The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 1878.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 184, 1 August 1878, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 1878.

From the numerous enquiries that have been made with reference to " delayed telegrams " we are led to believe that the uewly inaugurated system is but imperfectly understood, and that some information with regard to it may prove useful. The regulations under which it has been brought into operation provide that a message of ten words may be put in at any office for transmission to any other office for the sum of 7d. In the evening or at any time when the wires are unemployed it will be forwarded and posted to the person to whom it is sent. For instance, supposing some one iv Nelson to be desirous to-day of communicating with a resident iv Weatport. He puts in his message marked " delayed " at the office here In the evening it is despatched to Westport and posted, and the person to whom it is addressed will receive it to-morrow morniug. He may reply in the same manner and his answer' will be delivered here on Saturday morning, the original message and the reply having cost only Is 2d. For every word over ten the charge is a halfpenny, so" that a message of fifty words, into which one who is accustomed to the use of the telegraph can compress a great deal, may be sent at the trifling cost of 2s 3d. As a great number of the messages hitherto sent in the ordinary way would easily bear the small delay, the new system is likely to be largely used, and while making telegraphic correspondence much cheaper to those who are in no immediate hurry for their messages to be delivered, it will ease the wires considerably during the busy hours of the day, and thus facilitate the expeditious transmission of those telegrams which required to be delivered quickly. The weather during the last few days has been such as the proverbial "oldest inhabitant " does not remember to have occurred within his experience of Nelson winters. Last night about six o'clock it surpassed all its previous efforts (successful as tbey have been) to be disagreeable, and treated us to an outburst of its fury to which we are totally unaccustomed in these parts. [ A tremendous gust of wind heralded the ap-

proach of the storm-king; whose arrival ppn^ttls .was announced By . a . SHqwer of hailstones of uhuslialiy ifir'ge sifte, which 1 in their turn gave place to the feathery snowflafces which are so seldom seen on the flats. FUrtljci- up the country jlie snow fell more plentifully;, and fit Fqilull ' the atmosphere was so thick with it that nothing was to be seen at thirty yards distance. This morning the hills on the Motueka side were seen to he white-coated almost down to the level of the sea. We fear that bad accounts will be received from .the, sheep runs on the higher grounds; and that the loss of lambs will prove to lie very great. The following are the items by which the Customs receipts for July are made up: Spirits, £1051 1 6s 2d; Cigars, £G 12s; Tobacco, £469 8s; Wine, £111 6s 8d; Ale and Beer, £34 10s Id; Tea, £434 5s 9d; Coffee, &c , £73 lOs 6d; Sugar, £293; Goods by weight, £231 1 6s 8d; Ad valorem, £820 8s 4d; Other duties, £38 18s 6d. The Marionettes, drew a Crowded house last, night and delighted their, numerous audience by their cleverly contrived antics, and funny sayings and doings. To-night the exhibition will be on view for the last time as the Company leaves for Auckland in the Wanaka to-morrow. An amusing account of the alleged latest discovery of the uses to which electricity may be applied will be found ou the fourth page of to day's issue. Among the papers laid before Parliament is a correspondence between Mr" Macandrew and the Agent-General. With reference to the selection of immigrants to be forwarded to the colony the former makes a very practical and useful suggestion. In commentIng upon the item of paid to agents as head money for emigrants he writes:— " It appears to me that this expenditure Is of .i nntiirb somewhat unsatisfactory and undesirable. I may possibly be mistaken, but it does not seem to me, as regards quality, to he calculated to pro luce the best class of emigrants, whatever it may be as to quantity. Jf it is deemed necessary to resort to extraordinary means for obtaining suitable emigrants, I am iuclined to think that adviiniaoe mi^ht be taken of the services of those who, having acquired a competency, have gone Home to visit their friends. There are many such who, throughout their jiative districts, would in themselves present, as it were, "a living epistle," setting forth (he advantages which have resulted from emigrating to New Zea land, and who; 1 have no doubt, would be glad to make known the attractions of their adopted country at a cost to the colony much less than the amount of head money now in question, and with far greater results. There would be the further advantage, in making use of the kind of agency new suggested, that the agents wouldtosome extent feei themselves responsible to their fellow-colonists for the quality of the emigrants recommended by thorn. I am fully persuaded that this is the true kind of agency to be adopted for the future. There are notj a a few in the mother country whose services might be had, and every day their number is increasing." The Auckland Star which bus always been a staunch supporter of the present Government says that Ministers, "although young in office, are adroit at finding pretexts for errors of omission and commission. But they will find it difficult to excuse themselves for not circulating before the meeting of Parliament the important measures that are fco be brough". forward." The following Sydney telegrams appear in the Post :— A lady claims to be the owner of the great picture, pronounced to be an authentic work of Titian and valued at 5000 guineas, which was found among some broker's rubbish here some time ago. She states that the picture was stolen from her twelve years ago —The European gold miners at Cooktown are organising themselves, with the avowed object of driving away the Chinese from the new rush. The Taranalti Hetall of the 24th instant says :— Captain Edwin's forecasts have been remarkably accurate during the last three or four months. Day after day have we published his warnings, and day after day have these predictions been verified. We do not suppose that for many years such a severe winter has been experienced in New Zealand as the present one. Not only has the rain been more continuous, but the weather has been far colder than on any previous winter for at least many years past. A Happy Retort.— A witty French lady, who was an adopted member of a famous military corps, when a cigar was lighted in her presence with the remark, " I suppose they smoke in your regiment ?" said, " Yes, but not in my company." The Brisbane Courier says :— From the New Guinea news to hand per the Sappho it would appear that the position of affairs with regard to the exploring party has not been altered since the news received from them by the cutter Prospect last month. We then learned that they had beeu stopped by the set in of the rainy season at the Laloki Kiver, and had been unable to penetrate through the scrub, that fine colors of gold only had been found, and that all (or nearly all) were suffering from fever. A month's forced inactivity amid the miseries incidental to their being compelled to camp through a tropical wet season, and their sufferings from fever would necessarily impart a very desponding tone to their correspondence, but as soon as the rain is over, and they resume active operations, a new spirit will be infused, which will enable them to overcome all difficulties, and if gold exists in Mount Owen or Stanley Peninsula there is every probability that these men will yet discover it. It is to be deeply regretted that they set out on their quest too early in the season. Some months must necessarily elapse before the result of their exploration— if favorablewill be made known, as in their case there is neither reward nor inducement in any shape or form to make them report their discoveries. It is, however, pretty certain that up to the present the party has not discovered payable gold. The American correspondent of the Otago Da ly Times states that Sergeant Bates, the pedestrian who carried " the star-spangled banner" from John O'Groat's to Land's End, to the intense amusement of decorous Britons,' is being out-done by li. Lyman Potter, the wheel-barrow pedestrian, who passed through Chicago the other day en route for San Francisco. The wheel-barrow which he trundles before him, letting the handles rest in the hollows of his arras, is a small box painted drab, with red trimmings. It weighs 401 b., and bears this inscription, " From Albany! New York, to San Francisco in 250 days! Sundays out, 215 days. Started 10th April, 1878." He had averaged 27J miles daily, was nine days ahead of time in Chicago, and gaining flesh. He is to receive a thousand dollars on arrival in California. There is a man in New York so close that when he attends church he occupies the pew furthest from the pulpit, to save the interest on his money while the collectors are passing the plates for contribution. " The Chief Justice of Victoria has ruled that it is illegal for tradesmen to combine to increase the price of any article of consumption, as such a combination is calculated to injure the public. The Wairoa Free Prest says : A new star has arisen in the medical profession • a person not loug arrived here from the mother country has already earned a reputation as a successful doctoress. She has in one case of fever effected a cure, aud, it is alleged, has used preventative medicines successfully in a few other cases. Really the medical profession should look closely to their laurels.

The French Budget for 1878 has been promulgated. The revenue is estimated at 2,793,1,7, 7, 8Q4f;,- and the expemdi ure at 2,7$ l.tiSS .<#<«./ leaving a margin of i?,H2,709i.