Untitled

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 149, 24 June 1874, Page 2

English Opera Company.— By our telegrams it will be seen that Miss Alice- May, the. prima donna of this Company', who 1 ? are about to pay us a visit nest week, received a most 'enthusiastic reception in Wellington last night,

Smith's Combination Company. — This company arrived from Auckland by the Phosbe this morning, and will appear at the Masonic Had this evening. '* It comprises a clever ventriloquist, several aerial performers, ballad and comic singers, and last but not least, : Mr. Saunderp, the well-knowxi harpist. The entertainment is said to be a very attractive one.

Siamese and Asiatic Circus. — Notwithstanding the pouring rain, and the discomforts of ; a leaky tent, the circus was very largely attended last night. Of the equestrian portion of the entertainment we cannot Bay much, but the performances of the Japanese on the lad der and in other aorobatic feats were remarkably clever. The little pony, too, created great amusement by his tricks. There will be another, performance in Nelson to-night, and to-morrow the troupe will appear at Wakefield, and on the following evening at Richmond.

Aktjlleby Cadets. — Tbe attention of "lads wishing to join this corps is directed to tbe notice requiring them to send in their names and addresses to Mr Harling before Saturday next.

A telegram was received this morning by the gaoler from his Excellency the Governor, instructing him to discharge James Lock, who is undergoing sentence in the Nelson gaol. Lock was sentenced to death in. May, 1864, for stabbing and killing William Birkett, a fireman on board the Airedale, on the Port-road, but his sentence was commuted to penal servitude for life. On inspecting tbe gaol on his recent visit the Governor was appealed to by Lock to pardon him, but no hopes were held out to him, but it appears that, on reconsidering the matter, his Excellency has changed his mind, and hence tbe. instructions received by Captain Clouston,

Fatal Accident.— lt is with deep regret that we have to announce the sudilen death of Colonel Thomas of Riwaka, who was thrown from a cart yesterday in Motueka, and kicked, the injuries received being so severe that death was instantaneous. Colonel Thomas, at one time an officer in H.M. Bengal army, has for tbe last thirteen years been, a resident at Riwako, and was beloved and honored by all who knew him. His death will cause a sad gloom not Only in the neighborhood in which he lived, but in the town of Nelson, where he was well known aud respected. He will be buried at Riwaka on Saturday.

It will be seen by advertisement that the Provincial Government are calling for tenders for a steam service between Westport, Ngakawhao; "Mokihinui, Little Wanganui, and Karamea. This should. tend to open up .that portion of the province, which is believed to be rich in minerals.

The Picton and Blenheim Railway is expected to be open for traffio in August.

Tbe Corporation of Dunedin has at last, after a most prolonged and vexatious negotiation, concluded terms for the purchase of the Dunedin water works from the company by whom they are now owned.

The Otago papers state that of the 100,000 salmon ova imported from the Clyde by the Oberon last year, the sole result is 95 young fish, now well and lively in a pond formed in the bend of a nice little brook running into the Aparirima River.

For clapping his hands, shouting "Hear, hear," and "Bravo, old chap," during divine service at St. Paul's Church,on Sunday night,(says the Auckland Herald) a gentleman named Brown found himself in custody, upon a charge of creating a disturbance in church. He was lodged in the lock-up, and will have to answer for his offence before the presiding Magistrate.

The settlers in Canterbury consider that they will require 40,000 Bhares in the new Colonial Bank allotted to them. The merchants of Christchurch have held a meeting and appointed, a large committee, from whom is to be selected a working committee of ten, who meet periodically, and receive a guinea each per sitting. This committee have appointed agents to canvass for shareholders at a commission of 3d per share.

Mutual Accommodation.—" It is a waste of valour for us to do battle," said a lame ostrich to a negro who had suddenly come upon her in the desert; " let ue cast lots to see who shall be considered the victor, and then go about our business." To this proposition the negro readily assented. They cast lots; the negro cast lots of stoneß, and the ostrich cast lots of feathers. Then the former went about his business, which consisted in skinning the bird.

Quick Telegraphy. — In the matter of telegraphy, the Americans set us an example. On the occasion of the delivery of the last Presidential message, an experiment was made at the Washington telegraph office, the practical reaultß of whioh will be of immense

importance as regards the future of telegraphy throughout the world. The message, containing 11,500 words, was transmitted from Washington to New York, a distance of 290 miles, over a single, wire, in 22^ minutos, the speed obtained being over 2,500 letters per minute. At New York, the message was delivered from the automatic instrument, priuted in bold typo, in the presence of the Postmaster of that city. This achievment in telegraphy is the more remarkable as the principle involved is not new, but was well known in 1848. By the new American combination of chemistry and mechanism, the speed is apparently unlimited; The system which was inaugurated in December Jast has now been several months in operation, and messages at tbe rate of 1200 words, or 6000 letters a minute have been transmitted with the same satisfactory results. Hitherto, the speed attainable over circuits of similar length in England by the Wheatstone automatic system at present in use for the " high speed" service by the postal telegraphic department, does not exceed 200 letters a minute. In New Zealand we have reason to believe that the highest speed obtained has been at the rate of .40 words a minute, which, however, could not be kept up very long. We know that the most skilful operators in the employ of the department — their number is not very large, because little inducement is held out to good men to remain in the service — have, in a couple of instances, attained as high a rate of speed as 45 words per minute on very short messages. Tbe longest message ever received at the Dunedin station contained about 8000 words, and was transmitted in four hours. We do not require to cite instances of the slowness of our system. Perhaps if Mr Lemon cannot be induced to take a lesson from America, he will see bis way to introducing tbe English plan, by which the one rate of speed attained on our wires may be increased fourfold. — Dunedin Star.

Ship Attacked by a Whale — The Boston (Massachusetts) Journal gives the following account of an attack on the Kate Williams, Captain Hale, of the regular packet line between Boston and Fayel, in her last voyage to Boston, where she arrived on the 13th ult.: — "About nine o'clock one morning a seaman aloft cried out that there was a whale on the port bow. .Captain Hale stepped lo tbe port quarter, and almost immediately could have laid his hand on the upper jaw of a Bperm whale which had paid an unwelcome visit to the ship. It was a cow whale, about 60ft in length, which had set upon them, and, had she struck the vessel a little farther under, the Kate Williams would probably never have been heard from after leaving Fayal. As it was, the vessel received a pretty good shock, and lost a portion of her mizen channels. Thia monster had Been tbe barque about the time the sailor discovered her, for she immediately sank and came up with great force right at the vessel's stern. Captain Hale thinks her mouth measured at least 15ft, and her under jaw was felt to scrape the bottom of the vessel as she glided swiftly away from her unexpected enemy. Tho whale fared as badly as the barque, no doubt, for the quarterdeck was covered with pieces of the leviathan's.outer skin, and the 'mud' that is found between it and the tougher hid,e. The Kate Williams was sailing rapidly at the time, and in about 15 minutes the fish was out of sight. While the latter could be seen sbe°ap. peared swimming about looking for the vessel, and evidently in a rage."

A man giving his name as "Lard Hastings" was brought up at the Paramatta Police Court lately charged with drunkenness and making use of obscene language, and was fined 40a. Hastings is known in Paramatta (says the Times) from the /act that he goes about among the storekeepers collecting keroaine tins and other rubbish of that Bort, and has hardly a shoe to his feet ; yet when taken into custody there was found Bewn up in old rags, in a parcel which he carried inside his vest, the sura of £253, and also £39 2a 6d which he carried loose in his pocket.