The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1874.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 298, 17 December 1874, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1874.

Ne_Bo_t Regatta.— A meeting for the purpose of electing a Committee, fixing date of regatta, &c, will be held at the Trafalgar Hotel this evening at eight o'clock. Motueka. — The Wesleyan Church bazaar will be held on Monday, the 28th instant It is requested that any contributions from residents in > elson may be left with Mr Lucas, or forwarded to tlie Rev Mr Marten at Motueka, on or before Saturday ntxt, the 19th instant. Good Templars. — A grand demonstration of the above Order is to be held on Boxing Diy, when there will be a pr cession round ihe town, and a picnic in the B.tmical Gardens, to be followed by a pub .c meeting in the evening in the Provincial Hall. Inspection. Parade— The members of the city companies are requested to m.et for inspection parade at the Drill Shed thia evening at a quarter past Beven. Smcir.E. —Yesterday afternoon, at the Upper Moutere, a man named Rover shot himselt in his cottage a-ij.ining Mr. Heine's homestead. An inquest was to be held to-day # The Tararua is reported as having passed Greymoutb on her way to Nelson at 1 1 -30 this mornirg. No telegrams had reached us up to the time of our goio? to press, and we are not awnre whether she communicated with the sh.re at Hokitika. We are glad to learn that a timber trade is f pringing up between Nelsonand Wanganui. The fine schooner Arthur Wakefield sailed for the latter port tbis morniug with over 30,000 feet, the produce of Waitapu and the Moutere, snd we understand from her owner that sbe is likely to find regular employment in the trade. Art Exhibition.— There was again a large attendance at the Provincial Hall last night, when the Bishop of Nelson's magnificent collection of photographs, and other works of art, was on vie**, for the last * imc It must be gratifying to his Lord- hip to find how thoroughly his kindly ende vors to afford p easure to the people of Nelson have been appr .dated. On all sides we hear expressions of gratitude to him for having incurred bo much trouble and expense in placing before the public a collet tin o pictu r. s which they bave thoroughly enjoyed inspecting, and which he may justiy pride himself upon possessing. Caledonian Societt. — An exceptionally successful 4 « gathering " under the auspices of this Socit-ty is expected on New Year's D<y, when, ia addition, or perhaps owing to, a larger number of competitors than usual, the sports are likely to be more than ordinarily interesting. For the mile race, in addition to the money prize, a handsome silver cup, now on view in Mr Hunter's window, will be offered for competition, the conditiun of its owner. hip being that it sha 1 be won two years in succession by the s**me individual. For tilting at the ring the first and second prizes will be £7 and __5 respectively. Provincial Scholabships.— Commenting upon the fewness of the candidates for the Provincial Scholarships the Westport Times remarks : — The average chanc_s of a colonial youth attaining tbe degree of proficiency necessary to entering on the contest are ag.in.t rather t>*ar_ for tbe youth Taking tl.e routine in Nelson Provincial schools as a fai*" ex.mplc it wi I befonud that a youngster entering school, s. y at the age of five ye.rs, finds himself an insignificant unit among. t a mass of oihiT children of older growth, through who.e' ranks by slow degrees he, il | bleeßed -with sharp intellects, slowly year by year under the supervision of junior teachers finds bis way to the classes immediately under tlie master's care. If of slothful disposition or slow at book he lags irretrievably in the rear, iiis chance of being helped along amid the crowd is ever doubt'ul Safely reaching his master's footstool, there he may, frcm ten to tif:een years of age, drink as d.eply at the fount of learning as hia natural inclination and h s mentor's still and filtering care will permit, and all things tending thereto may surmount the difficulties which obstruct the way to succe-ts ia competitive examinations. But just at thi. critical era in school boy life ev.ry day contingencies and exigencies come athwart bis path. His young muscles, giiting in lustiness, represent value in the labor market. Bis knowledge of the three R's is sufficient to make his services of avail among men who contrive to make money with scarcely any scbool training at all. In a word the youth may earn his living as soon as he pleases, and parents to whom the burden of every day care is beavy, and whose paths in life are not cast in pleasant places, tno often make a virtue of necessity and the lad's school career is abruptly terminated It is the exception and n.t the rule to find pupils of thirteen years of sge and upwards steadily pursuing thtir studies Mr Monteose Again. — A "slightly modified" copy of tha letter recently addressed by Mr Montrose to us appears in this morning's Colonist, the editor of which, like ourselves, appem to have considered the language too insolent to admit of its appearing in its origiual firm. Had the letter come to us as it now appears we Ehould have published it without hesitation, but we did not choosj t . make the alteration that the editor of the Colonist felt himself at liberty to make, and without suoh alt< ration the letter was inadmissible. We will now copy it in its modified form :— " A Reply.— To the Miter of the Evening Mail — Sir, as you havo made an unwarrantable, cruel, and untruthful attack upon me in your issue of Saturday, you wi 1 probably have sufficient sense of justice to allow me space for a reply. I dtny most of the language and terms you attribute to me in the paragraph, which is untruthful almost from beginning .to end. For instance I nevei used the words " hard-up," and, had I done so, it was neither profc.. ional nor gentlemanly on your part to pub'i-h a statement which could only have been made to you in confidence. The gravamen of the statement in your paragraph is that after I bad defltnitelv sold my M. S.S to you I sold it to tbe Colonist also. I tell you now lhat your representation ofthe matter is untrue. The f .ets are these :— I saw you and offered the M.S.S stating that a trifle would be acceptable Yoa promised to use your iiflenc • with Mr Lucas ou my behalf, and to wri... io me at my hotel. For two days you were >ilent. I then saw Mr Lucas on the mat.o r. He said that if a pouador two wouid be _'.<:_ptable, I should have something if you appro, td ofthe M. S.S. I th* n saw you, aud you told me to leave tha M S rt. at Mrs Russell's hotel, and you promised to write me a note at my hotel, informing me if you approved ofthe M.S.S, and what price you recommended for it. For two days you kept the iI.S.S. and did not write. I called several tiin.fi at your office and wi-h told that you " might be at Mrs Russell's " I could not find you. I discoverej thit there were errors iv my M.S.S. and I left a note for you to that eilect. I received no note Jrom you. I then made terms with the Colonist. I met you and told you not to use the M.S S. You had foiled to keep your promise aud you had no bu.in.__ to attempt to print the M.S.S. until a final sum had been agreed. upon, because if you recommend. d Mr Lucas to pay me lees than I considered tbe M.S S. worth, I should have refused it. Amongst people who do not know me the latter part of your article is calculated to injure me very seriously, but amongst those who know me, ray reputation*

stands higher than your own. I have testimonials from Governors, Ministers of tho Crown, edi'ors, rewspapor propristor-j. aud others, as to mv character and abilitie a. a journalist— I nm, &c, Chas. O Montrose. Nelson December 13, 1874 We will row dispose of the above state" ments as shortly as possible. Mr Montrose denies having said that he was "hard up," and complains that, even had he done so, it was neither professional nor gentlemanly on our part to publish it. Our reply is that part of our case against him is that it was only in consideration of his appeal ad misericordiam that an agreement was entered in 0 for the purchase of his manuscript. This should have made the contract more binding on him. He badly wanted, he said, a pouud or two to take him ti Auckland, and was told that a certain sum would be given him, for which he could supply as much as he thought fit, and no stipulation whatever was made that the article was to be approved of by the editor. After making this arrangej ment he called on the editor and told him I that the proprietor had agreed to take his manuscript, when he was asked to leave it on the Saturday evening in order that it might be placed in the printer's bands early on Monday. This he agreed to do and did. In hi_ letter he s *ys that the editor promised to write informing him if he approved of the article, and of the price he would recommend for it. This is simply the offspring of a fertile imagination, as not a word was said at the interview alluded to with regard either to approval or price. Mr Montrose says that for two days the editor kept the manuscript, and did not write to him, and, although he called several times, he could not see him. We are at a loss to understand how he can reconcile this statement with the fact that the document was delivered, as requested, on the Saturday evening, and that it was early on I Monday morning that he ca led to say that he had discovered some errors in it. But, supposing Mr Montrose's statement with regard to approval, &c, to be correct— although we give a oistinct contradiction to it in every particular — bow can he, even then, justify his conduct ? He says tbat he agreed to dispose of his manuscript to the Evening MaU subject to the editor's approval But be admits that be ne»er submitted it in its entirely for such approval, as, after he had delivered it, he asked that it might be held over in order t_ give him time to rectify certain errors which he had detected. The or ginal manuscript was left at our office, but the mistakes alleged to exist in it were never corrected Had there been, then, e.% he asserts and as we deny, a condition in the bargain that the sale was to depend upon the editor's approval he never afforded the purchaser an opportunity of carrying out that condition. This, however, is but a very mild view to take of the transaction, and, after a careful perusal of Mr Montrose's plausible explanation, we cannot see our way to retract a single word ot what we wrote on S«turday. He delivered the manuscript, as agreed, on Saturday evening. He called on the Monday morning to say thafc there were errors in it which he wished to correct He nevtr came near the office again to make those corrections and was no more seen until the editor chanced to meet him two or three days later and was told that in the meantime the document had been sold for a higher price to "the other shop." Mr Montrose complains thit our remarks are calculated to injure him. He should have thought of this probable contingency before breaking his contract, for he cou d scarcely have supposed that we would silently submit to being treated in such a manner, He speaks of the numerous testimonials he possesses from influential people as to his character and ability as a journalist. This only aggravates his offence, as, before he could oit im such testimonials, he must have had considerable experience in that particular line of life, and experience should have taught him to keep out of such a scrape as that in which he haa involved h'mself. Rich Reef at the Ltell.— Ths West Coast Times of December 7 Btates that reefing prospects at the Lyeil are very encouraging at present. The local paper says that the opinion that a large body of very rich stone would some day be discovered near tho head of Irishman's Creek, wbich is a tributary of Lyell Creek, has been advanced over and over again by those who were best able to judge, and repeated efforts have from time to time been made to ascertain ils whereabouts. The last and best directed of these efforts was one under the auspices of the United Alpine Quartz Mining Company, Limited, whose enterprise and perseverance has at length been crowned with the most complete success. Lyell can no longer be taunted with the ephemeral character of its quartz lodes, for in the low level tunnel of that company's claim there is now exposed to view 50 feet of a reef as well defined and infinitely richer than any other yet opened in this island. The importance of the discovery was adequately marked by the first banquet ever held in Zalatown, which took place on Monday last, when 37 ofthe friends of the shareholders sat down to partake of their hospitaiity and to congratulate them on their great ffoodforture,