DOG NUISANCE ACT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 106, 3 May 1873, Page 4

DOG NUISANCE ACT.

TO THE EDIIOK OP THE NBLBON EVEKIKG MAIL Sib,— As the Provincial Council has commenced its sitting I think it is the beat* time to call attention to the V Dog Nuisance Act." ; It •will be generally allowed that this Act was passed by the Council with the intention of ■ lessening the number of useless brutes prowMrig ' about the town, annoying people, and destroying property. I think this object was pjut'a'ly gained -while the payment of 10s for each dog was enforced, but since the tax 'has been reduced the number of dogs kept in Nelson has increased ; to an alarming extent, particularly those of the sporting kind— these are the -most destiacLive- j animals to gardens and fences of the whole t-ifae, ■ and have done much damage to my propeiv/. \ I wish the Council would reconsider the sub- , jecfc and increase the tax to 20s, no one could grudge to pay this Bum for the privilrge of : keeping useful animals, particularly as-the money is paid to the disttict where the tax is collected. ■ The nuisance has become so great that I for one shall be obliged to adopt some means for .' deatroylng any dogs that cpime on my premises. i .'■' ."'■• ' .-. ''■' '■ ■' .■•!': ■'"-..^'• ; : J ->;^'.vJosEPH i: 'Wmß. '. '.. V Nelson, April SO, 187S. - .i v ;

To thb Emxob oif t:he Naiiso|K^Ev;jarirad Mail. ■'. \ " Sra-r-Abaeiwe from Nelson has .precluded au J ■ earlier '■'• reply! i^i»'u:? : 'tlieV'|^.t^^^^]tiet^*'-'''c9f ; ' . ; 'i " CatKolicus " ; bis cprirtews;be»ritg,^dear flense ; ■". of jußticetan^^^ ■^t'Hliie^fip^ r anfl ;^MWhiM?e^3but ; he^ is v-Jy

sented" (ther<e) "by one member only." It is confessed that they have never asked for favors, unless the earnest and temperate demand for what they consider justice to themselves may be d:3tnedflucb. But they have had justice, God forbid they should not ! Tn the commission appointed by Mr Stafford before "the preparation of the' f Act, the Hon Mr Weld, to whom the colony owes a deap debt of gratitude on other grounds, had a. place, if " Catholicus" agrees with him, "Religion must be the basis of all, education" (beyond reading, writing, and at-ithmetic), and all education on any. other ground must be worthless. Although Mr Weld thought proper to withdraw, his two colleagues, out of deference to Mm and his coreMgionists determined, " that any religious instruction given in such schools should -he free from a) 1 controversial character." It is therefore aMke forbidden to teach any distinctive Protestantism as to inculcate the dogmas of Catholicism. " Catholicus " refers to the clause in the Act which enables any number of ratepayers resident in any district contributing not less than .£25 in rates, having erected a proper school at their own expense, to elect a committee of their own, and have the management of such school under the Act. It does not enable any one or more man or men to do so, otherwisa then by rates; this clause was iibera'ly and properly enacted for the sole benefit of the Catholics, . and for no other purpose whatever; it is utterly useless to any other body as they do not want it, »nd will not use it. However the rest of the comaiurity may differ on minor points, they all agree as to the teaching of the elements of re'igion to children, and why not " Catholicus" ? The syllabus for the examination of candidates for scholarships provides that History shall stop at Henry TIL Why, have we not Hiss Corner (herself a CathoHc) and her temperate account of ..those times which follow ? If we have not a small edition of Lingard, whose fault is ifc ? Surely not the Protestants! And because we have not a small edition of Lisgard and are not content with Miss Colder, 'must we forsooth ignore the most important part of modern History ? No, This absurd proposition was passed in a hurry by the Board by a majority of one, ia the absence of the only gentleman who continued to hold the office of an Examiner for scholarships, who but for such hurry would have 1 been present, and passed as it was, was carried against the vote of the chairman. la fact, for the credit of the Board it needs must be reconsidered. " Catholicus " holds up, a Catholic edition of the Bible as something we must fear; by all means, let us have the Douay version rather than none at all, and let us have it -whenever it is more suitable than our own, and leave the Local Committe to settle that. Oh that a 1 ! who call themselves Christians would consider just a little on how many points they concur rather than on where they differ. Tours &c, Am Old Member of the Board

Mr W.JM. Laknach has been asked to assume the Dunedin managership of the National Bank. The bank buildings have been bought ot valuation. In 1 872, the Victorian alluvial mines paid dividends to the amount of £180,000, while the dividends from quartz reached the enormous sum of one million aDd sixtynine thousand pounds, having increased to that amount from £470,802 in 1870. | The Westport Times says : — The j news received from Anderson's yesterday is most encouraging. Six weeks' crushing, about 600 tons, having yielded 913 ounces of melted gold, which will be sent as usual to Grey mouth. The reef too has widened out to seven feet or more, and the stone, good in quality, and ample in quantity, will keep the stampers going as long as the directors choose. A Mad Hunt, — The French Government allows 50f. reward to , whoever kills a mad dog ; the same for a wolf or a wild boar. At Montlucon, recently, two bargemen quarrelled ; and one bit the other. The crowd concluded the biter was as mad as a dog, resolved to kill him, and demanded the reward of 50f. The unfortunate man was hunted down the streets, in and out of houses ; sought refuge in & barn, was dragged out, jumped upon, and was finally finished by successive batterings on the bead with a stone 401b in weight. Sufficient time was not allowed for the deceased to become mad. Two policemen "assisted "at this spectacle, and it is to be hoped they will be promoted. Three of the ringleaders were transported instead, of being hanged. The Ngaka-WAu Coal Mine, says the Westport Times, bids fair to become a Neve Zealand wonder. In the main tunnel the coal has been opened up to the height of about twenty feet or thereabouts, and the crown of the seam has not yet been cut through. In putting in this tunnel the seam was found to extend not only almost horizontally, but also ..near, the .end of the tunnel to take a sudden dip perpendicularly, A recent attempt has been made to find the extent of this dip, and a shaft ten feet deep has, been put down,. but as yet the; underlay, as indicated near the mouth of the tunnel, has not been reached. The seam has thus been proved for thirty feet in thickness, and its full extent from underlay to crown is as yet unknown. A small shipnient was recently sent by' the Company to Messrs McMeckan Black wood and Co., for; trial on "board ; one of their steamers. A letter .has-; been .received from them .from which the, is an extract :--vPhe six tons -of y.our coal ex' Lizzie -Guy we*gava; a , very rffair ial ,on c board the .s; s, Aldinga;; 4 The engineer's: regpr^.wa^ waasgf e'atij£ j>^ Wer ' (jrpst^qu^jllin^