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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 3, 3 January 1878, Page 2

In the full report published of Sir George Grey's reception at Auckland there appears the following regarding Dr Wallis -.—"He would say nothing now about rogues and trimmers in any Legislature iu general. Following the example of an old Scotch story, he would not utter his sentiments, but would whistle them. [The Doctor here struck up the first stave of « 0, was na' he a roguey— the piper of Dundee,' Jamidst great laughter.] "—Next we find the fascinating and accomplished Mr Tole speaking, and reported thus:— "He might say that the ladies had exercised some influence over the proceedings of Parliament; but he had been such a well-known party man that it was impossible to bring him within the influence of their fascinations. (Laughter.)" The " Loafer in the Street, in the Canterbuiy Press, says :— " I think to the usual run of— l was nearly saying— playgoers, oratorios are not very popular. I went ou Thursday with a bucolic friend of mine. From the first he did not care much for it ; he t»as candid enough to confess that the whole thing was out of his line, but when Signora Vita commenced ' With verdure clad,' he got up and left. He said he came for recreation not to be chaffed about the state of his paddocks. ' Verdure,' he groaned, ' there's no i verdure in the wholo country, and I don't believe ever will 'be again. A correspondent of the Whitehall lieview, referring to Dr Charles Ryan, sou of a resident of Melbourne, says :— " Among the most energetic fighters of Plevna is a young Irish-Australian surgeon, in the pay of the Turks, who invariably goes into the trenches with the men, and gives any Turk he catches straggling a beating with a heavy stick which he carries, ' That is my best doctor,' said Osnian Pasha the other day— rhe cures the men before they are wounded ;' aud patted Ryan on the back and bade him go in and prosper." The value of the wedding gifts of Miss d'Albe, niece of the ex-Empress Eugenie, is aaid to be i,6oQ,ooodols. One of these was a cameo ring which belonged to Charles V. Eleven necklaces of brilliants adorned the collection, The Duke d'Ossuna, whom she married, is said to be one of tfye wealthiest personages in the Peninsula. A telegram by the San Francisco mail says :— The Duke of Concaught ia with his; regiment in Ireland. Last week he was eutertaiued at a bauquet by the Mayor of Cork. A man named O'Sullivan, a member of the Fenian Organisation, was arrested on a charge of sending threatening letters to two persons connected with the Nationalist body who would not join him in a scheme to cut off the gas in the roonj in which the | Duke was entertained, so as suddenly to leave the party in darkness, to' tjreak the windows from the street, and when the panic was created, to enter the hall and do all the violence they could. The police knew of the plan, and took eyery precaution to prevent its execution. The manufacture of shot will shortly be added to the industries of Melbourne. We learn from the Age that a new shot tower, built for the purpose, is now nearly comI pieted.

The Melbourne correspondent of the Queenslander, writing under date the 27 th ult., says:— lt ig with feelings of genuine and deep pain that I record here the occurrence of the usual cases of embezzlement, and the usual suicides in consequence, as the sequel of the late races. Ours is a " fast " community, and the Yarraisariver of death. Men, young and old, run riot in gambling and debauchery, and then pluuge into the dark stream of Lethe to end all. Suicides are too common an occurrence to be particularised; and really the discovery of some fresh case of embezzlement is a regular part of the daily chronicle. And yet the religious movement here never was more vigorous, never more universal than it is at the present time. Life is a strange mixture of all contradictory facts, before one's very eyes. Notwithstanding the general prosperity of New South Wales, there must be a good deal of destitution in Sydney. The S. ML. Herald of the !3th inst, says:— The manager of the night refuge and soup kitchen in Kent-street reports:— During the month of November 4622 meals were given, and shelter; afforded in 2100 instances. Situations were obtained for 30 persons. Average number daily to dinner, 94; average number to sleep 71. Outdoor and indoor orders for the infirmary were obtained for the sick. Free passes by the railway to the country for many of the unemployed. Several going up the* country in search of work were supplied with rations. Many women with families were' assisted. All who came were helped in one way or other. The Melbourne Argus of the 12th instant gives the following particulars of a recent attempt to defraud the Customs department:—An ingenious attempt to defraud the Customs department was brought to light and frustrated yesterday morning. The authorities, it appears, received information recently which caused them to exercise special vigilance over persons arriving by steamer from Sydney. The s.s. Wotonga arrived early yesterday morning, and, on being cleared, the passengers landed at . Sandridge railway pier. Major Sprent, Mr Macfarlane, and several other Customs officers, were present on the pier, and scrutinised the passengers as they walked towards the railway station ; whilst Constable Keane was in attendance in case police assistance should be required. A tall gentleman, having the appearance of a commercial traveller, and carrying a box about.a foot square, was eventually recognised as the person looked for, and was called into the Customs office. His box was opened, and inside was found a plaster-of-paris bust of the Queen, which, on being expected, was fouud to contain a quantity of diamond rings and other jewellery, the value of which is estimated at about £600. The suspicion that a plan had been laid to defraud the Customs department was thus confirmed, and the property was seized. Suggestive comment upon the scale of prices of admission to theatres was made by Mr Lewis, of the Melbourne Academy of Music, on the recent occasion of a handsome present being made to him on the stage. jHe said :— Up to the time when he reduced ' the prices of admission he had lost £4000, but since the reduction both he and the landlord had nothing whereof to complain. They were aware that he had recently experienced much annoyance, but whatever happened, these prices would remain. At the opening of the theatre and during the ! races, when Mdle De Murska was singing, and admission to the dress circle was 7s 6d, there was a weekly loss of £1000. Last races, when the prices were less than half of the opening rates, there waa a very satisj factory profit. He could not but think that 1 the managers of the other theatres would reduce their prices also. Their houses were larger than his, and they could better aff ord it. The Argus of Monday last tells the following story :— A certain resident oi Wellington, who appears to have been gfven to pratical joking, played a trick yesterday, the result of which was rather seriou3, particularly to himself. Ais wife Mras lying asleep on a sofa when some friend suggested to her husband that it would be very funny if he gave her a galvanic shock. He proceeded to do so. Having taken down his battery he placed the positive and negative poles in her hands — one in each — and then turned the handle. The effect was surprising. The woman had previously been in a calm and, no doubt, innocent sleep, but the instant she felt the "shock" she gave a shriek that might almost have awakened the dead. She did not comprehend exactly what had happened at first, but when she did find out she naturally lost her temper ; in fact, she became furious, and gave chase to her husband with a hatchet. As the man was endeavoring to get out of the room, he put hi3 hand on the handle of the door to close it after him, and the woman made a blow at his hand with the hatchet. Unhappily the blow took effect, the result being that two of the man's fingers were completely severed from the hand. Medical assistance was procured, and the unfortunate practical joker is now propressing favorably. The police will probably proceed against the woman. There' is a peculiar quality (says the Australasian of Dec. 15) in the politics of New Zealand at the present time which differentiates them from those of any other Australasian colony, or indeed from those of almost any civilised community. In these colonies manifestations of faction, violence, and unscrupulousness are uufortunately by no means rare. But the politics of New Zealani, under the regime of Sir George Grey, besides these qualities appear to exhibit another peculiar to themselves, which we may mildly describe by a negative epithet as irrationality. The conduct of the Premier in regard to the Land Bill is not reconcilable with any sane motives or intentions. It has a character of sheer Bedlam, The facts as stated by the telegrams are that Sir George Grey, after taking up and carrying through both Houses the Land Bill, attempted to defeat it by inducing the Governor to veto the measure. That is to say, the Governor was asked to use his personal prerogative of the veto upon the advice of bis responsible Ministry to destroy a measure which the Ministry was ostensibly supporting. It is not necessary to point out how false a position the Governor would have occupied had he allowed himself to be thus entrapped. He would without any pretence of Imperial interests, have stood before the country negativing, on his own personal responsibility, a measure supported by his Ministry, and passed by the Legislature. We are now told that " Sir George Grey lost his temper when the Governor refused to veto the Land Bill on Sir George Grey's advice. He said he would go round the colony and induce everyone to denounce the Governor," Undeterred by this* threat, the Governor in,sisted not only on adhering to constitutional law and practice, but also on compelling his Ministry similarly to conform to their demands. When the Appropriation Bill was submitted to him, His Excellency refused his assent untill the Land Bill had been presented, and the Premier was reluctantly compelled to sign the recommendation for assent to the Laud Bill. In this course His Excellency was upholding the rights and j privileges of the Legislature against a Government which was unscrupulously endeavouring by his agency to make a soloninlypassed bill of the Legislature mere waste paper. The telegrams' inform us that people are generally shocked at the "unconstitutional" action of Sir George Grey. But really it is a serious question, whether this phrase is not altogether too feable for the occasion. Unless Ministerial responsibility is a mere obsolete figment such action should be designated a political crime, and dealt with accordingly.

The demolition of the wreck of the Forest has been accomplished. The work was done by Captain Nisby, R.N., and cost Trinity House £1000. Following the custom which has been established for more than half a ceutury in some churches in England, and which had been so successfully revived in Melbourne lately, a flower service was held in St. Luke's, Emerald Hill, recently. A flower-sermon was preached, interspersed with a flower hymn by the Sunday school children, who mustered in large numbers on the occasion.