The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, MARCH 27,1874.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 74, 27 March 1874, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 1874.

The Hon. D. M'Lean, the Defence Minister, was a passenger yesterday by the Phoebe, by which vessel he proceeds North this afternoon. Discovery of Human Remains. — Information was received at the Police Office yesterday that a skull and other remains of a human body were found on Tuesday last by Mr Arthur Chaytor on the Moutere side of the western entrance of the Waimea River. They had evidently been exposed to the weather and action of the water for a long time. The Taranaki Herald says it must be acknowledged that the tone of the Superintendent's ■ speech in opening the Provincial Council "is sad and rather depressing. It is a narrative of the struggles of the Government against adverse circumstances." la reporting a Carandini concert the Taranaki News says that after one of the choruses " the feelings of the enraptured assembly could not be appeased by anything short of its repetition." The Waimea Street Sewer. — Elsewhere will bo found a letter from Mr Fell regarding some comments made by us upon the late special meeting of the Board of Works. Referring first to the latter part of his communication wherein he says that our remarks, &c, were " not in accordance with the facts," we have merely to state that they were quite in accordance with what Mr Fell himself said at the first meeting, whatever " the facts " may have been. This, however, is a matter of but little importance in comparison with tho other portion of the latter. Mr Fell finds fault with us for not alluding tn tho plan supplied by Mr Austin to the Board, but the reason for our omitting to do so was that wo were present at the meeting, and saw that all the members of the Board appeared to be thoroughly satisfied with it, while Mr Austin's report did not in any way lead to the supposition that there was anything wrong in tho construction of the drain, and as, in. the terms of the resolution, he was asked to give his opinion of the probable effect of the levels upon tho outflow of the sewage, we naturally imagined that it' he considered them to bo faulty he would have said so. In the absence of the slightest hiut to this effect we took it for granted that Mr Austin was satisfied with the aewer as constructed. Mr Fell, however, calls attention to

what certainly does appear to bo a very serious defect. It seems that between Hardy : street andfhe outlet, the boitom of the. Bew.eß.is highest aJLvthe junction;; of WaimeTa and^ Bridge streets. At* that point it is within a trifle of five inches higher than at Patterson's corner, a little over seven inches higher than at the railway crossing, and about five inches higher than where it passes the Colonist office. ■- This places the matter in quite a different light to that presented, by. Mr Austin's. report per se, no reference whatever being made in it to what will be generally considered a very grave error, but probably he thought it unnecessary specially to mention that- which was shown on his plan, although we certainly think that he should have given his opiuion, as asked, upon the manner in which, the drain as at present constructed is likely, to work. On the other hand it is but fair to say that since the receipt of Mr Fell's letter we have spoken to the Surveyor to the Board, and that he tells us that he. was fully cognizant of the levels as the work proceeded, and that he has all along trusted to (he great fall between the Fleece and Patterson's corner, and again from Bridge-street to the outlet to keep the sewer thoroughly scoured out. We must admit that he has not altogether succeeded in carrying conviction to our minds, although he himself appears to be perfectly confident that the result will be nil that can be desired. As the matter stands at present, it would be far more satisfactory to the public if the Board were to obtain from Mr Austin that opinion which he was invited to give in the first instance. Provincial Council,— -The nomination of candidates for the representation of tho Grey* Valley in the Provincial .Council, in the room of Mr Guinness, took plnce at Ahaura on Saturday last, when Meesra Maguire, Lasb, Jones, and Hayden were proposed. Mr Mackley and Mr Matthew Feehnn were also to have been nominated, but their proposers arrived at the scene of action too. late. The show of bands was in favor of Mr Jon< s, and a poll was demanded, which will take place to-morrow. Caledonian Society's Medal, — It will be remembered that the. Caledonian Society of Nelson determined upon presenting Mr Hamill, the mate of the unfortunate ship City of Newcastle which was lost some eighteen months ago, with a medal in recognition of the gallantry displayed by him on that occasion. A letter was written to him in December, 1872, apprising him of the intention of the Society, but, after lying in the dead-letter oifice at Sydney for Borne month?, it was returned to the writer, Mr Brind, as Mr Hamill'e whereabouts could not be ascertained. Nothing was heard of him again until the late wreck of the ship Welliogton, when his name was mentioned in the newspapers, he being second officer of that ship. It appears that, he had not been in New Zealand since the City of Newcastle was losf, and on the return to Newcastle, from his first trip to this colony after that event, he was once again wrecked in Cook's Straits. On finding that he was in Wellington, the Secretary of the Society at once forwarded the medal to him, and yesterday received an acknowledgment of its receipt. Mr Hamill says : — " Allow me to express my earnest, heartfelt thanks for the honor the Caledonian Society of Nelson has done me, and I shall always retain the medal with pride as a token of kindness shown to me by gentlemen to whom I am an entire stranger." Artillery Company. — The entertainment to be given by the members of this Company in aid of the Band fund will take place at the Oddfellows' Hall this evening. A capital programme is provided, as will be seen by reference to the advertisement. Christ Church Baza.au. —An alteration has unavoidably been made in the days on which this bazaar is to be held, the Bth and 9th of April being decided, upon instead of the 7th and Bth, as originally advertised. Any surplus over and above the expenditure necessary for providing the church with gas, we notice, is to be applied to groining the tower. This latter is an improvement that we should like to see effected, for, at present, half the power of the choir is lost, as the sound that Bhould travel from one end of the building to the other now soars uselessly into the unsightly trap that is so successfully set for it at the junction of the nave aud transepts. Perseverance Company. — We have been requested to publish the following report, which was read at the late meeting of shareholders 1 — " The Directors have lately received a report from the Mining Manager, Mr Hansen, which, in their opinion, makes it necessary to consult the general body of shareholders as to the future working of the mine. The Mining Manager advises that a shaft be sunk in the ground formerly known as the Canterbury Company's claim to a depth of about 340 feet, and a level driven at the same time from a point near the machine house, 774 feet lon£, to intersect the shaft at a depth of 184 feet. If the reef maintains the same dip throughout as in the upper workings the Bhaft will reach it at a depth of 340 feet from the surface, which will be 96 feet vertically below the Decimul Company's lowest workings. The total cost of theße works the Miuing Manager estimates would be about £2230, presuming the ground to be of the same character as that hitherto worked. These works would be finished in about a year. Tho estimate

does not include the maintenance of (he race while they are in operation. On the reef being struck and found payable it .will, be necessary to provide a ateatft engine to' 'drive the battery which would add about £700 to the above estimate. Our available capital for this is about £2300. An increase of capital would therefore be necessary to work the mine. Casualties such as hard or faulty ground, or increase of water, have also to be taken info consideration, and, ehould any of these unforeeen accidents occur, further expenses will be entailed. If shareholders do not consider it advisable to undertake these woi ks, the Mining Manager recommends that all operations should cease, as he sees no prospect of any available crushings being obtained from ground already opened." The Dunedin Athenajum, numerous as is its collection of books, does not, says the Daily Times, possess a copy of the Holy Scriptures. One evening a little girl gave a message to the librariau asking for "a big Bible." There was no Bible, large or small, to be given her, and further it appeared that there was no Bible in the Athenreutn collection, which, however, possesses a copy of the Koran. Mr Rochfort with his staff have reached Nelson Creek with the flying survey of the Nelson and Greymouth Railway. The advance party passed through Ahaura last week, blazing the bush in two lines of direction, either of which will be chosen when the detailed survey is made os to the course of the future railway. One of these lines with slight variation, follows the telegraph line from Totara Flat to Nel6on Creek, crossing the Ahaura River opposite the Postoffice and Talegraph Station. The cost of this preliminary survey is said to amount to between £40 and £50 per annum. — Q. li. Argus, March 23. If Nelson (says the Auckland Herald) can only be aroused from its lethargy and induced to avail itself of the large mineral depo3its which lie at its doors it would have leas reason to complain in the future than it has of the past. Speaking of the Para Para Iron-field, lying to the eastward and southward of To Paia Para inlet on the shores of Golden Bay, and four miles south of Collingwood harbor, in the Nelson Province, Mr Thomas Mackay, Civil Engineer, says: — "In the whole course of my experience, nnd I have seen some of the largest coal and iron fields in Britain, I have never seen anything so extensive of its kind exposed to view, and with such facilities for profitnble working." Still, we learn the Neison people remain quite apathetic, and shares in a company to work the iron and turn it to profitable account are being applied for by strangers.