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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 103, 1 May 1879, Page 2

The accumulated fund of the Australian Mutual Provident Society is upwards of two millions six hundred thousand. * w J ?i, the face / )£ the P resent Maori difficulty, 7 t •"!£ there is a 7er y interesting par* graph in tbo deport o f t h o font*-** Tnagistraie at roketio, mi x-bomaa Jackson. He e**s !«-" The Natives in this district are anxious to be allowed to purchase powder, &c , for sporting purposes, and my Impression is that a small quantity supplied to reliable natives does good. They have this year been allowed the privilege more than formerly." Need we wonder that ha adda : "My knowledge of the native race is at present ■mall." In some instances determined opposition was shown to the collection of the returns, and the necessary information had to be obtained secretly, and we suppose incorrectly. One officer naively remarks :" It does seem absurd that in this island the Maoris should be at liberty to withhold information that Europeans are compelled to give."

The Napier Telegraph Is responsible for the following:—" The New Zealand Gazette, one of the worst of all papers for advertisers, haa its uses occasionally. A gentleman who has been wanted by the police for a long time back has recently been gazetted as a something or another under Government. The appointment, or the license, or whatever it was, caught the eyes of the police, and the warrant, that has been as waste paper, was at once utilised, the whereabouts of the man having been disclosed by the Gazette. Happy the Government that makes its appointments with so much discrimination ; happy the ' bobby * who can fall back on the Gazette when his own researches fail."

Accident insurance companies have put kings and emperors down in the fourth class of risks, along with engineers, brakesmen, firemen, and book agents. We extract the following from the Wairarapa Standard .—lt was a usual practice when promissory notes were easily discounted at the banks that if the amount did not come to £20, the receiver of the promissory-note would give £4 or £5 cash as the case might be to make up that amount, in order to get the bill discounted. Things have changed now; business has got a new phase. A gentlemen being pressed for the needful, inquired of his tormentor whether he would give him the cash to make bis indebtedness 88 much has that required by law to enable him to settle the amount in the Bankruptcy Court. This may seem strange, but not more so than the old practice under the present changed state of business transactions. The Kumara Times learns that an action for £500 damages for defamation of character, at the suit of a well known publican, will shortly occupy the attention of the Supreme Court. The case arises out of a little incident that occurred not one hundred miles from Kumara, a few days ago. It appears that Boniface, who is a bachelor drifting into the third stage of " life's young dream," had the good fortune to secure the services of a most fascinating young lady, possessing sweet memories of many years, as the fair dispenser of his unrivalled liquors. Her divine form and enchanting beauty quickly captivated three eminent personages, viz., a storekeeper, a miner, and our worthy host. With the privileges of her sex, she showed no partiality for any of her admirers, which caused general dissatisfaction; and at the suggestion of one of the party a quiet game of euchre was indulged in to finally settle who in future should Individually have the happiness of worshipping at beauty's shrine. Fortune smiled on Boniface, and the unfortunate rivals honorably withdrew from the contest. Recollecting that "Faint heart never won fair lady," he gallantly and promptly made the "for better or for worse" proposal in due form, only to be scornfully, though tenderly, rejected. Shortly after, meeting hia late rivals an altercation ensued, from which arose the present action

An albam containing the photograpb3 of the handsomest women in Europe will figure dt the international Anthropologial Congress which opens at the Tfocadero, in Faris, on August 16th. The Press of Friday last says that during ttte. present week a gentleman applied to the Kailway Cdmttiissioner ioi trucks to carry 10,000 sheep to Invercafgillj slhd a reply was received that owing to the rush of grain at present at the various stations along the line, it would be impossible to get tbe trucks for some tinie. , ■the Astibtirton 1 Mail says that a young Cbristchurch lady named Mi3s Ruth Parker accomplished, last week, the feat oi driving over a small boy without doing hid any Serious injury. , A railway employee at Cnfistchutcn named Quarterman, having ftfsi both his legs by a railway accident, is about to be pWded on his pins again by an ingenious Sweda in the railway department, who has manufactured a pair of excellent artificial limbs for the purpose. A recent Christchtirch telegram says s— The body of a yOung mflti naiflefl Frank W. Bush was found in the river at nofejii.to-dfity ; he had evidently committed suicide. A letter was found in his pocket addressed to his father in londofi; Stating that before it reached its destination deceased would be probably " in a place' where no money Wai! required." Deceased bad been betting, and was penniless, as lie states in the letter, wherein he also mentions wife and child.

The following frightful accident to a" lad named George GulHck is reported from Timaru :— lt appears that the boy was helping a planer named James Ellis at the planing machine, and they bad occasion to go below to mend the lacing of tile belt: whiih was attached to the main shaft. The boy was holding the belt whilst his mate was lacing it By some means or other he got entangled in the main shaft, and was hurled round and round with considerable force, the floor of the mill being about 2ft or 3ft above the shaft. Both arms were torn off below the shoulder socket* and the lega severely crushed. On the doctor proceeding to 1 the scene he saw what a hopeless case fee Md to' deal with, and had the sufferer taken immediately to the Hospital, Dr Williams remaining with him for an hour. Despite every attention, the lad died about one o'clock this afternoon.

The Sydney Herald thus relates a pleasant incident occurring on board the mail steamer Zealandia, from San Francisco:— " Captain Broomfield has received £15 for the the National Shipwreck Belief Society South Wales, this sum being the proceeds of the Zealandia International Exhibition^ held on board the R.M.S. Zealandia on St Valentine's Day, February 14. Mrs Chevalier originated the movement, and forthwith presiding directors were appointed, and a classification was issued, exhibits being rapidly sent in. In lat. sdeg. 50niin. N., long. I64deg. lOmin. W., the exhibition was opened in the saloon, which was Jgaily decorated with flags, and bright with the many pretty articles lying on the tables aroand. Mrs Chevalier made a short speech, the National Anthem was performed, and a few gunshots announced to the seagulls and porpoises that the Zealandia Exhibition was launched. It was very successful, as its receipts proved, and a list now forwarded to us shows that not only were the exhibits numerous, but that they varied in value from an arrangement of nails' by the ship's carpenter, to ' jake-stone and pearis's shown by Ah Toon, and an Egyptian necklet sent in by Mrs Chevalier. The exhibition served to relieve very effectually the monotony of the voyage, and the disposal of its proceeds cannot but please everyone." A man named David Moss writes to the Auckland Star, stating that he fell in with a numbor of racing men at an hotel, who booked fictitious wagers to draw him in at 3 to 1. The owner of two hones in a race iadu<x: a him to lay odds against one on condign- ac stood in, and then allowed the other to win and repudiated his obligation. Moss said he paid £283 in wagera, and had mVhis jewellery to raw* *-«•*- ~«"«u ne has since had «x»aon to believe were a swindle. He gave cheques on his father in Melbourne, but a gentleman in business telegraphed advising him not to pay. Clibborns' sale of yearlings in Victoria realised over 10,000 guineas. Silver Bell brought 950 guineas. A >Yattendon (colt) broke his neck during the sale. Two strange incidents have just been recorded. The wife of Captain Turnbull, of Samoa j recently suddenly recovered sight, after ten years blindness. The recovery was caused by the shock sustained in falling down a flight of stairs. At Temuka, a man named Jobu Hill, in the employment of T. K. Gray, blacksmith, bad just commenced his work, when he was seized with a fit of trembling and fell over the anvil. Medical aid was procured, and it was then found that he had completely lost his power of speech. Only a few minutes before he was apparently in the enjoyment of the best of health.

King Cetewayo's song : — " I Kaffir nobody, no, not I, and nobody Kaffirs me." A Council Buffs girl, on suicide intent, asked for morphine in a drug store. The clerk suspected her purpose, and sold her a powerful emetic. She returned an hour afterwards, expressed her opinion of a man who would deceive a detracted girl in that way, and demanded her money back. The Crimean Veatnik says that the total number of Turkish prisoners that have passed through Sebastopol on their way home is 58,752, comprising 22 pashas, 216 Staff officers, 3,753 superior officers, and 54,861 men. During the passage of the prisoners through Sebastopol thirty died of various diseases, and seventy asked permission to be allowed to remain in Russia, among them being a Major, who had married a milliner at Kharoff. The number of Turkish prisoners that died during their incarceration in Sussia is not yet officially given, bat it is reported to be not far short of 4,000.

Strong Powers of Persuasion.— " The fact is," said a gloomy-looking tramp, armed with a long stick, stopping old Guffey under a gas light, as he was trotting home through the suburbs late the other night, "the fact is that this scheme of running the insanity dodge into burglary cases is the biggest idea the lawyers have hit yet." '• What !— eh !—- --speak ter me, sir," said Guffy, turning pale. " You see this is the way it works," said the gentleman from Bitter Creek, abstractedly toyiug with G.'a watch seal. " Suppose, for instance, I'm a footpad — as it were — and I met you some dark night, and asked the loan of a couple of dollars until I hear from the East." "Well— but— l really"— " Exactly, you naturally refuse to ante up, and then I batter you all up with a club like this, and then when the case is called, my lawyer gets up and says that— . Ah, thank you, good evening." And the admirer of legal improvements pocketed Mr Guffey's little testimonial, and disappeared down an alley. —San Francisco Aews letter.

The Sort of Police We Want.—" I've lost thirty thousand ronbles," said a very high personage to the chief of the Petersburg police. - The notes were in my pocketbook. Pd just drawn them out of the hank, and when I put my hand into the pelisse there was nothing there." In a couple of days a police agent calls." "lam sorry yonr excellency can't have the pocketbook. The thief, by his own confession, destroyed it. But here is the money. The rascal had scarcely spent a dozen copeks of it." " Clever fellows, our police," thought the great man when, a week later, he found the pocketbook, notes and all, in a pocket which, m bis baste be bad. never searched.

Helping Her out With a Vengeance.— MfssMadeup Oldgal:^ c Ye3,I love the old oakj it is associated with so many nappy hours spent beneath its ghade. It eames me back to my childhood, when—when—toung Foodie i " When yo«— er— planted it V Act at Sea.— At an auction arf-sale tae other day a marine view was about being knocked down at a handsome figure, when a blu« sailor who had happened to wander in, exclaimed earnestly, " My stars, if then am t a vessel drifting on the rocks with a strong breeze blowing off shote t" The artist took hia work home to rearrange the wind. History.— Governess : " and »«* te " me ,; Freddy, why was Guy Fawkes executed i Freddy : « 'Tos he would go and blotf *P ™ parlormaid/ A Tussle.— Truth h mighty and must prevml, But a man can give truth an awful tussle when he goes home at two o'clock in the morning*, tftfd hi* wife resolves- feeiself into an investigating Committee. It is one of the signs of the times that evetfy Other man you meet fe carrying a silver watch loaned him by the jeweler, who ia giving his gold stem-winder ft regulM good cleaning up, you know. t tyriteloo Lovely 1-The following rabhme paragraph U ffotn one of the latest fashionaftle novels .- " tfttbone hand he held her i beautiful head above the chilling waves, and with f He other called loudly for assistance. A FunnY Stfnday-school Teacher.— A. Sunday-school pupfl of «en&r age being asked how he liked the gentleman who bad addressed the school, replied, 'He was s funny mafi. fife told about the handwriting on the wall, and said ft was c Minnie, Minnie, tickle the parson.' "— Ssheototatkr.