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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 307, 28 December 1877, Page 2

A Wellington telegram recently stated that the City Council had made a clean sweep of its employes. New applications having been invited, the following have been received:—For Town Clerk, 9 applications* Inspector of Nuisances, 11 ; Collector, U. A Scotch editor illustrates the prevailing extravagance of the present day by calling attention to the costly perambulators now in use; while, when he was a baby, they hauled him round by the hair of his head.

, While the Wellington was lying off Taranaki on her way up to Auckland last week an accident occurred, which for a time placed in considerable jeopardy the occupants of a surf boat which had left the steamer for the shore. The Hon. Mr Sbeehan was pressed to go on shore, and while the boat in which he ami his private secretary, Mr Baker, and a number of others were seated, was crossing the breakers, the towing rope suddenly snapped, and the boat lay helpless aud in considerable danger. Fortunately, a number of people were on shore, and several of them rushed into the breakers, seized the end o$ the rope, and pulled it tight. But for this, the boat, which had gone broadside to the surf, would inevitably have been swamped. By the prompt action of the people on shore, the men were enabled to draw their boat outside the line of the breakers to the buoy, where she lay for an hour and a quarter, shipping seas so frequently that they were obliged to continue incessautly baling. Thus the boat lay till the rope was spliced, and till, by the change of the tide, the sea had fallen sufficiently to allow them again to seek the shore. The snrf was a good deal higher than it usually is, as there was a smart breeze and a ground swell.

Some of the straw-burning steam-engines, manufactured by Messrs Ransome, Sims, and Head, of England, have been introduced to Victoria. Recently one of these was publicly tried, with perfect success. The fire-box is made large as compared with those intended to use only coal, but this does Dot prevent coal or wood being burned in the straw-coa-suuiing engines. It is found that one of these engines, driving a threshing machine and elevator, consumes about scwt of straw for every 100 bushels of grain threshed, the quautity of oaten straw being somewhat more. It is considered that 3Jlbs of oaten straw, or 2£Lbs of wheaten straw, is equal in heating power to lib of coal. It is believed that from one-tenth to one-eighth of the whole crop of straw will be burnt in using these engines.

A curious point has recently been decided . r oudou. Thomas Phillips and llobert m -„ c t ar ged with being drunk and Cable wei* thoroughfare. They incapable ma t _ - - * ving dowa on bottom, and Phillips haying " -i^trafce quite incapable of driFing. The Ma fe .. fined Phillips, but discharged Cable, observing that he could not fine a man who was simply drunk in his vehicle. It would be monstrous if a gentleman going home from dinner in his carriage were to be taken OUt and charged because he had drunk too much wiae.

Ifcis rumored (says the Auckland Star) that Colonel Reader is to be appointed Under - Secretary for Defence. Probably a good many inquisitive people in Wellington and elsewhere will be curious to learn what services Colonel Reader has rendered to the colony to deserve, or what qualifications he possesses to fit him for this promotion. He has for some time past drawn a handsome salary for doing practically nothing at all, except lounge at the Club; and on more than one occasion has kept the Volunteers of Wellington waiting half-an hour after the time he had himself fixed to inspect them.

" Mercury," in Town Talk, says :— A grand story is told of an iutending passenger who did not come out in the Ofcaki. There was a man who dwelt in a manufacturing town in England. He was rather a bad egg, but through his wife was well connected. Efforts to reform him had been made without success. Despairing of improvement, his wife's relations suggested his emigration to New Zealand. They would provide a fine outfit for himself and family, pay the passage, &c, and let something be awaiting them in New Zealand, anything, only go I They would give him excellent certificates, too, that would tell tremendously in the emigrant's favor in the new couutry. He consented, and an array of magnificent certificates were prepared, ana duly aigaed by several very pofcentiai persons. These and the outfit, &c, were duly handed over, and the documentary evidence to the great ability and high character of the mauvais sujet, perfectly astonished himself. " Well," he said, " the ship starts in a few days, and I'll see you again before I go." A day or two afterwards his certificating relations came to say good-bye. " Ah," said the quasiemigrant, " I've changed my mind. I never knew that I had such a splendid character and such fine abilities. It would be a great pity to waste such excellence at the antipodes, so I've resolved to stay here and employ my talents at home." He staid, and on the strength of these certificates (not intended for home consumption but for exportation), he applied for and obtained a highclass appointment, after having calmly referred the persons to the gentlemen who granted such glowing testimonials. These latter were obliged to " brazen it out," and stick to their stories as limpet-like as if they had been forged telegrams, and hence they repeated in letters what they had previously affirmed in their bogus certificates I need not be mealy-mouthed about the locality whence these certificates proceeded. It was Manchester ; and if I knew the names of the certificate granters, I'd publish them too. It cannot fail to provide a pleasant contemplation that not only are very spurious goods provided for exportation to the colonies but the moral rubbish is tried to be shot here, with a false label attached.

In the course of my inspection this week of the Rirer Wear (writea Frank Bucklaud in Land and Water) I met an old piscatorial friend, hailing from Durham. I asked him how the library was getting on that old Dr Roufch, President of Magdalen College, of Oxford, left to the University of Durham. I told him that I recollected, when at Oxford, seeing the inscription Ob. setat C. (died aged 100 years) on Dr Routh's coffin. My father had introduced me as a lad to Dr Routh in order that I might see the old doctor wearing bis wig. Re wag the last Don in Oxford who wore a wig, and he always sat in his library at Magdalen College wearing his college cap and doctor's robes and wig. The gown, I recollect, looked as old as its master. He used to sit all day near the window, and I often went by and looked at him with veneration. Dr Routh had seen an old woman who had seen Charles 11. walk in "the park" at Oxford with his spaniel dogs. King Charles died in 1685, so that there are only two people between myself and King Char'es' spaniels 187 years ago. A thunderstorm coming on, we retreated to a small public-house for shelter, and during the storm we made the following calculation :— Mr friend Mr H told me that when ten years old he used to sit on his grandmother's knee, and she told him that when she was a girl, aged eleven, and residing in a farm-house in the western part of the County of Durham, she assisted her mother in dealing out cheeses, bread, and beer, and other refreshment for the Scottish rebels when on their retreat from the battle of Derby in 1745, and that they thanked her in Gaelic on their knees when leaving. Mr H has now a little daughter, aged four in 1872 so that if the girl lives to be 77 years of age, she will be able to ;say, in 1945, that her great grandmother fed the Scotsmen on their retreat from Derby 200 years ago; so that we see it requires only three people to hand on a story for 200 years.

The parliamentary caucus nuisance has, it seems, spread to the constituencies. According to a telegram in the Herald of this morning, the Gazette contains a proclamation that a caucus of the colony shall be taken on the 4th March next. We wonder where it is to be held, who will pay the travelling expenses, and whether women will be permitted to attend. A caucus on such a tremendous scale, and with the ladies present too, would make a grand sensation. There are some members of Parliament who are good at talking but they would perhaps find their match among the ladies. Perhaps oar contemporary means " census. " — Star.

ThG ladies of New South Wales, says " Maemon » in the Sydney Mail, wit!, like their sisters of elsewhere, hare to form a compact amongst themselves and assert their rights, if the unchivalrous conduct of their consorts and protectors such as has come under my observation lately is likely to grow into a custom. I refer to the proceedings at the opening of two public schools within a mile or two of the city. After the usual amouut of declamation against ignorance, vulgarity, aud Gothicism, the gentlemen adjourned to banquet, leaving the ladies who had graced the previous ceremony with their presence to bask in the sunshine, or cool themselves with the falling rain. It must be far from pleasant to the womankind,who are thus left out in the open air, to have to sifc and listen to the distant clatter of plates and knives and forks, &c, occasionally catching a few words from some postprandial orator, or the still more discordant and discomforting chorus from their husbands who intone their intention of not going home till morning. Cannot these public school opening ceremonies be conducted with more of the manner which education is said to impart ?

The Solicitor* s Journal learn that matters are rather looking up in the legal world of Utah, and that the lawyers of that State are congratulating thetnselres on their good fortune in living at the period in the history of the world when the will of the late Mr Brigharn Young came into operation. It appears that in addition to numerous questions arising out of what the American journals cautiously describe as " the peculiar relationshiplexisting between the decedent and the women and their offspring who are called his wives and children," there is a prospect of a lively and leritheucd litigation upon the question whether the late prophet was beneficially entitled to a largo part of the real estate of which he died possessed. It is alleged that this was acquired by him in incapacity of head of the Morniati Church, and was subject to a trust for that Church ; but the devisees of the deceased prophet repudiate any '■ claim to hold the land benefi^V" J ""^S tne "Pening of these conficially. Peu. -npears to be somewhat troversies attention .. c V . consideration o£ unnecessarily directed to u. m p BrieUm the difficult question of who is m k% ' Young'3 heir-at-law.

The editor of an Ohio paper publishes the names of subscribers who pay promptly under the head of "Legion oi Uo'nor." By way of an example to contractors, the Vincent County Council confiscated over £300 which would have been due to a contracting firm, the work not having been executed according to specification. The surveyor advised a reduction of £125 only. A West Coast paper sorrowfully refers to the fact that for several years past Westland has not been gladdened with a visit from a member of the Ministry. Our contemporary says if one of the European members cannot be spared, a visit by the Hon. Hoani Nahe, the Maori member, would be better than no visit at all, in fact, they would rather prefer Hoani, if he can make it convenient to look down their way. > A natural curiosity has been discovered in Wasco County, Oregon, United States. It is nothing less than several springs of mud which contain a very large per centage of silver in a free state. Samples of it have been analysed and found to contain from .£1 to £460 worth of silver per ton of mud. The weather has some effect upon the flow of the mud and the riches of the silver. Warm, sultry weather has been found to be the best. Professor Hanks, in his report on the discovery, says :— " Sometimes, in one of the larger gprioga, when the weather is cold, the mud will be of a yellow color, showing no silver, but when the day is warm, the mud is blackish-blue, at least in places, and is rich in silver. Thep seem to work more actively on a warm afternoon. Some of them contain a great deal of acid, the boues of animals that fall into them being dissolved in a few months. There are between 100 and 200 quartz leads discovered running in two directions, close to the springs. The silver is in the state of chloride, and is seen under the microscope both amorphous and in crystals." Ifcia supposed that a thorough study of this substance and a solid, blackish substance found in Utah, containing silver in the same condition, may throw valuable light upon the formation of metalliferous veins.