DISTRICT PRIZE FIRING.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 69, 21 March 1878, Page 2

DISTRICT PRIZE FIRING.

The Cadets fired on Monday last, when there was a good muster at the butts. The ranges were 100, 200, aud 300 yds. Five shots at each range. Targets: at 100 yds, Gftx2ft, with 2ft centre, and Bin. bull's eye; at the other ranges, 6ft x 4ft, centre 4ft x 2ft, bull's eye 2ft x lft.

" No, ma'am," said a grocer to an applicant for Credit, " I Wouldn't ovnn trust my own feeliugs." Law ii an expensive thing (says the " Intelligent Vagraut.") A gentleman in Welington, on tbe advice of his lawyer, recent ly sued to recover £100, which he did not get. His lawyer sent him a bill for £150 costs, which taxing reduced to £95. He had to pay the defendant's lawyers as much more, and he never intends to sue anyone again. A good many patriots make a noise about the cost of the new Government Buildings, and the number of officials employed iv them. But as a good wholesome grievance for the patriot class I think the Government Buildings in Blenheim beat ours hollow. In the capital of what was once the province of Marlborough the new Government Buildings cost exactly £15,000, and they are at present occupied during the daytime by 15 officials £1000 an official is not a bad proportion. — Inteligent Vagrant. The Dunedin Age makes the following statement in its issue of the Bth instant in reference to the constabulary of the city : — The Dunedin constabulary used to be a cheerful, active, vigilant body. Now they are a dreary, melancholy lot. Ever since their pay was reduced from 8s to 7s per day in July, 1877, such a thing as a smile has uot been observed on the features of a policeman. Many of the old efficient officers have followed the footsteps of Colonel Moule, and retired from a profession iv which there is no longer any hope of promotion, nor the slightest reward held out for good conduct and usefulness. They have been succeeded by a number of doleful, dejected-looking castaways from Wellington, who apparently have accepted the police service in order to escape being arrested for vagrancy. There is a sad expression about their eyes, their upper lip is depressed, and they walk their beats with the sullen, despairing look of condemned felons." The following are portions of the speech delivered by Mr Macandrew at the recent banquet in Dunedin. We extract from the Herald's report : — " My colleagues and myself have been called upon to administer, and to carry into practical effect, a new system of government, which many of us at least did our utmost io prevent coming into operation. That, I take it, is a somewhat peculiar situation of affairs. Gentlemen, I feel perfectly convinced that, had the people of New Zer--1 and being fully alive to their own interest, they would never have parted with one iota of the local self-governmeut which they possessed — [applause] — and of rights and privileges which have beeu in fact squeezed, out of the people of Otago. in the face of and in spite of the almost unanimous desire of the whole body of people. However, I suppose it is no use now our crying over spilt milk, and probably, iv the meantime, we had better just make the most of the situation which has been forced upon us. I confess that I am not without tope, gentlemen, that there is now a public opinion beiug engendered throughout New Zealand, which I trust may yet compel the Parliament to restore to the people those privileges of which they have been deprived, and to restore those provincial institutions of which they had been deprived —not, probably, exactly as they were, but institutions greatly improved and more adapted to the altered circumstances of the country. I confess that, for my own part, if anyone had told me eight months ago, when I addressed you on a similar occasion, that I should have been now a Minister of the Crown I should ha/c thought him fit for a straight jacket. For my part, gentlemen, nothing but the most absolute force of circumstances has raised me into that position, and I shall not be sorry if the next revolution of the political wheel sends me back to my cabbage gardeu. But however in the meantime, so long as I occupy the position, I am determined to do that, not in a provincial spirit, but in a colonial spirit."

There is some very plain speaking about public men in America from the pulpits of iSew York and Brooklyn. The following ia from the report of a sermon delivered in the latter city by the famous Dr. Talmage, as given in the New York World :— " We find one of the most notorious of villains nominated in New York to the office of State senator — John Morrissy ! the reformer ! Wonder if Herod the Great had better not open an infant school ! John Morrissey, who had been indicted eighteen times for* crime ! I protest, and it is high time for the pulpits to speak out against this man. Where are the pulpits of New York and Brooklyn ? No oue in tlie United States does more to injure young men that that public villain, John Morrissy ! In his gambling hall, every hour, he is covered with the blood of his victims. I have intitr.a'ed a wish that he might be washed off the face of the earth, but I would rather wish that he never had been born. I take a Fulton ferryboat, and as I pass to the City-hall I am told that the political ring is broken but find i that other glorious reformer, Patrick Shannon. I call on people to shut up their places of business aud fight against this outrage. Republicans and Democrats aro shouting themselves hoarse in advocating John Morrissey. If this is democratic doctrine, may the wrath of God split it to atoms— this rinsing of the sewers which the slums of New York are trying the spew into the Senate. Ido not Speak aS— StrnngLv -no- I lulyut. I waui to be prude'it. In the name of the American Church, in the name of the men 0* the United States, in the name of the God of good, I denounce this villain, John Morrissey." ln our reports of cricket (says „ Needle Gun " )it is bad enough to he assailed by sporting slang, but simply intolerable to be offended by personalities. We are gradually becoming accustomed to hear cricketers stigmatised as " knights of the willow," aud tolea-ujhow so-and-so " negotiated " an over as if he were a horse " negotiating " a hurdle (though why either do either is not quite obvious), but the following narration of au entirely private personal concern is too barefaced to be allowed to pass without censure; " M— snicked the next for a single, and was immediately followed by a maiden." The picture of an able-bodied cricketer being thus admiringly pursued by an ecstatic female may, to the cynical mind" of a reporter, appear a fittingg topic for his omnivorous record, hut to a generous reader this jocular style of narratiou smacks of undue familiarity. Referring to the late Captain Read, who died a few days ago at Poverty Bay, the N, Z. Times says: — "Captain Read was one of the earliest settlers on the East Coast, and for many yeats carried on a successful trade with the M-ioris. He also bought a considerable quantity of land, aud by trading, and the rise iv the value of his land by the success of the Poverty Bay settlement, he amassed a very considerable fortune. He remained at Gisborne during the war. He took from Auckland, at various times, some hundreds of immigrants, and settled them on | lauds on deferred payments, thus rapidly advancing the prosperity of the district. Indeed, Gisborne and the entire district of Poverty Bay, owed much to Captaiu Read, as ho f rely assisted every man who would remain and work in the place. At the last geueral election Captaiu Read stood for the East Coast district, but was unseated on petition. His property, which is considerable, will, we believe, be iuherited by his wife and nephews, the sons of his late step-brother. We may mention that tlie family of Captain Read's step-brother made a remarkable escape at the time wheu Tc Kooti attacked Matawhero, near Gisborne. The mother carried the youngest child, only a few months old, and led the other young children. They could see the houses of the settlement in flames, and hear the yells of the savages, aud if they naci ueeu uiooovoroa thoy would coi-tainly all have been slaughtered." Prom other sources we learn that the value of the deceased's property is estimated at about £ 100,000. On the occasion of the Queen's recent visit to the Premier at High Wycombe the chair -manufacturing trade, which is the staple industry of the town, erected in token of welcome a triumphal arch about 40 feet in height, composed entirely of chairs of every descriptiou, from the massive carved high -backed arm chair to the common " Windsor," in which, be it observed, Wycombe enjoys almost a monopoly of production. The chairmakers' trophy must, from its novel character, have p *oved somewhat of a surprise to Her Majesty. We clip the following from the Post of Thursday: — It is stated that the Government have directed the Agent-General, Sir Julius Yogel, to make large reductions in his department, and that, should he resigu in consequence of such instructions, his place v/ill be fitted by Mr Reader Wood. Past experience has shown that Sir Julius Yogel does not care a single straw for any instructions which he may receive inculcating the excercise of^economy, aud that he treats such with supreme contempt. The Atkinson Governmeet tried to get Sir Julius to retrenah, but Sir Julius, while pretending to so by reorgonising his office, actually effected no material saving, aud only dismissed oue, or at most two, junior clerks. Sir Julius is the last mau in the world to carry out a scheme of retrenchment. He possesses neither the inclination nor the ability to retrench. Major Atkinson therefore gave up the effort to induce him to do so as a hopeloss business, and we suppose Colonel Whitmore has taken the task in hand. We have no great confidence in his success. Sir Julius won't retrench, and, very probably, won't resign. If he takes up this position the best thing the Government can do is to recall him. We do not know what sort of Agent-General Mr Reader Wood might make, but at all events he would conduot the Department with a greater degree of economy iv the future than has been' observed in the past. The Bedfordshire Times says that in a recent case Vice Chancellor Malms decided that a holder of shares in a limited liability company has an absolute right to transfer his shares to whom he pleases, aud that the directors have no right whatever to inquire into the object of such transfer.

Artillery Cadets. Namo 100 yds 200 yds 300 yds Tl. Gunner Kicketts 1C 17 8 41 Eleven others fired. City Cadets. Names lOoyda 200yda 300 yds Tl. Cadet Gray ... 7 13 9 29 Cadet Hayues ... 14 9 2 25 Fourteen others fired. College Cadets N"amc3 100 yds 200 yds 300 yds TJ. Cudet J. Boddington 12 13 12 37 Cadet I-I. Boddington 10 6 13 29 Eighteen others fired.