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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 145, 21 June 1877, Page 2

There are great complaints in Wellington of the milk being watered by dishonest milk-vendors, and the citizens are armiug themselves with lactometers. It has been found that in many cases there is one gallon of water to three of milk. The Herald records the death of a well known habitue of the Auckland Stock Exchange, a dog called " Tray," who met with his death through somewhat greedily swallowing some "cold pisen " laid to destroy rats. The dog, says the Herald, was a sensible dog; fltf ul in his temper, and diversified in his spirits. He took his tone from the surroundings of the time. If business wag brisk so was old dog Tray, and his tremulous tail and bright eye* testified to his appreciation of the situation. If intelligence of heavy losses cast a gloom over the insurance offices, that gloom was reflected in the tone and temper of poor Tray; whose woe-begone visage and generally dilapidatedl expression on the day the loss of the Ocean Mail was announced was a picture to behold. But now ships may come and ships may go, stocks may rise and fall, all will be nothing to Tray, as he rests in the solitude of his quiet grave. The following regarding a Crimean hero is from the Otago Guardian : — One of the few veterans that are left of the old Scot 3 Greys, or " Second to none," who did such eminent service during the Crimean campaign, has passed away in Mr Archibald Blair of this city. For over four years Mr Blair has been in the Otago Mounted Force, but latterly he had been suffering from lung disease, contracted in the first instance while lying on the cold ground in the Crimea during 1854 and 1855. He landed with General York Scarlett's Brigade, so famed in connection with the battle of Belaclava, at . the Belbec on the second day after the battle of the Alma. . He was present and took an active part at the affair at M'Kenzie's ferni, the heavy cavalry charge at Balaclava, and the siege of Sebastopol. Like most brave soldiers, he was somewhat reserved, and among strangers he never thought of fighting his battles o'er again, or alluding to the gallant struggles and heroic achievements in which he was a brave participator. But rarely did he allude to the fact that he was: one of the gallant band of Dragoons who- beat three times their number on the -plains of Balaclava in an open hand-to-hand combat with naked sword-blades. The TV. 7.. Herald has a leading article on the death of young Pilling, who recently received fatal injuries in the football field, in the course of which it says:— "The evidence at the inquest went in this way: That deceased,> good player, was in the habit of charging his opponents. by lowering his head and trusting to his strength to carry him safely through. Againsi this practice he had been wan ed by a very intimate friend of his, who gave evidence at the inquest, and who stated that he had told him 'he would break his neck by it. He persisted in his practice, and the result has been what every one— football-player and non-football-player -^deplores. The jury attached a rider to their verdict) in fact, from the summing up of the Coroner, who declared that the game was 'fit only for savages,' and the ideas the witnesses seemed to enter tain jou the subject, they could hardly have done otherwise. That rider was that the rules of football should be modified, with a view to the prevention of such accidents. * * * * if the Rugby Union rules are still the rules adopted., \t js hard to see how rnu.ch change can |take plape as far as the actual danger of the game is concerned. The death of Mr Pilling resulted from 'charging,' and charging cannot be eliminated from the Rugby game without destroying ifs character altogether. It has been siiggested that the Association rules should be adopted, and it must be remembered that since these have been in force no very serious accident has been experienced, and yet they have been played by men for a longer time than those of the Rugby. Union At any rato, the fathers and mothers of Auckland will expect something to be done in the matter, and it would be well for somebody to call a meeting of football players and discuss the matter, and see if any alteration can be effected in the existing rules of the club, and, if not, whether any other rules can be adopted."/

Correspondence from Melbourne- states. that William Horace Bentj the comedian, has made a great hit as one of the United States' Minstrels in S6. George^a Kill. there.; We (Otago Guardian) regret to leani that Miss Bessie Vivian hasjmet wi£h a somewhat ; severe accident while following, her professional pursuits at Waimafe. On Thursday^ night last she was dressing for the part of Venu3 in the burlesque of " Paris," whenher long flax wig caught fire, and a scene or screaming and confusion ensued in the " green-room." Besides the irreparable, loss of a valuable head of hair, Miss Vivian was severely burnt about the head and shoulders, and she has since been compelled to play with her right arm in a sling. Mr M'Gillivray, who lately demonstrated at the Otago Waste Lands Board that he made £60J a year off his farm, appears not to be the only settler who has made farming profitable. The Southland Times remarks: — "It has been generally considered that the bulk of the land ou the east coast of the Mataura is well adapted for profitable farming. Some parts of this district of course are much better than others, but to show what may;he done, we learn on undoubted authority that a young man possessed of industry <and experience cleared close on £1000 a : year from his grain icrops off .& moderate Sized holding." *„ .. .: •_ ; ' The Melbourne {Argus of -the 26th ultimo says:— The demonstration ;of the fire (bri4 gades at Geelong has been more or lcss c a fiasco. The unsatisfactory proceedings of' Thursday, werjs followed by the equally iun-: pleasant events to-day, protests and unseemly contests boingthiS rule. The inharmonious element appears to have been introduced by the Ge>long firemen, who asserted the protective principles with wb'ch their town-is identified) . by requiring a handicap to be placed in some shape or other on the foreign . competitors. > The visiting firemen^ when ■ letving by the traiu, expressed their, „ of the treatment ' they had experienced by giving three groans for Geelong. ; Being a baufc official in America isinotone of the mo3t enviable of occupations. The. Galifornian papers report tbat recently, an attempt was made to ;fcidnap C. H. Phillips, cashier of the Bank of St. Luis, Obispo. \ Mr;' Phillips lives about half or three-quarters of a mile from the main portion of the town, in what is known as Phillips' Addition. ' He was called to his door at a latehour, on the pretence that he was wanted bin an urgent matter of business, When he presented himself a pistol was aimed at him, and he was told to come along; that he was the man that was wanted. He managed, however, to make his escape. It is supposed that the object was to compel Mr Phillips to open the bank vaults.