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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 266, 20 November 1879, Page 2

Dr W. S. Drake reports, in the St. Louis Medical and Surgical Journal, that he had an " inveterate case of chronic rheumatism cured by the patient bathing in an infusion of horse chestnut." This is certainly an improvement on the practice of carrying a horse chestnut in one's pocket as a propbylatic of the same complaint. Of all the accusations brought against the late City of Glasgow Bank, that of being 1 the cause of an action for breach of promise of marriage is certainly the strangest, but nevertheless it is a fact. The names of the parties are well known, but there is no necessity for mentioning them; suffice it to say tbat the lady belongs to Glasgow, the gentleman to Greenock, both of them being people of some wealth. The lady was unfortunate enough to hold some of the stock of the bank, and when the crash came, although the marriage invitations were issued, the gentleman cried off until it was ascertained how far he would be affected as her husband. After the decision of the House of Lords thai: no liability would extend to him, it was, of course, expected that he would at once complete his engagement, but for some reason or other he had changed his mind, and positively refused to do so. After all persuasion had failed, an action claiming £3000 was raised, which he has now compromised by paying £1000. The Timaru Herald has the following about the financial position :— " The thankless duty of wiping out the deficit and saving the credit of the colony, has now to ho performed by a Ministry new to office and hardly yet secure in their seats. They must impose a heavy burden of additional taxation, for the simple reason that there is no other possible way out of the difficulty. But the imposition of taxation is a critical operation and cannot but excite a certain amount of resentment. Only a very strong Government, in fact, can boldly venture on such a task. In view of the alarming state of the finances and of the prevalent commercial depression, it onght, of course, to be a matter of honor with every public man to assist the Government in their difficult work, whether he agrees with them on general politics or not. Unfortunately any such high standard of honor. .... We quite expect, therefore, to see the Government bitterly and vigorously assailed when they brin b down their financial proposals. We have not the slightest fear of the result, however, if those proposals are only bold and honest. The Ministers have at their back, perhaps, the stauuebeat and ablest party that the House of Representaever produced, and if they will only trust that party thoroughly and go straight to the root of things without compromise, they may be sura of meeting fcwith amply |aufficient support,"