The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 1871.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 57, 8 March 1871, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 1871.

Sudden Death. — Mr. Henry Flowers, a<red 68 years, died very suddenly at Wakapuaka, where he has long been a resident, at 9 o'clock yesterday morniug. He had for some time been suffering from heart disease, to which is attributed his painfully sudden death. Mr. Flowers was one of the pioneers of the Nelson Province. Wangapiska. — From a gentleman who arrived in town from Wangapeka this morning, we learn that the works on the various claims are beiDg rapidly proceeded with, and that, in all probability, the first crushing at the Culliford battery will take place this day week. The Doran Company are also hard at work, and no very long time will elapse before our Nelsonmade machinery and the stone from this reef will be simultaneously put to the test. Colonial Thrift. — A valuable and instructive lesson in economy may be obtained by anyone who will take the trouble to walk along Bridge Street, and inspect the uprooted telegraph posts that have been discarded in favor of new ones. It would be highly satisfactory to the passers-by who are not in the secret to know why the province should be put to the expense of providing new poles at least five years before they are required, but we fear they will have to wait some time before their curiosity is gratified. Hop-picking. — The hop-gardens throughout the province present a busy scene just now, and we are glad to le.-irn that the crops are turning out well in all directions. Up to the last two or three years the cultivation of this valuable plant has been almost entirely confined to the various brewers, who have, each of them, a few acres within the town boundaries; but we are glad to hear that the industry is being extended to the country districts, and has this year been attended with such satisfactory results that the growers propose to largely extend their operations next year. In Wai men West Mr. Marti a has four acres, in which. the pickers are now busily engaged, Mr. M. Newth two acres, Mr. J. Arnold two acres, and Mr. Chapman half an acre; aud in addition to this Mr. Woolley, of Spring Grove, has a fine garden of two acres. The crops in all these places are everything that could be desired, and we have to-day been shown a hop nearly four inches in length, which was this morning picked from a yearling plant, the property of Mr. Arnold. The value of this crop is being gradually recognised throughout the country districts, aud at Kaiteriteri there is also a large aud annually increasiug garden, but from this place we have not yet received any information aB to the results of the present harvest. Our climate is so thoroughly adapted to the cultivation of the hop that, at no distant period, we look to its becoming one of the principal products of the province of Nelson. By Pigeon Express.— -The West Coast Times gives the following, humorous account of the manner in which the last Suez telegrams were forwarded from the Raugitoto to the shore. We may here take the opportunity of correcting an error into which we were led a few days ago in stating that the carrier pigeons belonged to the Oreville Company, where-

as it appears that they were the private property of the proprietor of the Times, to whom the New Zealand press is eudebted for the dispatch with which they received the news. Our contempory says : — A pair of pigeons which had been kindly given to the proprietor of this paper by their owner, Mr Williams, chemist, Revell-street, for instruction and use as carriers, were taken off by the steamer Waipara, which left the river about ten in ihe morning to tender the Raugitoto, tben in the roads with the English mail. On board the steamer there were other two media of communicating news to tho public — namely, the agents for Messss. G-re-ville and Co. and the Press Association. But a deficiency of faith in the article pigeon, aud a reliance upon tiheir own individual personal geuius, prevented them from recognising the utility of the iuferior animal — or bird — and for once (.hey chose to iguore a superior " agency." There were other two pigeons brought on board — other than the two "representing" this office — in the charge of a gentleman amateur bird-fancier, remotely associated with the press. The Waipara went along side the Rangitoto, a couple of miles from shore, and the professional and amateur press representatives received from the Rangitoto papers and despatches containing the anxiously expected news. Profession pigeon No. 1, "attached" to this office, had a couple of columns of telegraphic intelligence affixed to its body, but the operator, unacquainted with the French fashion, affixed the packet so loosely that it took wings to itself as well as the pigeon. Professional No. 2 was made the carrier of a second packet, a sufficient burden for a West End twopenny postman, and it made a praiseworthy effort, after its preliminary circular flight in midair, to make for the shore, but iv the interval the amateur pigeons had betaken themselves, with their " fixings," to the yards of the Rangitoto, and the presence of these, and of its own particular hen, was too much for No. 2. It also through its affectionate instincts, and the gravity of the news and the circumstances, flew around the RaugitQ^eTTßtil it alighted on deck, where it^ras caught by the sailors, aud had UgjlJespatch readjusted. With a provokirfgignorance of their importance all remained on the rigging for a time, the observed of all observers; but ultimately No. 2, Times office, flew shore wards with its mate, and the others disappeared into space. Within a few minutes from their starting, Mr. Williams's pigeons lighted on their cot, but the "traps," like others of the name, were not there when they were wanted, and it became a painful necessity to reward the merit of the poor birds by shooting them. It was not until several hours after the intelligence was being received and read in Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, and elsewhere, that the Waipara returned to the river, and as her passengers stepped on shore they were furnished with locally printed editions of the news of which they also were the carriers without the pre-eminence of being pigeons.