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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 122, 24 May 1881, Page 2

The Grey River Argus has the following account of the landing 1 of the. Chinese : — " The landing of the Chinese last night from the Hero was a eight not often Been, and not soon to be forgotten. The Lioness tendered the Hero, and, in order to save time, took on board the -whole lot intended for this port — 304 in all. Every available inch of space seemed to be occupied, the new arrivals being huddled together as closely as sheep in a pen. As soon as the Lionesß was clear of the Hero the Dispatch hauled alongside, and relieved her of a large number. As soon as the tugboats came alongside the wharf a babel of voices was heard, and the deafening din was kept up from the time they- landed, about 10.30, until midnight. The Customs authorities were in attendance in order to search, the army of ' Johns, 1 and their belongings, but the task was utterly beyond their resources, considering the time available ; and the problem was solved by releasing the horde of Chinamen and impounding their luggage for the night. .To the credit of themew comers it must be said that they behaved themselves in the most docile and tractable manner, which, under the circumstances, was saying a great deal for them. About midnight all were got out : of the transit shed, and they at once started for the Chinese quarters, where their resident coun--tryjien, it was said, had made some sort of arrangement for housing them for the night. The majority of the new arrivals are fresh from the Flowery Land, and nearly all cleanlooking strapping young fellows, all dressed in the peculiar garb of their country. It may have been some deprivation to them to be unable to get their ' bag and baggage : last night, but their countless bundles of impediments rendered it impossible for the Customs' routine of search to be gone I through last night — and the Customs are very particular to prevent the smuggling of opium. The Hero, earlier in the day, landed sixty-three at Hokitika. There are still forty-eight on board for Dunedin." A country editor, speaking of a large and fat contemporary, remarked that if all fleßh was grass be must be a load of hay. " I expect I am," said the fat man, " from the way the donkeyg are nibbling at me." Further enquiries made regarding the immigration of Chinese have elicited the fact that out of about 2000 who have lately arrived 1400 or 1600 have left Sydney for the interior. The greater proportion has gone northwards, presumedly with the object of working at the tin mines. For the first time (says the Melbourne Daily Telegraph, in the theatrical history of Australia, a stag© play has had its hundredth consecntive representation. « It i» only tbe unforeseen which happens," however, and the honor has fallen to tbe lot of Offenback's cppiic opera. "L» FtMe 4u Tambour Major."

The cost of the census in the United Stateß was about £70,000. This exceeds the estimates by about £20,000, due to the rise in wages and prices that occurred just as the enumeration was commenced, and also partly to the unexpected increase which haa taken place in the population, being 2,000,000 in excess of the highest estimate of the office. A telegram haß been received in Berlin from Cairo, to the effect that two pyramids have been opened in the neighbourhood of Sakharah, to the north of Memphis, which were erected by two kings of the Sixth Dynasty. Thousands of inscriptions cover the rooms and passages of the monuments, and thus make the discovery of the highest importance for the study of the Egyptian language and history; Messrs Austin and Ivirk, of Cbrlstcburch, have notified Government of their intention to claim the bonus of £250 offered for the first £1500 worth of pottery made and sold in the colony between given dates. On the 27th April the enormous number of 36,000 rabbit skins were brought to Blenheim from the Awaterc district, and one runholder slates that on his station alone 51,000 rabbits have been destroyed in nine month«. The Canterbury time* says:— Sir George Grey's speech at tbo Thames has his ancient virtues and his ancient faults, but not in the tncient" proportions, the combination in ihia case bciDg the greater development of the faults. How a man may be his own grandfather is shown by a facetious correspondent of the Times of India, who writes : — "Supposing I were a widower wish an only Bon, who married a widow, the mother of a marriage able daughter, and supposing: further that I fell in love with and married the stepdaughter of my son, what relationship should I have to him ? Should I not, according to law, be the son of my own son, and my own grandfather in consequence ? My wife would I also become my grandmother, as she would be by law the mother of my £on ; but aa a man may not marry bis own grandmother, I presume the alliances bringing about this unlawful state of affairs would be considered illegal by the Church and State/ The failure of the rye crop, and heavy duties on imported rye have led, it see mi, to a tremendous exodus of Germans from the Fatherland to the shores of America. The Now Yorkers welcome the immigrants, it 19 said, with the appropriate strains of "Comb' thro' the Rye!" This is prbteclion alt over, says a Sydney paper. A well-dressed man, who looked like a new chum, was buying some ammunition at a gunsmith's in Melbourne, when his notice was attracted to a splendid breech-loadsr, labelled "Our own manufacture," "You never made that gun here," said he to the owner of the shop. "0 j*s t I did," was the reply. " I'm positive you didn't." "Well, how do you know?" Then the new chum began to detail how Smith, of Birmingham, made ths lock, and Brown of Birmingham, the atock i and ifrones, of Birmingham, this barrel) finishing up by remarking "I myself browned tbat gunbarrel. Browning gun-barrela it a aecrot trade which few know And which is jealously guarded. I know my own work." Then the tradesman acknowledged that the new chum was right, and that he had imported the gun,; and put it together. Still hia share of the work was scarcely important enough to entitle him to claim that ho had " manufactured " the gun, American advices to hand give particulars of a terrible snowstorm which had visited tbs corth-westero portion of the United States. From the isfc of Febraary Until the 12th one train had been blocked at Mountain Lake, and the passengers had to remain by. It was expected that the train would be unable to move for some time to coma. The Hastings Bnd Dakota divisions of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway bad been buried under a snowbank for about two months. The wind blew with tre- , mendous force, and in many cases the snow was 30 feet deep. The trains between Omaha and Lincoln were abandoned. The south- bound Burlington and Missouri train left with five locomotives, and while endeavouring to penetrate the drift about six miles from Lincoln, the forward engine was thrown off the track. There were 180 passenger* in the train, and when their position became known provisions, coal, and blankets were despatched to them from Lincoln. That nice new girl (says the Sydney Mail) only modestly stipulated that " her brother " should be allowed to visit her once or twice a week, and this request the mistress readily conceded. That brother paid bis visits pretty well every night for the next week or two; and a most fond brother be evidently was, for he was often noticed by the children of that houaehold to be " nursing bis sister, ma, on bis knees, and kissing her like anything." One evening (he mistress happened to drop into the kitchen during one of these brotherly visitations, and the affection going on was affecting to witness; but Mary roie hastily from her brother's lap, and the brother bade the lady good night rather hurriedly, and departed. " You seem dread fully food of your brother, Mary; are you quite sure he it your brother, Mary ?" asked the mistress a little severely. " Yes — ye-s, mum $ of course he's my brother, mum ; aren't all men our brothers, mum ? and please, mum, I'm going to leave next week, mom, to marry my brother, mum," said that dreadful young hypocritical " sister 1" A singular ceremony was recently witnessed in Manockjee Shstt's Wadi, Bombay, when seven happy couples belonging to the Parsee community were united in the holy bonds of matrimony. These aspirants to hymeneal bliss were exceedingly young, as may be gathered from the fact that the eldest was only fifteen years, whilst the youngest bridegroom was about fifteen months and the youngest bride a blushingbeauty of nine months. Of course the immature age of the two latter prevented their taking any active part in the ceremony beyond giving vent to their feelings in true infantile style, and the marital bond was tied whilst each child was seated in its mother's lap. The scene, as one cab well imagine, created much amusement among the spectators, and we are told that the advocates of early marriages were exceedingly rejoiced at the strange spectacle. — Timet of India. Greymouth has formed a local mining company under the name, style, and title of the Ornithorrnchus Paradoxes Gold-mining Prospecting Association. People are asked to take shares in a company whose name they cannot pronounce. The thing seems to be a paradox, for a bird ia to burrow undtr ground for gold. At New Plymouth recently during the hearing of some actions to recover Property Tax, it transpired that one of the defendants had paid the amount due by him into the Post Office hj » money order drawn in favor of the Property Tax Commissioner, at Wellington, He did not, however, understand the nature of a money order, and, instead of forwarding the order to the Property Tax Office, he kept it as " a receipt" for the payment of the money. He was greatly incensed when he afterwards received the summons to pay his property tax, and set about abusing the Government officials when it was after all his own mistake. The Deputy-Commissioner pressed for costs, which were allowed, and this flight error coat the defendant over £2. This was too much for his wounded feelings, and he expressed his opinion freely in Court that he had bepn victimised by the method the Government had adopted to collect the tax. The Taranaki Herald adds that it has since heard of another case where a similar mistake was made. At a recent meeting (says the Auckland Herald) of the Cambridge Farmers' Club, when its financial (position was being discussed, and the fact pointed out that a money demand was at present pressing on the Club, Mr J. Sheehan, M.11.R , urged the Club to increase its subscriptions and bunt np its members, In the Sonth they bad Farmers' Clubs at which visitors could put np their horses and obtain luncheon. If the land owners in the district would not put their hands in their pockets and support the Club he would have to join Sir George Grey again, and go in for cutting up the waste lands into 100 acre blocks. (Laughter,) They should donble the subscriptions and mike it a real Club. They must popularise' the Club. It was nonsense to say that a m^re Bum of £75 was a serious difficulty. He would knock down (hat amount in billiards id tl}<? course of 9 night.

Seldom have the Reunion Islands been visited by so terrible a hurricane as that which swept over them on the 21st of January, inflicting incredible damage upon property of every description. Within three hours it levelled with the earth, in St. Denis alone, the Cathedral, Lycee, Orphan Asylum, Market Hal], Museum, and a whole quarter of Btrong, stone-built houses, besides filling the Palais de Justice with water from basement to garret through a vast rift in the roof, rent asunder by the fury of the blast. Into this chasni the clouds discharged their contents with such copiousness aa to flood the entire building in a few minutes. In other parts of the colony churches, town halls,and huge sugar manufactories were literally washed away. The Hospital of St. Marie was rent in twain to its very foundations, and the great stone barracks of St. Pierre were smitten to the ground by one supreme blow of the wind, falling in ruins with a sound as of mighty thunder. Of the wooden constructions in which a large proportion of the poorer population dwelt, nothing to speak of remains standing. Thousands of working folk are thus homeless and destitute, without a roof to cover their heads. Ui'gent appeals have been addressed to the French public by representatives of the colony for Bobscriptions in aid of these unfortunate people. What we are coming to.~ The St. James's Gazette writes »— •" This planet, it seems, is threatened with serious changes by the extension of the telegraphic system. A timely note of warning to this effect is given by one of the American papers. Polarity, it observes, depends tlpoti a etirrent of elec* tricity passing at right angles to the direction of the poles. The polarity of the earth depends upon the electric or beat currents of the sun, and.it is highly probable that the earth's inclination to tbe ecliptic is governed by its polarity. If, therefore, there were instantly established sufficient electrical connexion by wires around tbe earth, with the earth itself to instantly equalise the current and produce a complete reduction of all electrical excitement, what would be the effect on the polarity, and secondly on tbe inclination to the ecliptic? May there not be a sudden change of polarities— the Arctic region becoming equatorial and the tropics suddenly changed to polar temperature ? The sudden meeting of the vast ice fields would produce another glacial flood ; the present race would disappear, and the man of the quaternary would begin life over again at the antipodes. All this is to be accomplished by tbe continuation of complete circuits for telegraphing around the globe. Of course tremendous earthquakes would follow, as tbe polar diameter is twentysir mile 3 too short and the equatorial twentysix milea too long. Whether thi3 theory prove correct or not there cannot be a doubt that something has of late gone wrong with atmospherical arrangements, and perhaps tbe telegraph wires are not wholly blameless in the matte*." Id Victoria census stories are numerous. Here is one from the Colac He former: — "One sub-enumerator has come to grief already. An irate matron asked him ' who he thought was going to bother herself with filling up his papers with a pnck.of nonsense about ages and religions) and where you were born, an i not a bit of work for her old man these three months?' She opined ' tbat it would better become them to mind their own business and take off tbe taxes,' and she went on at length till the sub-enumerator pointed out that the trouble of filling Up tbe jpaper would" not fall upon herself, but upon her husband as head o! tbe family. Then the lady arttse in her wrath, aud denounced her husband, tbe census, and tbe enumerator, too, and avowed that 'she should like to see him (her husband) write it. to call himself bead of the family, and bring home nothing for three months, and she to pay five shillings fine for him ;' winding up with tbe declaration tbat ' her husband had a head, go bad a pin.' The sub-enumerator, who is but a slim and delicate petson, albeit with a copious and sonorous utterance, would have gone long before, but that madam was between him and tbe gate. At this point be tried to ap pease her with a joke, hoping to escape UDder cover of a laugh, and reminded her that all pins had not heads, exemplifying rollingpins. This finished him, for the next minute he was seen flying over tbe gate, which he says he jumped; but, if so, why did his hat fly after him into the road two minutes later, and why did he leave one of his coat-tails behind him !" A sensational incident (says 'the Sydney Evening JNews) occurred recently on the train from Dubbrj to Sydney. In a second-class rriage were about a score of pasoengers, including some of the members of tbe Austrian Baud; and shortly after Bowenfels bad been passed Herr Eubr noticed smoke issuing from under one of the seats. Considerable alarm was caused. Tbe carriage was soon filled with smoke. Several members of the party climbed out through the window and on to the roof of the carnage, where then conomonced shouting at the top of their voices to the driver. On man, named Alfred Burgess, fell off in the attempt to climb on to the roof, and was afterwards picked up uncosscious ; another, more skilful, managed to get out and mount the roof with a portmanteau and cloak in his band. Matters began to be very critical by this time, and tbe shouts of those on top were redoubled. It wbb not till after they had spent about twenty minutes in this w«y, [however, that they were noticed by tbe driver, and the train stopped. Meanwhile those left inside were half suffocated with tbe smoke, one lady bay ing fainted, and all being terribly alarmed. As soon at the train was stopped the passengers were transferred to another carriage, and the fire was put out. It was discovered tbat a large bole had been burned in tbe floor. Burgess was a blacksmith, resident at Bathurst. Be was conveyed to the Sydney Infirmary, and died next day. Naval Savings Banks. -In 1880 an Act :waa passed establishing: Naval Savings Banks on board the ships in the Royal Navy and at tbe head quarters of the divisions of Royal Marines This experiment having succeeded, the Admiralty are now of opinion that it would be for tbe benefit of the seamen in tbe Royal Navy to establish, in addition to the floating banks, similar institutions on shore in tbe dockyards for the receipt of deposits from seamen otherwise eligible as depositors. An Order in Council has accordingly been issued, and is printed in the Gazette, authorising the opening of these banks. Tbe interest allowed to depositors will be £2 10s per cent upon every complete £1 deposited; deposits will be received either by allotments or remittances from pay, or by cash personally tendered, from depositors borne on tbe books of any of her Majesty's ships and vessels either at borne or abroad ; and the management of the new banks will be vested in tbe cashiers under tbe general supervision of tbe superintendents of the dockyards.— Times The N. Z. Herald of May 3rd says :— Some little excitement was caused in Hamilton early on Sunday morning by the Bight of a man hanging over the river by the neck from one of the projecting flooring beams of the bridge. Quite a number of persons accompanied by Constable Wild hurried to the spot, while Sergt. McGovern ran down the j river in search of a boat or canoe. On reach- \ ing the part of the bridge near the east end the supposed man was found to be a cun-ningly-devised dummy. It was with some difficulty the people on the bridge could haul it up, and Sergeant McGovern, after returning from the river side, ran hurriedly along I the bridge calling to the constable and others 'to handle the poor fellow less roughly. A shout of laughter, however, revealed the fact that it was a sell. On the back of the figure a paper was pinned saying hard times i was the cause. As the dummy now hangs in the police station, it has all the appearj ance of a man at a very short distance. ; Things tbat will wear are not to be had cheap. Whether it be a fabric or a principle, if it is to endure it must cost something. Glitter, tinsel, brilliant coloring, ■ may all be bad without much expense; but, if we would hare strength, firmness, and permanence, we roust pay for them. Elder Ferns, a Latter-day saint, has been lecturing at Gisborne, and the local evening paper has come to the conclusion that he does ; not quite understand his business. He opened -and concluded bis meeting with a prayer for the welfare of the district, and expatiated considerably oh its future in the matter of soil, and: then asked them all j 0 abandon \t and go tp the new Zion,.

The Postmaster General of Victoria has been so ungallant as to report that in the Telegraph Department five young men are equal to ten young women. The Otago Slaughtering Company already have on their books 20,000 sheep and 800 cattle for slaughtering and freezing on the squatters' account. Umbrella flirtation • To place your umbrella in a rack indicates that it is about to change owners. Au umbrella carried over the woman, the man getting nothing but the drippings of the rain signifies courtship. When the man has the umbrella and the woman the drippings it indicates marriage. To carry it at right angles under your arm signifies that an eye is to be lost by the man who follows you. To put a cotton umbrella by the side of a nice silk one signifies " exchange is no robbery." To lend an umbrella indicates "lam a fool." To carry an umbrella just high enough to tear out men's eyes and knock off men's hats signifies, " I am a woman." Ye Yek, a storekeeper at Reefton, informs the T<mes that 132 Chinese arrived there during last week, and 200 are now en route from Sydney for Reefton. Another 1000 Celestials left Hongkong during April, 200 of whom are for Cooktown, and the remaining 800 for the West Const.— G. It. Argus. A correspondent writes to Nature : — " My friend, the liev H. J. Marston, second master of the school for blind sous of gentlemen, at Worcester, has communicated to me some very singular lostunces of the power of localising sound possessed by blind boys One of the games in which his pupils most delight is that of bowls. A bell is rung over tile nine pins just as the player is read v to throw the bowl, when, totally blind, us he is, hedeliversit with considerable accuracy of aim. Mr Marston vouches for the fact tbat it is no uncommon feat for a boy to strike down a single pin at a distance of 40ft three times in succession. It is significant that this game cannot be played by the blind boys in windy weather. And yet the allowance for windage on a very heavy ball can be no very large quantity. The boys also played football with great zeal and considerable skill. Bells are mug at the goals throughout the game, and the ball containfi two little bells. With these guides the boy* manage both to follow the ball, and direct i. to the goats. r> The Earl and Countess of Gosford have arrived off Nice in their yacnt Cetonin, They have called at Lisbon, Gibraltar, and Algiers during 1 their trip. The arrangements of the Cetonia are of the most sumptuous description ; in fact, it has been described as a floating hotel. In the grand saloon are comfortable divans, and on a table covered with Indian, cashmere are objects of art of great value, amongst them a portrait of the Princess of Wales, and a silver- chased cup. the gift of the King of Portugal, now at Lisbon. The pictures and photographs are curious and interesting, and among the contents fcf the saloon tire the presents made to the noble yachtsmali and his guests by Sini- j Ben-Sadouin and the hospitable town of Oran. last November. The principal bed- , chamber is exquisitely arranged and decorated, and there are five other chambers for Bord and Lady Gosford's guests. It is often a warm time for the countjy Justices of the Peace (writes the " Loafer in the street") when the regular RM. is away from his duties for a time. " Look here/ said old Jubbkins to a friend of mine, <; its a bad time forus when dont come. 1 ' There's two lawyers comes regularly to us. Elippert jumps up, states his cases, reading 100 selections, from the law books, the meaning of which he may gfrasp, but I'm blessed if I carij and finishes up bis peroration by telling the Bench that until they defeide the case in his favor they have no conception of the rudiments of law, and are virtually a pack of fools, or words to tbafc effect. Jawster fo llows on the other side, he quotes quite ns many cases as Flippest, demolishes to a certain extent some of his learned brother's arguments, and trusts that we shall mete out to his client that justice which he has a right to expect from anyone presuming to hold the appointments oi a J.jP. Now what's a fellow to do under such circumstances ? Your head is ringing like a peal of bells ; you mix up Flippert's remarks with those of Jawster. The . more you look over your notes, the more feeble you get ; and if the Clerk of the Court can't pull you along a bit you have only to remand the case until the R.M. comes round again. This, you know, looks rather stupid, and I don't care, even after all the experience I've had, to get | much beyond the drunks, and a well-proved case of assault or petty larceny.