Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, MAY 8, 1879.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 107, 6 May 1879, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, MAY 8, 1879.

Sofara3 the "great native meet^'J Rt Te Kopua has ;^ g on6| jfc can scarcely be said to have proved & success. Some 180 double-barrelled guns haVe been tired oft, and atHmmease. amount of food; of ,a Veto beastly tertp'ttyh if we 'Ate io believe aft Me Wiiti f foiii the scene of operations; has been, and^ is still being, disposed of, but beyond this", muddledotii aeetiis to , reign supreme. . The Maoris c'ari devblir stinking shark And rotten potatoes with immense relish, but they eanuofc stomach the slightest breach of etiquette, and so it hajpans that the Ngapuhis and the Waikatos, although they form component parts in the great meeting, cannot make up their minds as to the terms upon which they are to visit each other, and so they doggedly determine to remain apart. Then there are New Zealand's Premier and a member of the New Zealand Cabinet. These two representatives of the people of the colony have gone to a great deal of trouble to attend the meeting, but now they are there, they are occupying abont as humiliating a position as it is possible to conceive. Although uoiovfted guests> Maori hdspitality will not allow them to remain without food or shelter> so they haVe been provided .with both, but id the meantime King Tawhiao, the convener of the gathering, remains in sulky isolation, and absolutely refuses to have anything to say to the intruders. The great chief Uewi, who has taken Sir George and Mr Sheehan by the hand, is.naturally annoyed at this, considering, as he does, and very rightly so, that Hi 9 Majesty is offering a gratuitous insult to his proteges. We shall be curious to see the result of all this, that is to say if there is to be any result at all, which, from the state of sixes and sevens that now prevails at Te Kopua, seems to be highly improbable. We very much regret to have to announce the sudden death of Mr Thorntod, the wellknown saddler in Bridge-street, who for many years past has been a resident in. Nelson. Mr Thornton, we understand, was in a shop in Wellington this morning, when he was seized with a fit, which proved fatal very shortly afterwards. Thb Post Office, Nelson, has been appointed the office for the registration of births, marriages, and deaths, Mr Kirton, the postmaster, being the registrar. The following incident is related to a friend in Nelson by an officer of a regiment of Punjab Cavalry which is now engaged in the invasion of Afghanistan: — "A regiment of Cavalry, the 3rd Sind Horse, of 250 sabres, and 120 rifles of the 2nd Belochi Regiment, were placed on rear guard one march behiud us on our withdrawal from Girishk on the Helmund river. They came gaily along until about four p.m., when a body of 1600 of the enemy were seen coming towards the camp over a low ridge of sand hills about 600 yards off. The ' fall in ' was ordered and repeated throughout camp, and hurriedly but quietly the cavalry saddled and mounted, and the infantry stood to their rifles. On came the mob, quickly walking with .standards, but making no noise. The Snider opened on them and many fell, but only to have their places filled up. The cavalry were then told off and formed up, and advanced with drawn swords at a trot, then at a gallop, and very soon at the ' charge,' but still on came the mob flourishing their swords and discharging firearms, and regularly meeting the charge, the only difference from the original advance being that they opened out somewhat. British cavalry always charge like a wall, whether the enemy are in open or close formation. Indian cavalry suit their formation to the enemy's, so these opened out too, and thus pierced ihe throng, and then the sword exercise was fully and freely performed on both sides. At last the mob gave way and walked off in different directions —a long, slouching, determined walk — turning round whenever overtaken and fighting to the last, always cutting at horse or reins first, and then at the 'rider. Thus matters stood at nearly sunset, when a final hooroosh of the cavalry cleared the gathering. Some of them tried hard to reach some enclosures or garden walls, whilst others simply ' hooked it,' seeing that the game was up. A two hours pursuit, and more damage done and some received, and then a return to camp, patrols out all night, and very wide awake sentries saw safety at daybreak, when the dead were found to number about 150, the wounded not being known, as they were toddled off in the dark. As I have; said, 1500 are reckoned to have been on the ground, but in war as in play there must be a gallery, so here only 500 really came in; the others did the applauding, and retired betimes as soon as they saw the play was over. Had the attack succeeded, or even looked promising, the whole 1500 would have been in camp. It waa a gallant affair, and has had a good effect. The lesson was not perhapajas complete as it might have beeG, though I beard one of the prisoners say:— * Attack you again? I don't think any who took part in that attack will ever try it on again with you as long as they live.'" We {Chronicle) very much regret to learn that Mr Joe Diansfield, one of our leading merchants, who also occupies the position of Mayor of Wellington, has been obliged to take certain steps with the view of arranging with his creditors: The amount of the liabilities is large, but the assets are also valuable. /Under ordinary circumstances, when a business. man finds, himself unable to meet his engagements, he calls a meeting of his creditors, and lays a full and clear statement of his affairs before them,— in fact, places himself unreservedly in their hands. To adopt such a course involves publicity, and a somewhat painful ordeal to the debtor. Mr Dransfield is Chief Magistrate of the capital city of New Zeatend, so it has been deemed advisable to endeavor to have a semiprivate arrangements made as between himself and his creditors. The arrangement may probably take this shape. Mr Dranafleld agrees to make an assignment of his estate — indeed, it is said that such an assignment was to have been made yesterday to Mr Lipman Levy,— and the latter guarantees a payment to the creditors of 12s 6d in the £. The debtor himself further agrees to pay a further dividend of 2a 6d in the £, making a total dividend of 15a in the £. This is a high dividend, and assuming that the inability to meet engagements on the part of Mr Dranafleld has arisen' from misfortune and the pressure of the times, there is little further to be said on the subject, save that it is painful to sea a well-known citizen driven into such a position of difficulty. Wars will never cease; nations are warring one with the other; the various sections of society war against each other; every political faction has its common enemy; and man, whether in isolation or in congregation, is warred with and attacked by a horde of destroyers in the shape of diseases and sicknesses, whose name is legion. But happily an unmistakeable peacemaker is at hand, the most frightful diseases succumb to those unfailing and invaluable medicines, " Ghollah's Great Indian Curbs;'* which can be had of all Chemists.