The Evening Post. FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 1871.

tl Ciieek" is perhaps not a very elegant word, but it is difficult to find another ¦which so well expresses a quality possessed in an eminent degree by some of our contemporaries, upon whom the sun of Government favour shines. We thought that the Independent made a pretty fair display of this quality, when, after being the first to issue an " Extra" containing an account of the massacre of " forty-nine people, including a telegraphist, in the Waikato/' and then reprinting the same news in its next regular issue, it set to work — on the same sheet which contained the startling intelligence — roundly to abuse thoseparties who disseminated false information. But in nil cases where " cheek" is spoken of, the palm must be awarded to the Lyltelton Times. It is impossible to peruse even a stray number of that ineffable publication without at once becoming aware of an all-pervading odour of arrogance clinging to its every paragraph. Its tone would fain be dignified, as becomes a journal soaring so high above the common herd ; but failing to achieve dignity, it has perforce to remain satisfied with pomposity, spending the major part of its

existence in v omthuMil enrlearour to make In, lU'iglilmnrs aware how immensely superior it is to them. fts knowledge on nil subject.-, apparently comes by intuition, and il. first invon hi facts, and then lays them <lo>vn an premises upon which to rear a superstructure of ui-gu-lnent, which, of course, muhfc iimiihilnte .ill opposition to its views. In this manner it Ims on various occasions <li.»pi».v*il of the native difficulty during the p«st twelve months, and more recently not only re1110ved all opposition to the financial proposals of the Ministry in the Colony, but gone, further a field, and triumphantly flouted the gigantic loan on the English market — at least it says that such xhcill be done, and who will gainsay the Lyttelton Times 1 Now this great organ is at perfect liberty to blow the Ministerial trumpet as long and us lond as it likes ; hut we object der-idedly to allowing causeless abuse of ourselves to swell the strain unchallenged. The Times, in its issue of the 9th inst., has a long leading article, which was reprinted in the Independent yesterday morning, referring to the late reported massacre at, VVaikato, in which the following passage occurs : — " We do say that an alarm has been raised by Oppositionjonrnals upon very slender foundations just as the mail was leaving for San Francisco, ¦and just as the Colonial Treasurer was known to be on his way to England with, as was naturally conjectured, the view of laying the policy of the Government before those whocouldgive the material assistance required to carry it out successfully.'* Being one of the "Opposition journals" alluded to, we take the liberty of flatly denying the assertions of the Times. Those journals did not raise an alarm on slender foundation, nor an v foundation, nor did they raise it at all : the alarm was raised \>y either Government Maoris or Government constables at AVaiiti camp, and carried on io Taranaki by a Government orderly. From New Plymouth — the xovy hot-bed of Ministerialism — it was sent over the Colony to all journals who had correspondents, alike, the Ministerial odpx, o# 'usual, first, and these journals published it. Why, then, should the Opposition journals be accused of raising an alarm ? The attack is a most unjust and unwarrantable one, and can only be explained on the principle that when a person recovers from a fright he frequently breaks out into a. violent rage with the first unoffending individual he meets, in the attempt to hide his weakness. The Ministry and their supporters well know what a fatal thing such a massacre would have been for them — its occurrence would have rung the knell of their existence as a governing j)ower ; even after the alarm had passed away, they were painfully conscious that they had had a narrow escape, and they now fiercely abuse all who dare to hint at the possibility of such a thing. But does the Lyttelton Times actually liope to make anyone believe in the face of the subsequent news from the Waikato that, although happily no massacre has occuired, yet the countiy is in a peaceful state, and that Mr. Vogel will be able to go home and assure " those who could give the material assistance required" that the flattering picture drawn of the success of the native policy of the Government is a true one ? Not all the stores of " cheek" Vogel and the Times possess between them can effect such an object. Until the Times can satisfy the public that the Waikatos, who have left the place of their long sojourn with the intention to repossess themselves of the confiscated land, and are now actually sitting down with arms in their hands watching for an opportunity to strike a blow, will eitlier be coaxed oft* the war-path by Mr. M'Lean, or frightened from it by Mr. Branigan's constables, it is vain for that lofty toned journal to declaim on the house tops against the enormity of the opposition press.

The nomination of candidates for the representation of the Hutt district in Parliament took j place yesterday, at the Mechanics' Institute, Lower Hutt. Mr. James Sellars proposed, and Mr. George Allen seconded, Mr. Fitzherbert, who, it was imagined, was the only candidate, but to everyone's surprise, another was brought forward in the person of Mr. Colson, who was proposed and seconded by Messrs. Bush, senior and junior. A show of hands was taken, and out of the number assembled every hand was held up for Mr. Fitzherbert, with the exception of those of Mr. Colson and his immediate backers. These demanded a poll, which will take place on Monday, the 16th. The electors of Karori assembled at Mr. Kells' Karori Hall last evening to hear the two candidates for their suffrages address them. Seven o'clock was the hour fixed, and Mr. Gillon was there punctually to the time, but Mr. Brandon did not put in an appearance, and after waiting until after half-past eight o'clock, Mr. John Reading, M.P.C., was voted to the chair, and after a few introductory remarks, Mr. Gillon was called on to address the meeting. This he did at some length, and afterwards answered some questions in a very satisfactory manner. Several electors addressed the meeting, commenting on the contemptuous way Mr. Brandon treated the district, he not having met the electors there for the last ten years. The Chairman said he bad received a note from Mr. Brandon, saying that he was prevented by various circumstances from coming. Mr. Monaghan moved, and Mr. Kells seconded, a vote of thanks to Mr. Gillon, and a general determination to support that gentleman was expressed. A vote of thanks to the Chairman brought the meeting to a close. | The nomination of candidates for the AVellington Country District took place at the schoolhouse, Kai-warra, at noon to-day. J. C. Crawford, Esq., R.M., presided as Returning Officer, and, having read the writ, called on the electors to nominate. Mr. C. L. Hurst, in a few words, proposed the late member, Mr. Brandon, as a fit person to represent the district, Mr. A. Cameron

seconded tha nomination. Mr. S. Woodward, i after commenting on the unsatisfactory way in which Mr. Brandon hail acted as the representative of the district for a number of years, proposed Mr. E. T. ("Jillon as a suitable person to represent the district. Mr. li. Bonld seconded j the nomination. The Returning Officer then, reversing the usual order of thiug3, called for a show of hands, and declared it to be in favor of Mr. Brandon. Mr. Gillon demanded a poll, which was fixed for Tuesday next, an*l the two candidates were then called on to address the electors. Mr. Brandon attempted to defem! _ himself from the charges made against him of having negleetfi'l his duty as a representative, ; and then, carefully avoiding the question f-f j Provincialism, he proceeded to criticise Mr. . ("Jillon's address, and afc the- same time de- I clared himself favourable to almost all the views urged in that address. To the present Ministry he avowed a determined hostility- Mr. Gillon also spoke at some length, and both candidate replied to a number of questions. The proceedings closed with a vote of thanks to the Returning Officer. The Honorable J. C. Richmond and Mr. Travers arrived this morning by the WallaLi from Nelson, and, as we are given to understand, will address the electors of Wellington within a very brief time. We understand that Mr. P. A. Buckley, wL-« is now contesting the election for the Grey Valley, West Coast, with Mr. W. H. Harrison, has been most enthusiastically received in the country districts. In the town of Greymouth, feeling in his favour ia not so strong. Mr. Harrison's friends are said to be busily engaged in stirring up sectarian feeling, but Mr. Buckley's return is nevertheless certain. There is a sort of melancholy fascination connected with the long death roll contained in the Parlimentary paper to which we alluded on Tuesday, entitled " Return of the names of persons drowned in New Zealand from the Ist January, 1540." To furnish this list grent trouble has been gone to, and every available source of information investigated. The Registrar- Oeneral has been applied to ; the records of the Colonial Secretary's department have been searched ; inquest proceedings have been scrutinised, as well as old files of newspapers ; the Provincial Governments have been appealed to ; and yet with all, although over eleven hundred names have been obtained, it is well known that that number falls far short of the true one. In the early days no authentic records were kept, and even in late years many have found a grave in the rivers without being missed. It is very sad to walk through a crowded cemetery where only a few years before the grass was growing undisturbed by spade or niattoek, but it is sadder far to think that out of onr scanty population considerably more than a thousand have prematurely lost their lives crossing unbridged rivers alone. We are subsidising ocean steamers at great expense, we have talked of uniting ourselves by cable to Australia, and we have proj jected some vast schemes of colonization ; and yet all the time travelling short distances witliin a few miles of our own doors is a work of j both difficulty and danger, and for the last thirty years the rivers have been steadily levying a toll upon our population — a toll which they still exact. During 1869 and 1870 no less than 15.*> individuals are returned as drowned in the New Zealand rivers. Is it not nearly time to cease offering these yearly hecatombs to the Moloch of mis- Government ? Is it not possible to do with fewer Commissioners of everything mentionable from flax to finance, to save a little of the money that is now being lavished at the will of the Ministry on objects of no value to the country, and put up if only one or two bridges to reduce the death rate ? We commend ; the subject to the consideration of those who ! are about to send representatives to Parliament, j We have been shown the first of the New j Zealand war medals which has been received in Wellington, the property of a discharged soldier of the 14th. It is a silver medal of the usual size and shape, bearing on the obverse Her Majesty's head and the customary inscription, and on the reverse, "New Zealand, 18G1, to 1806, Yirtutis Honor." It is announced in a Gazette issued yesterday j that William Gisborne, Esq., and Nathaniel Levin, Esq., have resigned their seats in the Legislative Council, and that their resignations have been accepted. Gerard George FitzGerald has been appointed j Commissioner of Crown Lands for the County of j Westland, and Walter Lowry Buller, Esq., has been appointed Sheriff of Wanganui. j An Order in Council, dated the 21st Decem- ] ber, exempts from postage all newspapers ad- j dressed to Athenaeums, Mechanics' Institutes, Hospitals, Pnblic Libraries, and Lunatic Asy- j lums, without the addition of the name or | description of any person : provided}- however, that it shall not be lawful to permit the delivery free of postage of more than one copy of any one issue of any newspaper to the institutions above named. It seems to us that the Government, having such a redundancy of money, proved by their numerous unnecessary appointments and the amount lavished on themselves, could very well afford to do without the postage on newspapers altogether. Dr. Irvine read a paper at the meeting of the Nelson Scientific Association on a method of de- | tecting heating in wool, flax, &c, on board ship. He" observed that the desideratum in this respect was some contrivance which should indicate a dangerous rise of temperature before any portion of the cargo had become bo hot as to under* go charring ; for that when this latter stage had arrived it was not safe to get flax ont of the | hold, the contact of the air causing it to burst into a flame. He proposes to affect this object by carrying a copperwire through the bales, and connecting the ends with a small galvanic battery, which will thus keep a current of electricity in perpetual circulation so long as the connection remains perfect in every part. The trire is to be severed in a tube (which was exhibited) placed in each bale, but the electric connection is still maintained by a small quantity of quick-, silver between the cut ends ; should, however, the temperature rise to 160degs. Fahr., the melting of two plugs of beeswax which, keep the quicksilver in its place, causes the latter to run

onfc, and the electric cirenit is broken. This occurrence may be signalled by various kinds of tell-tale apparatus which Dr. Irvine enumerated, but the kind he prefers is a horse-shoe electromagnet, forming pait of the circuit, and placed on deck or in the cabin. The moment the cirenit is broken, the armature of the electromagnet instantly falls, and may l>e made to start an alarum, attracting attention to the fact of a dangerous degree of heat existing in the hold. Dr. Irvine, assisted by Mr. Tatton, illns- | traxed the simplicity and practicability of the invention by some interesting experiments. He explained that the temperature at wliieh the danger-signal is to be given need not be lCOdegs. (the melting point of "wax), bat any other fcelov 400niin. (at vliioh charring takes place) that may be selected, the plugs being made of a suitable material accordingly. Sir David JMonro snggested the employment of fusible inetil for this purpose. — Colonist. A final meeting of the Combined Friendly £o- ; eieties took place at the Odd Fellows' Hall last ! evening, D.C'.R. Scelson in the chair. The balance sheet, after being read» -vras adopted, and the balance of £10 4s 2d was ordered to be invested at interest to form a fund for a similar fete for next Boxing Day. The business of the evening having been concluded, the Chairman handed the s<eeretary (Mr. J. L. Bell) a small sunn of money in recognition of his services as Secretary to the Committee. !Mr. lioyd also received a present in the shape of a handsome timepiece, for the very great interest lie had taken in the carrying out of the working part of the programme. The Chairman and members having l>een thanked by Messrs. Bell and Boyd for the very kind manner that they had recognised their services, Mr. Smith, junr., on behalf of the committee, handed the Chairman an address for the very able manner In which he had conducted the meetings, and the great assistance he had given in bringing the Combined Friendly Societies' fete to a successful issue. The Chair- | man then, in a very able speech, thanked the ; committee for the address, and said he was glad to see that the Odd Fellows and Foresters are as one body only different in names, &c. The committee then adjourned to the supper room, where they did ample justice to the good things of this life, provided by Mr. .1. L. Bell, when the usual toasts were drank and songs sang, and finally closed the proceedings at about 12 o'elcek. The Wanganui is laid onfor an excursion trip to Wanganui, giving those who avail themselves of it an opportunity of seeing the races, which take place on Wednesday and Thursday next. The Wanganui leaves on Tuesday, and returns on Friday ; the fares are considerably reduced. The Nelson Mail of the 11th says :— " All our readers will know perfectly -well to \rhat we allude when we speak of the ash tree, and each one of them will be exceeding!}* sorry to henr that the beautiful tree, which formed such an ornament to the banks of the Maitai was completely smashed by the south-easterly gale of yesterday evening, when it was split into three [ pieces, and now presents a melancholy appear- | ance to the numerous visitors who throughout I the day have been thronging to the spot to laI ment over the ruins. The seed from which, this ! noble tree sprang was sown some 27 years ago by Mr. Bomford, a resident in Brook-street , Valley, who was present at and lost his arm in the Wairau massacre, and a few years ago it was fenced in, and seats erected under its grate* ful shade, by the Board of Works. The wind of last night has certainly deprived Nelson of one of its most beautiful sights. We are requested to remind subscribers that the drawing for the Art Union at Messrs. A. P. Stewart and Co.'s will take place to-morrow. We have received the fourth number of a new paper published in Blenheim, entitled the Evening Herald. . The Marlboroagh Express says that a singular accident occurred recently to Charles Fabian, the telegraph messenger. It appears that a soda water bottle burst whilst being opened, a piece of which struck him in the throat, cutting a severe gash about two inches in length. Dr. Williams was promptly sent for, who sewed np the wound, and although hi a precarious state for a day or two, the patient is fast recovering. The Nelson Evening Mail says that on the 7th inst. an inquest was held at Spring Grove on the body of James Hyde, who was found drowned. It appeared that the deceased, who had been in the habit of drinking heavily, was in an unsound state of mind at the time he committed the fatal act, as was shown by the following letter which he left behind him, and which was handed to the constable by Mrs. Hyde. It was written in most diminutive characters, and ran thus : — "My last will and testament I deny myself of life thronghlmisfortune, and perpetual jar and contention. James Hyde." " I will go to hell, and enter the torments of my God, where I have rest for ever. J.H." A verdict was retnrned that the " Deceased drowned himself while laboring under temporary insanity." The Nelson Examiner has reduced to half its former size, and appeared as a daily. It has this peculiarity, that it is printed on half instead of a whole sheet of paper during five days of the week, coming ont on Saturdays in the old form. We observe that our enterprising contemporary, the Nelson Evening Mail, has come out in an enlarged form, and is now a very respectable sheet, so far as size is concerned. la other respects it has always been a well-conducted and independent paper, and we are pleased to see it flourishing. The Nelson Colonist, of the 6th insfc., says :—: — ; " After the erroneous reports that were some I months since set afloat respecting the Karamea district, it i 3 necessary to receive accounts with caution, and only to pnblish facts, the Authority of which is undoubted. A party of some thirty men, from the Thames, some time since went to the Karamea district. We now learn that some of them, returned to Nelson a few days ago, with a considerable quantity of good gold ; and they told onr informant that they had been very successful, and intended going back to the ground. They declined to state -where they obtained the gold, except merely to give such indication as is contained in the statement that the place was between Salisbury's Open and the

Karamea Bend. From what our informant, who is well able to judge, says of the gold and theonanner of the men, there is good reason to believe that the ground f Jiey have obtained is payable In a more than ordinary degree." The Nelson Association for the Promotion of Science and Industry, held its monthly meeting on Wednesday lest, when, says the Examiner, " the President, having received a letter from Mr. Gillies, the Superintendent of Auckland, expressing a wish that the Association could perhaps spare one of the specimens of the HelijHoclts'ctiert, or New Zealand land-snail, presented at last meeting, to add to a concUologieal collection which H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh was desirous of taking home with him to England — It was resolved that two of the specimens belonging to the Association should be transmitted by the President to the Superintendent of Auckland, for presentation to His Royal Highness in the name of the Association.** Mr. Kynnersley delivered a farewell address to the electors of Westland North at Westport on Tuesday evening last. The meteor of the Ist instant was seen by persons on board the shij> Beautifnl Star, which was at that time about oO miles to the westward of Cape Fare\relL On Tuesday last, about mid-day, several persons in the Waimea observed a .very fine manifestation of what is believed to be electrical eirrhi. From a point nearly due south diverged streamers, like the spokes of a wheel, which nearly reached the zenith ; and, by their pulsations, vividly recalled the phenomena of the " Aurora.** — Colonist.