The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, APRFL 16, 1874.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 90, 16 April 1874, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, APRFL 16, 1874.

Thb Otngo sailed from Lyttelton for Wellington !a3t night, will arrive there this afternoon, and may be looked for here to-morrow, possibly by the morning's tide. Accident at the Wharf. — A serious accident occurred at the Wharf this afternoon to a man named Savage, who, when under the iofluence of liquor, fell into the water, and remained there some time before be was rescued. On being landed it was found that he had received a severe wound on the head, caused it is supposed by falling on the chain by which the barque Condor is moored to the wharf. Dr Squires was at once sentVor, who reports that be is at present suffering from the effects of the concussion as well t as from those of liquor, Messrs. Slaverl and Co. offered for sole at auction to-day the Camden Run, the property of the Messrs M'Rae Brothers, but there was no bid for it. None of the town sections which were up for sale by direction of Messrs Morrison and Selanders were disposed of. \ Ar.tiza.ns' Association. — The election of officers of this Society for the current quarter took place last night, and resulted in the choice of the same officers elected on the Ist inst., with the exceptions of Mr J. Hamilton, Treasurer; Mr J. Glover, Committeeman; Mr M. Blithe, Librarian; and Mr Bear, Dramatic Manager. A Madman at Large. — A furious attack was made on Mr Dwyer's accommodation house in the Maitai Valley on Monday last by a raving maniac, v who smashed the windows, hurled stones at the doors, and ultimately obta ; ned entrance into, and took possession of one part o.f the house, the frightened inmates concealing themselves in onoiher. In the morning he took his departure, leaving behind him his boots, blankets, and some portion of his clothes. Shortly after he returned, and Mr Dwyer tried to persuade him to take bis articles of clothing, but this he refused. te do. Yesterday afternoon ; he was met by a traveller near, the TinJine bridge. He had on then a pair of -Trousers cut off at the knees, the lower part having been used to tie round bis bootless feet, and a shirt almost in rags. He stopped and spoke to the traveller und said that he had no idea . where he was, and that he left Havelock on Saturday last ond had been waDdering about ever since, and had some faint recollection of having smashed the windows of a house that he had ccme across in his rambles, in proof of which he showed his hands which had evidently been severely lacerated. He was put on to tho track and direrted to go to Cooper's accomodation house about six miles distant. He had been drinking heavily at Havelock for a few days, and had evidently been quite out of his senses for a time. '^"SThe Dunedin Star of the Bth inst. says : — A number of the immigrants by the Surat went to the shed on the Jetty-street jetty this morning to obtain their luggage, which, it had been announced, would be distributed to tbe several owners. The condition of most of the boxes was* shockingly bad, some being smashed almost flat, the articles in all soaked through with water, and, in the majority of cases, powdered over with sand. TheWmentations of the .^owners were naturally loud, and a good many complained (justly or not) that articles of Value had beep, exjracted from the boxes. One had^lost "££o in money;" another, " a quantity (not specified) of silver plate;" another, jewellery, and so, on. v The lady who ha.d^iost ""several ounces of silver plate/ on beiDg fold that it had doubtr less sunk to the bottom, on her box being broken, asked how it was that a meat-jack in the same box had floated aßhore,'instead of doing likewise. His .Honor tbe Superintendent looked' in to Hsee how the distribution was going on, j jus\ as another lady waß in a highly I excited state at the distributor refusing her a bundle of articles which another person had claimed, but he^only stayed a few minutes. Perhaps this was fortunate fofhim, as a bystander told the lady who it was that had gone away, and she immediately cried out to her husband to "run after that man — he's the Superintendent of this country, and he'll soon make them give us our Sthings," Aut it was to no effect — his Honor hstl too far a start, A meeting of the wharf laborers, says the Auckland Herald, was held last evening for the object of forming "A Wharf Labourers Union." Tbe union was duly formed, when it was resofveisstbat ten shillings a-day should be paid for eight hours' work discharging general cargo. If engaged for less than a-day one shilling and sixpence per hour was to be paid, with two shillings per hour overtime. Of course it. will rest with employers whether they will accede to the demands made upon them. A trade bargain (and labor comes underj tltfis head) is that the laborer shall rtfjeive as much for his hire as he can obtain, and tbe employer abuli give the minimum for which be can secure it. There is perfect freedom of action on both sides. But an indirect threat was held out at the meeting by a motion in which it was resolved to give notice to a number of men who wore working under the scale of wages, that unless they sent in their names as members of the union during the week they would not be allowed to join it. We hope these men will not permit

themselves to be coerced into recognising any union against their wish. Ooe man may be worth the wages of Bomo two other men in the amount of work he is able and willing to perform, and he has a right to appraise himself accordingly. Another man may not, owing to a deficiency of physical power, or being unused to his work, be equal to the ordinary run of laborers, and is willing in consequence to accept a lower, scale of wage for his services. No combination of men must be allowed to prevent him doing this — and if the attempt is made the union will break through, as it is right it should. New Zealand Volunteers. — On their arrival in Auckland the northern representatives at the late colonial prize firing were entertained at a lunch by their brother volunteers. The Hon. D. McLean, the Defence Minister, was present, and is reported by tbe Herald to have expressed himself on tho volunteer movement as follows: — He thought that, as a whole, it was subject to spasmodic action. At one time in Auckland it was very low, and sometimes very prosperous. He had expected that there would have been sufficient national pride to create a desire for its better organisation. Men of position neglected its encouragement, forgetting that the men who are to be volunteers and prize Bhooters are the very men who should receive in these matters the greatest support from their employers. We should always bo prepared to meet any emergencies which may arise, whether externally or internally, and we must feel the responsibility of being ahle to hold our own so as not to sink down to a low leve', but be able at any rate to handle arms when thoy are put into their hands. So far as his experience went, this had not been the case uniformly. There were certain periods when the volunteer movement happened to be in tbe ascendancy, but these periods required a certain stimulus. He believed that the candidates of the North owed thoir victory to the South, who first instilled the desire to compete with them. This was one of the causes of the late victory. As for the volunteers generally iv this province, he felt sure that it was not very likely that their services would be at all required for anything in the province itself; but, at the same time, he would be very sorry to see the movement flagging. He thought it was very desirable to keep up a military movement. He did not wish to see the volunteers made a sham of, and would rather see the whole force abolished. They required something more than prize firmg — they required drill and organisation. He felt sure that tho volunteers of Auckland had very much reason to be grateful to the officer who bad conducted the members' firing, and who had so successfully carried it out on two separate occasions, and whoße whole aim and desire was to make it a perfect success. He considered they had been peculiarly fortunate in Auckland in having, that officer (Major Gordon,), and he hoped that he would meet with that co-operation and assistance from the volunteers themselves which he richly deserved, in order that volunteers should not be a mere name. It was his (Mr McLean's) intention to introduce suggestions much more stringent than they had had, and he should do so from the belief that one good man was much better than three bad ones. It was therefore bis intention to bring forward certain regulations in that direction, which he bad prepared. It was not to the men alone he looked, but also to the officers. He could almost tell where there was a good company by the officers. Where officers and men can co-operate together there Ihe movement must be successful. If this were not the case, it would be better to abolish volunteering, and rely upon the youth of the country as its defenders. " Snyder " thus discourses on the Governor: — I like Sir James Fergusson. There's no nonsense about him. When he addresses the Maori warrior, who gets drunk on rum and eats pig halfraw as the next best flavored thing to dieting on his wife's sister, he does not say, "O, my friend, best liked and most beloved of that most royal lady, your mother, the Queen, the white man comes here as the guardian of your rights, and a preserver of your privileges. And, O, my friends, ask not back for your confiscated lands, or you will risk alienating the love which the white man bears towards you. And, O, my friends, give your allegiance to your noble Queen who sleeps between the same textile woven from the same material as the blankets which through her representative, she in her royal munifience distributes to you; it is the same lady who consumes three times in each day of each day of the year, when not indisposed, bread made with the same kind of flour which is sent to you in sackfuls, that you may remain content, and refrain from murdering your white brother. O, my friends, - remember all these blessings, and touch not tho telegraph posts for firewood, nor the telegraph wires for fish-hooks. Remember, O, my friends, that the same sun which shines upon our gracious Queen, shines upon you with equal brilliancy, when the terrestrial globe has revolved sufficiently on its axis to allow of the proceeding, and the dark clouds of atmospherical discontent do not intervene." Sir James does not go into this line of businees, neither does he tell the inhabitants of every city he enters that they are better inhabitants tbau any other inhabitants ho ever fell in with, and the moat loyal, and tho most enterprising, and that the province in which they are dwellers

reminds him of the Likes of Killarney, or Thermopolis, or Troy, or Venice Preserved, or the Bridge of Sighs, or Como, or Rome in its gladiatorial days. Sir James does not say that for big pumpkins the people he has the pleasure of dwelling among for the time being grow bigger pumpkins than he ever saw anywhere else in his life. Sir James keeps his place, and he makes others keep theirs ; and so I like him, and bear him no malice because be would not allow me to attend his levee, inasmuch that I did not* at the time happen to have a waiter's suit of clothes — minus the napkin f- in my wardrobe. The Melanesian Mission Trust having lately built a new vessel— -an auxiliary steam screw schooner — the Southern Cross, a vessel which for several years has been employed in missionary services, is now out of commission. The vessel, together with the school buildings at Kohimarama, the members of the Trust have offered to the Colonial Government, to be devoted to a naval school aud training ship. The offer was no sooner made than it was accepted, and the Collector of Customs has been instructed to take the necessary steps to advance the object intended. The proposal is a v»ry excellent one, and we trust will be attended with Bticcess. It is most desir- j able that we should have some institution or school to which our street Arabs, deserted and parentless lads, can bo sent for instruction and training, which shall make them useful members of society in time to come. We have great need of young men for service in our provincial and intercolonial mercantile marine. Our native youth are quick to learn, active and lithe of body, and are composed of the material which go to make up gooj sailors. All that is required is tnat thry should be trained by competent teachers, and placed under kindly but strict discipline. We believe that a large proportion of our provincial coasting crufts are..Sßil6fT — and sailed well aud skilfully— by Auckland-born and reared men. But we cannot overlook the fact that the experiment ba9 been tried in Melbourne and failed. Colonial lads, as a general rule, unlike those of the British Isles, do not tako kindly, to marine service, a love of salt water not falling in with their instincts. The experiment was tried years ago in Tasmania, where it also failed. It was found that colonial youths made good boatmen and. daring and skilful whalers in the Sounds and estuaries of the Island, but they could not be induced to accept service for long voyages. The fact appears to be that shore life in the colonies has too many enjoyments for young men to encounter the hardships which are the concomitants of long sea voyages. What, however, our young men are wanted for is our own waters, and not for ocean voyages of long duration. — Hetald; \ We want to believe that story from a Peoria paper about Henry Bull,, but it is hard, very hard, to accept it vvith perfect confidence. Mr Bull, it is alleged, was fed on calomel and blue pills by the,, doctors for a number of years, so that finally he actually became saturated with quicksilver. The other day, while he was standing by the side of the house, the sun suddenly came out bright and warm, and Bull began gradually to ascend. He stopped at the line of tbe sill of the secondstory window, and hung there suspended in space until a thunder storm happened to come up, which cooled the atmosphere, and then Mr Bull slowly descended. Now he has a graduated scale marked on the gable end of his dwelling. .., Jams Lick, the wealthy Californian, who has recently delighted the scientists of that State with his notion of erecting a model observatory in, the higher Sierras, has now set those gentlemen beside themselves with joy by promising a million dollars to furnish it with the champion telescope of the world. Tho . new Clark telescope at Washington, which has been the theme of so much descriptive writing of late, cost only a matter of 30,000 dollars, and will com, pare with this proposed monster as the pocket spyglass of tho tourist with the mammoth instrument of the observatory. Just how large the new telescope , can be made, it is impossible at present to say. Experiments must be made with glass, and the most careful investigation will be needed in order to determine the feasibility of constructing a lens of the extraordinary diameter and focal length required. The Scientific American points out the capability of a twelvefoot objective with a focal depth of 120 feet; which, with an eye-piece of 1-20 inch focus, would give a magnifying power of 28,800 times the linear dimensions or over 800,000,000 times the surface of a body. This would bring Mars, so to speak, within 4,000 miles of us, and make it appear 100 times as large as the moon. As for the moon, let the reader seriously think of having that satellite within eight miles of him ; so near that, if inhabitants there be, he can see them. Even if no more astonishing discoveries be made, the effects of volcanic action upon the surface will form a prolific field of study. There is an omnibus in Cincinnati that has killed thirteen human beings in its eventful career. It is to be sent to the Chicago Museum, with a window frame out of which a suicide leaped, and a chimney brick that fell upon and brained a woman before chignons were introduced. Chicago doats on these things.