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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 230, 28 September 1880, Page 2

Nearly half a ton of gold was recently sent in one parcel from a bank in Ballarat to the bead office in Melbourne. The gold \ was principally the product of the Hurdifleld mines. A curious freak of nature is recorded by the Ttmuka leader, consisting of a lamb born with two tongues, eight legs, two bodies, and two tails. The bodica extended from the shoulders, and are perfect in every way. The lamb was dropped by a pure-bred Leicester ewe, on Mr Grant's farm, Temuk*. It was forwarded to the Christchurch Museum. If anything ever could bo called a farce, (saya the Dunedia Echo) a performance which took place in Wellington last week merits such an appellation. Chief Justice Prendergast has been appointed Acting Governor, and before he could act, Judge Johnston had to go from Christchurch to Wellington to administer an oath to him? The Chief Justice has been eworn many times bofore. As a solicitor he took an oath. When he was appointed Attorney-General he took an oath, as Member of the Legislative Council also he had to swear, as Judge be was again sworn, and when be acted as Governor before Sir Hercules Robinson arrived, again he had to swear. Is all this swearing business necessary ? Will the taking of an oath make the Chief Justice perform bis duties better than if he did not swear ? What benefit does it do to ask the Deity to witness the f*ct that the Chief Justice has become Acting-Governor ? It it time that this " swearing " buvinesi was done away with. To an honest man an oath it of no avail, and to a rogue all the oatha known to Christendom will not make him change his ways. How long will this absurd custom of oath taking continue? Tho London correspondent of the N. Z. Times writes : — Since my last letter Hospital Sunday has come and gone. This has become now a recognised institution in the i metropolis, copied first from Birmingham. All denominations join, and add their collections, made on some given Sunday, to a central fund. This year the amount collected was £29,689, and was distributed amongst eighty hospitals and forty-six dispensaries either in or affiliated to the metropolis. Apropos of these institutions, one of them, to wit, Guy's (which was richly endowed, does not benefit by the above fund), is now going through a fiery ordeal. A new set of nurses have gained admittance thereto, they are I many of ibem ladies belonging to sisterhoods, and it is alleged that they have endeavored to usurp the authority of the medical staff, I giving orders aud dispensing authority on their own ideas. The matter was brought the other day to a painful and unexpected , crisis from the death of a patient who had been subjected to ft bath at an improper time, besides ill-treatment of other kinds. The result was a trial the .other .day. of the, nurse, at the Central Criminal Court, for manslaughter, resulting in three, months' iniC prisonment without hard laboK At^orough^ investigation will no. doubt be made into the system of management. 'T> : '

, the Wairarapa Guardian says:— "As an . instance of ihe hard times, a&d the cheapness s of timber, we heat from good authority that ) a certain tradesman in Carterton purchased, , last week, 80,000 ft of sawn timber at the \ ridiculously low figure of £80. ; When a death occurs in Fiji it has to 1 be , registered; and the native Bcribe not un- ' frequently fills the blauk left for « cause- of i death ' with the wbrda ' medicine supplied i \>y missionaries.' Among theother official documents brought r by the San Franteisco mail was the Imperial : commission appointing Sir Arthtir (Jofdon i Governor bf the colony. The time of his i arrival here is still in doubt, nothing further concerning hiis ftoveroeuta having been received by the Government. — fr. Z. Timts. Mr Mechi has declared tbat never again ! will anyone lopJt ba.ek on such a seventy-fl va ; yeare of growth aud chahge &6 h'fe hns known ; i it baa all come, he say?, through the bubbling resistance of the lid .of ,the tea-kettle. Two Hieunbera of the fcaiioiibury (London) Bicycle Club havo ridden from Laud's Eud to John O'Groat's House, a disfauce of 000 miles; within tbh'tepn days, malting an average or seventy mlleß a day. This is the first time this journey has been accomplished on these machines. A telegram has been received by the Post-mnster-General to the effect that as there will be a general holiday kept in Victoria on Friday next, Oli tlia ©feeasioii of the opening of the Exhibition, fhe departure Of the P and Os.B. Assam, with the Suez mail, will be delayed till the following day, Saturday. The new lighthouse at Cape Egmont is being so constructed as not only to be impregnable to all attacks, unless artillery be employed^ bat rlso to form a very strong defensive work as a base o£ military operations on the West Coast should this ever be required, a purpose for which its commanding situation particularly fits it. The Melbourne Cup will be run on* Tuesday 2nd November. Visitors from New Zealand will have an opportunity of proceeding by the splendid steamer Itotomahana, which is down on the tjnion Company's October time table to leave Wellington oh Sunday, 24th October, and to reach Melbourne on Monday, Ist November. We (Poii) understand that the Auck'and Harbor Board have raised objections to th« San Francisco mail steamers arriving and discharging dn Sunday, the- day on which they are due at Auckland Under the accelerated time-table. We believe the AttorneyGeneral has been requested to make some satisfactory arrangement if possible, failing which it is not improbable that the port of arrival and departure may be changed to Russell, and the mail steamers discontinue visiting Auckland. Such an alteration would materially shorten the time to Sydney, and afford good facilities for coaliug. The N.Z. Times correspondent writes from the Wairarapa district :— As numbers of the unemployed in Wellington seem to doubt the truth of the assertions made by the local papers here, and persons who" ought to know you know," that jE3 or £4 per week can be made by killing rabbits, I may be allowed to air my knowledge of the matter. It is a positive fact that a person providing himself with the necessary appliances, which vrill cost very little, can earn that, or even a larger amount, if he is an adept at this recreative game. A case of a Maori doctor attempting to exorcise an evil spirit out of an afflicted brother occurred oft tbe East Coast lately. The pretended medico, having provided himself with a knife, was discovered in the act of going through some antics over the prostrate body of the patient. He expected to see " diabolua 3) issue from the body in the shap« of a bird ; and the Open knife was Intended to transfix it, ere it returned to the "deep," or "void," which is vaguely supposed to ba the natural abode of these spirits. The sick man was afflicted with consumption and fever, and had been under the nursing care of a good Samaritan of the European race. The effect of the antics was such aa to throw the sick man into a comatose state, from which he did not rally, but in a few days departed to the happy hunting grounds of his ancestors. An investigation was held into the matter, the conclusion being that the exorcist had meant well, and " had not really done much harm." The theme that is exercising society circles in San Francisco, says the correspondent of au Otago paper, is the supposed approaching marriage of General Grant's son to the daughter of J. C. Flood, the great mining king and banker, of this city. The young lady has two millions of dollars iv United States registered bonds as a dowry, and the young gentleman has the glory which reflect! upon him from the halo which surrounds the great General and late President of the United States, his father. This i» a fair trade — money for position; position for money. The mushroom millionaire united to the mushroom General and President by tha marriage of their children. One from the liquor saloon has risen to the banker's chair, and the other from the tanyard rose to the head of the army and the Preiidential chair. There iB no doubt but that thii union of mushrooms will produce a very aristocratic kind of fungi. Your readers may foolishly suppose tbat here we do not believe in aristocracy. There they are quit* wrong. We adore it. Mr W. L. Rees has commenced in the Wanganui Herald a series of letters on "New Zealand Politics and Politicians." The following is the conclusion of the first letter : — "The first duty which a naan owes is to his country. He may provoke angry feeling and have to suffer such persecution and injury as enraged and unscrupulous opponents can inflict. I do not pretend to be ignorant of the power or the determination of at least some of those whom I oppose. I have on several occasions received very convincing proofs of their feelings towards myself. From their friends, their supporters, andtheir servants, I have had to endure insults, vilification, libels, and criminal prosecutions. I suppose that I shall continue to receive »uch small tokens of their good will. Better men than myself have had to endure worse treatment. I shall strive to show fairly in the series of letters now commenced, . the faults of those who have neglected an ; opportunity of doing great service to New \ Zealand and to the world, and have instead I abused their power. .1 shall attempt to .point, I out the wrongs which have been inflicted • upon New Zealand by her guardians. I shall I to the best of my ability indicate what should ; have been done in the past, and what ought, ■in my opinion, to be done in the future. If :I am wrong let my adversaries show it, and I shall be thankful. If I am.'right, then let my fellow-colonists regard my humble but sincere efforts for the public good with their , favour. I court no man's support — I fear no ] man's disappointment. If I can but servt 'my country I care not for personal results. lam equal to either fate. lam indifferent." I They talk about cheap land and a ready J market for produce in th« United States, but we hear little about the numerous drawbacks 'which people have to contend with in that country. The caterpillar and the Colorado ■beetle have been bad enough, but from recent accounts the army worm has thrown them all into the shade. A correspondent of a contemporary writes:— "The army worm, in countless myriads, has been ravaging New Jersey. The grub eats up every green thing except red clover. It nipo off the maize an inch above the ground. In a few days a large field of maize will disappear as completely as if it never existed. One farmer lost 900 acres of maize, aud 100 acres of wheat were stripped as clean aa if done with a knife. The army-worm is partial to timothy and maize, but climbs troes and strips them bare of foliage, for want of something better. Their advanca is made like an army ; hence their name. Ploughing deep furrows with one vertical side round the field usually checks their progress, dut this season they came in such numbers that this precaution ■ was useless. The country round Long Branch haa been, turned into a wilderness by them. ■ The army- worm is the grub of the Leucania unxpuncta which is, when fully developed, a night moth. The body of the grub r is a dirty grey colour, and may always he_rjecpgnißed ;by three yellowish stripes on Us back and a i Bin gle stripe on each Bide. sfc grWa about ithree quarters of an inch long. The head is )a,dull,yellpvvish brown, sparsely ornamented jwith short hairs, which are also scattered,! over its body. Burrowing is the^onlyv.sure ; jway of3estroying the enemy^ ; Hbgsl>dultry, ] jducks, and geese 'eat thoworms greedily, but unfortunately the late supply overtasked.; theifr apjsefci'teß; •

Government retrenchment (says the Marlborough E±prtßn) has 6Otnewnat frequently of late appeared In ludicrous forms. The "very latest" is that over and above the ten per per cent reduction, the enormous sum of Id per mooth will for the future be levied on all the operators in the Telegraph Department; this is done by theie being compelled to furnish otamps for the receipts to their monthly cheques. There are 104 cases of pauperism in Christchurch— 67 being -widowß with families, 24 deserted wim, and 23 other women whose husbands are unable to support them. A wan in Maine, who wanted to emulate Tanner, fasted forty-two days and died. His tombstone bears the touching inscription : "He was a man of great forty-two'd." (Jur P.D. says ifc would take more than a Tanner to make him fitaC. The Treasury Department of America has a delicate problem to solve, Sara Bernhardt, tfae actress, who is about to visit that country, has ii dtesses, and the question about which the Treasury authorities are exercised Is whether this number comes within the exemption of a lady's wardrobe. A Western minister told the trustees of his church that he must have lii» money, as his family was suffering. "Money!" said one of the trustees, " you preach for money ! I thought you preached for the good of souls." The minister replied, " I can't eat souls, and ii I could, it would take a thousand sUCh as yours to tnnlse a meal." Typical trees, suitable to all classes of readers :— i?or gouty people, the ache corn ; for antiquarians, tile date ; for schoolboys, tbo birch ; for conjurors, the palm ; for Negrde3, ate dnh • for young ladies, the mango ; for farmers, the plant'in ; for fashionable women, a set of firs j for dandies, the spruce j for actors, the poplar ; for physicians, the sye'aiore $ for your wife, her will oh- for lovers, a high press j for the disconsolate, the pine? for engaged people, the pear; fdr Sewing girls, the hemlock; for boaidinghouse people, a»h. Who was this written for? Yew The Paris Custom House officials made a haul the other day. The train from Metz bi'ought over a courier to the Russian Embassy whose baggage bore the impress of the State seftl^ which of course saved him from payment of any ditty- fortunately, one of the employees remembered that aboat three yearii ago the Customs authorities had been informed of the theft of a Russian seal of State. The boxes were accordingly opened, and no less than 21,000 cigars were revealed to view. The false courier Avas at once arrested and imprisoned at Nancy. Afterwards another courier made his appearance with au equal number of cigars, and shared a like fate. The great Scotch review of volunteers proposed to be held in Edinburgh has entirely fiollapsed. Thirty thousand Scotchmen said they would assemble if the Queen would eonSe and look at them. Her Majesty says «he cannot niake it convenient, and the Scotchmen will not assemble on any other terms. The largest plough in the world is, of ••urse, to be found iv America. It turns a furrow 2ft. deep and 3ft. wide, and is used for ditch cutting alongside railways, being attached sideways to the construction engine.