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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 31, 5 February 1877, Page 2

The Marlborough Express of Wednesday last states that great damage had been done to the crops by the recent high winds. In ; one case on the Renwick Road, where a fine ' field of barley was expected to yield seventy busheis to the acre, the crop will be" scarcely worth threshing. A week or two previously there was promise of the most bountiful harvest the district had ever experienced. The Marlborough Express, of Jan, 31st, says:~On Sunday night, a little after nine o'clock, a field of oats, belonging to Murphy ; Bros., at the Omaka, was wantonly set fire to by a person whose name is at prssent unknown. The workmen were all at the flaxdressing mill, and, seeing a glare at the top ; cud of the field, they all set out, and with T « considerable difficulty put the fire ont. A strong wind was blowing right down the field, and the incendiary had chosen his place well, for had the fire once taken hold the mill would certainly have been burned down. This is the fourth time that the Murphyb have been the victims, of an incendiary. A' man named George Beauchamp was brought up before the Magistrate charged with having set fire to the field, but the case : was ' dismissed, his Worship saying' that the accused left the Court without a stain on his character. . ; „ . , r In these days the modes of advertising are 1 varied. The latest that has come under our notice is that adopted by an Irish whiskey manufacturing firm. They are sending to the principal hotels throughout the world salvers, on which is written' in large gold characters the words " Mi Jchell's Fine Old Irish Whiskey Belfast." . ■ . -, . . A New Plymouth telegram to the Post says:— The Budget appeared for-the last time ' this evening. Mr Kenworthy the proprietor, in his farewell article comments on the depression which has been the cause of his suspending its publication and says:— "The place is progressing crab-fashion; it is going backwards. Our advertising columns may' be taken as aii example of what is happening to the district. The proprietor, not being satisfied with a miserable existence, and to prevent serious money losses, has decided to clear out." He says: " The Budget started suddenly, it subsides similarly;" and concludes with the remark, "the place is not yet sufficiently advanced to support a daily paper. The correspondent of the N. Z. Times on board the Wanaka telegraphed the following from Westport last week:— "The Wanaka arrived here this morning, twenty-two hours from Totaranui. The Health Officer came aboard and went through the farce of inspecting us. Westport had got up quite a scare about our having scarlet fever on board, and a policeman was stationed at the gangway < to prevent anyone from going on board or leaving the ship. The trip so far has been anything but enjoyable. , Most of the passengers are already tired of the trip, 'and would be glad to get home. Some of them talk of leaving at Hokitika and. gp'ipg overland to Christchurch. The weather has been wretched. We have not had a fine day since we left. We are now a week out aud are only on the. third day of the programme." The Palmer Gold-fields.yielded for the last year 183,0000zs of gold against 32'2,0160zs the yield of the J New Zealand goldfields. : ' " The Maoris living at Wiltshire Bay;' ' Clutha, Otago, spend their leisure time m the cultivation of music and playing croquets They are proficient in singing Saiikey's hymns and others of the same class. • r -■• .'.}> . The pasturage on the Mataura Plains, Southland is said to be up to the knees of the cattle.' The paddocks now carry about 25 long-woolled sheep to the acre. The ex-Premier of Samoa, A. B. Steinberger, writes to a friend in Baltimore that he expects; to reap a rich bonanza from his recent adversities and experience on board an English man-of-war. He was kidnapped cat Samoa and put on board the vessel by , Captain Stevens, her commauder, at the instance of his political opponents on the island, where a revolution was in progress, and was held in irons 40 days, and finally put off on the Eiji Islands, with no wardrobe but that carried on his back. He made friends among the. natives, and procured^ ; vessel which was despatched to Samoa, and returned with some of his effects.' He' worked his way to one of the British colonies, and secured passage to London where he is now staying. He has a claim for a million of dollars against the British Government and Captain Stevens for spiriting him away, He says the justice of his claim has been admitted by prominent lawyers and leading members of Parliment.— Baltimore Sun. The Yorkshire Post says :— John Cawdron, a publican, after seconding, at a meeting held in Norwich, a resolution expressing horror at the atrocities committed by the Turks in Bulgaria, went home and knocked his wife about with a clock weight till she was covered with bniiscs from head to foot. He[ was sentenced to six months' imprisonment '• by the magistrates.