The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, JUNE 1, 1877.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 128, 1 June 1877, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, JUNE 1, 1877.

! liiE bau Francisco mail by the Hawea will close at the. Post Office at eight o'clock to-morrow night, J

RicitAßD O'Grady, a seaman of the Phoebe, was brought before A. Mackay, Esq., J.P,, this morning, charged with disobedience bf lawful orders, using indecent and obscene language, and assaulting the police. To the former of the charges lm pleaded guilty, "although there was none present to prosecute, the Phoebe having sailed last night, but he urged that although he might have been insubordinate he had not beeu wanting in pluck, as he was the only man in the vessel who could be found to go aloft in the furious gale she experienced. The police, it appeared, had great difficulty in securing him, aud even after he had the handcuffs on they had to get the mate of the steamer to treat him as though he were one of the Davenport Brothers, and lash him with ropes. He was sentenced to a month's imprisonment with hard labor. Members of the Wesleyan choir are reminded that there will be full practice thia evening at seven o'clock sharp. The Rev J. Beckenham delivered a very interesting lecture on the manners and customs of the natives of Australia at the Congregational Church last night to a large and attentive audience. Consumers of gas are beginning to wish that Mr G;eorge had never come here, or, at all events, that he had returned to Wellington, without making any suggestions with regard to the pressure. What they are now desirous of is that those suggestions will not be acted upon again, as great inconvenience has been caused by their adoption. For some nights .past the gas at about ten o'clock has commenced to flicker and fade in the most unpleasant manner.but last night ifc outdid any of its previous efforts to cause annoyance, and very nearly .went out altogether. The prayer of the consumers to the superintendent of the Works is that he will revert to the old order of thingi as speedily as possible. The return football match between the Town and College Clubs, which has been delayed for a number of weeks on account of the weather, will be played in the Botanical Gardens at 3 p.m. to-morrow, when a good game-is expected:— The following are tke names of the players :— Town Team : Ashcroft, Askew, Baddeley, Boulton, Clouston, Curtis, Clayton, Hodgson, Jennings, Kempthorne, Pollock R. Pollock J, Spencer, Stanley, Seaton, Thompson, Walker, and Wilhams. College Team : Andrew, Askew, Burnett, Cook, Firth, Harley, Hodgson, Kingdon, M'Kellar, J. M'Rae, A. M'Rae, Rout, Roy, Seymour, Snow, Stafford, .Wilson, and Wither.

An Otago mining company of fourteen Chiuese figures in the Gazette in bankruptcy The "Heathen Chinee" is rapidly Adapting himself to the manners and customs of the land. '*& With the following remarks which appeared in a late issue of the Timaru Herald we cprdially agree?— « We shall pay with pleasure the costliest prices for war telegrams which will really interest aud inform our readers. But we do think that the Goveromenfc ought to help in the worthy endeavor, and ought to give us every advantage that can be derived from the public department. Not i bene.— The public, not the newspapers, gain by cheap and expeditious telegrams. These messages are a dead loss to every newspaper." At the ceremony of unveiling the busfc of Dr Featherston at Wellingtou the other day, his Excellency the Governor said that it afforded him infinite gratificstion to be present on an occasion when they had met together to pay a graceful tribute to the memory of one of the oldest settlers of the colony, and who had from his earliest connection with the country .devoted his best energies and talents ;to the development of its resources, Although gome people might have differed from the deceased gentleman in political views, yet he was sure that Dr. Featherston had succeeded in gaining the regard and respect of those among whom he worked, and the love and affection of those who were his intimate friends. This was the great object a politician should wish to attain —tho esteem and affection |of the people His Excellency then referred to the difficulties and obstacles which Dr Featherston met within the early days of .the colony, and gave a brief history of his public life. His Excellency also contrasted the Wellington of to-day with the Wellington in which Dr. Featherston arrived nearly 40 years ago He concluded by expressing the hope that the young men of New Zealand would persevere, and show the same energy, determination, ana" industry that their forefathers had evinced, and if they did . o he was sure that New Zealand would become so great a country that even those who held the most _S ll i, ™ w f r F e S? r tffog its future would be astonished. His Excellency remarked in the course of his address, that, th™S hc t had

never met the late.Dr.Featherson, he had gathered from public records and other sources some knowledge of him, and he considered that the young men of the colony would do well to follow the example which had beea set by the gentleman whose death they all lamented. Cattle feed has been very scarce in California for some time past, and many cattle and sheep have perished in consequence. Not long ago a grazier offered 8000 sheep for £200. The feed was so short that they had become too weak to be driven to the hills. A French chemist makes the remarkable announcement that the mere presence of au iron bar in a box of grain, biscuit and the nke, will prevent both decay and attacks of insects. It's not an expensive experiment. Any farmer can find a broken plough-share or log chain to put in the grain bin. Genteel Chicago Paraphrases.— A modest young lady at table, desiring the leg of a chicken said, "I'll take the part which ought to be dressed in drawers." A youn°* man opposite replied, "I'll take the part "which ought to wear the bustle." The youn** lady fainted. . " ' ° J We (.Post) are informed that during the past week there arrived by one of the steamers trading between New Zealand and Melbourne an unfortunate horse, which had been shipped from this port many weeks previously, and was to have been landed at Melbourne, but owing to the shippers having neglected to procure a certificate from the Cattle Inspector here, and also forgetting that Melbourne is now a closed port, the animal in question has had to endure the disadvantages of the round voyage. I When Mr Fox was in England he meuto a Mr W. S. Silver, the head of alarge Lobdpn firm engaged in the manufacture of submarine cables; that he (Mr Fox) had founded a temperance village atCrofton, and was getting np a library, for it. Mr Silver very handsomely gave Mr F6x a donation of £20 towards the intended object, which Mr Fop employed in purchasing books. The other day Mr Fox presented the books to the Crofton people, who thereupon determined to call. their pew. library " The Silver Library," in honor of the donor of the books, A young woman named Connor summoned Dr. Lynch, at the Dublin Police Court for having damaged a silk dress. She had a few days before been bridesmaid to a cousin, and the defendant was one of the wedding guests. He several times attempted to kiss her, and in their struggles her dress was torn. He also accidentally spilled some tea on it The dress was worth £4, and he promised to replace it, but did not. She said she complained or his conduct to her aunt, who only laughed, and said, " She would get used to it. For the defence it was pleaded that he only took the recognised liberties with a bridesmaid; but the magistrate, Mr O'Donel, said that not being "best man" he was not privileged. The case excited amusement, and ultimately the magistate told all the parties to "Go away out of that." "iEgles" thus discourses in the Australasian on the distribution of votes:— lt is a terribly heretical thing to say, a thing abominably illiberal and improper. But, for all that, I must admit that it did seem to me on that famous Friday as something imperfect ra our exquisitely-balanced political system to find Ah Sin, hawker of greeu stuff and Chinamen's laborer (duly naturalised), exercising at the ballot-box an equal franchise with my friend Smithjohn, who pays a hundred a year in municipal andgeneral taxation: who has given 13 hostages of fortune, and who couldn't if he would, migrate to any flowery land at a day's notice. But what seemed even still more incongruous was to see the professor with 25 years accumulated learning, thought, and experience standing exactly level at the ballot-box with a raw lad of 21 out of a brick-maker's hole. I know that this is blasphemy. lam aware that to question the right of equal suffrage is to subject the doubter to tbe severest pains which could possibly await an insolvent malefactor. But, for all these drawbacks, my doubts still haunt me irresistibly. I would not take a vote away from anybody who now possesses it, but I would add another to him who has proved in any reasonable way— by accumulation of knowledge or substance— his claim to its possession. When I elect my borough councillor I can give him three votes against Ah Sin's one; but when I get out of parish politics into matters of national moment I am but a third of my municipal self. Which is the more important occasion for fitting representation? A farmer named Ettinger has recovered £400 from the New South Wales Government for the destruction of his orangery and vines by sparks from locomotives. Numbers of cattle are dying in some of the districts of New South Wales, the supposed cause being poisonous grasses. A want of confidence motion qf an nn-, usua}}y emphatic character has been carried m the Tasmanian Assembly against the Ministry. It runs thus.—" In order to secure the concurrence of the other branches of the Legislature in public works and taxin°* measures, it is absolutely necessary that his Excellency should call to his councils other advisers." In 1876 the County of Sonoma, in California, shipped to the San Francisco market no less £65,400 worth of poultry and eggs. The new Government Buildings (says the Post) are being surrounded by a fence which is a remarkably fine specimen of the order of architecture lately in vogue for public buildings in Wellington. We are not quite sure of the correct term, for we have been unable to find any illustrations of this type in a host of works on architecture which we have deemed it our duty to consult. We have b.e(^rd It (Jesoflbod as tty. eo^l-shed or calfpen order, but we do not vouch for tho technical accuracy of this nomenclature. It is, however, the same style as that iv which the magnificent addition to the Postofflce has been erected recently. To say so much * is to convey an instantaneous and vivid conception of the singular beauty of the design. Its salient merit is perhaps its touching simplicity, the fence consisting merely of a row of plain deal boards set on end, thus imparting to the enclosure all the grand ef eet of 9, flrst-clnsjs sheep-pen; Jt will prove useful as well as ornamental, presenting an impassable barrier to any naughty civil servants who desire to play truant during office hours. A very painful case occurred at Makimaki lately. As the circumstances are described in the Timaru Hetaid, a child of Mr John Martin, aged eleven months, was left in its cot asleep, and the family had npt been absent long before they heard loud screams proceeding from it. Upon looking under : the clothes they found a ferret lying on the I child s face, and that it had bitten the right side of the head in a fearful manner from the forehead to the chin and was sucking the blood. Dr. Macintire, of Timaru, was sent for, and he reported that the eye was so much injured that it was doubtful whether the sight could be preserved, and that the other injuries were of a very serious nature, rerdering it probable that the little \ sufferer would be marked for life. In one place mo tification has now set in. aggravating the case considerably. The ferret was one of two which had been in the habit of playing with Mr Martin's children. . -M tn £ COl >chision of an article on the n -? e JZ. m the Customs revenue, the Otago JJatly Times says that "although the Assembly m^y decide to relieve the Consolidated Revenue of the payment in future of subsidies to Counties and Boroughs, we shall not be surprised if tjie imposition of a land tax is proposed by the Government."

The Australasian in commenting on thd contradictory telegrams of. the results, of the .engagements between the Russians aud Turks ; says:—" From all which it is evident that the two powers think nearly as much of persuadingJEurope that they have -*wbn battles as of tfctually winning them." '-- V , From a return in the Gazette, we learn that during the quarter ending 31st March last, 292,308 telegrams were transmitted iv the colony, being an increase of 21,996 over the corresponding quarter last year.. The revenue was. £867 5s 2d more, and the value of Government telegrams £214 15s 7d more. The total cash revenue for the quarter was £16,337 9s Id.

The Canterbury Press is of opinion that the present Ministry will survive the next session. Our contemporary says: — "As far as Ministers are concerned, of course it is impossible to foretell what unfortunate casualties may happen; but looking to the general aspect of political affairs, we do not see that there is much for them to be afraid of. There are rocks ahead which will require careful steering, and they will doubtless have sTooie rough squalls to encounter. But unless they commit some great blunder, or one of those .unexpected crises should arise which upset all calculations, we believe that the "gallant captain will get safely through the. turmoil, aud will guide his bark finally into- secure anchorage. The largest grape vine in San Joaquin county, California, is on the premises of W. Gr Phelpb, southeast of Stockton. . It is twelve; years oId A and twenty-six inches in circumference at one foot from the ground. .Some time ago a rumor went the round of the Press B that it was contemplated by the English Government to fit out ai vessel for the purpose of sending heron an expedition, visiting the .various places of interest' in the world.. This idea has now assumed shape.: AJate i§sue of the London Times has* the flowing, item of news:— 'J fi is proposed to despatch the screw steamer Sumatra, 2400 tona.uon the) lsth August, to'all the principal places of 9 interest in the world." This is a -.tremendous thing in the way of trips, the^-vessel, too, being of such a large size. Ne^t- Zealand^ of course, will be among the chief ( .places to. be called at, as the colony is regarded-with great interest ac Home. jThe struggles of the early settlers the pro-* longed Moari war (in which English regular regiments were cngaged),-~the remarkably salubrious climate of the colony, its beautiful scenery, and last, but most important of all, its position as a largely populated and progressive country, make New Zealand oue of the most interesting places in the world.