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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 112, 14 May 1877, Page 2

Two little girls afc Foxton were nearly poisoned Jast week by eating tutu and nightshade berries. They were saved by prompt medical aid. A meeting is called of the creditors of G. Barthole, of Melbourne, cloth manufacturer. His liabilities are over £13,000, and the deficiency is likely to be heavy. The Wellington Post does nofc give its authority, but states thafc it is now tolerably certain that Parliament will meet for the dispatch of business on the 20 July. On the West Coast there is a female blacksmith; in Napier a female auctioneer; Dunedin possesses a female chimney sweep; Wellington was not very long ago blessed with a female " nightman;" bnfc it has been reserved for Auckland to have a female bootmaker. An advertisement appears in the Auckland Star notifying that Mrs McGrath is now carrying on her husband's business as boot and shoe maker; orders punctually attended to." Mrs McGrath's husband was recently senfc to gaol for 12 months for brutally ill-using her, and as she had a knowledge of the shoemakiug trade, and could get no other means of support, she determined to carry on her husbaud's business. The Marlborough Express learns that a petition has been extensively signed in the Havelock district and forwarded to the Minister of Justice, protesting against the appointment of Dr Caro as a Justice of the Peace. An unreasonable juryman complains to the Taupeka Times that he was dragged eleven miles to attend a case for which he was to receive 3s ; and further, that out of this he had half -a* crown jstopped by the Sheriff to pay for his dinner at the hotel, thus leaving him only sixpence wtth which to drown his sorrows at the nearest »p.ub" on his way home. ; Twenty Auckland bakers have combined to raise the price of the 21b loaf to sd. The Auckland people feel very sore afc this, and the Star, m a leading article, goes into figures to show thafc although the price of colonial flour has risen £2 since the beginning of the I year, the rise in the "staff of life" is equal to a rise of £6 in "flour. It urges on the public to "smash up" the combination, and says:— "What misery and hardship does this penny a loaf on bread mean to hundreds of strugglingfainilies in Auckland? We declare war to the death against this and every similar combination, aud the subject shall not rest till every honest man cries ' Shame on it.' If reason and remonstrance fail, the combination should be met by cooperation." The article thus concludes:— " We now offer to publish an advertisement gratis for every baker who breaks through the ring, and sends us his name as being prepared to sell bread afc a reasonable price. But if none, are willing to do so let. the people look to themselves,' the remedy is in their own hands, and there shall not 'be wanting opportunity to apply it vigorously and well." A writer in the Wellington Argus says in reference to- the recent annexation by England of the Transvaal Republic in Southern Africa :^-« The Transvaal Republic is an inland State, between the Vaal on the south (hence called Transvaal, the meaning of which is .across the Vaal) and the Limpopo River on-the north, founded by Dutch boers •emigrating from the Cape Colony after the •conquest and acquisition of the Cape Colony .by England from the Dutch. Its surface is an elevated plateau, thinly wooded in some parts, but generally affording excellent pasture. There has for some time been a feud between the Dutch boers and the aboriginal inhabitants of the adjoining district of Kaffraria, and the former being in the habit of getting the worst of it, have sought the assistance of the British Power. The Kaffirs, as England has before vow found to her cost' are no mean foes, and may yet prove troublesome. The situation may very aptly be compared to thafc ,of .the King's territory and the Waikato district in the North Island of New Zealand, except that the Maoris are becoming more peacefully disposed than the African Kaffirs." The Talbot leader states that "a mau named Henry Bell, whilst sinking near the Briseis Company's ground, Amherst, and close to Gaze's fence, turned up a nugget at adepthof23ffc which turned the scales at Hlbs, or more property speaking, 71bs troy. There were se /eral other nuggets of a smaller size—one weighing llo^ and another 3_oz.'j §