Untitled

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 324, 2 October 1874, Page 2

■ —t ,t— 7; — * Some malicious; persons spem to have been at work at the Upper Hutt. The windows of St. Joseph's Catholic Church were smashed on the night of the 26th instant, and for the discovery a reward pf £10 is offered. Scandal would be rare if everybody were like the Mahomedan official to . whom Mr Layard, tbe eastern explorer/ wrote for some statistics of ihe oity m which be lived. The. official's reply ran : as follows :—" My Illustrious Friend and Joy of my Liver, — The thing you ask of me is both difficulty and useless. Although I have passed' all my days in this place I have neither , counted the houses nor have I inquired into tbe number of tbe inhabitants, and, as to what one person loale on his ' mules, and- the other stows uway in the/ bottom of his ship, that is no business of mine. But, above all, as to ifhe previous history of thia city, Heaven only knows the amount of dirt and donfusion that the infidels may have eaten before the coming of tha sword of Islam, It were unprofitable for us ' to enquire into it. Omy soul ! Omy lamb! seek not after the things that^ concern thee not. Thou oomest unto us and we welcome thee. Go in peace." I

The following appears in the Wanganui Herald in the shape of an advertisement ; — "For sale cheap.— The pewter drinking pot, given by the Wanganni Rifle Association as a silver cup, at the Jast meeting. "Price— Any sum exceeding ss. The pot was given as first prize, the second prize being Regarding the commercial failures in Launeeston, the Examiner writes: — ■ " Once more this community has been paralysed by a serious commercial catastrophe. The amount is not counted by thousands only, but by hundreds of thousands: nor the persons involved by > twos or threes, but by dozens, and the 7 whole extent is not yet known. Such , a crisis has not occurred for many years. Of course all kinds of rumors are afloat, , many of which are probably without foundation; but there is too mu/Cn reason to fear that the immense liabilities existing in some case6 have not been incurred by. proper trading. It is certain that accommodation bills to an enormous amount have "been giveipby persons who ought to haveshad nothing to do with such dangerous paper. Their own legitimate business may have been tolerably sound, but they have, been, dragged to the earth and ruined by\th€ preposterous sums for which they gaVe their names to sustain a huge and atrocious system of kite-flying. They are to be piti§d, but they are not free from blame, for they had no right to imperil the interests of their own creditors, wbo confided in their integrity and prodence We have beard of some instances of a most painful character in which struggling., shopkeepers (ono an aged widow) have beenSredufted to beggary." \V\