The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 1872.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 64, 14 March 1872, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 1872.

Gkeymouth Races. — This meeting, which, with ' the exception of that at Canterbury, is generally allowed to be the

best iv the colony, takes place on Monday and Tuesday next, and it will be seen that Nelson people will have an excellent opportunity of witnessing the races, the smart steamer Charles Edward being laid on for a special excursion trip, leaving the wharf at noon, to-morrow. Diorama of the American War. — This exhibition ib still on view at the Oddfellows' Hall, this evening being the last occasion on which it will be shown in Nelson. Prizes are still most liberally distributed every evening and prove an exceedingly attractive feature in the entertainment, there having been a very fair house last night notwithstanding the attraction offered in another place. This being really the last night there will doubtless be a still larger audience. Vaccination. — A note of alarm has reached us from Wellington that should have the effect of inducing us to take every precaution within our reach against the terrible disease that is said to have been imported in the ship England. One, and the most effective, of these is to be found in vaccination, and it is to be hoped that all heads of families will insist most strongly upon their children undergoing the operation without delay. Nor should it be confined to children, but adults should also be content to put up with the slight temporary inconvenience rather than expose themselves to one of the most horrible maladies with which a human being can be afflicted. We have had fair warning, and it will be our own faults if we neglect to profit by it. Professor Haselmayer. — A crowded house greeted tbis accomplished conjuror on his second appearance in Nelson last night, and every individual appeared to be highly gratified with the amusing and entertaining performance. The Professor differs from others of his class in that his collection of tricks and other performances appears to be almost without limit, an entirely new selection being given every evening, and each being an apparent improvement on that which preceded it. Last night some of his tricks were certainly marvellously clever, but it would be utterly useless to attempt to describe them, and we therefore shall do no more than assure our readers that we can honestly recommend them to attend and judge for themselves. A great improvement was perceptible in the conduct of those iv the gallery, and tbe consequence was that the whole performance went more smoothly and pleasantly both to tbe performer and his audience. Registration. — We remind those of our readers who possess the necessary qualification for a vote, but whose names do not appear on the electoral roll tbat the current month is the last on which they will be able to register during this year. There is no telling when a general election may lake place, or a vacancy occur in auy particular district, and it bi hoves all who are interested in tbe welfare of the country to secure to themselves ihe right to vote on such an occasion. At the present time the following extract from tbe speech of an American politician with reference to disclosures regarding the Tammany ring in New York, seems to be peculiarly appropriate: — " I impeach the people of this city as the final cause of the whole trouble. If we had done our duty as citizens and as fathers, if we had acted honorably as men, and not shirked the work tbat must be done by some one, things would not have come to this pass. We have le t the work of administration to those who are unworthy of trust; sometimes by men whom we would not take socially by the hand ; and if we have not voted for them, we have not voted against them ; and then we have sat in our easy chairs and grumbled about the degeneracy of the times. You will not be found at the polls, you will not be found at the primary meetings, you will not be found at the caucuses ; but you are always to be found in your own countinghouses, taking care of your private fortune, and you will always grumble because the public fortune is being stolen." A dead whale of a very large size was recently observed floating outside the surf, near the Teremakau. The Provincial Government of Auckland offer a premium of £50 for the best design for a new and permanent hospital building. The building is to be constructed of brick, stone, or concrete ; to contain accommodation for 1 20 patients, and the cost not to exceed £10,000. Amateur Qdartzologists. — Many of us must from time to time have been vastly amused, on observing the air of authority with which individuals who are known to be perfectly innocent of any knowledge of quartz or quartzinining, will unhesitatingly give tbeir opinion as to the peculiar merits of some lately discovered reef, or the number of ounces per ton that certain stone (specimen shown) will yield on being crushed. Amusing individuals of this description are not confined to Nelson but appear to abound in Otago where they are thus taken to task by a

writer on " experience on quartz-reefing " in one of the local papers. He s»ys :—- --"With the exception of beggars in Dublin, I know no class of men, as a rule, possessed of so much ' cheek ' as the mining population generally From having turned their attention during their stay in the Colony to so many pursuits — from goldwashing to sheep-washing, wood-cutting and corn-cutting, cooking and bullockdriving — every man you meet will be impressed with tbe idea of the extent of his knowledge, and stating his ability to open in a legitimate manner a quartz claim, and superintend the manipulation of the ore from its exodus from the stone to its delivery at the assay office. There is a great safety in this common vaunt, you will rememher, as not one man in ten thousand is qualified to be a judge of the performance. When a man states tbat he can write the Queen's Enulish, understands the multiplication table, can eat three pounds of heef_t.H»k for breakfast, and drink two-quarts of whiskey without netting ' tight,' he gives you a simple test whereby to ensure his ability to perform his boast ; but when lie tells you he knows anything about quartz, regard his statements with grave suspicion. Our most highly-cultured quartz-reefers and mining engineers are very doubtful on reefing matters, and only the obtuse, ignorant, and pig-headed of our species ever offer anything like positive opinious. 1 his hesitancy among the cultured arises from two causes ; the limited nature of our reefing expeiience, and tbe different conditions under which ore is found in different localities. Were uniformity a condition of auriferous deposits, South America would help us witb several centuries' experience ; but what is taken as an axiom iv one country has to be unlearned and modified, or often ignored, in another. Perhaps twenty men in this locality have some slight experience in reefing matters, and such are the least heard of, the least, obtrusive, and the least known on the hill. An as 3is always heard a long distance by his bray."