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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue XIV, 2 April 1879, Page 2

Levy, the cornet-player, whom several New Zealand people have special reasons for remembering, has got into trouble again at Troy, in the State of New York, on the 9th of January last. An excbauge says: — " Gillmore's Band, with Levy, the cornetplayer, gave a concert last night. The per formance was delayed half-an-hour by a constable seizing Levy's cornet for a debt contracted when he was here some two years ago. When the constable tried to serve the process at Troy House, Levy ran away, leaping into a sleigh containing Mme. De Murska, making frantic but ineffectual efforts to conceal the horn about his person. The constable, nothing daunted, followed, and landed on Mme. De Murska's lap. The sleigh was driven to the Music Hall, where Levy jumped out, and ran upstairs blowing and shouting to the members of the band, ' Throw him downstairs I kill him !' After the constable seized the cornet, Levy denied the ownership, but as Mr Giilmore agreed to pay the bill, the waiting audience was enabled to hear the dulcet tones of the much-seized instrument. It is asserted that the cornet did not in fact belong to Levy, but was the property of the maker, whose lien upon it had never been discharged." The Norwich Union Fire Insurance Society held its annual meeting ou the 14th January, when a dividend was declared for 1878 at the extraordinary rate cf 83 per cent, per annum, viz., 25/. per share 30/. paid. It will be remembered that a similar dividend was paid for 1877. The prosperity of the Norwich Union is certainly most remarkable, and speaks well for the management. We understand that tbe amount paid in Josses last year was something under 150,000/., or a little more than one-tenth per cent, on the amount insured.— Norfolk News.

A Sydney exch__g£ ha. the following, which may be of interest to «._«. gas consumers ill this city as well as elsewhere : — "There is being placed before the public _ere ah article which it is said will he extremely tisefnl to large consumers of gas.. It consists of a dial and a hand indicating the quantity of gas for the number of lights required to be burning. The dial is attached ta a main, and worked by what appears to be a kind of ston-cock. If a consumer desires to have sufucieiit gas through b?3 meter for twenty -five light..,- he ttfras the hand to "25 lights" on the dial, jttsf. 6_ri_s prevents more going through, and by shifting the hand he secures just as much gas as he requires. The article's merit appears to be that It prevents waste, and can be more satisfactorily manipulated than an ordinary tap. An Auckland telegram of Saturday says: —The boat's crew of the Glenelg reached Mo'ngonni: aiid wilt be brought Op to Auckland in tfefe Torea. . They report making Cape Regina at t v. 6 o'clock in the afternoon, but could not laud. They let gff s kedge at G p.m, and held on all night, the ac& breaking over the boat all night. The mefl got worn out, and determined to beach the boat. At 6 o'clock the next morning, after the boat struck, the crew got washed out, but all got safely ashore, except an able seaman named Robert Dunstone, who was carried out to sea, and drowned. Along the coast the survivors came upon Mr Yates's station, and were kindly treated by Mr Bourne, the manger.

The following Dunedin telegram appears in the flew Zealanden—A fish-hawker and politician named Lloyd, prosecuted for threatening to cut the throat of a publican, was discharged, the evidence being insufficient to convict.

The following items are by the Suez mail: — The idea of an immediate advance on Herat, if even contemplated, has been abandoned, and the troops under Generals Stuart and Biddulph had to return from Khelat and Ghilini towards Kandahar The reason for thi. retrograde movement is not officially stated, bat it is generally believed that the war is over. General Roberta in the Kuram Valley and General Browne in the Kb j ber Pass aud Jellalabad appear to be devoting attention to improving and securing their communication. The Afghan winter has fairly set in. The troops are suffering considerable hardships, .but maintain capital spirits. The mortality in the camp of the Kandahar column is very great. Sir Reid Temple returned to Bombay after an absence of 2;\ months. He was engaged in a scheme for putting on an efficient footing the supply and transport agencies for the Quettah and Kandahar forces. MacPhersoo, the Standard correspondent, was dismissed from General Roberts' camp fer adding to a telegram after its countersignature by the General Other accounts state that the dismissal was owing to an adverse criticism of Roberts 7 tactics at Piewar. Cetur-Walie Dahomed arrived at Jellalabad, and was received with considerable state. It is believed that important negotiations are proceeding between him and the British. The onward movement is expected soon. Isolated attacks by fanatics continue, but nothing serious. — The session of Parliament was reopened without a speech from the throne. The attendance of the Lords was very numerous, but despite the full and brilliant aspect of tbe House, there was a gloom over the proceedings from beginning to end, caused by the news from South Africa. Every allusion to the subject by the speakers during the debate appeared to make a painful impression. Lord Beaconsfield now rose, and reviewed the present position of the African troops. He announced the measures which it was the intention of the Government to introduce during the session. He then in unaffected touching terms alluded to the sad event in South Africa, which he described as a great military disaster. He carried with him the sympathy and approval of both sides of the House, when] he paid a feeling tribute to the heroism of the troops dead and living, who bad to encounter tbat disaster. He then summed up his review of external affairs by an emphatic declaration that the object for which England had commenced hostilities in Afghanistan has been completely accomplished. The Press gives the following description of the big guns recently landed at Lyttelton : — The guns are known ap muzzle-loading rifled guns, Woolwich pattern. Two of them are seven tons each in weight, lift 9 Jin. in length; the length of the bore being 10ft Sin. They are manufactured of wrought iron, in three coils, one coil overlapping the other. Their calibre is 7in, the bore of each haviDg three grooves, with a twist of one in 35 calibres, equal to one complete twist _in 20ft 5 in. When mounted on the carriages they will he worked upon dwarf traversing platforms. The regulation charge for them is: — For battering, 221 b of powder; for service, 14lb; and for saluting or exercising, 10lb; ' and the projectiles, shot and shell. Two descriptions of shot are provided, namely, the Palliser-cored, weighing 1151 b, and the case shot of 67 Ib weight. The shells to be used with them are either common, Falliser, double, or shrapnel, weighing respectively, empty :— 106751b, 11251 b, 146751 b, and 1121 b. The bursting charges to be placed in these are respectively: — 8'251b for the common shell, and 12.751 b, 2051 b, and 8 ounces in the order in which they are named. The extreme range for which they arc sighted is 4800 yards. The time of flight for a shell weighing 115|lb to occupy in striking an object distant two miles, when discharged from one of these powerful ordnance, is a fraction over nine seconds, and at 1000 yards range such a projectile would penetrate I4in armour plating. The full complement of men required for each gun is eleven, with one noncommissioned officer. A Massachusetts man proposes to travel across the Atlantic, double the Cape of Good Hope, and cross the Indian Ocean to Australia, in a boat 19ft over all, sft beam on top, and a little wider on the water-line, her sides having considerable " tumble-in." Her depth hold is 2£ft. She is to have an iron keel of about 150 pounds in weight. The average yield of wheat this season, in South Australia, appears to he somewhere between five and ten bushels to the acre. The Observer attributes the light yield to slovenly farming.