The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY. JANUARY 20, 1874.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 17, 20 January 1874, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY. JANUARY 20, 1874.

Union Steam Shipping Company. — To-day, the 20 1 h instant, will be the last day on which applications for shares io this Company will bo recoived. Nelson City Rifles. — A special | meeting of the above Corps will be held in the Drill Shed on Saturday, the 24th instant, at eight p.m., for the pur- | pose of revising the rules and bye-laws I of the Company. Wellington Reoatta. — We understand that two whaleboats and their crews will go over from Nelson in the Taranaki to-morrow to the Wellington I Regatta, which takes place on the following day. We wish them every | success. Wesleyan Sunday Schools. — The anniversary of these scboolß will be celebrated this evening by a tea meeting at six o'clock, and a public meeting afterwards, when several addresses will be delivered by ministers and friends. Nelson Annivjebsary. — The Lady Barkly is advertised to make a epecial trip to Golden Bay and back, leaving Nelsou on Sunday morning the lst of February,, and returning via Motueka on the morning of the 3rd, thus affording residents on the other side of the Bay an opportunity of being preseut on the anniversary holiday, which will be celebrated this year on the-, 3rd of February. Municipality. — The petition for creating the town of Nelson a -*2iunicipality does not appear to have been forgotten or mislaid as by many was thought to be the case. We now learn that it is to be taken into consideration by the Governor ou the 16th March next. * The Late Fire. — An inquest waa held yesterday afternoon on the fire I which occurred on Sunday morning. There being no evidence as to the ori»iu of the fire an open verdict was was returned. We were in error yesterday in our statement of the amount for which lho house was insured, which instead of^being only £200, was £425 apportioned as follows: — Victoria, £250; Royal, £175. Auxiliary Fire Brigade. — At a meeting of the above brigade held at the' Port last evening, the following officera were elected :— Captain, J. Garrard ; Lieutenant, T. Freeman; Treasurer, J. Tutty; Secretary, W. Akersten ; First Hydiantmßn, J Lukins ; Second Hydrantman, W. Simpson ; First Branchman, W. Duckett •, Secoud Branchman, J. Caider ; Foreman Hook and Ladder Company, F. Atkinson; second do., J.Brown; First Reelman, T. Brown; Second Reelman, J. Enfield. The brigade now numbers thirty-seven members, and is in good working order. Accident. — An accident occurred at the wharf yesterday evening to a man named Sengray, who tripped while stepping on to tho Ladybird, and fell tetween the steamer and the wharf. Ie received a severe wound on the frebead, which, however, was fortuately not dangerous, and he is now etting on well. • There pre other railways proceeding " leisurely " besides tbat between Nel- * son and Foxhill. ' A Napier contemporary learns that there are about fifty men employed on the railway works between Napier and Paki Paki; this number gives about three to the mile, so no surprise need be felt at the delay iv the completion of the line. There is a story told of a traveller who, riding across the Kuramu some months ago, and noticing one man usiug a spade iv the middle of the plain, asked him what he was doing. The man replied, "Oh! this is the railway; I have got a contract." The traveller naturally remarked that it would be some time before the railway would be finished, when the man, in tones of injured innocence, informed him that tbere was another fellow working about two miles off. The framework of the new Immigration Barracks at Blenheim is erected, and the work is progressing fast. After five months work, two of Brogden's Hawke's Bay immigrants paid off tbeir passage money in full. Two thousand tons of tailings from the Bright Smile mine were recently purchased at 4s a ton. We ' G. R. Argus- learn that Bir Jones, of the Bank of New Zealand, Charleston was the lucky holder of tho first and second horses iv the £1000 Derby sweepstakes drawn at the Albion Hotel,* Greymouth, a few days ago The first prize was worth £583 6s Bd, and the Becond prize was * worth £166 13s 4d, Having divided the second prize wilh Mr Mansfield, Mr Jones stands to win, for an outlay of 30s, the sum of £671 13s 4d, and Mr Mansfield, for his investment, takes £.88 6s Bd. The ' Waikouaiti Herald' excuses the non- appearance of a letter, by saying that one of its compositors is " on the spree." The Good Templars in Auckland had a grapd field day on Boxing Day. They mustered oyer 1500 from all parts of the Province, ft.ad a grand procession, and wound up with fee? , tivi.tj.es in the Domain, where nearly 3000 persons were congregated. The decorated female office-holders formed j a conspicuous feature in tke procession. '

The following curious advertisement appears in the Christchurch 'Press.' It relates probably to a strike : — " Wanted, shortly, two undertakers, to bury the Ashburton carpenters." Tbe ' Southern Cross' states that no less than 2091 tons of sugar wore imported into this colony during the quarter ended 30t,h September last. This ib equal to 621bs per annum for every . man, woman, and child in New Zealand. In Auckland endeavor is being mado to obtain by subscription a sum — £200 is wanted — to send a representative crew to the Canterbury Interprovincial Regatta. Private advices received in Auckland per last mail state that the Imperial Government were considering the propriety of stationing in New Zealand, for short terms, regiments • leaving India for other climeF, except that of England. It is thought that such an arrangement would result in a great saving of array expenditure. Tbe ' Otago Daily Times' understands that offers are now being made to the South Australian Government for the construction of the greet transcontinental railway, and amongst them is one from our enersetic citizen, MiDavid Proud foot. The cost of constructing this railroad will be several millions sterling. The same gentlemau, we are given to understand, is about to negotiate for the construction of light railways in Western Australia. A Dissipated Sheep. — The special reporter of the ' Otago Guardian ' who was sent down in the French man-of-war Viro to the wreck of the Sur at writes as follows : — I may notice that on board the Vire there is a sheep of the male facultywho drinks brandy and chews tobacco. This cultivated animal, who rejoices in the name of " Robert le Diable," was originally brought on board to serve as cooked mutton for the chip's company ; but developing talents of a high order, and a taste for human society, did not meet his anticipated fate. On the contrary he was made a pet of by the sailors, and now is rather a more important personage than the captain, it being his rule to go exactly where he likes, and lo get out of the way for no one. The word whs " passed forward" for Robert, and he came into the wardroom iv a condescending kind of way. There he proceeded to take in "a confusion of mixed drinks" that would have knocked over a human toper in no time. First, he had various liquors from vermouth to absinthe on lumps of sugar, which he quite winked over with enjoyment. Then he was given brandy in o soupplate as when wine-glasses were invented it was not thought tbat sheep would drink, and he lapped ihis up greedily, and asked for more. But there being no more for him, he took a quid of tobacco and went away chewing — -the cud perhaps. On another occasion, he came to the wardroom without an invitation whilst I was -writing there alone. Putting his head in the door, and seeing uo one in uniform, he looked me carefully over, and deciding, I Buppose, that, as a civilian, I had no right to interfere with his movements, he proceeded in a leisurely manner to open the sideboard and make a dejeuner not ala fourchette. He had some loaf sugar and some cheese, some butter and a radish, a little Worcester sauce, sud a few pieces of bread, when, suddenly remembering that he was thirsty, he put his fore^trotters on the top of the sideboard, and started fair to uncork the brandy. Fearing a suspicion of complicity in his depredations, at this point I yelled for the steward, who ran in, aud Robert retired under a protest, evidently not thinking that the rules of the French service permitted of his being kicked out by anyone under the rank of a lieutenant. Coal, coal, everywhere, and still we get our supplies from New South Wales. One of these days when we are exporting largely to other countries we shall wonder how it is we were for so long a time satisfied to send elsewhere for a mineral that abounds in the province of Nelson. The ' Grey River Argus,' in a late issue, has the following : — The mineral wealth of this district is much greater than is generally known. We have been boastful of the magnificent coal-mine at Brunnerton, and of the coal seams on the south side of the river, but it appears that coal deposits of equal and perhaps superior extent to those up the river, exist in the coast hills, a few miles north of Greymouth. For years it has been known that coal seams cropped out in several places beyond Point Elizabeth, but it is only within the last few days that a correct idea of the extent and value of the seams in that neighborhood has been made possible, It was conjectured — indeed, if we nre correctly informed, stated — by scientific authority, that the coal was what is knowa as "brotvn coal," and of course much inferior to the coal up the river; but it has been discovered that tbe seams, although exposed in several places, are not mere superficial outcrops of brown coal, but solid and most probably continuous cnes of black "glance" coal, superior in quality to any yet found iv this district. We were favored a few days ago with an inspection of o splendid large sample, and we are quite justified in saying that a finer specimen of coal for its quality we never before saw, and our opinion is backed up by that of professional judges. The seam from which this specimen was t&ken is near the Ten-Mile Creek, exposed on bot)i eides of a gully as if divided by aqueous Ipr glacial action. Several other seams,

or else detached branches of the main seam, have been discovered in the vicinity varying from .seven to fifteen feet in thickness. Nearly the whole of the district has been applied for, and prospecting licences have been granted. Arrangements have been made to have the district thoroughly prospected, and if the anticipations formed are realised, we may expect to see active operations commenced at an early period to utilise the discovery. Men are now employed under the guidance of an experienced mining mauager in making a thorough examination. The importance of this discovery cannot ba over-estimated, and will no doubt strengthen the intention of the General Government to construct stone embankments ou I oh Bides of the river, and make the Grey the great coal pert of the Const, Should the coal be found in sufficient quantity, it will have to be brought to Cobden by a light* railway, via Coal Creek. From what we cau gather, this recent discovery will considerably expedite the construction of the harbor works here which the General Government contemplate. The « Canterbury Press ' of Tuesday Inst snyß : — On Sunday » most teriißc hailstorm, accompanied with thunder and lightning, swept over the Cust district causing an immense amount of damage to the crops, he, the effects of which are most disheartening to tbe farmers and the damage to every kind of groin that was either standing or uncut, ripe or unripe, being almost unparalleled. Fields of wheat are completely laid down, with scarcely a head of corn standing, and that wbich was nearly ripe has been completely threshed out. The oats also are completely threshed and lying on the ground. The hailstorm, we believe, hos been the heaviest that has ever happenod in Canterbury. The size of the stones varied from lin. to Ifin. io thickness, and on weighing ono or two they were fouud to average about l;}ozs. each. Ihe damage done to fruit trees is also very great, and nearly every house in the district has had four or five panes of glass broken in the windows facing the S.W. One person, Mr J. D. Dickinson, hos had, alone, thirty-four panes broken. Quantities of poultry have been killed and their legs have been broken in lots of injjj stances. Tho work of buah falling and clearing for the telegraph extension to the Lyell, b-».s been almost completed — nearly all the poles required are already provided. — 'Buller Newß.' At the distribution of prizes to the High School boys nt Dunedin, Mr Yogel is reported to have said: — " So far as boys coming from the United Kingdom are concerned — so far as boys who love to thiuk therasnlves subjects of Her Majesty are concerned — I am sure tbey will never be blind to the fact that cricket is the great nation *1 game; und boys who bave no opportunity of playing that game are really deprived of an important portion of their education." (We ' Express ') learn that 100 adults from the next two immigrant vessels coming to Wellington are to be forwarded to this port. As illustrative of the scarcity of labor which prevails even in Picton, where a journal is published which seeks to make believe that no increase of laborers is required, tho immigrants who arrived last week were all engaged as they landed by Messrs Brogden, except a married couple who were engaged by a farmer from Spring Creek, who happened to be in Picton when tbey arrived. An Otago paper says that recently the captain and steward of the barque Medora appeared at the Port Chalmers Police Court as principals in a case brought by the steward against the captain, the charge being that the latter refused to allow the steward to go ashore to lodge a complaint with a Justice of the Peace. The charge was proved, and tho captain was fined in the mitigated penalty of 203 and costs. It is understood (says "the Christchurch ' Press ') that his Excellency Mr Weld, the Governor of Western Australia, will arrive, on a visit to Canterbury, by the next Suez mail, about the noddle of next month, upon private business, and our contemporary urges that as Mr Weld has been for so long a time intimately connected with the colony, and has tokon so prominent position in it almost since the earlisfc days of European settlement, a fitting welcome should be given him. Ladies who wear chignons, as well as the bald of the other sex, will be glad to hear that there is every prospect of hair being grown in the garden, and transferred by a simple aud easy process to the head. It seems cuttings of hair, properly treated, will strike like geraniums, and a aayan in Kentucky hae, according to the New York ' Tribune/ discovered that by inserting the cut end of a lock of hair intp a kind of paste made of two vegetables and a simple chemical, it can be made to grow, and thence be transplanted successfully to a scarified skin. In fact, all that is necessary is a small headrake sufficiently sharp in the tooth to j scrape the fikin off the scalp in little furrows ; the hair should then at once bo inserted into the wouuds, and personal beauty is thus reduced to a mere question of agony. Wigmakers will pot li{te this, but it ia impossible to deny that it will be a vast improvement on present arrangements ; moreover, lovers may not only exchange locks of hair, but actually engraft these souvenirs on each other's headß, and for this reason alone the discovery wiJi be failed witb rapfvjrp by tbe roqiantjc and affectionate iv every quarter of the globe.

The case of Alexander Tod furnishes (cays the ' Age') one more instance of a young man having all his future prospects blasted through yielding to temptation and pursuing evil courses. Tod iB a Souih Australian, and is most respectably connected. In 1869 he wfia'taken ou probation in the ollico of the Union Bank at Adelaide, hiß salary for the first three years being £50 per annum. In January last he waa removed to Melbourne, and his salary was raised to £150 per annum ; on Ist July it was further increased to £175, at which it remained up to tbe time wheu he abeconded. A short time since he waa temporarily placed in the position of teller, and in that capacity had as much ns £15,000 pass through hia hands iv one day, and on the 23rd inst. the balance of coin and notes in bis sole charge was about £14,000, as shown by a statement entered by himself in the teller's daily balance-book From thia amouut be had abstracted £1250 in gold, and absconded with it. The circumstances leading to this ore of the usual stamps. Tod had fallen iv with and been fascinated by a woman named Elizabeth Armstrong, who had evidently obtained great influence over him. Although tbo abstraction of the money was not known uutil the 24th ihst, it was evident that the greater portion, if not the whole, of the amount, must have been taken previously, ao the woman had obtained a draft for £500, pnyable at Auckland, and had also paid for passages for Tod and herself by the Claud Hamilton several days before he made hia final balanceentry in the bank-book. The unhappy man evidently felt his position keenly as he stood in the dock yesterday, while his paramour, or his wife as she claims to be, did not evince much concern. As will be seen by the policereport all the money has been recovered with tbe exception of about £200. a result greatly clue to the promptitude and intelligence with which Constable Scullin, of Queenscliff, acted on the instructions he received from tho detective office. A correspondent writes to a contemporary: — We havo visited Levuka in its prime, when every vessel from the colonies brought down " Some more unfortunates weary of debt, who, rashly importunate, had gone" to Fiji; aod who, if they had a pound, had certnioly " hidden it in a napkin," for no one ever saw it. Then were the gay times in Fiji; for these fresh arrivals who haJ "folded their tents liko the Arabs, aud as silently etolen away " from the colonies, lived io a very freehanded and lavish style. Good, merry, jovial souls! they cut out the pace nnd made the place go ahead as far as publichouses and too confiding credit would allow, and they threw such a tinsel glitter over the islands that the sheen of them reached the colonies, and capitalists in Australia and New ZeaZenland have been induced or rather seduced into opening stores on that nice little island. Government has opened up steam communication with that "il<-*ht little tight little island. For Oh ! its a tight little island." (Square gin is lhe favorite drink.) Companies for the growth of cotton have bfen formed which have proved melancholy fiascoes, and a bank is started wbere 1.0.U.'s for sixpence and yams are the true currency of the country. But to conclude, Fiji in its happiest days never countenanced open profli*. gacy as Apia does ; it is essentially an English se^tjemept. Samoan shamelesßness was unknown, and the nights were not robbed of sleep by German barrel organs. Nine millions of ball cartridges for the Henri-Martini rifle have been ordered at Woolwich, presumably for use against the Asbautees. The Bonny takes out with her a stock of Hale's rockets, the same which produced a salutary effect on the Abyssinians. When they have spread fire and fright in their course, they conclude with the explosion of a shell, which \r_ orowds can be very destructive One calm still night, the darkness of which was lighted by the moon, the inmateß of a quiet form-house in Ayrshire were startled by piteous cries from a little stream running past the foot of the brae on which the homestead stood. Out ran the gudewife in haste, thinking that the voice was not unfamiliar; and, when she got to the burn, there she saw her am gudeman, who bad had John Barleycorn, on all .fours in a foot of water in which the moon was brightly reflected. '* Gudesake, John, ye gouk, what are ye doing there, standing like an auld uliot ia that manner?" (i Oh. wonian, -Jenny, is that you? Pm glqd to see you, for I ha'e gotten aboon tbe moon, and ha'e been in tbisawfu' predicament for twa hours, baubling on like grim death for fear I should fa 8 and be killed beyond a' recognition, I ken it's a richt noo when ye're here, sac we'll just baitb gang down the gether." Jenny loat no time in getting John out, and he vowed that nothing should ever make him soar high again, even on market nights.