The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1877.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 33, 7 February 1877, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1877.

An unusually high flood occurred iv the Wai-iti River yesterday and the day before, and has done much damage to the properties in the immediate vicinity. Cattle and sheep have been swept away, but the heaviest loser, so far as we have been able to learn, is Mr John Livingston, of Waimea West, whose beautiful garden, situated on the river bank, together with two or three more acres of land, has been entirely carried away. Ode correspondent telegraphs to us from Motueka this afternoon that the full extent of the damage done by the flood is not yet known, as there has been no • communication with the up country districts. He says :—- --" Four houses were seen to come down the river, as well as sheep, cattle, horses, pigs, : poultry, corn stacks, &c. The barley and potato crops are completely destroyed. The body of a man who is supposed to have been dead about five weeks was found this morning. The flood must have washed out the b»dy, which is believed to be that of a man named Redman. . The Planet's dingy was taken down High-st. Considerable damage has been done to houses and gardens even in the village." The New Zealand Cross, in recognition of an act of bravery performed in the last Native war, is to be presented to Sergeant Christopher Maling by the Hon Major Richmond,, C.J3,, on the 16th instant, when the volunteer representatives of the colony will be passing through N/elson on their way to the prize firing at Hokitika. The whole of the local votuuteer corp3 will also be present on the occasion, as the instructions of the Government are fcjiat the presentation shall be conducted with, as much parade and ceremony as possible. There is one unfortunate circumstance which, we fear, will militate against the attendance being as large as , might otherwise have been expected, namely that the All England cricket match is arranged to take place on the same day. Tub returns for the quarter ending December 31st, 1876, have been published, and the state of things they disclose is by no means as favorable as could have been de-

sired, althongh, perhaps, quite as much so as was to be expected. The receipts are on the, whole £771 in excess of what they were during the corresponding quarter of the previous year, but this is owing principally to the railways that have x been brought intooperation during the year, and in some degree to slight increases in such items as " postal," « telegraphic, 1 ' &c, in which departments the Government are debited with the cost of communications forwarded by them although no money is actually paid. The increased use of the wires and postal facilities consequent on the abolition of the provinces will fully account for the larger sums which appear under these heads. The Customs revenue, however, the real test of the prosperity country, shows a marked falling off, the receipts for the quarter just ended being only £305,244 against £319,124 for the corresponding period of the previous year. The railway receipts are, as was to be expected, largely on the increase, having been £23,062 for the December quarter of 1876 against^ £15,647 for the same quarter of 1875. ; .... Adolph Wiesenhavern, of the Top House was fined £10 and costs £11 in the Resident Magistrate's Court at Blenheim the other day for haying mustered his flock and earmarked sheep without giving noticetohis neighbors. : ; ; The JS. Z. Times learns that Mr Douglag M'Lean, son of the Jate Native Minister, has expressed his intention' of establishing in ! memory of his father eight scholarships of the value of £25 .per annum each in connection with the Te Aute College, Hawke's- | Bay, to be open for competition to all native ! youths being educated in schools in the j North Island. = ; ■ I'"" A Delicate Membrane. The dining of . the intestines is a most? delicate membrane, and when it becomes so unnaturally sensitive thatn «'ight change of .air or a variation' in diet ii.uviully affects it, the tone and regularity of those organs can only be restored ,by the action of a wholesome invigorant. Active purgation weakens the bowel 3 and abdominal muscles and aggravates rather than lessens the evil. Brace and stimulant them with Udolpho Wolfe's Schiedam Aromatic Schnapps. — Advt.