The Nelson Evening Mail MONDAY, MAY 13, 1872.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 113, 13 May 1872, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail MONDAY, MAY 13, 1872.

lisr;.__e f advertising columns of 'a newspaper there meiy occasionally be seen a notification to the effeot that upon a. certain date'an extraordinary meeting of shareholdws, __c., will b'ejb.eld, buiwe atjaph a

different meaning to the adjective when we say that on Friday evening last a most " extraordinary " meeting (those -who were present will admit that we are fully justified in using the superlative degree) of the ratepayers of Nelson took place at the Temperance Hall. The first step of course was to elect a chairman, who, according to custom, proceeded to inform those present why they had assembled, the object of their meeting being to consider ihe propriety of recommending tbe Proviccial Government to purchase tha plant of the Dun Mountain Company, but in the course of his opening address he stated that he was very doubtful indeed whether the Company had the power to transfer their rights to another party. This was not encouraging, for it waß tantamount to telling the ratepayers that they had assembled for the purpose of discussing the desirability of adopting what he believed to be an impossible course. However, he suggested that, as the meeting had been called by the Board of Works, tbe chairman of that body would probably be able to afford all the necessary information. Upon this the gentleman alluded to ascended the platform, and iv a speech of some ten miuutes' duration assured those present that he had nothing to tell them. A letter had been received from Messrs. Morrison, Sclanders, & Co. slatiug that it had been suggested to them that the Company's property was in many respects one which the Board might probably feel inclined to purchase lor public purposes, aud also that the reserve put upon it was very low. He was not prepared to adduce any arguments in favor of the purchase nor to furnish any data upon which the meeting might frame a resolution, but as it was probable that the ratepayers might like to have a friendly chat over the matter, they had been invited to assemble there. The ratepayers, however, did not display that friendly feeling which might have been expected from thera on learning that those who had called them together had no information to give them on the subject they were invited to discuss, but as the agent for the Dun Mountain Company just then rose to address them, they placed a restraint upon their feelings, and eagerly listened to what he had to say upon the matter, but it appeared that he was not in attendauce in his capacity of agent, but merely as one of the citizens, and from him, too, there was nothing to be learned except that the plant was to be sold at a very low price. He was satisfied that the Act allowed the Company to lift the rails, and felt pretty certain that they were authorised to transfer their rights and privileges to any one who might purchase the property, but on this head he did not express himself so positively. A veteran member of the Board then rose and attempted to allay the storm that was brewing, and in the course of his brief address stated tbat as a Board, the body of which he was a member had no opinion at all on the matter, although the individuals who composed it doubtless entertained their own views. Possibly he was correct, but if they did, they took especial pains to conceal what those views were. Now we really think that as the Board of Works deemed it to be their duty to take the initiative in this matter so far as to call a meeting of the ratepayers for the purpose of discussing the desirability of effecting the purchase, it was incumbent upon them to be prepared with some plain facts which might assist those interested in arriving at an opinion, but instead of that, not only did they refrain from volunteering any information, but they actually were not in a position to reply to the simplest questions. For instance, a great point was made of the advantages to be derived from being able to obtain a plentiful supply of good stone for building purposes, and the enquiry was very naturally made by one of the meeting, what quantity had already been used by the Board in the erection of drains and culverts, but to this no reply could be furnished. There were no statistics, no calculations, not even a copy of the Act by which the construction of the line was authorised. Those who attended the meeting fully expected, and their expectation was a perfectly justifiable one, that such information as was obtainable by the Board would have been laid before them, but there was absolutely nothing of the kind, and it was not to be wondered at that amid feelings of dissatisfaction at having been so uselessly called together, they passed a resolution to the effect that as no light whatever had been thrown upon the subject they were unable to see why they should recommend tbe Government to take a leap in the dark. It is to be hoped that for the future the Board will not feel it imperative upon them to call any more such extraordinary meetings of the ratepayers.

City Election.-— The writ, which was expected to arrive by the Albion, has not reached ;■ Nelson, but will probably be forwarded by the : Wellington -'to-

morrow. This will necessitate a short delay in the election, as Mr. Broad, the Returning Officer, has to proceed to Motueka in his cap'aciry of Resident Magistrate to-morrow morning, and will not return before Friday, so that, as seven days' notice has to be given, the nomination can scarcely take place before the week after next. The Weather.— The heavy rain that fell last night and this morning has had the effect of flooding all the streamlets and ditches in the neighborhood of the town. The mudflat at the junction of Toi-Toi and Washington Valleys was a perfect sea about noon when the tide was as its highest, while the drains in various parts of tho town proved quite inadequate to carry off the enormous amount of water that had fallen, the consequence being that, in Hardy-street particularly, the adventurous passenger who wished to cross from one side to the other had to wade over his boot (ops. Captain Clousten informs us that since 7 o'clock last nignt no less than four inches and a half of rain have fallen. The Missing Mail. — Elsewhere will be found an account of an accident that occurred to the Nebraska at Honolulu, to which may be attributed tho long delay in tbe arrival of the mail. There is something, which fifty years ago would have been looked upon as "uncanoy" iv tbe way in which the news has reached us. Conveyed by steamer from Honolulu to San Francisco, it was thence flashed across tbe American Continent, then beneath the waters of the Atlantic to England, and from there to India and CeyloD, from which latter place it has been carried by steamer to Australia and New Zealand, arriving in this colony in 44 days, including all delays, after having travelled very nearly the whole distance round the globe. The Court op Appeal commences its sittings in Wellington to-day. There are thirteen cases set down for hearing. Wanganui S. N. Co. — The half-yearly meeting of this Company was held on Friday last, when a dividend at the rate of 20 per cent, was declared. The Wellington was detained at Port Chalmers until Saturday last, when she was to proceed northward with the San Francisco mail.