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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 173, 20 August 1878, Page 2

We (New Zealaud Herald) learn that one licensed victualler has forwarded an order for 40 casks of Australian light wines, which will he offered for sale at 6d per tumbler, and thus compete with the colonial ales, so long as the brewers maintain their determination to keep the local article at the new figure.

Tbe Otago Daily Times states that several weli-known citizens are taking step 3 to raise a fund for the purpose of enabling Miss Hesford, the young lady who sustained the part of Maritana so successfully at the recent operatic performances, to complete her musical education. Their efforts have met "with a mo3t encouraging response, and it is likely that a considerable sum of money will be raised.

At a prayer meeting at Melbourne (we learn from the Melbourne Argus) a farewell address from Dr. Somerville, who as already stated is leaving the colonies hy the San Francisco mail for Scotland, was read by his son. It closed as follows :— " I have dictated to you these broken sentences from the chamber in which 1 have experienced so much suffering. The crisis, I hope, is now past. I hless God that He has carried me through these evangelistic wanderings, and that only at the end has he bid me keep silence. After a few months of interval, by His good hand I hope to enter upon His work again, though never for so protracted a period at one time, I return my warmest thanks for tho unnumbered tokens of sympathy — sometimes delicate and silent but not the less expressive— which I have received from you all-, from the venerable Dr. Cairns, from the good physician who has attended me, downward to the little child. I feel deeply grateful to God and to man."

Bismarck was horn on the first day of April, but he has never been looked upon as a joke.

Socialism is really a formidable power in Germany, haviug some sixty newspapers and a considerable number of members of the Imperial Parliament, whose influence was sufficient to defeat a strong repressive measure ou the subject proposed by Bismarck.

We take the io! Wing fooiti the" WeiliftgtonCAronic/e:— There was a very ldng,and useless discussion 1 ofrer the item placed on the Estimates for the Usher of trie Black Rod for the Legislative Coiineil. The Gov'ehitiiellt pl-iced tiie Iteni of Ms 6 6n the hilpei* lit, the' terhieSt Hf .the Speaker of the 1 tipper House -a face w&ic'li lUsf e^plfllried* | and then left it to the House to say -wHether j it should lie passed, For an hour arid a half I members bubbled over tliis extravagance, j yne Br two .dpH'l.?, ciUrgin-jr sHrtieVMe \Vith ! jobbery, and a desire to prdvlde for soriiebody. Mr M'Lean was understood to suggest that the billet should be offered to one df the gentlemen it was understood Goyerhtueiit intended to " rnlsft " snot-ll*',. fthile ]ifr StvrifiIJjxx spoke contemptuously of that thing — the Speaker's mace — and protested agaiust the trumpery of the office. After beatiug the air for an hour and a half, the item was struck out, on a division, Ayes, 40; Noes, 23. Iv the Government (J-azaue Mr Batkin,the lleceivet-Qehei-al* acknowledges the receipt, frdm some person titiknb'ivh! of £13 as "con- < science money;-' Tiidt p'ersdu titifcrlo'tfri, the Post thinks, indst have a putse liud co& science bdth abnormally large. The bobje satage has a lordly contempt for bum-bailiff.;*, procesa-eervers^ and ttthers of that ilk. The Waiararapa Stariddtd tells the story thrtt " oil Monday last a bailiff was ptaoed oil .the premises' of tiie weli-known 1 apawni Cliief MahiheHi tit the ins'tauce of one of his creditors. At the' time th ! e Maori poteutate was from home; the following evening he returned and caused the myrmidoni of the law to be flung out of the house. It remains to be seen whether ihe law or Maninera is supreme in the Wairarapa." Mrs Tittou cuts everybody dead who believes her innocent of the great transgression. Afc the recent fishuldiiger's banquet in London, Mr Gladstone declared the French and Italian Cooks to be the best in the world, and hoped that the English would learn to imitate therif; add s'tatld out against the traditional bloody toast beef. The Manawatu Itmes of I'll (i faddy last, says:— "A native woman named Theresa died hist nigbt in the train after it had left Palmerstou. With a rigid adherence to rules aud regulations, the guard was of opiuion that for the remaiuder of the journey tbe fare for a corpse should be charged." There died in Berlin last April a gentleman named Bersig, the greatest manufacturer of locomotives iv Europe. His father began with a capital of £1500, lent him by a BeTlin tradesman, and the son left £3,000,000. Since 1837, the firm has turned out over 3600 locomotives. They employ over U>,ooo ; men.

The Gazette (says the Nev Zealander) is about the last periodical in which one would expect to get anything interesting. Sometimes, however, oue lights upon what is at least curious eveu in iv this dry-as-dust repository. In a recent issue, for example, it is notified, with any amount of flourish about Victoria, the grace of Go I, aud the defence of the faith (is none brave enough to rid us of this iutorable jargon ?) that the late Mr Bessonet of the iiutt made a will, bequeathing all his property to a certain Mrs Lockett (wife of Captaid Lockfitt, late of Nelson) residing there, and appointing Messrs W. A. M'Dowell and John Kerby as his executors. So far everything seems plain enough, and the public ueed hardly have been taktu into the confidence of the parties really interested; but somehow the will has beeu lost or mislaid so that it cannot be found and hence a hitch aud the gazetted notice. The facts of the Avill and the executory are verified by the affidavits of various persons, among whom we find those of Mr Olliver and Mr Dawson, still before any steps can bo taken towards obtaining probate, it appears that the next of kin in ail parts of the world have to be solemnly informed of what has taken place, and if they mean to offer any opposition they must appear at the Supreme Court in Wellington some time in January next. The moral is, that people should not only make wills hut should take good care of them after they are made.

The Kumara Times hears that the County Council have become desperate, and quite regardless of expense, have actually determined to expend £3 on the repair of the road from Dil!man'3 Town to Larrikins.

Uuder the appropriate headiug of " Turning a Penny," the Ashburton Echo has the following .—Last week oue of our local speculators purchased a block of land about one mile from Chertsey for £6 per acre. He got first-rate terms. This block contained 128 acres, and was about two miles long, and seven chains wide at the widest part. The block was in the shape of a triangle. This fortunate speculator, after owning' the land for twenty-four hours, met a friend from a distance who personally visited Ashburton to satisfy himself as to the correctness of the reports of its progress. To this friend was transferred all right, title, and interest in the said block of land for a sum representing £8 per acre, Speculator No. 1 thus realising in twenty-four hours a profit of £256. Speculator No. 2 chanced on a customer, to whom he disposed of the land at £10 per acre, No. 2 also clearing £256 in about twenty-four hours from a piece of land which, owing to its shape, is certainly not of much use for agricultural purposes. Whether Speculator No. 3 has disposed of his bargain at a still further profit Aye have not heard, but who cau say after this that the Ashburton district is not going ahead?

The Dunedin Herald says:— We have been informed that some of the publicans of tkis city are determined that the beer tax shall not fall upon them, and with that object in view they have instructed their barmen to draw "Colonial" with "ahead" upon it. It seems that, after all, the consumers will be the losers by the impost upon beer.

It must be very pleasant to Englishmen (says the Daily Mail, of Birmingham) to see the rapid advance made by our Colonies. At Otago, New Zealand, for instance, there is a University which, although only nine years old, has already seven professor*, whilst an eighth chair will shortly be added. Dunedin, the seat of the University, ia now a town of 30,000 inhabitants, with a Customs revenue of more than £1,000 a day.

Prasculco the chief toreador of Madrid, is worth £80,000, and wears £4000 worth of diamonds on his fighting costume. He is much courted by the highest society in Madrid, aud is a member, of the chief aristocratic club; yet his wife is a fishmonger's daughter, and still helps her mother in the market.

Baroness BurdettCoutts is presiding over experiments iv the art of slaughtering cattle instantaneously by the use of dynamite.

Here is the motive of Nobeling's crime iv his own words : — " Germany is nothing; the Emperor is nothing; mankind and progress are everything; we have abolished God, and the people want no more kings."

Our Maori members (says the Post) possess a keen vein of humor and satire, and they hit home sometimes. Mr Taiaroa afforded an instance of this last night. The estimates were under discussion, when several hon. members took exception to the £250 down as the salary of the Sergeant-at Arms. Mr Taiaroa thereupon delivered a short but practical sermon. He said:— "Mr O'Rorke, I think we shonld begin at home. What is good for the Sergeant-at-Arms is good for us. I move that the £21,575 set down for expenses of members be expunged. There are roads needed in the colony. This mouey would make many roads." This practical view of the question rather astonished the House, and they voted Major Paul's salary in a hurry. They also voted tbe £21,575.

W>' have heard of many eccentric doings oi Municipal Councils whefl attempting to f rame latfS/ hiit att instance which has just conic undeit our it'dtic^ leaves all the others iv the shade. The half dogeo or so of triMwcres who constitute the lioTo»gh Council of Masteriofi (.an inland town in the Wellington Provincial district) solemnly framed & itye'-ifltf ifrat " no person ahall iigbt a fire in the Borough" of Must erton." This is certainly the richest thi fig oi the kind lhat we have 6ier heard of. Brevity is no doubt the fidtii c*f Wtj itiit wheW ti bye-'aw is made so brief as to render' it illegal for n man to make a fire for the purpose df farming his frozen toes, cooking his victuals, or obtaining the necess'Try hot water wherewith to warm his liqiiol*, there la too much brevity if not wit about it. Surely the iaw makers of Masterton were anxious to avoid the possility of getting into hot water. No doubt the people of Masterton were pleased (o learn lhat the'Colouial Secretary was opposed to slidi tfn amount of coolness existing in their delightful tdwn'sliip'y and had suggested the addition to fhe bye-iatf' of tbe words " except in a properly constructed fire - place." — Oam.-ifi! Mdil.

Another passajfp of arms took t place the other day betwsen Mr iforSc-fl and Mr Justice RiChfmond. Mr Barton, during the course of his rirgriment in the case of M'ffirdy and others V. OHIoA, stated that the first-mention-ed parties were endeavoring to swindle Mr Gillon; and trying to put him in the Bankruptcy Court; to tain his reputation, and quash tile a-nio'ri iii which he wan plaintiff and the others deiefidsirtfs.- His Honor said he would not allow such ftf ftijitaige to be used, and if Mr Barton continued he should request the reporters to retire. Such language would not aid him (Mr Barton) at al!. Mr Barton replied that it would. His Honor said arguments, and nothing but arguments, would affect him ; anything else went simply for nothing. He would endeavor to do justice to his (Mr Battofl's) client in spite of counsel's improper conduct. Mr Barton : "Your Honor bas no right to s.ty tbat." His Honor said he wb'ulo! report Mr Barton's conduct to the Ctfurt* jrfid have notice taken of it. Mr Bartou : <* t itW freiffee'tTy willing*" His Honor: "Very well, 1 ahal? do it." Mr Barton : " I respectfully sutlrijJi 1 have a right to characterise this matter in tfre way ifc ought to be characterised." His tiotio* said Mr Barton had no right to bespatter his" speech with imputations of which he had given no evidence. If he (Mr Barton) had no respect for his Honor, he ought to have some for himself, but he appeared to be devoid of self-respect. Saeh altercations with the Jfudge were grossly indecent. After some further arguments of a similar character the case w"as proceeded with.