THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 167, 12 July 1873, Page 2

TH E WE EK .

f Road Boards have been busily engaged during the last few days in giving up the ghost, and coming to life agaiu, in some instances in a new shape, and in others in forms very similar to those in which they appeared in the previous year. The ratepayers seem as yet scarcely to appreciate the privileges bestowed upon the various districts in the Waimea of each sending its own representative to the Board, if we may judge by the proceedings at .Wakefield, where only 21 persons took part in the election, although it was known beforehand that there was to be a contest. They will have to beetir thr-maelyeaj a litile mqre if ideally, is a matter of im'portsiiiee to them by whom they are to be represented. In one district, if I am rightly informed, the inauguration of the new method of .election was marked by a rather amusing incident. It was rumored that there were to be four candidates, and, as the hour approached, it looked

aa though the rumor were correct, as each of the four individuals, surrounded by* a little knot of friends and admirers, appeared at the place appointed for the nomination. Not very far off was a house at which refreshment was to be obtained, nnd it was thought by three of the candidates and their followers that prior to the ; excitement of a contested election a little ; stimulant might not be altogether un-. desirable. An adjournment to the house in question took place, and after comforting themselves with such beverages assuited their tastes, the parties set out on their return to the polling booth, but, when half-way, they met the returning officer, the fourth— and shall I cay wisest? — candidate, and his friende, and were informed that they need not trouble themselves to go any farther as noon Lad passed, and the gentleman who did not require refreshment had been declared duly elected, no other candidate having been proposed. The election had passed off more quietly than had been anticipated, but a lesson in punctuality had been given to the ratepayers which perhaps they will remember on the first Monday in July next year. I sometimes see newspapers that are not published in Nejson, and no matter what part of the colony they come from, I very/ often read in them that the residents in the districts they represent, are eitMer : busily engaged in making pTOpswatiQas/fdr." '•Va'^^rtXcultur^^Shiaw, or are cbngratuon the success that has I^We.n^ded Vne.BK 0 * nas just*.- been' held. '^^feison papers never contain any such notices, and there are many of us who dp/ not think it redounds (o our credit that such should be the case. This ig/admittedly the finest spot in the whole colony for flower growing, but no one Seerßl to possess sufficient energy to get up a show. Fruit, flowers, and vegetables, ' such a^ would astonish the people in other pro^fn^ ties qan be, and are, grown here, but^ttyey w^foto^ tfeejjr jfi.weeji^ps on the dejgfpt/ajr, / wers , o£ showing what tnejlcan raise, orr the general public of seafrig was is/o ye done by a Httki^vorkjrffdi attention/ In Wellington, whereS^ange storieslare ifloat of-*" plants being^fuownNqut of th| gr >und/#y those tearing south-casters thl^fc cjjtfsionally visit /vat favored spof, mosLqTaborate | exhibitions are held annuaU^^^Vwhich fruit-loving youngsters, ajf^afdlN^sters too, attend and gaze^vith Joftging ey^»iß*> Upon piled-up ph>*€s of cherejes and,^ istbe.r fruits tha^are only to be obtatnM"W the moderfrttTrate of a shilling a pound. Here^Bv^have all kinds- in. abundance, we J&&& grow flowers to perfection, we can raise mons'er cSbbageo and carrots with little trouble, but as for bringing thorn together and showing, what can be done in • thisrTine^whj fhajpa too much to expect. : E v|S^ur A dfx c v ly^p^H^U^ 8 this year been eufferedrto flail through, and Nelson, where, as I am/ told, some seventeen or eighteen years 'ago, horticultural exhibitions, of which any place might be proud, were held annually, does nothing? at all to encourage those who raiso garden produce for the drawing-room, for the dessert table, or for the kitchen. Cannot either amateur or, professional gardeners, or both, be induced to beetfr themselves in this matter ? No moro wive or brandy for two years from the French vineyards. This is a little bit of news that the ca.Vle haß.tytely conveyed from England, and very unsatisfactory it is to those who like to sifi after dinuer dad sip their clarer, or who comfort themselves before turning in for the night with their glass df hoi grog. Fortunately, we are told almost simultaneously that at the Vienna Exhibition " experts " — a capital name by the way for seasoned topers — have pronounced a most favorable opinion of Australian wines'. Our colonially - manufactured spirits will perhaps have a better chance now that. tEe name of " Hennessy " is to ;be under a cloud -for ' twov years, and FrmreeV misforlflne vNew Zealand's Opportunity. A humorous writer in a West Coast paper has, I see, been commenting on this subject, and concludes his article with the pathetic ejaculation, which mayippssibly be echoed through the colony before the two years of brandy famiue are passed- — " Dunedin, with all thy faults I love thy still" » A paragraph appeared in a recent issue of the Mail stating that the new theatre at Wellington was paying a handsome interest, being at the rate of something like 16 per cent. What a fine building we might have had in Nelson, if instead of splitting up and directing them in different directions, we had concentrated bur efforts, anj| ' built one really good public hall. As it^pj", wehave, in addition to the Provincial, Oddfellows', and Masonic Halls, the Temperance, Harmonic, and Young Men's Christian Association Halls, each one of which might realise a fair sum if put up to auction as a barn, but for any--;Other purposes is positively — well, I $fi\] cay not distinguished either for comfort or general appearance. Think of the fine building that might have been erected had the sums frittered away upon the purchase of sites, and oh the putting up of these sheds been laid out in the erection of one really decent hall. Ig it yet too late for the town of Nelson to remedy the disadvantage under which it labors in this respect ? Before my next weekly letter appears, His Excellency the Governor will have met his trusty Councillors . and gentlemen of iho Houso of Repr<nes)tatives, will have told them aaliftle of -the iotewtions of his Government as he can possibly do in about a column of small type, and assured them that estimates will be laid before them frumed wiih a due regard to economy and the efficiency of the Government service, &c, &c. For three months the newspapers will he full of Parliamentary news, and their readers will, towards the close of that period, be looking upon the constant reports of the sayings and doings of ! the representatives of the people as somewhat dull and monotonous. I wonder what will be the result of it all, F. For remainder of news see fourth page.