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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume III, Issue 248, 19 October 1868, Page 2

We telegraphed this morning. a9 soon as communication was resumed with Wellington, asking for' information as to the | earthquake there, but have received oo reply. We have, however, seen two pri- ! vate telegrams which give very contra- i dictory reports, one assertiug that the shock was a shnrp one, the other that it was of slight character. j A telegram received from Blenheim '. states that the earthquake was felt very , severely there, but that it had caused no i damage of any importance. ; A Wellington ielegram received on j Saturday evening, slates that it was geue- I rally anticipated that, the General As- I sembly would be prorogued to-morrow. We understand that the Lady Barkly, after having made a very boisterous" and difficult passage on Friday to Pakawa, whither she conveyed Air Brown, the chief engineer to Messrs N. Edwards & Co., picked up two of the passengers, together with the crew, of the illfated Nelson, who were tnakiug their way overland to Colling wood, aud who came to this port in the Lady Barkly on Saturday evening. The Kennedy was obliged to put back j on Saturday night, for a further supply of j coals and water. She left here on Wednesday, at 5.30 p.m., aud called at Motueka, but after repeated attempts was unabie to »et round the Sand-pit, owing to Ute heavy S.W. aud N.W. gales. The / Kennedy resumed her voyage for the ] West Coast yesterday moraiug. [ We understand that the proposed ex-

cursion in the Lady Barkly to D'CJrville's Island, postponed from Saturday last, in consequence of the uupropitious state of tire weather, will take place ou Thursday uexfc. We would remind our readers that the performance for the joint benefit of Miss Aunie Merlon and Air J. Black, for which a very attractive programme is announced, including selections from Tobin's comedy of the Honeymoon, comic songs, &c, will take place to-morrow evening, at the Oddfellows-hall. During a recent discussion, when the House of Representatives had gone into committee of supply, Mr Cargill said that he once saw a report of some g •■atlemen sent from America to visit the Presbyterian Churches at home, and on their return they stated that it was a matter of wonder to them how Presbyieriauism had stood for 300 years when the long sermons were taken into account. He trusted that a future historian of New Zealand might not have to say that the cause of the decav of representative government was owing to the long speeches madeiu that House, not alone on great subjects, but ou very ordinary topics indeed. Were they not all familiar with an honorable member who, placing his elbow on the mantelpiece, would pratile for hours together, apparently unconscious that the heads of other mi-'.mbcjrs were anything else Ulan cabbages, and that he was educating them in first principles. Instead of as now, every and any subject being smothered with words and figures, hu hoped that another standard ot excellence would be set up, and inroad or ILtusard iucreasiug, as it now did every number, he would suggest that no speech should be reported beyond six columns, aud that members should be left to condense the reports themselves. The habit that would tie thus acquired would enable them to condense iu the delivery of of. their speeches. If some such course wus not. adopted, many members would refrain fioin coming to the House. The half-yeuriy working account of the New Zealand Steam Navigation Company, ending on the islt?t August last, has been printed and placed iu the huud.s of the shareholders, fiud will probably materially influence their decision as to the future of the Company. The loss on the working account is set dowb at £29-19 3s. 7d. The receipts we fiud to have beeii £26,918 14s. 8-i.; aud the expenditure £2J,867 lSs. 3d. The cost of management, included in this laol Hern, is reckoned at £97 ix 3s. 2d. Tht liabUiiit-s tire estimated at £91,8 10 4s. 10»i., aud the assets at £67,502 2s. 4d. Uf the former £51 J6s. 6d. is put down under the liea-J of dividends unclaimed, and interest thereupon, £61 17s. Bd. Including the value of the Tuiauuki, the company's property is valued at £58,400, the steamers being considered worth £55,050, out of which amount some £30,000 may be deducted, as we just said, for the loss of the Tarauaki. The calls in, arrear, and interests thereupon, amount to £85 19s. Id. The Post of the 14th iust. says: — Lieut. Colonel Whittnore has signified his willingness, we are informed, of accepting the command of our forces ob the West Coast, rendered vacant by Li'.-ut. Colonel M'Donuell's resignation. Notwithstanding the many statements which have been made prejudicial to Colonel Whitmore's efficiency us a commanding officer, now that he is about undertaking very arduous aud responsible duties, it is to be hoped that a clear field and untrammelled powers will be allowed him upon a trial, the importance of which cannot be undervalued. Speaking on i.ho subject of who is to succeed to Lieut. Colonel M'Dotuiell's command ? the Wangauui Chronicle suggests the name of Major Hunter, of the Armed Constabulary, aud of Major Stapp, of Taranuki. 'We have pleuty of men possessed of courage,' truly remarks the Chronicle, * but more than this is ueeded; the crisis requires an experienced welltrained officer with a good head ou hia shoulders.' A gentleman in Christchurch is about to take out a patent for a great economy in the consumption of fuel on steam vessels. His experiments have been tested in Belgium, and he possesses valuable testimonials on the subject, but refuses to make known his secret. He engages to keep up the requisite steam power with a saving of 13 cwt to the ton. The Hawke's Bay Herald of the 6th instant says that Mr Bold, telegraphic surveyor, and Mr Preece, who accompanied him as interpreter, had returned from their tour to Tauranga, via Taupo. They visited

most of the pas on the intended line of telegraph, aud found that generally no opposition would be offered by the natives to the line passing through their laud Id one place fears were expressed that Hauhaus travelling between Waikato aud Bay of Plenty would regard the telegraph as an obstruction, but this was an exceptional case. We believe that Mr Bold will recommend the immediate extension of the line northward, leaving it an open question as rejrards the particular portion likely to be objected to. Mr Bold and Mr Pivece were received oo their journey in a friendly mauner. TV-nr absence from Napier has been one month and three days. After as much as £1000 had been spent in search, the body of a Mr Ellis, who was killed through the cnving-in of the United El Dorado Company's claim (M'Evoy's, Beech worth), was discovered after eleven weeks' work by the search party. A somawhat similar case to that of the late Judjje Bothby iu South Australia, has lately occurred in British Guiana, and has peculiar inteivst as involving the question of administration of justice in the colonies. It appears that au application by the Colonial Court of Policy ami by the iuhabiiants of British G-uitfna for the removal or' Chief Justice Beaumout has just been argued before the Judicial Committee of the British Privy Council. Judge Beaumont was alleged to have proved himself unfit for his post by reason of his iu discreet, irregular, aud intemperate behavior; aud since he had been among them for two years, he had seriously diminished the public respect for iiis high office, aud impaired its u-efulness, | and had destroyed ail confidence in the admiuist.rat.ior) of law. S-ven charges were set forth in the proceedings, and one was: — 'lU'gally, improperly aud unnecessarily, and in unwise aud excessive exercise of judicial power, using and putting in force the arbitrary process of contempt against the proprietor of a newspaper on account of the publication in the newspaper of an article which commented on past transactions of the Court.' Mr M'Dermott, proprietor of the Colonist newspaper, had been committed fir six months for contempt, and his appeal not to serve the sentence having been heard before the Judicial Committee, the result, was adverse to the Judge, who has siuce been deposed from his office.