To the Editor of the "Evening Mail."

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 138, 11 June 1881, Page 2

To the Editor of the "Evening Mail."

Sir,— Your musical critic in describing the last Harmonic Society's coucert is evideutly not aware of the fact, which I think ou^ht to be made public, that the performers were in no way answerable for the choice of a piece of music, so far hevond their capacity as " Fridolin.." On the contrary, frequent requisitions were made to the conductor on their behalf either to postpone the singing of the cantata referred to ia public, or the giving it up altogether, but to no parpose, so that the unfortunate performers are not to be blamed for the choice, but rather those, whoever they may be, who insisted bu the piece being performed. It is to be hoped thafc these individuals will take warning by the " fiasco " of Thursday evening and for tha future choose music which will be wiihin our power and at the same time give infinitely greater pleasure to the audience. — I am, &c, A Singing Member.

A Bomewhat exciting little " scen6 " (says the Post of Thursday) took place on (he wharf last evening, just before the departure of the Wanaka. The affair, we are informed, arose in thi*? way : — When the Simonßen Company were last performing bere, Mr R. W. Cary, who was ill at tbe time, sent a note to certain members of the company asking if they were open to engagement. Tbiy said they were, as their engagement with Simonsen had expired in May, and that they were only bound to him from day to day This satisfied Mr Cary that he was justified in engaging the performers, and he did so. Upon their arrival from Nelsbn yesterday morning they came ashore, and Wben the "Wanaka was lem'og last night Mr Cary went to bid Mr Simonsen good-bye. To the surprise of thoße in tbe vicinity Mr Simonsen made a blow at Cary, accompanying it with a charitable wish for that gentleman's future welfare. Mr Cary returned the compliment, and then the bystanders interfered and prevented further damage. The following is a copy of tbe letter addressed to the Commissioner of Customs by Mr J. A. Morgan, of Cbristchurch, on the subject of a distilling licence : — Sir, — I beg to apply for a distilling license next to my Farina Factory in Madras-street, soutb, Christchurch. I shall be perfectly willing to pay the Government the same duty ss they charge upon imported whisky. By obtaining auch license I shall be ablo to supply the country wilh a pure article, not the poisonous compounds sent out from Home, and at the same time keep ia it tbe sum of from 123 to 1 4s per gallon in the colony which at present goes to England. I shall also be able to utilise colonial malt with the potato to make a perfect spirit, which (given age) will not poison tbe public like the imported Bpirits do. To gire it age I will employ only mother earth, which will extract the fusel oil. If you cannot grant the license under the existing laws, will you be good enough to bring the matter under the notice of the Government. Trusting this will receive a favorable consideration, — I am, sir, youra obediently, J. A. MofeGAK. The Home News says that tha new Bankruptcy Bill has just been issutd. It bears the names of Mr Chamberlain, the AttorneyGeneral, tbe So icitor-General, and Mr Ashley. The Bill consists of seventy-two douses, and fills thirty-one pages. A schedule to the Bill givts the following scale of remuneration for trti.ees where the assets under a bankruptcy petition do not exceed £3000: — For property realised, including debts collected, 2.J per cent on the first amount of £500, or any less sum; 1 per cent on the next amount of £500, or any less sum; £ per cent on all further suras. On dividend-2 pßr cent on the first amount of £1000, or any less sum ; I per cent on all further Bums. Where the property has been realised partly by a receiver and partly by the trustee, the remuneration for property realised upon Bhall be divided in proportion to the amount realised by each. The Melbourne Argus calls attention to the high charges made for the uso of the New Zealand and Tasmanian cables, and that though between the different proviccas^ of the Australian continent tbere is communicatipn at reasonable rates, the tariff between island and continent— a lesser distance being traversed and a less sum having been_ expended in construction — is almost prohibitive, the result being tbe prevention of that freedom of communication which is essential, not only for only for the dissemination of information through the Press, but aIBO for the promotion of commercial and other important interests Our contemporary points out that the explanation of the anomaly is the fact tbat the land Hnes are worked by the Government for the convenience of the public, whereas the cables are in the hands of a company, which only concern thenißelvea about profits and the interests of the shareholders, and would not be likely to give up a .saf e and certain position on the chance of improving its returns. The Argus refers at aome length with regret to the fact that intercolonial telegraphy^ was not made from the first a matter of joint concern. ,_ . Says an English paper :— We, in our " tight little island," are, after all, only pigmies cotnpared'to our offspring, if the United States, in their largeness, will still permit themselves to be included among them. Our production of iron and coal is known to be enormous, but what are they compared with those of the America of the future? Speaking of the coal deposits of the Missouri, a contemporary sayß that there ara 26,887 square miles of such deposits in tbat State, and a "calculating machine" has demonstrated they can supply 100,000,000 tons a year for the next 1300 years, and stiU leave ft handsome margin for future generations. There is also an iron mountain in the State 228 feet high, whose base covers 500 acres, and it is computed that the quantity of ore above the surface is 230,187,375 tons. Adjacent to the mountain is a" knoll" 581 feet high, with an acreage at tbe base of 390, and the iron ores in it are estimated at 13,972,773 tonß. It is all very well, but we, on our part, may perhaps be allowed to " calculate that the above statements ought to be taken cum grano sali*. The Municipial Court of Paris has just determined to iet up a nursery in connection with its hospital, for the purpose of carefully testing the relative valueß, in the rearing of children, pf the different kinds of milk from animals kept under tbe healthiest conditions. Telephonic communication was recently established between Wellington Athenajum and, Wanganui. " The Last Eose of 'Sum- * mer" played pn.a ; cprnst in Wanganui wfcs distinctly -audible in the Wellington HftN.. , ....

Letter paper of a different color for every day in tbe week is low adopted in Paris. On Monday epistles appear on pale green, on Tuesday pink is the orthodox tint, Wed nesday, as an unlucky d y, is distinguished by sombre grey, blue ia utecl on Thursday, white on Eridny, straw-color on Saturday, and a delicate mauve on Sunday. A man bas been sent to gaol in Queensland fir hacking cff the head'of a jibbing horse with a chisel. This ho succeeded in completely effecting, after a good deal of trouble, and then, it is stated, completed his revenge by cooking the head and eating parfc of it for supper. Says that most fertile and famous of all New Z-'aland correspondents (the Wellington correspondent of the Lyttelton Time*) :— I hear on good authoriiy that, on the Ilouse meeting, Ministers wil submit another scheme of retrenchment in the Civil Service. The ten per cent reduction ot last year will be remitted off the salaries of all retaiucd in the service, but there will be numerous dismissals and special reductions in certain individual caees. So far asi can learn, lhe police force is the only branch to which a general rule will be applied ; all under the rank of sub-inspectors will, it is add, be reduced one shilliug per day. In cases of first claBS sergeants thia is about equivalent to the ten per cent reduction, but beneath tbat grade, considerably more, pressing most hardly on the worst paid. It is also rumored that Poat and Tilegrapb Department officials will be the least affected by the proposed changes. Among tbe many opinions as to the probabilities during the session of Parliament, which has just beeu opened, the following from the Hawke's Boy Hera (/may be noticed: "Piobably your readers will have noticed that most of the members of tbe Opposition who have spoken have taken care more or less to repudiate the leadership either of Sir George Grey or Mr Macandrew, and givea very qualified assent to the views lately ex pressed by these gentlemen, when they do not absolutely protest agaicßt them. This has raised some curiosity among a section of political quidnuncs as to whether there ia not some third leader at present kept mysteriously in the background, but who is to spring forward wben the House meets, rally the scattered forces of the Opposition arcund hitn, and lead them on to victory. This idea may have been strengthened by occult references in certain quarters to the 'strength of the Opposition,' and so forth. I muat confess that I am unable to see where its strength lies The Ministry ai*3 nofc only able to come before the House with the finances of the colony restored to a sound basis, with about a million of the loan available for expenditure, but they also have a programme calculated to taka the wind out of the sails of the Or position in regard to measures of 'reform.' As a matter of fact, I believe that tbe Opposition realise that it is useless for them to attempt to do much against the Government during the coming session They will therefore, I think, reserve their forces until after the general election, when they hope that the fates may turn out more propitious for them than they are at the present time." A short time ago (the Liverpool Mercury says) a number of Liverpool opticians, members of the Liberal party, and therefore cordial admirers of Mr Gladstone, conceived the idea of expressing in some way their bigh appreciation of his personal worth. Faithful to the old adage that there is nothing like leather, they have carried that idea out by manufacturing for his especial use a masterpiece of their handicraft in the shape of a pair of spectacles. The difficulty of obtaining the Premier's true "sight" was overcome by obtaining private information as to the strength of the glasses which Mr Gladstone has in ordinary use. As showing that in this, as in other ways, the great Liberal leader is by no means the old man his years would indicate, it may be interesting to know thafc his " sight" is c'assed by these skilled opticians as "remarkably young" for this time of life. The frames of the spectacles are of the hest gold, the glasses of the best Brazilian pebbles, and the handsome case in which they are placed bears Mr Gladstone's name on the outside. Everything being thus completed, the gift i* to be forwarded, along with a beautifully illuminated address, which concludes as follows :— " We beg to assure you of our appreciation of your favor in accepting these helps to second sight, and to express the hope that you may live long to enjoy the use of them, so thafc we mayprofit by y.mr vision." The address and spectacles will probably be sent to Mr Herbert Gladstone, M. P., for the purpose of being j conveyed to his father. Under the heading " A radical cure for drunkenness " a Hungarian paper tells the following Russian story : — A workman brought a complaint against four of his fellows that they had given him twenty-five blows with a stick. The accused on being asked for their defence produced an agreement iv writing, one clause of which expressly stipulated that if one of their number drank to such an extent as not to be able to attend to his work, the others were to measure out to him twenty-five blows, and thafc they had merely carried out the agreement. Upon this the Magistrate discharged them, remarking thafc they were not deserving of blame for what they had done, but rather of praise.

Somebody has been hoaxing the writer of "Passsing Notes" in the Otago Witnrss. The following story, he says, ha<* "reached him from Wellington":— "A certain learned Judge, well known in Wellington, has a habit of us-'iig* illustrations to a. very large extent to make his meaning clear. On one occasion a witness was before liim who was somewhat scrupulous about swearing a certain thing, though he was morally pure of it. The Jufige accordingly remarked, ' Well, you feel quite convinced in your own mind that it was so, though you cannot deny you might be mistaken. For instance, I left my go.'d watch at home this morning. I am morally certain— l feel quite sure— that I left it on a table at the head cf my bed, though it is just within the range of possibility that I 'might be mistaken.' The witness was comforted, and the case went on. When thoy learned judge returned to his •am fireside' ho was met by the wife of his bosom with the remark, 'Why, my dear, what a fuss you were in about your watch to-day you sent no less than tbree people after'it. Of course I g-vs it to the first that ccne.' Tableau— The Judge agbast ; fond memory recalling his unhappy illustration in open court, and the fact that there had been time for clever rogues to act upon it. He ■never saw that watch agahi." The story is Dot a bad one, but is somewhat musty, having been told for many years of an English judge. It was republished some months ago in an article in Chambers' Jour' al, entitled "Misapplied Ingenuity," and since that time h s been reprinted in more than one colonial newspaper. Spofforth is not only a good cricketer, but is also a first class short distance runner. At the last Sydnsy Amateur Ath'elic meeting the event of greatest intereft was the 108 yards flat racp, which resulted in a dead heat between Spofforth and Hush. As Spofforth got away with the lead and Rush gained upon him considerably duriog the last twenty yards, it was thought that iv the run off Rush would easily dispose of the " di-mon," but Spofforth ogam got away at the start and succeeded in puttiug in the first fifty a gap of at least two yards between himself and his opponent, which he kept till the finsh, winning easily in 10-J-iecs. The most jubilant at Spofforth's victory were Messrs Murdoch and Bonner. The Australian captain says he is in a position to match Spcfforth against any amateur in the colonies for a stake-bet of £100. Dc-ecribiosr the Edisr.n Eleotrio light r writer in (ho New York Sun, says: — Tbe drawing-room ia lighted by n hrge chandelier carrying a dozon or more lamps, and is as bright ac d»*y. A mora l.rilliant end a steadier light couli not bo desired. There is nono of the flifker ao frequently observed in some oi the electric li^hte, aod wbich elso charscterizes gaslight : but tie incandeeceut carbon horseshoes glow *nth a quiet aod steady ictansiiy. The electric current is turned on end off like gas, BDd the instant the electricity is let in upon the carbon, it becomes brilliant. No more convenient light, thereforp, could be had. No match ia required to ignite it. It is clesn, odorless, pnd almost without heat. The land may be pressed against the plass bulbs inside which tho heat glows without discomfort. But lb ; s electric light has its disadvantages also. It pains the eye to look at it, and therefore it ought to he pisced high oyer the heads of people. It is also go white end pur- 1 that complexions nre exposed by it bb they are at midday on a saody seabeech. The artifice which women use to enhance their beauty, or to concent the ravages of ago or care, avail little in the presence? of (he elctric light. It ser.rchFS out every personal defect, like j a bright unclouded summer sun. But probably by means of proper shades, it could be Boftensd so n-3 to make it look more gfa'.efui. Balancing ita advantages and disadvantages, however, the E.nson light unquestionably has lhe preponderpnee in iis fnvor ss we now Bee it exhibited. We are, however, 8 ill left in doubt as to what the cost (f the light will be Profeesors of pbytice, with few exceplirns, deny Mr Edisob'd ability to furnish the electric lifc-h* at a cost, which will briDg it into general uef, and in a manner which will make it as conv<-f i-nt. and as trustworthy as g-vßli-jht. We will wait nnn sa.'wbetbpr Mr Kdiaoo ie ri»l-f, and men like F* of. Mayer aed Pro/. F.oo' tre wrong, or wheiher he is the victia. of sanguine expectations doomed to be unießiißH(i.