The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 1874.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 203, 27 August 1874, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 1874.

Nelson has reason to be gratified with tbe position she holds as having a more temperate community than any other of the principal towns of the colony. Such at least must be the conclusion that will be arrived at after a perusal of the following official returns furnished by tho Registrar-General from which it will be seen that the percentage of convictions for drunkenness ia Nelson is exceedingly small as compared with other places : —

The above statistics are taken from the returns for 1871 but, so far as Nelson is concerned, we are informed on good authority that the proportion of convictions to the population is still smaller now than it was then.

. Artizans' Association. — The entertainment which was to have - taken . place on Tuesday last, but Vras postponed on account of tha weather, will be given at the Oddfellows' Hail this evening, when, no doubt, as usual, there will be a crowded house. Outward Suez Mail.— A supplementary mail via Suez will be despatched by tbe Albion on Monday evening. 7 his will afford an opportunity of forwarding replies to letters received by tbe San Francisco mail. San Francisco Mail.— The Murray with the inward mail arrived from Onehunga early this morning, the delay having been caused by her not being able to cross the Mannkau bar on Monday night. She brought the whole of the mails for Wellington and the Middle Island which were despatched by the Tararua this morning. One of the results of commencing tbe subsidised service at Wellington instead of at Nelson is that the Tararuu had to be paid £40 to delay her departure fur twelve hours in order to take on the Murray's mails, . whereas, had her contract commenced here she might have been detained without any charge. Cremation. — It is satisfactory to know that the Legislative Council has given permission to those who approve of cremation to direct that their bodies shall be burnt instead of buried. In the Burial Ground Closing Bill, the Hon. Mr Mantell moved the following new clause: — " It shall be lawful for any person, by will or deed duly executed, to direct that hi? or her body aball after death be disposed of by burning the same to ashes, instead of by burial in the earth ; and it shall be lawful for the executor or executors of such person to carry into effect such direction : provided that such burning shall be conducted in a manner which

shall not create any public or private nuisance." In doing so he observed that, as the motion had been on the Order-rpaper for several days, honorable members had had ample opportunity of cooa j°g to a. decision on the subject. His object. brfnging forward the motion was tosuggest a means whereby to educate person's minds to a more sensible methoJ of disposing of the dead. He thought the mode indicated in the motion a much more desirable one than the present barbarous and beastly one. Several honorable members spoke in opposition to it. The Hon. Colonel Brett among other objections stated that " they were commanded in Scripture to bury. ♦ Let the dead bury their dead.' "—The Hon. Mr Mantell would only remind the lion, gentleman who had last spoken that by the present system they did not comply with the Scriptural injunction, as it was not the dead, but the living, that buried their dead.— The clause on a division was carried by 16 to 10. In a recent speech made by Mr Yogel, he said :— ."lam not unaware that some of the Middle Island provinces do not partake of the prosperity which exists in the larger provinces. But I think that they have a great future before them. I look upon Westland and Nelson as the Cornwall and Staffordshire of New Zealand. Those provinces have very large and varied mineral resources, and I am sure that those resources will be developed with great advantage to the colony." " Augur," the sporting correspondent of the Australasian, writes: — The New Zealanders, Lurline and Papap», both engaged in the Melbourne Cup, arrived in the Otago. They did not experience a very pleasant passage, and I believe both horses were thrown during the voyage, but fortunately neither experienced any serious injury. It is said that Lurline will not go to Sydney to run for the Metropolitan. E. CuMs, who came up with Manuka and Calumny, is in charge. I saw both animals in their boxes on Thursday, but owing to the crowd surrounding the door it was impossible to get a j good look at them. Lurline is a dark J bay mare, with a white blaze down her ; face. She stands about 158,1 should think, has a nice intelligent head ; though, owing to the prominence of her powerful and well-placed shoulders, she appeared to be a trifle short in the neck as she stood in her box. She has a good middle-piece, deep through the heart, and shows wonderful power across the hips, droopiog remarkably from (the croup to the tail. Taken sideways, she looker a little deficient in her gaskins, but she is a grand mare to follow, and looks all over a weightcarrier. If she stands a thorough preparation it will take a flrst-class animal to dispose of her. From what I could see of Fapapa he struck me as a very evenly-balanced colt, with plenty of power behind, and one likely to do credit to the colony from which he comes. On Friday both horses were taken to the Racecourse Hotel, where comfortable quarters had been secured for them. The Courier 3ays : — A. discovery of some importance to the inhabitants of Reefton has been made by Messrs Trewick and Peno, in the shape of a coal seam, twenty feet in thickness. Samples of tha coal have been shown to us by Mr Trewick, and so far aa we were able to say, the coal appeared to be of the finest quality, compact, and free from drift. " Chinese Cheap Labor " is making itself felt about Cromwell fOtago), for the local paper mentions that one Mah Hoy was the successful tenderer for constructing a dam for the Bannockburn Water-race Company. Mah's tender was for £267. The lowest tender by Europeans was over £500. The Government of India is prepared to purpase from October 1 to April 1, 1875, 1000 horses, suitable for army purposes. The standard price for Cavalry and Artillery re-mounts is £50; and for the Horse Artillery, £60, Horses of all breeds taken if up to the required standard ; marea preferred. Higher prices than the standard will be given in. special cases, and each horse will be valued separately. A novel sight was lately witnessed in Graaff-Reineit (says the Cape of Good Hope Argus ) A troop of no less than 78 tame ostriches were driven through the streets of the town to an enclosure in Somerset Street, where they remained to rest and feed for a few days. They are the property of Mr Petrus Van Peerden, of the farm Poortje, in the Murrayaburg district, from which place they have beep so far successfully driven. Seventy of the birds are fine, well-grown creatures, six months old, the remaining eight are but three months old. They are strong looking, and in good plumage for their age. Fifty of them are already sold, we understand, at £22 10d each, and the proprietor ie now on bis way to deliver them in the Bedford division, and to dispose of the remainder. So large a venture in ostriches for sale we have never heard of before, and we hope the spirited farmer may reach his destination with the birds, and do well with them. The birds keep well together along the highway and across the veld, beiug keert by drivers on horseback. They feed as they go, being occasionally supplied with a little barley, &c. " Nothing in this world beats a good wife," said Jones, the newly married. "Yes,' answered Smith, the long married, " a bad husband does."

Town. Population. JNelson ... 5,634 ... 84 * Napier ... 2,179 ... CO Invercargill ... 1,960 ... 75 "Wanganui ... 2,300 ... 178 Wellington ... 7,908 ... 179 Queenstown ... 562 ... 36 Hokitika ... 3,572 ... 101 Blenheim ... 741 ... 36 Christchurch... 12,466 ... 295 Lyttelton ... 2,651 ... 41 Timaru ... 1,418 ... 56 Grejmouth ... 2,181 ... 11l Dunedin ... 14,857; ... 706 Auckland ... 12,937 ... 1247