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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 225, 22 September 1877, Page 2

The writer of "The Week" regrets that indisposition prevents his supplying the Cfs.omary Saturday letter. The Customs receipts at the Port of Nelsou for the week euding to-day were £533 19s ld. A colored illustration of the Colorado Beetle, published as a supplement to the British Trade Journal, eau be seen at the Mail Office. At the annual meeting of the Nelson Fire Brigade, held last night, the followiug office bearers were elected for the ensuiug year*— Captain, W. Ligbtfoot; Lieuteuant, C. Bird; Foreman of Hook and Ladder Company, Mr 11. Wimsctt; Foreman No. 1 Hose Company Mr Gay; Foreman No. 2 Company, JJ.fr Stringer; Foreman Fire Comnany, Mr Avery* Secretary, Mr Small bone ;" Treasurer, Mr Brighten. Dr Kesteven was elected Honorary Surgeon vice Dr Cotterell deceased Mr Darby reported that the result bf the canvass for subscriptions conducted by himself aud Mr Parmonter was £104 Ss 6d. A vote of thanks to these two gentlemen was carried unanimously. The balance sheet showed a balance to credit of £69 5s 4d the whole of which will be required towards paying for hose to the value of £100 expected to arrive shortly from England. The Brigade's annual dinner will be held at the Trafalgar Hotel on Thursday evening. At a recent football match played in Auckland two of the players met with severe accidents. Oue received a kick it is thought with spiked boots— which split up his left hand, aud the other was charged on the chiu by au opponent's " hard head." For some time he lay in a state of insensibility, and it was feared that an injury of the spine' had beeu sustained. Throughout, the game appears to, have been a remarkably pleasant one. In discribing it the Stir says : « It is impossible to couvey a truthful representation of the state of the ground, and of the personal appearance of the men at the close ', of the game. Their best friends would not have kuown them. Many with shirts torn off tlieir backs ; some with noses bleeding ; all more or less bedaubed with m«d. Holbeck almost at the first had a sluice in the pond near the goal, with several on the top of him. Many of the kicks raised a waterspout as well as the ball ; and through this mud and water the opposing teams kicked and rolled one another." The mau who laughs is the fortunate. individual who sleeps soundly, for whom' "good digestion waits on appetite," and

whose nerves never trouble him. Happy he or she who is thus trebly blessed. When refreshing slumbers fail to visit your pillow when your food tortures instead of benefiting you, when a sudden noise or the least excitement sets your nerves in a tremor, it is high time that you resorted to a remedy. You will certainly find it in Udolpho Wolfb's Schiedam Aromatic Schnapps. -Advt. A London telegram to the Star says that a searching enquiry is being instituted into the loss of the Avalanche. Mills' Iron Foundry at Wellington is about to be turned iuto a Joint Stock Company, with a capital of £40,000. Mr Rees, M.H.U., delivered a lecture ou a subject which he had previously discussed publicly at Napier, namely, « The identity of the British People with the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel." AMr West; who moved a vote of thanks, thought the theory of the lecturer was not nearly so improbable as that of Darwin. The Argus says that the Government have placed a sum of £2000 on the estimates for the construction of a bridge over the Elver Grey at Cobden. The Guardian verily believes that that section of the Opposition which is described as the "irreconcilables" contains "the only honest men iv the Assembly!" An immense area (says the Bruce Herald) of fine agricultural land has this season beeu sown down in wheat in the Mataura district. And further there will probably be more land uuder crop in the Molyneux district this year than there ever has been before, all the farmers seeming determined to make the most of their arable ground. - Regarding the readiness with which the 0 tago Education Board accepted the proposal for a Commission of Euquiry into matters concerning the Girls' High School, the Guardian desires " to prepare the public for intrigue." The plethora of labour existing iv Christchurch, Dunedin, and Auckland is not general in tho Colony. The Fielding correspondent of the Rangitikei Advocate says the contractors for 20,000 posts required by the Government will have to import labour. Auother contractor for some bush-felling went all round Halcombe and offered >s per day, or a share in the contract, but could obtain no men, aud finally had to throw the contract up. To those about to marry Aye offer Punch's advice— " Don't," in view of the following singular case which occurred recently at the District Court, Reefton; Two married men applied for orders of discharge the same day. " Cause of insolvency in each case, liabilities incurred by their respective spouses before marriage. The orders, which were unopposed, were granted. The "perils of Parliamentary life" are thus described by the Wellington correspondent of the Auckland Stat ■.— Considerable amusement was caused in the House yesterday when Mr J. E. Brown expatiated on the danger he had escaped from the blowing in of a large pane of plate glass from the skylight . over the chamber— a piece nearly four feet square. He said if he and Mr Barff had been in the House at the time, they would probably have been killed.— Mr Pyke (tolto voce): "What a pity."— Mr Barff followed suit, and amidst much laughter said he also had a right to speak on the subject as his life had been in danger. He pointed out that the panes were very insecurely fixed, aud another gale might detach others. The Speaker promised that they should be inspected by the Architect. _ On dit several members have insured their lives, and one or two who sit immediately under the skylight have made their wills. ltefeiring to the report of the case against Mr Hogg, agent for the Bank of New South Wales at Kumara, the West Coast Times says:— lt is a most singular case, and will ' doubtless be read with much interest, as the prisoner is well known in Hokitika, Ross, and Kumara, where he has resided for some time. During the whole triai the prisoner appeared to keeuly feel his positiou in the dock, and seldom lifted his eyes from the ground. He expressed no dispositiou to examine any of the witnesses, except during a portion of the evidence given by Mr Lanauze, when he prompted his solicitor to put one or two questions. The Crown prosecutes, and the prisoner will make his next appearance before the Chief Justice at the Supreme Court sittings here. Mr Hawkins intended making an application to the Magistrate to allow him out on bail until the trial, but after consulting with : the prisoner lip stated to the Court that he would not make the application he intended, The prisoner is quite a young man, apparently not more than twenty-three or twenty-four years of age. The San Francisco correspondent- of the Christchurch Press writes:— A day laborer n New Zealand is better off in erery respect than a mechanic in auy of the Eastern States. ille earns more money, worka shorter hours, is more respected, can live cheaper and better, enjoys life in a hundred way 3 which are shut to the American mechanic, and which a' day-laborer in America eau never -hope to see. He lives under just and impartially administered laws. His life aud earnings are safe from attack. He eau accumulate without fear of baying himself plundered by Savings Bank managers, and can buy a homestead with a better title thau can be acquired in mauy parts of this country, where so many forms of Land swindles are perpetrsied daily, and where the Homestead Law has been perverted from its original purpose. If the New Zealand laborer would just work a little harder, and spend a little less freely, it would be all the better for him; and if he could jnst manage to get six months' experience of American labor, and get safe back to Port Lyttelton, for example, without loss of money or health it would be' better still. He would appreciate his beneficent surroundings, and toil late aud early to place himself above the reach of waut and out of the way of "driving " employers' The Melbourne Argus says that a telegram has been received by Mr Frauklin R. Kendall, the Melbourne agent for the Peuinsular and Oriental Steam Navagation Company from Galle, informing him thatou the arrival of the R.M.S. China at that port on Aug 29 it was discovered that a box, coutainirig°sood sovereigns, was missing, and requesting that the R.M.S. Avoca, by which the lost treasure had been conveyed from Sydney to Melbourne should be searched. The Avoca arrived again there from Sydney, and by Mr Kendall's directions was at once overhauled by the officers; but the box was not found. The box of sovereigns was one of six which were forwarded by the Oriental Bank at Sydney per the Avoca on August 3rd for delivery and auction at Galle. The bullion-room, in which they were placed was in cbarge of Mr Roache, the second officer. On arrival at Melbourne on August 7th, they were all supposed to have been* transhipped on board the China, and Mr Koache was also transferred to that vessel that they might be still under his charge. It' is stated that the six boxes were taken out of the bullion-room and placed on the main deck, aud that they were conveyed together to the China, contrary to the usual practice of transferring one at a time. It is understood that the room in which the treasure is kept is not entered during the voyage from one port to another, and that the key remains in the possession of the officer appointed for that purpose. The matter has been placed i in the hands of the detectives here for inquiry, but Mr Kendall is of opinion that it is probably the missing box has been forwarded in mistake to London, or that it will yet turn up at Galle <

Of 23 miles of streets and 4*3 milea'of footpaths shown on the plan, Invercargill has 7'of the former and 17-i of the latter formed and metalled, or gravelled. General Grant can hardly be called a social success (says « Atlas," in the World} His silence is proverbial; but it is uot an eloquent silence; he simply gives one au lmpressiou that he says nothiug because he has nothing to say. His little speech to the Duke of Wellington is, however, worth recording Having sat silent through the dinner he suddenly found his tongue, aud asked hts host, " Duke, what was the largest number of men your father ever commanded?" The Duke thought for a moment, and then mentioned some figure whi h I do not remember. It is sufficient to say that it was considerably under half a million. The ex-president thought for a moment, and then remarked, sotto voce, « Theu I have beaten the Duke,' after which ho dropped once more into silence. A girl named Ellen Webster had a remarkable escape from death at the Camden-town Station of the North London Railway The girl was standiug on the platform^ when a man who was running along in order to secure a seat in an approaching train violentl v pushed her and threw her into the middle of the four-foot way. The officials on the platform called out to her not to move, and the girl, acting ou their advice, lay flat in the centre of the way, aud the train passed over her without injuring her iv the least. She was picked up in an unconscious condition but a medictal examination showed that beyond some slight injuries to the head by falling on the line she had escaped unhurt She was sent home two hours afterwards. ' -r*. A , llh f caso has Ju st been concluded in England which is in one at least of its details unique, and well worthy of record You may call a man a good many hard names without subjecting yourself to damages (the best way is to consult your lawyer beforehand, who will furnish you with a list) and even if you over indulge yourself in this luxury it is sometimes difficult for him to "prove publication." But the vicar of Sydling in Devonshire has been so rash as to express his opinion of a neighboring clergyman in this manner: he planted " Whitehead is a i scamp " in mustard and cress iv his garden! and this has been held to be publication. The alphabet of flowers is familiar to us, and is used to form a language of love, but it is certainly a novelty to call in the resources of the vegetable king-doni-except iv the case of cabbage stalks at an elcctiou— to express contemptuous views of our fellow creatures. A writer iv an Australian paper tells the following snake story;—" J have heard a good joke about a fat fussy, old gentleman who, unexpectedly visiting a friend, had a bed hastily made up for him iv a detached room, that had once been a kitchen. The time was summer. Having retired for the night, old Podgey was sitting on the side of the bed, about to put ou his nightshirt, when he heard a hiss and felt his leg bitten by something. He screamed out and ran into his friend's room, where, on examination, blood was seeu trickling from his calf A snake— dreadful thought— must have bitten him. Brandy was applied most bountifully, horse saddled and doctor fetched. By the time the medical attendant arrived, the patieut had applied himself so docilely to the fount of Heanessy as to have become, as was thought, in a state of coma. The doctor looked wise, the host frightened, the patient almost stupid. "Get me some old rag, quickly," said Bolus, and off ran the hostess to the impromptu bed-room to get some from a box beneath the the bed on which the patient should have slept. Almost instantly she returned, fairly screaming with daughter. A goose had made her nest beneath the bed, and old geutlemeti's naked legs not being usual thereabout, she had first hissed, then peeked at him; hence the blood, hence the laughter, amid whicli the doctor took his departure. .The following , amusing verses from a West Coast paper hit off the inconsistencies and contradictions of cable news in a very happy manner; — . On Monday morn the news arrived, There had beeu bloody work; But no one knew which lied the most— The Christian or the Turk. On Tuesday morning Russia claimed A victory for her side; Ou Wednesday, "from a Turkish source," The victory was denied. On Thursday each side swore it had , The other put" to rout, And Friday's news the fight confirmed Without the slightest doubt. On Saturday 'twas whispered round The whole affair was small, And Sunday's cable news declared There'd been no fight at all! '