The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1871.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 249, 20 October 1871, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1871.

The Caledonian. — A sudden fall has taken place ih the price of shares in this mine, which are now sellir.g at from £99 to £100. Charitable Entertainments. — It will be seen by advertisement that our local amateurs are about to give two performances in aid of Mr. William Good. The first of these, by the two companies of Christy Miustrels combined, will take place on the 31st inst., and the other, by the Artizans, on the 3rd November. Collingwood. — There has been some very rough weather in the Collingwood district during the last week, and a good deal of injury has been inflicted upon the Perseverance Company's race by trees falling upon it. Damages, however, have been repaired, and the crushing is still proceeding. Nelson Savings Bank. — Our attention has been called to an oversight of which we have been guilty in omitting to mention that at a meeting of the directors of this Bank, held some two or three weeks since, Samuel Kingdon, Esq. was appointed Vice-President, in the place of Donald Sinclair, deceased. Pedestrianism. — Austin and Edwards, we see by the Marlborough papers, are astonishing the good folks of Blenheim with their performances. The weather ou the day on which they made their first appearance was unfavorable, aod by the advice of those present the champions only undertook to accomplish half the distance they had advertised to,, run and walk. Austin did his five miles io 30 minutes 5 seconds, and as he lost one of his shoes in the fourth lap, he had to complete the run with " one shoe off and one shoe on." American Excelsior Minstrels. — There was a fair attendance at the Hall last night, when another very pleasing entertainment was given by the band of Minstrels who are now delighting the Nelson public with their nightly performances. The singing last, night struck us as being especially good, while the dancing was quite as wonderful, the violin playing of Mr. Herman quite as attractive, aud the acting in the negro sketches quite as good as oh aoy of the previous evenings. To-night we are promised the burlesque Opera, "The Bohemian Girl" which, judging from what we have already heard and seen of the singing and acting of the Company, is likely to afford a rich treat, and there is little doubt but that the house will be well filled. A performance, we notice, is advertised for to-morrow afternoon to afford schools and visitors from the country an opportunity of. witnessing the performances of the best company of Minstrels that ever yet appeared on the Nelson boards. The Malay. — By the late mail we (Marlborough Express) have received a letter, dated 23rd August; from Mr. Merewether, who sailed in ,this [ vessel for England. He informs us that the Malay reached London on the 20th August, after a capital voyage of 78 ! days. We quote the -following as likely to interest many of pur readers :— " I think you may like to make' a' pair of it for your paper, especially as she went through such vicissitudes at Port Underwood." ' : We had very heavy, weather, ;wjth: confused sea, but pretty fair .winds from Port Underwood to the Cape, which took ua. 24 days. Crossed the line on the * 49th' day from! starting, and at this 'stage expected :; to ''■ equal v the good ship's iast ran of 76., days, ~Z } We,had fine weather^ but very light variable winds .* and; dork foggy weather on making tbe land, and~ : all the way up the Channel strong easteflyj^ rainl Inlands (off Cape Horn) and Martin Vasa's

rocks, tJi9 latter on the 24th July. Nothing could have been better than the discipline and morale generally of the ship. 1 think your good people will be glad to hear that we had no more fires bn board, in fnct, the water in the tank never got more than slightly warm, even in the tropics. '. Fungus Gathering. — This industry appears to have been largely entered on in New Plymouth where, says the Herald, Mr. Choog, paid away on Saturday week between £60 and £70 for the fungus that was brought into towu, and he was informed lhat large quantities would be in durirjg the week. From what wo can gather respecting the collecting of fungus, we learn that iv bush clearings it is very plentiful, and a man can gather from two to five sar-ks full in a day. The price paid for it is six shilliugs the sack, so the wages made is at the rate of from 12s to 30s per day. The Maoris are the principal parties who have devoted their attention to gathering it at present; but Europeans seeing the profitable nature of the industry, ore also busy at work collecting it. The fungus required is said to thrive well on the fallen tawa tree. Education Statistics. — The census returns bearing upon the educational state of the colony, so far as reading and writing are concerned, have recently been published, and afford certain, items of information which may be interesting to our readers. Before quoting from the paper before us we' may state that, iv our opinion, the table is not compiled in such a manuer as to afford the largest amount of information with regard to the number of adults who are able to read and write, as it is divided into two parts, oue of which has reference to all under fifteen, and the other to those abore that age; thus in the column '•Cannot read" are included all under fifteen whether infants or grown up boys and girls. Had there been three tables, one referring to children under 7 or 8 years, auother to those between that age and fifteen, and a third to all above that age, a better idea might be formed of the educational condition of the youth of the colony. In Nelsen, we find that of those under fifteen 2,667 could neither read nor' write, 960 could read only, and 2,782 could both read aod write. Above that age, 394 were unable to read or write, 560 could read only, aud 13,514 could both read and. write. Twenty-eight were members of British, , and six of foreign Universities. The proportion of those who could not read, could read only, and could both read aud write, to the general totals of the principal population were, of the first-named class, 18.56 per cent.; of the second, 6.95 ; and of. the third, 74.49. In 1867, when tbe last census was takeD, it was 13.32; 6 43; and 80.25 per. cent, respectively. The next ,table , shows the number of children attending school, and in this, Nelson, we are glad to find, occupies a satisfactory' position. At Government schools there were. 1234 malt-s, and 1137 females ; at. private schools, 241 males, and 319 females; total, 1475 males, ai)d 1456 females. In other provinces the totals were as follows :— -Auckland, 3910 males, and 3585 females, nearly five-sixths of this number being at private schools; Wellington, 1627 males, and 1568 females; Canterbury, 2919 males,; and ., 2650 females ; Otago, 4506 males, and 4049 females. . Of those attending Sunday schools in the province of Nelson the numbers were 1271 males, and 1278 females. The figures given in these tables will be useful in any discussion ; that may arise on tbe question of a Colonial Education Bill as they show to what extent the instruction of the children in the various provinces has been carried on by, the Government, and how much has, been done by the parents in .sending their children to private schools io those provinces where no facilities are afforded by the local Government. The Boston Post has an announcement of the death of several, . citizens " from throat disease, superinduced by razors."