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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 141, 14 June 1879, Page 2

The Taranaki Heraldhas the follow Ing : — " When the native mind is so unsettled as it is at the present moment, it is most indiscreet, to say the least of it, for anyone apeaking the Maori language to tell them things thafc are at all calculated to cause hostilities. We learn that a party afc Waitara left the meeting called on Monday evening for the purpose of forming a Volunteer corps, and went direct over to the Maori pa at Manukorihi, the other side of the river, and told the natives there that the Government were going to send a quantity of arms and ammunition to Waitara, which would be distributed during the night, and that the settlers intended to pounce suddenly noon them, and to massacre the whole. Sueli mischief-makers should not be permitted to go unpunished, and it is to be hoped thafc the authorities will take steps to have the person arrested, and made an example of, so as to prevent others from following his example iv trying to incite the natives into rebellion."

The Thames Evening Star is responsible for the following :— " A toothless resident of this place recently went to Auckland for the purpose of getting a dentist there to supply him with a set of false teeth. He was so much pleased with the new incisors that on returning home in the si earner he must needs put their chewing qualities to a practical test, aud, sad to relate, soon fell sea- sick. This necessitated a rush to the side of the vessel, and on relieving his surcharged stomach, hia teeth dropped from his mouth, and are now probably a matter bf wonderment to the finny denizens of the waters of the Gulf."

At Auckland the other day Rewi visited St. Stephen's school, where a number of Maori boys are being educated, and was shown over the premises by the Bishop of Auckland. After the children had gone through some exercises, Rewi made them a speech to the following effect :— My advice to you youngsters is, to make hay while the sun shines. Remember, above all things, that you were born on this island, and belong to the Maori people. Be diligent to learn what the pakeha bas to teacb, and to acquire his knowledge. I behold iv you the surveyors, the engineers, and the lawyers who will hereafter direct the Maori people. Be strong to learn, be quick to learn, that you may get back to us, the old people who have not had these benefits, that you may make room for others in tbis school who will take your place. Rewi (holding up a Testament given him by Bishop Cowie) said : Remember tbis above all things, that man was not made for the sole purpose of making money and benefiting himself. You owe a duty to your fellow-men, and jour efforts shoald jbe directed, not only to provide food and clothing for yourselves, but to assist , in advising and directiog the native people amongst whom you will hereafter go, and who will look up to you for advice and iuformation, because you have been trained by the Europeans. — The children then sang the National Anthem.

The Timaru Herald, in a leading article on Mr George McLean's speech, says :- He distinguished himself, in company with }/lr Rolleston and one or two others, by having the courage and fortitude to meet Sir George Grey face to face, as an equal on the floo^ of the House, and to strip from him the veil oif solemn humbug with which he ever sought to enshroud himself. Tbere probably was not a member in the House whom the Premier dreaded so much as the Member for Waikouaiti. He had none of that nasty, snarling violence, which always diminished so much the force of Major Atkinson's attaqka, aad never failed to turn the sympathies of the House against him. He was entirely free from that sneering, cold-blooded bitterness, which ran through all Mr Ormond's otherwise telling observations on the Premier, and made each speech he made a triumph for his enemies. He was not affected in the least by that nervous, spasmodic ! excitement which rendered Mr Walter! Johnston's occasional onslaughts on the Premier more ridiculous than anything else.! He was, on the contrary, always self-pos-sessed and good-tempered, and warm, and though he really hit qaiie as hard as anybody, and never hesitated to call a spade a spade, a job a job, or an impostor an impostor, he did it ail with such imperturbable patience and bonhommie, that he never failed to" make the Premier appear at least as little as he represented him.

The body of an unknown man iv checked pants is now lying Unclaimed at the Morgue. Il seems the deceased was walking through the park, on Thursday, wheh he observed a horse running away with a buggy containinga broker. He at once went to the assistance of the frightened man and succeeded in slopping the horse and saving its owner's life. The rescuer then turned away, and hardly walked ten steps before he fell dead of heart disease. This is ?*i awfal warning to persons wearing checked pants not to interfere with the designs of a benign Providence. — Alia California. The Chester Courant publishes a letter which has been received by the Mayor of Chester from New Zealand, enclosing £5 for tlie relief of the distress in that city. The sum was subscribed in the Koromiko Sundayschool, where there are 50 children and four teachers, and the contributors write, " thankful that we are in a land of plenty, we wish to do what we can to relieve the distress."

The following novel and amusing account of the origin of the Zulu war is from Truth : — "In a row, cherchez la Jemme. Cetcwayo loved Arabella, the barmaid of a missionary who sold brandy at his store. Cetewayo's intentions were honourable and he wished to marry Arabella. Nor was thafc maiden loth to exchange the har for a savage palace. But Cetewayo's respected parents objected to the match, and the missionary was afraid that if he consented to the mariage his licence to sell liquor would be taken away. On coining to the throve, Cetewayo banished the missionary, and showed himself by no means a friend to rum-selling missionaries. Sir Bartle Frere, however, favors these gentry. Thu3, thanks to Arabella and to a missionary wanting to make money by the sale of spirits, we are lauded in the Zulu war."

A Yankee , who had never paid more than twenty-five cents to see an exhibition, went to a New York theatre to see the " Forty Thieves." The ticket-seller charged him seventy-five cents for a ticket. Passing the pasteboard back, he quietly remarked, " Keep it, mister; I don't want to see the other thirty-nine," and out he marched.

A new form of attraction has been lately resorted to by the proprietors of some of the largest shops in the busiest of London thoroughfares, in having a group of pretty young women at workon sewing machines close to the front window, to the evident delight and amusement of all the fast young dandies in the neigborhood, who quite block up the thoroughfare in their mad efforts to ogle the beauties, iv the same way as the young aristocrats do the ballet girls at the opera from the omnibus box. Where are the police ?

A contemporary saya : — Land jobbery seems to be done on a gigantic scale in Queensland. The new Government seems to have a wai n side for squatters. Iv order to allow them to obtaiu at their own terms a renewal of pastoral leases from the Crown, ifc has put up for sale afc shorfc notice, the lease of 12,500 square mile 3 of country. The reserve is £2 per square mile, or three farthings per acre. This vast area of territory, as large as the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which has a population of four millions, ancl nearly equal to a seventh of the Colony of New. Zealand, will all be disposed of in ono day. The sale will take place simultaneously in several districts . The lots will run from twenty to three hundred square miles. The shorfc notice and the simultaneous sale are evidently intended to allow previous tenants to take it up again on their own terms. There has been a good deal of indignation, and a good many deputations, bufc to no purpose.