The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 1877.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 91, 19 April 1877, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 1877.

At the Resident Magistrate's Court this morning, Joseph Baker, a lad of about thirteen years of age, was charged with stealing a watch under the following circumstances : Henry Bruns, Mr N. Edwards' gardener, was engaged in trimming, some willows by the road side in Brook-street Valley, and had hung up his waistcoat, with his watch in the pocket, while he was at work. After he had finished he found on putting on his waistcoat that' the watch was missing, and at once concluded that it must have been taken by some of the school children who had been passing. He communicated with the police, who proceeded to the schools, and , at the Bridgestreet school found' the watch on Baker's person. 'The lad pleaded guilty^. and Mr Pitt,- who appeared for him, stated, that he temptation to take the watch which he saw hung up before him had provedtoo strong to be resisted, butthe boy bitterly regretted what. he had done afterwards, and if the opportunity had. been afforded him he would willingly have restored the watch to its owner. The Resident Magistrate said he had a great objection to sending.. y.oung lads to gaol, but the offeiice was a seri6us one and he should sentence the accused to seven days imprisonment and to be soundly whipped by the warder. ' r • ■ <■■ : The. . following letter has been addressed ' by Colonel Moule to Air Canhiug :-!«•' Sir, — In his report on the late Volunteer Encampment, Captain Marshall speaks in high terms of the/attention and kindness himself and the Volunteer received from you on that occasion. The Hon Dr- Pollen has instructed me to convey to you an expression of his thanks for the use of your paddocks, preparation of the ground. &c, and for your uniform kindness and courtesy evinced during the encampment. — I have, &c, "\y. Moule, LieutColonel, acting Under Secretary for Defence." To this Mr Canning has replied as follows; — " Sir, — I have the honor to acknowledge yours of the 11th inst., conveying the thanks of J)r Pollen for the use of my paddocks during the late Volunteer encampment. It gave mo very much pleasure to grant Capt. Marshall the use of the ground, and you will bo pleased to learn that I did not sustain the slightest damage by the concession. It has Lecu suggested that on some future occasion t lie Government may be asked to mass the Volunteer forces of the colony, ;md that Nelson being central might be selected as suitable for the purpose. I beg leave to statp that, should this come to pass, I shall hope to lwe the pleasure of placing my grounds at the disposal of the Government. — I have, &c, Ciiaklks Canning." Wb understand that the St. Helen's run in the Amuri, the property of the Couut do. la Pasture, has been disposed of to Mr Low for £20,000. The Dunedin Star suggests that Mr Arthur the Chief Surveyor, having entirely forfeited confidence by his recommendations re pastoral run 3, should by removed to Nelson or Marlborough. We are very much obliged to the Star for its kind consideration, but can assure our contemporary that JiTelson is-per- " fectly satisfied with its present Surveyor.

A Quadrille Assembly will take place this evening at the Odd-Fellows' Hall. Dancing commences at eight o'clock. Post offices have been opened at Upper Matakitaki and West Wanganui in the Provincial district of Nelson, The office at SUiteford lias been closed. It certainly does appear strange that Nelson is not able to keep herself supplied with butcher's meat from within her own boundaries, but that such is tbe case is clear from the number of shipments of stock that arrive from Wanganui. The Government Gazette of the 11th inst. contains the reports of the inspectors in various parts of the colony, and from this we learn that during the six months from Ist October to 31st March last no less than 102 head of fat cattle were imported into Nelson from Wanganui. During the month of March the uumber of births in the Borough of Nelson was 20, and of deaths nine, of whom six were infants under one year of age. The proportion of deaths to the 1000 of population iv Hokitika reached during the month the high figure of 620, the number being 18 out of a poDulation of 2905. In Nelson the proportion was T62. A letter from Sir Julius Yogel appears in the Gazette stating that he had received the list of New Zealand exhibitors at Philadelphia to whom awards had been made. . It includes the names of Mr James Smith, of Nelson, for fruit wines, and Mr Anstey for merino wool. Colonel Reader's report on the recent Colonial prize-firing is published in the Gazette. He thanks everybody all round for services rendered, and kindness and hospitality shown. The following complimentary notice of one .of Mr Gully's now celebrated pictures appears in the Sydney Morning Heiald :— " Usually the place of honor in the notice of an exhibition is given to the oil paintings, and properly so; but on this occasion we prefer commencing with the water colors. And here, far before all the others, is the large picture "Bush Gully" (lio),bythe New Zealand artist, Mr John Gully. The view is taken looking on to Nelson Plains, N.Z., with the Owen Mountains in the distance. This is a splendid mass,of color, and yet there is no forcing, nothing raw or crude about it. Mr Gully has looked at the scene with the eye of a true . astist, and he has painted with a clever and obedient hand. The work is harmonious throughout. There is a free air on the mountains and in the middle distance, and the luxuriance of the fore-ground foliage is kept down by a judicious use of cool color. It is worth knowing that this fine picture is now the property of the Art Gallery of the colony. And it is due also to recognise the kind manner in which Mr Gully has enabled the Council to obtain the work for far less than its value. _ He really has, with the feeling of a real artist, almost made a present of the valuable picture to New South Wales, and this was done in a way as delicate as it was generous." A Government Gazette before us shows the total quantity of gold exported from the Nelson goldfields during the quarter ending 31st March last to have been 18.215 ounces of the value of £72,665. From the same district the total export since gold was first discovered there is 1,596,465 ounces valued at £6,339,439. Add to this the Westland yield during the same period, namely 2,035,004 ounces, and we have the magnificent total of 3,631,469 ounces of the value of £14,386,816 from a district, which, considerably less than twenty years ago, was an unknown country, wherein but very few white men had set foot. The total gold yield of the colony since 1857 has been 8.359,552 ounces valued at £32,599,281. During the quarter referred to the exports show a slight falling off as compared with the corresponding period of last year, having been 82,241 as against 83,276 ounces. The Nelson yield shows an improvement to the extent of over 1000 ounces.