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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 253, 16 October 1876, Page 4

A curious dispute is reporled in tho Auckland papers .as Usving occurred feetween a local School UoW9» tl ee and tue parents of three of .the achpol children- They lived in the bush. They had a cold, and they did not use pocket-handkerchiefs. Wiltielmina— one of the (ladings— as the mother put

it, could not help it. The cold was a bad ono, and, to tell the story in the mother's own words the poor child "dropped a bubble on the floor." The outraged schoolmaster objected. Words ran high, and finally he refused to allow the children in school without pocket- hankerchiefs. The parents stood on the regulations. There was nothing said about pocket-handkerchiefs in them, and so tbe children were refused admission, and have been without schooling for the last six months. Tha parents came to town to lay their case before tbe Board, but it was again referred to the Committee, and the Board evidently do not well see their way through it. The Otago Daily Times says :— A valuable piece of evidence, which points to the probability of the moa having lived in comparatively recent tiroes, has just beeu brought to light. When in London, Dr. Hector ascertained that in the British Museum there were certain cases which bad been brought from New Zealand by Captain Cook, and which were still unopened. Dr. Hector was allowed to examine the boxes, which contained Maori curiositiep, aud in one of them was a spear ornamented with a tuft of moa feathers. With the permission of the trustees of the museum, he detached one of the feathers, and he has brought it out to New Zealand. Strange that this evidence should have reposed in theceDars of the British Museum for a century. When Mr Macaulay was about to go out to India as a member of the Indian Council he was worried to death with applications for situations for youn» people, and among others by his father, to get an appointment for a young person who is called P— — ■. In a letter to hid sister he cays :— -"But what strange folly is this which meets me in every quarter ; people wanting posts in the army, the navy, the public offices, and saying that if they cannot find posts they must starve 1 How do all the rest of mankind live? . . . Why cannot P— — be apprenticed to some hatter or tailor ? He may do well in such a business : he will do detestably ill as a clerk in my office. He may come to make good coats .• he will never, I am sure, write good despatches. There ia mihing truer than Poor Richard's saw : c We are taxed twice as heavily by our priJe as by the State.' The curse of England is the obstnaie determination of tue middle classes to make their sons what they call geDtlemen. So we are over-run by clergymen without livings: lawyers without briefs ; physicians without patients ; authors without readers : clerka soliciting employment, who might have thriven and been above the world as bakers, watchmakers, or innkeepers. The next time my futber speaks to me about P , 1 will offer to subscribe twenty guineas towards making a pastry cook of him." Refering to the Bravo case the World says: — " The inquiry occupied twentythree working days, on each of which Sir Henry James was personally present The total of expenditure ranges from ten to fifteen tbouaand pounds. Sir Henry James received a heavy fee with his brief, and a huodred guineas a day. Mr Murphy, who was called in on the 17th July, received in addition to his retaiuer, fifty guineas a day, and alike sum was paid to Mr Serjeant Parry who came into the case on July 22nd. Three juniors received one hundred and thirty guineas, and the two others twentyfive guineas per diem. To Mr George Lewis, we understand, a fee of one thousand guineas was paid for his exertions in the case from beginning to end. The AttorneyGenera), Mr Gorst, and Mr Poland being counsel for the Treasury the fees were not marked on their briefs. Tbe total of witnesses examined was forty-three in addition to which there was an enormous mass of documentary evidence introduced. It; is reported (says the Clutha Leader) in well-informed circles that should Mr Macandrew comply with the request of the Duuedin, Ciutha, and other constituencies, and call tho Council together, Sir George Grey will take the same step in Auckland. The anticipated result is that a memorial fully setting forth the claims of the provinces of Otago and Auckland, will be prepared and forwarded by a special envoy to the Imperial Government. It is also said that in all likelihood Sir George Grey will be selected for the duty. In the event of these arrangements being carrried out, we think each province should send a representative, and that Mr Macandrew should accompany bis Northern colleague. A discovery of gold has been made np the Buller river, opposite .Redmond's Bar, which may very possibly lead to important results. Our informant says that on a terrace at the back of Mr Osborne's bouse a prospect has been obtained which is the best he, an old experienced miner, has s.een for a long time. He tried a prospect on a shovel, and had over a grain of gold. He says he does not think there will be more than three claims on the terrace, but a few days will tell whether it ia only a patch oi» a run through the spur. In the latter case there will be ground enough for many claims.— Westport Times. Considerable alarm (says the Otago Gua? dian of Saturday) was occasioned yesterday afternoon by the partial swallowing up of a horae and dray in a subterranean passage in the middle of Bond-street. The horse, pulling a wagon heavily loaded with stone, was | piking leisurely along when, on reaching Messrs Cargill's premises, the macada,m i3ed ; surface suddenly gave way, t and one of the wheels of the vehicle'

together with one of the horae'a bind legs, suddenly disappeared from view. To give additional effect to the strange ' spectacle, the water-pipe burst, and a beautiful fountain rose majestically from the depths and cooled the affrighted steed.