THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 303, 23 December 1871, Page 2

THE WEEK.

The Christmas holidays have fairly commenced, and both masters and pupils are revelling for a time in their freedom from the restraints of school work, which after fo;ir or five months naturally begin to grow somewhat irksome. The annual distribution of prizes to the children at the Town schools took place yesterday, and the sight at the Provincial Hull, which was well worth seeing, was one of which Nelson might well be proud. Those who taunt us with being slow and dilatory should have been present then, and they would have been fain to confess that, if we are not very progressive in other matters, in that of education, at least, we are second to none of our neighbors, but, rather, that we are very far in advance of many of them. I do not profess to be a very correct judge of numbers in a crowd composed entirely of children, but I shall not be very far wrong in saying that from four to five hundred well - dressed, smiling, youngsters were squeezed into the body of the Hall, while the space allotted to visitors was as full as it comfortably could be, a circumstance whicli was commented upon by the chairman as being a very healthy sign of the interest taken in the welfare of the rising generation, and— l think I may say it without laying myself open to a charge of egotism—mentally noted by me, who for the last two years have been endeavoring to impress upon the elc'er. members of the comrrunity the desirability and advantage of their being present on such occasions. I think I have iieen successful at last. There is yet another improvement I have tc record. Two years ago, the reporters for the press had occasion to remark upon the uncouth manners of the children who, as a rule, snatched their prizes from the hand of the donor without any outward sign, at least, of gratitude. We have changed all that now, and the graceful bow, or child-like curtsey of acknowledgement showed that these little matters are no longer neglected in our school. Last week I had to notice the pr. sentation of prizes for mental excellence at the College ; since then, the pupils have been devoting themselves to athletic exercises, in which several of them gave evidence of possessing considerable strength and 'skill. The great prize of the season, the .Challenge Cup, is not yet won, but its destination, which is to be decided this evening, depends upon the jumping powers of the two rival competitors Five feet two inches iB not a bad height to top, but the Cup evidently, requires something more, and we shall see to-night who is most worthy of so handsome a reward. The very unsatisfactory state of the ground must have suggested^;! to the Sports Committee the necessity of feneinfin and ploughing up a portion of the College paddock, ,

to be set aside for the annual sports which have now become and established institution. It is to be hoped that this will, be attended to in the coming autumn. "To be proceeded with leisurely." Our Nelson and FoxhilL railway is. it appears, to be commenced shortly, subject, however, to the conditions implir-d in the foregoing words. It id as though the Government had felt themselves compelled to throw a sop to us. bat instead of giving it to us all at once, they have decided that we are only to have a a teaspoonful at a time thus either displaying a tender care for our digestive organs, or, showing that they are aware that any cl« mor it is in our power to raise can never be sufficiently loud to ii>jure"*«them. There is certainly some excuse for their extending the construction of this -work over a moderate period of time, as it does not come under the Erogden negotiations, but will be entrusted to local contractors, so that to have proceeded with the whole line at once would hove entirely drained the labor market of the province. But to spin out the construction of 23 miles of railway, presenting no engineering difficulty with the exception of the short distance round the Kocks, over a period of three years is to proceed with it very leisurely. The dinner given to Mr. Redwood on Wednesday wns a great success. The eatables and drinkables were of the very best, and as for the speechifying, the like, I believe, was never heard before. The tonst of the evening wa3 well proposed and neatly responded to, but after that the speakers took a higher flight and the company were delighted at seeing one of the tiny stars of the Ministerial side of the House of Kepresentati^es rise and pay his tribute of respectand admiration to the Jupiter of the Opposition who was then present. Jnpiter, who is not eisily surpassed in the nrfc of flattery, then graciously rose and returned the compliments just paid him by the little star with compound interest, and nothing could have been more satisfactory to those who take an interest in New Zealand politics than to have such an opportunity of observing how remarkably fond our public men are of one another, even though they may sit on opposite sides of tlia House. The only fault to be found was that the supply of butter was just a little too liberal; judiciously spread, it is palatable, when plastered c>n too thick it is apt to become nauseous. The Opera Company gave a performance on Thursday night, which w::s certainly a great treat to all who were present, being so very far superior to anything of the kind that has been heard in kelson since the Lyster Company was here some years ago, and yet the audience did not rise with that complete feeling of satisfaction that they had expected to experience. There is one thing that in fairness to the performers should not be overlooked, namely, that probably they never before appeared on so diminutive a stage, and it was quite clear from their movements that they felt themselves terribly cramped for room. This would naturally affect both their acting and singing. I heard a good thing said of the orchestra that is worth repeating. The person criticising it was on the whole much pleased with the instrumental music during the evening with the exception of " God save the Queen." which, he quaintly remarked, appeared to him to be played with an Ita'ian accent.' Those who were present will appreciate the criticism. I have occupied so much space with my running comments on the events of the week, that I have only room left to repeat the good old wish, that all and each of my readers may spend a right Merry Chbistmas. F.