Untitled

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 12, 14 January 1881, Page 2

The Waikato Mail of Januaiy Ist says :— The tower, spire, or whatever else it might be termed, of an old mission church afc Mau m the Rotorua district, was blown off on Sunday last by the force of the stale then raging m that district; .It was carried right into the »ir for sdffle dis'tanfie, when It toppled over, and on falling, buried itself 4ft deep, the larger portion uppermost. Fortunately no one was about whet e this relic of ecclesiastical architecture fell. In an article on the address forwarded by the Council of of the Otago Institute to Mr Charted" Darwiii on the 21st anniversary of the " Origin of Species," the " South Canterbury Times" says, with an irreverence which is perfectly shocking to a well regulated mind, that "the Council represents such practical scientific pursuits as cabinet-mak-ing, the renovation of decayed garments, mattress-making, bird-stuffing, and soapbeiling ; that ii tiieets m; indefinite periods m a large concrete cellaf immediately beneath the bones of a family of moas m the Otago Museum ; and that on such occasions the members were treated to learned harangues on such subjects as the flexibility of greyhounds' tails and the peculiarities of structure that distinguish the bills of West Coast parrots, from the jaws of a Dunedin cabman's liorse." .. m . _ Says the N'Z. Tiiiise of Wednesday :— "Stands Scotland where it did, afld dtiea the wind still incline Northwards ?" Interpreted into good English, the foregoing sentence sums up th« imprecations which at 6 o'clock yeeterday morning about a score of infuriated persons were heaping upon the locked and bolted front door of a certain barber's establishment on Lambton-quay. A guileless-looking youth, with nothing on but a pair of troußers and an apology for a shirt, at last appeared, and assured the clamorous claimants that the worthy barber was " missing," and that hit wife and family also had sought " fresh fields and pasture! new." Eight o'clock arrived, and still the shop was besieged. Telegrams began to roll m, and the hot haßte of the perspiring messengers contrasted sadly, no doubt, with the invigorating coolness of the missing man, as he indulged m the breezes of the South Pacific. One telegram from Hokitika was especially excruciating : " Has your favorite professor really gone, and where ?" As the sender of this laconic but highly-pointed message was a loser of £50, his eagerness was ,to say the least, excusable. The efficacy of salt water for laying dust m the streets' has exceeded expectations m Sydney, so so much that the question of dispensing with the use of fresh water from the hydrants m the principal streets m favor of the permanent use of salt water ia likely to be seriously deliberated. At Newcastle, N.S W., the gallant rescue of a female, named Anne Leonard, wai effected on the 2nd inst., off the rocks. It appears that she was wading barefooted, and fell into an excavation/of the diitanceof which probably she was not previously aw*re. Her cries attracted a man named Diamond, who got down the cliffs, plunged into the sea at the risk of bis own life, and caught bold of her. Both were washed aahore and then into the sea again again. They were much injured, but managed to clutch a rock, to which they hung for ten minutes half drowned. Subsequently ft breaker washed them high and dry. Our lady domestics etill continue to increase m form. A member of this section was recently applying for an appointment, and after!asking her proposed employer an infinity of questions, all bearing on her own comfort, she wound up by saying, "By the way, mum, do you lit long over meals. I can't abear people as hangs over their food." The municipal account for Dunedin is now overdrawn >t the Bank of New Zealand to the amount of £10,039 5s Bd. The City Council voted the Mayor a salary of £400. The Wellington " Monthly Price Current " is candid. It says: — "The commercial depression which overspread nearly the whole of New Zealand m the early part of this year, has, apptrently, become a thing of the past for all the colony except Wellington, which is still characterised by a good deal of dullness." A recent telegram from South Australia say :— • In the south-east , on Thursday, bush fifes did a great deal of damage to several runs. On the Ellis Coola Station the stone wool shed, the men's huts, and the centents were burnt ; also the yards and a great length of fencing; much grass was also burnt, and the loss is estimated at £2000. A large quantity of fencing was also destroyed on Whinharn'a estate. Albert Plate had a cottage burnt on the adjoining land. At Gardiner's, Mount Schank estates, 30,000 acres of grass, 15 miles of fencing, and a few sheep were destroyed. A considerable quantity of grass, and other property was also destroyed on Crow's run, and on lands on Templeman Gully, belonging to Messrs Keoph, Ryan, and Kilsby, farmers. At Glenolg River the fire swept a large tract of pastoral country. Vesuvius is now very active. Lava continues flowing from the crater, and present indications point to the probability of increased eruptive energy, After a careful inquiry it is stated that the majority obtained by General Garfleld m the popular vote of the whole country is 76,000. The Bruce Herald says that the folk who patronise the various games on local show grounds, are not aware that the average day's takings of any one of the "chance" men are seldom under £40. In Sheffield the children of the Sunday School Union, numbering, with their teachers and friends, 30,000, had a day's outing recently.