The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, MAY 27, 1880.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 126, 27 May 1880, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, MAY 27, 1880.

The second session of the seventh Parliament of New Zealand will be opened tomorrow. The Nelson members -were to have gone by the Taiaroa thia morning, but owing to her detention it is probable that they will not arrive in Wellington in time for the opening ceremony. At the Police Court at Hokitika the other day, a man named Arnold, second cook on board the steamer Charles Edward, was charged with stealing some of the steamer's goods, and sentenced to fourteen days' imprisonment with hard labor. Mat differenceof opinion neveralter friendship ] This is the sentiment that suggested itself to our minds on readiug the Lyttelton Times and Christchurch Press of Thursday last which contained the following criticisms on Sir George Grey's speech to the electors of Christchurch. The former says:— "Sir George Grey's speech at Christchurch was one of the best he has ever delivered. He has his singular felicity of diction in a greater degree than ever, while he builds up his arguments with n closeness, vigour, and constructive Bkill which we have not noticed equalled in any of his former speeches." The latter comments on the same subject in the following manner:— "Sir George Grey has come and spoken aud gone again, but for all theimpression that he has made he might just as well have stayed quietly at Kawau. Everybody is laughing at his speech, and wondering what on earth it is all about, and what his object in making such a speech could possibly have been. It is certainly a marvellous effort, and but for the tone that runs through it all, would be about as harmless a species of public entertainment as could well be devised. The odd thing is that there are people who say they understand it and see great beauties in it. But then there are also people who say the same of Browning's poetry, Whistler's paintings, and all other bizarre productions. There will always, we suppose, be a certain number of strangely constituted minds, to which what is most unintelligible is most pleasurable and affecting. These, of course, are quite out of range of ordinary reasoning, and any attempt to convince them on grounds of mere common sense that they are deluded, only makes them angry and the more endears their grotesque idol to them." There was a good audience at the Theatre Royal la9t night, when the diorama was on exhibition, the main attraction, however, beiDg the conundrums, for which prizes were offered. A committee was appointed to judge, aDd their verdict was in favor of " Hamlet," " Dolores," and " Digger " for the first, second, and third prizes respectively, the number of competitors being over seventy. The following were the prize conundrums, the prizes being, first a handsome silver watch, second a pold Albert chain, and third a gold ring :— (l)— Why are the prizes to-night like Matrimony ?—Answer : In the watch two hand^ are united to make time go smoothly and regularly ; in the chain we have every link to make it perfect ; in the ring we have the whole marriage emblem of eternal love ; and in the bag of flour we have that without which matrimony would be a dismal ceremony. (2)— Why is a plain gold ring the fittest emblem of Matrimony ? — Answer •. Beiog of gold denotes its purity ; being plain denotes its homeliness ; being circular denotes its constancy. (3)— Why is Matrimony like alluvial mining ? — Answer : Because a man cannot enter upon it without a rite ("right "), and it is not till after the rite (" right ") that the cradle is required. The worst effort was decided to be the following :— Why is Matrimony like a blind eel I—Answer : I don't know. A bag of flour, the prize offered for the worst conundrum, was never more easily won than by the propounder of this stupid question. A sotjthekn correspondent of the Pist recently telegraphed as follows : — " I learn from official sources tbafctbe separate railway telegraph establishment in the South Island is to be done away with, from the first of June, or rather absorbed into the general te'egraph department, which will do the railway telegraphing in future. This will effect a saving of nearly £ 2000 per annum." Without some explanation the foregoing will be unintelligible to our readers, for the extravagance that has until lately prevailed in the railway department in the matter of telegraphing is not generally known. It will scarcely be believed that in some of the telegraph offices between Christchurch and Dunedin special operators have been engaged whose duty it was to forward and receive nothing but messages in connection with the railway department, while at some of the smaller stations, where there are no public telegraph offices, telegraphists have been engaged who, while the lives were open to them to transmit railway messages, were not allowed to receive telegrams from the public The waste of money involved by this absurd arrangement has, however, been" recently put a stop to, and an appreciable saving effected. We clip the followiug which relates to a gentleman well know in Nelson from the Post of Tuesday :— A complimentary farewell concert tendered by tbe the Choral Society to Mr jGrarrard ? wlp for some years

has very indefatlgably carried out the duties of honorary secretary to that body, but who is about to visit England on account of failing health, took place at the Athenseum Hall last evening. Before proceeding with the second part of the programme, Mr Geo. Hunter, the President of the Society, proceeded to make the presentation, which consisted of a purse of 100 sovereigns and an illuminated address. In doing so he warmly eulogised Mr Garrard, not only for his indefatigable services to the Society, given without fee or reward, but also for the the way in which he played his part as a good citizen, The speaker also appropriately acknowledged the indebtness of the Society to Mrs Garrard.