Untitled

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 183, 31 July 1878, Page 2

A fire broke out in Auckland on Monday morning iu an empty house belouging to Mr L. C. Kiug, which was totally destroyed. It was insured in the Standard'onice for £200, and had been purchased three months pre 1 * viously for £330. The telegram conveying the information ends with the old old story, " Nothing as to the origin of the fire was' discovered." Some people (says the Pas') thought Dr Buller gave too long a figure for the Supreme Court House and site— £153 a foot. The doctor, however, was all right enough. He was recently offered a bonus of £2000 on his purchase, aud refused it. Opinions differ. The following are extracts from letters iu Dunedin journal commenting on the Governor's speech. The Times (Ministerial puper) says that " rarely if ever, has any Governor's speech erabraced so many important public questions or questions dealing in a radical way with so many departments of public administration If these, or a major part of the questions, be discussed and solved during the present session of Parliament, the session of 1878 may well be called a reform session." The Star (an Opposition paper) characterises the speech as a weak, sloppy production, aud says that if it fairly presages the Ministerial policy, it does not presage long continuance of office." The Htrald thinks the speech a skilful composition, very different from the collection of generalities which, usually does duty on such occasions. There isja great parade of business cleverly marshalled, which a ministerialist might point to us sufficient, both in quantity and quality, to satisfy any reasonable person, and if all allusions to the rights of nian be conspicuous by their absence, justice and equity to everybody flourishes like a green bay tree, and reveals the tending of a familiar hand. The Herald regrets that they do not undertake to amend the Education Act, and notes the absence of any reference to much ueeded alterations iu the Counties Act. A London telegram to the Post, dated July, 28th, says :— The Earl of Beaconsfield has been entertained at a magnificent banquet by the Conservative members of the House of Lords aud tbe House of Commons. The Earl of Beaconsfield made a speech reviewing the chief events of his public life, and expressed a hope that peace on a new and broad foundation had been secured for civilised Europe. The Wangauui Chronicle says :—" An unfortunate quadruped was sacrificed on Tues- ! day night through want of a protecting fence along the Eoxton railway line. A fine bullock having got on the rails was left a mangled, lifeless mas3. One of the trucks was, by the contact, thrown off the line, but was speedily unhooked and left behind." The Christchurch Globe of the 23rd instant says :— " Thomas Power, the driver of the Hokitika coach, gives a very graphic description of 'the dinlculties| which beset travellers from the West Coast owing to the recent heavy fall of snow and the severe weather experienced on the ranges lately. So far as his post as driver of the coach is concerned, that portion of his duty has been a sinecure lately, as the coach ha3 been unable to come through for the past few weeks. The mails and passengers have had to be packed over, in many cases the latter undergoing great hardships, and some narrow escapes from frostbites have occurred. The track through the ranges has been through a wall of snow, a narrow road having been cut through it, and the snow being some distance above the horses. The lakes present a rery pretty appearance, being entirely frozen over, and some very good skating has been obtained on them. Last week in coming over, Mr Power found a man lying on the snow who had been out all night, and who had a very narrow escape of his life. So far gone was he that he had to be strapped on to the pack horse and brought to the Cass, where he was rubbed with snow, and other means adopted to restore the circulation. Some idea may be formed of the cold at the Cass when it is mentioned that at the hotel all the bottled beer was frozen, and to enable the landlord- to procure supplies from I the casks of draught beer, a pan of live coals ! was placed under the tap. At last even this expedient failed, as the beer became frozen in the casks. Yesterday the milder weather had the effect of melting the snow somewhat, and it is anticipated that the coach will be able to get through a portion of the way next trip." A digger once called upon a leading barrister in Dunedin, and consulted him at great length about a dispute which he had with the owner of a neighboring claim. He wanted everything done instanter, and waited whilst the authorities were searched, letters written, and so forth. At last when all was put in train to his contentment, he said to the legal madnate, "Now, then, mate, wot'* to pay ? " "My cierk tells me the the fee and costs come to two guineas," the lawyer blandly replied, referring to a slip of paper " That be jiggered 1" cried the astonished digger. "No you don't, my covey. I'll give yer three 'arf-crowns, if you like. If you don't like, you can do the other thing." With that he threw the silver on the table and made for the door, and it was only with the greatest difficulty that the barrister, assisted by all the clerks, managed to detain him till the claim was satisfied. Colonel Gordon and his party are to explore the Albert Nyanza and the rivers flowing into it. They will conduct their «x---plorations in four steel steamboats of small draught

The Bagot trial (a divorce case which was recently before the Court in Dublin) cost M6OMQ, of which £7000 was for medical evidence 1 . . There k a yonfig hi? in Taranaki who possesses a very livefy imagination". On Kattifdrty week last there was a slight shocft of earthquake' feli at New Plymouth during the night. This charming 1 young lady was in bed, aud there issued from her room a series of terrific screams. — " Oh ! Oh'" she cried, " There's a man under my bed, and he is shaking me about dreadfully." A tilaideil atiftfc M8 terribly, shocked, but ultimately; pfl search being made, no man e'b'uiillie fbtiad,- and the hysterical young Creature w#s\ sStiS&etf thftt the vibration of her bed was due to the earthquake, and not to the profane intrusion of a horrible m&a intp her chamber. In a review qf "Masters in English Theollogy." and " Classic Preachers of tjhe English Church," the Athentkum thus sneaks of Canon Earrar :— " The most provo2?ng bi td\ the recently-delivered theological lecture?? fey perhaps, Cannon Farrar's. Of course, therfe is some smartness and brilliancy in his effusions. Canon Earrar has all the qualifications necessary for a first-rate newspaper correspondent ; but he quite mistook his avocation when he ventured to dabble in theology. He has yet to learn that there are some walks of literature where a little knowledge will not go a long way. His picturesqueness, his gaudy word-painting, his hysterical shrieks against the * hard, exacting jedlotisy of the age ? ' his querulous protestations that ' the Church of the present day cafl hardly coant five profoundlylearned men,' are surely out of place in a lecttfre ad clertim-autiti as these lectures were presumedly intended to foj. With the statements themselves we are not for the foment, concerned. Criticism should be chary of superlatives, and ought to dfapscse with heroics." t The Kurds have plundered ninety Armenian villages. The Ottoman authorities refuse relief, and demand double taxes from the impoverished inhabitants. An-ong the papers and sketches which George Cruikshank left are the original designs for the famous illustrations to"Oliver Twist,"