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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 203, 28 August 1877, Page 2

A judgment summons against a post-office clerk, not now resident in Hokitika, was heard by the Resident Magistrate, Mr Eitzgerald on imday, during which, in answer to a reqiest that immediate payment might bo I enforced, the Magistrate remarked that an able-bodied labourer would have a far better chance of meeting his liabilities than a postoffice clerk. His Worship observed that post-' othce clerks were by no means overburdened i with heavy salaries, and made an order for a reasonable monthly amount to be paid. The following paragraph is from the Otago I Witness:-*' Doctors and parsons are supposed to hi the most quarrelsome people in the world, while lawyers are generally supposed to be wise euough to prefer setting' other people by the ears to squabbling then£ j selves. But there is something in the ai- in | New Zealand which causes them to lose that | peaceful affability towards one another which is usually supposed to be one of their leading characteristics. In Dunedin a few years ago one or two gentlemen kept the place intensely amused by their squabbles. A case was looked upon as an excellent opportunity to abuse the counsel on the opposite side— the i clients' interests were never fora moment considered. Now, happily, this has ceased to be the case. But Palmerston boasts of three 1 limbs of the law who keep up a triangular duel, to use an Irishism. This singular disease has broken out lately in. Queeastowri hitherto a tolerably peaceable place. Ther3 the lawyers talk of indicting one another for forgery and perjury, besides numerous other high crimes and misdemeanors. The population are much of the opinion of the old farmer who always drank the toast —' That every lawyer might kill a parson, and be hanged for it.' " Judge Molesworth, of Victoria, has raised a point as to the legality of reading over depositions to witnesses in the Police Courts betore they signed, instead of giving such depositions to be read by witnesses. During the hearing of a burglary case at the Assize Court, Geelong, a witness (says the Adre, user), who had given evidence in the lower Court, had his depositions put into his hand by the Crown Prosecutor, for the purposed of refreshing his memory on one point The Judge asked if the witness had read the document over before signing it. He was informed that it was read to the witness in accordance with the practice of the Police Court. His Honor then expressed himself to the effect that witnesses ought to always read their depositions themselves before signing them, and stated that the reading of the written testimony to witnesses was not correct. The witness was not allowed to refer to the depositions. The Southern Cross mentions that Mr T Spurgeon, a son of the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon is a passenger by the Lady Jocelyn, now on' her way to Melbourne, for the benefit of his health. The Her. Mr Spurgeoa writes to a fnend at Geelorg that his son " can preach a Olfc.i A man who will chaw turbacker will drink Jamaiker rum f and a man that will drink Jjamaiker rum will go to ruin, and a man that will go to ruin is mean eniiff to do eoneything. You cau tell just about what a man wM <fy by hearing him tejl what he has aid lam prepared tu say tu seven of the rich men out of every ten, "Make the most of your money, for it makes the most of yu '> f>ebt is an eel pot— a big hole where yu go in, and a small one where yu kum but ' Man was cre»:-ed a little JWer than the angel Is ana he has bin gltting a littler lower eveF since.

A Southern paper says:-Afew old Maoris are still left in the Taieri district, Qta<*o. Ihey are old folks ranging up to 70 and 80 years of age. They have next to nothing to live upon, and are likely to starve during the present winter. The Government might ' "ITi^ for chese poor, old creatures? Ihe No Town correspondent of the G R Aigas suggests that means should be adopted for procuring a harmonium for the local church, as the vocal singing at present is nothing but a series of screeches, with now a lady leader and then a general confusion, &c In anticipation of the possible effects of a European war on the grain markets abroad, most of the farmers on the Taieri Plain, Otago, this season are said to be placing their newly-ploughed laud under wheat It is confidently believed that breadstuffs will maintain a very high standard in the London market during the coming year, and, if so, there will possibly be some extensive consignments from the colonies— that is, should the harvest prove favorable. An Auckland contemporary understands that it is likely that Mr Severn, the wellknown and popular scientific lecturer, will shortly return to England and take up his permanent residence there. 'It was thought probable that Mr Severn, whose great abilities are beyond question, would occupy a position in connection with the University in Dunedm ; but no arraugement of that character being arrived at, we understand that Mr Severn, who is now in Auckland, will proceed to England shortly. To show how people run about the world m these days of expeditious travelling "/Egles" writes in the Australasian:— On Tuesday I had a glass of shecry with an English gentleman who has, during the last two years, paid three visits to Melbourne, and not one. of these visits was of longer duration than a couple of hours. Since his last visit, at Christmas; he has seen the Liverpool Grand National and the Oxford and Cambridge boat race. Mr friend is a vetern medical officer in the service of the Emigration Commissioners, and just drops in tp shake hands with his acquaintances in Melbourne, after leaving a cargo of passengera in Sydney, a^d on his way to take a : few hurdred coolies from Calcutta to the West Indies. He has been behaving in this way for 2u years, and I take him to be the original of Mr Fix, in "Round the World in Eighty Days." He has promised his friends an extra half hour in Victoria on his next VISID. A police constable has been fined Is for apprehending two thieves. This was done not by a magistrate, but by a court of « Foresters, of which he was a member; the excuse being that, in making the arrest, he was following his work," while his name was upon the sick list of the club. He Avas not irJl lce M du y« bufc merely returning from bcotland Yard., whither he had been to see the chief surgeon, when he met the thieves, and it appears that, besides the fine, he forfeits his sick pay. ihe other day he •applied for advice on the subject to the Lambeth magistrate, who, though unable to mm Vr y ' COnioleA witQ hit * on -he hardness of the case, remarking that he had acted very properly, and conferred a boon on society. The Bedale Foxhounds (says the Live Stock Journal), having discontinued hunting inLeyburn district, a party of gentlemen went to bpenmthorne Wodit and commenced digging m a fox-hole with the intention of removing a brood of foxes to some other district where they would yield sport another season, but instead of finding the young cubs, they came upon a well-stored larder. It con^ tamed thirty-two rabbits, su l arge i ever ets, twenty-two partridges, one thrush, one blackbird, two rats, and one mouse, besides a large quantity of wings and bones of other game, but not even so much as a feather of the domestic fowl could be discovered