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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 222, 19 September 1877, Page 2

A telegram from London, in another column, reports the successful floating of the Auckland Harbour Board debentures in that market. Tenders for the amount of £31,400 were invited, and five times the amount required was at ouce offered. In such circumstances those who had charge of the floating of the loan had to select the highest tenderers, and the £31,400 worth of debentures have been placed on the market at prices raging from £105 and upwards per £100 debenture. This means that the Harbour Board have got about £2000 more for these bonds than the amount which they actually represent, a sum which will probably pay all the charges connected with the negotiating of the loan, and thus leave the nominal loan an actual sum to deal with.—* Herald. In a fire which occurred recently in San Francisco property to the value of' £50,000 was destroyed. The insurances amounted to £22,990, of which the New Zealand Insurance Company lost £1400. It has heen found very expensive to attempt the extermination of rabbits by shot and powder; but there are other means more efficacious and less expensive. A recent improvement is now spoken o£ as havin"* superseded the old stock methods of noosing, netting, and ferreting, which is very ingenious, and by which a mau may rid himself of the rabbit nuisance, i.e., to place a piece of rag steeped in kerosene suspended from a stick in front of the burrows infested by rabbits. It is asserted that they will never return to the holes which have been thus treated. Not only has this plan the advantage of novelty, but it would also, if adopted in this colony, be good for trade, greatly increasing the demand for kerosene. A student being desirous of learning whether there was any truth in the statement that Seneca was addicted to drunkenness, opened an illustrated encyclopedia, and having found the name of the celebrated philosopher, the first object that met his gaze was a woodcut, beneath which were the words —" Seneca, after an ancient bust." The ardent investigator, finding his worst fears confirmed, looked no further. Frank Smith was a negro murderer of Texas, and he was justly led to the gallows a short time ago in Moutague county. As always happens at Southern executions, an immense crowd was present when the negro was led upon the platform. He made a fervent prayer and after it addressed the people. He confessed his crime, and exhorted his hearers so fervently to avoid his errors that all were moved to tears. The sheriff put the noose arouud his neck, but the rough crowd, moved by the murderer's eloquence, surged around aud upon the gallows, demanding his release. The sheriff made an ineffectual effort to clear the platform. The men were armed, and he was in their power. All at once the murderer, who was a Hercules in strength and stature, shouted, " Stand backl This is no time for a row. lam guilty. Let the law take its course. I am a man, and can die like a mau." The rescuers shrank back quite appalled. The sheriff, with a heavy heart, completed his preparations, the trap was sprung, and the brave malefactor fell and died without a struggle. Is there auother instance in history where a mau, having life and liberty before him, threw them away to vindicate the majesty of a law which he himself had violated? The Auckland Heraldis justly severe upon the House of Representatives for the personalities and bickerings that have characterised its debates during the present session. It concludes a strong article ou this subject as follows : — Provocation follows provocation j attack leads to attack ; insult to insult. Mr Ormond has but recently made a mqst bitter reply to some former statements of Mr lices, and this again will call forth retaliation! The charges made against each other are serious and damaging; the personal allusions on either side are gross and unfair ; the licence of language indulged in is beyond all precedent. A Circean spell appears to cast its potent influence on some members as soon as they pass the portals of the House, and they rapidly degenerate. They ignore the ordinary respect due from one man to another ; they cast aside every restraint of language, and turn the freedom of debate into the wildest excess. They ridicule, they taunt, they vilify, they defy. No worthpublic or private— appears exempt from their virulent and untruthful charges. The most irrelevant matter is introduced if it can but hurt or injure an opponent. The poor Speaker sits apparently unconscious of the scenes enacted around him, and is either unwilling or unable to restrain these disorderly proceedings. The decorum of the House is frequently outraged without condemnation or reproof, and the reasonable limits of fair debate are systematically exexceeded, to the great detriment of the public service. It excites surprise in no measured degree to fiud men so oblivious to the duties of their positiou. They accept with avidity the distinction conferred upon them by their constituents, uudertake the important work of practically administering the Government, receive without tho slightest hesitation or compunction the honorarium paid for their services, and then in the most shameless manner fritter away most valuable time, and leave the country to take care of itself. With the exception of the opposition to the Native Lands Bill, which could well have been met on its own demerits, the session has been unproductive of good. The financial position of the country is far from being satisfactory ; the laws are in the greatest possible confusion, and require immediate and careful consideration : and yet the representatives of the people can find tiiue to excite each other's ire by gn.33 personal abuse, or cause insensate laughter hy oft-repeated and wearisome tomfoolery. How loug is the country to suffer from these follies ? General opinion, strongly expressed, can alone rectify the' abuses we complain of, and the sooner that power is awakened aud makes itself felt the sooner will the colony be benefited.

The Russians, says the Siturday Advertiser, have found themselves on the wrong side of the Balkans, and are fain to cross back to the north side. Ifc ia uot unlikely but that they may fiud themselves on the wrong side of the Danube also. Their position is somewhat precarious, and requires the advance of the reserved force. The bear is in for a drink of its own biuin. A case of cannibalism is stated by the Waikato Times to have occurred recently at the Waikato Coal mines. A quarrel took place and while two of the miners were trying to master each other on the grouud one bit a piece out of the other's ear. ' Au accident, which was, however, easily repaired, happened to the machinery of the steamer Waikato recently (says the Auckland Herald.) The men were unloading oats from the hold by means of a block and tackle, worked with a wiuch. A Maori was at the winch handle, and when a load of oats was part way up, suddenly let go of the handle, which, spinning round came in violent contact with the Maori's head, striking him on the right temple and cutting the akin. The iron handle haviug been straightened as quickly as possible, the work of "unloading was proceeded with. [We should like to know something more about that Maori's head.] Mr Henry Roberts, the champion handstroke billiard player arrived in Auckland in Auckland by the Rotorua from Sydney last week. At Gulgoug, in New South Wales, on May llth last, Mr Henry Roberts made the extraordinary break of 1596, accomplishing his task in 20 minutes. This feat he had previously surpassed at home in Duffield, in Yorkshire, when in April last year, he made 1777. Mr Roberts performs alao a variety of fancy shots, such as a cannon from the table on to the floor, a cannon on all the pyramid balls, throwing the ball the length of the table and makiug it atop dead, and his snake cannon round 16 tumblers and 2 decanters. Dentist — " Aha I There's the little joker It came out easy, didn't it?" Patient — "Idiot! Blockhead 1 That's the false tooth I paid two guineas to have put in the other day 1 "