THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 282, 28 November 1874, Page 2

THE WEEK.

If the Neison Horticultural Society are not satisfied with Ibe result of Thursday's show, they must iuJeed be hard to piease. It was a decided success aa to the quantity and the quality of the exhibits, as to the number of visitors, aod, I am told, as to the amount of money received for admission* a considerable surplus being left in hand after paying all expenses. In wandering about in a crowd such aa was assembled in the HaU tha other eveniog one can always pick up hints some of them useful, some impracticable. Among the former I heard one that is worth attending to on future occasions since it was so generally expressed. It was to the effect that the interest in inspecting tbe exhibits would be considerably enhanced if to each were attached the owner's name. To do tbis would of course involve some more trouble and a slight increase of expense, but it might be effected if a man were specially employed to follow the judges, and, as soon as their award was given, to write the exhibitor's name on a slip of paper, and place it on tbe flower-pot, stand, or whatever it might be. Some people were surprised tbat there was not a larger collection of geraniums, but I think this may be easily acconnted for by the fact that so genial is our climate tbat many of the choicest plants are grown in tbe open air, and consequently are not removable. Were tbe climate less favorable tbe

sbow in this particular class would probably have been larger. But as these shows become more regularly established and more popular, as they nre sura to be, we shall fiud that more plants will be grown with a view to their being exhibited. Each show will extend the experience of those who undertake the management, and with ench wiil disappear some little defect tbat had previously existed. In tbe meantime we can congratulate ourselves upon the success that has already been achieved. Our first batch of immigrants (or perhaps •' emigrants " would be the more correct term) to (he Karamea settlement have been unfortunate at the outset in not being able to land on tbeir first visit to tbeir destination. This is to be regretted, for every little obstacle will assume some importance in the eyeß of the new comers, and tend to dishearten them io entering upon an undertaking which will require nil their nerve, determination, and pluck, to ensure success. There is a rumor abroad to the effect that the Government upon after consideration purpose sending a surveyor to the new settlement to lay off the roads, sections, &c. This is one little step in the right direction. Let us hope that it will be speedily followed by the appointment of a thoroughly competent overseer, for until that is done, there is but a poor chance of the scheme proving successful. There seems to be a general movement throughout tho colonies in opposition to the showy funerals over which so large an amount of money is annually wasted, in many instances by those who can ill afford to part with the amount that is, under existing circumstances, deemed necessary to pro vide, for the dead what is termed ''decent" burial. But it is of no use for the poor, or the moderately well off, to attempt a reform unless the wealthier classes back them up, or rather set them an example. When they show that they do not consider tbat respect for the der-d requires all the trappings and outward display that are now deemed necessary, there will be some hope that the slender stores of tbo widow and orphans of the less rich will not be broken into to the extent that now prevails when be upon whom they depended for their daily bread has to be placed beneath the sod. The well-known Dr Tracy, of Melbourne, whose death was recently reported, has set an example in this respect that is likely to produce more effect than a score of newspaper articles. "He desired," says a Melbourne paper, •'that there should be no funeral trappings, no emblems of mourning, no feasting, ro vulgar display of nodding plumes and glazed hearses, and lhat everything connected with his interment should be as simple as possible. The dying man clearly had more thought for the living than for the dead, and a true perception of the vanity aud hollownee3 of outward display in the burial customs of the oge." Our City Council are beginning to show that they require a tight rein upon them in their fortuightiy meetings. I do not mean to say that there is the slightest approach to the rowdyism tbat is but too frequently met with in similar bodies in otber parts of the colony, but Ido assert that disorder occassiooally reigns supreme in their discussions, and as it is possible tbat disorder may ripen into rowdyism, it would be well to cbeck it whenever it digplays itself. When two or three Councillors are speaking at once it is not easy to rrive at tbe drift of their arguments, nor, when one of them is on bis legs, does it tend to facilitate the transaction of business, if one or tvvo others comment in a loud tone of voice upon what he is saying. lam sure that each and every of the members desires to maintain for the Nelson City Council the character for order, and earnestness in its deliberations that it has hitherto possessed, so that I trust they will accept the hint given them by an outsider, for it is a true saying tbat " lookers-on see the most of the game." F.

(For remainder of News see fourth page.)