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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IV, Issue 238, 9 October 1869, Page 2

Prospecting Parties. — The Committee will meet this evening at 7 o'clock at Mr. Nehse's. Presentation to W. Brunner, Esq., from the Lord Chancellor. — From the Oxford University Herald we learn that W. Brunner, Esq. (father of Thos. Brunnev, Esq. of this town), has received from the Lord Chancellor — for whom he acted as agent during the six years he represented the City of Oxford —an elegant and massive silver inkstand, engraved with the following inscription : — To William Brunner, Esq., from William Page Lord Hatherley, in friendly remembrance of his representation of the City of Oxford iu Parliament, 1847-1853. The inkstand was accompanied by a most flattering letter from Lord Hatherley. Struggles for Office. — There is (says the Marlborough Press) to be a great contest for the Superiutendency in Nel&on, where there are five candidates, Messrs. Curtis, Akersten, Dwan, Gibbs, and Horn. Of these gentlemen we take the first named as the most fit and most likely. Wreck of the Cutter Uarrt Bluff. — The Wesfport Times says that the cutter Harry Bluff, in attempting to get out of Constant Bay (Charleston Harbor), got bilged on the rocks forming the south entrance to the bay and soon afterwards sank. The "crew of three men endeavored to save their lives by swimming ashore, aud were successful in doing so except in one instance. A man known as Harry Hill (who formerly wa3 en ployed in the steamer Lady Barkly whilst she was under the Commissariat during the war of 1863-4), after struggling for some time, sank and was seen no more. The master got ashore without being much hurt, but the other man, named George Bingham, was much exhausted and bruised. On being conveyed to the Hospital he complained of severe pains in the abdomen, and was considered in imminent danger during the night, but I am happy to say, from enquiries this morning, that he is much easier, though by no means out of danger. The vessel broke into matchwood immediately after getting foul of the rocks, aud the shore of Constant Bay is strewed with wreck. As an enquiry as to the cause of the wreck will be held, I will refrain at present from sending any , precise particulars of the circumstances under which it occurred. George Bingham received such injuries thathe expired on the next day. The details of the Poverty Bay massacre, as brought out in the evidence of the Maori widows, at the recent trials, forms a tr igic and affecting stoi'y, told simply and truthfully. No witnesses could have given their evidence in a more intelligible or straightforward manner, and no amount of cross-examination wa3 able to alter it in the slightt-st. It was almost impossible, when hearing their description, to avoid vividly realising the scene on that fatal November morning, when the unfortunate survivors, spared; not in mercy, were compelled to stand by and witness their husbands, children,, and neighbors butchered in cold blood before their eyes ; and, as to heighten the horror of the scene, the arch-rebel Ko>ti, announcing to his followers that Jehovah had commanded the death of the vicii.ns. - Not the least affecting part of the tale was that which Maria Morris told, with tears in her eyes, of making her escape from Makeritu, and returning to Matawhero, to bury her husband, whom she

found lying where he fell, with a bullet through his breast. Ema Katipa's face presents a fixed melancholy and passionless appearance, as if the great shock and sorrow she had undergone had dried up the spring of feeling, and left her nothing to hope or fear. She must have appeared to the murderers in the dock an avenging Nemesis, bringing retribution for their crimes. — Wellington Post. Baron Rothschild and the Brighton Cup. — It is stated that, the owner of Restitution laid a wager that he would wiu the Brighton Cup, and have it on his dinner-table iu London by seven o'clock the same evening. Immediately Daley, who rode Restitution, had passed the scales, the Barou rushed off with the Cup in his arms, and driving to the station, where a special train which had been ordered was in waiting, sped with the trophy to his town mansion, and arrived ia time to win his wager. Bravery. — A terrible accident is reported from Malta. Some officers of the garrison thinking to compliment the inhabitants of the island on one of their great festivals, that of the Madonna of Mount Carmel, added to the illuminations provided by the Roman Catholic authorities by fixing a number of lights from the stores which were always understood to be kept for the purpose of lighting up the port in the case of a night attack. The pieces were pear-shaped and about two feel in length, but as soon as they were fired, they delivered a storm of grape shot. Fortunately, although there were crowds of spectators, little or no harm was done. The officers, seeing the mistake they had made, rushed forward, at the risk of annihilation, and threw several of the infernal machines into the sea, when they exploded under the water with a tremendous noise.