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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 187, 7 August 1879, Page 2

We clip this from the Financier:—" It would seem that the ruin of the unfortunate shareholders of the City of Glasgow Bank is to be even more complete and universal than has yet been imagined. We understand that the recent call of £2500 per share made upon them by the liquidators ha 3 yielded anything but favorable results, and that the next dividend, to be declared at an early date, will not amount to more than 3s 4d in the pound, making, witb the former dividend, 10s in the pound. It is consequently believed that another and a far heavier call than that last levied will have to be made upon the shareholders before the full sum can be got together for completely discharging the claims of the creditors. We hardly like to print the sum per share we have heard named. What would the shareholders think of a call of £10,000 or £15,000 a share? The following story is related by " _<Egles" in the Australasian -. — " At a race meeting held at a township on the back blocks, the local police magistrate had a horse entered in a friend's name for the chief event. On the morning of the race an accident happened to a lad who was to ride Magenta. There was great consternation at this un-looked-for disaster, and there was no substitute to be f o und. At length a sporting constable, who himself had some money on the event, suggested that there was a smart young fellow in the lock-up on a charge of horse-stealing who had ridden in several races. After some hesitation, the prisoner was informed that he would be allowed to see the races on condition of his riding the favorite in the Maiden Plate. The condition waa gleefully accepted. Magenta maintained a clear lead to the back of the course, when he suddenly bolted, and his accomplished rider was unable to pull bim up until he was ten miles clear of the township. He has not yet returned, and is said to be doing remarkably well with Magenta among the •Queenslanders." The great necessity that exists for the proper development of our coalfields is not alone considered by tbe residents of this colony, but it is also making itself felt in sonie*' parts of Victoria. In a late issue of our contempory the Australasian we find the following telegram from Echuca, a rising township on the river Murray :— " At the Borough Council meeting to-night it was stated that it was almost impossible to get New Zeaaland coal for generating gas, owing to the colllapse of the Melbourne trade with New Zealand. The New York Mercury has the following: — A man who married a scolding actress in the far west witnessed the play of " Taming of the Shrew " recently for the first time. He went home after the play full of inward chuckles, and mentally resolved to embark in the " taming " business before the sun again gilded the western horizon. So the next morning he procured a cart whip, and when bis wife ordered him to take his feet off the mantel-piece, he snapped the whip defiantly, smashed a coffee-pot, a sugar-bowl, a pitcher, and two plates, and-and that was all. He has, however, since emerged from the " taming " business with a painful lump on the off-side of his head, a tinted optic, an incised ear, two vacancies in the front of his gums, and his coat split up the back. He says that Shakesphere was a colossal fraud, and he is glad be is dead.

Referring to the very ill-tempered, scolding speech delivered by Sir George Grey the other night, and the rebuke adminiatere J to him by Mr Saunders, the N. Z. Times says :— " But when the Premier came to reply to Sir William Fox's statements aa to the arrangements for the dissolution, he launched out into extravagance which must have astonished and alarmed even his stoutest supporters. Addressing the Opposition he said, " You shall do this. You shall not do that. I will jorce you to do the other." He raved and scolded at them as if they were a lot of naughty school-boys. He worked himself up into a towering passion, and tried to pick a quarrel with anybody who dared to laugh at his absurdities. When he sat down, even his own side failed to cheer him. He got flatter and flatter, in fact, as he came towards the end of his speech, and the accustomed peroration dwindled into a sorry "neer. While he was speaking, we observed whips taking a walk round the Oppv-. " —-"nently the object oftheir the House, and px... ""- George Grey had tour became apparent. pii. -.. --<-. to be gone a little too far, and he \v-___ -4 answered. Mr Saunders promptly followv. him, and gave him as fine a dressing down as he ever received. Mr Saunders baa a cool, deliberate way of settling up accounts with an opponent, wbich is very refreshing. He reminds us of a pugilist who has got a rash antagonist's head in chancery, and has made up bis mind to punish him at his leisure. He is iv no hurry, but when he does deliver a I thump, it is a heavy one, and though the thumps come slowly, they come steadily. He knocked Sir George Grey's heads of argument all to pieces, and turned all his sophistry inside out. No one is better qualified than he is to criticise the soi disant leader of the Liberal party, because he has a lifelong reputation as the most uncompromising Liberal in New Zealand. His speech was an admirable one, from every point of view, and the House went with him cordially." At a meeting of influential settlers held in Auckland last week, Mr Reader Wood in tbe chair, it was resolved to fc *"v a society to be called " The North New Zealand Association," which, irrespective of party, should watch over all legislation, especially that affecting the interests of Auckland. ' Alcohol will clean silver." Yes, alcohol well stuck to, will clean all the silver you have— out of your pocket. A very beautiful cabinet of New Zealand wood bas been made at Messrs Guthrie and Larnach's timber and woodware factory for the Sydney Exhibition. Some idea of the elaborate character of this specimen of workmanship may be obtained from the fact that there are no less than 8508 separate pieces of wood in it. The Chronicle is rough on the hon. member for Hokitika, with regard to whom it says : — Mr Barff, in the House yesterday evening, said tbat " a personal party feeling had caused the falsification of Hansard in the report of his speech." Were it not that Mr Barff seems utterly oblivious of the meaning of shame, we would say that he ought to be ashamed of himself to make such charges against gentlemen who have no chance of defending themselves. None of the gentlemen on the Hansard staff would think it worth their while to entertain personal or party feeling against Mr Barff. If they had any feeling in regard to him at all it would be one of supreme contempt. A heartless practical joke was played upon the worthy unsuspecting Magistrate of Ashburton, Mr Frank Guinness, at an entertainment got up for the benefit of the widow of the late Walter Hill, last month, at the Town Hall, Ashburton, and wbich, strange to say, the Ashburton Mail says, " caused great amusement." That paper thus tells the story:— A "Wondrous feat by the Ashburton Wizard " was the next item on the programme, and it caused great amusement. The Wizard (Mr W. H. Bristow) first proceeded to borrow a belltopper, the lender being Mr Frank Guinness, R.M. Having obtained the hat, the amateur professor of legerdemain very deliberately to I rip it up with hia penknife, and, after literally tearing it into shreds, coolly informed the astonished owner that he was powerless to do anything more ; he had forgotten the rest of the triek — the restoration of the hat — and was much obliged to the gentleman who had so kindly lent it. Thankiug the injured party was adding insult to injury. Moral — Don't lend your hat to amateur wizards. The Fiji Times of a recent date states: — News has reached us from Windward Isles of a sad accident which has resulted in the death of upwards of twenty people. It appears that a canoe left Loma Loma with 25 natives on board bound for Totoya. They were going about when a sudden squall sent the sail against the mast, capsizing the canoe. Tbe unfortunate passengers clung to the canoe, and might have escaped with consequences no worse than those which would have attended discomfort and exposure, but for tbe horrible fact tbat tbe accident occurred in- a locality infested witb sharks. A letter from Texas thus describes a night session of the Texas Assembly : — " In the Speaker's chair, sits what looks like a man; you can't just make out wbat it is, as most of tbe honorable gentlemen are very busily engaged in smoking, and the smoke from so many pipes hangs like a cloud over their beads— very typical, as all the speeches I heard also ended in smoke. Every member had a lighted tallow candle sticking in his desk. Whether this is part of the outfit of every member I cannot say, but I suppose it is, for each one on the adjournment of the House laid his away. The clerk seemed to me to run the machine, as he had a good deal to say at different times. One thing in particular amused me : he was calling the roll, and not liking the way the members answered, or failed to answer, as they lay back sprawling with their feet on the desks, he cried out, ** You fellows better pay more attention; there won't be a quorum if yon don't look out.' " A very interesting civil case was heard at the Magistrate's Conrt at Christchurch the other day. William Barnard was alleged to have stolen a mob of sheep from James White, farmer, and put them up for auction at the Addington Sale Yards. The sheep were purchased by Fleming Bros., through an agent named Armitage. White demanded their restitution, and, this being refused by Fleming, he sued to recover the sheep or their value. It was argued on behalf of defendant that the sheep were bought in market overt, and that the Magistrate could not order restitution till the conviction of the thief, but the plaintiff's counsel held tbat tbere was no such thing in the Colony as market overt, which only applied to England under the statute of William and Mary. He cited authorities to show that restitution could be ordered for goods sold out of market overt without conviction of the thief, and, as there was no such thing here, the plaintiff was entitled to recover. Public auction was but a quasi privateaffair , and not market overt. For the purposes of the law it was admitted on all sides that the case rested upon the meaning of market overt. The Magistrate, after taking time to consider, said he was inclined to think the sale was as much in market overt as if regulated by the Statute as far as the equities were concerned, but the law was strictly against that view, and he would have to enter for tbe plaintiff with costs. There was no similar case reported in any of tbe Australian or New Zealand law journals, and this was the first of the kind which had cropped up in the Colony. His Worship strongly advised an appeal to settle so nice a point by an authoritative decision. Notice of appeal was given,

Mr Pottie, veterinary surgeon, writes to the Sydney Evening News as follows : — I have a young heifer giving a bucket of milk daily, and yet she has never had a calf. I fancy this is rather a rare thing, and worth inspecting. She can be seen at my place, Waverley ; I reared her myself.