IN BANCO.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 94, 21 April 1879, Page 2

IN BANCO.

H. V. Gully v. Fell. Tbis was a test action brought to try whether the City Council had the right to insist upon persons clearing their land of gorse. Mr Pitt appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr Atkinson for the defendant. The case was still proceeding when we went to press. Our recent telegrams having referred to the probability of the deposition of the Khedive of Egypt, the following extract from a London paper with reference to that individual may possibly prove of interest to our readers .—" Who is Ismael ? He is the Khedive of Egypt. And what is Ismael ? He is an unmitigated scoundrel. For long he obtained money by torturing his subjects and by borrowing it of Europe on false balancesheets. The plea was that much was required for the service of the State, but no sooner had tbe money been paid into the public treasury than Ismael stole it, hid some away, aud bought estates with the remainder. When at length he had reduced Egyptian credit to the lowest ebb and he feared disclosures, he invited his confederate, the late Monfettish, to accompany him in his carriage to his palace ; from thence tbe poor creature was conveyed to a boat on the Nile, where he was murdered. Then the Khedive called heaven to witness that he, good, innocent man, had been the dupe of a designing Minister, and that if only he were given another trial, he would do nothing . without the advice of the European Ministers that had been found him by England and France. But a congenital knave cannot change his nature, any more than an Ethiopian can change his skin. So it is with the Khedive ; the man bas lied and tricked so long that lying and trickery are a part of his nature. He should be suppressed. Were strict justice dealt out to him he would be hanged ; but it will be sufficient if he be informed that on the first appearauce of any double-dealing he will be turned out of the Khedivate." Criticising Lord Chelmsford's couduct of the Zulu war, a writer iv Truth places en record his dissent from the Queen's exculpation of Lord Chelmsford, in the following pithy sentences :—I am not a military man but common sense tells me that when a' General invades a country in three columns when one is cut up, one is cut off, and the third is in retreat, there is something not quite right in the scheme of invasion. The man, no doubt, did his best according to his gifts, but those gifts do not seem to be precisely those which go to make an able Commander in-Chief." The Sun has the following:—The Hon W. Fox was lately delivering an address on the temperance question at Milton.in Otago.when he observed that anyone could join the New Zealand Temperance Alliance by paying a subscription fee of fia. A publican from the body of the hall interrupted tbe lecturer to ask whether tbey would be willing to receive subscriptions from hotelkeepers. Mr Fox replied, "Yes, we would be quite willing although," he added, "it would come from a dirty source." The Auckland Star advocates regular \olunteer encampments, the Government providing free railway passes and camp equipage. r

The Government, it is said, will, amongst the measures which they iutend bringing under the consideration of Parliament, include a Colonial Licensing Bill, repealing all Provincial Acts now iv force, and having general application to all Licensing Courts and districts. Stringent clauses will be inserted witb reference to the granting of licenses in native districts. A company of minstrels called the Mammoth Troupe has been formed in Melbourne. It is very strong numerically, numbering twenty-four performers, among whom are many well-known to New Zealand, such as Bent, Oheerers, Brahaui, Kelly, Kennedy, and others. A Carterton resident narrowly escaped having one letter added to his name, Avhich would have marked the close of his earthly career. The Valley Guardian says:— Some of tbe Carterton individuals seem to be au fait at larrikinism, judging by the following: Last Sunday week eveuing the worshippers at the Taratahi Chapel wfefe startled by the report of a pistol, followed by the breaking of a window, and something striking the wall above Mr Corpe's head, wbich, on search beiug made, proved to be a niarble. The evident target of the shootist was the chandelier, but his sight was not correci. The bullet was within an ace of finding its billet in Mr Corpe's body. A clever capture has been made by Detective Doolan, stationed at Cambridge, and, as i will be seen, the culprit met his deserts at [ the Alexandra Police Court. A native | named Ropia 3tole a valuable silver-mounted saddle and bridle belonging to Mr W. H. Grace, aud Detective Doolan was telegraphed to at once, and almost immediately spotted his man, though hitherto unsuspected, and arrested him just as he was leaving the Criterion Hotel. Ropia seems to have gone the entire animal, in the way of theft, having also stolen a silver watch from a half-drunken pakeha. while the horse be was riding at the j time be was taken was a stolon one. He , had also stolen another horse, and sold it to j Mr Seccombe, of Alexandra. Ropia, though a wholesale thief, does nofc despise small things, and amongst the thefts which, if ne- | cessary, could have been brought home to him by the police, was that of a double bit belonging to the Government, and a blanket belocging to a half-caste. The authorities in Afghanistan have been obliged to resort to Lord Dalhousie's specific for putting down religious murderers— i.e., shooting them, buruing the bodies, and scattering the ashes, an operation by which the soul is supposed to be destroyed, as according to the Moslem idea, when Agrad summons the Faithful on the Day of Judgment, he will not take the trouble to seek for spirits which have beeu scattered. This is meeting these dangerous fanatics with their own weapons. The inhabitants of Ballyshanassy, a town in Victoria, have petitioned to have its name altered to Auburn. It is said that the chairman of the meeting convened to choose an appropriate name is red-headed and ha 9 a numerous progeny of daughters, whose flowing tresses bear the same bright hue. The Masterton Fire Brigade instead of raising a querulous whining at want of funds, as is the practice in many other places bave set their shoulders sturidly to the wheel, and have arranged a " Bee " for the erection of a bell-tower. His Worship the Mayor having promised the necessary timber, the tower will be raised and the bell hung clear of all expense. We (Launceston Examiner) have heard of instances recently iv which several families in towu have become very unwell after eating smoked barracouta, supplies of which fish are being forwarded from Hobart Town. The symptoms described are shooting pains in the head, and extreme redness of the flesh, with feverisbness. The painful symptoms described ore probably due to eating fish which have been moonstruck, and although not dangerous, they of course give great alarm to those unfortunate enough to be afflicted with them. The American winter has been intensely cold, and railway traffic has iv many parts been interrupted. " It seems to me," said a customer to his barber, " that in these hard times you ought to lower your prices for shaving." " Can't do it," replied the barber ; " now-a-days everybody wears such a long face tbat we have a great deal more surface to shave over." Three youug girls were killed in the United States last week by men whom they had refused to marry. It is urgently necessary that every pretty girl should be protected by at least one policeman, and she should have a revolver for use iv case the policeman loses his affections. The following advertisement is by a modest specimen of " Young America ":— " Wanted, situation, by a strong active American youth of seventeen, with plenty of muscle, vim, and health. Not afraid to knuckle down to hard work of any kind; is well educated, and has a good knowledge of Latin. Ambition highly developed, and brains to back it. Penetration as sharp as the business end of a hornet, and cheek bigger than either. Lawyer's office preferred. Highest and best of city references. Any one in search of such a bonanza will strike oil — a regular spouting well— by addressing ' Scamander,' D. A. Office." A grim story of life in a lighthouse comes from the Burmah coast, and is printed in the Ragoon Timet. A telegram havi/ig announced that the light on the Alguada Reef was not visible, a steamer was despatched to ascertain the cause. The captain, on landing, discovered two of the men in the lighthouse dead, wbile a third was lying in a precarious state. The keeper states that signals of distress, sucb as " I want immediate help " and " Man dying," had been exhibited by him for about twenty days. As a last resort, all his signals having failed to attract attention, he darkened the lights on the Basscin side, feeling certain that this step would not fail to attract attention to the lighthouse. And so, with the dead and the dying, he watched for relief, which came afc last. Tbe Ashburton Mail first carefully calling attention to the circumstances that the colleagues of the Mayor of Christchurch in his whimisical agitation for removal of the seat of Government, are nofc escapees from the Sunnyside Lunatic Asylum, remarks : — " What the Christchurch City Council, or for that matter, the whole of the local governing bodies of New Zeaiard, have to do with the locale of the Parliament we are quite unable to perceive. Possibly, it might add to the classical elegance of the Cathedral City, or the romantic grandeur of its Domain, to have a Parliament House erected on the banks of the Avon, just as it might slightly improve the appearance of Ashburton if such a stately edifice were erected here. But may it not be construed an unpardonable usurpation of privilege on the part of any local body to attempt to bring pressure io bear on the Government for such a purpose ? The Government, under the circumstances, will be quite justified in telling the Christchurch City Council and their co-operative friends to mind their own business, and leave the question of the site of the next session of Parliament to tbe people's representatives. What would be thought of the Lord Provost of Edinburgh and his colleagues memorialising the British Government to have the House of Commons removed frora London to the ancient Scottish metropolis, or of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland requesting the House of Lords to be transferred across the Channel to Dublin or Belfast ? Yet the Christchurch seat of Government agitation is quite as absurd and unbecoming as such au effort would be."

Sir William Armstrong, best known as the inventor of the Armstrong gun, lights his library at Craigside successfully with au electric current produced by a waterfall 1500 yards distant. Recently a supper was given at the St. Giles's Christian Mission Chapel to about 300 thieves whose conduct was upon the whole quiet and orderly. Addresses were delivered by Mr Charley, M.P., who presided and by Mr F. A. Beven, the treasurer. The Times says the Duke of Genoa has arrived at Venice, in order to take the command of the corvette Vittor Pisani, on a two years' voyage around the world. The Duke will command the vessel that is to bring the Italian exhibits to the Sydney International Exhibition. The Ontario Globe states that Miss Maggie Moses, a Mohawk giel, iv her teens, was weigiicd at Mill point, and registered 332 poithdg, The Dunedin Star says :— Rignold's celebrated horse which he rode in " Henry V." haa beeu purchased by a bona fide digger, and vow plods the weary hoof between his master's lint and tbe nearest shanty. Look on this picture and on that \ The triumphant entry into Loduoo and the conveying whisky and flour for half kempt quartz 1 miners.— Sic transit gloria mundi 1 l M Aubroit, a Working man, who won the espital prizle of £5000 value in the French lottery, is in the constant receipt of begging letters, by which his life is nearly pestered out of him. They come from widows, orphans, the unemployed, and those who only want a little mouey to set them up in a lucrative business. The sums which are asked for vary from £i to £1000. M. Aubroit has caused to be printed the following circular : — " Sir —If I complied with all demands similar to these you make addressed to me daily, I should be compelled to return to my work to-morrow. — Yours respectfully." With his wife and daughter he is kept folding and enclosing this circular, which is mailed to all applicants wanting to iS borrow " money, which they " will pay as soon as they possibly can.'* A letter received from Clinton, Columbia, dated February i2th, contains the following memorandum :—" Yesterday morning at eight o'clock the thermometer regis- I tered here 32deg. below zeroj at Stanley, j Cariboo, it was 46deg. below. A heavy snow-storm is now raging — the severest weather since January, 1875 " Tbis, after all, is nothing unusual for that region. Duriug six years' residence id Cariboo, prior to the winter of 1869, mostly in the vicinity of the site ot the present site of Stanley— a mining town not then in existence— the Writer has frequently known the weather to be down to dodeg. below 2ero. It was a common occurrence for quick-silver kept in stone flasks and stored iudoors, to freeze into a solid malleable mass, its expansion bursting the flasks into fragments. Mercury freezes at 40deg. below zero. A gentleman was going out in his carriage to make some wills with his wife, when he discovered he had left hia visiting cards. He ordered his footman, recently tfOrite ihto his service, to go to the mantel-piece in his sitting-room and bring the cards he should see there. The servant did as he was ordered, retained the articles to be used as directed, and -aff started the gentleman, sending in the footman with a catd wherever the *" Not at home" occurred. As these Were very numerous, he turned to his servant with the question— "How many cards have you left ?" "Well, sir," says the footman very innocently, " there's the king of spades, the six of hearts, and the ace of clubs ?" " The deuce 1" exclaimed his master. "That's gone," said John. The carnation flower was brought to England by the Flemings in 1567.