PROVINCIAL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 103, 30 April 1873, Page 2

PROVINCIAL.

Auckland, April 30. Two sons of William Thomson have gone to the King to ascertain his intentions. He promises to answer in three days. The natives, have warned the Armed Constabulary to cease -working in the Moanatuatua swamp. ; Affairs are assuming a serious aspect. ..- Shots have been heard on the frontier. The natives at Kuiti disapprove of the *n?urder. The murderers Veat to Kuiti to the King's residence., carrying the head of Sullivan on a pole. * -X X 7 The northern Wairoa river rose 30 feet, and destroyed much property. • > . X , Sullivan's murder will be the principal subject of discussion at the Native meeting. • • ■ •. For remainder of news, see-foiiith page.

A Lad named Edward Rogers, eight years old, was killed on Peacock's Wharf, Lyttelton, one day last week by the falling of a stack of timber.

That lively print, the San Francisco jftews Letter has the following commeuts upon the conduct of the public prosecutors and magistrates of that city :•— "A shorttailed bear sitting on an iceberg — -a oneeyed owl reflectively blinking at the sun— a ring-tailed baboon pensively munching his peanuts and scratching himself, are respectively imperfect personations of dignity,* wisdom atd decency. Yet compared with the human creatures who reflect the same virtues in the San Francisco Police Court, the above-named animals are as archangels of light gleaming in the throne, to a bump-backed negro in a coalcellar.; Tllitetoracy, insolence, and brutality do not disqualify from tbe prosecution and sentencing of drunks and vagrants. Then why do we find fault with th 9 Police Court ? We do not."

Theke is, I believe, one innocent form of selfconceit apparent in Australian colonists when tbey visit other lands. They decline to be astonished. Their watchword is nil admirari. An old gentleman was, a good many years ago, fellow passenger with a young lady, a native of Sydney, who was paying her first visit to England. As tbe ship was towed up the Thames, he acted as cicerone, and pointed out the wonders of the shore. He indicated the vast forest of masts in the India Docks, impressing upon her the hugeness of the British mercantile marine. " Yes," she said carelessly " there are a good many ships." Upon landing they started westward for hotel accommodation. Approaching St. Paul's Cathedral, he caused the driver to pull up, and called her attention to its architectural beauties and to its great size. Glancing at it carelessly, she dashed his entbusism with a calmly uttered "Yes, it's a nice church !" He gave in then. He didn't try to astonish her any more. — " JEgles."

ADe. Millae, writing to the Toronto Globe, gives a peculiar description of what he saw during a visit to New Zealand. In summing up the quality of the country, x he says : — The land in both islands is very far from what it has beeo represented. Even the cream of it will scarcely raise grass, and it is almost utterly worthless for any other purpose. In short it is a vast sponge, which has sucked up many a rich and poor man's all, and left nothing to show for it. Many of Uncle S-", "s cattle have died this winter from sheer starvation, as the grass does not grow in winter, although it remains green. And again, it will not raise vegetables without much manure- even with it they are very insignificant in size, poor in quality, and not nearly in as great variety as we have seen them in the very coldest parts of Canada. We have cot seen a good orchard in the country, and I much doubt if such a thing exists. Most of the fruit is brought from Tasmania, Australia, and Tahiti. We have gone over the best of the inhabitable parts of New Zealand, and have conversed with many of the settlers in regard to the capabilities of the country, and it took but a very shoit time to disenchant us of all our preconceived notions of tbese island countries. Most of the settlers we found living in small, . mean - looking frame houses scantily furnished, and nearly everything sbout has the look at least of squalid poverty. Even if the soil were productive, the nights at all times of the year are co cold, and so very much rain falls, that vegetation is retarded beyond conception. "

Of all American devices for enjoying the delicious autumn, the very pleasantest, and to a European at least the most romantic, is a party in the woods. A group of friends arrange to go together into some mountain or forest region, usually into the great Adirondack wilderness to the west of Lake Champlain, carrying with them

guns and fishing rods, tents, blankets and au ample store of groceries, and engaging three or four guides. They embark with all their equipments, and pass in their boats up the rivers and across the lakes of this great wild country through sixty or eighty miles of trackless forest, glowing with a brilliance of scarlet and yellow that no other woods can render, to their chosen hunting ground at the foot of some tall rock that rises from the still crystal of the lake. Here they build their bark hut, cut and spread their beds of the elastic and fragrant hemlock bough; the men roam about during the day tracking the deer, or now and then if such luck befal, the wary panther; the ladies read and work and bake the corn cakes; vAt night there is a merry gathering, and axrow7 ohvXthe lake in the soft moonlight, these expeditions brothers will take sisters and cousins, their sisters and cousins bringing, perhaps, laOy friends with them; the brother's friends will com 'tb^ and alKliverftoge i^ay, V'f^ ah 7 elderly relative or married lady be of the

Illinois Squatters.— A very objectionable class of immigrants, settled in Illinois, and have become rooted to the soil, despite repeated efforts on the part of the people and the Legislature to get rid of them. These foriegners are of a revengeful disposition, and bloodshed, invariably follows whenever they come in contact with the people^of tbe State. These ruthless invaders are free as tbe wind, and take up their quarters wherever they may chance to alight. They are exceedingly prolific, and each year thousands of them are cast off from the paternal stem to seek a borne elsewhere. They are of European desent, but have long settled in Canada, whence they come every year in countless shoals across the great lakes. Many perish during the journey, but more than enough survive to be a source of continual trouble to the citizens of the State in which the new comers settle. They are members of the great Carduus family, aDd in tbe various Acts of the Illinois State Legislature concerning them are designated as Canada Thistles. This year gave a magnificent yield, notwithstanding that the heat and drought killed almost everything else. They appear to be a proof against all efforts to destroy them, and neither fire, poison, nor the knife has more than a temporary effect upon their vitality. In one locality the plant has been mowed before seed time, ploughed early in the season and raked up by the roots then cut with a hoe at intervals of five days during the month of June and July, and finally cut again with hoe and broadaxe later in the season. In another locality the thistles were dug up and burnt up ; in another they were hacked off close to the ground and salt* strewn over the roots ; in another they were saturated with strong brine and sprinkled with aquafortis, and in another they were covered with refuse lime from gas works to the depth of several inches. One bold farmer, whose wrath against the weed must have been uncommonly fierce, actually pulled them up by tbe roots, then dug a hole close to where tbe roots had been, and filled it with benzine. He thinks he killed the thistles thus treated, but is not quite certain ; nor is there, we are pained to say, a single well authenticated eradication. Thistle " Commissioners'' have been appointed, but it is easy to see from their report that they fear and anticipate a fine showing of the sweet Canadian flower next season, in spite of hoes, ploughs, broadaxes, salt, aquafortis, lime, and benzine. ! As a final resort it is recommended [by a Chicago journal that a pound of nitroglycerine be placed under each thistle and exploded by electricity. — London Times.

Go to Jekicho.— The London Daily Telegraph says : — lntelligence of a new health resort must always bring comfort and hope to those who suffer from, or who are menaced—even in the incipient stages — by tbat terrible disease consumption, the scourge and terror of English life. " Try Jericho," is the latest crumb of counsel tendered to our poitrinalres. A correspondent has written to us eulogising in the very highest terms the sanative claims of the historic Syrian town. In Canada, he points out, consumption is almost wholly unkuown , owing to the dryness of the atmosphere; but the boon is counteracted by , the extreme cold in winter, which induces bronchitic complaints to a serious extent. Now, the air of Syria is as dry as that of the Dominion, while the climate of its " Ghor "is never cold. Jericho and Petra, it is said, may dispute the palm of eligibility as a residence for persons with delicate lungs; but the preference, seemingly, must be awardecHo the former as most accessible — being distant, indeed only a few miles from Jerusalem. Jericho again is well supplied with water. In these days of Mount Cenis tunnels, P. and 0. steamers, and Cook's "'personally conducted " tours, there should be no more difficulty in getting to Jericho than in reaching Algiers or Tunis; and indeed the lastnamed place is becoming a favorite Sanatorium for consumptive persons. There are just two drawbacks to Jericho. The first is tbe total absence of hotels and houses ; but this difficulty, our correspondent thinks, can be easily obviated by adopting the very simple expedient of "camping out," as Abraham did of old. Modern tentmakers, moreover, manufacture articles much more luxurious than the. camel's hair booths in which the Shepherd Kings and Patriarchs were content to dwell ; and the marquee system, if the sanitary excellences of this spot obtained general recognition,; would soon be superseded by a^ ''Jericho Grand Hotel Company (Limited)." The next, and perhaps the most serious objection lies -in the fact that adjacent tribes of Arabs are occasionally disposed to rob and murder travellers ; but th^y might be kept; in check either by bribing : the .Sheiks or by petitioning, 'the Turkish Government for a small, force of troops to garrison Jericho. health could drily be induced I, to ; try-that ;< plaice^ -^eah|x liquid' T^ery :•;, bood-v lief ;fouia'&; lor.^pro^dirig/