The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 1875.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume X, Issue 197, 9 August 1875, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 1875.

The church parade of "Volunteers yesterday morning was well attended, about 150 members of the City Companies being present. Thk annual meeting of the members of the Nelson Horticultural Society will be held at the Masonic Hotel tomorrow 'afternoon at 3 o'clock. The object being, we presume, to decide upon the programme of the next show, there should be a large attendance. Judgment was given this. morning in the Eesident Magistrate's Court in the case of Adams v. Burnett, the evidence in which was taken last week. The plaintiff sought to recover £19 11s from the defendant for wrongful conversion to his use of certain sheep depasturing on the farm of Mr Patrick O'Dwyer, and mortgaged to Messrs Adams and Kingdon. Certain points of law having been raised by Mr Pitt for the defendant, judgment was reserved until this morning, when his YV orship overruled Mr Pitt's objections, but nonsuited the plaintiff on the ground that it had not been proved to his satisfaction that defendant had taken possession of plaintiff s property. We take the following from the Auckland Star's obituary notice of the late Mr Beckham, District Judge and Eesident Magistrate at that place:— Mr Beckham was an Englishman— a native of Norfolk, in which county he was born in 1810. Having received a liberal education, he entered the army • and in 1835, while in his 25th year, he landed at Sydney with his regiment, the 28th Gloucester Regiment of Foot in which he held the rank of Lieutenant. He subsequently came to New Zealand in the "Diana," and took an active part in the native war in the Bay of Islands, In 1840 he was appointed magistate at Hokianga, and in the tallowing year he filled the magistrate's chair at Russell, where he remained until that settlement, known as Kororareka, was sacked, in 1814. Mr Beckham came to Auckland shortly after and was appointed by Sir George Grey (

to the responsible position of Resident Magistrate, which position he faithfully maintained to the period -of his death. The Post gives the following account of the recent fire at the House of Assembly: — The Government buildings had a very narrow escape from destruction last night. Shortly after the House met it was observed that there was a quantity of smoke in it, and when the speaker took the chair the atmosphere was quite dense. It was evident there was a smouldering fire somewhere, and the House adjourned, everyone, not an architect or a fireman being requested by Mr Speaker to leave the building. Apparently some persons thought the best way of finding the locality of the fire was to admit as much air and as many draughts as possible, so as to force it into flame; at any rate, whether this was the intention or notj every possible door was opened. Messengers, members, ministers, and small boys who always turn up mysteriously when anything special is going on were running about in the most charming confusion, every one getting into some one else's way. The hose was got out from the hall and the >. water turned on, when, the hose immediately gave, way in all directions. Then some more hose was attached to the : fire-plug outside, , but .na one seemed to know how to turn kh&, water on. All *thia occupied fully half an hour, and in the meantime ,the position ; of the fire- had* been discovered beneath a/portion of the flooring of one of the passages. The floor was taken up, and it was found that some pieces of board had beeu left close to the hot air flues by which the House is heated. These pieces of timber were all charred and smouldering, and would no doubt have speedily .burst, into- flan&e, and the gas pipes were close to them. A. man got down with a bocket of water, and put the fire out, and when this had been satisfactorily done for some minutes a supply of water from the hose was obtained. Had the fire been at alk a serious .one, the whole building • would :jiaye; been wrapped in flames long before any efficient means of getting water on were found. The following are the particulars of a recent cad case of shooting near Wairaate:— 11 Two young Germans, named John Henry Ridder, and William Hens, matee, living in the same hut, in the Waimato bush, having agreed to go out shooting, took their departure at early morn, aad betwaen six and seven o'clock came on a few ducks near Mr Charles Clarke's farms, ttidder, it appears cocked the gun on sighting the birds, but the ducks took wing before he could get a shot, and the men proceeded after them. They had not gone far when Ridder's gun went off, and his mate received (he charge in his head, which dropped the poor fellow ihstatiily. Mr," Clarke, on hearing the report, hastened to the spot, and on finding a men had been shot galloped off for a doctor, and then gave information to the police. Dr Dunkley, Sergeant O'Connor, and Trooper Gilchrist speedily arrived at the sad scene, and found Ridder embracing the corpse of his mate and crying bitterly. Some difficulty was experienced in getting the half-frantio man off the dead body, but that unpleasant task was, after a short time, accomplished, when the doctor discovered that the whole of the charge had entered the back of the man's skull, and scattered some portion of the brains out in his hat. The body was at once removed in a dray to the Club Hotel, Ridder clinging to I his dead comrade in great despair. On reaching Waimate the police took Ridder into custody until an inquest could beheld." A warning to matrimonial advertisers is given by the Ballaxat Caurier: — A shareholder in one of the co-oper-ative companies in Scarsdale, who has only been married two months, having obtained a wife by means of a matrimonial advertisement, found on returning home from the night shift on Monday raoruing thafc his wife had departed without giving him any warning of her intention to do so, and had taken with her his last fortnight's dividend. The unfortunate benedict states that his wife complained that the disparity of years between them was too great io allow the marriage to be a happy one. The husband appears to be quite resigned to his fate, and is so well satisfied with his brief experience of married life that he is content to remain single to the end of his days. His fallow workmen have shown their sympathy for him by hoisting the fiVs on the poppet-heads half-mast hi"h. °