THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 285, 2 December 1871, Page 2

THE WEEK.

0 There seems to be every probability that before long public works to a considerable extent will be commenced in the town of Nelson, advertisements having appeared calling for tenders for debentures to the amount of £5000 for the gas and waterworks, and a'so for tenders for supplying and carting 300,000 bricks for sewerage purposes in Waimea and the adjoining streets. The prospect of having our streets lighted with gas, in the piace of the twinkling little stars that now illuminate a radius of some five or six feet at the various corners, is certainly cheering, and it will not be very long before kerosine is unknown in the shops-and public houses within reach of the pipes. The extension of the waterworks is a matter of still greater importance, since it is one that will affect, not only the comfort but the health of those to whom it is proposed to extend the blessing of a plentiful supply of pure water. None caa appreciato this better than those who have already exchanged the impure wells from which they were accustomed to draw their supply for the freab, cold, produce of the Brook-street stream. The Board of Works have at last been able to decide upon commencing the long-desired drainage system in Waimea-street and its vicinity, and soon we may hope to bid a long farewell to the horrible effluvia v^th which those who are often called upon to pass through Hardy-street weal, 'nave become only too familiar. That this is a most desirable work none can deny, and the extending as widely as possible the very excellent system of sewerage which has already been initiated, will tend to make Nelson the healthiest town in the colony. It is a question, too—to look upon it, from a lower but still practical point of view — whether it will not pay to adopt as largely as possible such sanitary measures as are comprised iv a plentiful water supply, aud complete drainage system, since, by so doing, the attractions of the town as a place of residence for families possessing moderate means who may require some pleasant spot to live in will be largely enhanced. Nature has done very much for us, and with no very great assistance from man, this little nook of ours might be made one of the roost delightful spots on the face of the earth. We have begun the work, and it is satisfactory to find that it is not to be allowed to remain at a standstill. A case of more than ordinary Importance has been occupying the Supreme >Court for three days during the week. So far as I can learn, it is the first case of the kind that has been tried in the colony, and this, in addition to some of the plaintiffs aud the defendant being well known in the place, accounts for the large amount of interest displayed in it, an interest that was shown by the fact of the body of the Hall being well filled during the whole time that the trial lasted. The jury were not long in arriving at a verdict for the plaintiffs for £642, and in addition to this, the costs will form a very heavy item. Sixteen witnesses, and four lawyers with all their attendant paraphernalia of briefs, pleadings, replications, and various other devices for easing the pockets of the unhappy individual who once finds himself entangled in the intricate web of the law, are luxuries that cannot be indulged in without somebody being the sufferer, and the wonder is that anyone can ever be induced to enter into a lawsuit, unless absolutely driven to it.

But, then, I suppose that all -who do go to law will tell you, and folly believe themselves, that they have been driven to it. * i< The rales and regulations .for the General Government prize firing, recently published, reveal the humiliating fact that the volunteers of the Province are so reduced in numbers that they stand at the very bottom of the list, being allowed only one representative in the forthcoming tournament. One cannot learn this without calling to mind the palmy days of volunteering in Nelson, when ihe muster rolls of the various companies contained nearly 800 names, and the crack shots of the colony hailed from Blind Bay. How are the mighty fallen ! Once more the accounts from Colliagwood are of the roost discouraging nature, the fortnight's yield of the Perseverance being only 20 ounces. Such another result will have the effect of giving rise to a general desire among the shareholders either to abandon the mine, or to instfcute some new method of working it. iNo doubt the former course would infiteiS a severe blow upon the mining interests^ not only of the district but of the province at large, but it cannot be expected that those interested will be satisfied to carry it on at a dead loss, as must have been the case for the last month or six weekß. If the latter alternative can be adopted with any reasonable chance of success it would be bailed with pleasure by all concerned either directly or indirectly. The glowing accounts that fill the Auckland papers of the success that is still attending quartzmining at the Thames form a stiong contrast to those which we are accustomed to receive from Collingwood. The former almost make the mouth water j/the latter, to judge from the lugubrious^Sountenances of the shareholders, apgear to have a similar effect upon the eyfes. There is yet another delay in the dfedging operations owing to some accident to the machinery, but it is eaid that the " spoon " has been at work for a short time and that the prospects obtained were highly satisfactory. For the first time for many months, the P. and O. steamer carrying the English mail is behind her time in Australia, the Rangitoto which left Melbourne on Saturday last bringing the news that she had not then arrived at King George's Sound, where she was due on the 21st. The first English news that we now look to receiving will be by the San Francisco mail, due here on Thursday next. The Suez mail will not reach us for a fortnight, as the next Australian steamer can scarcely be looked for on the coast for another week, when she may be expected at the Bluff, from which port Bhe will as usual take six or seven days in reaching Nelson. The Gaiedonian Society, upon whose exertions we are dependnet for the sports which usually enliven the New Year's holiday, held its annual meeting on Thursday last,when a Sports Committee w|is elected, and a decision arrived at thatfin addition to the out-door amusements, the great Scotch holiday should be celebrated by a dinner. F. I !