THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 16, 18 January 1873, Page 2

THE WEEK.

The farmers have had an anxious time of it t)f late, the product of their year's labor being in many instances exposed to the weather which for the last few days has been anything but favorable for harvest operations. Yesterday, the sheaves had just sufficiently recovered from the effects of Tuesday's storm to allow of their being stacked, but the showers that began to fall about noon put a stop to carting which can scarcely now be resumed before Monday. Talk about gambling ! The sensations of the betting man as he sees two or three horses tearing up the straight run together towards the winnirigvpoßt are as nothing compared. with those of the small farmer as he watches the clouds gathering while his fields are dotted with " stooks " " that only require' a day or two's, dry weather to' allow of their being housed or stacked, for he knows that upon those two or three dajß depends the comfort of himself and family jduring the ensuing year. If he can secure' his crops he can to a great, extent bid farewell to care for twelvemonths at leaßti, iii nofr— w6l! his

feeliDgs may be imagined as he glance& round his table and sees the little ones who look to him for their daily bread. Ylt is a hardlife isYthat of the agricultunejt) who is just living from hand to mouths :> We aie still entertaining strong hopes that our railway will be commenced before the summer is over, but we bave riot yet got beyond this stage. It has been telegraphed all over the colony that tenders are to be called for the " Nelson and Foxbill line" so that there is some reason for believing that we are not completely forgotten. After all the promises that have been made, and hopes that have been held out, it will certainly be gratifying to know that the work is really commenced before our stock of patience is entirely exhausted. Meantime, it is satisfactory to find it slated in one of the local papers that, " the railway to Foxhill is going on in tbe way of completing preliminaries," still, however, the remark is unpleasantly suggestive of a long time being allowed to elapse before the trains begin to run, for if it takes two years to approach the completion of the preliminary arrangements of a twenty mile line, how long is it likely to be before the work itself is finished ? This sort of "going on" has not much of the railroad speed about it. An interesting controversy is taking place between the Superintendent of this province and the General Government relative to the Brunner mine railway. It is a long business and I have do intention of entering upon it now, but the principal question'at issue appears to be whether the Superintendent shall take upon himself to give security for £54,000 when the Council have authorised him to do so for

only half of that amount. The matter becomes still more difficult — or, perhaps I may -say, easy — of solution when it is borne in mind that for something like £20,000 a railway could be constructed that would serve all the purposes M developing the mine. The reason given for expending the larger Bum is that the line on the south side of the Grey will form part<of the great' colonial railway scheme, but really it seems that to achieve this object we are asked to pay somewhat dear for our whistle. A rumor, only a faint one, but still having about it a certain air of authority, has reached my ears to the effect that Mr Carruthers does not approve of the proposed line on the south bank, but rather advocates its construction on the Nelson side. Fpr the sake of the colony which is asked to pay £8000 a mile for the former it is to be hoped, not only that the rumor is correct, but that tbe suggestions of the Engineer- in-Chief, if *he really has made them, will be "acted upon. A strange case has come up from tbe West Coast for trial. Two women had a row, and one of them struck the other on the head with a frying-pan. For this she was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, but, shortly after, she who was struck died from the effects of the blow, whereupon a coroner's inquest was held, and she who struck was committed for trial for manslaughter. Now it is scarcely probable that, if convicted of this latter crime, her sentence will be greatly increased, and tbe question arises whether it was worth while to^send her up to Nelaon for trial, thereby putting the county to the very large expense that will be incurred in prosecuting her, including, as it will, the cost of transporting a number of witnesses from the scene of the crime to that of tbe new trial. Would not justice have been satisfied by the punishment originally accorded ? It is said, but I can scarcely believe it, that some misunderstanding exists between the Oddfellows and Foresters with regard to the anniversary holiday, and that these two bodies, being unable to pull together, intend to work against each other, each to have a fete of its own. I think whist is a game that should be more studied than it is' in Nelson. In it partners play into each other's hands, and by so doing two sets of cards which individually are of very moderate calibre are so worked together that in the end they may be made either to win, or at least to make a very respectable show. As it is, cut-throat euchre is the game in which we most excel. That we play very nicely indeed, and lookers-on smile as they watch us. A problem for the Board of Health. Given, a death at the hospital. A cab, capable, of carrying a corpse, is engaged to convey the body to tbe cemetery. Half-an-hour after depositing its load by the side of the grave it is plying on the stand in town. Question to be solved: If the unfortunate deceased had died of some infections disease, how many . jobs •would such a proceeding be likely to put into the hands of the undertakers ? F.