The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, JULY 17, 1873.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 171, 17 July 1873, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, JULY 17, 1873.

Action for Libel.-— The proprietors of r.! i e Evening Mail have been served by Messrs Adams and Kingdon with a writ aI. the suit of Mr George Donne, M.P.C., claiming the sum of £500 as being " such reparation as money can afford " for the publication of a certain telegram which appeared in the country edition of the Mail of the 10th instant. M< j P9ts Fell and Atkinson have been retained fc the defence, and the- case will probably come on for hearing ut the ensuing civil sittings of the Supreme Court in August next. Customs Revenue.— The amounts of Customs Revenue collected at the Port of Nelson for ihe Quarter ended June 30, 1873, wrro as follows — shillings and pence «ro omme-.i : — Spirits, £2,473; T<>h»wco, £818; Ci»ars, £142; fixed duties, £2,994; duties by measurement, £2,837; duties by weight, £776; gold duty, £357; Total. £10,400. We are glad to find that this bruuch of the revenue is showing a steady increase, that for the corresponding quarter of last year having been £9,129, and for the quarter ending March 31, 1873, £8,510.

Perseverance Company.— Tho adjourned meeting of shareholders was held last night, J. Sharp Esq, in the chair, Mr Mabin, the Legal Manager, stated that the votes received for reducing the qualification of directors to five shares were nearly double those in favor of ten shares. On tho motion of Mr Atkinson, seconded by Mr Fell, it was resolved, That the reduction of the qualification to fivo shares be regarded as the unanimous vole of the meeting. The following nominations were then made for filliug the four vacancies in the Directory: — Candidate. Proposer. Seconder, Mr J. Moorhouse Mr Bethwaite Mr Tucker „ Hafldow „ Bethwaite „ Augarde „G. Thompson „ Chisholra „ Carter ' » *'ell „ Mortiraer „ Atkinson „ Bethwaite „ Neale „ Craig „ A. J. Richmond „ Fell „ Everett On a show of hands being taken, the election was declared to have falleu upon Messrs I-Jaddow, Thompson, Fell,and Richmond. A vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the meeting. Mr Gear of Wellington is about to ship 50 cases of preserved meats to Hong Kong, to test the market for the commodity in question. The Waikato Times says the building of redoubts is neither more nor less than a farce, as they cannot possibly prevent the majority of the settlers from isolated murders. The Telegraph says: — " In reference to the reported establishment of a third paper at Niipier, we learn that the Maoris are liberally subscribing the funds necessary to start and maintain a daily journal. The proposed newspaper, in addition to a daily issue in the English language, is to include a weekly edition in Maori, and if .-til we hear is true, we have no doubt that tho venture will be a pecuniary success in the hands of its projectors." A story of a very plucky fcbing done by a mother comes from Post-office Creek, near Kyneton. She was drawing up a bucket of water, when one of her children fell down the well — a very deep one. She at once jumped in after it, aad after about a quarter of an hour's immersion both mother and child were rescued from their perilous position without being materially the worse. This is how Mr Justice Johnston looked at it: — " He entirely disapproved of the suggestion that a judge had no ri^ht to trench on political questions, and any person making it could havo no true notion of the higher duties of the office. It was only the duties of those in his position to remind the country, at tho times of its greatest expectation and greatest self-laudation, that it had duties yet remaining unfulfilled." Flax Dresses for Ladies. — The "Anglo Australian" writes in the European Mail: — "Justice to whom Justice is due." la my last, in speaking of tho manufactures from Phormium, I omitted to associate the name of Mr N. T. Lockhart, of Bennochy Works, Kirkcaldy — who was resident in Nelson for some time — in connection with those who have done so much for this industry. I have since learnt that ho prepared for Dr. Featherstone, from native dressed flax, some fishing-nets and twine, and that he spun a warp of linen yarn aud weft of phormium yarn into beautiful damask table-cloths and towelling fit for the ÜBe of those who are accustomed to the finest nnd softest material. Mr Lockart has since had two dresses wove, one with cotton thread warp, the other with a silk thread warp, both being wefted with phormium fibre yarn. This shows the almost universal adaptability of this product. The dresses will no doubt attract much attention, and I hope the time is not distant when I shall hear that the ladiea of New Zealand are wearing dresses manufactured from fibre grown in the colony. The Great Hauhau Meeting. — The following has been forwarded to the Auckland Herald's correspondent upon native affairs at Alexadra by 0. chief named Na Te Nu. It has reference to the meeting of Hauhaus at Te Kuiti on the 28th ult. — " July 7, 1873. — Greetings to my Friend. — I have heard some of the talk from the meeting at Te Kuiti held on tho 28th June last. This day was a day of sitting secretly, a day of remembrance or thanksgiving to God; accordiug to the proclamation issued it) 1863; nlso to that issued in 1867 and in 1868. There also was expressed in tho proclamation of 1863 that blood was stopped to 1867, and the sword sheathed from then till 1868, when this proclamation commenced: — Stop selling land, stop leasing land, stop roadmaking, stop erecting telegraph wires, and stop killing men, and tho man's right hand to be fast to' the left, and to the year 1873 we have proclaimed it, and our proclamation at the meeting at Maungatautari was — stop selling land, gtop leasing land, stop road-making, stop erecting telegraph wires. We have given a new word for our proclamation :— 1. Our word says on this the belly is rising up, also the belly of the land. On the Ist of June this talk reached me. By-and-by I shall hear more talk. — Enough, from your friend, Ne To Nu. Jack Ashore. — The Evening Post says: — " An accident oceured last Saturday illustrating the danger which attends that amusing and eccentric exhibition, " the sailor on horseback." It seems that several of the Wild Duck's A.B's bethought them they should have a ride; accordingly having obtained steeds, which they regarded as sea-worthy crafts, they started on their wild, career. Arrived near the cricket ground, for some unexplained reason (supposed to be :i heavy sea striking the counter), ona of the horses gave a lurch, and tho unlucky rider, Daniel Brooks, was, to uso his own expression, " pitched clean over her bows." Unfortunately he managed to alight on his wrong end, which administered a sharp blow to a certain Btone, which proved the

harder of the two, and the result was that the hapless Brooks was picked up insensible, and, after being temporarily treated by Dr. Diver, was couveyed to the Hospital, with concussion of the brain. Ho is bow much belter, and with a week or two's rest, will be all right again. I don't suppose that anybody is particularly anxious to marry his grandmother, but it adds to your sense of personal liberty to learn that you might if you choose (In fact, with a smart and persevering young lawyer Jo defend you, it, is hard to say what a man might not do). Someone told me the other day that there is no statule against murder. But as they Bomef-imes haDg people for that, I suppose there is an admitted unwritten code in restraint of that and of marriages within what are commonly known as the prohibited degrees. Has there ever been a case of . a man wonting to marry his mother-in-law ? — •' JEjjles " On Saturday, the 23rd ulc, an unusual and beautiful phenomenon was observed in Sydney by thousands of persons — Venus appearing as a day star in the mid heavens aud remaining distinctly visible near the ;:ioou, until after the hour of noon, and in full blaze of the sun's rays. Considerablo numbers of persona gathered together in George-street, and in the other principal thoroughfares, watching this strange sight, which excited motions of astonishment and admiration in the minds of all. What American Women can do — Tho United Census of 1870 shows what American women can do. Besides women employed in ordinary agricultural labor, tho census records 45 female stockherders, 6 female apprentices to barber?, 24 women dentists, 2 female hostlers, 2 female professional hunters and trappers, 5 she-lawyers, 525 she-physicians and surf.oriis, 67 female clergymen, 2 women scavengers, 7 female sextons, 10 female "canalinen," 196 women draymen, 1 female pilof, 6 female guano laborers, 4 she-#as-Bt<kers, 3 women gunsmiths, 7 female gunpowder makers, and 16 female shipriggers. What next ? This is the latest thing under the head " Marriages " : — On the 21st June, at his residence, Cumberland street, H. G. Barnes, messenger to Her Majesty's Court, Dunedin, to Alice Keys, late at V. Almao ond Co, hatters, Princess street, Dunedin. Home aud Melbourne papers please copy. The following neat thing in peograpby and mining is from tho Montreal Weekly Herald-. — " A very important discovery has been made in Queensland. That rare nnd moat useful metal, tin, has been found in quantities sufficient to warrant the expectation that New Zealand will henceforth become the rival of the Scilly Islands in regard to tin ore." Heke is an Oriental maxim, just translated: If a man knows what he knowa, he will lead a happy life. If a man does not know, and knows that he does not know, he may lead n tolerable life. But if a man does not know, and does not know that he does not know, he will lead a miserable life. An ApvENTunous American Aeronaut. — Professor Donaldson intends, this summer, to cross the Atlantic to Ireland in a large baloon. Tho machine will weigh about 20001b5., will contain 268,000 feet of gas, with two small reservoirs to pro vide against leakage, aud an electric arrangement for light. The professor calculates to accomplish his trip in from seventeen hours to two days and a half, and says, if the experiment proves successful, he will establish a balloon mail stnd passenger line round the world. — Shippers' Monthly Circular. The following rather good thing is told by our Waikato contemporary: — " We are in New Zealand, and have been for some time; therefore no eccentricities on the part of officials surprise us much. An incident occurred,in this district yesterday morning, which should not, however, be passed over in silence, evidencing, as it does, that there is some latent fire in the coroners of the country, if in nobody else. We will tell the story. An unfortunate boy (the inquest on whose body we reported to-day) died suddenly at the coal mines. There being opposition in the coroner business in this district, each gentleman of the profession employs his own agrent to give him the earliest information of any catastrophe. Yesterday, one coroner crossed the punt opposite our office, at 11 p.m.; but as will be seen hereafter, the race is not always for the swift. Another crossed at 12.30 a.m. The first on the road wanted staying power, and stopped comfortably at the hotel on the opposite side of the river. Not so the last on the road; he made straight for the scene of action. He was seen before daylight, moving uneasily about, watching carefully the doors of the few residents. It was not long before a prospective juryman left his house for his daily lubour. The energetic coroner im-