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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 244, 5 October 1876, Page 2

SO^n action was recently brought in tme District Court at Westport by one Vorley, a photographer, against Q-. Clark, the proprietor of a skating rink, to recover £25 damages "on account of a nuisance perpetrated by the defendant in that close to the dwelling house and photographic studio of plaintiff defendant had caused to assemble together large numbers of persons for the purpose of * rinking,' whereby great, strange, and unusual noises were made," &c. Plaintiff, in his evidence, said he had seen the operation of rinkers suddenly falling. They struck violently with their heels, something like an Ethiopian dancer doing the big shoe dance, only the noise of the Ethiopian performance would be very mild compared to the noise caused by unskilful rinkers. Sometimes novices came down without warning, and then their falls caused loud shocks. Even the most experienced skaters in Westporfc, who sometimes went to the rink, fell repeatedly. In addition to these noises the spectators indulged in jeering and catcalls in derision of the rinkers who fell, such noises being made sometimes in the morning, but generally in the afternoon, and always in the evening, continuing up to 11 o'clock at night, but sometimes being continued until 12 frequently at the first opening of the place. The effect j of the noise during the day interfered with plaintiff's calculation in time while posing his patrons for photographing, and it also disturbed the sitters from keeping in perfect repose during their sittings, thus necessitating the taking of additional negatives. The Manawatu Times much regrets to hear that some of the German immigrants sent to that district are in a

very impoverished state. About three months since, 25 of them, with some families, arrived from "Wellington, and then obtained temporary employment, but ttie bad weather having caused little demand for labor, they have now been for some weeks without any work and consequently have no means of subsistence. A letter, signed by some of the inhabitants, respecting their unfortunate position has been forwarded to the Minister for Public Works. . A man named John Carter died suddenly at the Kumara last Thursday. While the; body was lying in the hotel, prior to the inquest being held, some ruffian stole the boots and socks from the feet. The following appears in a recent issue of the Southern Crosy.—" To the Editor: Sir — la your journal of the . 21st August, I see a letter signed "Mount Albert/' inquiring the name of the English constituency for which Sir George Grey was a candidate for a seat in the House of Commons. He stood twice: First, at the general election —I think, but am not quite suffer, Worcestershire,, and was unsuccessful. , The second tam certain about. It was a by-election, for Newark. The candidates on the Liberal side were Sir H,. Storks, Mr Bristowe, and Sir George Grey • Sergeant Sleigh, Conservative. The Gladstone Government were anxious to. get Storks into the House, because of his knowledge on a particular subject. I tell the story as I bave heard it, on what is to me satisfactory authority. A pressing letter was sent by Mr Gladstone, or iu his name, in " moat courteous terms, asking Sir George Grey to retire, so as not to injure the Government man ; and promising the Government influence to Sir George Grey on a future occasion if he would oblige them now. The answer is said to have been of a very cavalier kind, and the officials in London made no difficulty about showing it. Sir George Gray persisted, and was proposed by Mr Handley; Storks retired, not to split the Liberal interest. The numbers were :— Sleigh, 653 ; Bristowe, 327 ; Grey, 52. I have heard more, not worth telling, about the brewing interest. &c.y at Newark. The result was that Sir George quarrelled with both parties at home. — I am, &c, A Country Settler." . People drink. pretty freely iu Auckland, judging from the report of Mr Police-Inspector Brohara for last year During the year, 1504 persons were arrested for drunkenness ; and for vagrancy, mostly proceeding from the same source, 3"21 ; lunacy, 83 j for assaulting the police, almost in every instance from the same cause, 27 ; for petty larceny and other cases, 793. So that it may .safely be said that 'out of the 2717 convictions at the Police and Supreme Courts, 1908 proceeded more or less from the abuse of intoxicating drinka. The Christchurch Press, speaking of the late gale, says:—" The terrific gale which swept over tbe Ashburton, Mount Somers, and Alford Forest districts on Friday last has done a great deal of damage to the crops. We hear of several instances where the wheat has been blown completely out of the ground and the land flooded. Hundreds of sheep were seen to go down the Rakaia river, and a considerable number down the Ashburton." We take the following from the Westport Star of the 22nd ultimo : — An inquest was held this morning on the human remains found at the Ohika. The evidence of Dr Thorpe showed that the remains are those of an adult male, above the average height. The teeth in the skull were iu good preservation, but irregular in the lower jaw, and the canine teeth prominent. There were no wisdom teeth, thus indicating that the remains were those of a young man. There was a fracture ou the left side of the skull extending across the parietal bone, and the inner table of the skull was splintered. The boots found on the feet of the body were heavily nailed all round with eight rows of nails, and tipped and heeled with iron plates. The remaius of woollen stockings were found, as also a small clay pipe and leather belt. The body appeared to have been wrapped in a blanket, with an outer covering of coarse sacking, and buried in a grave dug for the purpose, apparently several years ago. A verdict of fouud dead, but with no evidence to show how death ensued, was recorded. (For continuation of Newt see fourth paqe.~\