IN BANCO.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 156, 3 July 1874, Page 2

IN BANCO.

Eyes v. Dodson. t^

Mr Pitt, on behalf of Mr Henry Dodson of Blenheim, moved for a rule nisi calling on the plaintiff and his solicitor, Mr Frank Morton Ollivier, to show cause why a certain judgment entered by the plaintiff in this case and all prpceedjngij subsequent thereto should not be set aside for irregular ity. Role granted as prayed, retqrnabjja JQ fourteen days after 'service. We fjbgepfe th-*. ~ -7"" pfNew* _— --<> in the Parliament oouth Wales, on the 13th May, me following questions were put by Mr Decker to thy Vice-President of the Executive Council : — " 1. Whether it is a fact that the mail steamships Mongol and Tartar arelo be withdrawn from tbe San Francisco mail service ; if so, whether it has been with the coosent of the Postmaster-General, aud whether it has arisen from those vessels having proved inefficient for the service ? 2. Whether the vessels employed or proposed to be employed in substitution are of the class and tonnage stipulated in the contract and bond entered into on the 28th November, 1873, and have received the approval of the Postmaster-General, a 9 provided fur io thoso documents ?" Mr Samuel replied:—!. The Tartar has not been withdrawn, but an intimation has been received from the contractor that the Mongol, requiring extensive alterations, will have to proceed to England. 2. The vessels named in tbe contract for the temporary service are the Mongol, the Macgregor, the Tartar, and tbe Mikado. The Cyphrenes, which ts of the class and tonnage stipulated in the contract, was approved as a fifth vessel to supply tbe place of anp of tha others which may be required to be taken off the line.

A corn spon dent forwards the following to one of the Christchurch papers: — As Meesrs F. Houghton, of Pigeon Bay, and Wm. Maseflel I, of Gough's Bay, were oo a shooting excursion at Like Forsyth, on Tuesday. 14th nit., their attention was attracted by a fine specimen of the green lizard, which was secured by Mr Houghton and placed in a common tin match-hox, with tho intention of preserving it in spirits. On his arrival at home the box was temporarily laid aside and afterwards forgotten until Thursday, the 11th inetaut, when, on its bein_ opened, instead of a shrivelled ekin being found, not only was the original animal alive and well, but also two young ones which it had produced duriog its two months' impriaonmet.t, all of which appear at present as strong and hfalthy, as though they had never been in confinement. The veracity of the above is beyond doubt, and can le vouched for by witnesses who saw the box opened, the string with which it was tied being. found intact. It is Mr Houghton's intention to forward both animals and box to Dr Haast by first opportunity.

The Olago Times mentions the case of a foolish old woman, who, being attracted by the tempting appearance of tutu berries began eating then voraciously. In a short time 6he showed evident sigus of mental abbcration, somewhat similar to thay^chibited by cattle after partaking freely ofthe plaut. Fortunately, the case yielded td-.Jhe skill of an old Highlander, who prescribed copious draughts of whisky at short intervals, by which treatment the mental equilibrium of the old wotran was happily restored.

As a fishing boat in Dundee harbor was pulling to the 6hore, recently, the crew found themselves clcsa to a large conger eal. The " sea serpent " was either sick, blown, or intoxicated, or grimly observing the progress of the Tay Bridge, for it allowed the boat to approach co near that one of the boys dealt it a smart blow with an oar. Following up the attack, a boy named Stuart Taylor leant over and grappled with the monster, which has lef. its mark on him in the shape of two ugly bites, one ou each hand. After some struggling the lads landed their prize, which measured fully six feet. A bronze halfpenny is exactly an inch broad, and therefore gives a very convenient measure. Laid on an ordnance map of the inch scale, the halfpenuy covers just 500 acres. The third of an ounce is now the postal unit, and a penny is precisely tbat weight. It has long been known lhat the simplest method of sharpening a razor is to put it for half an hour in water, to which has been added one-tweutieth of its muriatic or sqlphuric acid, then lightly wipe it off, and after a few hours set it on a hone. Tho acid here supplies the place of a whet- stone, by corroding the whole surface uniformly, so that nothing further than a good polish is necessary. The process never injures good blades, while badly hardened one are frequently improved by it, although the cause of such improvement remains unexplained.

Ingenious Use of Scripture. — A clever device for conveying information to our forces was employed by a German missionary in Coomassie. tbe other day. He was employed in negotiations, and of course his letters were overlooked by the Ashantees. He therefore conveyed his meaning by dating his letter "2nd Corinthians, 2nd chap., ) lib/verse,'* which looked enough like a date to pass muster wjth. the Ashantees, bqfc "which caused our general to turn to the words, "Leaf Satan should get an advantage oTSus, for we are not ignorant of his device!^ in which it waa easy to se.fr an un^ complimentary allugidcj to the Sing of Ashaqteo* .- .. ..-..- . . . The Slam Weekly Advertiser Says r-i On the Island of Borneo has been found a certain race of wild creatures, of which kindred varieties have been discovered io the Phjllipioe Jslaqds, in Terra del Fuego, and fa §oujh. Atn,eyica. They walfc qnu^aJiy, ajpAQat w^^ twq legs, and, fo &at a***^-^_7 on ahotrt km *** l^~^vude measure Bt W oi ll --' -" ._ height. They con- — "> ,_o habitations, form no families, scarcely associate together, sleep in caves and trees, feed on snakes and vermin, on ants' eggs, and on each other. They cannot be tamed or forced to any liibor, and are shot among the trees like\shej;reat gorilla, of which they are a "stunted copy. When captured alive, one finds with surprise that their uncouth jabbering sounds are like articulate language. They turn up a human face to. gaze at their captors, and females show instincts of modesty; in fine, these wretched beings are men and women. ' \ ' ;. -

Letters from Jerusalem, published in the Times, state that there were severe falls of snow during the month of January on the Mount of Olives, on the Mountains of Moab, and in the city of Jerusalem itaelf. On the Ist .and Bth of February the city itself wa^ covered with snow to the depth of six iochea, "and severe thunder storms accompanied tbe snow. Many parts of the city were in ruins through the storm and waters. Rain and sleet fell on the 18th March, and in the beginning of that month there was an earthquake. The storms ara unprecedented in -'the district. -. ! I

Paris contains at present 1,851,792 Tn 1869 the number was only 1,825,^74. Iv 1860, the wales exceeded tjWiemales by 84,648, whilst in 1872, that difarence was reduced to , 12,1556. i ■:■■■■ --• .'--:-.•