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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 110, 11 May 1877, Page 2

A Chinese boy found a 720z nugget at Jessop's Creek on the Palmer river. A valuable racehorse has been killed by lightning afc Adelaide. The Dunedin Star's special correspondent telegraphs from Teremakuu :—" The shaft has been bottomed. It gives 2_ dwts to three dishes. The miners on the ground say the Teremakau* will prove the Ballarat of New Zealand. A telegram in the Australasian from the Northern Territory says that the reefs are rapidly improving. The Union claim yielded 600 ounces of gold from a fortnight's crushing. Some coolies working on tribute are making £25 per man the week. The deeper the mines are sunk the richer they become. A telegram from an up couutry district in Victoria states that there were thirteen cases there of the most malignant form of typhoid fever. Two deaths have occurred, and to add to the seriousness of the situation, Dr Stewart, the only medical man within forty miles, is himself a prostrate victim to the malady. It is asserted that the immediate cause of the epidemic is the poisonous state of the atmosphere, consequent upon dead cattle putrifying and rotting in the sun. Sheep and cattle are dying in thousands, and there is but little rain.

The reading public of New Zealand (says the N. Z. Herald) will be interested to learn that Mr Domett, the well known ex-Minister in this colony, and the author of the fine poem "Ranolf and Amohia," has, in the hands of the publishers, Smith and Elder, a volume of poems to be called " Flotsam and Jetsam: Rhymes Old and New." The book, we understand, will contain thirty pieces, all of which are new except six, which were published in " Blackwood " years ago. The following is the text of the document wiiich Mr Millar threw at his pastor's head at Dunedin the other day:— "Before God, aud in the presence of this congregation, I solemnly protest against this unconstitutional and illegal manner in which the English Presbyterian Hymn Book is being introduced into this congregation pending the judgment of the Supreme Court of this Church on the appeals taken to it, and because its introduction, at the instance of a small minority of the members of this congregation, will virtually prevent many from joining in praise to God in his own appointed way." A letter signed "Office-bearer" in the Star makes out that the new book was agreed to be introduced by nearly the unanimous vote of the congregation.

There has been some good coursing, at Tokomairiro. One hare caught weighed eight pounds. A London telegram in the Melbourne Age sayp it is;thought likely that Cardinal Manning^will be the, next Pope. . f Tlie Napier correspondent of the Post telegraphs as follows:— The Maoris at a meeting held to consider the matter, strongly, objected to pay the County rates. One orator remarked, "I do not like this thing for the Council, as it is not working for the good of the Maori. Such Acts as we condemn will be the leading of the Maori tribes to death." Mr Butler, the Eugineer and Surveyor for the Inangahua County, has his office on accouut, as alleged in his letter, of " scandalous accusations " — the nature of which, however, is not 3tated. In his letter of resignation Mr Butler denounces as "utterly useless " the system of letting maintenance contracts, holding that day labor properly supervised is far cheaper and more effective. Packing paper of good quality is now being manufactured by Mr W. S. Syuies, Mataura paper mills, Otago, from the fibre of the tussock grass, which grows so abundantly there. The paper is worth about £30 per ton. About three tons a week are being manufactured, .._ In New York, Alfred.Pichard, in a fit of jealousy, bound his wife tfo a chair, in which she was sleeping, and then cruelly disfigured her face by a free application of vitriol. Matrimonial advestisements now frequentlyUappear in the Dunedin papers. The following is a specimen from the Star:— " Matrimony.— A dark young lady wishes to correspondent with a tall, handsome gentleman, with good income; enclose carle de visite.A-OhiVß Rothersay, Post Office." A Pari-s correspondent, writing on the Exhibition says:— "lt were idle to blink at the too obtrusive fact, that the charms of Parisian life do not prove so potent a loadstone to foreigners as during the courtly ostentation of Napoleonic times Our President, true to republican precepts, seeks not the bubble reputation of an enthusiast in fashionable frivolities. His is a post of stern and steadfast duty. However, there are strong .indications that Paris will, ere long, resume her sway in society. Even now these favored mortals whose chief aim is the pursuit of pleasure in its various phrases, are anticipating with zest a succession of approved entertainments, until Good Friday shall usher in the Lenten extinguisher of all worldly vanities." The chief native witness in Moffatt's case. Paiaka, has written to the Wanganui Herald a letter referring to the short sentence of the culprit. He argues that when Moffatt has completed his sentence his services, as a maker of gunpowder, will be in great demand by the Waikatos or other disaffected tribes, and that therefore the Government should be very carefnl what becomes of the man. A Dunedin telegram to a contemporary says:-" The advertising of Mr Redwood's apology throughout the colony is disapproved of. The people generally consider that the apology was sufficiently abject to render Mr Robinson's reply unnecessary, or its publication in any but local journals." The " fixings" of the Cook County Council Chamber (North Island) appear somewhat scant, if we may judge by the following from " Snyder's " description of it in the Poverty Bay Standard : —The furniture in the County Office on Saturday evening consisted of one table, five chairs, and a spitoori, the latter article being the personal property of a former clerk, who had kindly' allowed it to remain for the service of the members of the Road Board. The deficiency of chairs was made up by two or three being borrowed from an adjoining hotel. Our reporter had forgotten to. take his own chair with him. He was accommodated with a form. Sitting too near the end, it tilted.. One end of the form struck the ceiling ; the other end did nothing in particular. The reporter went on the floor, lost his presence of mind, and got up on the wrong side, by which his leg came in violent contact with the leg of the form. The only sympathy he received was from a councillor who regretted to see a member of the press so completely floored. The value of a kiss appears to have been authoritatively assessed at one pound if we may judge from the following extract from a contemporary:— "A rather amusing case, involving the value to be set upon a kiss, was recently heard in the Melbourne County Court, before Judge Cope, when John Miller and Annie Miller, his wife, sued S. F. Croxton for £40 damages for an assault on the female plaintiff. It appeared that the parties, who were both cabmen residing at Saudridge, had been drinking together on the 13th March last in Melbourne. About midnight they both went to Miller's house, and had some more drink, and while there the defendant tried to kiss Mrs Miller. Miller objected to any such proceeding, and gave Croxton such a beating that he was taken to the Melbourne Hospital. His Honor considered that the plaintiff was entitled to a verdict, but not to the amount claimed. He found, therefore, for the plaintiffs, with 20s damages, each party to pay their own costs." From an interesting review of the Colonial wool trade for 1876, published in the monthly trade organ called the Textile Manufacturer, a contemporary extracts the following paragraph, which seems to be important :—" New Zealand wools are gradually losing their well-known name, many of the clips, at one time eagerly competed for, being wanting in quality} so much so that they are scarcely recognisable as old favorites ; while the average of the clip, both washed and in grease is grown more for weight than quality; but, fortunately for them, the demand for some time has run extensively on half-bred and rougher fibred descriptions, so that they have found a ready market at more than their relative value. We would advise caution in this negligence, for on a weak and less decided market— as in June- August sales— -the fall in these -poor, open, hungry qualities would indeed "be serious." Contrast with these remarks the following sentence from the portion of the same article relating to Victorian wools:— -'The beautiful growth and character of thejehoice Victoria wools cause them to be eagerly sought for for the production of the most beautiful fabrics, aud high rates can and will continue to be paid for the prime and extra wools that will give a yarn to spin with sNk, or with fancy fabrics requiring delicate fibre."