THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 233, 27 September 1873, Page 2

THE WEEK.

Such and such Bills were rend the first and second time and committed last night. When telegrams of this kind begin to reach us from Wellington wo may depend upon it that the close of the session is not very far oflL Members of the House do not get through business at that pace in the early part, or even in tfoo middle of the session. They want to know a little more about the subject on which they are legislating, and don't object to a quiet discussion or a hot debata on every question tbat crops up, but the lapse of time serves to tone down the cacoethes loquendi, and as the third month begins te dwindle away, the desire to make a speech gives place to the anxiety to retuiQ home, and the Assembly is converted into a Bill-making machine warranted to turn out a certain number in a given time. To be sure the quality of the article does not always keep pace with the quantity, but that is not a matter of any moment. We have a Statute Book that must be increased in eize year by year, and the quicker this i 3 done the better, besides, there is this advantage, that Bills passed in haste are frequently repented of at leisure, so that for every one scrambled through this session, another to amenJ it will probably be required next year, and so the Book I have referred to is constantly increasing its dimensions at a most respectable pace. What are the Lords going to do with our little Loan Bill ? If they throw it out, we shall not love them very much in Nelson, for we badly want to execute certain works, and this is the only way we can see of finding the money. Some people seem to think that because they rejected the Provincial Loans Bill they must treat those that come before them in the present form in a similar manner. I cannot Bee the force of this argument By the original Bill power was to be given to the provinces to raise any amount they might deem necessary for purposes at present unknown. Those tbat have been lately introduced and agreed to provide for fixed amounts being borrowed for specific works: I imagine tho Lords will recognise the difference. In the village of Wnkefield there resides a doctor whose name is Oldham. Recently an inquest was held in the district on the body of a woman who died somewhat suddenly The evidence given before the Coroner has already appeared in the papers, but a portion of it will bear repetition. It is seldom that » witness is called upon to make such statements on oath, so tbat if I should become a little v/earisome in repeating the evidence, my readers may rest assured that it will in ail probability be a very long time before they are called upon to peruee anything of the kind again The only wonder to my mind is that in a civilised country where that Christian charity which prompts a man to assist his fellow creatures in distress is seldom wanting, such an instance should have occurred even once. The husband of the deceased woman told his cad story in a few words. It was perfectly simple and entirely devoid of all flowery language. Indeed it wanted none to give it force. He was bringing his sick wife to the hospital from many miles up country. At the Forest Inn she was taken suddenly worse, and he despatched a messenger for Dr Oldham. The messenger discharged his errand, but the doctor refused to return with him. He pleaded his cause earnestly • he told the doctor " they think the woman is dying," but the doctor persisted in hia refusal, and shut the window in his face. The husband then tried what he could do to persuade him. The sole reply was that if his wife, who was then almost in the arms of death, could be brought down to within half a mile of this noble-hearted doctor's residence, he would not mind turning out to try to save her life, but to ride a coqple or three miles to see her wa3 altogether out of the question. Driven to his wita' end, the husband of the ilying woman begged for medicine to relieve her sufferings, at tun same time remarking that he thought medical men usually preferred to see their patients before prescribing for thfm. The doctor admitted tbat thia waa f-ustomtry, but still refused to "go up there." Making sure of his ten ami sixpence, and guessing at the remedy, he sent the poor fallow haik with a bottle of me Heine and eotne powders, and then, we may suppose, returned to bed again " To si ep, perchance to dream " Even the most callous and hard-hearted are Bometimes such sufferers themselves as to be objects of pity to those whose sympathies with their fellow men are not entirely dead. Let ug therefore hope fur

the doctor's sake that in his dreams he did not see a woman writhing in convulsions from which, as Dr Boor who examined the body stated, " she might have rallied, had she been seen by a medical &. : _" Let us hope that us he lay his head on his pillow there did not not ring in his ears the bitter anathemas of a husband who in the absence of professional assistance, was compelled to watch the death agonies of her he loved, utterly powerless to relieve her sufferings. Let us hope that by his bedside (here stood no vision of a griefstricken widower, exclaiming in language similar to that used by the woman of old, of whom we have ali read, to one who did not look upon hiß own personal comfort as of the first importance, "If thou hadst been here she had not died." Let us, for Dr Oldham's sake, trust that none of the3e fancies troubled his rest, that he was unconscious of having been guilty of au inhuman action until he learned that the twelve men who were called upon to investigate the circumstances attending the death of Jane Pabl had placed on record the following expression of their opinion: — '• The jury cannot separate without expressing their opinion of the heartless conduct of Dr Oldham in not attending to Mrs, Fahl when so earnestly called on." | The Doctor should cause this to be ' transcribed in crimson letters, aud set up i over his threshold; he should add it as a foot note to his diploma; he should have it impressed upon that portion of his body where the heart is to be found in ordinary human beings, and with the opinion of his fellow men thus continually before him he might, perchance, in the event of a simi lar emergency again arising, be more disposed to assist in saving life, even though it should cost him a three-mile ride; he might be induced to be charitable — to be human. As I writ 9 there seems to be every prospect of another stormy day to-morrow. I have a friend who is a church officer, and he tells me that, looked at from a business point of view, these numerous wet Sundays are very bad for the churches. People are kept away from church for so many weeks in succession, that when they return they find it difficult to remember how often they have been absent, and consequently forget the exact amount they should put into the offertory bags, to bring their weekly contributions up lo the average. I daresay there is something in what be says. The Exhibition is daily becoming more popular, and the special prize list is assuming larger dimensions than could have been expected, but I should like to hint to some <>f those who are offering their money that it is almost impossible their prizes can be claimed,, aud almost certain they will never be competed for. If I might make a Buggestion it would be that they should withdraw their prizes from the special list, and hand the money over to the Com- • mittee, who would thus be enabled to offer some really substantial rewards for thoroughly useful exhibits. F. P.S. — I don't think I was ever before guilty of the feminine weakness of adding a postscript, but I must do ho to-day, as a telegram received since the above was in type, informs mo tbat I had done a gross injustice to the Lords in imagining ihat I tliey would give way on lha Loins Bill. I apologise to them for not accrediting them with auch determined obstinacy. Fgt remainder of news .see fourth page.

As showing the value of pheasants to the farmer, we extract the following from a letter of the Aotea correspondent of the Southern Ctoss :— -"It has just come to my knowledge that the pheasants have utterly destroyed a patch of sorrei here. A short time ago the patch was greeu and flourishing enough to give a farmer the dumps to lock at it; now there is not a vestige of it to be seen, and the surface o( the ground looks as if a number of little piys, had been grubbing it up. The sorrel was, of course, growing on an unfrequented spot, and on the owner visiting it recently, a perfect cloud of pheasants rose. Tn.4 birds ha i evidently been come time encased at their useful wotk, for the ground was covered with their droppings. The area cleared up might, be about 20 feet square. N. Mcissonnier hns 6old a picture on whifh he is eujjaged, entitled "Charges des Cuirassiers," for 300,0000 f. (£20,000). A marble figure of Venus has been found in recent re&earches at Pompeii. She holds the apple of Paris in her hand, and various portions of the figure are colored. There is, says the Alhury Ba?iner, at present at the Hospital a very interesting case of skin-grafting. The history of the case, which we obtained fro*r the Superintendent, is as follows: — William Johnston, aged eight years, was received on February 19th, from Gumbargano. He had fallen from a dray partly loaded with chaff, and the wheel passed over the right forearm midway between the elbow and the wrist, completely removing the skin, with the whole of the adipose tissue beneath, for a space of three inches in leDgtb, and embracing the entire circumference of the arm. Some sloughing followed, and before the healing process commenced the whole of the skin and tissues covering the muscles from the wrist to the elbow had been destroyed. The usual applications and treatment had been followed, and the case progressed favorably until the wound had been reduced to the dimensions it had previous to the sloughing. It then became indolent, and stimuUtinjr applications were used for six weeks without effect. It was then determined by the patient's medical attendant (Dr Cobbeft) to have recourse to the operation of ekin-grafting, and on the 25th ultimo the lad wns put under ihe influence of chloroform, and five email pieces of skin were taken from the left arm and one from the righf, and carefully placed in various positions on the ulcerated surface, the whole being securely fixed in their places. On the seventh day six distinct centres of growth were obeerved. On the fourteenth day ihe size of the wound had diminished by a third, the grafts looking healthy, and radiating in every direction. Yesterday, tha thirtysecond day since the operation, the wound was reduced to a fourth of the size it had been at the time the "rafts were implanted. Renewed vi^or wjiS imparted to the pre viously indolent edges of the wound by the operation, and there is bow every probabiliiy that the patient will soon ba fit to return to bis pnretits cured. We are informed that this is tbn first operation of the kind p^rforme 1 in this district, and it is gratifying to have to record its complete success. An incident fomewhat similar to that which hhppen^d on board the Cltml Hamilfcn occurred some years on the Ht-ro. It is thua told: It was on a like pa88B«p, and where a sirong eust gale against ihe somberly set heappd the. water into similarly dangerous masses, one of which breaking on board caused instantaneous loss of life and a general state of wreck. In 18G3, the Pero, then carrying the English mail to N*w Zealand, when about 180 miles W N.W. of the Solanders, was struck by a sea which extended from the fore to the mizen rigging, sweeping everything before it. All Tan Js were at the time engaged reefing the pquare foresail. Captain Logan and the firat officer had j ußt left the deck for instruments to obtain an observation when a thundering shock occurred, and in an instant they and the saloon ppassenger 8. r8 were struggling amidst tables, sofas, chairs, glass, and crockeryware. As soon ' aß 'they reached tbe deck they found thiere was nothing left but the masts an d funne! Five boats, davits, ekylightg, bulwarks, and everything above the surface of the deck had vanished; three of the lee furnaces were extinguished, but the most painful part of this dreadful event was the cry of « men overboard." "Hard a-port, foil speed astern " followed, and round the ship came, tbe sails blowing to ribbons as^ she came head to sea. In a few minutes s plank was B een on end with a man at its base. The ship drifted down to the spot, and James Dainton, the ship's carpenter, was rescued, but Mr Hilton, the second officer, was never seen again. Both men were engaged batteDiDg down the skylight, when the sea struck her, and the fact of the captain and mate leaving the deck for their instruments, saved their lives, otherwise the ship would have been left withont commander or a single officer.