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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 9, 10 January 1880, Page 2

-_-'-^^3____________ ____?-_-.■_-__.__ _„_^';,____.J£?J?-t?r. i; A new, and not altogether commendable method of advertising has lately come into vogue in this city, writes the Wellington Post. We refer to the practice of stencilling trade announcements on the pavements. Lately, pedestrians have been implored by this channel to " Ask for Tiger Brandy." This appears to have aroused the horror of some teetotallers, for now we find the words " Certain Death," painted underneath the alcoholic invitation. The Southland Times states that a gentleman who has just returned from Queenstown brings news fitted to rejoice the heart of every angler in the colony. It seems that Lake Wakatip is already swarming with both-brown^rout and salmon trout, and that they cafiT3-"seen"swimming about the pie? at Queenstown. A young fisher, in the Course of a few hours, secured 17 fish, of which the largest was of two pounds weight. The salmon trout are said to have attained a considerable size, besides being numerous. It is easy to see that when such a state of things has been reached so soon after original stocking, the future for Lake Wakatip, with •jls.vast extent, will be a great one as a resort 'for anglers, not only in New Zealand, but in the neighboring colonies. There have been some curious revelations in connection with insolvent estates during the last twelve months, and some of the transactions have been very amusing, except to those immediately concerned. One of the strangest that has yet occurred came to our knowledge a few days ago. A merchant filed for a considerable amount, and amongst his assets was a large quantity of landed property, which, of course, had come under the operation of the land tax passed by the Grey Government. Accordingly the Commissioner was invited to attend a meeting of creditors ! Rumor does not state whether the head of the department accepted the invitation. The ex- Colonial Treasurer, we should imagine, hardly calculated upon a deficiency in the revenue from such a source. —N.Z. Times. During the hearing of the celebrated grog case on December 11. considerable amusement was caused by Mr Fitzherbert asking if spirits were never watered before being sent out. On receiving the answer " never," he looked up and remarked, " What, never," and the answer was given with increased emphasis, "No, never." The temptation was too great, and pat came the " What, never," and the answer " Well, hardly ever," amid the prolonged laughter of those in Court, in which the Bench heartily joined. — Wanganui Chronicle. -The Marlborough Express of Wednesday last says : — We regret to learn the death under peculiarly sad circumstances of Mr J. Dumble's eldest son. It would appear that about three weeks back the lad was working in a store at Marlborongh Town, and went one very dark evening with a little girl to fetch some water for the house from a well outside. The little lad got a fright owing to the darkness, and it seems to have affected his mind and health, as some few days later on he was obliged to return to his parents in Blenheim, and shortly after that he was attacked by the painful disease—St. Vitus's Danee — in its most aggravated form, and relapsed into semi-conciousness. The poor lad's mind also seemed gone, and this morning, to the regret of many who knew the lad and liked him, he expired. Mr W. Swanson, one of the notable four who seceded f roni the Grey party last session was banquetted a few nights ago by a section of his constituents. The hon. gentleman arrived at the banguetting hall too soon, and he accordingly adjourned to the house of a friendly bonifice. On preparing for his ppeech some time afterwards he discovered to his horror that the manuscript had disappeared from his coat pocket, in which he had. placed it along with some other documents. With a look of intense dismay upon his countenance, he rose to reply to the toast, and made a very discursive and rambling speech indeed. It appears he had offered £\ reward for the recovery of the precious documents, but failing to obtain then., had to stumble along as best he could. When the girl who has encouraged a young man for about two years suddenly turns around and tells him she- can never be more than a sister to him, he can, for the first time, see tbe freckles pn her nose.

A very sad and sudden death occurred at Picton last Saturday evening, at about 5 o'clock. A young man named Samuel Porter, £ well-known biishman, bad been indulging in practical joeking by sitting on the guuwale of a small boat rowed by his mate, James Paul, and while near the wharf he tumbled, intentionally, several times into the water, and being an expert swimpier never gave a thought to the danger. After they had started for the Grove, and weie a mile and a half from Picton, Porter again began rolling the boat about, and ns his companion warned him, the boat filled and capsized, and Porter disappeared under the water and was never seen again. Paul was picked up by Mr Stokes, of the Grove, who was passing* but nothibg, could be _ei_Fi of tlie deceased: It is generally thought that he must have taken cramp, as be ' had been sitting in his wet clothes for over an hour aud a half previously, others again fear lhat he may have fallen a victim to a shark that might have found it» way up the Sound. The occurrence cast a gloom over Picton ; everyone wuo new' Porter liked hira for his kindly good naturo. He^was about 27 years of age, and his friends, we believe, reside near Otahuhu. — Marlborough Ezfiresx. The New Plymouth people appear to be fully capable of appreciating a popular song, with loug-continuing favor, when they have mustered the difficulty of catching the tune, although there are some captious cr.itics nmong them who protest that such proclivity i 3 wearisome: The Taranaki Herald, referring to local holiday celebrations, says-.— There is a certain religious society whose praises were once Bung by one of its own members in a string of verses commencing thus:— * This wondrous clock is going still, which first struck one upou Mow Hill.' Thia beautiful sentiment is equally applicable to " My Grandfather's Clock," constructed by some cute Yankee, and introduced to this Colony by someone who had as much regard for the sensibilities of his neighbors aa the man had for the interests of the farmers who introduced the house sparrow. We have already hinted pretty plainly that we have had nearly enough of "My Grandfather's Clock," but we were doomed to have a further surfeit of it on New Year's Eve. At about 11 p.m. pu Wednesday the admirers of this musical piece of mechanism wound it up and set it going in Cottier's Hotel. The lubrication which it there received caused it to work with perfect freedom, and with a complete absence of f riefcion. From Cottier's Hotel it was taken around the town, and peaceful citizens were aroused from their slumbers by the clicking of its pendulum and the jingling of its carillons At about 1 a.m. on New Year's Day it was taken to Dr. O'Carroll's surgery, ahd there, from among tbe doctor's drugs, it received a stimulant which set it going at such a rate as to defy all the rules of time and tune. After pursuing a mad career till about 4.30 a.m. the clock stopped short, and we sincerely wish that we could _dd— never to go again. The Sydney Mail of 20th December, says: There is little alteration to report in the demeanor of the condemned bushrangers. The younger meu are very subdued, and occasionally fall into deeply dejected moods. All pay assiduous attention to the exhortations of the prison chaplains. Scott, apparently, cares less for the consolations of the church, his whole attention being apparently concentrated on the argument of the reserved points on Friday. The chance of a new trial has made him rather restless, otherwise there is not a great deal of change in him. . On Thursday, Scott, Williams, and Bennett attended the usual weekly service in the prison chapel. They were seated in the place reserved for criminals under sentence of death, and were curiously scanned by the other prisoners. Williams, whose real name is Johns, has been constantly visited by his sister, who came to see him, and also by several other respectable residents, of Ballarat, who have come to Sydney to ascertain what can be done on his behalf, Scott has been several times visited by Mrs Amess, a lady to whom ifc is stated he was affianced in Victoria. Williams, though an attendant at a Wesleyan Sunday school at Ballarat, belongs to the Church of England, and is attended by Canon Rich, as also are Scott and Bennett. The newest service rendered by monkeys to mankind was recently illustrated in London. In one of the school districts so many parents reported no children iv their farm l ies, and in order to ascertain the real number of children in the district the school officers resorted to an ingenious measure. Two monkeys were gaily dressed, put in a waggon, and accompanied by a brass band, were carried through the streets of the district. At once crowds of children made their appearance, The procession was stopped in a park, and the schcol officers began their work ; distributing candies to the youngsters they took their names and addresses. They found out that over sixty parents kept their children from school. The ingenious measure brought to the school about 200 boys and girls. Lord Truro, who residence is at Falconhurst, on the summit of Shooter's Hill, has just afforded a novel example of funeral simplicity. In October, Lady Trnro, his wife, died, and his lordship, having placed the body in a plain wooden box, lightly constructed so as not to arrest the process of natural decay, buried it himself in a grave dug on the lawn which fronts the house, at a spot selected for the purpose by the deceased lady during her lifetime. The grave is about four feet deep, and a marble ornament will mark its position. A late number of the Dunfirmline Journal reports tbat a terrible accident occurred at the Alexandria Colliery, Eavenshead, St. Helens, whereby seven men were killed and two injured. The men had assembled at tbe usual hour to commence work. A number had been lowered down the shaft, and the cage was again brought up for another load. Nine men entered it, and the signal was given to descend, when the engine started, winding the wrong way, and the cage was rapidly drawn towards the head-gear. One man and a youth, seeing the danger, leaped at the risk of their lives from the cage, and escaped with some severe bruises. The engine continued winding up the rope, and almost immediately after the two miners had jumped from the cage it was dashed against the heavy woodwork of the head-gearing with great force, snapping the rope and liberating the cage, which fell down the pit shaft, a distance of 325 yards to the bottom, carrying its unfortunate occupants with it. The cage was smashed, and the bodies of the miners were frightfully mutilated. The engineer, Joseph Naylor, has been employed as a winder for over 21 years, and has worked at the Alexandria pit for over nine years. Mr Buxton is a brewer* and a Liberal candidate for Essex. Mrs Buxton is benevolent and advocates temperance. The other day, says Truth, she addressed an audience of working-men on the waste of money and "loss of time caused by drinking and smoking, bufc her peroration was interrupted by a ludicrous incident which was the more unpleasant as it left her with no dignified or adequate retort. " Ah, missus ! " shouted one' of her hearers, " where'ud you be if us didn't drink ? It's all along of us drinking, as the Buxtons be so fine ; " you'd be wuss off without it, now, wouldn't you ? " The Glasgow Bank — It is hoped and believed that no further call will be made on the unfortunate shareholders of the City of Glasgow Bank. The third dividend, 13a 4d in the £ in all, has just been paid out of the money in hand. It is hoped that a rise in the value of securities held will enable the . liquidators by-and-bye to meet aU claim)..

Some men are with their character much as they are with their money \ the less they have the more caref vi they have to be. Incredible Revelation.— Swell : Yes, 'tis a noble coat, and I came by it in a most extraordinary way. Friend : How ? Swell • Why, I bought it. Friend : Never ! s Swell: Season your admiration for awhile.. I not only boiight it, but 1 alsb-^paid for it. A Staunton (Virginia) newspaper speaks thus of a "practical honeymoon"; — "A few days ago a young lady and gentlemau in this country, both in good circumstances, were married at 9.30 a.m., went straight to their own residence, to which the groom had already ordered new furniture and an outfit for housekeeping; and, at 13 o'clock they had difiner, which the bride had attended to. In the af teruoou the bridesmaids had a good deal of fun putting down the carpets for the happy pair." There has come to light in San __ rancisco an exceedingly curious apparatus, which i 3 designed to facilitate cheating at cards. The contrivance consists of an arrangement of springs in a frame, which passes around the player's arm beneath his coat sleeves, and contains the cards designed to be used in cheating. Attached to the apparatus is a string, which passes round the player's body to his left hand. By means of the string the player can throw out the cards so as to "stock" his hand, and withdraw those he does not consider strong enough to play against his opponents. A machine of this kind would quickly empty the pockets of greenhorns. A correspondent writes : — A new cra_e has taken possession of American womankind, and that is the fashion of tatooing the limbs, breast, or shoulders in Indian ink. Of all places the Quaker city of Philadelphia is the most given to it. The operators, mostly female, but not always sd, have their hands full of business. Monograms, devices* the names of friends, lovers, or relatives, are pricked into the skin, until one is puzzled to think how they bear the torture. A reporter was admitted to one of those operating rooms, and saw ifc all through a screen. One woman had no Jess than eight devices, including monograms, crosses, half-moons, &c, tatooed from the knee down. Lately the women have become almost crazy about it; The charges rauge from sdol. to _tidoi., according to design. All Eastern aud Southern cities are possessed with the craze, which has extended to Chicago, St. Louis, and this coast. I suppose you have not yet got to this pitch of fashionable disfiguration in New Zealaud, although it was an open secret there a quarter of a csntury ago that tatooing was not unkuown to the families of the earliest white, inhabitants, especially in the far north. It may have gone out of I fashion, however, and it would be well not i to revive it.