The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, JULY 9, 1875.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume X, Issue 168, 9 July 1875, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, JULY 9, 1875.

An inquest was held yesterday afternoon upon the body of Walter .Fulton, and a verdict of " accidentally drowned " returned. The evidence afforded no further information than that which has already appeared in our columns. A letter fiotu a Wakefield correspondent regarding a dangerous lunatic said to he rabrpad in that diatrict, calls for some notice pt fhe hauds of the police. We know nothing more of the

matter than ia contained in the latter referred to. but that is sufficient to justify an enquiry. Mr Jacobs advertises that he is prepared to provide a string band for bal's, parties, entertainments, &o. He will probably find numerous engagements. The Dunedin Harbor Board at its last meeting increased the salary of the harbor-master Jo £300, and gave four pilots an advance each of £35, making tbeir salaries £300 a-jear. According to the Tuapeka Times, new-chum Chinamen are employed in fencing on the railway line at the Woolshed. Thay appear to do the work well, and in their usual quiet style. Robert Newtou, employed at Sparrow's foundry, Dunedin, wae, while the maohinery was in motion, placing a piece of board over a hole near the flywheel of the engine, when one end of tho board catching him iv (he stomach hurled him 15 feet. He was picked op insensible and lingered Kil nest day, when he died. The British survey of Palestine makes rapid progress. The last place identified is Bothabara, the ford of the Jordan where John baptised. An account of this will ba given in tbe next quarterly pamphlet of the Palestine Fund. The Auckland Institute have resolved to proceed with ihe erection of a museum costing £30GO, to be raised by private subscriptions. It is suggested that for purposes of identification (of criminals) , it is only necessary to get & distinct photograph of tbe palm of one hand, taken in a strong oblique light, so as to bring out the markings strongly. This will be found a map, it is said, never alike in two persons; no disguise short of actual disfigurement will do away with the difference. „ According .to Iron, a curiousrexperiment, bearing,, on the construction of fireproof builliqgg, wns made at Sunderland the other day. A new house built near tbe Spelter Works at Hendon, Sunderland, had one of its rooms fiilei with tar barrels, wood aud other combustible material, and when the door was shut the mass was set fire, to. It simply burnt itself out, without apparently affecting the condition of the adjoining rooms, or tbe stability of the house itself. The building is constructed according to tbe uew method, the invention of Mr Brannon, of the firm of Pedder and Brannon, architects, by which concrete is constructed of cement and fibre bound together by strings of iron and wire. It thus becomes a sore of stone cloth, available for the construction of floors aod doors as well as walls and ceilings, ao that not a particle of wood need be used in the construction of a dwellinghouse. A company will be formed to work the patent, and if the new plan can be used more economically than existing methods, it will no doubt be successful. A chapter-meeting of Cornish clergy, attended by thirty-five, has passed a resolution condemning the practice of presenting hat-bands, scarves, and gloves to clergymen officiating at funerals.