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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 122, 25 May 1877, Page 2

If what we hear be correct (says the Wellington Argus) Mr George M'Lean was rather premature when, in Dunedin, he boasted that the Ministry was a happy family. During the last week rumors have been rife around the Government Buildings that all is not peace within the bosom of the Cabinet; that the domestic serenity of the Ministerial family has been somewhat rudely disturbed since the return of the Prodigal Son of the Government, its Attorney-General: and that although Ministers have held numberless Cabinet meetings, each of wearisome length, very little real progress has been made in arranging the policy of the future, the members finding themselves opposed as widely as possible regarding the principles on which many important matters should be dealt with. Of course, it is difficult to say how much value is to be attached to these rumors; but we are inclined to believe that there is considerable foundation for them, and certainly they are quite within the range of probability. The Weatpott Times of Tuesday last says; — On Friday a mob of good conditioned store cattle were driven through the town, en route for Mokihinui and the Karamea, having been brought overland by Mr C. Matthews, who has broken through the Karamea trading monopoly by bringing these cattle overland direct from Nelson. There is very probability of a large number of young cattle being brought across country from this time forth. The cost, as we are informed, of driving 'them through did not exceed ten shillings per head. A scandalous charge is preferred against some member or members of the Westland County Council by a man named W. Kenny, who states that having occasion to get a tender back for alteration before the meeting of the Council, he found it had been opened, and that most clumsily. He asserts that he can prove this by three respectable witnesses. The following certificate has been issued by the Kuniara Clerk of the Court: — "I hereby certify that Her Majesty the Queen has applied for registration of transfer from the Kumara Water Race Company of all their registered property; through S. M. South, Crown Solicitor." We (Hawke's Bay Herald) learn that no less than 320 pairs of hawks feet have been brought in from Mr Purvis Russell's station at Woburn. This is the result of twelve months' trapping by one of the stockmen on the station. We (Marlborough Express) 'learn that; since the request of the police to certain persons to shift their quarters to " fresh fields and pastures new" a discovery has been made in the room vacated by one of them of a number of gambling instruments, inclusive of a tool for marking extra pips on dice, marking cards, &c. An accident occurred on Thursday evening (says the Marlborough Express of Saturday) which had well-nigh proved fatal. It appears that Mr George Stevenson was shipping horses for Wanganui Races by the Lyttelton, but having a difficulty with two of the racers at Sinclair's landing place, he took Tapuenuka and Jonathan Wild down to Redwood's Wool Shed. Here Tapuenuka, while being slung over the side, slipped and caught with hia fore legs on the side of the yessel, and, being unable to hold, fell into the water. Stevenson by some means fell in at the same time, and on rising to the surface was fished out safely, although he was struck two or three times by the horse's hoofs bafore he could get clear of them. With some difficulty the horse was secured, and beyond a good wetting neither man nor horse suffered material damage. Tapuenuka is intended to compete for the Maiden Plate, and Jonathan for the Grand National Steeplechase. At a revival meeting held recently in one of the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, the roou became so crowded with perspiring souls that the forms provided for their accommodation proved insufficient to seat the sinners," many of whom were '• under conviction." As there were a good many chairs stowed away in a kind of cockloft over the room in wich the prayers, and exortations were going on, one of the members.went up to hand them down ; the leader gave out the hymn, "Hold the fort." The attic floor consisted of the plastering which constituted the ceiling of the room below, of which cir- . cumstance the seeker was not aware ; so just as the choir, commenced the first stanza down came the leg of the unfortunate chair hunter. The choir however did not notice the circumstance, and went on singing, "Oh! my comrades, see the signal waving in the air, reinforcements now are coming," &c. Just at that instant the other leg appeared, and the singing was drowned by the roaring laughter of the congeegation. A baby show has been held at Lower Rangitikei. There were 30 exhibits. The promoter, who was alse ]udge, is himself the father of upwards of a score of children. It i9 stated that the authorities of the London Post Office have resolved to abandon to a large extent the employment of young women in the Telegraph Department, and the persons recently appointed to the staff have all been youug men. The reason given for this step is that the women cannot be employed during the n.ight. An experiment has been made at WarriDgton by the London and North-Western Railway Company with regard to the employment of young ladies as booking clerks, but the result has been such, after an experience of eight months, that the Company has found it necessary to replace them with clerks of the sterner sex. It is rumored that the ladies wljo acted as ticket dislributors discharged their duties so gracefully and so agreeably to the passengers that frequently the patience of the guards was tested somewhat severely, as through the couveraations at the booking office window the trains were not infrequently delayed. Who would believe that the fashion of a lady's dress 850 8.C., was very much the same as it is now, A.D. 1877? But here js the evidence from Hesiod ("Works aud i Days," Parti): In his counsels on marriage he says : — " Let no fair woman tempt thy sliding mind, With garments gathered in a knot behind." The Wangarei Comet gives some particulars of the tidal wave at Tutukaka harbor, where it broke on the beach at daybreak with a tremendous roar, rol'ed up the river at a very rapid rate, receding swiftly, and sweeping timber on the beach high enough to be bejond the freach of spring tides. A vessel lying at anchor was driven with great force on a bank, and left high and dry. Half of Tutukaka harbor was left dry, and large quantities of fish cast up on the beach. Each succeeding wave decreased in size and force, and at sunset the waves ceased. A Dunedin telegram to a Wellington coutemporary gives the following particulars of the recent accident on the Mosgiel railway:— Early on Saturday afternoon a Government ballast engine was harnessed to about a dozen trucks loaded with material for ballasting the line, and despatched from the quart '

with about twenty men, who were to unload a' sd spread the contents of the wagons. After proceeding f out miles, the engine, which is said by some to be unsteady in consequence of the after part projecting too far behind the wheels, ran off the rails and plunged down a small embankment about a foot in height, across which it had been travelling, dragging with it the trucks. A most painful scene immediately ensued. Two or three of the wagons tumbled pell mell over each other, and those of the men who were not fortunate enough to escape by jumping from them, were either crushed j under the wheels or so entangled in the debris as to be severely injured. Most of ! the workmen had been travelling on the tops of the trucks, but some half-dozen had inadvisedly preferred to ride on the engine, which is fitted with a hand rail and foot board. These men are the greatest sufferers. One of them was killed outright, and another was so terribly mutilated that his left leg had to be amputated as soon as medical assistance was procured. A third escaped tlea^h only by a miracle, and had to be dug out of the ground. The Manchester stipendiary had before him lately twelve persons who were each summoned on three charges— first, of wilfully and falsely pretending to be a physician, doctor of medicine, or general practitioner; secondly, of falsely using a name implying that he was recognised by law as a physician, surgeon, or practitioner in medicine; and, thirdly, to show cause why books or pamphlets found upon his premises should not be destroyed. On the 20th of October a j detective went to one of the defendants who styled himself "Dr Lewis, M.D.," and who also carried on business in Leeds and Liverpool, and paid him 10s 6d, consulted him about his health, and subsequently he paid him another IPs. He was shown a bottle of water, which was, in fact, a chemical mixture, and was told thut he was suffering from extreme nervousness, and the defendant said he would put him right in three weeks for 40 guineas. This defendant wag fined £20 on the charge of falsely pretending to be a physician or doctor of medicine, and another charge against him in reference to the books found in his possession was adjourned. Another defendant, named Whitchurch, was fined £5, and in other cases fineg of i£lo and .£ls were inflicted. Someof the cases were adjourned for a week. The public analyst for the city had analysed the "medicine" given to the detective who had consulted all the defendants in turn, and in nearly every case found them harmless and useless. After the detective had seen them all a raid was made upon their premises, and some tons' weight of indecent literature were seized. Earl Dudley, the wealthy owner of coal mines, is famous for his leviathan bets. The latest is given by a Canadian paper : "It is said that Earl Dudley, of England, who is 60 years old, has offered to bet 25,000 dols to 25 dols that the son of Napoleon 111 will be officially proclaimed Emperor of Prance during the Earl's lifetime, and that the odds were at once accepted by the Prince of Wales aad by three other persons."