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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 62, 13 March 1877, Page 2

Most municipalities seek to punish the man who drinks— the Nottingham magistrates are goiug to see whether they cannot bring home the enormity of his oifence to the man who sells drink. It is stated that owing to the rapid increase of drunkenness in that town and neighborhood, the authorities have been unable to deal with the question effectively withonfc interfering with the liberty of the subject. After some deliberation, they have therefore adopted a suggestion to the effect thatevery drunkard brought before the magistrates should state at what bouse he was last supplied with liquor. The process will bring home to the publican the risk he runs, and will doubtless enforce unusual vigilance among the entire class. The sporting writer in the " San Francisco Chronicle" attributes the victory of Briseis afc the Melbourne races to a fraud. The writer says.-— The Thompson brothers, who hail from Westport, Mass., arc said to have

! y v ','-'- '-.AA put up the job, and Handed §35,000 by it, leaving the .disgusted .Britons to slap their empty pocket^; books andFipyeigh against " those -blawste'd Yankees." The primary loss, sustained by Captain Williams in tbe sinking of the hulk Eli Whit- : ney,. (says the Post)— whether or not it be t recoyerable fro'i^the- Union S.S. Company—, will be enhanced' to •'__ "serious extent by Vie obligation which rests on him as owner of tlie sunken hulk, to remove her from the fairway. Tbis will involve serious difficulty and expense, coals beiug very awkward cargo to clear .away by diving, owing to tbeir small specific gravity.- j Ifc.'is.deemed objectionable •to- blow up' ! -the'hi-_lc with dynamite, inasmuch as their being little or no tide-scour, the coals would form a shoal in the harbor, which in such a position would be very detrimental to its convenience. It is suggested that it might prove practicable to "raise tbe hulk bodily, aud 'a preliminary' survey has been made with that in, view. ; _ . Our contemporary, the Raugitikei Advocate, tells the following interesting story about an ancient horse.-— "A remarkable instance of equine longevity has recently come under our notice. An old grey pony, 43 years of age] yclept 'Old Ned,' well known in this? district, bad lately to be shot 'at Mr Gower's farm, halving brokeu his leg while gambolling jwith other horses in a paddock there. The: pony wis a real old colonist, having arrived in ? 41 or '42 in' a vessel from Valparaiso, which also brought over a number of mulei Afc that date, ' Old Ned ' was aged, having passed that period when the age- can be told by examining the mouth. In AVclliugton lie became, the property of Mr Brandon, solicitor: ;He was afterwards purchased by Biaron Alzdorf, who was killed in the earthquake -of January, 1855. He was parchased by thi_'latfe Mr Gower in 1851, and brought to ! this district, where he has remained ever since.: r There was no telling to what age lie might .have lived but for the accident. He seemed j* good for another 20 years' afc least, being .almost as playful and .risky as a four-year-old." Iv his address to the : electors of Wellington offering ihimself a candidate for the scat in the House of Representatives rendered vacant by the resignation of Mr Pearce Mr Travers says :— My Views on the matters more immediately affecting the colony are as follows: -I am not -an opponent of tbe present Government, -and- should willingly assist tbem in passing;; any measures tending to good and economical administration. I believe that many of the errors which occurred in the legislation of last session were caused by the embarrassment to which the Government were subjected by members of a party with whose views and proceedings I have no sympathy. I should utterly oppose any attempt to dismember the colony, the unity of which is, in my opinion, essential to its permanent welfare. lam prepared to support the extension of the Public Works scheme so far. as may, be requisite for bringi ig productive outlying districts into easy communication with the centres of population, this being, as I conceive, the best means of promoting the progress of the colony. The laws of- the colony admittedly require revision and simplification, and I should support any measure for giving effect to this object. I think the Civil Service Regulations need amendment. The temptation which now exists to exercise patronage for party ends ought to bo removed. Indeed, Government itself, should be protected against the importunities of those who urge the exercise of patronage as a reward for political services. The New South Wales Ministry has lately had to weather a rough storm. Some serious charges of bribery and also of drunkenness •.veto made in a loose way in the Assembly against Mr Garrett, Miuister of Lands. Mr Garrett denied the charges of corruption, but admitted that he had spent : the greater part of his late visit fco Melbourne in a state of intoxication.- But he rather comically urged, as a plea in mitigation, tbat his regard for the credit of the colony had induced him to keep out of sight all the time, and no one '..new anything of his whereabouts. . ■ He felt it necessary to tender his resignation, and a vote of censure on the Government was only staved off by the Premier and other Ministers giving the most emphatic assurances that Mi- Garrett's resignation was final and absolute. As it was, they only escaped defeat by a very slender majority. A correspondent of the Auckland Herald commenting upon a recent article in that journal on the usurious rate of interest charged by some of the money lenders in that town, writes:— l have another case to mention, the particulars of which are as follows (You will pardon me for withholding all names for the present.) If anyone attempts' to contradict the statement, the names will be furnished: — A ..youn°- man in pressing want of money, went: to a bill-broker with a note of hand, or a cheque,- for £14 having only a few days to run: He said he must raise money, and was told by the broker tiiat he did not do it himself, but would see some one, else, adding that be would have to pay heavily for it. The broker went to a person of mean's^ and asked him if he would cash the document. The answer was in the affirmative,, as he thought the name good and ; sijre, and for.-lOscomuiissiqn be cashed the | paper.; yhe broker thus . received £13 10s ! and he, told the .borrower that all he was able to give him or get for him was £7; and this was all -the borrower obtained for the £14 order- which he afterwards had to pay. By a singular circumstance the borrower met the person who had' pro video, the money, and was complaining of how he had been served and how little be had got for his £14, when the murder came out, and, says my informant the lender waited on : the broker and made him disgorge. This is even a " hotter " case than that which you lately exposed. I think the time has 'come when * some vigorous measures are demanded. At the annual ineetiug of the Peninsular and Oriental Company on the 4th December the chairman, Mr Wm. F. de Salis; after referring to the Australian trade, said that many believed Australia was destined to eclipse the United States aud even the mother country in prosperity, and in that prosperity the company, by carrying its imports and exports, would participate. In reply to a question, Mr de Salis stated that tlie mails to Australia might be accelerated five days, and to India two days, but it would require a large additional outlay to do that, and that, it could not be undertaken without either an increase of subsidy or an extension of the time of the contract. During the proceedings some severe comments were passed upon the treatment of the company by the Post Office, especially in enforcing fines for the delay of the mail services when the s earners were delayed in succouring distressed ships en route, or engaged in saving lifo. Daniel Downey, Alfred Warburton, and Patrick Joyce were brought up afc the Belfast (Victoria) Police Court recently, charged with se.fcing fire to the stations of Messrs - Ba-'rd, Turnbull, Murphy, Urquhart, and Stewart Brothers on the 6th aud 7th February last. The case lasted all day. The prisoner Joyce turned Queen's evidence, and disclosed that the three men had systematically set about, on the date mentioned, to set fire to (he whole country roundabout Hawkesdale. i When they had run short of matches they rode back about a mile, aud carried firesticks from the burning fences, so" as to, complete the work at other places. Samuel Raird, of Kangatong, deposed that his loss is not less than £6000; Stewart. Brothers said theirs was £1000; Mr Turubull's loss was £3000j Mr Murphy's £500, and so on. The prisoners Downey and Warburton were committed for trial. Bail was refused. . ; ..:.;.,.

'We do nofc know whether there -has been an earthquake or a waterspout," • observes the Gippsland Mercury; ofthe l3fchultitho; " but, from some remarkable' cause; a small, island suddenly came in sight in the lakW about ten days ago. It is xabout 100 yards long, and 15 broad, and stands six feet abova the water, there being about 12 feet of watte* all round it and between it and th^mainlandA It has all the appearance of having been suddenly forced up from below, with no vegetation on it whatever. We have heard of portions of land breaking off during high floods, and floating about until they settled - afcanofcher point of land, but never heatd *>f* such a strange phenomenon as this before" ih 1 " our lakes." There has been a great row in Vincent County as to the County town, and the Chair- * mad of the County, Council, Mr V. Pyke, has been scarified by the local press on the subject. He explains matters to the editor of the Dunedin Guardian, characteristically, thus:— "lt may be news to your readers? if ' not to yourself, that neither Clyde nor Cromwell is within the County; that, with some few exceptions, the residents in those towns are not ratepayers nor electors of the County; and that, therefore, they, had no more right to attempt to dictate to the Council where the County offices should be located than the citizens of Dunedin have to dictate to the Councils of Taieri or -of Waikouaiti. I thought, and still think,. that the question of a « County town ' should have been held over until one or other of the tqwns had merged into the County. My opinion on this matter was well known; and I refused to hamper myself with pledges or promises pending such merger. Mark now what really occurred. You say—' Mr Pyke voted" for Cromwell - hurrah for Cromwell!'. There you are wrong Mr Editor. Again you say—' Mr Pyke voted tor Clyde— hurrah for Clyde !' Wrong once more. I did neither. Believing the consideration of the question to have been prematurely forced on, I voted drains. Cromwell, and I voted against Clyde. But the Council had to j meet somwhere, and I bad to give a casting vote. I did so. I gave it in favor of the place which was most convenient to the majority of councillors, aud I may be obtuse, but do you kuow that upon reflection I almost think I was in the right, I think also, Mr Editor, that in your account ofthe matter you have displayed powers of imagination far excelling any to which the author of ' Wild Will Enderby' can lay claim. I cheerfully surrender the belt. Take it, Mr Editor —take it, wear it, and be happy." A rumor has been going the "rounds of the English papers that in the event; of a war between Great Britain and Russia, the fleet o. the latter power would be laid up inAmerican harbors, while the crews would be drafted into privateers, with the object of preying upon British commerce. A Charleston telegram of January Bth states Jthafc the I Russian Minister has received instructions ; that the Russiau fleet, which has been fov some time in American waters, is to. winter in Hampton Roads, and the Minister had accordingly left for Washington. The Russian plan may appear very feasib'e at first sight, but it is hardly likely than it'ean be seriously e.itcrtaiued. If the Russians could man privateers, Great Britain could produce ten for her o ie, and the Geneva award would be an awkward precedent for those Americans who may favor the proposal to assist Russia by providing cruisers for her seaman.— Star.