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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 221, 9 November 1880, Page 2

Evidently the sittings of the District Court on the West Coast are only to be held once in every two, or it may be, three montha, as from a notice in tho. Government Gazette, the fixed sittings of the Court are appoiuted to be held as follows : Greymouih for criminal and civil business on the 6th Decmber ; liokitika on the 9th December ; and Westport on the 29th November. This will prove * serious inconvenience to those who may have business to transact, and another thing we cannot see how any Judge can scamper through the work iu the allowed time, especially if there is criminal as well as civil business to transact. — Argus. ... What, says tbe Otago Daily Timet, is our position seated in brief? If it were not for the voluntary giviDg up of the tea and sugar duties, and the enormous growth of our educational expenditure, we need not at this moment be oppressed by a property tax. If our land sales had kept to something like the average of the past seven years, we need not have added a million last year to our Treasury bills. We are in trouble then, not as a natural result of the Public Works policy, but frora collateral causes not immediately connected with that policy at all. The writer of "Passing Notes" in the Otago Daily Times, referring to the complaints made by one or two colonial Governors that their salaries were not large enough, says: — Tbe only chance I can see for Governors, if the pressure of the times continues, is to " receive " only in the mornings, dine out five times a week, suspend all Church subscriptions, lock up the wineceller, and visit in a hospitable squatting district whenever the Houses are not in cession. A good deal may be done by economy in drinks. In the palmiest days of Victoria Sir Charles Hotham bad the moral courage to entertain his guests with sound " colonial." Occassionally some fastidious civil servant of high degree, after venturing to sample the viceregal swipes, would clap his hand suddenly on the gastric region, and double himself up in a pantomimic colic. But Sir Charles as an old naval officer who had seen service was accustomed to the spectacle of physical suffering in many forms. He was not one who would turn pale at— at— (what is the Greek for stomach ache ?) at the sight of a mere abdominal inconvenience. Those who mocked at his Excellency's beer lost his Excellency's favor, and thus by the adoption of this Spartan regimen Sir Charles both saved his wine-bill and abridged his visitor's list. To[any distressed Governor living in peril of the bailiffs I commend this example. As my literary engagements seldom allow me to put my legs under the vice-regal mahogany, the advice is quite disinterested. The New York Tribune publishes an article showing the earnings of theatrical stars last season, and if the figures are true they prove that America is liberal to the stage:— Mary Anderson's earniugs are aet down at 150,000 dols; Campanini took 100,000 doi s to Italy after a short engagement; Adelaide Neilson made 75,000 dols in New York, and was paid 500 dols a night (£100) in San Francisco. Of the members of Maurice Grau's Opera Company, for a season of 452 performances Capoul, a pa<se tenor, got 50,000 dols; Mdlle :Paola Marie, 32,000; Mdle Angle, 12,000; Buffalo Bill, a longed haired Indian scout of fine presence, earned 50,000 ; Joe Jefferson is credited with 65,000 ; Maggie Mitchell, 60,000; John M'Cullough, the tragedian, 51,000; Emma Abbot ,70,000 ; Joe Murphy, 30,000 ; Barrett, 40,000 ; and Lotta,the charming little Californian Variety actress, 60,000. You may believe all this if you please. Many of the " stars," however, have done well, wbich is much more thau the managers can say. According to a letter received at Vienna from Fuered, dated the 29th August, a Hungarian officer named Szerkremesky ha9 just succeeded in swimming across the Flatten Sea, from Eured to Siofsk. The distance actually traversed was twenty English miles, and tbe time occupied in the task was seventeen hours. During the whole time the swimmer did not appear to suffer from exhaustion or fatigue, and frequently conversed with the occupants of a boat which accompanied him. Tho only refreshment taken by M. Szerkremsky was a little wine.

The London World in a recent issue says[ « A curious and beautiful wedding gift haa recently been executed in this city. The fair recipient will have the proud distinction of being the sole possessor of such an ornament. It consists of a solid gold chaiu, of the cable pattern, of great weight, and so constructed as to be worn as a bracelet at will. To this chain is suspended a large circular locket, with gold back, crossed by a broad band of fiue diamonds, and encircled by a small chain of very delicate workmanship. The locket is an unique specimen of artistic jewellery ; it is of crystal, seal engraved from the back, and painted. It bas been produced by the only artist in this kind of work ia London. The design is extremely elaborate ; on the curling waves of a green sea the Cambria, Mr Ashbury's famous yacht, the winner of tho ocean race in l8?0, is coming proudly in, her white sails filled by a summer wind. Tho second object on the glittering expanse is the ' spotboat ' at Sandy Hook, its red hull, two black balls, and the American eusign flying from it, forming an exquisite contrast of color. Iu the middle distance of this sea piece of crystal is a yacht, presumably tho Cambria's defeated rival, ten miles behind, with liny hull and speck-Hke sails ; while the funnel and smoke of the tug waiting on the winner completes the design on the left. Nothiug cau be finer thau tho engraving and coloring of this unrivalled specimen of the artist's skill, and the originality of the design equals the splendor of the gift." An extraordinary and totally unexpected cure from "paralysis" occurred in the Auck land Hospital tbe other day. The case of the patient in question appeared to demand the most careful attention, and ifc was cheerfully accorded, while the daintiest products of the cuisine were invariably preserved for him. Afier a few days' nursing he began to look somewhat lively, although he seems to have made no progress whatever towards tbe re covery of his powers of locomotion. He had to be assisted two or thrse times a day by half-a-dozen men to and from the verandah, and these periodical movements of hi9 (remarks the Auckland Star) became quite impressive in their effect upon the other patients. There was a kiud of ceremonial pomp about them which made the occupants of the neighbouring beds' actually envious. Suddenly, on not being allowed bi3 own way, he became violent and abusive, and he was ordered a night's solitary confinement in an isolated cell. The two wardsmen who were deputed to remove him still repent their temerity. He blackened the eyes of one of them, aud soundly belabored the other. In the end nine men had to be told off to carry out the order, and when bis nimbieness and sudden re-possession of all his physical powers caused remark, be bad the audacity to affirm that an unprovoked attack upon him by one of the attendants had wrought an io3tant au i unexpected. cure. It need hardly be added that he waa promptly discharged. In 1878 an old lady died at Brighton worth £11,000. By her will she gave legacies to the amount of £2,4000, but no directions as to the disposal of the residue of her estate On Ik r death it transpired Bhe was illegitimate by birth, and theie being no next of kin, the executors fher doctor and her solicitor) claimed the residue— about £8000— and the Vice-chancellor decided in their favor. The Kaitangata correspondent of the Otago " Daily Time*" says that the Government are advertising the school ground and cemetery for salo ! The Luminary (a paper published in the Auckland district) -was burnt in efßgy at Russell the other day, and refers to the circumstance in this way: — " 'Twas a grand illumination upon the wharf, and a pound of gunpowder sent tbe Luminary spinning into the air. The mouthpiece of the settlers had upheld the rights of 'Roads versus Pitching £600 into the sea,' and must be burnt (a^ was the County Council Chairman.) It don't take much to please some kids. Sir Julius Vogel was burnt in Anckland some five years ago, but another 12 months will see Sir Julius upon the throne of New Zealand, floating another £20,000,000 loan! ' N'oubliez pas!' the Luminary hangs fire!" Miller, the athlete, lifts above his head with one hand a dumb-bell weighing 1611b, or 11 stone and a half. The man with whom he wrestles is a Frenchman named Victor, who, though light and no match for the champion, is yet a very scientific lutteur, and pives Miller a good deal of trouble to put his shoulders on the ground. The New York papers contain long accounts of the incidents attending "the conclusion of Dr Tanner's fast. The Tribune's report, beginning at five minutes to twelve, describes the doctor " paring his peach:" — "Oh, I wish the whiatle would blow," groaned the doctor, as he impatiently glanced at the peach so tantalisingly near him. The time crept steadily, though slowly on. Vive minutes of twelve. " Have a glass of milk ready," exclaimed the doctor. A new light flashed into his eyes. Eagerly fumbling for his knife, he began to peel his peach. As the delicate ekin dropped off, and the mellow, juicy fruit lay before him, the doctor's lips twitched convulsively, and his nostrils began to expand. The temptation was almost too great. A paper was procured and laid over the doctor's knee, and the peach was hidden from view. Two minutes of twelve. Everybody was silent. The great crowd that beat up against the doors of the anti-room was for an instant still. Breathlessly the seconds were counted, and seconds never seemed so . long. The doctor gathered himse'f up for an effort. His watchers eyed him with looks of undisguised anxiety. Suddenly the steam whistle rang out loud and clear. A murmur ran through the crowd, relieved from its suspense, and the doctor, half leaping from the chair, raised the peach to his mouth. Almost, but not quite, it touched his lips ; a watcher seized his arm. " You must not eat thafc, doctor; you will kill yourself I" be exclaimed. Au ugly scowl settled on the doctor's face. He writhed and struggled, and at last shook off the haud from his arm. Instantly the peach was raised to his mouth, his parched lips opened to receive it, and with a long drawn " Oh !" of intense satisfaction, the faster tasted the first food that he had had for forty days. A clergyman who has recently come out from England says that the extraordinary spectacle of a Roman Cardinal sitting in tbe British House of Lords will be witnessed before many years. It seems that * the heir apparent to the title and estates of the Petre peerage is a Roman Catholic priest, upon whom the Pope has recently conferred the titlo of Monsignore. The rev gentleman has already renounced his claim to the estates, but of course he cannot dispose of the title inthe same way, and when the present peer dies the Monsignore,' will succeed to his seat in the House of Lords (of course if he should survive him), and beyond doubt will receive the Cardinal's hat from the Pope. A stranger sat in a corner of an American railway carriage, in an easy attitude, his feet upon a large black trunk. The gentlemanly conductor, going bis rounds, at the first statiou politely informed thc stranger that the trunk must be put into the luggage car, to which the stranger made no reply. At the second station the vexed conductor imperatively told the stranger that he must put the trunk into thc luggage car, or ifc would he removed from the train, to which the stranger made no reply. At the third station the irate conductor had the trunk removed, and left. The stranger said nothing. At the fourth station the mollified conductor, addressing* the stranger, begged him to remember that he had but done his duty, and that his action was solely the stranger's fault, to which the stranger laconically replied, " Don't care, 'taint my trunk." •The tesiruony in support of the great medicinal properties of tho Eucalyptus globulus is increasing every year. Few districts in Europe had a ..more evil reputation than the Campagna as a veritable hotbed of pestilentil fever, and people who know the country round Rome may remember the monastery at Tre Fantane, on the spot, aa tradition tells, that St. Paul met his death. Life in tbis monastery meant death to monks, but since the Eucalyptus has been planted in the cloisters, fever has disappeared and the placo has become habitable. Again, in parts of Corsica and Algeria, where the tree haa been planted for the sake of its reputed virtues, epedemic fevers have been stamped out. Similar testimony also come from Holland, and the south of France, Italy, California, and many other parts of the world, as to tbe febrifugal attributes of this tree, which muit make it increasingly valuable in tbe eyes of the Taßmanitn,i.

An old carpet formerly in the Sacramento Mint waa bought at a sale aud burnt. It yielded 2500d01s from gold dust. " There is a girl with a fine figure," said Lenardo Toppletop to his friend Frederick Non Weisesnicht, as the ungainly Miss Dromedarious stalked by. "Do you call hers a fine figure ?" was the astonished query. "I do ; she has 100,000dols. in her own name."—" Rochester Democrat/' There were queer goings on"'at a recent ball at Tauranga,. which formed the subject of an appeal to the Resident Magistrate. T. L. R. Clements charged William Lemon with using obscene language, calling him " a conceited jumped-up puppy," and challenging him to a pugilistic encounter outside. Complainant, who was acting as master of ceremonies, swore that defendant was drunk on the occasion, notwithstanding the fact that the ball took place in the Temperance Hall. Defendant was fined ls, costs being divided. When worked up, iron becomes very valuable, and in some caaea far moro valuable thau even gold itself. A pouud of the finest pig iron is worth about ld, but when worked into balance-springs for watches ic is worth £1609, or more thau 95 timea the price of gold. Mr Henry Stewart tells the Rural New Yorker that after feediug cows for years, and making a large number of tests of different kinds of feeding substances, he has settled down to a mixture of com, oats, aud wheat-bran cround toqe'her— not merely mixed— in equal parts by weight, as the best and most profitable food for cows, either for milk or butter, and on 10lb per day as the ration that cau he most economically employed. The bran used is the common commercial sort usually procured in the market, and which has been cleanly scoured of all particles of flour or middlings. The frequency With whicli, in America, lightning strikes and sets fire to oil tanks, apite of protecting rods, is remarkable. Recently an oil tank at Titusville, Pennsylvania, was thus struck. Tie resulting fire raged for three days, coamtuing 200,000 barrels of oil, crude aud refined, and destroying property to the amount of 1,500,000 (Jailors. Over £600,000 was sunk on the Da tiy Newt before it paid one penny of dividend I The capital with which it started was £150, 000, and it had Charles Dickens as its editor. Within the last six or eight years ifc had begun to pay, after twenty years' ruinous expenditure. A post mortem examination held on a cow tbat died in America discovered six fully-de-veloped calves, the smallest of which weighed 22Jlh. The cow was a three-year-old shorthorn. Spent hops have rich fertilizing qualities, and are valuable for applying on light lands. They should be rotted by letting them ferment in a heap over wbich liquid manure has been turned occasionally. The Earl of Dunraven says tho Red Indian will be remembered by two things at least — the birch bark canoe, which no production of the white man can equal for strength, lightness, gracefulness, Bea-going qualities, and carrying capacity} and the snOw-shoe, which appears to be perfect in its form, and, like a violin, incapable of improvement. Two darkies were vaunting their courage. " I ain't 'feared o' nothin,' I isn't," said one. '* Den, Sam, I reckon you isn't 'feared to loan rae a dollah." "No, Julius, I isn't 'feared to lend you a dollah, but I does bate to part with an ole frien' for ebber." The agouy whioh a young lady must have! suffered wbo resides in Ballarat, snd who has been made the subject of experimental surgery, may be imagined from tbe following, which we extract from the Star : — "She had some years ago broken one of her collarbones, wbich would not set without a portion of the bone being sawn off. This was done ; but even then the bones ref used to knit, and then the other piece of bone had to be sawn, and yet they would not bind together by drilling holes in the bones, and fastening them by pieces of wire. The ends of the wire were not properly fastened, and after a little while forced themselves through the flesh ; her clothes catching on them, they had to be clipped. Still more pain and suffering. The wire commenced to corrode, and tbe flesh had once more to bo cut and the bone tampered with. A gathering had formed under it, and a silver pipe had to be inserted. The flesh was allowed to grow around it, and yet another operation had to be undergone before it could be extracted. The unfortunate girl is now very ill, and it is doubtful whether she will live much longer to undergo further agony. Much amusement was oaused in Auckland society some years ago when it was fouud, during tba progress of a caae before Chief Jußtice Arney, that he was utterly in .the dark as to Yankee Grab, and bad never even heard che expression. It would seem, however (says the Auckland Herald) that Mr Justice Richmond is soma what better informed. Mr Hesketh was examining a witness as to his having been drinking for several days—" in short," said the learned counsel, " you were on the burst." Witness seemed relived at having it so succinctly put and in a phrase wh oh came home to his mind, and answered with au emphatic " Yes." Then counsel bethought {himsef and tall that probably his Honor din not understand what was meant by "on the burst," The learned Judge, with a look of melancholy replied — " Yes, Mr Hesketh, I was in Otago for some years, and I know what the phrase ' on the burst' means." Few (says the Melboufne Zeat/er)havo any idea of the magnitude of the defence works which are in process of construction at the present time at tbe entrance to tbe bay. Tbe passage between the Heads is commanded by a battery at Queenscliff, the cost of which ia estimated at £48,000; the south channel is swept by a fort,* of which the breakwater alone has cost £9000; while the west channel is to be protected by b itteries at Swan Island, the expenditure upon wfcijh is not given. The fort in the south channel is to have the trifling sum of £200,000, spent upon it before it is completed. In addition to these fortifications, the plan of Sir Williarti Jcrvois provides for lines of torpedoes to be laid down across the channels so as to render the harbor perfectly impregnable. Ladies (says tbe Home News) will hear with regret and alarm tbat tbe " fringe" oh .the forehead, now so frequently worn, is di - countenanced in the very, highest quarters The fringes hare been getting so long and shaggy that Her Majesty is understood tp desire on the part of those who attend tbe Royal " Drawing-Rooms" a return to the severe classical style of ten or twelve years ago. There are many ladies, those chiefly having straight and regular features, to whom the fringe is a disfigurement, but there are othera again — the dark-eyed coquettes who are gifted with chiffones and roguish faces —to whom it is highly becoming. Let each class adopt the style which bests suits it— a principle which has been followed with success in many notable instances. The Princess of Wales and the Countess of Dudley — to take two representative cases— have not materially changed their coiffure for the past seven or eighfc'.years, and, as everyone knows, the good taste of their get-up is irreproachable. What has brought the fringe into disfavour is the' extravagant proportions -tp which in many cases ifc has been cultivated. One often meets ladies as shaggy as Scotch terriers. This, of course, is an outrage oh all good taste, especially when, as not unfrequently happens, the result has been arrived at by the aid of the curling tongs. The best excuse and justification for a fringe is that it should be natural, and if ladies would only bear this in mind, their get-up would nofc so often shock as it does our artistic sensibilities. " Our own Lunatic" sharpened his percil the other day, dishevelled hia hair, and wrote aB follows :— " In the twilight of a beautiful evening last week, an Ohinemuri man set his son and heir to watch a favourite cornfield. Returning a little later to see that the infant was at his post, the jocund farmer happened to create a little commotion amoug- tbe ti-tree scrub of the verge of the field, There was then a flash and a report, and theastonished parent found himself peppered. Tb his neighbors, who call to see him in his bedridden condition, he extols, the vigilance of his son, and his accuracy with a shot-gun." — Thames Advertiser. . The cheapest church in tbe United States waß built recently in Kansas, at a cost 10 do! a. Its walls and roof are of sod and the floor of earth. No mortgages.

At the pro-cathedral in the capital of one of the Australian colonies, tbe congregation is larger on the celebration of a fashionable wedding than upon ordinaiy occasions of Sunday worship. On one day lately a nuptial ceremony was to take place. The bells rang out— seats and aisles Were crowded — choir and organist in great force. All went as usual pleasantly until the middle' of the service the parson aonour>C3d ' a collection will now be made-' The funeral look that came over the congregation in a few seconds was a study. A great deal of excitement hfts existed in the vicinity of Cnlistoga for the past two weeks over the report that the hot springs at this place carry large quantities of gold in solution. A. C. Tichenor, of thc flrm of Tichcnor & Dudley, who recently bought the Hot Springs hotel property, has been at work for the past two weeks extracting gold from the water by a process known only to himself and a few other persons. Thc clean-up yesterday afternoou showed that he had succeeded iu extracting 1,000 dols. from ten barrels of water. Thc gold is of thc highest grade of fitness, and as the Bprings in thfi locality are yery numerous, and the volume of water exceedingly large, il- would he useless to attempt' to estimate their value, if they continue to yield as rich a re trim m this. Thus far, Mr. Tichenor says that the dirt adjacent to the springs, in the track known as the Hot Water Field, will pay (SO <I<j!k, to the ton. Tlio ownera will erect «n!l.fibk*; works within thc next few weeka for cwyUiy on operations on a more extensive scale. — Han Eraneisco Bulletin, Sept. 10. A Philadelphia firm stato that for .'SO yenr* they have made toothed wheels of raw hide, and for the last ten yeara thousands of them have been made for use iu looms, and further, for the last four years they have made paper wheels, and found them superior to raw hide. The following original advertisement appeared in A Southern paper:—" Marriage.— Butler—Reid,— On tho 24th instant, at St Peter's Church, Edwin Butler, hullockdriver, of Upper Hutt, to Alice Emily Reid, of Wadestown. No cards, no cakes, no nothing."