The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 1876.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 105, 21 April 1876, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 1876.

"We. are requested to remind all owners of clogs that after this week summonses will be taken out against those .who have not registered. AirTEii an inspection of the Christmas, Tree in the Provincial Hall qy daylight we can promise all who attend tb-riight, when it is lighted up, ah exceedingly pretty sight, and, what is more to the purpose, some very capital prizes, with" which, to the number of nearly 300, the tree is laden. Many of these, prizes, all of . which have been presented for the occasion, are well 'worth three or four times the amount charged for the. tickets. After they have been distribute.^,, there, will be a promenade concert, and refreshments of every des^ tion will be obtainable in the Grand Jury room. 1 : : ; - The annual general meeting of, the members of the Nelson Harmonic Society was held, last night; at the Society's rooms, and was very well attended. The chair was taken by the Bishop of Nelson. M? Fell* the Treasurer/ read ' th e . . balance-sheet, ; which : showed that the income was just about equal to. the expenditure; and at the same i time stated that more " music ' and' a new platform for, concerts were much needed, "and that the ordinary. "revenue,, of the Society was not sufficient to meet these demands, for which the money mustbe.raised in somei other way.. It was proposed, and the proposition was favorably 1 received- that the Society should give a concert, to which an admission fee should be charged. A hearty vote of thanks was passed to Mr Fell for the services he had rendered as conductor, and he was aske'i and consented to retain the office. The. election of office-bearers then took place. Mr Fell' having expressed a wish to be relieved of the duties of Secretary and Treasurer, Mr Pickering was' unanimously elected in bis place. Sir D. , Monro was re-elected' President, and the Bishop of Nelson and Mr Gully viee-Presidents. 'The following Committee was elected by ballot: — Messrs Catley, Moore, Scaife, Kempthorne, - Anthony, and Blundell. Votes of ! thanks were given to the officer's of the past year. The Society has afforded so many pleasant evenings to so large a number of the residents in Nelson that there can.be no doubt that, if a popular concert were given for the purpose of raising the amount required for music, &c, it would bo largely attended. We are requested to call attention to the sale of gates, grand stand, and saddling yard for the ensuing races, to be held at Messrs Sharp and Pickering's rooms at half-past two to morrow afternoon. The General Assembly, is summoned to meet for the despatch qf business on the 15th of June. We have to acknowledge the receipt by the mail this morning of three ap-

* '- ■ ' s. • ' '* parently excellent, and well got v tip | works on Australia. They r are as.' follows? — ?' South Australia, its history, j •■resources/ and "productions," by, William ■ Sarcus, y Esq M J.R; skotches of South Australia," by Josiah Boothby, Esq., J.P.; and " The Australian Handbook and Almanac, and Shippers' and Importers-Directory f0r1876," published of MclTSourner- The latter- contains a Vast amount of useful information, a large map of the Continent of Australia, and smaller ones of each of the colonies. We (Marlborough Express) learn that Mr. P. Dillon had a narrow escape on Wednesday last. It appears that he was returning home fr^om Nelson, pa Kahuna, and finding the red flag flying at Ren wick town, he name to a point I'bwer : do^D,:andfaitempte3'<<tQ* cross the Qpawa river, bui he was washed from (his horse, and carried down, about half *a mile before he was able to get out again. . --■■■•-' ;' I ' \ ■ \ „ '", The Wellington correspondent ot the Rangitikei Advocate writes: — A gentleman in "Wellington has all but completed a machine for the manufacture of a fibre equal to flax from the stem of the banana. The machine is intended for use in the Fiji Islands, and if it should answer its purpose, it is the intention of the Government to, place one .? or more of them in every native village, so as to develop this industry among the population. As payment for goods- purchased, 'ft. Maori recently tendered to Mr M. D. King, of New, . Plymouth,^ < a , Turkish . medal, which had been presented to J. Flynn, private, No. 1634, in the 55th .Regiment, for service in the Crimea in 1855. Private Flynn was one ot eight men who were murdered on the 4th May, 1863, whilst on their way on military duty to New Plymouth from Tataraimaka. The medal which' has just turned up in payment for goods must have been taken from the person of the murdered man, and has continued in Maori possession till now. The Licemed Victuallers Gazette gives a hint to Good Templars in the following words: — A drunkard reclaimed frorrihis beastly habit is one of those results that every sensible being can fully appreciate. We -would -offer a, suggestion to our GfaodiTemplar friends'/ those preachers of intolerance, let them organise themselves; into' visiting com- . mittees and wait ■ «pon ihe* drunkards that are daily to be found in, the cells of a police station, let them bo around early in the morning and see that these poor deluded specimens of their* own humanity get something to comfort them, or; even a drjnk of cold \ water, let them put their shoulders to the wheel in the right way. But no ; do we ever hear of any, consolation being offered to the poor weak 'minded offender in the police-eell — perhaps a young man and his first offence? No, no ; these high dignities, with half a hundred initial letters and the word " Brother" prefixed to each and all of their names, they are never to be seen there. But they are always to be found haranguing crowds when publicity will be given to their fulsome tirades, or at a lodge meeting, where decorations may 1 be flaunted and implicit obedience from their acolytes can be demanded. At a meeting of the Alexander Rechabite Tent, Victoria, when the usual question was put--" Has any one broken the pledge ?" Geo. Sutherland, an office-bearer, rose and said " Yes, I have;" and took off his badge and went to another seat, where he immediately dropped down dead. At an inquest held a verdict of death from enlargement of the heart was returned. ' Larrikinism has appeared in a new guise in Dunedin. . Lately boys have amused themselves by lying down in sacks in quiet streets in the evening, and . ■ when passengers — - especially wotnen^passjthey scream out suddenly, cat-call, and roll about in the sack in a way calculated to startle any nervous person. . ; Tlie. E,as.te.r . offerings. . at. the ' three services on Sunday last at St: Paul's phurch, Thorndon, amounted to the very, satisfactory > sum of £63 15s Bd. In accordance with the rule of the Anglican Church in New Zealand, the Easter offerings are the personal pro- ! perty'of the incutnbent of the Church, the Tiev Mr Harvey.— Evening Post. . The Otago Daily Times has called attention to a contemplated sale of land in large, blocks, and says plainly thai; the Executive are driven to extremities ;by financial difficulties. The names of squatters with whom the Government have been in communication are freely .mentioned, "and ifc is said that the province is over £60,000 in debt. Both the' Times and Star call upon the: Land Board to decline to be parties to a sacrifice of the public estate. The Patea Mml records a most extraordinary occurrence. A child two years of ago fell; from a gig in the direct track of one of the wheels, and the vehicle, with the child's father and mother in it, jolted right over the. child's head. As a matter of course, the horror-stricken spectators never expected to see the poor child rise again, but singular to say, beyond a clear deep mark abrasing the skin, and causing a large flow, of blood, and one .ear being cut through, no injury was sustained. There was not even any insensibility or unconsciousness, for the moment the infant was released got up without assistance, ran towards, the hotel door, and was then cared for. The wheel passed along the line of the skull commencing at the occipital bone, and shaving off at the damaged ear. In the track of the wheel where the child's head lay, there was seen a gap of exactly eight inches, that being cvi- '' dently the space occupied by the infantile ski! 1 ! during the wheel's progress.

pphe Exprsss\ says that -the passeu- ■$ gers?hadto be conveyed tojand from the | railway-jfcerminds at' Opkwa in boats! laa|^w;§gK. [ , /;;.>• \ . A Sa^ri cbief^ritihg to Te Wakai Maori, says that his wife, being on her death-bed, left instructions that no rum was to be brought to her funeral obsequies. This request was strictly observed;; jHe gives it as his experience . dsi the 'first funeral -among the I Ngatiporous which has beerf respectably conducted. He says: — It has heretofore been the practice, afc Ngatiporou funeral ceremonies, for each man to provide two or three gallons of rum to increase the flow of tear 3, which was considered a sign of genuine sorrow. If 100 or "200 persons attended a funeral, they would consume that number of. gallons of runii When they 5 arrived at the place where the bddy. of t' the deceased lay the greatest confusion would arise : each chief would strive to have'tHe'jbbdy buried in the particular sp6t df nis choice ; numerous quarrels and ~ disputes about land and other matters would" arise ; this hapu would endeavor to drag the body aw&y to bury it in a grave of .their own preparing, and that hapu would insist oh Having it buried in their grave, and- so on, until they were ready ; to proceed, to jblows. When they had taken rum ;n tneir mouths they uttered no word's of sympathy -and' ! cbmpassioh : for l ttie departed, and the chief mourners were ; mortified and pained in coijieequence, Now, ye hapus of Ngatipqru, .he,cpptinues,,l,et us adopt.this good plan ; jpt ua have no niore rum at bur wailings, for this is of great importance to the well-being of the people: It would ;be ,still?better to abolish the wailings altogether; that is the business of the immediate relations only of the deceased.., And let us have rib more rum ih ; our deliberative runarigas. Consider, 'ye ' people, allwho read bur Waka\ whether you cannot adopt this plan.. I have done. I leave, it to .you all to. consider the evils of our wailing parties. ' ""' The Lahore correspondent of ,the ! 1 Pioneer Mail writes:-^-".! don't -know whether ; any account of what I am about to tell has yet appeared in print, ; >- but it deserves record in any comic -history rof- r England. The Prince of L Wales had,;after dinner at' Lady Davies', trusted the hopes of ifngland to a camp or folding rchajr., when ,th,e, lfaithJe.sS? furniture collapsed abruptly under hinr — in that manner of camp chairs with which we are aIL so sorely familiar. Oh ! what a fall was there. It had been so' instantaneous; so unexpected;' that there was no palliating the shock f. it ca^me. absolute, unbroken., , .Sir -Henry Davies rose pale and speechless, and gazed over the table at the space where the Royal guest ,had befen. 1$ .w;as not, till he raised the cloth and 'peeped , under the table that he discovered his Prince unable to move, and positively helpless with laughter. 1 believe His j Eoyal Highness at intervals roars over m the catastrophe still. Some Bay that Dr Thornton seized the occasion to deliver a short appropriate discourse on the mutability of. fortune and the in-^ stability of thrones, but I was not present at the party, and am 'unable to assert that he did." , . Messrs Cargills, Gibbs and Co., of Dunedin, have received the following ' telegram from fl^essrs.. Helmuth, Scti-, wartr, and Co.:~"The wool. market is i' ; dull. For washed fleece prices sbowanaverage decline of 2^d per lb.; greasy, fully 1 Jd, compared with average rates of last aeries. Oross-breds continue to be neglected. It will be seen from this that" allowing for an average fall of fully £1 on the previous sales, wool is at least 3d lower than at the close of last year for fleece wool, and 2d lower for greasy.'' The telegram has no London date, but was sent from.Melbourne on the 10th instant. ,; 'm A storekeeper nt Havelock, near Napier, wishing to help a fellow-coun-tryman, provided a man named M*]£ay with a horse and a covered, dart, and a quantity of goods, to the value or 1 £200!; to hawk about the country. ' The last that has been heard ef M^Kay is to ttir effect that he has dwposed of the. .whole lot at an "alarming sacrifice. I", to a Mr. M Donald, of the Manawata Gorpe,-: and io now supposed to be spending the ' proceeds of the sale in Wellirißton. ■\[ "^Egle«,"-in the Australasian, ]'[ ayai I- " A New Zealund visitor to England— < who especially prided himself on being i a man of the world— upon the first 1 day, of landing entered a tavern. "Give, me," said he, " a glass of English ale." ; 11 English ale ! " said the astonished" landlord, "do you think I'd give yon; French ?"' The visitor had thus : atonce betrayed his foreign origin. lie. had forgotten that he was in a country where they didn't brew Colonia?. Nor,' was his next experience of a reassuring, kind. His ' trip to England had been/ mainly taken with the view of consulting Botne great London physician about), a rheumatic affection from which/he had loDg suffered. He explained -his v symptoms at great length, and under- [ went n careful exnmination at the hand? of the eminent practitioner in whose charge he had placed himself. He was than gratified by learning that medicine wouldn't help him. "In foot,"; "said Dr . . , " the only remedy I can prescribe for you will cost you both time and money. You must make your way to the sulphur springs of New Zealand ! " Within 50 miles of; which he had been, living for a quarter of a century. . . . ; Every civilized nation in the world, will take part in the Centennial Exposition. The Commission have dei termined to clobo it on the Sabbath— that is on Sunday, the Sabbath of the Christians. If they close it on the Sabbath of every nation represented

o^e^i - Tond :; ;Why t ehduld*'lhe Datipna not |ba ih,f their moral sense by!- a IfuifbTre ta'do^Bo ?-^it , will always be |closeiJ. t^Thfi'^mattei; iß\tßus stated by m&^ouriehJdurnd^-^br the. Greeks - they will close It on iSlonftay-; for the Persians on Tuesday; for the Assyrians on Wednesday; for the Egyptians on Thursday; for the Turks, the Arabs, r and T aj| Majiommedan nations^ on^ Fril a yj^;f° r i t > h« Jews and 3,e ven( -i 1 - ( J a y» *oapti'Btß on Basurday; nnd^ for us Christians they will close it on Sunday, and open -the beer gardens for us.