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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 157, 3 July 1879, Page 2

\ There are always two sides to a question <saya the Chriatchurch Globe) and the advocates of Good Templariam will probably be astonished on learning the awful conse- ' quences attendant on the adoption of their principles. The defendant in a petty debt case heard recently in the Resident Magistrate's Court, having expressed a strong desire to inform the Bench how he came to occupy his unpleasant position, he obtained permission to speak. He then in an agitated manner said that three months ago he joined the teetotal cause, and had been unable to obtain a day's work since. His Worship, amidst shouts of laughter from the daily habitue* of the Court, sa J d it was the first time he had ever heard such an argument from the mouth of a debtor, and there is no doubt he spoke from experience. The San Franciaco News Letter says : " The poultry-ranch proprietors in Watsonyille are so elated at the successful manner in which ten brave young men threw eggs at a local editor that they have added a new subdivision to the usual classification of their gallinaceous products. The grocery stores down there now keep 'fresh laid,' 'yesterday's, « a little off,' 'doubtful,' 'stale/ and 'editorial' eggs. Watsonville newspaper men never dream of going out now with good clothes on, and even the printer's devil has his egg suit. Now one understands what an editor means when he says that somebody or other received a perfect ' ovation.' A Timara telegram of Monday says : — On Sunday morning about six o'clock the Temuka river broke through between Burrows and Marshall's paddock. The whole of the sections in King-street were flooded, and much damage resulted to tbe property in that locality. Messrs Mcßratney, Storey, andDunford were, with difficulty, rescued, ' with their families, but no lives were lost. All the other houses were filled with water. The occupants of three cottages could not be got at. A boat was sent from Timaru, and promptly rescued the families. 'The boat and crew remained in case of emergency. Lee's store had about six feet of water in it, and his loss, is estimated at £400. His family were removed by a trolly from the railway aid fonnd shelter at Tombes' HoteL i The 1 brewery suffered, and considerable property was destroyed. Horses in different stables were with difficulty saved by the pluck of some men swimming to the stables and breaking open the dodre. A Maori was washed off his horse, and drifted a mile down the stream. He got out on the south bank. Great loss was sustained in fences, sheep, and cattle. The roads are impassable. This is the highest flood since 1866. The Victorian Minister of Railways is about to issue an order prohibiting the use of two engines to draw a single train. The wear and tear which the practice involves ia found to be very great, and it adds Materially fo the danger of accident. In future, whenever the train is too much for otift ingqu, the train will ha divided. {

In the year Ififig, the island on which now stands the city ot New York waa sold by tbe Indiana to the Dutch for 10 shirts, 80 pairs of stockiuga, 10 musketa, 30 ballets, 30 pounds of gunpowder, 30 hatchet*, 30 kettles, and one copper stewpan. Bot'i parties congratulated themselves on having . made a bargain. The Melboarne Daily Telegraph underderstands that a gentleman haa recently arrived in Melbourne who intends to claim one acre and a quarter of land in the vicinity of Swanston and Little Collins streets. He has with him papers which it is asserted are sufficient to prove his claim. The value of the property is about £200,000. If the terms which the claimant offers are not acceded to bf the present holders of the land in dispute, a very protracted lawsuit may be anticipated. This is the way a Ngapnbi chief, writing to the New Zealand Herald "slates" a rival or an opponent :—" This is an utterance respecting a certain man whose name is Sydney Taiwhanga, to acquaint the great personages among the Europeans generally who are residing in Auckland. That man is like unto the smallest of the Maori birds, the name of which ib the tiariraka(fantail flycatcher), and its song is tit ! tit I When at workits plumage is displayed, stretching forth its wings and fanniiJg with the feathers of its tail, and the balls of its eyes are distended beyond their cavities, its motive being to move the leaves of the great forest trees, so that the gnats may fly forth to be caught and eaten. Do not suppose that the Ngapuhis regard the sentiments of that boastf al person. Not at all. He ia the author of humbugging practice." According to the special correspondent of the Taranaki Herald, the following account of his ancestors was given by Te Whiti at the Parihaka meeting : — The Maoris originally came from Egypt, where, for their sin3, they loat the protection of God. They wandered about like men blind, nntil they arrived in New Zealand. For many generations they remained in the same state of ignorance, until the pakeha arrived with the Bible. To their great surprise they found it written in tbe Maori tongue. After. diligent study and greatthought I found that I belonged to one of the lost tribes of Israel —one of the lost sheep that strayed in the wilderness. I felt inwardly that I waa destined to accomplish a great work in the world— to gather the lost sheep into onefold. I saw that the pakheaa were like gods — everything they wii'ed to do they could accomplish, from the most minute to the most complex and gigantic work — all was within the compass of their power. Notwithstanding all their power they lacked faith— the faith that of old could remove mountains. Although they can take the dead inanimate iron, and embue it with life so that it will work like a horse, they have not the faith to walk upon the waters. Although they can encircle the earth with electricity and converse from pole to pole, their faith fails them if they say to Mount Egmont be thou cast into the sea. God has made them instruments of his will to bciog back to light the lost sheep who have been straying in the wilderness, by preserving the Bible and handing it back to the Maori."