bringing up a tail race, and working poor ground with but partial success. On Wednesday and Thursday last^ however, their lucky star was r in the ascendant, as after two days' washing they obtained no lees than 46 , ounces of a very fine sample of coarse gold, the pieces ranging from 1 dwt to 8 ounces.: ;/, A Ghastly Relic of humanity was found on the beach at ' the North Spit, Hokidka, on Thursday morning. Captain : Nolan, of the Lioness, went on the beach at low water to look at the channel, when he observed a human skull only partially denuded of fleßb, lying on the shingle. Information was at once given to the police, and the skull, or more properly, speaking the head, was conveyed to town. 1 It now. lies at the Police Camp for identification. There is scarcely a doubt but that the skull is that of the late Mr : Friend^ who was drowned in the Hokitika river on the i 14th of February last. It is presumed that when the unfortunate man met with his untoward fate, the body mußfc have drifted against a snag, where it most probably remained until. the recent fresh brought it down the river. Several persons who were well acquained with Mr \Friend;for years, have seen the skull, and have expressed their firm, conviction that -it:iathat:of the late Mr Friend. There is a new feature in one of the English newspapers. Engagements are recorded ;as "well as marriages. Unfortunately, these preliminary canters don't always come off, and the Engagement . columns would soon necessitate another for Disentanglements. Some' of the American journals follow np the marriages with a record of the divorces. The idea of a grand fire brigade demonstration is an American one, but we had abundant evidence on Monday night and Tuesday that it is one that possesses great merit. It gave Melbourne an interesting, novel, and highly picturesque display. A great entertainment was afforded to the immense crowds that thronged the streets on Monday night to watch the procession of torch-bearers who wound through the throwing a ruddy glare upon the houses, showering Roman candles and bluelljKhts right and left as they advanced, > and; apparently reversing their usual procedure by raining on the buildings fire .instead of water. , The display was continued on the next day, when the daring and activity of the firemen were well shown by their manosuvres in the course of the review.— Melbourne Argus. A Conthibutob to the Australasian sayß :— lt will be rather & trying ordeal for those stern inspectors of postal service when postmistresses and fair telegraphists have altogether superseded the oldfashioned system of postmasters. Some of the school inspectors don't find it easy now to deal strictly with teachers of the gentler sex. It has been whispered to me that

one of the most able inspectors — a gentleman of moderate stature, and by no means unimpressionable-— lately visited the Gipps Land mountains on a tour of inspection. Having concluded his examination at one place, he was about to retire, when he was suddenly confronted by the lady chiefly interested— -who was able-bodied and | Hibernian. She suspected him of contemplating an unappreciative report. Bringing to bear 1 upon him the full battery of. those charms she so well knew how to direct, she said, "Ah ! now, before you go, tell me what you are going to say/about me ? " What could a susceptible inspector say ? What could he do ? Of course, hie report was favorable. The lady wbb promoted, and — I am quite ready to believedeservedly. JEgles writes. in the Australasian : — I am afraid that there are some one?hors9 people in Geelong. They have a successful gas company, which pays fair dividends, and they have also some agitators for cheaper gas, who have, lam glad to see, been successful. Some one who holds forth in the local paper as a shareholder lately discovered the reason why the company couldn't reduce the price of its gas. There is, it appears, a secretary, who is paid — shade of Joseph Hume !-— the extravagant salary of £250 per annum, and there is a rate-collector as well. He suggests that the offices be consolidated, and the secretary's salary saved. Of course it would be a saving, and it would be a saving also if the offices of captain and steward were amalgatnatdd on board passenger ships. It would save that distressed shareholder some wages if he cooksd his own chops, and dispensed with domestic assistance. But it might be a saving in the end that the Geelong Gas Company should continue to indulge in the tremendous staff of two -live officials. It is no harm to have some check, and there might be the demand for a new service-pipe some day when the one official was out engaged in the pleasing but delusive fiction of getting in gas rates at Geelong. The various rumors that have reached us from time to time respecting the intended marriage of the Duke of Edinburg with a Princess of the house of Russia are authenticated by the English telegraph. We are; told now that 1 "The Times correspondent's letter from Naples confirms the engagement of the Duke, of Edinburgh with the Grand Duchess Marie-Alexandrova of Russia." A passage in the letter of the Paris correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald gives some additional information about the intended match. In words suffused with a gush of the deepest emotion, the correspondent says: — " The betrothal of the Duke of Edinburgh to the Czar's only daughter is now recognised as accomplished The Empress of Russia, after spending a day in Salzburg with her sister-in-law— Queen Olga, of Wurtemburg— has gone to Florence, having with her the betrothed wife of the Duke, the Grand DucheßS Marie-Alexandrova, the only daughter of the Russian Sovereign. It is said that the : Empress, will take up her abode at Sorrento, among whose myrtle and orangecrowned slopes, blue waters, and pink, ; purple, and golden sunsets, the young couple are to make each other's personal acquaintance.