The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 1870.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume V, Issue 101, 30 April 1870, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 1870.

Mr. H. J. L. Augarde quotes Pioneer, shares, £5 paid, at £4 per share; Perseverance shares, £1 -paid, at 30a. per | share. Also, ©ne-half share in the Lucky Hit, £5 paid, for £15. Pioneek Mining Compact. — We are' requested to remind our readers that the ! last opportunity of paying the £l call occurs to-day. Those who have not already paid can do so up to 10 o'clock to-r.ight, at Messrs. Healy & Leslie's. t The Outgoing Mail.— We under-! stand that the Postmaster has received a telegram from Wellington, stating that the , Phoebe is to leave that port forPicton and j Nelson to-night at 12 o'clock, so that she , can hardly be here until to-morrow evening's tide. The Carandinis gave another of their charming entertainments last night, when we were glad to see a much better attendance than on the previous evening. The concert on Monday next being 1 for the benefit of Miss Rosina, an unusually attractive programme has been published for that evening, when we hope to see a crowded house. Nplson Board op Works. — A meeting of the ratepayers is to be held in the Market-place, on Monday next, for the purpose of electing three members of the Board of Works;. Mr. Akersten and Mr. Hooper having resigned, and the Act providing that no vacancies shall be filled up unless the number shall be reduced below five, Mr. Webb has sent ia his resignation in order that the ratepayers may have an opportunity of being fully represented. "Very little interest appears to be taken in the matter, and besides Mr. Webb, who oflers himself for re-election, we have not heard of any candidates for the vacant seats. The Wangapeka. — It is not, we believe, generally known that there is every probability of a crushing machine being soon erected at the Wangapeka. A party of nine residents in that district have taken the matter in hand, and have ordered, through Mr. Burnett, a small two-stamper battery from Messrs. Langlands 8c Co., of Melbourne, which is expected to arrive in Nelson in about three weeks time, and will on arrival be taken up to, and erected in, Nuggety Creek, where any amount of water-power is to be obtained. The machine, which can, if necessary, be enlarged by the addition of as many stamper-heads as may be desirable, will be a vast boon to the district, as it will afford the proprietors of the various claims an opportunity of thoroughly testing the stone, . and ascertaining whether sufficient inducement is held out for fully working the reefs.

Wellington must be a charming place to live in if we may judge from the following description of its present condition which appeared in the Post of Monday last :— lt has for some time been painfully evident to those who walk along our streets — in thin boots especially — that they are in very bad condition. The asphalte is fast wearing out, and becoming unpleasantly rough gravel ; there are drains and culverts which require looking to, and many places that want repairing. Then the city at night, when the shutters of the shops are up, is as dark as a forest track, and where there much traffic at late hours, it would be impossible to avoid numerous collisions. Even now, the few people who walk along the foot-paths have as much as they cau do to avoid them. The drainage is execrable, and, if not soon improved, will most certainly materially affect the health of the inhabitants ; zymotic diseases, happily as yet unknown to us except by name, are by our own negligence virtually invited to make their appearance; in fact, but for the prevailing high winds that sweep away the gathering impurities of the atmosphere, they would have been here long ago. Ta© state of our water supply haa been so often dwelt

upon, that it is iieedleaa agaiin to refer, to it;, in fact, every* jhing connected With the ; management of the affairs 'of the city-"-* sanatory or otherwise — is in a wretched muddle^_-._-_-__^.. : ._.-_^.__. ._...--....--.- :-.- --■ The Gold: ;Digger. — The following sketch of the New J Zealajd digger is from the Gwymouth -Star-t-^i- suppose that one mightpffearchrth©. world>;througb. and through^ without finding a class of men so hardy, so persevering, so courageous and withal so temperate* and so capable of enduring, hardships as the diggers. on the West Coast of the Middle Island of New Zealand. They are .the class of men to found colonies, and to trace out the resources of a newly-discpvored country. Nothing daunts them. They are the pick of the picked. They will penetrate the fastnesses of the : closely-timbered forest, intertwined with thick Bcrub and creeper and undergrowth. They Will cross the most Bteep and apparently inaccessible ranges, will descend into the wildest gorges or traverse precipitous heights, making their way by sheer dint of perseverance against all physical obstacles in search of the precious metal. Where a man, strange to auriferous indications, excepting what he has read of in learnedly written books or has heard of in scientific lectures, would pass over a tract of land, believing all above to be barren and all below r.s worthless, an experienced digger — and we have them in abundance, will set in with pick and shovel and show what his experience has taught him by bringing to light the golden ore. The digger is par excellence the direct and immediate representative on the West Coast, as indeed he is in all other of the provinces of New Zealand. And he knows this well, and frequently, from being over j indulged and specially legislated for, be becomes spoiled, and is often both unreasonable and exacting. He appears, too often, to think that the country was made specially for his own particular use, and never considers for a moment that there are any other interests to be looked to and cared for. He is nevertheless a credulous trusting sort of a man, and easily talked over and cajoled by political impostors and charlatans. But your true digger — he who has seen years of digging, life has many excellent qualities. He is invariably kind and considerate to any brethren in trouble or distress. To rob a mate of his share of fairly-earned gold is a crime unknown. In New Zealand there are not a dozen instances on record of this offence. Wo betide the man who was detected in it. He would have a miserable life of it among the mining fraternity if he did not clear out.