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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 78, 1 April 1880, Page 2

An accident of rather a . serious nature (says the Po*i) occurred on the DunedinInvercargill Railway last Wednesday evening, which has been kept remarkably quiet in the South, but only very narrowly escaped being attended by most disastrous consequences. We learn from private sources that a heavy train, drawn by two engines, was proceeding along the line near the Waihola Lake, about twenty-five miles south of Dunedin, when a horse suddenly ran on the line and galloped iv. front of the advaocing train. Every effort was made to check its speed, but tbe line being on a descending gradient, and the train being very heavy, it proved impossible to prevent the horse being overtaken by the " pilot " engine, just before entering on a bridge. The horse was run overlaid killed, being smashed all to pieces. The forepart of the eugiue, mounted on the body of tie . horse, aud the leading and driving wheels lt£t the metals ; the trailing wheels, although coupled to the others (the eDgine being a six-wheel-coupled one of tbe " O " class), kept ou the rails. Unfortunately this occurred just at the entrance of the bridge, and the result was thafc the engine ran full butt against the timber stringer of the bridge itself. The speed by this time had become so far reduced thafc the shock, which was rather severe, brought the train to a standstill, with nearly half the engine hanging over the bridge. A little more, and the whole train must have been precipitated over the side, wlien a dreadful loss of life could hardly have been averted. As ifc was, the damage was chiefly confined to the " pilot " engine, the forepart of which suffered considerably, the buffer-beam and cowcatcher being smashed, and other mischief done. The biidge was hardly injured at all, and the second, or " train" engine, escaped altgether. The damaged locomotive was replaced on the rails after some delay, and sent to Hillside for repairs, another being procured to take on the train. We clip the following from the Wellington Evening Post : — "■ Now that we have to accept John Chinaman to a certain extent as au established fact in our midst, ifc may be interesting to note the occupations to which he devotes his scheming, if nofc very powerful, intellect. From the last volume of the census returns, ifc appears that in March, 1878, there were 4,433 Chinese in the colony (only nine of whom are females). By far the larger number of them — 3,397 in allare engaged in gold-mining in some form or another. The success of the Celestial as a horticulturist and his fondness for the pursuit are well-known, and consequently it is somewhat surprising to find that only 83 are returned as farmers and market gardeners, and 172 as gardeners. There are, however, 94 farm laborers, 32 station servants, and 24 " others connected witb agriculture." Only 16 are described as " domestic servants " — a capacity in which the Chinese are so largely employed in San Francisco. There are, however, 47 described as " inn and club house servants." There are 89 shop-keepers, 4 merchants, and 8 commercial clerks in the list. The rest of the occupations range from a schoolmaster to a hawker, and include some rather curious examples. For instance there are eight " irregular medical men " — whether irregular in their habits or the prac tice of their profession is not stated — one " joss-house keeper," one " gambling housekeeper," one " opium house-keeper," and two opium sellers ; while nine describe themselves with pleasing brevity and plainness as "gamblers." It is rather creditable to the Chinese that out of the whale 4,433, only the odd three were in gaol afc the time the census was taken, although six are somewhat ambiguously classed as " others on roads." From a foot note we find, however, that the phrase is employed in its literal and nofc in its vulgar sense, the six Chinese referred to consisting of five packers and one " post boy on a station." Only nine Chinese were inmates of. charitable institutions oil the night of the census. In conclusion, we may safely assume that in whatever occupation, out of the 58 classes under which he is arranged by the Registrar-General, John Chinamau may be placed, he manages (if we except ouly the inmates of the prisons and charitable institutions) to make a very comfortable living, which is more than can be s iid of all the European inhabitants of New Zealand now-a-days." Homoepathy iv New York.— The following tables give the Government returns of the mortality in private practice, in five great cities, thus excluding hospital practice, as being mostly in allopathic hands, and also excluding deaths occurring from stillbirth, accidents, aud violence, as having no bearing on the question of medical treatment: — Neav York City,

So that in New York each allopathic physician lost a yearly average of nearly sixteen patients, while the homoepatbic lost less than nine. — Uomocpathic Revieiu,

A narrow escape from a tramway collision, occnred at Wellington the other day. As the tramway was passing the junction of Taranaki-street a Chinaman was driving a cart down the latter thoroughfare, and apparently was not keeping a very good look-out. He was just able to pull up in time, however, to avert a collision, but his horse's nose was a'most touching the tram. There is a curious race between two enterpiising newspaper proprietors — Mr. Galvin of Wellington, and Mr. Ivess of Ashburtou — :o see which will be first in the field with starting a journal at Hawera. At present the plants of both papers are in one pf the sheds on the Wellington Wharf, the s.s. Patea by which the material is to be sent ou being barbound at Patea. We shall await the result of the exciting struggle with some interest. Wellington credit stands high in London, as recent events in the financial world have proved beyond question. The latest proof of thi? was given the other evening at the Wesleyan tea meeting, when the Rev. Mr Kirk announced that the trustees of that church had been able to borrow £6000 at Home on security of the property at 7 per cent. Thus it will be seen that ecclesiastical real estate here is recognised as of substantial value in the great money market of the worM. An action -.as recently brought by a farmer named Theobald against Mr Studholme to recover £1000 damages, alleged to have been sustained by plaintiff through the defendant, in consequence of a fire on his run extending to plaintiff's holding and destroying fences^ buildings, &c. The case was tried on Saturday lasfc in Dunedin and resulted in a verdict for for the defendant. The Masonic fraternity in Palmerston are shewing signs of vitality as will be seen from the following taken from the Manawatu Times: — We understand that the tender for the erection of the Masonic Hall in Palmerston has been let, and that the work wili be proceeded with without delay. There were eight tenders for the contract, ranging' from .£319 to £460, and of course the work wa. let to the successful tenderers, Messrs Ewing and Gardner, at the former figure. The craft own an acre of ground, which they purchased some time ago for £100, and when they have their new building erected, will be in possession of a splendid property at a cost of a little over £400. ' And things* are not what they were,' ought to have sung the Psalmist of Life. I Bhould think not, indeed! That a lady should be able to obtain a divorce by calling for her husband's letters directed to his club, and ruthlessly handed over by the hall-porter, is shocking, indeed on the face of it. A friend of mine, some years ago, confined by illness to the house, asked his lately married wife to call at 's for his letters. The then hall-porter, one of the politest of men, expressed his extreme regret that it was against the rules of the club to give up members' betters without written authority. * But I'm his wife !' exclaimed the astonished lady. ' Very sorry, madam : no doubt you are ; but so many ladies call here who say the same thing and whom we don't know 1' replied the diplomatic official. My friend never divulged what occurred between him and his bride when she returned home ; but he looked gloomy for weeks afterwards.

Allopathic. Kb. of Mo. of Average Deaths Year. Physicians. Deaths, to each Physician 1870 944 14,869 1575 1871 984 15,526 1578 1,928 30,395 15*78 HOMOSPATHIC. 1870 143 1,287 9 00 1871 156 1243 997 000 o con Qvl.Q