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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 110, 8 May 1880, Page 2

The Wellington correspondent of the Auckland Star writes as follows : — " About the beginning of this year a man whose name I cannot bring to mind was summoned to appear before the Resident Magistrate to answer a charge of haviog been found illegally on premises. He admitted ths justice of the accusation, but he asserted that he had no felonious intention. He then entered into a long story of his grievances against society in general. The man bears a most extraordinary resemblance to Sullivan the celebrated murderer, and owing to this unpleasant fact has been subjected to a great deal of persecution. I remember Sullivan well, and I can say that I never saw two men resemble each other so much as these two men, not only as regards external appearance, but also manners and tone of voice. They are as like, ia fact, as two peas. The poor man complained tbat in consequence of his beiog so often mistaken for Sullivan that he could not earn anything like a livelihood. No sooner would he obtain employment than some overofficious person would whisper to the master that he was harboring a murderer. In this manner he had been driven about for some time, and did not know which way to turn in order to eke out a bare subsistence. The Magistrate acquitted the defendant, and advised him to clear up country. The next we hear of him is on the Waimate Plains. He succeeded in his application to join the " unemployed " gang, and was sent to the Plains to engage in road-making. Not long had he been there when a rumor began to assume shape that Sullivan, the Maungatapu murderer was amongst them. In vain did the unfortunate victim protest that it was a case of mistaken identity. One of his comrades went so far as to assert that he actually was Sullivan ; he knew bim from having been in prison with him at the same time. So out the poor man was driven again, and the last that is heard of him is that he was making his way into the bush. A rather good instance of the vigilance, which is at present being exercised at Auckland over the importation of cattle, sheep, horses, and swine, from the neighboring colonies, has been reported to us, and is not undeserving of wider publicity. By the last tiip of the Hero there arrived a consignment of three young and lusty porkers to the order of a well-known local tradesman. During the process of debarkation the Inspector of Cattle and Sheep appeared upon the scene. He made some inquiries with respect to the porcine passengers, and finding that the consignee had received no certificate of health en their account he refused permission for them to land. The tradesman pleaded for a relaxation of the order, but the Inspector was inexorable, and. .the animals consequently returned whence they came. The Hero arrived again last night, and the voyaging pigs are on board, accompanied, this time, however, by a clean bill of healtb. It is well tbat importers (should know that ) the regulations imposed by the authorities are fixed and stringent. — Star. We understand that the New South Wales Government has preferred a request to that of New Zealand for permission to retain the celebrated Maori house, in order that it might be permanently erected in the Botanical Gardens to supply another feature of attractiveness to that charming locality. The house, in fact, is begged as a gift, and very possibly might have been bestowed as one only that it is pledged to the Melbourne Exhibition, and must be sent there. However,

we can suggest a way out of the difficulty. If our Sydney friends are really bent upon constantly gladdening their eyes with Maori carving and quaint architecture, they can be gratified by ordeting the construction of Buch another house by naive artificers cunning at the work. There are plenty of idlers about Parihaka who should jump at such employment, and then Te Whiti would have the glorious opportunity of carving the walk with texts of prophesy, aud handing his name down " for all time " to the posterity of New South Wales.-— N.Z. limes. An extraordinary occurrence took place in Flinders-lane early this morning (says the Melbourne Argus, of 20th April). An elderly man was walking quietly along, when he saw upon the ground a dark-looking object which excited his cuiiosity. He picked ifc up, and was about to examine it, when ifc suddenly exploded, a portion of it passing right through his handi. He at once ran up to the Melbourne Hospital, and was attended to by Drs. Newman and Woinarski. It was found that a bullet or some other substance had passed' through his hand, fracturing the metacarpal bone and lacerating the flesh in its transit. The man dropped the weapon when ifc exploded, and it was not subsequently found, so that the matter is at present inexplicable. The man gave his name as Alexander Robinson, and stated that he had only yesterday been put to work at stone -breaking by the Government. The Manawatu Herald says: — No doubt our readers have over and over again smiled at the gross ignorance of the home journals with regard to the geography of Australasia. One time we are told that Sydney is on the sea coast of New Zealand; at another that Dunedin is the capital of Adelaide, but the following is the latest and neatest specimen of the kind. In referring to the exploring expedition in northern .Australia, the South Wales Weekly News says :— " Mr Alexander Forest's expedition reports the discovery of many million acres of pasture land in North and West Melbourne." And thi3 in the nineteenth century ? A correspondent at Akaroa sends us (Press) the following:—" Mr George Wright; who was outside the Heads fishing on Thursday last, got fast to a monster, -which he succeeded in bringing to the surface, but owing to bis enormous size had to cut the line. He describes the fish as being about 24ft long; his head the shape of a, shark's, quite smooth on the top, but his back was covered with sma'l spikes about 2in or 3in long. He had two large fins on the back, which was striped something like a gurnett, blue and red skin. The tail waa about 4ft ( from fin to fin. When hauled up first he came opened-mouthed at the boat and struck it on the side, almost capsizing it. The width of its open mouth would be nearly 3ft. The above account can be relied on, as Mr Wright is well known here, and bag been fishing from a boy, but says that he never sawjany thing of this description before." The following astonishing fall is reported by the Sydney Evening Actus : — An amateur Hlondin fell a distance of 240ffc. from a wire rope, at Forbes last week. No bones were broken, and he is recovering. The kerosene lamps on his balancing polo fell on him, and the burns were seemingly worse than the fall. _ Gilded half-sovereigns are becoming common in Melbourne. The detectives recently seized the complete apparatus for gilding genuine sixpences and manufacturing base coin, also the appliances for a sulphate of copper battery, and a quantity of half-melted pewter. [For continuation of news, see fourth page and Supplement],