The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, JULY 10, 1869.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IV, Issue 160, 10 July 1869, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, JULY 10, 1869.

Winter Evening- Lectures. —In another columu is an advertisement stating thafc tho next Assembly Ball cannot take place on a certain evening, on account of the Hall being engaged by the Popular Lecture Association. To the advertiser, we saj, in the words of Gratiano, in the " Merchant of Venice :"— " I thank thee, Sir, for teacbiug me that word." Evening after evening the audience at these lectures has been steadily on the increase, until they bave at last become a decidedly popular institution. The fourth of the series was given last nigbt, Ly the Rev. G. H. Johnstone, on '** Advancement aud Success iv Life." The lecture was plentifully interspersed with humourous and appropriate aruiecdotes illustrative of the subject, and was, although somewhat longer than usual, listened to attentively from the commencement to the close. In proposing a vote of thanks to the lecturer, Dr. Irvine remarked that the clergy were necessarily, from the nature of their - duties, more frequently brought iuto contact with the different classes and conditions of their fellowcreatures, and thus had a wider field of experience than any other body of men ; we would add to this, and say that even among the clergy Mr. Johnstone stands forth as one who has not only made himself acquainted with "all sorts and conditions of men," but has visited nearly all their different habitants. From North to South, from East to West, there seems to be hardly a corner of this globe of ours that he has not visited, and from each one he seems to have drawn some fresh experience and some new stock of information We notice that the course of lectures is to terminate on the 7th of August, the Committee will perhaps pardon us if we suggest that the " winter evenings " will by no means have come to an cud on that date, and that possibly Mr. Johnstone might be induced to give us a yet further account of the incidents of travel with which his memory appears to be so amply stored. The next lecture is to take place on the 23rd instant, when Dr. Irvine has promised to treat on "Elementary Chemistry," tbe lecture to be illustrated by various experiments^. Coroner's *l3f^UEST.- — An iuquest was held yesterday afternoon before Dr. Squires and a jury, on tbe body of Meta Neave, a child four days old, who was found dead in the bed with its mother on the previous afternoon. From the evidence it appeared that the child had been accidentally suffocated, and a verdict was returned accordingly. A Runaway. — This morning as a horse and cart were standing in Alma Lane, the horse took fright and galloped off in tbe direction of Hardy-street. At the end of the lane is a cross-bar some 3ft. 6in. in height at which the horse made a jump and cleared it, the wheels of the cart, however, came in contact with it and carried it away. : This; did not tend to restore the horse's equanimity and he started off down Hardy-street at an increased pace until thes off wheel ran against Mr Campbell's store, the corner ! of which was carried away by the collision. ■: Shortly; after this the'^ frigh teued : animal \ was'-'. stopped, x nb P serious -damage jhaying r ; 't^eh;-;"d[dn^\;,^wAchn^ j'.bart^ ef ci^ed entirety 'unhurfc.:f x'p XP^rZ' P

Drunk and Incapable. — Augustus Yelverton, changed nt the Resident Magistrate's Conrt this morning with the above offence, -was fined £1 aud costs. James Smith and Thomas Williams for the same offence were fined 10s. each and costs. The Weather. — The snowstorms fiat fell on the surrounding hills en Thursday morning had a marked effvct upon the thermometer which on the evening of that day stood at 27deg. or one degree lower thau has been the case for five years. "Expenses of Witnesses. — At the Supreme Court yesterday, Ml*. Button applied to the Judge for an order for tbe costs of certain witnesses who had been brought up from the West Coast for the defence in the case of the Queeu v. Wilson by subpoenas bearing tbo seal of tbe Court. His Honor replied that it was out of his power to grant the costs; the whole expense of attending the Court will therefore have .to be borue by the witnesses themselves.' The Case op James Wilson. — Tbe Public Petitions Committee have favorably reported to the House of Representatives on the petition of the boy James Wilson, noble little Jamie, who so bravely conducted himself at Poverty Bay. The committee recommend that an annuity of £50 a year for nine years, and also 100 acres of laud, be granted to the petitioner. The Trout and the Kingfishers. — The Lyttelton Times says tbat a new enemy to the young trout appears to have been discovered in the little native kingfisher. For some time one of these birds has daily visited the trout ponds, and has been seen to dive and bring up a fish as large as a smelt. Subsequently five kingfishers were seen to dive into the river near the domain, and each bird brought up a good sized fish at the spot where fifty of the youDg trout were turned out. Unique Mode of Tendering. — The butchers of Westport are characterised by a " free and easy " method of doing business between themselves, only now and then ■'breaking" into violent competition, when " up goes the donkey," and down goes the price of meat. This week, the three butchers tendered for supplying meat to the gaol. The three tenders, wheu opened, were all alike, so they '* tossed for it " at the counter of the public offices, aud Mr. Suisted won by •' a woman." It might be well if, for the convenience of contractors, Mr. Harris were to keep on the premises the appliances for thut short and easy method of settling disputes — " Yankee grab." — Westport Times. Union versus Separation. — The Westport Times brings a grave charge of inconsistency against two of the West Coast members in the following words : — Mr. Reid, M.P.C., is understood to be on his way to Westport, after the fulfilment of his duties in the Provincial Council, and of his devotions elsewhere. It appears that, during his visit to other parts of the colony, Mr Reid has managed to spend his honorarium, aud his — honeymoon. Great excitement are entertained as to the possibility of a similar fate overtaking tba other member for the Buller, Mr. M-Dowell. It is high time that their constituency called upon the two gentlemen to give an explanation of their conduct. They went away pledged to Separation and Disunion. With all respect to them, they seem to have a very extraordinary way of illustrating the sincerity of their sentiments. They would deserve no commiseration if they were even impeached as renegades. "It is a Fact equally gratifying and worthy of notice," says the Wellington Independent of the 22nd instant, "" that for the first time in New Zealand the manufacture of essence of meat has been established at Wanganui by Mr. H. Roberts who has forwarded a fin for our opinion after trying it. It is contained in small compass, is in the form of a brown paste, and a spoonful of it makes excellent brown soup, strengthening, but yet requiring a few vegetables to give greater sweetness and flavor. The medical men of Wanganui speak very highly of this essence. Dr. Gibson writes :—- 'lt is a great boon to invalids, and a useful adjunct to the*kitchenj; whileDr Earle says, -.' It is oho of the most valuable articles of nutriment we have." ../-Nothing^EyiL.~A hypocritical scoundrelin Athens [inscribed: over his door, t"Let nothing evil ebter.here,'^^Diogenes wrote; under fit,- "Bidw doies 'the owner P^^XxiyZPPP^ZZ^'ZZ-'Zr

Phormium Tenax Hats: — The New Zealand Flax is likely to be employed in the manufacture of hats similar to those made of straw. The Southern Cross says — --We had much pleasure in inspecting a large quantity of plaited flax which it is proposed to convert into a kind of straw or rather flax hat. From the appearance of the material we should think that the hat when made will be quite equal to the celebrated Panama, and so another branch of colouial industry might be at onco brought into existence. The method of treating the flux, we are informed, was first boiling it to cleanse it of every particle of gum; then it was well scraped, then split up into slips about the eight of an inch wide, each of which, by this time, had the appearance of very clean straw. Four of these braided together, from a texture of a very firm and, at the same time, pleasing character, which, being spliced as the braiding is proceeded with, can be made in auy lengths. That which we inspected was equal to any straw ever seen, for strength and durability. We should imagine that a very remunerative source of industry will one day spring np from this small beginning." Something like a CLAiM.-The following statistics of the Morning Star Prospecting Claim are published in Mr. R. Brough Smyth's "Goldfields and Mineral Districts of Victoria " : — "The claim was taken up iv May, 1861, under the bye-laws, but subsequently nnder lease; and, including the Garden Claim, the prospectors hold an area of eight acres, 1 rood, two perches. Their first crushing, ih August 1862, produced £6,548 18s. They were, after that idle I until May. 1863, partly through waut of water, acd partly through the necessity of constructing new races. The largest yield produced in ten days was £40,000 worth of gold, when the stamps were found to be moving iv a solid bed of amalgam. The dividends to July, 1865 (inclusive), were £91,816 6s IOd; from July 31, 1865 to June 30, 1866, £24,554 8s 9d. Totat produce of mine to October 31, 1866, £164,441 8s lld. A Correspondent of the Auckland Herald writes from Alexandra, June 22: — Another startling report has reached here that Rewi Maniapoto has left Tokangamutu for Taupo with 100 men to meet Te Kooti ; there the information cuds. We are not told what be has taken the journey for ; but, from what I told you in my last communication, I should judge that Rewi's intention is to induce Te Kooti and party to come through to Tokangamutu and cease fighting on the East Coast, according to the terms of the King's proclamation to ail the tribes engaged in war — with the pakeha at the present time. We certainly cannot suppose that Rewi's intentions are hostile towards us, after the great professions of peace he has lately made ; as he does not wish a nearer acquaintance with the Europeans than at present, Tokangamutu is a very safe distance from, the Waikato frontier. If peace is to be the order of the day, let us have it, but we cannot afford to allow the King party to dictate terms of peace to us, as tbey did at the late meeting with Messrs. Firth and Davis; but, of course, they knew who they were talking to ; it would have been in rather different language had they been speaking with the Queen's representative, and knowing that at auy moment a man-of-war could enter Kawhia and hoist the Union Jack ashore, and that a thousaud men were ready to pay his majesty a visit at Tokangamutu, and if the Government only once convinced them that they will not be fooled any more in the amusing game of " hide and go seek," there will soon be a mutual understanding, which must come sooner or later ; if the natives determine on peace, all tbe better, if for war, they may have it sooner than they expect, to their heart's content. Why didn't the last dove return tothe ark ? Because she had sufficient grounds for remaining.