THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume V, Issue 291, 10 December 1870, Page 2

THE WEEK.

I think I must avail myself of the opportunity afforded by the excursion trips, now so greatly in vogue, to take a run across the Straits. Every thiug is so dull and quiet here at present that one is apt to become quite rusty, whereas travel enlarges the ideas, sharpens the intellect, and expands the imaginative faculties. Having braved the perils of the deep s and arrived at your destination, you give yoursett up to the enjoyment of a day's idleness. Like Tityrus of old, you stretch yourself out under some w,ide spreading tree, and, losing sight of the realities of the scene around you, gradually and almost insensibly work your way into the territories of dreamland. A strange metamorphose comes over the ash tree under whose grateful shade you are reclining, and in a short time it is transformed into a magnificent specimen of the old English oak, while the landscape, whose principal features consisted at first of little wooden cottages, gradually becomes dotted with brick villas. Byron, in his "Dream" says that he saw " not the things that were but those which should have been," and this appears to be an apt illustration of the state of mind into which a traveller falls on visiting a strange place. Not that I have ever experienced this sort of thing myself, but after reading the description of Nelson supplied to a Wellington paper by a late excursionist from that city, I have come to the conclusion that there cannot be much truth in the saying that those who cross the seas only change the sky

over their beads, and not their customary frame of mind. One of those social bores, an inveterate punster, accounts for the picture of Nelson to which I have alluded in an entirely different manner. He says that the correspondent in question must have been playing off a joke on his readers, but that if such were the case he made a dreadful hash of his hoax. For my own part I fail to see the humor of this, as the Wellington traveller's mistake consisted of making an oak out of an asb, and those, I presume, are the words on which the punster based his intolerable joke. How ever, I thought it worth while to mention it in order to show how low one who can perpetrate such puns may sink. Insurance again. Yes, once more am I goiug to bore my readers with this subject. I don't find that any steps have yet been taken to remedy the evil to which I have before referred in connection with the question of Insurance, but in my own quiet way I have been working it up, pumping this person, and extracting information from that, until I think I can see a way out of the difficulty. It is this. The local agents of Insurance Offices, being of a most retiring dispositiou, are uuwilling to push themselves forward in any prominent way, but like many a bashful maideu, they are to be won if the wooer only sets about his courting in the right way. They must not be addressed roughly or bouncibly, or they will at once take fright, fly from their suitors, and hide themselves under the shadow of their principals in England ; but, go to them teuderly, approach them with care, and they are yours. And this is the plan I would recommend. Let every householder whose property is within reach of the waterworks sign a memorial to the Office in which he is insured, pointing out the facts of the case, how the town of Nelson enjoys exceptional advantages in the matter of water supply, and how the rates charged are precisely the same as if no such advantages existed ; let them bring forward facts to show beyond all question that it is next to impossible for any serious fire to take place ; and let them conclude by gently, but firmly s remonstrating against the tax that is now made upon their purses by the exorbitant premiums that are demanded from them. Then let them ask the agents here to forward such memorials to the head offices with their own comments thereon, and I have every reason to believe that the desired end will be attained. I confess that I have but faint hopes that my suggestion will be adopted, for a strange apathy prevails on this subject, which I can only account for ou the supposition that the purses of the insured of Nelson are in such a delightfully plethoric state that their owners are quite indifferent to the saving of several pounds a year that might be effected. If, however, they do act upon my advice, and their efforts prove so successful that they have more money left at their disposal than they know what to do with, I would, in all humility, suggest that their surplus funds should be expended in purchasing a testimonial to be presented to the present writer in acknowledgment of his determined advocacy, &c. Some people, I am aware, hold peculiar views on the subject of testimonials, indeed, a clerical friend of mine once told me that he thought no man had attained the height of infamy until he had been presented with one. Six months later, bowever, my friend was called upon to pass through the very ordeal he had formerly so strongly deprecated, after which, I observed that he always maintained a golden silence on the subject ; whether or nnt. his ■wipots hnri nn^pronnn a oTioncro T

am not iv a position to say. It may not be out of place to mention casually that I do not entertain the same objections myself. Before I am called upon to furnish another letter we shall in all probability have received the European news via San Francisco ; what that news may be it is impossible to think upon without a painful feeling of dread. We can form no conception of the misery endured by those who were, on the departure of the last mail, shut up within the walls of Paris, but when we add to this the frightful scenes thst will be enacted, and the terrible ruin and loss of life that must be brought about by shells and other destructive missiles used in modern warfare that will be hurled into the crowdel city, we must be prepared to receive such accouuts as will make the blood of the most callous run cold as he reads them.

Our Volunteers have held a meeting to decide upon the best course to be pursued by them for the future, and, very wisely I | think, they have decided that the two town companies at present in existence should break up, and the members unite in forming one strong company. Whether or not this plan will succeed yet remains to be proved, but it seems to me to possess one element of success that was wanting in the old system, namely, that there is more likelihood of a large body of men meeting on the parade ground, and this in itself is calculated to lead to a better attendance, as the drills always go off with much greater eclat and are more enjoyed by those who take part in them when there is a good muster. But if the volunteering spirit has, as some fear, died out amongst us, no arrangements, however much they may be approved of by the members at first, will cause them to attend regularly and to go through their work satisfactorily. However, the matter rests with the men themselves, aud it is for them to show whether they are volunteers at heart or only in name. A proposition from the veteran Webb that the hour for drill should be six o'clock in. the morning instead of in the evening did not meet with that favourable reception that would have justified us in repudiating with scorn the appellation that is frequently bestowed upon Nelson of " Sleepy Hollow," the general opinion being that the morning air was not favorable to the growth of volunteers. Of course there was the usual motion for adjournment. I say "of course," for can the "oldest; inhabitant " recollect a meeting of this description — and in this category I include mining meetings — pass off without someone bringing forward a resolution to the effect that there should be at least a week's adjournment before coming to a decision on the question under consideration ? If we have a weakness in Nelson, it is for procrastination; on this occasion, however, the proposition did not meet with the support that is usualiy accorded to resolutions of a similar nature. Cricket still reigns supreme in our midst, and the cabbies have whipped the carters. The legal profession too have caught the iufection, and yesterday a number of them turned out to argue the question of which was the best player. There was some very fair bowliug, notwithstanding which batsmeu were found to show cause why the ball should not be allowed bail. I have of late concluded with an allusion to the weather, but on the present occasion I have nothing to say on this subject, excepting with reference to the storm of Monday night, but that needs no remark from me, for I think it will be generally admitted that it was sufficiently loud aud boisterous to speak for itself. F.