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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume III, Issue 197, 21 August 1868, Page 2

The Harmonic Society gave a very enjoyable concert last night at the Provincial Hall, in the presence of a numerous audience, the room being comfortably filled. The first part of the programme consisted of the celebrated ' Stabat Mater' by Rossini, which despite, some inevitable omissions and curtailments, and the absence of orchestral accompaniments, which are especially necessary to the adequate execution of this great work, was given in very creditable style, the choruses being sung carefully and steadily, and the difficult and elaborate solos, especially the ' Fac ut portem,' being rendered with considerable effect. The fine quartett, ' Quando Corpus,' with its varied phases and changes of time, also deserved especial commendation, being most conscientiously rendered. The second part of the concert consisted of solos, duetts, and choruses, some of the latter having been given at previous concerts of the Society, The most noteworthy feature being the magnificent performance of the greater portion of Beethoven's Sonata Patetica, which was given with a delicacy, precision, and firmness which elicited the cordial admiration of every musician in the room, though the peculiar difficulties inseparable from an effective and truthful performance of a composition, so replete with passion and intellect, the very reflex of the composer's mind, were probably not discernible by the great majority of those present, to whom an elaborate fantaisia of the more modern school, abounding in monstrous * aggravations ' and other unintelligible ' tours de force,' might possibly have been more acceptable. The concert was, on the whole, a success, on which the Society is entitled to receive our congratulations. The debate on Mr Fox's motion, although resulting in a majority of votes for the Government, has led to the Ministry declaring their intention of introducing a definite measure applicable to the colony, and with the object of supplanting Provincialism. During the debate the Commissioner of Customs, Mr Richmond, said that Ministers had in view the development of the Road Boards into a machinery for con-

ferring by degrees upon districts tbe care of the police, sauitary matters, education, &c, in fact a sort of cross between English counties and the American township system. We find that we were partly in' error in stating that tbe earthquake on Monday was not felt on the West Coast. Our files by the John Penn state that it was very slightly felt at Westport, more distinctly at Greymouth, whilst at Hokitika it seems not to have been perceived by many of the inhabitants; but that ifc was felt is amply proved by the fact, that at the time of the vibration the County Paymaster observed the shock in his office. On the east side of tbe dividing range, as we have already -stated, on the Canterbury side, the shock seems to have been far more severe. We alluded in a recent issue to the mysterious disappearance at Hokitika, of Mr D. W. Purdon, manager of the Hokitika and Kanieri Tramway, who has been missing since Thursday week. We learn from tbe local papers that the mystery has been solved by the discovery of the body, on Saturday last, when it was found, after much search, lying on the face in about eight or nine feet in water in the lagoon or creek lying at the south side of the island. There was no mark of violence, and the deceased had on the same clothes as when he left home on the 6th instant. An inquest was held on the following day when a verdict was returned of ' Found drowned.' We learn from the Westport Evening Star of the 15th inst., that substantial encouragement is offered to coal prospectors by Mr A. S. Dreyer, M.P.C., who announces in the local press that a reward of £100 will be paid to any person who, within three months, shall discover a seam of coal in any situation three miles north of the Caledonian Terrace, and within the boundaries of the Buller Coal Reserve. The conditions attached to the payment of the reward are that the seam shall not be less than five feet in thickness, and capable of being worked within an area of a mile. The Star states that a seam of coal, about four feet thick, has already been discovered at no great distance from the locality indicated, and, from the general prevalence of coal measures throughout this part of the province of Nelson, it is quite possible that accident or research might reveal the existence of coal within the boundaries giveD, or nearer to the Buller and Westport than has yet been discovered. There is apparently no necessity for a Progress Committee at Westport. At any rate, there is no recognition of the necessity. A meeting to consider the subject was called for Tuesday evening, but nobody attended. The Wanganui Times is responsible for the following information: — Some fortnight ago Mr Booth went to Wellington, and took with him Tauroa, a chief whom Colonel M'Donnell then held as a kind of. hostage for the good behavior of his tribe. On being introduced to the Governor, Tauroa expressed sentiments of loyalty to which Sir George Bowen is said to have replied nearly as follows: — 'Tauroa, I accept your professions of loyalty and offers of friendship, but at the same time advise you that any tribe in this colony that perpetrates atrocities similar to those recently committed in the Patea district, I will consider it my duty to persue and exterminate. You, Tauroa, are at perfect liberty to return to your people, and with them join the Hauhaus and fight against us, but if you do so, you and your people must stand the consequences. I want no natives to assist in putting down rebellion. With a European force I will pursue and exterminate atrocious murderers; if you wish to join these men you may do so, but if you take my advice, you. and your tribe will remain strictly neutral.' With thiscaution and advice Tauroa withdrew, and since his return has freely stated the result of his interview with the Governor. A flaring advertisement appears in an Auckland paper, headed ' Prospectus of the Royal Gold Mining Company, limited. Capital £6000, in 1000 shares of £6 each/ The Directors' names are Joseph Shroeder Moore, Esq., Colonel Nation, Owen Jones, Esq., and Captain Frederick Armstrong. Alongside this advertisement appear, two letters from two of the abovenamed gentlemen; one disclaims any connection with the company whatever; the other says he has never heard of the company, and that his name had been made use of without his authority. ' "' ' . It would appear from the following

Un in l !._-■__■_____■____ extract from the Sydney Morning Herald that the Panama route is growing in favor with the people of New South Wales: — We understand that the letters received by the Rakaia, June 29, were greatly in excess of the number of those by the outward mails of February and March last. The mails have been repeatedly delivered both ways within 56 • days. Last month there were four days here, including day of arrival and departure, for answering correspondence. This month there will be six days. A correspondent suggests that tbe favorable side of the Panama question is left out of view a good deal of late, and it is only fair that the best that can be said in its favor should be stated. The great bulk, he adds, of our letters— ' all that go by the Southampton division of the Suez mail — might go by Panama. This, independently of the special circumstances of the present time of departure, is nearly midway between tbe Suez mail of this month and the following one. Again, if the Panama mail steamers called at Auckland instead of Wellington, a day or two would generally be saved in the passage to Sydney. A Melbourne paper says: — That the true oriental ruby exists, and has been found iu our Victorian mines, is now beyond doubt. Some years ago Dr Bleasdale mentioned that one had been found by Mr Ulrich, the able mineralogist of the Geological Survey, not far from Mount Eliza. Some people were sceptical on this point, and thought Mr Ulrich had mistaken some other hard substance for the ruby. Curiously enough the unmistikeable evidences of its existence among us have come from that district, and a couple of dozen of these interesting crystals picked out of a very miscellaneous jumble of matters generally found about our primitive formations, have been shown to us.