CORRESPONDENCE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 179, 29 July 1872, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE .

0 •»• We are desirous of affording every reasonable iacility lor the discussion of public subjects; but it must be understood that we are in no way responsible lor the opinions expressed by correspondents. To the^Edjtob of the Nelson Evening Mail. ~ Sir,— Three . times in nine mouths has the Foxhill cart-bridge : proved utterly useless; just at the moment it was roost needed; yiz., : when thiß river was in flood, and it Was impossible to ford it. ; ! Twice at, considerable , cost have protective'works been constructed, that could not even protect themselves, let alone the ybridge,:andvat.the present : moment a ,; j ;■* 'Tor remainder 'of newt see fourth pas. \ I

lavish expenditure is going on under the Bam e auspices that have hitherto proved 80 disastrous. Others of our precious bridges are in a similar predicament, and a considerable portion of the new and very costly North Buller bridle track recently opened for traffic has had to be closed ngaiu and the old track is now being used in its stead — the new track being impassable with clay and mud. . Not to become personal I shall content myself, with asking your readers to call to mind for themselves the names of the various officers in whose charge the public works of the province are placed, and who range in the scope of their titles from Clerk of the Works up to Engineers, including Inspectors of Public Works, and Secretary of County Boards ; after calling to mind the names of these gentlemen, let them call to mind their former occupations. Is there one of them I would ask who has received any professional training, or acquired any experience or skill sufficient to fit them for the billets that have been given them, or entitle them to the pay they take ? The hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of bad work in the shape of public works throughout the province eeems to give a decided no to this question. Such, occupations as pastoral pursuits, building houses, &c. is one thing, building bridges and other structures that shall be useful to us and those to come after us quite another, and pitchforking a man into an appointment will not fit him for understanding the subtle laws that govern the courses and action of our mountain torrents, and yet such qualification is absolutely necessary in any one who undertakes the ta6k of keeping them within bounds. That such fitness is wanting is proved by the worse than useless expenditure that has taken place at Foxhill, and is still going on. I am, &c , J. G.

DESTRUCTION OF SCHOOL BOOKS. To the Editor op the Nelson Evening Mail. Sir, — I owe you thanks tor laying irreverent hands on the puerile questions put to you by a Collinpwood correspondent a few days ago, and also to the two unknown, but friendly lances who ran him through in your next issue. Why didn't the man ask me why I had torn a leaf from a class book ? I would have satisfied him in two minutes, unless he really think (as indeed he appears to do) that I am here to teach Protestantism ; that not teaching Protestantism means teaching the Catholic faith ; and, furthermore, that anything putting forth childish misrepresentation of Catholics, must be good Protestantism, pure and undefiled ! There is no pleasure in satisfying your correspondent now; still, in order that my fellow teachers (who have most experience of thiDgs of this sort) and my friends in Collingwood may see that I only did my duty in the matter complained of, I will give the facts of the case. The leaf in question (in Nelson's fourth reader) gave the story of " Palissy, the Potter." Glancing down the page before hearing the lesson, I found it would lay me under the necessity of teaching children that Palissy was persecuted by the Catholics " who hated the truth, and hated the Biblq, because he loved the truth, and would not worship images." The passage was beneath criticism and even contempt, but was addressed to those who were not able to question its truth ; and occurred in an otherwise good little hook which I could not well dispense with. I wanted to go on with a lesson at once ; what was Itodo ? Committee ? Out of the question ; Chairman away and bo meeting J'or weeks to come. Should I skip in'e lesson, or explain its falsehoods away ? Both courses were objectionable. My ~knife laughed at the difficulty and settled it at once. I have thus saved a useful little book from disuse by bringing it into compliance with the Act, which enjoins the exclusion of anything sectarian or controversial from the books. If you think the subject still merits the space for this letter, pray publish it. Personally I feel no grievance, as I do not think I would lose the confidence of a single parent by remaiag silent. Yours truly, F. O'Sullivan. Colliogwood, July 20th.

"Assault with intent to commit ecrofufa." 18 what they call compulsory vaccination in Chicago. When the indemnity is paid, France will have the largest national debt of any other country in the world, amounting in round numbers" to £900,000,000. An idea of .the U unprecedented national burden may be formed when we state that it represents » sum equal to £25 per head of the entire ppßttjation of France, — . ÜB. Herald. '■■' y-';" ' V. "" * ; ' „ ■ ■ -

CApTaln Ahmstiiong, and two of the crew of theshig Carl, have been brought up at Sydney, on the chargoof murdering Polynesians. Unmistakeabi/e Characteristics — The Knoxville (Term.) Times thus describes a "wild woman:" We Baw a genuine champion of woman's rights yesterday. We koow she was an advocate of such hy the long steps she took, by the important Bwirig of her body as she walked along, and by the immense and manly size of the piece of tobacco from which she was extracting the juice. Charlottk Watid was recently charged at Belfast, Victoria, with the manslaughter of Margaret Tompkins, at Byaduk, on 20tb May lost, by^inflicting a wound in the uterus with a knife while acting as midwife. Drs. Jenkins and Walter Scott, of Hamilton suppported the case put forward by the Crown, and Drs. Jermyn and Thomas Scott, Belfast, differed absolutely from the Hamilton doctors' views. The caseexcited great interest. Eventually the prisoner was acquitted. The Overland Telegraph. —An Adelaide telegram dated 17th inst says : — Mr. Todd the superintendent of telegraphs, "who is expected at Tennant's Creek to-morrow, has arranged for a weekly estafette, starting from each end every Tuesday, omitting next Tuesday, owing to the uncertainty of the cable beiug available. In the first week of August next the gap in the overland line will be reduced to sixty miles, and it is then intended to establish an express service to start three times a week. The line is substantial, in I fine working order, and good throughout. Mr. Todd has directed Captain Lowrie to make a correct survey of the Roper River, making the course, position, and depth at low water of the channel so as to ensure safe navigation. Many of the men engaged in the Northern Territory are remaining to try gold digging. How to do it. —An enterprising Auckland resident some time back discovered, near to the city, an earth, which, under a simple and inexpensive treatment, ia for polishing purposes quite equal to the finest tripoli of commerce. Upon making the discovery, this person sent over to Melbourne ior twelve gross of empty boxes in which took place the polishiog powder for sale. In due course they came to hand, and then on the wharf the Customs authorities assessed them at £3 13 61 duty, which by the way is nearly the invoice value of the boxes. But before the duty could be levied, the greatest ingenuity had to be exercised in deciding what head these empty boxes should come under. They were not eatables and drinkables. They were not wearing material, raw or manufactured. The list of the whole eleven hundred dutiable articles wns carefully perused from beginning to end, and no conclusion could bo arrive ar, when — lucky thought — a Custom-house official, after long and intense meditation, struck his forehead, and exclaimed, ''I've got it 3 chemists' sundries !" and under this head, the boxes were made dutiable ; but the revenue is in no way enlarged by the amount imposed, as at this figure the importer refuses to clear them. — Southern Cross Native Repudiation 1 . — The following from the Wairarapa Mercury on the 22nd ultimo, though probably in great part a tissue of absurdities,seems to indicate that the land repudiation movement is extending to other districts. It is informed "that it is the intention of the Maoris to have an ; investigation into the sale of the whole of the lands in the colony. Their case is briefly stated by them to the effect that the Government has purchased land from natives who were not entitled to sell. That the Government has since sold those lands to Europeans, and in many instances has issued Crown Grants to the purchasers, and that the original title being invalid of course the subsequent sales are invalid. It is the intention of the Maoris to subscribe £10,000 to teat the case; and there is no doubt that the money will be forthcoming, as we know that one has already offered £5000 as his subscription towards ithe expenses. A lawyer ia to be brought from England, and the natives have already advice from one of the highest legal authorities in London, advising them that their case is good and just. We should not have dwelt upon this at such length, had it not been that the first case they intend to try is to purchase of the land belonging to the Rev. J. C. Andrew in the Whareama block. He has had the Crown Grants issued to him for the land he has purchased, and. their intention is to test the power of the Crown to issue the Grants when their title was bad. Ofcourse if (hey win one Case, they will succeed in winning the whole, and the Government will have to float another loan on the English market %o buy again — in. many instances for the j,hird or fourth time— the lands from, the Maoris or indemnify the purchasers. We may talk about the Heathen Chinee; we may yet have to sing the praises of the Heathen Maorie. ■'- *-'„ /'•■■-y*-.-