THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume V, Issue 226, 24 September 1870, Page 2

THE WEEK.

Tha history of the past week is by no means an eventful one. Little has occurred to disturb the even tenor of our way, and we have been gliding along in that peculiarly listless, quiet, somnolent manner for which Nelson is celebrated throughout New Zealand. The excitement caused by the European news has not yet worn off, and war is still the all engrossing topic of conversation. In one respect I think this war news has done us good in Nelson ; it has raised us, as it were, out of ourselves, aud given a fresh current to our thoughts. In this secluded corner of the globe we are only too apt to look upon our particular locality as " the world," and to attach to the affairs which more immediately concerns ourselves an importance to which they are by no means entitled. This simple faith has received a shock from which it is not likely to recover for some time to come, and the most thoughtless amongst us cannot now refrain from turning their attention to the tremendous scenes that are being enacted on the continent of Europe, and our own petty affairs sink into the utmost insignificance in contemplating the desperate struggle that is now taking place between two of the most powerful nations in the world, one of which, we are told, was shortly to have in the field an army nearly four times as great as the entire population of this colony. Still, we must not entirely ignore what immediately affects our own interests and therefore I can safely go on to speak of what is taking place iu. our raining districts. From Collingwood we have received the results of another crushing at the Perseverance battery, in couuection with which there was unwittingly perpetrated a cruel " sell " for the shareholders, who were led to believe that 18Oozs. were placed to their credit. It appears however that the manager at the mine is not provided with the means of weighing so large an amount, and had merely stated at a guess that the weight was as generally given out on the arrival of the steamer, but on being weighed in the Bank balance here it was found wanting to the tune of 48ozs there being only 132 instead of 180. Many shareholders are exceedingly downhearted at 250 tons of quartz yielding but 1320z5, but if placed before them in another light, their dissatisfaction may not be so great. These 1320z5, the result of three weeks* work are worth about £480, the working expenses which are said to be £70 a week amounting to £210, thus leaving a balance of £270 or at the rate of £90 a- week. This surely ought to satisfy those who are only looking for a handsome interest on their outlay. From Wangapeka we hear of fresh discoveries, all of them promising well, but until machinery is at work there aud the stone receives a thorough test, if; is to be feared that there will be great difficulty in forming new companies. Amusements have been plentiful this week. On Tuesday the Organ Committee, or rather, those who so willingly respond to their invitation to assist in the good work, gave one of the best entertainments of the whole series, but unfortunately the house was not so well filled as it might have been. On Thursday the Fire Brigade gave their annual dinner, and a most convivial meeting it was. I confess that I was not a little amused at the charming inconsistency which induced us, first of all, to drink the health of the Queen in a most thoroughly loyal manner, and immediately afterwards to receive with loud cheers the toast of "His Escelleucy the Governor," all our enthusiasm being called forth by the fact that he had incurred the displeasure of Her Majesty's Government in the action he had taken with regard to the troops. But postprandial speeches and toasts should never be too keenly criticised. Last night the Artizans, whose efforts to amuse are evidently warmly appreciated by the Nelson public, performed before another crowded house ; the Gourlays also gave one of their capital entertainments in the Assembly Room, so that the only difficulty in the way of passing a pleasant evening was that which arose from having to decide where it should be spent. Yesterday the diocesan synod was opened in due form, the Bishop of Nelsoa delivering to the members who mustered in great force a lengthy but most interesting address. This-brings to a close my history of the week. F«

The Emperor Napoleon, having precipitated a war in which hundreds of thousands of lives will be sacrificed, comes forward in the character of chief humanitarian of tbe struggle. He is willing to forego the use of explosive balls, if Prussia will agree to do the same. He is perfectly ready to send conical balls whizzing through the heads and bodies of those opposed to him ; he is making preparations to mow them down with rifle cannon ; and in certain contingencies he will consent to have their heads slashed open with sabres ; but to mining balls which on entering the poor human body explode and tear info fragments, lie cannot bring himself. For our part, we do not know which is better, to blow up the poor wretch at once and end his misery, or merely maim him, and then perchance leave him for days on the battle-field, iv agony and fever, without a drop of water, liable to be at any moment trampled under feet and hoofs of retreating or advancing hosts ; aud if he escape all these peiils to be carried to hospital, where his mangled form will be viewed rather with the eye of science thau of human sympathy. One thing is clear, there cannot be much humanity connected with war at all. Whatever there is of it, partakes of a repulsive and decidedly ghastly character. — JSews of the World. The Women of New Zealand. — Under this heading a Mr. W. Stack of Dunedin, has addressed a letter to tho Otago Daily Times, from which the following is an extract . — The subject of women's dress should be taken up by the clergy. It has always seemed to me absurd to see women dressed in rustling silks, in flaunting feathers, in seductive necklaces, and in false hair, listening to the word of God which in every line talks against vanities. Such women go to church to show themselves to other men and women, not to hear the gospel. They are emphatic hypocrites, aud they revel in their hypocrisy. They turn the church into a house of sin, because they excite envy and covetousness where they should be least wanted. The clergy preach iv vain to a congregation, the more feminine half of which is decked out for the express purpose of pleasing the eye. Not merely do mothers overdress themselves, but they overdress their daughters. Mothers should remember, before their fall Adam aud Eve had no wardrobe. Dress is the badge of conquest given to us by the devil. From dress to address is. a natural transition. How many of our men and women can converse ? Very few. Those who are not absolutely silent merely chatter. I have heard a young woman who was under six distinct teachers "come out" with no higher expressions than — "What an idea !" — " Oh lawks !" — " Goodness gracious !" — "Well r you're a cure!" — "You don't say go ?"_«My word !"— "My colonial !" — &c., &c. — during three hours' conversation. I lately heard the belle of a Dunedin ball-room call money "sugar." We marry these girls, and when they are mothers — "As the old cock crows the young one learns." And men pander to this nonsense. They have not strength of mind sufficient to speak out. They are quite as bad or worse themselves. Their language is nearly all slang. Avowed morality is scouted and called hypocrisy. And men who are placed in a position which demands of them a crusade against the sigus of the times hold aloof and " make no sign." All this springs from an absence of, or a deadening of, moral convictions. The girl who would call cash "sugar," who would thus depart from the path of grammatical propriety will after a time, by easy gradients well understood by moral engineers, deviate fiom the path of moral propriety, fall over the embankment of religion, and go to the Devil in an express train. The false nature which would conceal her own red hair behind a wig of dead (some say it is very " lively") hair would not scruple to tell a lie lo her husband. An imported Clydesdale stallion has lately been sold in Melbourne for £600. What ship's boat ought to contain a happy crew ? — The jolly-boat. Many who find the day too long think life too short; but, short as life is, some find it. long enough to outlive their characters, their constitutions, and their estutes.