THE COLONIST PUBLISHED DAILY NELSON, SATURDAY, APRIL 25, 1885. SUMMARY NOTES.

The prospect of war between England anj Eussia has caused some anxiety and excitement in this Colony. In the njeantime the work of : defence is not being neglected; large guns are being mounted to protect the principal ports; torpedoes.have been procured; the existing Volunteer corps are being augmented, and new corps formed; arid the! Militia is being called out. Money tjiat can be ill spared by the Colony, and which is needed for public works, i? being spent in these defensive measures. On this subject1 »a contemporary remarks: —"If the dread of wafhetweeh England and Eussia should cease, and peace be once again assured, as in all probate!* ity it will be, what will become of all our" plans for defending the Colony? Will they be carried out, or shall we be content to ,'jet things rip '. until necessity drives us again to action ? It will be better to go steapyjorward with, pur preparations ? fbr i|efence^ so that ;Vhea; called upon to\do>sb w# may be ready to' forbid*the approach* of any unwelcome visitor. .It will-not do to be as careless in selecting qur weapons of war andv engineers -as unprepared electors are in selecting representatives." During the Easter holidays about four^housand Volunteers imtheiAuckland, Canterbury, Otago^ and Nelson districts;, went, ;intp camp.. 7 ;, The { men were put* through m'ajiceuvres^ i^drillSj and sham fights, and never to greater advantage was, the military spirit of our Volunteers, shown. i A most,, disastrous, fire, which was attended by loss of life, occurred in Wellington a week ago, when, Te Aro House, the largest; drapery establishment in that city, was ..destroyed by fire. The loss to the Insurance offices was very heavy, but that,to the unfor T tunate owner,-Mr; James Smith',-was far heavier. Mr Squire Barlow, who was assisting at; the fire, was afterwards found burned to death in the ruins. A number ,of gentlemen have been called .to the. Legislative Council, namely, Mr Joseph Shephard, of the Waimea; Mr Lancelot Walker, of Canterbury; Mr Eobert Pharazn, of Wellington; Captain Morris, of Tau r ranga; Mr William Swansqn, of Auckland ; Mr Taiaroa, of Qtago; Mr Shrimski, of Oamaru; • and Mr Bathgate, of Dunedin. • Messrs: Shepharr^ Shriinski, Morris, : and Taiaim were members , of the,House of Eepr.esentatives, consequentlyI'their seats in that Chamber have become vacant and fresh elections^will .take, place. 1 For' the seat in the House of Bepresentatives for the Waimeas, rendered vacant by*.the elevation of Mr J. Shephard to the Legislative. Council, there are,, already;, a number of candidates, namely, Mr John Kerr, Mr W. N. Franklyn, Mr William White, Mr Christian Dencker, and Mr Jesse Piper. Besides these, who are posi tively in the field, Mr Bichard Eeeves and Sir William Fox are named as probable candidates. ■ An evenfc.haS; transpired- since our last Summary which will be. marked as :an ; historical one in connection with this Colony. A few days ago, Bewi, the noted. Maori.- chief, turned the--Jrst-,sqd. of the North Island Grand Trunk Eailw : ay.at Te Awamutu, in the Waikato. An article ;in another column, bearing the heading "1864 and 1885;"Shows what a differentpart Ijlewi actjed;|tbwards ..the Europeans twenty-one yearsfego. \ CoAOH'.cqmmunication between Nelson and Marlborough is. now an accomplished^ fact. The first coach ijrom Marlborough, by way of the Bai Valley, arrived at Nelson last Monday. Efforts are also being made to iave a special settlement formed in ijhe Eai Valley district, where there is £?aid to be a block of land specially adapted for forming a settlement.