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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 90, 18 April 1877, Page 2

The Marlborough Express, has received; a letter from Mr John R. Mabin, of Nelson, in which he says:—" If hot occupying too much space in your paper, would it be; amiss to mention that 1, with Mrs Mabii. and Miss Wells (daughter of W. Wells, Esq., exM.P'.) returned from Blenheim to Nelson by Ithe Rai Valley. We left Nelson on Good Friday morning about nine o'clock, over ehe Afaunga-. tapu, which on the Nelson side we foiindUn : a desperate state, and arrived at Wilson's the same evening. The next afternoon' we were in Blenheim, via Renwick. On Sunday afternoon we left Blenheim, and arrived at Wilson's, via Spring Creek. About nine next morning, Monday, April 2nd, left there, and with the ladies mentioned came through* the Rai Valley, and arrived in Nelson shortly after, midnight. These are the first ladies who have come through the Rai, aud that is the principal reason why I ask you to mention it. It is reported in town . to-day that Mr Arthur Col lius has left with some men to improve the track on the" Marlbortfugh side, and it requires Lit badly. FoiMiiilesAve had to drive the horses along as best they could get, along a sidling of boulders, over which it was'haid for hutaan beings "to crawl. The grade is considerably lower than the Mauugatapu, but the distance is about fit teen'' miles more."

The following Napier telegram appeared m last night's Post:— A paiuful sensation was created in town by the hews < wfiich.spread rapidly this morning that Willia\u '' Baldwin, who for many years has been in the employ: of Mr Faulkner, blacksmith,- had committed suicide by bauging himself. The reported suicide was made known to constable Ryan about a quarter to nine o'clock., ;.- Constable Ryan at once proceeded to the residence of Baldwin, which was a cottage belonging to the decease 1 onthe Port Ahuriri beach° aud found him suspended by the heck from a rafter with a sash-line doubled, his toes touching the ground. Ryan, with the assistance of one of Baldwins' neighbors) cut him down, but found life to be quite extinct. The deceased was a old Napier settler, and hitherto much respected. He has 'been for some time suffering from melancholia, and his constant talk has 'jeep of • euddqu-^deaths aud suicides. He. lived 'by himself in a detached cottage, and this morning, not making his appearance at breakfast as usual, Mrs Byer, his sister, who lived close by,: sent one? of his nieces to see the reason of hisiabsence/! To the horror and astonishment of the -child on entering her uncle -.room,- she perceived her uncle suspended, and ran to,her ; niother.with the intelligence, who immediately sent for the constable as narrated. Baldwin was a steady man, and, had saved up,.a largo sum of money. He has left no will .'. . His father, about fiteen years ago drowned himself in Wellington harbor. ' , :") ' ' '--"- The Christchurch Star has the fnlJomug: — " Complaints have occasionally been made of the small salaries obtained by many persons engaged in the teaching profession in New Zealand. The remuneration no doubt is on a much' lower scale generally—though there are a few prizes— than that obtainable in some other professions, for which, the course of preparation is not more arduous nor the talent required superior. But New Zealand teachers may consider themselves millionaires compaired with some of their brethren and sisters over the water. The average salaries in Victoria are lower .than here, but Tasmania seems entitled to they palm for meanness in this respect.' The' Hobartou Mecwy contains the following ad vcr'tisment:— 'Wanted,' immcediately, t' Female Teacher. Salary (paid quarterly), to a person who would conduct the church choir £40 per annum; to other's, £35 pep annum. 1 " ' ' ' ,

The Huon Expositor is informed of a woman, the wife of a German farmer, in the township of Colborue in that county, who last fall ploughed seventeen ..acres.of land. Ibis season she mowed with a grass scythe for six days; she raked ten acres of hay wiMi a horse-rake, and did tho work with ii- three' year old colt, which she broke ia herself, she haying been the first to put harness, .on the animal; she loaded, unloaded, 'and teamed all the lime and sand required for a new house 20 x 30 feet; she loaded and unloaded all the grain and hay grown on her husband's larm llns^ season, besides much other ..similar work. This outdoor work was done'ih'' addition to the usual house work, incliuliug the milking and caring for the milkqf seven cows'. ' ' ' ' •" '• .

'■ A Duhedin telegram to the Post says:— The Guardian urges the cold shoulder being shown to the Governor for his partisanship otherwise Dunedin would, be stultifying \ itscir. . ' - \ ; The licensed victuallers, of. Dnnedin Have urged upon the Hon D. Rei'd the desirability of altering the law so as to give protection to the revenue officers. They also asked for permission to keep open on Sunday, on similar hours as in England. Mr Reid disavowed . all sympathy with the latter, but considered that ithe Government should assist the trade . in, _ie other direction, and promised that he, would initiate any desired legislation. It was suggested that there should be one chief .revenue officer for. each -island, to work in conjunction with the police. Nicolg Paganini was a famous musician 'but' he never played such a tune as Mary .Paganini did on March 24. Her husband "had promised to take her to the Dunedin races, but gave he "the ship," and left her to her own resources. She accordingly returned to her home at Deborah Bay, and amused herself by burning down the Hutt in which lived. Mrs Paganini took the precantion' however, to remove all her own clothing and personal property, but her guilty husband's apparel w.is all consumed on the pyre she raised in rememberance of her slighted feelings. Decidedly one of the most novel catches that has ever been made on a cricket-ground the Hamilton Spectatoi, Victoria, states, was which disposed of Mr Chandler on (Saturday in his second innings at Cavendish. iHe. was batting in splendid style, doing pretty well as he liked with the bowling, when {Captain O'Connor sent him in a slow one. ] This he got hold of very well,and sent it away | to'lpng-on— a low, skimming hit, that but j for":^ strange accident must inevitably have 1 been the means of, adding six to the score. \ One of the.. Cavendish players (Mitchell)j i who' was standing at mid-on, made an attempt catch it, but missed, the ball travelling < altogether too fast for him to hold it. Suddenly the.leathern sphere disappeared; none could tell where it,had,gone, those in the field were nonplussed, the spectators wondered, jand the batsmen.: continued to run. Then Mitchell recovered from the shock he had received, felt a lump in the body of his shirt, put in his hand, pulled out the ball, and joyfully cried, " How's that?" « Out !" said the umpire, and Chandler had to retire, very crestfallen at his bad luck. The ball struck Mitchell on the wrist, ran up his sleeve, ripping it up as it went, and safely lodged itself in the body of his shirt. Willie Gill, an actor, writes to the Australasian bemoaning his folly in leaving Australia. He says of America:— " The whole of this 'great country,' despite its brag, its boast, and its very tall talking, is in a miserjable state of poverty. Those who are to do j'big' things in this 'big' country must have ;a 'big ' specialty which nobody else has. It idpes hot; matter. whether the bigness, [consists .in a sensational drama, a set of revival serjmons, a spotted educated pig, a . life-risking jtrapeze act, an '■unusual development of leg, .a third.. arm, or the ability to swallow an .ounce of arsenie -without injury. ;So long as dt is something exceptional, however hideous, repulsive, or inartistic, it . will pay. If you : were to see—which I hone for your peace of mind you-will not— some of the most successful of the stars here, and listen to the drivel of the pieces upon which they travel,and, by 'means of which they make money, you would lose faith in your belief in the progress of the dramatic art.- Dramatic writers here do not embarrass themselves with such small consideration as .unity, consistency, probability, original character, pointed dialogue or harmony of construction. They introduce' some bit of coarse realism— such as shoeing a horseiupon the stage, hanging a man by the neck, bringing on a live snake with which the principal character struggles, dressing some, of the female dtamaiis persona with the scantiest regard possible to drapery, and soon." Ah advertisement appeared recently in a Melbourne newspaper directing a lady at •Ballarat to call for the wedding trousseau she had ordered.' Perhaps the following from the Ballarat Evening Post explains the delay:— A pretty little piece of scan. mag. is going the rounds just now. A rather greyjheaded Lothario employed by. one of bur soft jgoods firms "hung out" in a hotel in the .west, where he was charmed by a black-eyed (Abigail, to whom he made" the last request," mopped the question, was accepted, 'and the .happy day was fixed. 'Part of 'the fronswu was provided and placed -iv possession of the fair though dark-complexioned fiances, and things were as merry as a church-bell. But . ; even as at Waterloo, where pleasure was interrupted by the boom of cannon, so here .pleasure was marred by the shrill scream of wife, who having from some cause jor other thought flt to migrate from one of ithe adjoining colonies, came fort apropos to upset his little apple-cart. Let us draw a veil over the meeting of husband and wife, the. grief of, the dark intended, and only chronicle that those whom God had joined together no woman has as yet put asunder, % *r y are both hous ed in the same hospit■able hotel, while Abigail has absquatulated, though not without sticking to that part of the trousseau .which was entrusted to her keeping. It is said that we are to have an action for breach, qf promise, though we do not exactly know if it will lie. That's for the lawyers to say. |