Nelson Evening mail. FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 1878.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 181, 30 August 1878, Page 2

Nelson Evening mail. FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 1878.

We are glad to find that there is a strong and growing feeling among the Nelson public that it is high time some action was taken to prevent, if possible, so gross an injustice being done to this district as is proposed by the Minister for Public Works in his Statement, in which he expresses his intention of shutting Nelson, Marlborough, and the Valley of the Huller out ot the railway system of the colony. W_ would suggest that if this feeling of dissatisfacf'on and indiguatiou is to assume a practical form, the City Council should at its ordinary meeting to night pass a resolution requesting the Mayor to call a meeting for the purpose of purpose of obtaining an expression of public opinion upon which our representatives may be invited lo take immediate action. It was always on understood thing that Nelson and Marlborough were to be included in the railway scheme wbich was intended to embrace the whole of this island. Now, however, there is a Ministry in power which will willingly rest content to see Lyttelton the northern terminus of the railways, and which actually proposes to wipe this'district out of the map of New Zealand, so far afc least, as the public works of the colony are concerned. In the face of such v proposition we surely cannot remain passive. If we are to be swept away let us at least die fighting. [Since the above was in type, we have learned that, at the request of a number of the leading business men of Nelson, the Mayor has telegraphed to Mr Curtis, asking hun what steps he, aud the other Nelson members, propose to take in this matter.] A footj!al_ match, which will no doubt cause plenty of amusement, will be played iv the Botanical Reserve to-morrow afternoon at three o'clock, between teams selected from the City Rifles and Naval Brigade. The following are the names of the players:— City Rifles: Messrs J. Kitchiug (captain) Atkinson, Burns, Capper, Gleeson, Gray' Hurfit, Harris, M. Jackson, C. Jackson, T* Kitchiug, Livick, Richards, Stone, and Sharland; umpire, H. Hodgson. Naval BrigadeMessrs Fathers (captain), Bennett, Calder Cator, Dement, Downes, Galland, Hunter! Lipscombe, Rankin, Simmonds, R. Simpson, Taylor, Tew, Woodhouse; umpire, C. Hodgson. ° Wb remiud our readers of the conceit to be given in the Provincial Hall this evening under the auspices of TriuitvtbeP.esbyteriau Church. The programme 'is a very attractive one, the first part consisting of selections of sacred music from the best composers, aud the second part of secular and miscellaneous, in wbich some of the leading amateurs of Nelson will assist. The concert will, we feel sure,; be an eujoyable one, and, the Presbyterian Church being one which does not often come before the public soliciting help we hope the funds in aid of which the concert is given will be substantially added to by the proceeds of Ibis evening's entertainment.

At the Magistrate's Court to-day, before R. Pollock and 11. 0. Daniell, Esqs., J.J.P., a case was heard in which Catherine Edwards sued L. Rother for £2 l_s 7d, for wages due, and amount of wages alleged to have beeu unlawfully deducted. Mr Bunny appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr Eell for the defendant. Judgment was given for £1 19s, but before it was recorded Mr Eell applied forau adjournment, which was granted. A Quadkille Assembly will be held in Mr King's Hall this evening. Mr. Mabin will sell by auction to-morrow a lot of miscellaneous articles. We notice among the estimates for the completion of railways under construction the item Nelson-Foxhill, 23 miles, £39,000. This of course includes the extension at both cuds, to the Port and to Bell Grove. A writer in the A. Z. Times says that listening to Mr Manders, M.H.R., is like drinking weak tea with far too much suear in it. The following extract from a letter from Norfolk Island to the Auckland Herald refers to a gentlemen well known in Nelson and the Waimea:— The Rev. Mr Codrington is making additions and alterations to his house, so that he does not contemplate leaving us as soon as was reported some time ago. Indeed, without him the Mission would be no mission. Always affable and kind, he is at once the life and soul of the Mission. The Volunteers of Auckland, (says the Herald) and, indeed, throughout the colony will be glad to learn that the Government has again determined to place at the service of the Volunteer force an able and distinguished officer. Major Gordon was about to proceed to Levuka on Monday, and had in fact, his luggage on board a vessel, when he received a telegram from the Hon. the Defence Minister, informing him of his appointment to the charge of the Ota»-o Volunteer force. Of course, the Major at once debarked his luggage, and will proceed to his new sphere of duties without delay.

The Norfolk Island correspondent of the Auckland Herald writes under date July 26: —The Mission schooner Southern Cross arl rived from her first cruise on the 7th July, bringing Mr Cummins and some native' visitors. Captain Bongard reports a very successful trip. The vessel called at the islands that are usually visited, and the natives were found to be uniformly kind and friendly. Mr Palmer was left at Mota, and Mr Penny at Florida, ia April ; Mr Still at Melanta ou 30th May, a,nd the Bishop at Aurora on 21st June. Santa Cruz was visited twice, and the Bishop again landed and tbe boy who was takeu there last year came up in the vessel, but not to stop. The other visitors, 21 in all, some of them " big " men at their islands, were taken to the Mission, and made much of by the genial chief, Mr Codrington, and went away highly delighted with their visit. The vessel left on the 11th taking Mr Bice and another posse of boys. She will take bad news to our poor Bishop. The news of the death of his father (the Bishop of Lichfield) following so soon on that of his wife will be a sad blow, but lam no judge of mettle if it does not brace him more firmly to the good work he is carrying on, and which under his benigm influence is prospering abundantly. An English paper in announcing the death of Mercedes, tbe young Queen of Spain, gives the following pitiful picture of the closing scene:— "Another crisis supervened. The features took the pinched appearance which is a sure prognosticof death. Cardinal Morenos recited the Office for the Dead, aud the ladies threw themselves on their knees. Mercedes was reluctant to quit life. She had found the world a happy place. By a stretch of Christian charity and recourse to theological casuistry the Patriarch of the Indies was enabled to give her the extreme unction. H could not get her to* say she was content to die, and abandon earthly for heavenly affections. The tomb appeared to her most horrible. To go to that vault of the Escurial, after the gay French villas and the bright Andalusian palaces she had beeu used to — ai'ter Aranjuez and its musical waters and shady groves, in which Alphonso courted her as it she had been a village maid, seemed too awful. She revolted against the doom that stared her in the face, and implored the physicians to save her. The death-struggle was long and violent. A heavy debt of misery was due to fate for the bliss that had been concentrated into the five months' idyl." A Sydney telegram dated Tuesday says:— A crowded meeting to-night bore testimony

to the colonists' admiration of the labours of Mr Gladstone and the leaders of he Liberal party in England, and decided to forward a congratulatory address. Brevity is the Soul, &c. — Uniqueness of expression is a great art. To say a great deal in a few words is something not easily learned. Here is an example, however, of putting au obituary notice into the shortest jiossibie space : — 'Twas a cough That carried him off ; 'Twas a cofflu They carried him oi? In. One of the newly-created New Zealand L. rds (says tlie Stat) is said to wear his lie w honors with all the dignity ot a bear iv _ new collar, lie told a friend of his in Wellington the other day that he did not value the title of honorable so much for himself as for his family, adding that " if anybody calls me ' Johnny ' now I'll make it for them. I'm the honorable John. now, and (expletive) they can't take it it way;"

Under the heading "Parliamentary Personalities," the N. Z. Times has the following regarding the Premier :— When Sir George Grey was referred to in the House the other night as the " Great Chief" of the Ministry, it was said perhaps ironically. Nevertheless the name was well applied. An eloquent debater, with very grand conceptions of the divinity of mankind, his subject is always handled by him with more regard to the remote possible consequences than to tbe immediate results of the proposed legislation. The question of a half penny reduction in the sugar duty would appear to him as a matter of immense importance to our grandchildren. His proposal that a book shall be published b\- the Government setting forth the exotic plants likely to prove valuable introductions into New Zealand, i_ an instance in point. Out of a proposal to grant a bonus for the production of wattle-bark the Premier expands tlte idea Into one for including the whole range of similar projects. The dangei* of his temperament is of course to make mountains out of political mole hills. Sir George Grey wishes to educate this infant colony into the pattern Utopia of the globe and would wish to see its legislation honored as oracular, if not infallible, throughout the civilised world. But he may possibly forget to teach tho children to lace their own boots, and would do well to remember that it is impossible to put old heads on young shoulders. Sir George Grey would plant a tree for his grandchild to lusmiate in tho shadow of it, while tbe rain was leaking through his roof on his own sou's head. Referring to the financial measures of the Government the Wellington correspondent of the Auckland Herald writes :— There is consider diversity of opinion on the Land Tax Bill and its twin measure the Companies Tax Bill. Many members think that they partake too much of the nature of class measures, and do not go tar enough. This se . tion of Legislators, and they are to be found in both Houses, are favourable to taking a plunge at ouce into a Property and lucome Tax; but I tell them, wheii we talk together, that the time is uot yet quite ready for that. People look largely for Mr Balance's explanation of this Land Tax Bill, and on the inequality which presents itself in the case of Joint Stock Compaules. Take an example. A company of this kind has ten shareholders. They make a profit of some £3000 a-year, and arc taxed thereon. A private person or firm owns a similar establishment, and clears also £3000, and uo tax is levied on this. Thus, teu shareholders, with an individual income of £300 each from the joint employment of their capital, without which conjunction the enterprise could not have beeu started, nor work given to many artizans, are taxed, while the solitary owner or firm gets ten times the profits of each of these luckless sharcholdcers and pays nothing Examples of this kind I bear daily talked of among members, and no doubt we shall hear of them in the House when the subject comes on for debite. An example of the operation of the tariff, in one particular, was narrated to me. Thus formerly, on tbe articles of children's shoes, faucy shoes were charged lGs per dozen, according to value, while lhe ordinary kind, cheap, for common use, were charged Gs. Now they are equal, and the high-priced article is reduced 160 per cent. Of course there will be anomalies which it is not easy to get over in matters of this kind, and the grand reply will be that the ad valorem duty favours false invoices, false entries, and the mercantile frauds which such words imply,— witness the great falling off in the Customs revenue for goods rated according to value. There is, too, considerable complaint agaiust the abolition of the wheat and flour duty, which, it is affirmed, will injure the farmer and check wheat-growiug in lands which are now being opened to that crop, inasmuch as the difference of £l would lead to the introduction of breadstuffs from California. I hear a good deal of talk of this kind, and the proposal of Mr J. E. Brown, of Canterbury, to obtain the abolition of the import duty on timber, is intended to shew that if one industry loses its protection so should another similarly situated. A Press Agency telegram says that Mr Thomson, Mayor of Christchurch, intends to swallow up his year's allowance of £300 in entertaining the members of Parliament at a banquet, during their trip on the occasion of the opening of the railway from Christchurch to Dunedin.

A Sydney telegram in a Brisbane paper says -.—" A great cockfight took place at a secluded spot in the Middle Harbor recently. The stake amounted to £200. Twelve battles were fought between city and country birds. The latter won the greater number. Most of the birds were so mutilated as to be useless, and they were accordingly killed. The elite of the sporting world were preseut, aud there was a sprinkling of English lords and honorables. The police got no scent of the affair. The birds engaged were from all parts of the colony. The whole affair was most disgraceful. The fight lasted all day, during which the place was a scene of revelry and lawlessness. Six or seven birds were killed or left dying. The principal persons concerned in the cockfight threaten to make an example of the informer of the affair." I feel (writes the Wellington correspondent of the New Zealand Herald) that there is a growing feeling among members of both Houses, and singular to say among gome of the wealthiest— Mr Matthew Holmes for example,—in favor of a property and income tax complete, with a general wiping from the tariff of some 70 small dutiable articles which produce but little revenue and interfere with trade. It is said that the difference on the wheat and flour by the abolition of the duty will cause a large importation of breadstuffs from California, brought iv, remarks my informant, by the mail, which is to compete with the New Zealand wheat grower. Bags are now dutiable uuder the tariff, but bags filled with Cahfornian wheat and flour will enter free. Several anomalies of this kind will probably obtain remedy. A Canton telegram dated July 12 saj's'.— A curious personage has just been brought in here prisoner, with his wives, mother, servants, and suite, numbering twenty-one persons. About two months ago he took it into his head to make a claim for the Imperial tl rone, an 1 pretended to have the power of healing the sick. He now asserts that he is the rightful Emperor of China, and has several hundred adherents. The authorities took no notice of the fanatic for some time, until his assumption attracted attention, when they had him and his family arrested and brought to Canton. His crime will find no mercy, aud in all probability he will shortly be sentenced to death by the " lingering process," viz., exposed in the streets iv an iron cage, aqd therein starved to death.

A young lady, the daughter of Mr Thomas Mackay,; wine merchant, of Aucklaud, while on a visit to Grahamstown to the Rev. Mt Neil!, left for a walk in the country, and not returning next day a search party was organised of Maoris and Europeans. After the lapse of some forty hours she was discovered in some small ti-tree aud fern by a Maori, almost insensible from the cold and wet of the night aud day she had spent in the bush. The hon. Mr Sheehan, who is a Roman Catholic, has been speaking out in a manner that is likely to get him into trouble with the authorities of his Church. In the course of a speech on Mr Curtis' Education Bill he 13 reported to have said;— The hon. member Who had just sat down appca'ed to the members of the Government to support the Bill. He would say at once emphatically that he would oppose the Bill. He might be called a bad Catholic for doing so, but he declined to be bound in respect to his vote iv the House by the dictum of any priest or religious body. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) He contended that the interest of every Catholic lay in promoting strictly secular education in the colony. If tbis) Bill were allowed to pass the result would be ft return to the denominational system of education, which he strongly objected to. It would establish a barrier between two large sections of population, and engender a bitter party spirit. He was sorry that elements of this kind had already grown up »n the colony through the establishment of Orangeism and Hibernianism. The population of New Zealand ought not to be disturbed by elements such as these. There should be no party or national distinctions, but all who came iuto the country should consider themselves New Zealanders, and forget those dissensions that conduced to such evil results at home. Religion or nationality should not obtrude itself to that extent as to prevent the Avhole population of New Zealand living on terms of peace and goodwill with one another as colonists. (Hear, hear.) He wOUld oppose the second reading of the Bill. (Cheers.) A marvellous piece of clockwork now on view in the Paris Exhibition, is described by the "Horological Journal." It is the work of au American watchmaker, Stephen D. Eugle, of Hazleton. The figures alluded to in tbe following description are about nine inches high, about one-fourth the size of those in the famous Strasbufg clock ;— Three minutes before the hour att organ inside the clock plays a hymn or an anthem. Bells are then rung, and when the hour is struck double doors in an alcove open, aud a figure of Jestls appeai-s. Double doors to the left then open, and the apGsties appear slowly one by one in procession. As they appear, and pass Jesus, they turn towards him. Jesus bows, the apostles turn again, and proceed through the double doors in an alcove ou the right. As Peter approaches, Satan looks out of a window above aud tempts him. Five times the devil appears, and when Peter passes, denying Christ, the cock flaps its wings aud crows. When Judas Iscariofc ap>pears, Satan comes down from his window,

and follows Judas out in the procession, and then goes back and up to his place to watch, Judas appearing on both sides. The Biblical lesson is magnificently illustrated, the figures being carved aud colored after a very old and reliable painting. After the procession has passed, Jesus and the tbree Marys disappear, and the door is closed. Below the plaza, where the procession is made, is the main dial, about 13in in diameter. To its right is a figure of "Time." with an hour glass. Above this is a window, at which appear figures representing Youth, Manhood, and Old Age. The clock also tells of the moon's changes, the tides, the seasons, days, and days of tbe month and year, and the signs of the zodiac ; and on top a soldier in armour is constantly on guard, walking backward and forward. Tweniy years are said to have been spent upon this piece of mechanism, which is without doubt the most wonderful clock ever made. The following challenge appears in the Australasian of August 10th :— ' I, John Thomas, of Eaglehawk, Victoria, bearing that Robert Dagg and Johu Tyson, of New Zealand, call themselves the champion wrestlers of the colonies in the Cumberland style, do [hereby agree to wrestle either of them for one hundred pounds (£100) a-side, or any higher sum they may agree to. I will give twenty-five pounds (£25) if they come to Victoria, or will take twenty-five (£25) and go to New Zealand. An answer to this will be attended to in New Zealand by applying to Johu Tiffen, Kaitaugata."