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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 135, 7 June 1879, Page 2

An exciting scene occurred in a Music mil at Birmingham the other night. One of the attractions was the appearance of a " shooting star," a boy about ten years of age, whose performance is similar to Zazel's in London, consisting in his being shot into a net, followed by a sheet of fire. The apparatus failed to work properly, and the lad had a piece of flesh blown or torn clean out of his thigh. The accident caused a sensation amongst the audiende, and the lad. had to be immediately removed to the hospital. A plan has been submitted to the directors of the Union Pacific Railroad for a grand excursion from Washington to San Erancisco, about the lßt August next to receiye and welcome ex-President Grant on his return from his long tour. Many senators and tepresentatives are understood to be warmly in favor of the idea, and it is thought that from 50,000 to 70,000 persons will join in the excursion. It is stated that every State in the excursion will require from 100 to 125 trains of ten cars each.

A London Sunday newspaper, not remarkable for its very delicate treatment of 'subjects aristocratic, was impudent enough to observe apropos of the Duke ofConnaught's marriage and the illustrated papers passim thereupon :—"lf these eight 'daughters of dukes,marquiseß, and earl s' are the best display of beauty the aristocracy can make, we think, at the next nobby marriage, Spiers and Pond should.be asked to furnish the bridesmaids from amongst their barmaids. They would certainly make a better show."

The Press Agency have received the following telegram from Hong Kong :— The British barque Elizabeth Childs was seized by pirates ten miles off Mendoza Island, when on her voyage to Newchwang. They drove the officers and crew into one corner of the vessel while they ransacked the cabin, taking the chronometer and other portable articles of value they laid their hand 3 on. The pirates who overtook the barque by means of their oars, and when they came alongside they hurled stinkpots on to the deck from their maintop, and immediately boarded, discharging their pistols at the same time. Some of the crew of the barque (all of whom were unarmed) had narrow escapes, but no one was injured. The sight of a steamer coming up ia the distance startled the pirates, made for the shore along with a companion junk, which stood by while they were engaged plundering the barque. Several times during the melee the captain and officers heard some of the pirates speak English fluently, and it ia thought some of them were Europeans. : . . 'An outrage has been committed upon the Roman Catholics in the province of Canton. The riot originated through a Chinese doctor, who had turned Roman Catholic, refusing to contribute towards an idolatrous procession, when a subscription hat was handed to him. The villagers became angry, and destroyed evarything in the doctor's shop. The French Consul has been sent to inquire into the affair.

Sir Antonia Panizzi, the, late librarian of the British Museum, has died. He held his distinguished post for thirty years, and in that time the number of books in the library was much more than doubled, and the whole were catalogued.

A forthcomiDg trial for money lent, amounting to between seven and eight thousand pounds, in which a lady well known in various circles of society is defendant, promises to be (says " Atlas," in the World) a most sensational affair. Subpoenas have been served upon Mr Gladstone, the Duke of Sutherland, Chief Baron Pollock, Mr Cuni liffe Brookes, Lord Campbell, and Mr Burcham.

At the afternoon sitting of the Diocesan Synod at Christchurch on Friday last, a sum of £6000, in addition to>' the £2000 already voted, was recommended to be borrowed by the church property trustees for building, enlarging, and altering churches, parsonages, and schools. This makes a total sum of £16,000 voted towards the completion of the cathedral and other objects. In an article on " The Unemployed," the N.Z. Times says:— "As an instance of an individual complaining of inability to find employment, we may take the case of Caliari Antonio, who was lately charged .'before the Magistrate at Wanganui with destroying Government property. It appears that being out of work, and we presume with a deter mination of compelling the 1 authorities to provide for his maintenance in some shape or other, this eccentric individual betook himself to the Court House, broke thirteen panes of glass, upset ink, destroyed a volume of statutes, and did other miscellaneous damage. On being arrested he was examined] by a medical man, as his extraordinary conduct cast a doubt on his sanity. The doctor testified that Antonio was in his right mind, and perfectly able to work, and added* that ' the accused told him that if he had pled ty to eat, a good roof over his head, and very -little to do, he would soon become strong.' iThis foreigner has been committed for trial; and if it be proved to the satisfaction of a • jury: that he smashed the windows of -the Wanganui temple of justice, upset the ink, and destroyed the statute book, his aspirations !for a good roof and plenty to eat will be rightly met by a prolonged residence in Her Majesty's gaol. There he may learn that- even the bread and water of affliction are not obtainable without hard labor, and [that ' little to do and plenty to get ' is a motto not worth a cent in this colony." i There is existing in the Empire City (saya the Wellington correspondent of the , Saturday Advertiser) a number of social vampires, whose chief delight appears to be to suck the , vitality from the reputations of people who frequently ignore the 1 existence of those beings, and are perhaps thtia punished. If any reliance were to be placed in them or their reports, the spcial condition of Wellington would indeed be deplorable, and cause many a friendship to be severed. „.W here Blander runa uncontrolled, Ho; name 'Is safe, and the most upright and virtuous are alike liable to attack; many people are easily impressed, and the unlicensed slaughter of characters is something alarming. Small assaults, consequently, are not'unf requent— but they are not usually heard of outside the circle they occur in. j The New Zealander learns that the Inangabau County Council has voted Mr Richard Reeves, M.H.R.., the sum of £100, in recognition of the valuable services rendered by. him to the^Cpunty .Council in connection! with various matters affecting the public^ interest. This is a new application of Counties revenues, scarcely coming within the provisions of the Act. However if the Inangahaa ratepayers! are satisfied, neither Mr Reeves nor bis friends need demur. f

The iTictoriaa Government agficaUural : returns show the deficiency in tfaa jjrield of tile potato crop in that colony, as competed with last year's, is Seventeen thousand tons. As showing how the whaling tracle of Hobarton has fallen off, the returns ■ juat "j published (states the Mercury) show that while in| 1873 there were 18 Tasmanian vessels employed in whaling, which brought in oil of the value of nearly £50,000, last year there were only H vessels employed, and they only succeeded in bringing into port oil to the value of il6,'92Ci, An anti-missionary riot occurred at Tun* kein, in China, and in another riot, 140 miles from JFoochow, a Methodist chapel wad wrecked, and the worshippers assaulted. The local authorities compelled the offenders to make redress and find medical aid for those injured. There is a general impression (says the Star) that Tawhiao is a very poor man, dependent upon the chance contribiitiofia of his adherents for such necessities as clothing, tobacco, and waipiro. During the recent I meeting at Te Kopua, however, rumoiir, apparently well-founded represented Tawhiao in a new guise— that of a wealthy miser. It is stated that old Potatauat his death left his son Matutaera, afterwards called Tawhiao, and more recently Tukaroto, a sum of £SOOO, and that the money has since lain untouched, having been buried in some secret part of. tho bush. It is thought probable, that the place of concealment "is some voahi tapu, or some sacred place, such as the grave of some chief. Th? atory tntty> or may ribfc be true, but it emanated in the first instance from Tawhiao's own people. Perhaps -it is as well for Tawhiao that the locality of his " plant " has not been discovered by any European. (See Fourth Page and Supplement.)