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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 50, 27 February 1878, Page 2

A witty tailor in Wellington, turning to account Mr Bright's freethought lectures, publishes the following advertisement under the head " Freethinking aud Tailoring " :— Every mau is a, freethinker. His thoughts will wander in all directions, according to the impressions made on his mind. I once thought my cousin Bob a great druukard and a very bad fellow— now I think him a very good and sober mau. I once thought Sir G-. Grey (from what I read of him at home and here) was a very bad man— Now, after seeing and hearing him talk and promise, I am begining to think him a very good man. When I see a man in a suit of ugly clothes, I think him a very clumsylooking fellow. When I see him dressed in one of ' suits, I think him a smart fellow. So you see lam a freethinker. Some people who assume to be only freethinkers, tell us that after, we have done our toil here we shall make food for worms and cattle, and that we shall continue the life of a tree and a blade of grass. The Christians think we shall lire as rational beings in Paradise for ever. They are freethinkers too. I think I am the best tailor iv the colony, because I can make the best suit for the least money. William Carr, a boy of 12 years of age, has been remanded by the migistratesat Brighton (England) in consequence of his having attempted to hang himself. The little fellow showed himself very violent some time before the attempt. He would scarcely get out of bad iv the morning, and when at last he did rise he skulked about, ref using to dress himself or eat his breakfast. His violence compelled his mother to leave the room, and on returning soon afterwards she found the boy hanging aud nearly dead. She cut him down, but he next made tAvo attempts to cut his throat, and when remonstrated with threw the cat ou the fire and a kettle of boiling water at bis mother. The following remarks from the N. Z. Times on the election of Mr. Barton for the City of Wellington are well worth consideration: — We cannot believe that the electors who voted for Mr. Barton realised the result of their action. They have declared that Mr. Barton is their representative ; they have so far as in them lies endorsed his conduct iv Court, and encouraged him to defy the Judges of the country. They have told the Judges and the country that the best passport to their esteem and confidence is condemnation by the Supreme Court, aud that* one of the easiest ways to obtaiu their suffrages is to seek a noisy notoriety by professional misconduct. Hitherto, the boast of the country has been that overy man, however humble his origin, could raise himself to the highest offices of the State by showing that he possessed the character and ability necessary for the proper fulfilment of the duties. But we have changed all this ; we do not even want to know anything about the character or the ability of a candidate. We do not ask whether his interests are bound up with ours ; whence he came a year ago, or where he may be going a year hence! We hear that the poor fellow is in gaol ; we think it is very hard, and that therefore he is qualified to represent us. Let it go forth to all the youths of New Zealand that to ensure success in a public career it is not necessary to develope any of the higher qualities wbich hare been looked for by some

foolish constituencies ; let the ambitious young man cultivate impudence, contempt of authority, and so much learning as will enable him to climb up to a conspicuous stage for the exhibition of these virtues ; and then if he is lucky enough so for to impede public business and to outrage decency as to earn condign punishment, his position is made. It is a sad prospect. We regret that any member of the legal profession in New Zealand should have so conducted himself as to earn the condemnation of thoughtful men throughout the couutry. In hii private relations Mr. Barton may be a most estimable man. We know nothing of him except as he appears iv public, and it is as a public man that he must be judged. The remarks which we have made to-day leave altogether out of the question the relative merits of the other candidates. Of these we have spoken decidedly on other occasions But there are considerations which outweigh those of party, and which are more serious than any question between the political views of this man or that man on the politics of the day. The Post reports the following accident : —A boy aged nine years, the son of Mr Norman Nash, of Foxton, met with his death on Tuesday under peculiar and painful circumstances. The lad was leading his father's horse, when something frightened the animal, and it started off. The tether-rope caught round the poor boy's legs, and he was dragged round the paddock, through a fence, and over logs and stumps for some distance. When picked up he was quite dead. His neck was broken, one foot was torn from the leg, and his shouider was severely bruised and crushed. At an inquest held on Wednesday a verdict of accidental death was returned. Dr Lemon (says the Post) made some interesting experiments with the telephone at Lyell Bay to-day. By uuiting the four wires a total length of 200 miles was obtained. Conversation was carried on easily at that distance, and the duet *** What are the wild waves saying ? " was sung with one performer at each end of the wire, practically 200 miles apart, the sounds thus passing twice under the sea before reaching the respective listeners. One evening last week, just before a special train arrived at Ashburton, a man was found helplessly drunk and asleep on the Southern line of railway, with his head on the rails. He was discovered by the stationguard, and was immediately handed over to the police, who took care of him for tho night. A few minutes later and he must have been decapitated by the train.