The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, APRIL 10, 1871.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 83, 10 April 1871, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, APRIL 10, 1871.

Harmonic Society. — We are requested to remind the members of this Society that the rehearsal for Thursday's concert will take place at the Provincial Hall tomorrow evening, at 8 o'clock. Sufferers by the War. — The public are reminded that the subscription list instituted by Mr. Stroug for the relief of the sufferers by the war is still open at the Union Bank, and at the office of this paper, where contributions will be thankfully received. Nelson Artizans' Association. — The election of officers for the ensuing quarter took place on Saturday evening, when the following members were elected : — Mr. James Graham, president; Mr. 11. Burn, vice-president; Mr. W. A. Barnes, secretary; Mr. W. T. Bond, treasurer; Mr. E. Finney, librarian; and Messrs. J. Greig, J. Smith, and H. L. N. Clarke, Committee. All Fools' Day. — The Lyttelton Times-says that the traditional custom of playing off practical jokes on the Ist of April was duly adhered to at Christchurch. The presence of His Excellency the Governor, and the well-known urgent desire of many citizens to interview him, were events not to be passed over. The result was the issue of letters, purporting to be signed by his Excellency's aide-de-camp, aud inviting the recipients to attend a levee at the Club. By some the trick was discovered in time, but others, so overpowered by the honor conferred upon them, did not observe that the letters were signed Kidd, A.D.C., instead of Pitt, A.D.C., aud after much careful preparation, proceeded in orthodox costume to the Club at the appointed hour. What their feelings were when they were told that a hoax had been perpetrated, may be imagined but not described. Roman Catholics and Freemasons. — Considerable sensation has been occasioned by the following letter from a Roman Catholic priest, the Rev. Father M'Donald. It is addressed to the Southern Cross : — Sir — In the notice of the funeral of the late James Naughton Esq., R.M., which appeared in this morning's Cross, I see it stated that the deceased gentleman "at the time of his death held the office of Past Master in the Freemason order." Had I known such to be tho fact, I could, not, and of course, would not, have reap the funeral service over his remains. J was, no doubt, aware thet he had beeu connected with the body; but, on making enquiry, I was assured in writing, by a special friend of the deceased, and a most respectable citizen of Auckland, that he had practically renounced Masonry, not having attended any meetings of the, 3 fraternity for twelve months or more. On the strength of this written statement niy Bishop allowed me to attend the funeral. I am. &c, Walter M'Donald. St. Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland. March 20, 1871. The KARAMEA.-f-A gentleman in town has received a letter from Mr. Reuben Waite, now at the Karamea, which contains some interesting information relative to mining affairs in that district. As yet, he says, there is no rich ground discovered, but several parties' are out prospecting. Those at work op Fenian Creek are making from £4 to £5 per week, but the road over which they have to carry their provisions is something fearful, and yet a much shorter and tetter track might be ,made at a very small expense. The men now there say_ thai there is any amount of _ ground that will pay £2 or £3, > a .^eeic,, and new comers, report that there are hundreds down south' who are' 'doing nothing, and would be only too glad to

come this way if there were anything like reasonable facilities for getting about the country. Mr. Waite says that ho is doing all in his power towards assisting the prospecting of the district, and considers that he, who has to pu&up with all the hardships, ought $.0 receive some assistance from proprietors of land iv the township. Collingwood. — The shareholders of the Perseverance claim, will be glad to hear that one portion of the contract, namely, the dam, is finished, and that the other portions are progressing as rapidly as the present very unfavorable weal her will allow. At the Canterbury churn an alarming accident accurred last week. A man commonly known as Tavistock and his mate .were drilling out a shot that had missed fire, when it suddenly exploded, completely blinding the former, the peak of his cap being perforated like a sieve, the latter had his hands severely torn, and has gone to Nelson. Tavistock is going ou as 'veil as possible and has recovered the sight of one eye, and expects shortly to regain the use of the other. Mr. Gibson's stocking machine is rapidly approaching completion, under the excellent workmanship of Mr. Watts, who has m-ide not only the most intricate parts of this elaborate machine by hand, but has made his own tools first. I will send you a detailed description of the machine when complete. — Communicated. » The Races. — There seems to be every probability of some good sport being offered to the public on the racecourse to-morrow and next day, the arrival of two horses from another province having added considerably to the interest attaching to the races. Wo have not yet had an opportunity of seeing either of these animals, but, from what we can gather, they are in good form, and one of them in particular, Yaltarina, a Tasmanian bred mare, is likely to cause our Nelson horses to bestir themselves if they are to place the stakes to the credit ot their owners. No one can pretend to say that the horses which are to run on this occasion, are equal to those which we have been accustomed to see on our course iv the days when the Nelson races were immeasurably superior to anything of the kind in other parts of the colony, but the various events promise to be well contested, and, if the stop watches are not consulted too closely, the good old times, when Ziugara, Zoe, Symphony, and Flora rushed up to the winning post so close together that the judge had to keep his wits about him in order to decide which was the winner, may be recalled to the memories of those who useuVto frequent the course fifteen years ago. <,We may look for a fair gathering of spectators, as, in addition to those from our own locality, a number of excursionists are expected to arrive from Wanganui to-night in the steamer Wanganui. Should the weather prove fine we anticipate two very pleasant days' holiday. Athletic Exercises. — A good deal of interest has recently been displuyed at Canterbury with regard to athletic sports of every description, and a meeting, which had been advertised for some time previously, was held last week, when the young men from all parts of the province mustered in force to contest the various events. A full account of the day's sports, such as has^^en published in the Canterbury papffs, would not possess much interest for our readers, but the success that has*attended the first meeting of the kind in a neighboring province seems to suggest that we might do well to establish something of the same description here. It is true that we have one day in the year devoted to sports which have been instituted by the Caledonian Society, and that on the anniversary of the Province a certain portion of the day's amusement consists of racing, jumping, &?, but there is nothing systematic about it, and the competitors generally have undergone no training whatever, most of them having evidently, received no sort of instruction. In Canterbury they do things very differently, every competitor having gone through a regular course of training, many of them under the c&PB'-of a professional athlete. This is what is greatly wanted here, and the absence of proper instruction is nowhere more apparent than in the annual sports at the College, where the boys seem to have no idea .whatever of running in proper form, the majority of them, although possessing plenty of motive power, displaying the greatest ignorance of the best and most effective method of turning to account the physical strength with which nature has endowed them. To use a very common expression they are "'all legs and wings," and their appearance wheii racing is more like frightened fowls "endeavoring to escape from a pertinacious puppy, than the form in: which a practiced runner goes through his work. Would it not be well if they were to look about for some competent trainer* and place; ; themselves '.under^ his care for a. few weeks prior to the day on which they make their appearance in 'public? The idea has suggested itself

to us ou reading the account of the Canterbmy sports, and we pass it on to those who usually take part in such games for their consideration. In order to show to what extent the training of the competitors was carried on at Christchurch, we will quote from the Lyttelton Times :— " For those who were anxious to show to the best advantage, and who wished to be as fit as possible for their work, the services of young Austin, the Australian pedestrian, were at disposal, and many availed themselves of them, but by fur the majority of them were privately prepared. A qualified trainer is undoubtedly an advantage, but much may be learned from other sources, if only from books, and in every instance the most was made of this. For a week or two previous to the sports, from fifteen to twenty competitors might be found on the cricket ground, and each day improvement was perceptible both in style and time." A similar course might be advantageously pursued in Nelson.