THE WEEK.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 34, 5 February 1876, Page 2

THE WEEK.

:i I cahn6t"4write)aioititne Tcelebrationf ■of th^an-diydrsaryipf ttt||pr|yince witl|| ?any , Igreai il : amou%ts of Mee&his yea'Kf Indeed, last Tuesday waf totne rather x a sad day, because I could not refrain from looking forward and thinking "what a change will have taken place beforeVtwelv« months; had elapsed, "iDheri'there will be^no'Superintendent to entertain the Governor when he "comes here, or to "give a "spread^when" the extension of our railway to Foxhili or the Port is opened to the public ; no Provincial Secretary galloping abont the country for' no purpose, jvno-c^onp*,' mical Provincial Treasurer lobking*after* the halfpence or peeing that the .money i required toVpay." increased salaries is i not expended on public works. Thoughts of this kind would force themselves upon my mind, and when I saw that the provincial authorities. were; al^p in. the doldrums to such an extent that the flag was not allowed to be. hoisted ati the Government Buildings on that, the last provincial celebration, my spirits continued to fall, and for several hpurs I" whs," indeed/ ii melancholy imanV. There was sadness, too, even in the, upper air, and the skies shed tears upon the scene below, and then in, the evening the balloons, with one single exception^ refused io behave in a lighthearted manner, but grovelled on the earth and preferred to suffer cremation jthere' tb soaring aloft; .an'd.J.the' Catherine, wheels Vwere, depressed and .out :of; spirits, and .when they; wdre lighted and ought to have been 'whiz-'' ,'zirig round, refused to do their duty, but required, a man to turn them. .Even tho waxworks failed ; tp cheer, mej-s and the distinguished company to which T was there introduced looked like : the ghosts of departed Superintendents^ On the whole it was not an exhilarating day, but, next year, whence phange the name, arid celebrate ihe anniversary of the settlement instead of. the.- pro- ; yirice, I daresay, we shall be all right again. i 1 did see one .really .happjn man . on the course. ' The great majority of those who wore present tried to look as though they were thoroughly ehjoying ! i themselves, but when it ciitrib" : ph to rain, ; some ran tb; the booths for shelter, r and others looked disappointed at the prospect. of haying to forsake the festive scene. The individual ,tp.:whom. I refer, however, was all smiles, and the more it rained" the ; more -"radiant did/his' countenance become. I did not understand this, and others , who were"! with me could not understand it either," until one of them bolder than the re3t ventured to ask him why his jface was suffused with joyoUsness.' The reply was given frankly. " I was not aware," said he, " that iiiy, countenance trayed me, but my satisfaction is easily accounted for. You see "all %bse bonnets. Dp you observe that scarcely, any of the wearers of them are.provided with umbrellas? Under such circumstances those bonnets must be spoiled, and new ones will be required." It turned out that he was interested in the millinery and drapery business. t***"Wheri Mr G-. W. Schroder was but oatirigin, the Bay; a great many yearsi ago, he made an error in his calcula-. tions, and instead of running for one little inlet in the neighborhood of -Wakapunka, he entered another, amd got on to the rocks, and, if the chaff* and quizzing with, which, lie. -bad to .put up at the time are possessed of any historical value, had to throw his boots overboard in order to lighten the boat. I daresay he little thought at the time his little craft was bumping and grating on the rocks that, the mistake he bad made, and which 1, -who have the pleasure of knowing him, feel sure must have caused him to make, use of language that, to say the least of it, . was unparliamentary, was to be -the means of immortalising hinuand handing his name down to posterity in con Inection with one of the greatest land most "" important public works in, the southern hemisphere. . But sp; it is, and ••• Schroder's Mistake " *will soon become known throughout the length and breadth of New Zealand and Australia as the spot where the cable is to, be. laid that is to connect these islands with the great continent of Australia, and through it with every part of the known World; That little bay which Schroder entered oni that dark night is to be the first recipient of all the secrets that are^Wafted to these shores 1 from Australia, England^ India, arid America, and it is through;" Schroder's Mistake" alone that the messages containing news of what occurred 16,000 miles away eight and forty hours previously will reach the press and be disseminated amongst the people .of New Zealand. "What a grand thing is fame! I was very glad indeed to hear the other day that the errant Sir Julius had at last reached Australia on his . way to New Zealand, 'and I daresay that a great many others who entertain a high regard for the late Premier were equally pleased at learning the. news, but I read something about his return the other day in a newspaper j which seemed to me to savor rather strongly of flunkeyism. " The telegram announcing the arrival of the Somersetshire at Melbourne with Sir Julius Yogel on board," we were told, • u . will be read ; with a thrill, of "satisfaction from end to. end of the colony." I don't, know whether it is that I ani less . susceptible to thrills than most people, but I ; must acknowledge that it didn't strike me in that way at a|l,, "EQWiim your pulse

afte^ted^|oy-.gpo,d\lr^d y|ljen you read tht^eltoramp|^ iPfffit dcitanything in*l th|Rthi|l&ig busiueplor^op your heartl giMon||inore beat xffanfpual? Minef di(piio|^not^dia it eylpFoccur to mef v tba'6leMer ougli^^piaTe gone out bii its ordinary course until I read that paragraph to which I refer. And when I did read it I thought that really the butter was laid on a little too thickly fe° bf^pleasant ? tpitbp~'mnn whom e^i4^klii efi kl^ Probably, \ a great many of you have read a busk ness notice in which the return of Sir : Julius Vogel has been rather ~ shrewdly turned lo aceoupt 4 by . a firm 7 in' ( Nelson. *W"eIl, T was speeding tbe evening at a, friend's yesterday „and a little boy about thirteen years old was in "thf robmpand was busily engaged in or three newspapers he had before him. Something or other., seamed to ble.troubling.^inrr, :ana-atilast| he read aloud n^BV'th^'''articie**wi^li ihe thrill in it, and then the advertisement, ahd then he saidf -■" Pa, why do they put the letters 'Advt' at the end of. "one and'iiot tblb^ otheriM?*' ' - ' Payreplied,^ " Tou are not old enough yet my boy, to understand thesethings"; 'Wheaiybu have gained years and experience, you will know more about them. Now, go tp bed." { • r- : -^ ';•..-..-* yF-;