The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 1880.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 8, 9 January 1880, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 1880.

A telegram received by Mr Pitt, M.H.R., in answer to one sent by that gentleman to the Postmaster General relative to the closing of the Suez mail a few hours after the receipt in Nelson of the in ward, mail has been placed at our disposal. It will be seen by the telegram published below that arrangements have now been made whereby the mail will not close in Nelson till Tuesday next, and we are confident that business people and the public generally will appreciate the action which has been taken. The following is the telegram referred to: — "TheWaitaki leaving Nelson on Tuesday next is timed to leave Wellington for Lyttelton on Wednesday at 11 a.m., with a view to her catching Thursday morning's express train South, and overtaking the Suez mail steamer at Dunedin." An alteration has been made in the dates fixed for the sittings of the District Court in Nelson. Last year the sitting days of this Court were for civil business the second and fourth Mondays in ewjh month, and for bankruptcy the second and fourth Fridays. During the present year, however, business

of any description will be taken, oh ithiE second and fourth Mondays of each month only, and criminalsittings will be held or the second Mondays in the months of January, March, May, Jnly, September, and November. The Naval Brigade fired for the Company's medal last Saturday, when some good shooting was made. Seamen T. H. Jones and Moore each made 50 out of a possible 60, bufc the former having maoe the highest score at the longest range was declared the winner. The monthly inspection of the Town and Port Volunteers took place last night, when there was a fair muster. Atter the arms had been inspected the Volunteers marched to the Botanical Gardens, where they were put through a number of evolutions by Major Pitt, and afterwards returned to the Drill Shed, where they were dismissed. A meeting of the Volunteers wa3 held in the Drill Sued after parade last night to cbhsider the advisability bf constructing a new range on the mud flat, at the north end of Collingwood-street. There was considerable diversity of opinion as to the probable cost of the work, and it was eventually agreed to obtain from a competent engineer an estimate of the cost before anything further was done in the .matter: Mr, Mabin reports the sate yesterday by auction of sheep by the Patea from Putea at 9s, and lambs at 8s 9d. The Wellington Evening Post of Wednesday has the following: —The hearing of the charges of fraudulent concealment of property preferred against Mr G. W. Beer, (under the Debtors and Creditors' Act yester;day at the R.M. Court, euded in the banktrupt being committed for trial on the evidence of W. Booth and Alexander Dimaut. Bail was allowed, the defendant being allowed to enter into his own recognisances of .£2OO, and to find one surety of £100. The following special telegrams appear in the Pout of Wednesday :— London, sth January.—Serious riots, followed by loss of life, have occurred at Connemara, Ireland. Disturbances arose in consequence of the ejectment of a tenant, and the mob which assembled refused to disperse on being called upon to do so by the police. The Riot Act was then read, and the mob still refusing to disperse, the police, after the lapse of the usual time, proceeded to use force. Tbe crowd retaliated, and the police then used their pistols and carbines, firing into the crowd and charging them with fixed bayonets. Some of the rioters were fatally injured, and a large number received wounds and contusions of a more or less serious character. — 6th January.— A correspondent of the Daily News, accompanying the Russian army on the expedition to Central Asia, has been expelled, and it has been officially notified that no newspaper correspondents will be permitted to join the expedition. — The campaign at the Cape is now considered concluded, and General Sir Garnet Wolseley is returning to England.— General Roberts has issued a proclamation at Cabul announcing \ a general pardon to all rebels who at once give in their submission. — The Russians are massing large bodies of troops in Poland. Considerable uneasiness is felt on the subject in Germany, and it is understood' that official representations have been addressed through the German Ambassador at St. Petersburgh to the Czar.— Reports state that Mr Parnell's speeches in America have been extremely moderate.— Several collisions have lately taken place between the police "and the people in Ireland owing to evictions.— A procession at Connemara, numbering 400 persons, assailed with stones a force of 60 constables. Bent to keep order. The latter fired among the crowd, and charged with fixed bayonets, wounding several severely. Several arrests have been made. — The British Government has cause for grave anxiety in consequence of the flight of Abdul Rahman Tasskent to Balkh, with the connivance of the Russians, who supplied him with money. This is regarded as the beginning of an unofficial war, materially altering the aspect of the Afghan question— The Khan of Merv has sent an embassy to Calcutta, to ask for the mediation or assistance of the Viceroy of India. The Tobacco Act, 1879, is now in force. Section 22 requires that any person having any duty-paid manufactured tobacco in his possession is to send in to the Collector of Customs, at the nearest Custom-house, a descriptive list of all packages of such manufactured tobacco. By the interpretation clause of the Act the term " manufactured tobacco " means tobacco prepared in any shape, and therefore includes cigarettes, cigars, and snuff. By the 23rd section of the Act, persons having unstamped packages of manufactured tobacco in their possession render themselves liable to a heavy penalty. Sir Julius Vogel's candidature for Falmouth is hotly opposed by the Western Daily Mercury, which declares in concluding a very bitter article on Sir Julius' connection with the New Zealand Agricultural Company, "ihat he will receive on polling day such a defeat at the hands of the electors of Falmouth as will ring from Jobn-o'Groats to Land's End, and from Land's End to New Zealand."