PROVINCIAL AND GENERAL.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 201, 7 December 1871, Page 6

PROVINCIAL AND GENERAL.

The " West Coast Times " writes as follows on the New Stamp Act: — Among bankers, and thpse connected -witty banking interests, the increase of jbSe impost upon cheques from Id to 2d will, it 55 silleged, tjreatly benefit £!iem. It is well known that the banks are always anxious for as large a circulation of their notes as. they can obUiij. Tt is true that these represent fcoM or silver coin, when either is demanded in exchange, but then, as a rule, this is seldom the rase. Notes pass from hand to hand, and are generally received.in payment in preference to gold. Nowt'iatthe stamp upon a cheque has been dou!)lcd, tradesmen, it is said, will draw largely upon their accounts in notes, pay in notes, and receive in notes, and so will be the means of increasing their cir -illation ; for notes, like bread cast .upon the waters, return after many days, and banks reap an advantage during the inteii.n. That i^ what is said, but whether it be correct those only initiated in banks and bank-ing can possibly say. The general " opinion, however, appears to be that the revenue will derive little or no increase from the new fiscal measure. A schoolmaster in Nelson, in writing to the " Wellington Independent " on j ihe School System, says: — "The schoolmaster receives a fraction over I 3Ss a week — rather less than a skilled laborer. The result is that the teacher is threadbare -at every elbow 0 and if the profession here has not already become the mere residum of j the starvelings and incapables of .every other pursui.t, I think all Nelson teachers will agree with me in sayin it is mainly owing to tbe tempe j judgment, and practical knowledge, of teaching of the Nejson Inspector of -Schools. Under the Nelson system of local election the schoolmaster is a mere waif at the sport of every local partisanship — political or religious — that every man he meets is, was, or may be, on his committee with powers of dismissal over him — that in many eases the most eminent powers in teaching have not been able to protect him from the small animosities of a country district.'? The following account of the Mr. Clarke who lately purchased 45,000 acres of laud at Aloa Flat is from the Wellington correspondent of the Napier. " Telegraph " ; — The career of Mr. Clarke is q. most marvellous one. Originally in business in Tasmania as a butcher, and that not in a very large way. he is now probably the largest landholder under the, British Crqwn. ! It is within my knqwledge that the | merest accident turned the current of j his fortunes. In 1836 he left Tasma r nia for New South Wales, and took up a station on the Liverpool Plains— at that time, of course, such could be h=»d at a moderate expense. He became the neighbour of Mr. Jones, a wellknown leading merchant, and a man of influence in Sydney, but now long dead. Disputes arose between Mr. Clarke and Mr. Jones** superintendent, and the former believing the influence of the latter to be. too overpowering to leave him any prospect of justice, sold his property at the very nick of time, when fche plains were looking their very best after a wet season. Their verdure and carrying capacity at such times are most extraordinary. The happy moment thus seized by Mr. Clark to clear out, was followed immediately by the droughts of 1838 and 1839 ; and those who are colonists of that standing must remember the losses of those seasons, and the ruin entailed by them. With happier fortune, Mr. Clarke invested his augmented means in the vicinity of what is now called ICeilor, in Victoria, and there laid the foundation of those enormous territorial possessions that are a wonder even in the colonies. .la allusion to the New York city ' frauds, the " Tribune " curiously writes : — : ' Mr. Reucher of the " Santa Fe Democrat" was so busy last week, attending to some mining matters,- that he was compelled to leave his paper in the hands of his Mexican assistant. This aiubitous Aztec, zealous to distinguish himself in his profession, and to steiko a blow for the cause of his party, publishes a list of our New; York Oourt-hoi\se expenditures, upon' which he bases a savage abfcack upon Hall and Connolly, Ingersoll and G-ar-yoy, denouncing them as Radical thiey.es, and predicting ruin and pillage .to the gitizens of New Mexico if they el Ql the Republican ticket.- ' Que solsta de Jadrones ! he exclaims ; f what a horde of robbers are these Republican pffipials!' Mr. Reucher. was last seen riding rapidly in the direction of Santa Fe, with a derringer in each hand and a bowie-knife in his teeth. Jt was conjectured he had seen his paper, and yearned to see his assistant." ' ' "S. W.," writes to the " Spectator : " — " When the Queen -has nine children, and the Briiice of Wales at the .age of twenty-nine has five, the thought of providing by additional allowances foe all the Ppfnces and Princesses of the. blood $hat are, or ihay he, is likely to distress the imagination of the taxpayer?. Even you, I presume, would draw the line spmewhere — 3ay, on a venture, at cousins, pr nephews, or nieces, of the Monarchy — rbut tbe coarse of providing only for those who have regal duties to, perform, jf the proyisionbe niade fn a generous Spirit eeema simpler, more logical,. and got at all r^giiblican.''' J

— A San" Francisco ' paper notices- a new star in the galaxy of liars thus : — "We like a liaa— a thoroughly con--scientious, industrious, ingenious liar. Not your ordinary prevaricator, who skirts along th.c coast of truth, keeping ever within sjght of the headlands and promontories of probability, whose* 1 excursions are limited to short, fairweather reaches into the ocean of imagination, and who paddles for port as if the devil were after him whenever a cap-full of wind threatens a storm of exposure ; but a bold, seagoing liar, . who spurns a continent and strikes straight out for blue water, with his eyes fixed upon the horizon of boundless mendacity. Iv the Paris correspondent of the •' Pall Mall Gazette ; we recognise such a one, and our ra 1 ; is now at half-mast in token of profound esteem and conscious inferiority. This person gravely tells us that at the burning of the Arehepiscopal Palace at Bourges, among other valuable manuscripts destroyed was the original death warrant of Jesus Christ, signed at Jerusalem by one Gapel, and dated TJ.C. 783. Not only so, but he kindly favours us with a literal translation of it ! One cannot help warming up to a man who cm lie like that. Talk about Locke's 'Moon' hoax, and Rhoades' ' Summerfield ' deception! Compared with the exalted mendacity of this tremendous fib they are but as the silly whisper of a hearth-stone cricket to the shrill trumpeting of a wounded elephant — the piping of a sick cocksparrow to the brazen clang of a donkey in love ! With some impatience we await the time when this genius shall have leisure to hunt up and publish the writ of ejectment served upon Adam in Paradise." The Mormons in Melbourne are building a small settlement at Foots? cray. The " Wanganui Herald " has the following :—": — " Some inquiring scientific genius has just presented the Canterbury Museum with a portion of a Maori skeleton. This will be a valuable acquisition ; and if they want any more specimens ' down South,' we can send them a shipload of perfect skeletons. There is no scarcity of the article up here, and we think it will be a very long time before Maori bones beotne as valuable as Moa bones. We know misanthropes Avho wish that time had come. We are neutral." A breach of promise case was recently tried at Monaro, in New South Wales, iv which the defendant, a storekeeper, was mulcted in damages to the amount of £200. In one of his letters to the plaintiff (whom he bad seduced), he wrote in this strain — "The finger of God is in this. Both you and I have complained of the providence of God having been against us in our passage through life, but I doubt not we shall have reason to conclude that he does all things well." Some amusiug mistakes are sometimes made by police constables in calling the names of parties concerned in suits at the various courts. The " Mount Alexander Mail " relates that at Fryerstown, during the sitting of the Court, there was an unseemly buzzing, and the magistrate, annoyed, called " silence," adding, " policeman, why don't you. call silence?" The policeman rushed to the door, and three times with a loud voice, cried " silence," and then returning, said " No appearance, your Worship." The " Waugauui Evening HeralH " publishes a statement, together with accounts, wherein it is shown, that in the estate of a deceased person, named Anderson, a piece of land was sold for £100, on which the expenses of the sale were £14 10s, and law costs, £82 14s 2d, the available balance being £2 los lOd. A man named William Pofcnam has been committed on a charge of cattle stealing at the Ahaura, the Grey. He is stated to be a man of property, carrying on an extensive dairy business at Ahaura and Halfounce, and I'ecently at the Twelvemile and Notown. He had a hotel with extensive cattle aud sale-yards attached just outside Ahaura, besides a' farm and a considerable quantity of stock and leased land. A Queensland squatter has fenced in a piece of scrub thirty-two miles in circumference, containg wild animals that damage his run. This monster trap has cost £4000. When Bishop Praser laments the cvi.l effects of the sale of church livings upon the sensitive minds of Nonconfqrmists, he laments an evil for which it is very difficult to provide a remedy. But the feelings of others besides Dissenters are a little outraged by the following advertisement, which appears in the "Field" newspaper: — "Sole Charge. — In a good hunting county. Furnished house, stables, and stipend, &c, desired for the coming winter by a benefited clergyman. — Address F., &c, &c." The advertiser makes no secret of bis wants. He is already beneiiced, but in a non-hunting county; he requires quarters for his horses and himself during the approaching season, and a " sale charge " because he dislikes interference. Clearly "F." wag born too late ; he would have mnfde a capital abbot in mediaeval times, and albeit unconsciously and undesignedly, have done his worst to destroy the monastic -system. But nowadays a bishop is n.ot expected to ride well to hounds, and may therefore demand that his clergy shall — at any rate ostensibly-r-rbe fishers of men rather '• than hunterg of flaxes.—'* Spectator"

The "Globe-" .contains, an extraoviinary conversation which is said to iave ' recently taken place between a well-known Bussian nobleman and the writer respecting the future of the great empires of the world, The Russian considered that Napoleon was the greatest politician in Europe, that the Crimean war was managed very badly on the part of the English, and that England would not occupy her present position many years, Russia, he thought, would in all probability take her place, «our Empire of the seas would also pass away, and Ireland would become a separate kingdom or republic. The conversation then finished as follows ; — " Do you suppose that Bussia will last for ever, then ?" "No ; but she will last till the five great empires of Europe, Asia, Africa, America and Australia arise." "Australia!" "Yes, Australia will probably prove the strongest ot all. She will be the richest, and her resources are boundless." " What hinders these great changes you talk of from taking place at once ?1?? 1? " The want of population in countries like ours, the over-popula-tion in lands such as yours." A Lyons physician has been experimenting with different alcoholic mixtures upon chickens. He says that chickens who imbibed red wine continued in perfect health ; those who took white wine were ratl er slow, and showed symptons of liver complaint; the alcohol drinkers sank rapidly, and all died j and the ones that bad absinthe given them perished on the spot. Thus it seems prudent for the chicken population to limit itself to a diet of claret and water. The "Wellington " Independent " states that the following characteristic telegram was received by an influential member of the House. — " Dunedin, 25th October, 187 L —Take no notice of bobtail meeting. Ten thousand signatures could be had for Brogden's contract and progress. Agitators and bobtails troubled with worms, and who do not know when they are hungry, are fussing round." The following remarks with regard to the elaima-it of the Tichborne estates occur in a home paper: — "' Apropo3 to shooting, Sir Koger Tichborne is the best pigeou shooter in England, save one. Could this be adduced in support of his aristocratic descent, or does it only go to prove that he is as earthy a brute as he looks ? However, the public opinion gradually rises in favour of this son of man, and the best proof of this is how the newspapers have dropped calling him ' the claimant,' an \ now give him without reservation the title which he claims." A comical incident oocurred in an Auckland church one Sunday evening. An eloquent preacher bad made an appeal on behalf of the Sunday schools, and a collection was bein<* made from pew to pew. Notwithstanding the stirring appeal, the wife of a flourishing publican had been overcome with sleep, and upon the churchwarden gently nudging her, being brought to a semi-wakeful state, tlie good lady coolly swept the contents of the plate into her lap, with the distinctly- audible remark, " All right, waiter : five pints | and three papers of tobacco !". — Auckland " News." The Albambra brought over a large number of shearers from Melbourne, some forty or fifty landing at the Bluff", and the remainder proceeding to Dunedin. The adaptability of the West Coast for the growth of hops is now being tested by Mr. W. Kortegast, brewer, Hok'itika, who has set over three thousand hop plants in some land near the cricket ground there. The South Australian Payment of Members Bill proposes the payment of £2 per day for an eighty days' session and free transit by railway and mail coaches. The state of the South Australian crops is unfavourably reported on, the red rust appearing extensively. Tbe Permissive Bill has been passed in the Victorian Lower House. Chang, the Chinese giant, has married a young lady from Greelong. The G-overninent of New South Wales purpose despatching a man-of- | war to exact retribution for the murder of Bishop Patteson at the New Hebrides. The mining sharebroking mania at Sandhurst and elsewhere has somewhat abated, and more legitimate speculation is going on. An unexpected explanrtion is given of the fires whose surprising frequency has lately terrified Moscow. The city authorities have arrested a number of men detected in the act of disseminating inflammatory pamphlets advocating a democratic form of government, and expressing the warmest sympathy with the Communists of Paris. Tbe fires are believed to be one of the results of the circulation of those documents. A hazardous method of robbery, novel at any rate in Melbourne, Avas employed "by some housebreakers on the Cup night, On Thursday, Nov. 9, the premises com prising Messrs. Aitchison and Lumsclen's timber-yard, Flinders street west, were open only for a short tior.e, and in consequence of the holiday were closed at an early hour, when everything was in its proper order, On the following morning it was fovmd tl^at the h-igh wall of the yard, had been scaled, and that the outer door of tbe offices had been forced, open, appar ently with, a crow-

bar. There was nothing remarkable about this, but some astonishment was caused when it was found that a heavy iron, safe had been removed from the inner office and .forced open by means of gunpowder, which apparentlyhad been poured into one of the apertures in the mechanism of the lock, and then fired, the method being an imitation of the mode of blasting rocks by putting a charge into a drilled hole. The powder was ignited by a fuse, which no doubt burnt long enough to allow the intruders to retire to a safe distance. The explosion was of sufficient force to warp the lock bolts from their places, and twist the 1 hinges, throwing back the door of the safe. It seems as if the safe had been , laid on its back, so that the the door was on top when blown up. The noise caused by the explosion must have been considerable, but perhaps the thieves calculated on the sound being ' attributed to an exuberance of loyalty on the Prince of Wales' Birthday in the evening, taking the shape of a discharge of firearms. Fortunately for the owners of tho safe there were J no valuables or money in it, nothing having been left in but some books and papers, which were considerably scorched by the powder. Nothing was taken away. The room was much shaken by the explosion, and some of I the ornamental door mouldings were blown off. No doubt it was thought by the house-breakers that in consequenco of Thursday being a bank holiday whatever money was taken in during the day would have been left on the premises. A short time ago an attempt to open a safe with gunpowder at another timber yard office in Melbourne was made, but failed, perhaps in consequence of insufficient powder being used. It is more than probable that the samepersons attempted both robberies. In reference to Lockhart's attempt to make out an irreproachable pedigree I for Sir Walter Scott, Sydney Smith said, — " When Lady Lansdowne asked me about my grandfather, I told her he disappeared about the time of the assizes, and we asked no questions." . The following advertisement ap- ! peared in the " Nelson Colonist " on ! the 18th ult .—Wanted 80 or 40 unmarried women for the West Coast with a view to matrimony. Carte de visite and references required and exchanged. The strictest^secrecy in every case obseived. Address, li. C. Boyd, Kelly's Hotel, Brighton. Frequently when persons make an appearance at the Police Court, in answer to some charge preferred against them, they make very eloquent appeals to the proprietors of the local newspapers, " to keep out their names." This is now the " Argus " such requests : — We have receiv-tyl the following letter from a correspondent — " I was unfortunately brought before the St. Kilrla Court this morning [ for ill-treating a doe;. Would you be ! so kind not to insert my name in your paper, and oblige, yours obediently, John Matson." The " Christchurch Press" says :—: — "The youiii* trout in the Acclimatisation G-di'dens "nave been removed from the hatching-boxes, which arc now occupied with a quantity of spawn of the English perch, and the youug unhatched fish may be seen wriggling about iv the embryo state inthousands ; 1 100 of the young trout will be forwarded to Wellington as soon as a careful person' can be found to undertake the charge of transit." The International Association, it would seem, has extended its ramifications to New Zealand. So, at least, it would appear from the following paragraph, which we take from the Liverpool "Albion" of the 21st August.: — "A numerously attended meetiug of the International Association was held on Tuesday evening in London. The meeting, which was held with closed doors, was stated to be of an extraordinarily important character. In addition to the usual English members there was a large number of representatives from the continental branches of the association, including French and German refugees. There were also many Belgians present. A number of communications ' were made in reference to the sucpess of the association during the past week in giving publicity to the causo of the engineers' strike in Newcastle. It was stated that in several instances large bodies of men, engaged! by the masters' agents on tbe continent, had been prevailed upon not to ,come to England to underwork their fellow men. Other letters were i^ad from new branch associations lately formed in Calcutta, New Zealand, and India, giving a satisfactory account of the promulgation of the objects of the association." A visitor to Honolulu explains the licensing regulations of the Sandwich Islands, as follows :— " Th^ publicans, of whom there are a great many in town, are not permitted tj> sell liquor to the natives, though an most instances the rule is exceeded. A publican's license costs 100/ dollars, besides securities for a like/amount ; and there being a duty of ' 3 dollars per gallon on spirits, any chic wishing to indulge in such will finj it rather expensive to do so. Tie charge is a quarterdollar for the smallest quantity. None of the publicans peep rooms or board travellers, so that strangers generally take rooms ab^^pme private house, and board at ona offfe* restaurants, which are mgsoy kept v by the Qhixiem^ j