THE COMMERCIAL CAPITAL OF NEW ZEALAND.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 4, Issue 1255, 15 December 1882, Page 2

THE COMMERCIAL CAPITAL OF NEW ZEALAND.

Mr'Forbes, >in replying to a toast in Danedin, said with regard to the atactics that bad been quoted by Mr Wilson, a non-receptive person might have been glad,to rush away tu his u&tive land abd escape them; but he, on the coutrary, hud taken theiu all in and was prepared uext day to paas a competitive exaiuinnupon tho imports and exports of New Zealand for the last ninety-five years, giving the totals for each separate month. He had heard to-night that Dunedm :was the commercial capital of New Zealand, ' and this a little bewildered him,; seeing that when in Invercargill a few days ago be was told that Imeroargill was entitled to that distinction. At Balolutha also, on Saturday last, he waa informed that if it bad not been for an unfortunate bar that town would have been the commeroial capital, and at Port Molyneux they said that but for a shifting river there waa every prospect of P.ort Molyneux aspiriug to that position. On big visit to Auokland last May hs had been given to understand, also, that that oity waa certainly the chief centre of commerce; but this momentous question wonld, of couse, be for him to aeoidd after visiting all the capitate and hoaring all the statistics. [Laughter.] One thing he was firmly convinced of—viz,, that the capital of Great Britain was the city of Aberdoou. He did not knowmuoli of the atutistiot of his native plaoe, or ho would retaliate upon Mr Wilson with a large bundle of them, as ho was sure all were glad to ho favored with them in moderat ion and tit intervals, [Laughter.] One thing he hail noticed about antipo • deans, that they went Homo .as a rule, with an anxiety to stay at Home ; but after being there for a short time, found their old associations broken up, and felt a desire to come hack to what was* in reality their home. He (himself) had had exporience of this; but at the same time the memory of the Old Country waa a pleasant one, and he hoped it would always be maintained hy them in the same' graceful and sentimental manner.

The most anoient monument] of Mow potaraia and Egypt, contained no mention of the horse, while lie creature represented in the Assyria momumeuts had the tail of an us, 'l'aa first literary men* tion of the horse in E®ypt belonged to t period of about eighteen centuries before Christ. From that time notices of horses iu Egypt were frequent and oommon. The Fall Mall Gazette of October 4th says:— I "The maiming of animals is a practice by no means confined to'lroland, as the police reports ol the last few days have abundantly, shown. It would be hard to match the w'aoton cruelty of a man at Birmingham, who, after striking hii horie asvagely on the now with hit fist, proceeded to wreaoh its tongue out by the root and to give it a parting dose of kteki and cuffs. The niau had no better defence to make than that the horse's tongue 'fell out* of itself. A youth at Bromley amused himielf by cutting a Hone's eyo out with a stone. Before the animal's eye was cut, r, number, of boys had been pelting 'it with stones,' which sounded on its sides like a drum. The' only pity is that none of these young gentlemen are tn share any portion,of the three months' iwpitomient to whioh ringleader was sentenced, . M