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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume X, Issue 81, 5 April 1875, Page 2

g— . — 1, , We are glad to find that one of our old Nelson settlers, Mr R. E. M'Rae, has been a very successful exhibitor at the Patea Agricultural Show. The following are extracts from the prize list:— Bost colonial entire horses, Ist prize, Mr E. E. M'Rae's Monarch; colonial bred entire draught horses, 2nd prize, Mr M'Rae's Wonderful Lad, by Royal Conqueror; rams bred in the colony, 2nd prize, Mr M'Rae; ewes of any age, Ist prize, Mr M'Rae; ewe lambs, 2od prize, Mr M'Rae ; fat wethers, Ist prize, Mr M'Rae; beat boar, Ist prize, Mr M'Rae; best sow, Ist prize, Mr M'Rae; Brahma fowl^, Ist prize, Mr M'Rae; beat cart harness, Mr M'Rae. In this gentleman the Patea District has secured a valuable settler. Serjeant Ballantine has gone to Bombay to defend the Guicowar, with a fee of 5000 guineas, aud refreshers which, the solicitors say, may amount to 5000 guineas more. It is reported, probably incorrectly, that the brief was offered to Mr Hawkins, Q.C., but that he would not go under £30,000 This is is a new branch of practice for the English Bar, and may prove a very profitable one. The value of civil cases tried in Indian Courts is often enormous, the litigants scarcely care what they pay, and they are impressed almost to absurdity by a reputation for success. Their tendency iB to heap all business on a few men. and as they becomo acquainted with English reputations, we may hear of princely fees offered for services less lengthy and less troublesome than the defence of the Tichborne Claimant. It is a drawback that the heaviest business in Calcutta is done duriug the hottest weather, but a man can 6tand a good deal of parboiling at 100 guineas an hour; and a great Zemindar accused, say of forgery or an opium speculator fighting for his month's gains, would pay a great deal more than that.