Untitled

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 235, 30 September 1873, Page 2

The following is the opinion entertained j of the Minister of Justice by a North Island paper: — Mr Bathgate is a most i wonderful person aa a Minister, but as plain Mr Bathgate he is not so very wonderful at all. We often meet with people who have much ambition aqd little brains. There are reformers, not in office, who hardly leave alone a single institution on all the globe. It, is a phenomenon, however, to find one of them enjoying the emoluments and seat of authority; for it is so dangerous to hia colleagues, who cannot trust 'him, yet must exhibit confidence — and must bear all his blunders oo their own shoulders. Mr Bathgate naß d one enough either to immortalise or qualify himself for a seat in the Legislative Council ; — hi& colleagues to nominate. Two fresh industries, are reported to have been started in Auckland — the manufacture of brushware, and of brooms similar to those imported from America. For the former industry machiuery has been erected in Auckland by a person who has discovered a native fibre admirably adapted for making scrubbing brushes of a more durable character lhan those imported. Respecting the manufacture of brooms an Auckland paper gives the following particulars: — Tbe author of this industry has raised on acre and a half of millet or broom corn. This yielded nearly a ton of seed, which is used for feeding pigs, horses, and poultry, while the straw supplied material for the manufacture of 55 dozen brooms, which were readily sold at good prices. A man and boy can make 4 dozen brooms in 8 hours. Machinery for turning the bundles, has been erected, «ud a much larger area is to be sown in millet this year. An Auckland paper says:— Some time ago some of our readers may recollect tbat iu attempting to carry out the seutence of death upon a man who was condemned for murder in Fiji, the executioner, who was drunk, bungled at his business, aud when the drop fell the cord did not tighten in the proper manner. The wretched man endeavored to loosen his hands, and at last succeeded in getting them free, aud partially raising himself, by their, means, at the same time calling to the sheriff to shoot him and put him out of his misery. The official thus appealed to could not endure the miset able spectacle, and. ordered the man to be'cutdown. This was done, and it was found that he had sustained very slight injury. 'Ihinking probably that his punishment bad been sufficient, the authorities gave him a free pardon. The man it is said cleared out from the Fijis, and came on to Auckland, where he has been residing for some time. He has since gone to New Caledonia. In these days of sensation hunting we wonder some enterprising proprietor of a show did not get hold of bim for exhibition. A real live man who had been hanged would bave been a splendid attraction, and would have paid handsomely. A gentleman residing in Devonshire has recently discovered that a fibre quite as tough as hemp can be obtained from tne tree mallow {Maloio lavatera). which grows wild in many parts of the country. From experiments made, it seems that, beneath the outer coating is a fibre, very tough, which is easily convertible into, rope. The plant wil! grow in any soil; aod, as hemp is now very high io price (about £40 per ton), it would be an important consid-ration if, by employing this, new material, some half of the present might be saved. The West Coast Times of Tueeday says : — The probability of a rush taking place near the Haast river, to which we referred yesterday is likely to be realised even more speedily than we anticipated. Something like the facts of the case was known in Hokitika on Sunday evening, but the information was not sufficiently authentic to warrant its publication. Yesterday, however, a report received by the County Chairman from the Warden at Okarito set all doubts at rest as to the rumors tbat bad been current for the last few days. The. facts may be very briefly stated. A party of miners, consisting of John Marks, Simon Monroe, and William Harris who had been prospecting for some time in the vicinity of the Haast, applied to the Warden at Okarito for a prospecting claim. They produced about 45 0z of coarse gold — the smallest piece weighing half a pennyweight and tbe largest three ounces — which they stated was the. produce, , allowing for loss of time, of about a month's worjk. Besides applying for a prospecting claim, the men put in: an application for tbe General Government reward of £200 for the discovery of a new goldfieki, and also for the reward of £500 fY offered by the County Government. The Waipara being then in Okarito, the Warden engaged to go

down in her to inspect the ground. There ivjaa a great deal of excitement in the town yesterday about the matter, the general expectation being that a very great rush wijl set in. The actual locality where gold has been discovered is variously stated at from five to ten miles inland, and about eight miles south of the Haast river. By yesterday morning's coach news came to town of a revolt among tbe navvies at Cleveland, great numbers of them having struck, and indulged themselves at the expense of mine hosts of the Inns of the village. Ifc is said violence went eo far aa to convert articles of furniture into firewood. Among other lively incidents connected wifch this disturbance there is cne narrated to us by the coachman, which is somewhat amusing in inself. One of cur new immigrants having indulged in the riot of tbe night, beyond that condition which enabled him to maintain the centre of gravity, fell down, and asleep at the same time, in the stable-yard. Towards morning the landlord was awakened by loud shouts of "Let go me hair," "Let go me hair," and on going to the spot whence the call came he discovered our hero prostrate and frozen by his hair to a sheaoak log. No doubt the navvy thought he was fighting over again some battle in the old country, but on this occasion he had far more than a master in "Jack Frost of Tasmania." — Hobart lown i- etcury. A terrible accident happened lately to an excursion of railway employes and their wives and friends from Leeds and Bradford to Buxton, near Wingfield Station main line, Midland Railway. The catastrophe occurred uear a viaduct, at a place where there is a moderately steep embankment. Whilßt the train was pro^ needing at a tolerably good speed the tire of the engine driving-wheel broke, precipitating tbe locomotive and next carriage down tbe embankment. Several otber carriages left the rails, but were not thrown down. The driver jumped off safely, but the firfman was jammed in, and when extricated was fouud shockingly scalded and otherwise injured. Of the occupants ot ihe carriage whi«h fell with the engine, a Mrs Kiehey, of L-eds, was killed, her body being dreadfully mutilated, and Mr Catberay, brother to the heeds goods manager, was also killed. Ten or twelve others in the same carriage were 'injured more or less seriously. Assistance was promptly reudered. Count G-lechien, who was an exhibitor at the last years Royal Academy exhibition, has just completed a monumental effigy of his late father-in-law, Admiral Sir George Seymour. He has also modelled a large monument to be erected over the tomb of his mother (half-sister to Queen Victoria), who died last year. It represents a beautiful female figure — an embodiment of the soul— seated at the foot of a large upright cross. Count Glechien has been very happy in modelling the Prince aod Princess ol Wales (the latter is represented skating), and the Marquis of Lome. He has also exceuted several statuettes. For remainder of news see fourth page.

A lazy man alius works harder than a bizzy one. The hardest work I know ov is to grunt — it is harder to eet still and fight flies then get up and escape from them. To those who doubt that we should derive any advantage commensurate to the cost of connecting the colony with the rest of the world by telegraph, we commend the following extract from a lecture delivered at Adelaide by Mr C. Todd, under whose management the overland line was constructed: — He stated that he was informed by a merchant of the city on whose statement he could rely, tbat the large sum of £150,000 had this season been obtained in the returns for South Australian wheat, in consequence of telegraphic information being to hand as to the state of the English and foreign markets. We may add on the same authority, that the Australian lines were ia connection with a telegraphic system extending over 330,000 miles, comprising 600,000 miles of wire, 33,000 of which were submarine cable. In Great Britain alone there were 25,000 miles of line and 50,000 of wire, through which 15,000,000 messages were transmitted last year; and in Australia and New Zealand there were 20,000 miles of wire, carrying 2,000,000 messages per annum. The receipts on the Australian overland line for the first six months amounted to £54,000. After advertising at each other for months, one of the ieading importers of sewing machines challenges another to a final proof of the speed of their respective machines for a wager of £100, the loser to pay that sum to a charity. This, I suppose, must be the crucial test in an English speaking community, and it wouldn't be complete without a wager. In the window of one vendor of these clever pieces of mechanism is a lay figure in wax of an elegantly costumed lady, who is apparently working at a sewing machine, wbich is really driven by pressure from the Yan Yean. A short-sighted old lady went into this shop and stood for a little while observing the patient toiler. At length she said sympathisingly, "You must be very tired sewing so constantly ?" No answer. " I aay," in a higher key, and with some impatience, "It must be very fatiguing workiug so incessantly." Still no answer. " Well, you might at leaßt bave the politeneeß to answer when you are civily spoken to ! " And only then did she discover that she had been wasting her sympa.hy and her indignation on a wax figure. — Australasian. A correspondent of the Times, writing from the Red River saye:— Running half a dozen railways out into the uninhabited forests and prairies would seem a mad scheme to the projectors of the old world, but in the United States it is now an accepted maxim that railways should precede settlement, and the enterprise of the North Pacific Railway Company is giving to Minnesota what the adjoining State of lowa had to wait 17 yeara to obtain. Three great lines, running north-west towards Puget Sound, close by British Columbia, and only 50 miles apart, are already in operation. One extends from St. Paul to Breckenbridge, on the Red River of the North, over 200 miles ; one fror/j Duluth, across Minnesota and into Dako ta Territory, aB far as James River, about 300 miles. This line is expected to be open to the Missouri this fall. The t'aird track takes an intermediate line to the other two, and is running for about 80 miles to St. Cloud The line running north from St. Paul to Duluth, about 120 miles, is also in operation; and a line, also taking a northerly direction from St. Cloud, will be open to PembiDa on the Canadian frontier, in a month from the present date. The track to the Missouri River and to Pembina is being now laid at the rate of over two miles per day. The benefits of the latter line will not be confined to the Uuited States; it willnecessarily be taken up in Canada, and next year will certamly see the railway track at Fort Garry-a place which exercised the patience and skill of Colonel Wolseley to gain access to with his little army but a very short time ago. Thus will be opened up the rich Canadian Territory of Manitoba and the fertile valley of the Saskatchewan. This valley, hitherto almost inaccessible, measures over 1000 miles deep and 200 miles wide. It was part of the territory of the late Hudson's .Bay Company, who were never over-glad to see the face of a settler. Few peo pie at home, I think, knew much about this Corporation. It was generally believed to hold immense tracts of mountain e.nd forest unfit for cultivation, or for any purpose but harboring the wild animals whose furs constituted the principal trade of the Company. Many persons will probably be as surprised as myself to learn that amongst its possessions were 20,000 square miles of the finest wheat-producing land in America. Pembina will be accessible shortly in 24 hours from St. Paul, whence there is water communication to New Orleans, and it will be within still more easy reach of Duluth, whence there is direct water communication for vessels of 500 tons, via Montreal to Europe. Only three years ago the annual train of bullock carts, several miles long, took two months to drajj j tß weary way from Pembina to St. Paul—a distance which will be performed by the locomotive a month hence in a day."