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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 193, 14 August 1879, Page 2

Karamea news is to the effect that good gold is still being got at the newly discovered ground, and that agricultural settlement is progressing a3 well as can be expected. The Wellington correspondent of the Wanganui Chronicle says that the present Government is making the most of its short lease of power, and appointments arc being make right and left without the smallest regard to fitness or the public good. A correspondent, writing to a Wanganui contemporary, puts the following pertinent j question: — When a trustee in a bankruptcy estate goes bankrupt himself do the creditors in the first estate only get the diluted dividend iu the second estate? lu Otago there has been in existence for some time a Prisoners' Aid Society. Its annual meeting was held the other day, when the report showed that IDS cases had been relieved, five of which had returned the amount of aid received. The society distributes its relief irrespective of belief or nationality, and bas accomplished much good. '• Atlas " writes in the World:— At a time when we are sending boys to the Cape to do men's work, and when we mav fairly expect a heavy death-rate, the following fact may be interesting • the first draft that joined the 7th Fusiliers in the Crimea consisted of one officer, two sergeants, and 100 rank and file ; of whom only the officer (the present able and popular colonel of the regiment) and six men returned to England. A correspondent, who was perched on a waggon in the laager during the battle of Gingihloco. reports that the line regiments lately arrived from England, consisting of j young soldiers, fired wildly as much as fifteen rounds a man ; whilst the 57th (the Die- i hards), who are old soldiers returning from foreign service in ludia, fired only five rounds a man with more execution. After the battle the general complimented the officers and men of the Die-hards on their splendid discipline aud coolness under fire. In an article on Sir George Grey's proposed stumping tour, the Ashburton Herald says : —Sir George Grey knows well how to play upon the feelings of the working men, and will doubtless make another effort to galvanise their enthusiasm in his cause into life. But the working men of New Zoaland are chips of the old block, and John Bull is an animal with an instinct that teaches him a sound lesson, if an old one, and it is this— " once bit, twice shy." An Australian cablegram is a late issue stated that it was intended to test Echunga for diamonds. The following paragraph throws more light on the subject:— Mr Dodd, the London diamond merchant, in reporting upon two diamonds, found at Echunga and exhibited at the Taris Exhibition, says he has no doubt diamoud fields exist in the vicinity of Echunga, and that for years past gold diggers have passed unheeded hundreds of diamouds, not knowing them from worthless crystals. A Waverley correspondent, writing of the progress of Volunteering in that district, says:— The men are improving fast, and if they stick to it, will in a short time be really efficient drills. They are the proud possessors of a bugle, but have not a bugler yet. A gentleman in the town, who understands the noble art of sounding the calls, has kindly undertaken to teach a young volunteer, and for that purpose asked him to his house to practice. In tbe middle of the last lesson, the foliowiug letter was handed to the instructor from his next door neighbor:— "ls this to continue ? Am Ito be perpetually annoyed by an infernal din calculated to cause the inhabitants to believe in pandemonium. Is my delicate organisation, my keen perception of time and tune to be for ever subjected to these rude shocks?" The reply sent to the above was more expressive than Parliamentary, and consisted of three words only, requesting the retirement of the writer to a place where, probably, bugles are not known. The Hobart Town Mercury devotes an editorial article to Mr Arthur Clayden and his published letters in the Christian World on colonial life. Mr Clayden, it appears, landed in Melbourne from the ship Aconea gua, and, having a few days to spare before proceeding to New Zealand, endeavored to find his way about towu. Of course ho found much to praise and something to blame. In Canada every countenance seemed to say to him, " I am the man who hath seen trouble"; but in Melbourne he" could not discover one solitary haggard or toil-worn countenance " ; and the contrast is attributed to climate and' food. Probably Mr Clayden mixed only with the well-to do, and kept out of the way of poverty and suffering. He heard Charles Clark's lecture ou " Christmas," and did not think much of it ; but he had the satisfaction of hearing the reverend gentleman preach from the text " It is finished," and felt the pulpit was the proper place for Mr Clark. Mr Clayden honoured the Rev. Thomas Jones's congregation by his presence, and was surprised to find only well-to-do tradesmen and farmers present ; and Mr Jones, as a democrat, is taken to task for wearing a black gown. Mr Clavden read the newspapers, and here is his opinion :— " lam afraid the Press is a colonial weak point Cleverness is cultivated at the expense of morality. The average local journalism of England is bad enough, thanks to the exigencies of existence; but if you want to see moral and mental savagery iu perfection go and mingle with the subordinates of a colonial or American news office. There seems to be a rivalry among printers, reporters, and subeditors aa to which shall develop the most unmitigated deviltry .•'••

The Napier Gas Company are now using half Greymouth and half Newcastle coal in their works, aud it is found that the Grey j coal (from the Brunner mine) gives one thousand feet of gas per ton, about 12 per cent to the ton more than the imported article; the gas is also of a hotter quality. At the conclusion of the present contract for Newcastle coal, the Grcvmouth miueral will be exclusively used, as 'it is not only better but cheaper. Now that Sir Garnet is fairly shipped "for the Cape, there is a general feeling 'of relief at the Horse Guards. With the committee on Military Organisation — or rather disorganisation—coming oa _ t i, c prospect of fitch an energetic army reformer as the hero of the Ashantee campaign sitting on it was too awful. There might have been a suggestion that our establishment of genera! officers is too large and too expensive for our army.— English paper. There seems to be a nice den of iniquity in the shape of a Maori camp in the neighborhood of Wanganui. A local paper says : —On Sunday last the feelings of those living in the neighborhood of the camp were outraged by a series of fights, culminating in a shameful struggle between a European and a Maori, concerning the hitter's wife. The European's finger was nearly bitten off and served him right. Our countryman further disgraced himself hy drawing a knife on the Maori, and it was only by the intervention of Mr Montagu Browue that bloodshed wa3 prevented. The yelling of men, with the cries of women and children, made up a scene which it is easier to imagine than describe. Ladies and children on their way to and from public worship had to witness this pandemonium. For their own sakes, as well as ours, it is high time that energetic steps were taken to put tlie Maoris where they can neither harm themselves nor us. The present site of the camp offers irresistible temptations to the unfortunate natives, aud it is not too much to say that their visits to town are fiendish orgies of drunkenness and debauchery. Apropos of the visit of the Prince of Wales to these colonies, the London correspondent of the South Australian 7_e-._v.er writes :— « The Australian tour of the Prince of Wales, if it takes place, is to be even more distinguished than his visit to India. It is now reported that the Princess will accompany him, and that his suite will include several persons of political eminence. What would you say to Lord Beaconsfield as chaperon ? The Radicalism of the antipodes would be put in a dilemma. The Duke of Sutherland may be relied upon as one of the party. He aud the Prince are inse* arables. Lord Lonsdale may be quite willing to skip another London season. One cf the finest vessels in the fleet will he placed by the J Admiralty at the Prince's service, and a convoy of several men-of-war will accompany it. The Australian squadron will be appointed to meet His Royal Highness at the Sound. The following is a paragraph from the New Zealand letter of the Insurance and Banking Record for July.— (hi the soundest authority I am iu a position to say that verylarge sums are on the way to the loan companies, and are, of course, anxiously looked for. One company gets £80,000 hy the July mail, and another £70,000. Most of this is engaged "to arrive," and all tho ingenuity of borrowers is exerted to make sure of money still on the way, and to arrive in August. The truth is that the Banks were far too liberal in their fashion of lending last year, and are now as extreme in their desire to get their money iu. It is impossible to conceal that the commercial position is one of peril, and though I think I am justified in saying that things have already got a little better, and are likely still to improve, the next two months will be trying ones for all. Any courageous individual on your side, who would bring some mouoy for investment with him, might easily get 10 per cent on first-class freehold security, for the rest seven years. A correspondent of a contemporary writes from Wellington .—The land tax, hy the way, has been felt much more heavily in Wellington and other largo towns than was expected, as in spite of what the Government said to the contrary, ifc was really meant as an experiment iu the direction of the " bursting up policy," and was intended to produce but little effect in the towii3 and much iu the country. As it is, the administration of the Laud Tax Department has been so conducted as to tread on everyone's toes, and any appeals against excessive valuations were met in a way which showed that justice was about the last thing the Government wanted. One curious indirect result will be to increase the city rates by 60 or 100 per cent next year, as the sworn laud tax valuer made " the value to sell " far more than twenty times the " rateable value," also previously made by the same persons, and this having been upheld by the Assessment Courts, will next year form the basis on which the rates willl be made under the 5 per cent, clause. In connection with the passing of the Loan Bill the Parliamentary correspondent of the Auckland Herald wrote:— On the question of the third reading Mr McLean made a few remarks amidst laughter, saying that it had always been the custom to send somebody home. There was no need for this, aud he trusted the bill would go home alone. Mr Kees here made a very bad pun on Mr McLean's remarks, saying that he hoped the bill would come back a loan. Dr. Hodgkinson cleared his conscience from all responsibility in the matter of horrrowiug, and bewailed the decease of provincialism. He thought the present Government could have attempted to stop the borrowing. He also thought that some better system of Government should have been attempted. Next session he would come back as an independ ent member. Mr Wakefield seized the attention of the House by calling attention to the fact that they were passing a large Loan Bill without the slightest knowledge of the financial condition of the country, or how the interest wojld be paid. He hoped the time would come when there would be a Ministry courageous enough to come down and put a stop to the borrowing system. The long distance championship contest for the Astley belt began at the Agricultural Hall London, on the 16th June. Pour contestants appeared, viz., John Ennis, of Chicago; " Blower " Brown, of Turnham Green; Harding, of Blackwall; aud Western, of New York, l.owell, the champion, did not enter, on account of an injured foot; he therefore forfeited his stake and the belt. At the start the betting was 6 to 4 on " Blower " Brown Harding went off the track on the 16th, used up. Ennis was seized with cramp on the 17th, and retired, narrowing the match down to *' Blower " Browti and the America*;, Western, the latter of whom finished in fine style, making 550 miles within the time, with five minutes to spare, and wioning the belt and championship of the world and his bet of five " centuries " with Sir John Astley. "Blower" Brown made 453 miles to Weston's 550. Rowell says he will challenge Weston. Two boys of Wincanton, England, badly addicted to vicious literature, put on black masks aud false moustaches and set out with pistois to indulge in exploits on the highway. They attempted to rob a man, and fired two shots at him, but the net result was a sentence to six months' imprisonment and 25 strokes with a birch rod for one, and three months and twelve strokes for the other. ;: Premature Inquiry— Charles : What did that^ spring suit cost you, Jack? Hi3 frieud: Can't say, dear boy— haven't been summoned for it yet.

Madame Pattie and M, Nicolini have been condemned by the Tribunal of Commerce at Naples to pay the manager of the San Carlo Theatre 10,000f. damages for breaking their engagement with him. They suddenly left the town ou the night the first performance was fixed for. A trapezist, known as Cee-Mee, proposed to perform at Stoodley'a Circus, Ipswich, the dangerous feat of walking the ceiling head downwards, with his little daughter suspended from his teeth. Yielding however, to the opinions of the Mayor and Borough Magistrates, the promoters have abandoned the idea. The corn crop (maize) of the United States for 1876 was 1,300.000,000 bushels, largely fed to cattle and hogs. The hog crop alone of that year was 7,ooo,ooo— that is to say, that number was slaughtered. Into Chicago aione in 1878 there were received 6,399,000 hogs, of which 5,000,000 were slaughtered aud packed. Of cattle there were received upwards of 1,000,000 for packing purposes. In the United States there are of women in the various professions 530 doctors, 420 dentists, 68 preachers, and 15 or 20 lawyers. Striking at the Root of it.—' Doctor,' said a wealthy patient to his physician, ' I want you to be thorough, and strike at the root of the disease.' « Well, I will,' said the doctor, as he lifted his cane and brought it down hard enough to break into pieces a bottle and a glass that stood upon the sideboard It was his last professional visit to that house. An Overheard Conversation. — Milesian Master: Pat, Pat, I say ! Oh, there you are, ye blag-yard. And why, now, didn't ye answer me. before, spalpeen — an' me a-callin' ye this last half-hour ?— Pat : Sure, sor, an' I niver heard ye a-callin' me, at all, at all. — M M. Niver heard me, then why the divi! couldu't you call back at first, an' say so, ye thafe o' the world ? The Bishop Preached.— The congregation subsequently requested him to publish his sermon. The Bishop was greatly delighted. ♦ And so said he, with jocose affability, to the senior churchwarden, ' the people were much pleased, eh ?' « Well, you see, sir,' replied the official, * our folks would like to know about it, and—' ' Ab/ said the Bishop complacently, « I see, they'd like to read it at home ? ' Well, sir, that's what they would all like ' (here he paused, and then added confidentially)— « it was very hot weather you see, and so, when you were preachin', they were all asleep.' .Jonah in the whale's belly was safer than those who, being swallowed up of sickness and disease, yet neglect to take the only remedies that can save them. It is an irdisputable fact that " Ghollah's Great Indian Curi-s " are the surest restorers to health of any medicines ever yet discovered. Persons who had been ill with Rheumatics and Goat for over 20 years have been cured by these meritorious medicines. Sold by all Chemists — see testimonials.