The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 1881.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 11, 11 May 1881, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 1881.

At the Magistrates* 1 Court thia morning, before Messrs Donald and Wafltney, J.J.P., Tilly Armstrong was charged by Annie Lodge with using obscene language towards ber in Provincial Lane. Mr Moore appeared for the complainant, and Mr Percy Adams for the defendant. After hearing tho evidence, according to which some very choice language appeared to have been used by the complaican t in addition to that attributed to the def tnd mt, the Bench dismissed the case with costs £1 3s.— Crossman i> C. K. Turnfeh— Action to recover £$ Ms '9d Soli* g Cods supplied. Mr Moore appeared for the plaintiff. Judgment for amount claimed aod costs £1 16s 5 to be paid in a fortnight.— The case of Dermott v Panama Gold-mining Company was adjourned uutil to-morrow at 11 o'clock. Once a yesu* '* Old lien Crisp -*' makes an appeal to the public of Nelsobt fot a little assistance towards providing the children's trent which he supervises on the Queen's Birthday. The time havihg.cfttne rolind for : tha collection of } tbe f9fr shillings which are generally un&i'ucigingly given for the purp>sf, this v.teran friend of the little ones .vill be very glad to receive tbe customary aid. Some people apply the term "old identity " in a disparaging sense to a Colonist who has borne the burden and heat of the day. "Ben," on the other hand, is rather proud of the title, to which he considers he has an undoubted right, for he is t3 years of age today, »nd of these three score, aud i thirteen years he has spent no les3 tban ,o2 iv the colonies, having arrived iv Australia on the day on which Her Majesty was ushered into the world, namely tht- 24th of May, 1819. '• If you put (hat little bit in the paper," adds our old fnend, "you can also say that I have been a staunch teetotaller for 38 years." At the Brightwater Court to-day, Jonathan Mears, a farmer of Wakefield, was charged with using threatening language towards Caroline Adnams. a widow. Atr Bunny defended. Considerable interest was taken in the case, and the Bench were absent twenty minutes considering their judgment, which was that the case be dismissed. Tub monthly inspection of the Town and Port Volunteers will take place at the Drill Shed tbis ev* ning at half-past seven. Captain Walker, of the Lady Barkly, in a letter which we publish to-day, calls attention to the dangerous absence of leading lights at the Motueka wharf, the Waimea County Council has now the control of this wharf, and should cause enquiry to be made into the matter. Thb appointment is gazetted of Williim Coleman as Lieutenant of the Waimea Rifle Volunteers. The imports afc the port of Nolson during the quarter ended 31st March last amounted to £50,728 against £44,446 for the corresponding quarter of last year. A Post office notice which appears elsewhere announces the date on which the Torres Straits mail, the quickest route to India and China, will in future leave Brisbane. The Christcburch Telegraph of the |2nd instant says: — A collection was made during yesterday at the Roman Catholic Church, Barbadoes-street, towards the erection of a new church in Nelson to replace the one recently destroyed by fire. On Mr Studholme's property in the Waimate oce day last week a party of eight sportsmen bagged 210 hares in five hours. TnE total liabilities of th 3 Banks in New Zealand at the close of the last quarter were £10,334.147, the Bank of New Zealand topping the list with £5,086,826 The total of assets was £14,028,005, of which £6,928,042 are accredited to the Bank of New Zealand. The total paid up capital of the six Banks is £5,450,000. The aggregate amount of the last dividend declared by them was £377,000. The rate per annum of the last dividend was as follows: — Bank of New South Wales 17 J percent; Union of Australia 15; Bank of NZ. 15; Bank of Australasia 12; National of N. Z. six; Colonial of N.Z six. If the Government has a weakness for Commissions, the public certainly bave a mania for Conferences, which are now proposed in connection with almost every conceivable subject, the people frequently appearing to entirely forget the very existence of their representatives in the Colonial Parliament who certainly form the proper medium through which their wants should be made known. One of these gatherings is about to take place Bhortly in consequence, we presume, of the action taken by the Manawatu County Council, whose circular letter was recently before the Nelßon City Council. Referring to this, the Dunedin Star makes the following remarks: •' There are high times in Btbre for some county chairmen. A conference of these high dignitaries, presided over no doubt by the inevitable Vincent Chairman (Mr Pyke) is to be held in Wellington; and it may be noted that the Wakatipu County Council have set the example of misappropriating the ratepayers' money by voting £65 for the expenses of Mr Daniel. These conferences result invariably in fruitless discussions, impracticable, recommendations, and general demonstrations of incapacity. The public laugh, and tbe Goverument regard the whole affair as an unmitigated nuisance. Every possible object a conference could effect can be better arranged by correspondence and through the representatives of the people in Parliament." While the Rev. Mr Richardson was leaving Christchurch for Port, he was disposing of hia traps upou the vehicle that was to take them to the railway station when he came across a piece of rope. " Oh !" said the deceased gentleman, " I may require this in case of a wreck. It will do to tie myself to tho rigging."-Christchurch Telegraph. 'An Old Mariner" writes to the Southland Times :— " I have been grieved to hear reflections cast on the character of the late Captain Garrard, of the Tarariia, to the effect

that he was a young man without experience as a seaman, and that he was wanting m vigilance on the occasion of the late accident and sad catastrophe. De mortuis r,ii nui bonum. I was all but a stranger to Captain Garrard. I never met him before I made a very stormy passage with him in the old Albion a few months ago, from Melbourne to Bluff. During that passage I had impressed on my mind the conviction not only that he was a, thorough seaman, hut one of the mort vigilant of his class ;ho seemed to me to bo always on deck."