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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 140, 15 June 1871, Page 2

We have often been surprised at the range of prices given by contractors for works tendered for, but we do not recollect a more striking illustration than the following for a temporary footbridge over the Hutt, ns stated in a late Wellington paper. Five tenders were submitted, at the following prices :—£46o, £200, £130, £60, £15. The lowest teuder was accepted. Four ladies, three married and one single, the latter of whom was formerly a barmaid at the Royal Hotel, Trunkey Creek, shouldered tools, and went out recently ou a gold-mining excursion. They found a reef, sunk a shaft ten feet, and took out a ton of quartz, which is now lying at the Lady Belmore machine to be crushed at first opportunity. — Thames Advertiser. Vv Recently the wife of Mr. IL McLeod, residing at tha Whau Wh.au, near Wangarei, was induced by a party to take a vapour bath, believing that it would cure her of the rheumatic pains which had rendered her a cripple for years. It appears she was kept in the bath an hour and twenty minutes, and that she lived but three hours after her removal there- | from. Auckland GoLDFiELDs.--The following is an extract from a letter addressed by an Auckland correspondent to a gentleman in Greymouth: —"This place has been in a furore of excitement for the past three months, during whjteh time I have been absent, and I havtflost the most glorious chance of making a rise that has ever occurred in New Zealand. Several of my friends whom I left in anything but a comfortable position, have now from a thousand to two thousand pounds in the bank, the proceeds of their investments in Caledonians. Shares which I could not sell for above a few shillings are now worth as many pounds, and the rise on this occasion is not altogether speculative, but accompauied by most substantial dividends. The Caledonian mine has divided about £260,000 during three mouths, and may do a great deal more. The neighboring properties have, of course, advanced in value in consequence. Cures, which were worth 6d. per share when I left, are now worth 20s. Tookey's have riseu from £2 to £15. Belfast, Kelly's, Moanhuiri and several others have advanced three to four hundred per cent., so jou will see that it has been an easy matter to make money during the past three months. I had nearly forgotten to mention the Caledonians themselves. These, when I left, were dull of sale at £11. They have since paid £83 in dividends, and are, to-day, saleable at £150. The Thames Investment Co.'s shares were offering, in January at £2 per share, and have already paid £12 dividends. The result of all this excitement has been rather disastrous to mercantile business, and storekeepers say that they never found business so dull, while money is said to be coming in very slowly, so far as they are concerned. The sharebrokers, on the other hand, are as ■ busy as they can be, and often nett £40 to £50 for their day's commissions. That they are doing well may be judged from an advertisement which appears in this merning's paper from one of them (Mr. Clarke), announcing to his creditors, with whom he compounded last year, ..that if they send in their claims they will now he paid in full,

The women in Utah are very apt to malrrv Young. A Melbourne journal states that 6|d. was the highest rate obtained on the B|h ult. for a prime lot of New Zealand cheese. Me. Prichard, formerly of Nelson, has ./commenced business as a chemist Tj^d Nlr^uggisfc in Blenheim, in the premises lately occupied by Mr. Dobson. • \Mg?&teek applications have been madeto^e Government of Otago for land for planting forest trees, for which grants ar6 hereafter to be given — the area applied for being 2,229 acres. Canada is simmering over a report that Mr. U^Mrs. Marquis de Lome are coming t<^JpP*fcx to reside, but -whether officially or otherwise, the wisest Canadians - -^3«lJiqs profess to know. The Evening Post understands that the General Assembly will be called together for the dispatch of business on or about July 20th. The Independent, on the other hand, on the best authority, states that no day has been fixed. The Dunedin Star says : — *• Yesterday, while some young men were taking the fresh air; under the cliffs behind the Green Island. Bush, they found a live penguin tied to a walking Btick with a pocket handkerchief. From the appearance of the stick, it is evident that the bird must have been dragging it through the sea for some time." The present coudition of the Wellington Athenaeum, according to the Post, is a standing reproach to the people of tlyat? city. "Its weather-beaieu dilapidated^ external aspect harmonises well with the woe-begone look of things within, and both are in keeping with fitje stlE|%f its finances and its future prospects." A correspondent of the Brisbane Courier supplies the following test for determining the quality of kerosine : — "On receiving a tin of kerosine, sample it, then take two or three pieces of Berlin wool or -awftwlled string, dip them in the oil lay them down, light one end, when, if tbe flame rushes rapidly along, the kerosine is of too explosive a nature to be safely used. Suicide at Blenheim. — An inquest was held at Blenheim last week on the body of Henry Mears, landlord of the Marine Hotel, who committed suicide on the previous Saturday. Mrs. Clarke, Mr. T. F. Walton,, and Dr. Home described the occurrence pVor to finding deceased lying on the fbor,ni ajpoobof bjood, with a cut in his\n^pat 15 in. : longi.au d § in. deep, and a white-handled % ' table knife lying beside him. '"He lived only about five minutes after the occurrence. It was evidently the result of delirium tremens and caused by excessive drinking. A verdict of "Temporary Insanity" was returned. The Thames Goldfields.— -The cor- I respondent of the Southern Cross telegraphed as follows on Saturday last : — Fifteen hundredweight of specimens were taken out of the Caledonian mine last night. The return will be higher than at first expected. It will probably be about 14,0000zs. — The richest specimens yet taken from the lode in the Una mine were obtained to-day. — Caledonian and Tookey shares have been much enquired for to-day, and have sold freely, the former at from £175 to £l-7MOs., the latter from £25 to £27; Thames, £37; Golden Calf, 455.; Central Italy, 355.; Una, 20s. to 225. The Wellington papers have lately seized every opportunity, whenever a shock of earthquake has been felt in the South, of declaring that the ancient distinction of Wellington for frequent earthquakes ought to be transferred elsewhere. We learn, however, from a table compiled from the observations kept at the Government Meteorological Stations in tbe Colony during 1870, that the Empire City still maintains its pride of place in this respect. The number of earthquake shocks recorded as having occurred during the year is as follows: — Taranaki, 7; Napier, 6 ; Wellington, 9 ; Nelson, 5 ; Christchurch, 2 ; Beatey, 5 ; Hokitika, 5 j and Dunedin, 1. None were recorded . at the stations at Mongonui, Auckland,.. . and Southland. » \ The Otago Daily Times says :— -We understand that the; accepted tender for sections 2 and 3 of the Clutha railway, extending from Caversham to the Chain * Hills, is that of Mr. r A. J. £mith* k for. £21,000. This is exclusive) of .Ails, sleepers, and ballast. We understand that the staking out of the. ground will be commenced to day, and is expected to be completed ; on Monday, or Tuesday at latest. Mr. Smith proposes, in accordance with the American practice, to plough the, ground first. The line will gsve employment to" about 300 men- in the course often days pr.-w,-and we ought to hear no more complaints .regarding want of work. We may add thai; Mr. Smith represents a co-operative company of working men.