NELSON BOARD OF WORKS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 71, 24 March 1874, Page 2

NELSON BOARD OF WORKS.

A special meetiDg of the Board was held last night, at which &11 the members were present but Mr Fell, to receive Mr Austin's report on the Hardy-street sewer. This report, it will be remembered, had been called for at a meeting of the Board held last week, when it was stated that rumors wore afloat to the effect that the mouth of the sower was from one to two feet higher than that portion of it at the Hardy-street corner, in consequence of which gossip the " Board had become the laughiDg stock of the town."" at least it was asserted by one of the members. Considering the position he holds, the charge brought against Mr Younger, the Surveyor to the Board, on no better authority than that of " they say," was a very grave one, for, if substantiated, there would have been do other course open to the Board than, to relieve him of his duties on the ground that he was utterly unfit for the office. Mr Austin's report, however, which we have much pleaure in publishing, entirely clears Mr Younger from any such imputation, and must prove as gratifying to him as it was satisfactory to the Board, and will, it is to b 9 hoped, be convincing to those who were in such a dreadful state of alarm that the sewege of the town was to be invited to run uphill to the sea. The following is the report : — " To the Secretary of the Board of Works." "Sir, — In accordance with a resolution of the Board of Works, I have examined the sewer, and taken levels of the portion already built. " 'Ih'i construction of a sewer at this place is a difficult matter, as no fail exist? between Patterson's corner and high water mark, aivl had the sewer been raissd at this corner to ensure a good fa 1, it would have caused a very unsightly rise in Hardy-street, beside making it very difficult to effect a junction with the intended Hardy-street sower, tlie lower portion of this street being quite level. " " The bottom of the sewer at tho outfall is, you inform me, to be six inches lower thau the peg at that place, this will place the bottom of the sewer abJut 4ft 6in below high water mark. No advantage would be gninod by making thia point any lower. " The mouth of the sewer, if huilt in nceordance with the foregor g, will be from three to four inches lower than at Patterson's, corner. The section attached will show tha evels between these points. '• I do not attach much importance to the small depression at Patterson's corner, as, owing to the great fall existing between the tfleoe Hotel and Hardy-street, the sewer will be well scoureJ out afc-r rains, an<l during hi<?h tides the sewer will be well flooded with salt water, these cauoes will I thiDk keep the sewer clean. " I have, &c.j " A. D. Austin, C.E. "Nclso-j, March 21st, 187,*.

The articles of Association of the Standard Insurance Company contain a provision which is peculiar to this company, and which should make it a favorite one with insurers, to whom it in 'fact' offer's the 6ame advantages ac are usually given hy a company founded on the mutual system. After paying the- shareholders ten per cent per annum on their capital any profit remaining is to be divided in the following proportions: — 40 per cent is to be devoted to forming a reserve fund, and the balance of 60 per cent, is to be equally divided between the insurers and the shareholders. Insurers will thus get a rebate equal to thirty per cent, of the gross profits of the company above 10 per ceut per annum. — Post. Referring to the lute splendid crushing at the Break-o'-Day mine, tho Lyell Argus remarks: — "Shareholders will, be glad (o lenrn that tho present is no ephemeral yield, and that two crushings yofc remain to be taken out from the blocks now in work, from which a similar yield may confidently be expected. Before this ground is worked out, the new low lavel tunnel will be connected with the foot of the winze, and a greater extent of ground will then be available than has or can be worked from the existing tunnels. We are informed that work will also be commenced on the new leader which shows good gold. The excellence of the prosent yield is in a great degree attributable to the introduction of finer gratings, which were only obtained with great difficulty." A writer io the Canterbury Press recently paid a visit to Blenheim. Ho sayß: — Mailborotigh is a nice province. [ think I had better conclude these few remarks by observing that there is shortly (?) to be a mil way between Picton and tho metropolis. From informr.tion received, and from personal observation, I don't think tbo trains will be long ones, nor do I think they will be able to go quite as fast as a race-horse, but I think I should prefer the railway to coach after all. We returned per coach. The two horseß are very quiet. lam glad of this, because the breeching is partly composed of string, which parts at intervals and tho reins are of the Renaissance period. The Hokitika evening paper of Saturday has the following remarks on the conduct of some members of the Provincial Council. Jn the hope expressed in the concluding paragraph all who wish Westland well will join: — "The vagaries of some members of the Provincial Council have, throughout tho Bessioo, b-^en beyond the remarkable, but, owing to the newness to legislative business of many, might be passed over without eerious comment. Last night, however, things were brought to tho climax of ridiculousness, and on the Council adjourning this morning a fight between two honorable members was only prevented by the timely interference of the others. All that we have to say is that we hope that the members will return to their places next session not sadder, but wiser men." Gretmouth Rages. — The Argus of Friday says : — For examples of thoroughly good racing, commend us to the contests yesterday, any one of which was worthy of a much more ambitious arena. It has in the past | bocn a complaint that with all the good money offered by the Greymouth Jockey Club, roal racing has been an exception. But no such accusation would hold good with respect to the meeting just concluded. It was patent to the most unhoraey understanding that the stakes were run for on their merits, and no one ventured yesterday to suggest the possibility of any arrangement which did not accord with honest racing. There was no mistake about any of the events, each horse and jockey doing his best to win, and the result was an exhibition of real downright racing, which has seldom, if over, been nfforded upon any race-course in New Zealand. The weather was not very favorable, rain falling freely in the early part of the day, and showers— Borne of them of considerable intentionoccurring at intervals. The most unfortunate result of this state of things was the paucity of ladies, very few of whom had ventured to run the ordeal of a wet Jay, a very rough road, and grandstand which, affords no cover. The attendance of the British public was small, which was a pity, for a better day's racing was never witnessed. A Simple Filter.— A gentleman named Lavera writeß to the Sydney Morning Herald to suggest a simple and efficacious, but very inexpensive plan for filtering, within the reach of tho poorea*, and which never fails to make the foulest waier clean. Take about half a pound of white worsted cut into strings of an equal length, and suspend them all arouod a tube or other vessel containing tho water to be filtered, aud they will speedily empty it into any other vessel that may bo placed underneath to catch it. These loogths of wois'ed or strips of cloth act as so many small syphons for draining off the water, and the principle on which the filtering process is carried out appeiirs to be that the water ascends through capillary tubes, which will not admit of the passage of any foreign matter Something aualogous to this is to be observed in the process of evaporation or distilling, which has the effect of separating all foreign or organic matter held in suspension and of leaving the liquid itself when condensed perfectly clear. Mr Layers has had one of there filters in use for come time paat, and Mr Danver, the Sydney health officer, and other scientific gentlemen, highly approved of it, and recomend it 3 adoption wherever no wore perfect sys-

tem of filtering is obtainable. For those residing in tho couotry districts, where pure water cannot be procured without difficulty at this season of the year, this, if acted upon, must be a special convenience. All that could stand in the way of adoption in the bush would be tho want of two vessels, but it should be remembered that it can be used on a small scale as well as on n large scale. A vessel of 900 tons has got both of ber anchors entangled with the Atlantic cable in tho gut of the Canno. The captain has oifaied to cut his chains for £4000, or on condition of receving new anchors and chaius and £80 a day demurrage while he is detaired waiting for them, otherwise he will raise his anchors, which would almost certainly break the cable. Tho telegraph company will probably accept his terms. "Pleasing Excitement.'* — For pleasing excitement there is possibly no spot in the world to equal Aikausas in the United Slates, where uncertainty of life seems only balanced by the a'most absolute certainty of a violent death. Sorre idea may be formed of tho conditions of existenco in that State by glancing at a small paper, the Greenwood (Arkansas) Standard, which, notwithstanding its limited space, contains sufficient sensational incidents in its record of the week's history to satisfy tho appetite of the most voracious. Judge Meers, it is Btated, was shot on Wednesday; and a gentleman named Pigg waa unfortunately killed ia the same manner a few days before. Several other persons are mentioned as having been slightly wounded during the we* k. In Johnson County " all is terror and excitement." In Peryville they aro organising three military companies, " two while and one black." Occasionally when a wntraDt is out for the arrest of a murderer, ho organises a military company, and declares war against the sheriff and all his deputies, and the Adjutaut-General, in a letter to Governor Baxter, explains to his Excelleiicj* that " there is great difficulty in making arrests." This is tho dark side of the picture, which is, however, not wholly unrelieved by gleams of light. There seems to be no lack of surgical assistance for the wounded, or of proper arrangements for the decent busial of the slnin. The physicians, by their advertisements, inform the public that "they attend calls dny and night," aud an undertaker intimates thnt he "keeps constantly on hand a good stock of metallic burial cases, walnut, velvet, and imitation rosewood coffins." Mabk Twain on a Feesii Trail. — Not satisfied, seemingly, wilh the undiminished success which, up to Saturday, a'. tended upon his tour to the Sandwich Islands, Mark Twain broke fresh ground on Monday evening before a numerous and fashionable audience by describing his exploration of the sterile region of Nevada — or, us he himself described it, " roughing it ou the Silver Frontier." The pictures painted by the lecturer of Nevada are not likely — as, iDdeed, he expressed a hope they would not be — to go any great way towards depopulating Great Britain by inducing the inhabitants of these islands to emigrate in a body Pacificwards. Mark Twain told his hearers that he had himself inhabited the Nevada country years ago; and ihat he found it to be a country teeming with small-pox, starvation, and everything calculated to make life beautiful and desirable. There were cities there, to be sure, — very many cities, since every place was called a city which boasted a population of over one man. The inhabitants were for the most part manly in their bearing; rather imperative in their calliogj all armed to tho teeth, and bearded like buffaloes. Here were to be /found the noblest hunting grounds on the face of the earth, where the veriest Nimrod might scour the plains without finding anything to kill — unless he coulJ shoot with a telescope. Tbe climate in the region of eome of the lakes was, however, so invigorating that it was an absolute cure for tbe furthest gone consumptive patients ; in witness whereof the locturer instanced the case of a friend of his who came into the country in such a reduced state that his ribs wero like those of an umbrella, touching the body nowhere; but he had not inhaled the lake breezes long before his clothes fitted him like a blister. It did so happen that there was a considerable amount of cutting and hackiog amongst tho inhabitants; and thia was carried to euch an inconvenient extent in one place, that tho public refreshment room was called a slaughter house. Several persons had there been butchered, but only two had been hanged by a presumptuous jury, every one of whom deserved banging himself. Into these regions there had been introduced a celobrotod quadruped known as the Mexican buckhorse, an animal of desperate chaiacter and of no moral principal whatsoever, eo fearfully aud wonderfully mado that he had a ridge down his back like a Roman aqueduct — in ruins. Thero is no vegetation in those happy valleys, and fodder is such a dainty that hay has sometimes to be brought there from California, and paid for at the rate of £200 a ton. There were, it was true, several little rivers in the country, of such resources that a thirsty man could drink one of them dry, supposing him to have the capacity. Not one of thoao streams ever made its way, as other streams usually did, to tho sen, but was swallowed up in these mysterious abounding lakes that have no visible outlet. The zephyrs of the

country were (raio winfo on land which, when on business becamo hurricanes, anl carried in their course sand so fine that it found its way everywhere, and drew blood from the lips and nosfrilp. During eleven months of the year no rain fell, but when in tho twelfth month it did fall great was the fall thereof. This delightful clime was not guilty of the we-knese of twilight, or evening dews, but enjoyed n sharp bitter winter und a blistering summer, and during ;.he latter season, the GOOO Indians who scoured the plains regaled themselves upon the delicate diet of grasshoppers. With scores of anecdot. s, which nre inetruciive ns well ns amusing, this shrewd observer whiles awny an hour nnd a half, taking one over new scenes-, introducing his hearers to fresh faces, fresh facts, nnd fresh fancies, with kaleidoscopic ingenuity. — - English paper.