SUDDEN DEATH OF MS. CHAS. ELLIOTT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 166, 5 July 1876, Page 2

SUDDEN DEATH OF MS. CHAS. ELLIOTT.

It ia our painful duty to record the death of another of the oldest of the Nelaon settlers, who waa this morning taken from our midst with awful suddenness. Mr Elliott, as Immigration Officer, had arranged to be at the Port at seven o'clock to proceed on board the Lyttelton to the ship Camperdown, to superintend the landing of the immigrants, but, having occasion to see Mr Symons before starting, he walked up to his house, spoke to him for a few minutes, and then left. Mr Symons went back into his bedroom, and very shortly afterwards was called by the servant, who told him that a man was lying on the path about twenty yards from the house. He went out, and found Mr Elliott, to all appearances dead. Assistance was obtained and he was removed into the bouse, and Dr Sealy was sent for, who went down immediately and pronounced that death was caused by appoplexy, and must have been instantaneous. We understand that he had! had a slight fit once before. Mr Elliott was, as we have said, one of the earliest settlers in Nelson, having arrived here in 1842. He brought out a printing plant with him, and shortly afterwards commenced the publication of the Nelson Examiner, which in the course of time became one of the .most influential journals in New Zealand. -As a commercial speculation, however, it did not prove a success, and after undergoing several changes it had to succumb two years ago, after being in existence nearly thirty-three years. Mr Elliott always took a keen interest iv colonial politics, and had been a member of the House of Kepjs:esentatives,Jiri which he represented the district of Waimea, and also of the Provincial Council. For the last two years he has been Immigration Officer at this port, and was this morning engaged I in his duties when he was so suddenly called away. Himself an enthusiastic sportsman he was regarded throughout New Zealand as an authority upon all matters connected with the turf, and was the author of the " Sporting Mems" which have appeared at intervals in our columns under the norn de plume of " Cheval." He was the editor of the " Stud Book of New Zealand," which has tbe reputation of beiog the best and most carefully compiled work of that description in the Australian Colonies. There is now in the press " The Turf Register of New Zealand," also edited by him, a work in which he took the deepest interest, but, unfortunately, he has not lived to complete it. Being so old a settler, and having been at one time a public man, Mr Elliott was well known throughout the colony, and, although his loss will, of course, be I most keenly felt here, there are very many in other places besides Nelson who will learn with deep regret that he has gone to join the majority.

"We take the following from the Post of Thursday last:— Another very distressing case of sudden death occurred in this city last evening. About six o'clock Mrs Lysaght, the wife of Mr E. Lysaght, late of H.M. Customs, bad just left the house of a friend near- the. Market Hall, when she was seen to struggle and fall. The attention of Mrs Emeney, of the Royal Oak Hotel, was called, and she at once assisted Mrs Lysaght to her home, where she almost immediately expired. - • An over-conscientious country member of the Education Board (says the Post) the other day caused that body to pay rather dearly for his extreme scrupulousness It was found necessary to incur £10 additional expense or. a certain contract for a school, and the member in question took a special journey to Wellington in order to explain why the extra cost was needed. The amount was agreed to, but in addition to the £10 the Board had to pay the hon member's travelling expenses amounting to £8 more.— That's not the way we manage in Nelson. A student of natural history, as displayed in the streets of Wellington, informs us {Post) of a circumstance in which a number of unkind carpenters, and a crowd of half-alarmed spectators, took delight on Wednesday. That was the demolition of a colony of rats in the neighborhood of the Branch Hotel— such a community of these obnoxious animals as is seldom seem, aud the le^s often the better. In making an excavation a hole was exposed in which there were about 200 rats, very alive and kicking, though heaped above each other ..sufficiently to • suffiocate the underlings; aud many of them of enormous size The race is not such a favorite withmankind as to justify any doubt as to their fate. They were assailed with, every description of stick and brickbat, and immolated forthwith. Concerning the dismissal of the last charge against the Stevenspns iv Melbourne, the correspondent of the Ofajo Daily Times writes:— A good deal of newspaper comment has been made upon one important point connected with the decision oi this case, that is, the composition of the Bench. There were, it appears, four magistrates, including the Police Magistrate, for a conviction, and! five for dismissal, and of course the majority decided the result. But one at least of the majority was connected' with such very close business relations with the defendant that it involved very great indifference to public opinion "for him to act on the Bench at all. Several of the magistrates were men who hardly ever adorn the Bench with their presence, and who suddenly manifested such an interest in this case as to desert feheir business, and give their valuable time to public duty, utterly regardless of the pecuniary loss they must incur. "I like your impudence," said a pretty girl, when her sweetheart tried to kias her. "None o'your cheek," quoth he, as h? fought his way to the mouth of the crater. The North British and Mercantile Insurance Company has just dacl/ueJ v dividen I for ihe pa9t year of 28 per cent., besides a bonus of 8 per coot. Lucky people its shareholders! Sir James Fergusson is one of the Exsraordinary Directors.