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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 250, 12 October 1876, Page 4

Tbe "Intelligent Vagrant" thu3 turns to account the recent yarn about a aea serpent measuring 250ft x 50ft: " At a wake at which I was present | the conversation turned on the sea serpent. There was only one nautical authority present, the cabin boy of a brig that traded between Cork and Cardiff. Being asked whether he had ever seen the Serpent he replied " Yes' 5 in the tone of one who would infer that not to have seen tbe Serpent was to be indeed an ignorant sailor. Being asked io tell something about the subject of curiosity he modestly said that on a recent voyage from Cork to Cardiff, the vessel being loaded with britkp, the Great Sea Serpent made its appearance and chased them. They crowded on all sail, but the beast came up to them hand over hand, and, having opened his jaws, the upper one of which went as nigh as the maintopoallantmast, would inevitably have swallowed up brig and all but for the sagacity of the cook, who had a brick made red hot in the galley fire, and by means of a pair of tongs admiuiatered it to the Sea Serpent just, in the nick of time. Tbe Serpent dived into (he ocean depths, showing a tail of tnaybe half a mile iu length, but in about six hours, when the. effects ot tlie brick wore off, he came after the vessel again, and the instruction of the ship and crew wae only averted by the use of another brick. The tfLcts of this brick, bowover, wore off iu about three hours, and gradually the intervals between the udmiuituratiou of the brick and the reappearance of the Serpeut prew tthorter aud shorter, whilst the wretched crew, divided into three watches instead of two, worked like galley slaves on eight hour shifts, heating bricks, and keeping off the enemy. They got safely into Cardiff just us their cargo was exhausted, and the cabin boy, the only one left with sufficient strength to do it, threw the last hot brick into the Serpent'a throat, and fell fainting: upon the deck." A bubbman'a home has lately been established at Moama, ou the Murray River, Australia, under moat favorable circumstauces. The cost of the home wa9 subscribed in four day-, and the home erected iu three weeks. It wi s opened by a hall, at which two hundred persona were present A Collection amounting to £122 was made tit, the. close of the b*ll for furniahihg the thorny. The New Z salami Tablet B^ys : — "Tub Lord Bishop of Odaory has raised a voice of warning against tbe Sacieiy of the Ancient Order of Foresters which he Btigmntiaes as ' a new form of Freemasonry,' and as having entailed the greatest misery ou ita unhappy dupes. His Lordhhip issued a pamphlet on the subject to prevent a branch being eatab-

lished in Kilkenny, and authorised the clergy to announce the withholding of tbe sacraments from the members of the Society." The arch-patriot and pattern of political virtue, Mr W. L. Rees, wae yesterday challenged by Mr Macfarlane to resign his seat and teat the feeling of bis constituents as to his conduct. Eagerly he took up the challenge, and expressed his willingness to resign tbis morning. Such a blessing aa the carrying out of hia purpose would entail, is not to be anticipated. Great relief was experienced during the temporary absence of Mr Robert Stout, but such a boon as the loss of frothy Mr Rees for a week or two would he even more highly appreciated.— TV 7 . Z. Times. An interesting phenomenon occurred recently during a thunder-shower at Providence, R. I. The fire alarm telegraph there communicates with a large bell 6ituate near the middle of the city. The electric explosions during the shower were so distant that about five seconds elapsed between the flashes of lightning and the succeeding thunder; yet each flash of lightning rang the fire bell almost instantaneously, and some time before ihe peal of thunder was heard. Our correspondent, by whom these facts are communicated, states that tbe bell was rung nine times in succession by as many successive lightning flashes, when the thunder grew more distant and the ringing cessed. Regarding the visit of the All England Eleven to the Australian colonies during the present cricket seasoD, the Argus says that Mr J. Conway has received a letter dated August 3, from James Lillywhite, the well - known English professional player, in which it is stated the following cricketers bad arranged to leave Southampton by the September mail: —Greenwood, Emmet», Hill, Ullyett, Armitage, from Yorkshire; Jupp, Pooley, Souiherton, from Surrey; Lillywhite and Cbarlwood from Sussex; and Selby, A. Shaw, or Wild, from Nottingham. The letter states:— "Alfred Shaw, through business and family matters, is obliged to hesitate about giving his final answer. I wished him to telegraph to me to-day, but I suppose he was not quite settled yet whether or .no he will come. If he cannot come, Wild wil! take his place, but I hope to get him as he is a good man." Wild is one of the most, rising professional batsmen in England, and a magnificenl field, A special feature in the team will be the slow underhand bowling of Armitage, who is described as being the most able exponent of that kind that has besn seen iv England for years. In a match recently played between Yorkshire and Surrey, Armitage for the former country secured six of the Surrey wickets in the first innings for 20 runs; in the second innings seven fell before bim for 26 runs. In addition to being a good slow bowler, he is an excellent batsman. The following are the remarks made by Mr Justice Johnston in Chri_tchurch the other day, about putting an alreadysentenced prisoner into the dock in prison clothing, to be tried for a second y offence. We quote from the Press : —"The prisoner appeared in the dock wearing the prison clothing. His Honor enquired of the gaoler the reason of this, and was informed that he was serving a sentence for a similar offence committed in Oamaru. His Honor pointed out to the jury that had the prisoner pleaded "Not Guilty," and a jury been empanneled, bis appearance in prison clothes was likely to militate against him. It would have at on< c informed the jury of what they wete supposed to be iv ignorance of, viz that the prisoner had been convicted before. It was opposed to the spirit of English law, and he hoped it would not occur again. Even if the prisoner had no clothes of his own, efforts should have been made to bring him up out of prison clothes. The gaoler explained that considerable thought had been given to the matter, and as nothing was said about it in the prison regula°tions, it had been deemed right to bring the prisoner up as he was. Hia Honor said he was not blaming the gaoler, but it should uot occur again. The following is from the N. Z Times of Monday:— There was a sound ot revelry by night; but it was not in Belgium's capital, it was in a room at the Parliamentary buildings, and it was not on the night before the battle of VVaterloo, but «v last Saturday night. The Otago members in opposition. As a delicate compliment to the political proclivities of eutertaiuers and entertained, the bills of fare were bordered in different colors, green for Auckland and blue for Otago. A further mark of respect to all parties were conveyed in a refreshing absence of regard for good spelling in printiug the aforesaid bills of fare. The items selected for consumption were also very emblematic of the characteristics of the guests. Thus the first soup was " Consmmc a !ii Lune." This may be translated as a soup for lunatics, iudiffdrently spelled. Tnen there were " Founders au Gratin." A common mind would have put " Flonnderp," but by leaving out the " 1 " the foundered coudiiicn of the party was expressed. Another pleasant item was put down us "Victoria Puddi<ig, :> from which it may be concluded that the leader of the Opposition arranged the bill of fare with the mailre de cuisine whilst suffering from a cold in the head. It will be easily understood that a most pleasant evening was pussed, and that niter the formal "toasts had been disposed of the tables were removed, and to the music of a violin, exquisitely played by Mr Murray, reels,' i (strathspeys, jigs, and breakdowns were

indulged in for gome time. Messrs Burns, De Lautour, Thomson, and J. C. Crown left early, it ia understood excusing tbeir departure on the ground of their having to attend a meeting of Sunday-school pupils the following morning. ><S*___o___ia^