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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 146, 22 June 1877, Page 2

The Auckland Herald say3 that Mr Hugh Carletoh, who waa for many years Chairman of Committees iu the House of Eepresenta- I tives, is about to leave the colony for England. A man at Waimate dislocated his jaw the other day while yawning. He had to be put under chloroform to hare the dislocation - reduced. In Oamaru, Wansbeck-street, two pieces of land, containing a quarter of an acre each, have been soid at prices representing respectively JEBBOO and £10,000 per acre. At Lawrence a motion haa been given notice of for the next meeting of the County Council, "That an honorarium ;of £1 la per diem be paid to members of this Council, together with travelling expenses at the rate of Is per mile each way to and from his place of residence." Shareholders in the now defunct Jackson's Bc„y Fishing Company have been recently visited seriatim by a solicitor and the late manager of the company, their object being to obtain contributions pro tata from each towards liquidating the liabilities of the company. The West Coast Times says that their laudable object only met with partial success. The collectors at the turnpikes in the West Coast counties, recently let on lease, are, says the Time, experiencing some trouble in collecting tolls from persons who suppose themselves to be exempt. Magistrates, clergymen, and Government officials generally have been hitherto relieved frbm the necessity of paying tolls, but the Counties Act is democratic in this respect at least, that as regards toll it makes no distinction, and merely exempts the Governor and manure carts. We are not aware that Government officials would care to claim exemption under the latter category. Says the Poverty Bay Standard:-- "A remarkable relic was • picked up on the beach on Monday morning by the daughter of Mr O'Meara, of this towu. It is an ancient iron rowlock, deeply encrusted with shells ;and marine deposits without destroying 'the original form of the iron. It cannot be less than a century old, and is of the exact form of a ship's rowlock of that date. It ia believed to have belonged to a boat which landed on 'the beach from Captain Cook's ship. It is a great curiosity in its and well worthy of an inspection." Bather a smart trick was done the other day by a couple of enterprising urchins hailing frOm Masterton, says the local paper. A local brewer, who values empty bottles at a rate of 9d pec.dozen, was applied. to by the two worthies iu question to. make a deal. First one lot of dead marines, was handed over, then another, and an6tiier,the purchase price being duly paid for each lot on delivery. At last the man of malt began to smell a rat, and keeping a sharp eye upon hia customers] found to his disgust that they were quietly replenishing their resources out bf a goodly sized heap he had himself securely stacked iu his back yard. To- be done brown by a couple of mere striplings ahd a dozen or so of empty bottles was more than even a brewer could be expected to stand, and the natural consequence ensued, viz., a little bit of a kick-up. - A Duuedin paper says:— A serious gas explosion occurred at the Glasgow Pie-house on Friday afternoon ' Gas being found escaping in the back parlor, Mr John Wilson, plumber, was sent for. After he bad been at work some time, he thoughtlessly struck a match at a sufficient height to ignite the gas which had collected in the upper part of the room. The explosion which followed was of a destructive character. It made a report like a cannon, and was felt several hundred yards off. The large plateglass window of the room facing Dowling-street, was blown into a thousand pieces, and portions were shot with such force across the street, that they broke the wiudows of the buildingsopposite. The heavy framework of the window was also broken into fragments. Inside the room the damage was almost a3 great. The pictures on the walls were broken; the looking-glass was much damaged, and the doorway leading to the passage was blown into a score of pieces. There was not much danjage done by fire. The ceiling was scorch-ed, and tablecloth burned at the end, but the furniture was not much injured All the plaster on the outside of the passage wall was shaken ofE, leaving the laths exposed on the whole side of the room. How Mr Wilson escaped with his life is marvellous, considering the force of the explosion and the damage it caused. He was found lying in the left hand corner of the room, near the window, where probably the explosion was less severe. His whiskers were completely burnt off; he lost nearly all his hair, and his hands were dreadfully burnt When lifted up, it was thought his eyes were destroyed but his sight is not affected, and his injuries] though painful, are not dangerous.

* An Agricultural Show was yrecently i held in Poverty Bay. The Standaid?} rep;brterf alluding to its wonders and curiosities, siys:— " There ,was a donkey also among the exhibits, the firlt I had ; seen in New Zealand. , It reminded m£ of my childhood's days, and'-, of fcWo or three dlmy friend&/2 shQuidiiaVe felt happy if I could have got the pumpkins off my mind, but I couldn't. Turn which way I might, huge pumpkins met me everywhere and stared me in the face. They were so many and in such multitudinous places that thfey were not to be got rid of. They got mixed in with the potatoes. .They hedged round the poultry. The donkey ran" into a pile. The Maoris made stools of them to sit upon. ... Some appeared as if , they, had taken root in the ground and were beginning to swell. It looked 0 to me as if we dwelt in the land of pumpkins, and had little else to live upon. There was a cask of Crawford's beer on the ground. The beer took the prize, and the people took the beer, which perhaps equalised the thing." The following remarks occnred in an address recently delivered by the Hon Mr Fox l—" With the public works scheme the days; of provincialism ceasetl, ifc being no longer of arty; use, the General Government having aasutaed th^sole rightto borrow and consequently: to spend. It is unfortunate that a well-deyisedr scheme did not take the place of provincial institutions. It waa at" ,the"fag end of a most tedious session, when the" Ministers weretWorn out, that the County system tyas^detfsedh "Some alterations will poSsiblyfha^td take place to harmonise it : with th^ Rgad BoaMs, or to merge" one into ' "the other. (The, question of education will have to' be reordered duringhthe coming ses.sionj As you .are aware, tha systems,which ate o^a locafcl-iara'cter/areimppssihie -now. provinces are&bdlished, and a general scheme will ha^e to be devised, It must be~^ based ou the brjoadest principles. There ate ,two. obstacles [to Cbe^ contended with— the jclergy and 'the upper classes who do hot send their cbildreii-itp the common schools. It is cufious^that in this professedly Chris— Jiian country; the Bible should be! the oAlyprohibited ba'tfamo lg the contending_ parties so it is, and, much at I should likevto. see the Bible read ihdur schools without gloss' or comment, 1 1 fear that a broad and purely secular system will have to be adopted. The hon. gentleman concluded by Observing that he would recommend the colony to borrow so long as it could find lenders but to exercise prudence in so doing and a judicious economy in expenditure for the next two years." A San Franc'sco paper states: — "Another addition must be made to the number of engagements contracted by Russian officials since the arrival in the harbor of San Franc'sco of the flee Jof that nation. It is now reported On the best authority that His Russian Imperial Majesty's General Consul, Valadmer Weletsky, has surrendered at disc etion tOone.bf our city belles, and that 'the wedding will take place in the course of a few weeks. The Russian epidemic -has attacked our fashionable ladies so fiercely that nothing, shortrof a visit of the Grand" Duke Alexis will satisfy their cravings. Many are buying Ollendorfs in anticipation'of such an event."..: " . " >'" ! A telephone concert is reported' to have taken place the "othei* evening in Steinway HaU, New York, thp performprs" being in Philadelphia. .,- Unfortunately, lowing to a heavy fain, nearly one-third x>£ the working' foroe of the, electric battery -.escaped, and the^ concert was hot; therefore, a" complete ! success, which was a great disappointment to ajl present, iniismuch as.twoeveni'ngs previously the sweetest melodies had been! transmitted from Philadelphia by wire. The audience however, although warned that, Owing to the hoarseness pf the wires, they would " scarcely hear the echo of an "echo," were so desirous to test the wonders of the new discovery, that an attempt was made to satisfy them, and " Home, sweet Home," was rendered softly and slowly on the telephone by Mr Boscovitz at Philadelphia. Notwithstanding the afflicted condition of .the wires, overy note could be heard distinctly all over, the hall; but the higher :n6tcs, which had on a former occasion sounded forth and' clear, were but a whisper in comparison— like the desperate effort of a broken voice to reach a high range.. The, applause was enthusiastic, and' there was an immense clapping of hands when the song "Then you'll remember me," . from the Bohemian Girt, was sing through the wires, although the higher notes were almost inaudible. "Yankee Doodle," and " God save the Queen," were encored, aud but for the storm, the entire coucert, it is stated, would "doubtless have been one of thje; most remarkable on record."