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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 164, 12 July 1881, Page 3

A Californian story fells rf t rrrr 1 resolved tq give up dunking, acd went to a notary to get him to draw up an affidavit to th _* effect. The document was drawn, read ind approved ; the party held up his hand, murmuring the usual promise. The paper was then properly sealed and delivered, " What's to pay ?" asked the pledge-taker. '• To pay — to pay?" asked the notary. "Nothing of coarse. Thin is a labour of love." "Nothing to pay !" r_ turned the grateful but forgetful pledge-taker. " You are a perfect trick. Let's take a drink." Writing of tea compounds, the Melnourne Herald of a recent date has the following :— "A shipment of what is in the tea market technically entitled ' new makes ' was sold by auction last Wednesday, when 1125 boxes were disposed of at from 3^d to 4fd. According to thc finding of Sir. Dunn, this delectable compound contains hardly one genuine tea leaf, consisting for the most part of decayed, exhausted tea leaves, otber leaves, stems, rieefs of bark, husk, and nutshells, the whole being faced with plumbago to make it look blick. According to Mr. Krusa, thr- e of the samples supplied to him were not adulterated, but the fourth contained 19 5 per cent, of spurious substances, snch as clay, turmeric, and Prussian blue." The following brief nntice appears in a recent is3oe of the Wanganui Chronicle tinder the head of "Death," and if this thing comes into ceneral favonr we will not be surprised to see a, column cr so occasional y devoted to de.ailine tbe genealogical trees < f the departed:— "Barry. - Aftera lone illness (11 years), born with Christian rrsignatiop, Ann Barry (betfpr known as Annie), tbe beloved and only child of Richard N. Barry •nd Ann 3? arrell, dipd at her parents' residpnep. Cook-street, Howick, Auckland, at II o'clock a m.. on the 22nd of April, aged 42 years snd 11-12?hs. Nipce of Austin Nolar Barry. John William Romualdus, and Jaauß Josh Barrys ; grandfather, Divid Barry ; grandmother, Mary Frances Nolan ; grand-niece of the Revs. Austin, William, and Richard- Barrys, and grand-niece of Jnmes Barry, Merchant, of Tuam, County Galway. Home papers pleaßß copy." They have bad a frost at Rangiora lately, at least, that, we presume, is what the local paper intends to convey in the following paragraph: — "Tbe hoary old giant i. occaaionally letting- us know that we are under his reizn, although he has spared uf as long as he conld Yesterday the grim old autocrat of the frost and snow made ihings uncomfortably chilly, till old Sol woke up and " slung " down a few cheerful raya." The last letters of the Russian revolutionists before their execution are not devoid of certain pathos and dignity. Kaibaltchich wrote to his brother: "All is finished. Bear philosophically that which destiny sends me. I ana the victim of this historical development of my country. I have done my duty." Jeliabnff wrote to bis sister : "In a short time I shall be where there is bo more sorrow or crying. I have tried to act so that npon earth there would he Ipbs of tbat sorrow That was the object to which I have sacri ficed ev. ryihine. Igo into tbe other world, where God wil j.dee me. If He doea not condemn me, what will be fate of my judges? Wbat shame will cover them J" Throogh thf gloomy philosophy of these wretched victims "of the historical development of their coontry" there gteams somewhat of that spirit of self-sacrifice which in every age bas sent martyrs to the utake and patriots to the scaffold— Pi// Malt Budget. A young couple, named Edward W. Ackl<> and Catharine Johnson, aged 23, both of whon are deaf and dumb, have been married at St. Bartholomew-the-Great, West Smith-field, London. The bride and bridegroom came provided with prayer Inoks, and followed the service intelligently throughout. Whenever the response of the parties was required each one spelt it with the hands, thus certifying their understanding the questions put to them by the clergyman: Tbey signed the betrothal and engagement entered into in the same manner. The best man was able to act ss interpreter. After tbe service the parties signed the register in the usual way. Mr Fulton will move on Wednesday next, " That in tbe opinion of this Honse the Education Act should be so amended aa to enable any school committee to introduce Bible reading in the school, subject to a timp-table and a conscience clause." The Sydney Bulte'in speaks satirically of the breach of etiqnette shown by the comet In appearing after ths Gvernment Astronomer's office hours Mr Russell pat upon his mettle (or metal ?) has been avenged by his discovery of spots upon the sun of the modest aggregate dimensions of 80,000 by 30,000 miles. It may be that the onerous duties of regularly winding up the sun and moon and cutting up new stars to be posted on the sky, combined with the turning on and off of the tides, the regulation nf storms, winds, and atmosphere to tho different requirements of the various parts of the colony, occupy the official astronomer's time pretty fully ; and if So, it certainly seems, why, " demme, it it | io bad," for a comet to come sneeking about the horizon while its " boss " is haviog a well-earned forty winks ; hut I believe comets will do anything. D onati's comet was, however, a noble exception, and took good care to make its presence known^boldly from the very first, and I think that this precedent ought tp have been followed. A man in New York, stricken with paralysis on the street, fell down, was clubbed by a policeman, arrested for disorderly conduct, and sentenced to three months on the is'and. He died. The followi g advertisement recently appeared in the Wellington Post: -''Mr James Short, <if Ohiro, was married 24th May, 1831, arrived in Wellington, Ist May 1842. The old couple are etill enjoying tolerable good health, for which they desire to irake a pnblic acknowledgment for God'a goodness. The Lord has drawn us out of great water ; Glory, honor, praise and power be trato oar (Jod So. ©yer "