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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 195, 17 August 1880, Page 2

A petition was presented to the Legislative Council ou Eriday last by the Hon. Randall Johnson signed by 16 residents of Wellington, representing merchants, brewers, hotel-proprietors, and others, who prayed that the Council would " prevent such loss or ruin as would result from the passing of the Licensing Bill, 1880, in its present form." It is now (says the Post) regarded as practically certain tbat the session will not outlive the present month, simply because members are fixedly determined not to remaiu any longer. There is no money to be scrambled for, and no political capital" to be made, and their honorarium is voted, so they see no fun in staying. In reference to the recent discovery of coal at Picton, some further particulars are furnished to us by Captain Fiske. It appears that the discovery was not due to a landslip, as at flrst stated, but was the result of careful prospectiug on the part of Mr Fell at Blenheim, who bad beeu working in the' locality for about 18 months. The seam of coal is said to be 14 feet thick, aud crops out on the side of a hill close to deep water. It should, therefore, be very easy to work. Should the discovery prove all tbat is anticipated, there is no doubt that it will be of great vaiue to Wellingtou as well as Picton. It is estimated that tbe coal could be brought, across for 7s 6d a tou freight, and assuming that it could be sold at the pit's mouth f.*r 12s, which would bo a fair average price, it could be delivered on the Wellington wharf at £1 per ton. It is intended to scud over a cargo of about 50 tons to Wellington as au experimental shipment. — Post. At Porchester, Hants, a roll of bank notes confined by an elastic band, amounting to .£225, was recently found among the seaweed washed up by the late galea. The notes were issued by an English County bank.

A remarkable discovery waß recently made in the Burley Pit, Apedale. While some dirt and coal was being removed, the body of a ' boy in a good state of preservation, was found, and on examination was identified as that df Levi Rily, who was missed about the time of the explosion in March, 1877, by which 23 men lost their lives. Since the explosion the pit has beeu worked, bufc not in the portion where the body was found. The Sunday question has for several years been discussed at Zurich. A committee appointed by the Grand Council of the Canton has finally drawn up a law after years of study and investigation. Henceforth Sunday and religious fete days as to be considered as days of public rest ; shops and pubiic offices must be shut before midday, and all noisy work is prohibited. The committee allege that by this it does not desire to introduce the "English Sunday," bufc merely such a Sunday that people may pray in quiet. At the District Court in Napier a few days ago, a trustee in bankruptcy presented the following report :— "The bankrupt has rendered me every assistance in his power, which, as he has not kept auy books, does not necessarily amount to much. I believe that his bankruptcy was caused by his * intense stupidity,' whicb caused him to enter into undertakings which be could not carry out." Mr Bryce stated in Parliament a few days ago that the procedure of tba present Government on the West Coast has been an unqualified success. He added : "I am prepared to maiutain tbat we bave made no mistakes on that Coast. In fact, the whole of the operations of the Government have been a success, without any hitch whatever." He also said: "I think that, with care, we shall dispose of this great difficulty before long, and dispose of it finally and for ever." Here is one of the best of the recent sayiugs of Dr Talmage. Wheu we find a man contemptuous of labor, and acting as though he never worked at all, and as though bis ancestors had never worked, we make up our mind thafc if we go a little further back in that man's ancestral line, we will run against a scavenger's cart or upset a soap-boiler's kettle. A Melbourne journal says:— Murray C Kavem, a respectably attired young man, who arrived in the colony from New Zealand by the steamship Tararua, was arrested on the 12th July, by Detective Potter, on a warrant charging him with having forged and uttered a cheque for £35, purporting to be sigued by Thomas Bryce, a farmer living at Marton, a small inland town in that colony. Havern was a clerk in a branch of the Bank of New Zealand at Marton. On beiug challenged by fche detective, he admitted having committed the offence, and expressed regret that he did nofc appropriate thousands, instead of a few pounds, when he was aboufc the business." One of the old-time stage-drivers who has been on the road over half a century, says that " life is put together considerably like a set of harness. There are traces of care, lines of trouble, bits of good fortune, breaches of good manners, bridled tongues, and everybody has to tug to pull through. The following description of the "bashful and unassuming " member 6f the Buller is from the N.Z Times s — " Some men are born to greatness, others to achieve greatness, and others to have it thrust upon them." Among this latter Mr J. B. Fisher, one of the junior members of the House, claims to be enrolled. He last week stated thafc he h.id come to the House ten years before he had any desire to do. He was a young man , he said, who had his fortune to make, and whose ambition did not yet lead him to senatorial honors. " But," added the young and disappointed member— disappointed at being returned before his time—.as.Jßiehar.3--the Third was born betore his, " I had greatness thrust upon me." At 8 o'clock on Sunday morning (says the North Otago limes) two residents, their wives, and their children — even in number — adjourned with Mr Batt, the Mormon apostle, to the creek near the base of the Windmill Hill. Here the purents were baptised in turn by total immersion, while the children, being under eight years of age, were not immersed, but simply blessed according to the rite of the Mormon Church. The two ladies had been previously divested of tbeir clothing, and the customary light raiment substituted under the supervision of others of their own sex. After the baptismal ceremony, the party returned to South Oamaru, where a confirmation service was held. It is understood that the departure of both families for Utah will be deferred until they shall have effected the sale of their houees. Mr Pyke has introduced a Bill to amend the Education Act. It provides that private schools shall be entitled to receive the same capitation allowance as is granted to public schools under the Act, on condition that the average number of pupils attending the school is 25 or more, and the school is conducted strictly in accordance with the Education Act, 1877, and the regulations framed thereunder. Riley Broi hers, drapers, of Sydney, bave spent .£37,000 in advertising in six years. Commencing in a small way, they now employ 200 hands, and have many branches. The firm commenced advertising largely in 1874. In May of that year their receipts were £60 a month. By April of the following year they bad risen to £1017 a month They increased their advertising with their business, and in May, 1875, the receipts had risen to £2000 a month. In 1879 the business was worth close upon £150,000. A Bill bas been introduced by the Attor-ney-General for the purpose of giving effect to the recom menctation of the Select Committee in reference to the bankruptcy laws. The following are the principal provisions of the uew measure. A majority of creditors, for the purposes of the said Act, shall be an actual majority in number of the entire body of creditors, representing three-fourths in value of the whole of the liabilities of tbe debtor. A resolution by creditors assenting to a deed of arrangement by, or for the discharge of, an arranging debtor shall not be valid unless the same be respectively passed by a majority, as aforesaid, of creditors present in person or by proxy at a general meeting cf creditors convened for the special purpose of passing the resolution. The filing of a deed of arrangement by a debtor shall be deemed to be an acfc of bankruptcy as and from the date of the filing thereof, if such deed be not assented to by the creditors at their meeting for fche purpose, or afc any adjournment thereof. No order of discharge of a debtor shall henceforth be made except in open Court by a Judgo of the Supreme Court, or of a District Court. — Post. The Manawatu Herald mentions that a lively prospect is in store for creditors io the estate of Henry Brown, baker, a bankrupt, as the trustee (Mr W. G> Robinson) has received accounts against the trustee of tbe estate, amounting to over £200. To liquidate the amount named there is nothing in | hant), and it is therefore probable a handsome levy will have tp be made upon the unfortunate creditors who "proved" in the estate to pay. the expenses. Nearly the whole of the debts owing by the estate are for law expenses. A Wellington paper says that open air preaching does nofc appear to receive much encouragement in that city. A man might havo been seen standing near the oorner of the Te Aro branch of the Bank of New Zealaud on Sunday forenoon , prayer-book and hat in hand, holding forth with unusual earnestness, but without attracting even a single attentive hearer. After persevering for about half an hour, he g^ve it up.

The N.Z. Times of yesterday has the fof- I lowing obituary notice of the late Mr George I Ireland, M.H.R. : — " The deceased was aboufc 56 years of age, and was a native of the North of Ireland, and of Scotch extraction. He had been for many years a gold miner, having worked at Gabriel's Gully in 1861, and thence went to the Dunstan afc the first rush lo that famed locality, and worked on the banks of the Molyneux, sharing the varying fortunes of the many others whose whole thoughts were centred on the rising and falling of that erratic stream. Possibly he was one among the multitude to whom it did not prove a Pactolus, for a year or two afterwards he was engaged as schoolmaster at Roxburgh, and had to submit, as many other schoolmasters had in that day, to rough aud ready lodgment and primitive appliances for the work of educationist. He did good service, though, in thia vocation, and gained the name of being a man of sterling worth, well read, gentle in disposition, e'arne&fc in religious duties, conscientious to a fauffy respected in private life, and relied upon in all matters of public concern. After a while, the old spirit of adventure waxing strong within him, , he betook himself to digging once again, and up to tbe time of his death held a claim in the Roxburgh district He had been elected a member of the Provincial Council of Otago for Mount Benger district, and held that oflice until the abolition of provincial rule. Then came the election of a member of the House of Representatives for the Waiakaia Electoral District, and the runholding interest nominated Captain McKenzie, of Tapanui, as their man. Against this the Roxburgh men protested. There was much hot disputation at that time about local rights of pasturage, and they put up Mr George Ireland as their choice, found the money for fche election campaign, and elected him in triumph at the head of the poll. He has been their representative in the Liberal interest, ever since, and has most consistently and conscientiously performed his duties. , The deceased leaves no relatives in the colony, bufc has, we believe, a daughter, aged 20, residing in England. He was a consistent member of the Wesleyan persuasion." What of this in the way of coincidence ? Nearly twelve months ago (says the Thames Advertiser) the marriages were announced of two brothers, on the same day, by the same clergyman, and to-day is inserted the announcement of the advent of two £>H*e branches, the births being almost equally concurrent. Both children are girls, and the nurse says 'as like as two peas.' Further than this it may be said, that one doctor and one nurse had been engaged for both, but this arrangement was upset by the course of events. An American journal says.—" The tide of emigration still rapidJy rolls on. There is an addition of some thousands to the number of immigrants every week. It is now estimated that 400,000 immigrants will come in via New York during the present twelve months, and 100,000 more by other American ports. Such a number will be unprecedented in history. As rapidly as they arrive the immigrants are drafted off to all parts of the country; snd the results of their labors should be a suitable addition to both agricultural ai.d manufacturing productions." It is one of Russia's most characteristic features that she, though least of all to be judged by her great towns, is seldom, if ever, judged by anything else. The "observant traveller," who, having run from Sfc. Petersburg to Moscow in a snug sleeping-car, and perhaps ventured as far as Nijni- Novgorod in the same fashion, goes home in the comfortable delusion tbat he has " seen Russia," draws his ideas of the largest Empire in the world from the spacious boulevards, hand- . _some_streetsand luxurious hotels of one great cifcyTTJinret— Pctcroburp- ie-uot-R««aia_ any more than Alexandria is Egypt ; ifc is simply the vices of western Europe neatly bound in Russian leather. The villages of the interior are the true field of observation for those who wish to see Russia as it is, and the contrast which they present is a startling one indeed. Half-clothed vagabonds loafing about tumble-down wooden shanties ; sallow, heavy looking meu scratching the earth wiih wooden ploughs and harrows ; acres of uncleared forest or oozy morass; rough country roads worn into ruts a foot deep; clumsy carts of seventeenth cen t ury bui I d j ogging dro wsily to market at the rate of two miles an hour •, begging monks filling their sacks with the contributions of bard -pressed peasants; famine and cholera working their will in remote hamlets, far from all possibility of help — such is the aspect of Russia behind the scenes. Reasons why. — One of the beauties of the Court of Frederick the Great said to tho King: " Sire, how is ifc that you, who are so glorious already, still seek for new fame?" " Madame," he replied, " for the same reason tbat you, although so beautiful, still wear rouge."