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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 39, 14 February 1877, Page 2

The Primate then delivered the certificates m Grades 1., 11., and 111. to the Bishops of the dioceses in which the successful candidates resided. In GradelV. the two successful candidates were the Revs J. P. Kempthorne and T. S. Grace, and the Primate having called upon the former oF these to step forward said:— Mr Kempthorne— l can assure you that I derive very great pleasure from the opportunity now afforded me of presenting you personally in the presence of your friends and the members of the Synod with this certificate. The examiners were highly pleased with the proficiency you displayed, and I have every, reason to believe, not only from the result of your examination but from what I know of you in other respects, that you will prove a good, true, and faithful servant of our Lord- Jesus Christ. His Lordship then called upon Mr Grace, whom he addressed as follows:— In your case as in that of Mr. Kempthorne I have very great : pleasure in presenting you with this certificate in the presence of your friends and the members of the Synod. It is a most fortunate circumstance that on this the first occasion of delivering these certificates, those who most distinguished themselves should be residents in the town where the presentation takes place. I think I may as well read the words of the certificates ia order that its contents may be publicly known. They are aa follows;.—" We, whose names are undersigned, certify that the Revs J. P. Kempthorne and/T. S. Grace haye passed the examination in Grade IV. so satisfactorily as to'be worthy of a certificate of proficiency therein.— Signed by the Primate and the examiners." I assure you! I have very great pleasure in handing you this document. The Bishop of Nelson said that nothing now. remained for him but .to thank the Primate for delivering the certificates, and for the very kind remarks with, which he had accompanied, them.

There appears to have been a great deal of excitement in the Vincent County as to which should be the rcounty town, Clyde or Cromwell. Mr Pyke tbe chairman, tried to please both parties. , The' result may be gathered from the "following extract frora a -correspondent's letter to the Otago Daily Times j— " Intimation was sent to Cromwell that, the chairman would vote , that Cromwell be the county town if that municipality merged into ,the r county, and so declared, in fortyeight hours. It was direct from i the , chairman, and the matter having been under consideration by the Town Council, "that body, in order to noiake matters smooth for the chairman's promised vote, actually met, resolved, •and obtained some sixty signatures to a petition that the municipality be dissolved. Judge then the surprise and indignation excited when the question came up for final settlement, by Mr. Pyke giving his substantive vote: for , Cromwell, and bis." adjective" (or casting) vote for Clyde. The inconsistency of his act must be at onoe apparent ; but the treachery of it, the breach of word, of honor, of promise, aye, even of written guarantee, can only be fully, appreciated by those who know the circumstances. We have heard frequently of hia slippery propensities, but we have now experienced them, and he may expected the consequences. As soon as the news reached Cromwell and received the requisite confirmation, the.utWet excitement prevailed. Business was suspended, and, as if an earthquake had occurred, everyone was in the street, «nd many and deep were the imprecations upon the delinquent's head. ; Ultimately an effigy of Mr. Pyke was suspended from the flagstaff of the Town Hall, with one of the gloved bands behind his back, palm upwards.^ The brass band played "The Rogue's March," and some willing hands finally cast the effigy into the River Clutha, when it was observed that on this occasion at least he would " go straight." A correspondent of the N. Z. Times, who has been travelling through the West Coast of the North Island, writes: — At the Waitotara I came across the Maoris in force, and I may add in drink, the latter more especially. There is a large native settlement here, the inhabitants of which at the time of my. visit filled the adjacent hotel, overflowed oo to tbe verandah, and per"raeated the stable yard and space between the front of the buildiog and the road. As most part of the Maoris were pretty drunk, and those who were not were doing their best to become so, tbe scene, though interesting as an V outcome of savagedom in contact with civilisation, was not cheer iug to the theory that it is the duty of white men to elevate tbe social habits of the Maori by teaching and by example. Yet while I am bound to say the Maoris were drunk, it is also true that no pakeha could reproach them with being co without being reminded that the natives were doing no worse than tbey had seen their invaders do. And further, I must testify to the fact that the Maoris were in the best sense goodhumoredly intoxicated. There was a good deal of rather "mixed" speechifying and some singing going on, but there was no brawling and fighting, I had the honor of an introduction to a dis- ., tinguished character, Kareopa, who has been made the subject of frequent paragraphs in the Wanganui papers. It is scaroely necessary to mention that the gentleman under notice is not identical . with one of the Bame name hanged some years ago, though really, considering the extraordinary changes in the attitudes of some natives who have been our greatest foes, I canoot say that it would astonish me tohear that Kereopa, who eat the Rev Mr'Volkner's eyes aud was executed, was living somewhere, and had graciously intimated that he would let. the pakehas alone if they would let him alone. However, this is not to the purpose. The Kereopa who I met at Waitotara stands about six feet two in his stockings, I should say, and was dressed in a costume forming au effective combination of that of an Irish stage peasant. aod a navvy out of luck. As in war he had a rather ferocious habit of tearing out the hearts of the slain and hastily dining upon them, I oau safely say that to me he appeared to be decidedly the better for drink, which had an apparently soothing and pface? ful effect upon bis disposition. His iniroducer conducted the necessary ceremony with a simplicity worthy of the ch^ld of nature whom Vhe was exhibiting. He caught. Kereopa by tbe collar, brought him in front of us, turned his face towards us. and said "Look at him." -Kereopa smiled a smile of beaming joy, said something tbat sounded like " Teu-hic-wby;" and, oh shame for the reputation of so famous and bloodthirsty a warrior, was turned round and dismissed with a ceremonious but harmless kick on that part of his person which it is presumed he would least expose to an enemy. Some days ago we published a telegram to the effect tbat the police in ; Dunedin had determined to put a stop to gambling by billiard play. By papers to hand we observe that a prosecution has taken place. John Jen.kins was charged with baying, ou the 27th of January, permitted gambling by playing at billiards for money in his licensed house, tbe Rose, Thistle, and Shamrock Hotel, Green Island. Mr A. Bathgate appeared for the defendant, who pleaded not guilty. Inspector Mallard said that the circumstances of the case were these: Twenty men put down naif a crown each, and in fact go in for what you might almost term

sweepstakes. The names of the players are put on slips of paper, and they are drawn. The first and second men play together. Consequently there would be ten games between the twenty players. On the expiration of that game the ten players put their names into a hat and they are drawn, and consequently five games are played. ;The men at the end of that game stand out. The two games of four are played,! and the winner plays with the odd man. Then at the expiration of that the! two last men play, and the money io certain proportions is divided. These are the particulars of the game. He (Inspeo tor Mallard) held that parties playing at billiards, cards, or with dice, for money or moneys worth, must go into the " gambling territory." He cited a case from «* The Justice oi\ the Peace," November, 1876, an English journal. Mr Bathgate contended that billiards was purely a game of skill, and not a game of chance. Seeing that the Licensing Bench had set their face against billiard tournaments) he wished to state that the game alluded to by Inspector Mallard was played without the defendant's knowledge, that the table was let in the ordinary way, and the defendant only received the ordinary rate of payment. William Monteith, storekeeper, deposed that on the 27th January, he witnessed a billiard match in defendant's hotel. The game was got up by the players themselves. One shilling a game, the ordinary rate, went towards payment for the.Jable. Wituess, who was acting as marker on i the occasion, received the money, and handed it over to the defendant. His Worship said that as this case was very important, he Bhould reserve his decision for a week. World says that as more than one preposterous paragraph, professing to describe the position &c, of Colonel Valentine Baker at Constantinople, has gone the round of the press, it is advisable to give some authentic information on the matter. Colonel Baker has not, up to the present time, accepted service in the Turkish army ; and consequently has not been able to forward the views of tbe numerous applicants — one hudred and fiifty — to serve hira. His whole time has been taken up in elaborating a plan for the defence of Constantinople, which he laid before our military authorities in July, hod which is now receiving their m st serious attention. This plan he has also urged upon the Turkish Government, and it is very favorably regarded by the Sultan ; but want of money at present prevents any decided action. Should Russia take up a position hostile to the English Government and attack the integrity of the Ottoman Empire, Colonel Valentine Baker will probably accept tbe position of a lieutenant-gen-eral on the staff of the Turkish army in the field. The following amusing untrue letter on the " Wretched condition of New Zealand" was published in the /North British Daily Mail of December 4 : — "Sir, — I have just received from a relative in Dunedin a letter' whereiu he briefly described the wretched conedition ol New Zealand at present, and. as his remarks may serve as a warning to intending emigrants to that country, I trust you will allow their insertion in some part of your valuable space. He says—' The Country is deluged with people, who, though they are willing to work can get nothing to do and the Government still keep bringing more; ; There is a greivous trouble looming in the distance, inasmuch as the unemployed will, ere long, be a source of considerable annoyance to tbe Government. They are marching about band after band, begging work or bread for their children. The Government bave given some stone-breaking and oountry roads to repair, and for this they get 10„ or 128 per week. But when they pay 9s to 13s. per week for rent, and from 4s. to 6s. for coals, there is not much left for food and clothes. Besides the weather is co miserably wet, tbat in a fortnight they require to go to the hospital to get ready for a fresh start at road-makiog. I will stake all I possess there is not another country in the world can compete with New Zealand for rheumatism, lumbago, neuralgia, and chilblains; and if any doctor comes out who can effectually cure these he will moke his fortune as easily as say "Fly presto." The price of fooi is enormous, and for a small box of ointment they charge the extortionate sum of Is. Ia conclusion I may add that there will be some fine fun wben the Government have to pay the interest on the borrowing money and the the sinking fund for tbe capital '— T am Rr.o. .T F> HT "