Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 1891.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXV, Issue 129, 2 June 1891, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 1891.

A brief telegram containing 1 the Hori #r MoKenzie's reply to ; the bbarges made against him by Mr Spenoe, late GommiS"* flioner of Grown Lands-for B<mthlft,n<l, ap« pears elsewhere. We shall publish the fall report of that portion? of his., speech which' refers to this matter on receipt of our Bouthern files. Mr MoKenzie's explanation appears to have givea full satisf action to his heurere. From the report ot the meeting of the Nelsosi Fruitgrowers' Association, whioh appeared in our yesterday's issue, we gather that there is every hope now of the Vedalia, or ladybird whioh feeds on the wattle blight, being permanently established here or utall events until it has so faithfully performed its work that there is nothing left for it to eat, when ite.Beryiipefe will ,'be' no longer required. This is a good work that the Association has aooomplished, for there are perhaps ho districts in New Zealand whioh have suffered irom this filthy looking and misohidvoJttß blight equally with NeUon. The beautiful mimosas whioh when in full )loom were the glory of the town have all lad to.be out down, while hundreds of other trees and shrubs of various kinds have been completely destroyed. It will indeed be a good thing for the whole diatriot if this wretched inseot finds an enemy equal to the occasion in the ladybird. A very slight shook of earthquake was felt here this morning shortly after four o'clock, It appears to have been experienced elsewhere, and at barton very severely, A SALE of work fdr whioh elaborate preparations have been made, will be held in the Baptist schoolroom to-morrow, corumenoing at 3 p.m., the pbioot being to raise funds', for a new ohuroh. There will be a large and varied assortment of articles from which purchasers can make their selections, and refreshments will be provided at moderate, rates. On the following eveniug there will be a publio tea,, and a very pleasant evening is anticipated. Further, particulars will ba found in the advertisement. The annual publio meeting in bonnebtion with the Anniversary of St. Johns' (W.esleyan) Sunday Sohool will be held this evening at half-past seven, when addresses will be delivered by various miuistera and friends, and there will be special singing by the scholars. A collection will be made in aid of the school funds. ' ■ ; ON Saturday next the College and' Nelson Oluba propose, having a game of- football in the Botanical Reserve when all, senior -and junior, are requested to put in an appearance, for a muoh needed praotioe. Play to commence nt 8 p.m. The Customs receipts the month of May show a falling "off of £12,000 as compared wf th the corresponding month of last year. The beer duty too ii» lesß by J6356. A meeting of the Women's . Christian Temperauce Union will be held in the Wesleyan sohool room to-morrow afternoon at three o'olook. Mr Gilbert announces that he has arrived from Blenheim and can be consulted at his rooms as usual, ■ „ . . . A girl named Margaret Hanuigan while swinging on the sohool swing at the Totara Sohool, near Oamaru, foil,,' off on her head and died almost immediately. It is supposed her neok was -broken. The Port of Saturday says:--The offiolal assignee in She estate of W. Heginbotham, of Nelson, arohlteot, sued Itobt. E.. Bannister in the R.M. Court yesterday afternoon to recover a sum of £10, claimed for services rendered in paking sketches and preparing plans' and speoinoations for a proposed new residence, it appeared that there had been no agreement between the parties as to the price for the work, In defence it was .contended ;that the plaintiff, being .merely a servant of another arohitocb at the time the work was done, was not entitled to ihe remuneration as an arobiteot: and further, that plaintiu had previously dove similar work for a fee of £2 2s, whioh sum defendant now paid into Court in sa'.isfaotiou of tho present claim. After having heard evidenoe, his Worabip held that the charge was a reasonable one, and gave judgement (or the amount claimed, with £1 16s aosts. Mr Travers aoted tor the plaintiff, and Mr Skerrett in defenoe. The amalgamation between the Uaiou Steam Ship Company and the Taannniao Steam Navigation Company has taken effeot as from the lat o( April, The kernel o( the agreement was that the Union Company abßoibed the Taßmanian, giving tbo share-' holders in tue latter one Union share for ever) T.SiN. Company share they formerly held. The ' Union Jompanv directors now have the full control, leaving the management of the Hobatf offloe to Mr E. M. Fisher, formerly manager of the Taßmanian Com* pany, who is to have a board of three advisers.— Post. The Wellington correspondent of a southern contemporary says :— A rumour is ia free circulation (possibly as a pilot balloon) that the Government expect the Uppor House to rejeot their taxation proposals, and that in such case a dissolution will be asked for. From information, however, whioh has reached me, I am inolined entirely to discredit the report, It may suit Ministers to allow this to be supposed, but it assuredly would not ault either Ministers or their followers to have another general election this year. Indeed, it might not distress Ministers very muoh if their proposals were to be thus rendered abortive. They would have fulfilled their pledges, and done their best, A dissolution in suoh oironmstancoa would be a very extreme step, and I say unhesitatingly and advisedly that the Government will not take that step, unless it be absolutely forced on them by an irresistible and, in my opinion, improbable combination of oiroumstanoes. It is rumoured (says the Wellington correspondent of (ho Prut) upon what appears ' to be otedible authority that the Publio Trust Offloe Commissioners are considering the advisabloness ol making certain very important recommendations. They oonsider that many trust estate* in the hands of the office have been lerieuily diminished through the management of the Offioe, in some eases to the extent of a third or more. It is said thai they estimate the aggregate amount of the losses from £20,000 to £30,000. The reoommendalion whioh they are rumoured to ba oonaidering is that Parliament should vote a sum sufficient to repair the lobb made in these estates, and to rehabilitate them ia value, even should this requite the large; Bum spoken 01, viz,, £30,000 The Commissioners era understood to hold that unless this be done, and some future guarantee provided against loss, it will be' impossible to revive publio confidence in the institution. I am assured positively, that soon a reoommendation is under Cabinet consideration, but I prefer to give it as a rumour,