TESTIMONIAL TO THE REV. G. H. JOHNSTONE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 261, 3 November 1874, Page 2

TESTIMONIAL TO THE REV. G. H. JOHNSTONE.

On Saturday last the Rev. Mr Johnstone, who recently resigned the incumbency of Christ Church, and is now about to proceed to the West Coast for a time, attended by invitation at tbe offices of Messrs Adams and Kingdon, where he was met by the Rev. P. Calder, Presbyterian Minister, and Messrs KiogdoD, Rough, J. Oldham, F. C. Simmons, A. Adams, and A. Collin?, who represented the subscribers to a testimonial to the reverend gentleman. Captain Rough, after a few introductory words, read the following address and presented the testimonial, which consisted of a purse of sovereigns : — To the Rev. G. H. Johnstone, B.A , late Incumbent of Christ Church, Nelson. Reverend and Dear Sir— We, the undersig ed, and many of your friends and late p-irishion-rs have thought that you ought not to be suffered to leave a town to which you have given so many years of your life, and which bas hitherto owed so much to your liberal mind and genial temper, without some expression of our cordial friendship. We know that one feature in onr humble offering will give you no small gratification. Almost, if not quite, all denominations are represented in it, th< ugh there has been no soliciting of subscriptions. We have no presieii men among us, and those of us beyond the pale of your own church have been emphatically volunteers A small society like ours c*nnot but teal the loss of a scholar so accom; lUhed, a man of such wide and varied information and experience, so genial and kind-hearted » gentleman, and one so int rested in the welfare of Nelson. Be assured jou « arry away with you our best wishes for your health, happiness, and prosperity in the new scene oi your labors, w e present our gi't— Parvum non parvi pignut amoris — in the form of a purse, begging that you will yourtell choose a keepsake, which will remind you of your Nelson lriends. We are, Reverend an 1 Dear Sir, Yours most sincerely. [Here follow tbe signatures.] Mr Johnßtone, in a few kindly words i thanked the subscribers for the address and «ift. His Honor Mr Justice Richmond, and tbe Hon E, W. Stafford, W. Adams Esq., and several other gentlemen wrote expressiog their regret at being unable to be present on tbe occasion.

The Post learns with regret that the Opera Company have been but poorly patronised in Wanganui, and the gentlemen on whose guarantee they went there are likely to sustain a heavy pecuniary loss from their enterprise. Nearly all the agricultural laborers and shepherds by the Invercargill to Dunedin, were hired at the immigration barracks on the 1 6th instant. The rates of wages were— Farm servants, £45 to £52 per annum, and shepherds at ftom .£52 to £55. The demand is good, and it is expected that the whole of the passengers wiU, if the weather continues fine, be engaged in the course of a few days. It may interest Freemasons to know that his Excei'ency the Marquis of Normanby is a brother of the mystic tie, and apparently takes considerable interest in the craft. A quantity of apples and onions were imported to Auckland from San Francisco by the Mikado on her last trip. This is almost as had as New Zealand having actually to import potatoes. That must have been a very interesting gathering at East Taieri last week, cays an Otago paper, when the family of Mrs John Allan, senior, met under that lady's roof. The family, comprising children, grandchildren, and one great grand-child, to the number of seve< ty-two in all, sat down to dinner, and in the eyeni»g were met by their friends. One or two rather daring, although not I very extensive, robberies from dwellinghouses which have occurred recently, show un-mi-takeaby, remarks the Southland News, that the " golden age " is passing away, and that it will no longer be judicious to go to bed leaving the street door unlocked. The Lyttelton Times of Saturday states that an explosion of gas t ok place last night in one of the rooms at the Commercial Hotel, by which Mr Warner, the proprietor, was seriously bu nt. It seems that Mr Warner's attention was drawn to a strong smell of gas procee ting f rom a room recently erected at the back of the new bar, and on ascending a platform which is being used by the plasterers in the room, he oberved that a gas pendant had been takea down, and the cork placed in the pipe had either been forced or fallen out. The barman handed him another cork with which he stopped the pipe, and after standing for a few moments on the scaffolding, thinking all was right he struck a match, with the intention of lighting his pipe, when a violent explosion took place, with a report resembling a sma 1 'cannon, throwing him down and bursting a pane of glass in one of the windows of the room. Mr W«rner s^on got on hs fert but bis whisk rs B_d hair were all singed, and the back of his neck and ears very much burnt, his face was also slightly scorched. The name of Mr Brandon has been pretty freely teleg aphed throughout the colony lately in connection with ce'tain irregularities in the Stamp Office at Wellington. The matter is not. one of much interest beyond the locality in which it occurred, but it is only fair to the aciused officer to furnish some further information with regard to the recent inquiry and its results. The Post of a late date says:— The Government bas, we learn, at length communicated to Mr H. E. De B. Brandon the report of the Commission appointed to consider the charges made against him as chief clerk and accountant of the Stamp Office. The report is a rather voluminous document, but from a perusal of it, we glean that all the charges preferred affecting Mr Brandon's character were either withdrawn, or were utterly unsupported by the evidence. The report fully vindicates Mr Brandon from any imputation of improper dealing with public funds. The Commissioners find that while Mr Batkin was head of the department and Mr Brandon merely a subordinate officer, certain serious official irregularities occurred, but they point out that all these were condoned in the most practical manner by Mr Brandon being left in charge of the department on Mr Batkin's resignation, and they draw special attention to the difficult position in which he was placed in having duties, which it was impossible he could properly discharge, thrust upon him. They only find one serious case of official irregularity to have occurred during the time he has been head of the department— iv 1873 — and they cite the testimony of the Commissioners of Audit to prove that latterly, under his management, a great improvement has been visible in the conduct of the business of the department. They consider that he has acted injudiciously or improperly in certain instances, but that nothing was elicited during the inquiry to justify the charge of habitual negligence or inefficiency, it being shown that, on the contrary, he devoted much more than the ordinary hours of official work tothepublie service. They say there ia nothing to justify his dismissal from the service, although it is right that some punishment should be ioflicted for the irregularities proved. Finally, they draw attention to the necessity for reform in the general conduct of the department. From the whole report it is evident that there was nothing to justify the sudden suspension of Mr Brandon on the very day after Mr Reynolds succeeds Mr O'Rorke as Commissioner of Stamps, that most of the irregularities had occurred when he waa not the responsible officer, and that after they were known he had been promoted to the charge of the department, the management of which had actually improved under his adr ministration. It is very evident that he has been made to some extent a victim. The death of the late Mr W. J. T. Clarke (says a contemporary) has led to a considerable change In the mode of dealing with his enormous wealth. While he lived he used to say that "his pleasure was to make money," and that p easure he pursued to the day of his death. Hi? vast estates were only utilised so as to bring in as much money as posible with little or no outlay by the owner, and any assignee rendered to public enterprise or social advancement was not dreamed of. The son of the deceased who succeeded to the Victorian estates, has however, done a good deal already to show that he is actuated by very different motivts to those of his father He has with a princely liberality assisted in establishing coursing as a national pastime. He and Mrs Clarke are actively promoting the education of children in their neighborhood, as well as the comfort and prosperity of all classes, On Saturday the foundation stone was laid of a new mansion, which is about to be built for Mr Clarke, in substitu^ tion for the cottage with which he had to content himself during his father's lifetime. The deceased millionaire could not understand the felicity of being hospitable; but the son, on Saturday, entertained over a thousand people— in fact nearly all the population within a radius of ten miles— on the occasion of commencing the new house. The building is to contain some fifty rooms, besides cellarage, &c, and will tost over £25,000. In the South Australian Parliament recently, a bill was introduced to prohibit the use of all matches or vestas except those known as safety matches. It was only rejected by a majority of one, Brazil is apparently going in strongly for railways. A London pvper states that Sir JohnHawkshaw has received a commission from the Emperor of Brazil to proceed to his dominions for tbe purpose of surveying the extent of coast (about 5000 miles) from Pernambuco to Callao, with the view of developing harbors, and of mapping out such lines of railway as may be conducive to the extension of trade on the south-east coast of America. A part of Sir John's staff has already embarked, and he will leave England early in August, and will not probably return before the end of the year.