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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 93, 19 April 1880, Page 2

Some surprise has been expressed (says the N.Z. Times) at the aale of the furniture of the Ministerial residence in Hobson-streefc, known as the Native Minister's residence, it might be stated that the lion Mr Bryce, the present Native Minister, does uot intend to occupy tho house, as he proposes, while in Wellington, to remain in lodgings, leaving hia family nt Warigunui. Anyone who was present at tho Into sale, or who perused the i advertisement containing tho list of things to bo Bold, nniHt Imvo been struck with i wonder how mioh a mass of furniture—sufficient lo nloclc a wurohouHO —could have been utilised by Uio Into Nntlvo Minister, seeing that he was a single man. and cannot but ■ come to tho conclusion that it is a great pity the soid furniture was not disposed of long ago, for the beueflt of tbo country'! dfltreuaecJ #nsnce§. ...

•'Asmodeusi" in the Mail expresses his opinion on the Royal Commissioners thus :— " I am interested in the Civil Service Commission, because I take a warm interest in the Civil Service ; there is so much about it that I can find congenial, for I know all the ins and outs of the departments, and daily chuckle over the procrastination and how-not-to-do-it that is practised, to say nothing of those who really do not know how to do it, and whose duties are resolved into efforts to find out someone who does, and who will do it for them. I could supply the Commission with valuable evidence if they would but call me as a witness. I know they won't, for the muck-heap they have undertaken to remove has already alarmed them, and they will, if posaible, dispose of the matter in hand by mere surface exploration. Of course I would be an awkward witness, but I will give them a hint, and strongly recommend its acceptance. Examine that department to which the others are most prone to refer. Reference is the very essence of the system; what would the over- worked officials, poor dears, do without it ?" The NZ. Times says : — A witness named Farrell, who yesterday gave evidence in the case of Mulhane v. O'Malley, was one of the least self-assertative men who ever entered the witness-box. This man was a wellknown ganger, whose services were sought by contractors under the Government at fourteen shillings a-day, and Mr Buckley . was trying to get him to admit that he was a first-class man at his kind of work. He admitted that he had been at the work for 25 years, '; man and boy," and that he had been earning as much as twenty pounds amonth. When pushed very hard as to whether he was not a good man, he replied " Oh ! I daresay I could pass in a crowd." " What do you mean by that ?" asked Mr Bucfey. "Oh ! that I " should not want muck pushing to get along." As a ganger he admitted that his services were somewhat in request, and defined the work of that functionary to consist of " getting the work out of the other men." A witness who followed Parrell informed the Couit that he was a man who had any amount of opinion of himself. Another witness, who was examined on the subject of blasting, admitted he knew "just a little" about it, having been used to that class of work for the last fifty years. Indeed, it was a matter of comment yesterday that all the witnesses when in the box had an uncommonly small opinion of themselves. The Melbourne Argus states that Messrs Boyle and Scott received a letter from their agent in London by the mail giving particulars of the programme of matches arranged for the Australian Eleven lie writes as follows : — " I saw Lilly white last night, and got the full programme so far as already arranged, but Lillywhite has left some good dates open for the Eleven to pick for themselves where they will play after they arrive. He states when it was known I hat the team were coining for certain he was rushed with applications for matches, and a3 there were so many he intended advertising them in all the sporting papers, and picking the best. He i 9 anxious to got as many eleven a-side matches as possible. The matches arrauged are as follows :— Eleven a-side Mntches — Leicestershire, Lancashire, Gloucestershire, Sussex, Derbyshire, Nottingham, Yorkshire, All-England at Canterbury, Marylebone. Against Odds — Newcastle, Buxtou, Birmingham, Spalding, Malton, Northauiton, Keighley, Crewe, Hastings, Lougsight, Birmingham (return), Broughton, Burnley, Oldhain, Leeds, Stockport, Dublin and Belfast, Glasgow and Edinburgh, and probably Aberdeen." We cull the following from the home News : — Those who feared that that the recent revival of trade was only partial and temporary appear, happily, to have been in the wrong. The activity which has for some time back been evident iv the iron trade, in consequence mainly of large orders received from America and our own .colonies, is extending now to other branches of industry. The trade in woollens is looking up, and the mills at Bradford and thereabout are once more busy. This is one explanation of the sudden rise in the price of wools. There has been much cagernes and activity apparent at the recent wool sales in London — crowds of buyers, animated competition, with enhanced, prices as the natural result. Thus all wools show an improvement of 10 to 12 per cent upon the sales of last November and December; while in the so-called greasy South Australian fleeces the improvement in price has risen as high as 30 to 40 per cent. Another probable reason for this rise, over and above the revival of trade, is the comparative failure of home-grown wool. Last year's bad weather had a very damaging effect upon English sheep. In Lincolnshire whole flocks were lost, and in ot'ier parts the heavy and continuous rains were no less injurious. It is an ill wind that blows nobody good. Australian wool-growers rejoice, while the English farmers are in despair. " Asmodeus," (a writer in the N.Z. Mail) professes, unsophisticated innocent that he is, to have met wiik a new experience. That is how he tells it : — " Are you a member ? " Such was the query put to me under novel circumstances on a receut evening. The querist, a plump, pretty, dark-eyed daiusel ; the place, to me a house of mystery. It looked lika a pub, and feeling athirst,, I entered, and espying a bar, with goodly show of: liquors, I called for a cool tankard of my favorite tipple. " Are you a member, sir ?" said the maiden. " What," thought I, " does she take me for anM.H.R.? What is there in my appearance that so belies me ?" Sternly, I asked, " What do you mean, young lady ?" " Well, sir, you kuow, of course. Are you a member ?" And the fair damsel actually winked ! A slight, coy-like, balfbashful, half -encouraging, tremulous motion of the left eyelid, a fleeting, flashing quiver, but decidedly a wink. It was interesting but puzzling, and I could only say, ' What, a member of the Police force ? emphatically no; Druids ? no ; Queer Fellows ? no , Ancient Order of Eoodle ? no ; Good Templars ? no; Eraternal Democrats ? no; City Council ? no; no, no ! Imps ? Eourths Estate ? — well " — but here my fair interrogator grew impatient, and exclaimed, " Well, you must be a m ." I really think, from the firm compression of her lips, that she intended to say " muff" that time, and not " member," but at the moment my friend Squills. " Well that's what I certainly have not," said I, " and to tell the truth, I'm puzzled. This interesting young person wants to know if I'm a m ," " Oh, is that it ?" said Squills, " come on," and he laughed, and we adjourned to the bar. " Give us two tidal waves, Araminta," said Sqills; and, lo ! two shining pewter pints frothed on the board, and we dipped our beaks and smiled again. Squills, bloated capitalist that he is, deposited sixpence worth of coppers of the counter, and the young lady, once again beaming on all round smiled, betook herself away and then my faithful friend and pitcher elucidated. "It's a club, you see," said he, " half-crown entrance fee; number unlimited; beers half price; members cau introduce friends — join, and be happy." Need I say, in the language of the poet, "I have been there, and still will go " — especially while the damsel with the tremulous eyelid remains a permanent member of the establishment ? The sale of furniture of the late Mrs Charles Dickens was largely attended, and most of the personal objects and the- books fetched large prices, On the other hand, the pictures went for ridiculously small suma. It was touching— all told — to see how carefully everything connected, with, her late husband bad, been cherished, JJui W BS it wmm? to m\\ too feopJfs f ' '. »