The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 1880.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 183, 3 August 1880, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 1880.

Wb have had an opportunity of conversing with two men named Sutherland and McKay, who for the last three years, have been resident in the wild and little known country lying "between Jackson's Bay and Milford Sound, where they have, spent their time in prospecting ahd cutting tracks. They claim to have made au important discovery, namely, a practicable route between Milford Sound and Lake Wakatipu, of which they furnished the following description to the Lake County Council:— "The altitude of the proposed track is no more than 1.00 feet above the sea level, passable all Jthe yedr round, and presents no obstacles tb communication by railroad. The country through which it passes is mostly timbered, is of fair quality, and about 10,000 acres are suitable for agricultural purposes. The timber consists principally of red and black birch, piue and cedar. We also beg to state that in our opiuion the country possesses rich mineral resources." They have also in the course of their wanderings discovered another pass, which in the not very distaut future will probably form the route of either a railway or a road, as there is every likelihood of large mineral deposits being brought to light in the district. Thi* is from Milford Sound, through the Greenstone and Holly- . ford Valleys to Lake Alabaster, along the head of the Cascade River, and down Jackson's River to the Arawata, a distance of 60 miles, the highest elevation on the route being 200 feet. Prom thence to Hokitika, 125 miles, the route is well known and is not a difficult one, but the country from Jackson's Bay to Milford Sound has generally been believed to be almost impracticable for a road. The whole of the country is stated to have the appearauce of heing rich iv minerals, and these two men have certainly done good service to the colony, for which they are well deserving of reward; in discovering these two passes, which, if they are anything like as accessible as tbey are reported to be, will tend largely to the development of a valuable extent of country. Not only have they given their time, but they bave actually spent £360 in hard cash iv the purchase of provisions, and tools, and the upkeep of a whaleboat which they found necessary in tbeir explorations. Their case is certaiu ly oue which is deserving of some substantial recognition at the hands of the Government. Auother discovery is reported by them, wbich, if not of so much importance to the welfare of the colony, is of interest to uaturalists. It is that of an amphibious animal hitherto unmentioned in the history of New Zealand. It is described as of a brownish color, 20 feet in length, and between four and five feet high, the legs, of which there are four, heing not more than fifteen inches in length. The body is round and in bhape something like the a cow fish. Not one, but five or six at a time of these animals, our informants state, they have seen, and not once but frequently, generally in the water when they have been within twenty yards of them. They do not, however, confine themselves to the neighborhood of the sea, for their tracks, which are described as perfectly round, some niue inches in diameter, and very like those of an elephant, have been seen thirty mi : es inland. Smaller footprints of a similar descriptiou were seen last summer, from which our informants conclude that the animals breed there, and that the tracks were those oftheir young. That the animal, whatever it is, must weigh pretty heavily is shown by the fact that the footprints are sunk into the hard i beaches to the depth of a couple of inches. The following are the prize winners in the Carbine match yesterday. — C. Moore, £1 10s and Cup presented by Mr Hunter; Lieut. Topliss, £1 and prize presented by Mr J. Hounsell; Vause, £1; Hunter, 15s; {Lieut. Crossman, 12s 6d; Rowlings, 10s; Fathers, 8s 6d; Burns, ss; Wimsett, jun., saved his stakes. The dwelling house of Thotuas.Edeu, of Waimea West, was entirely destroyed by fire I between three and four o'clock this morning, only a few articles of clothing and furniture being saved. How the fire originated is not known. The house was insured in the Norwich Union for £100, and the furniture and wearing apparel for £50 in the same office Cold dinners will be the order of the day to-morrow in houses dependent upon gas stoves for cooking purposes, the City Surveyor having given notice that the gas will be shut off in town from sunrise to sunset. At the Port it will be shut off from sunrise until 9 a.m. The following are the vital statistics for the town of Nelson for the month of July : — Births, 21 ; deaths, 12 ; marriages, 8. A seriods accident occurred last night to an old man well-known in Nelson as " Old Uncle," who was coming up to town from the Port- when, misled by the lights placed at the trench recently dug near the Post Ofiice for the purpose of raising the gas main, he walked over the sea wall and fell on the stones below. For some time he lay there until his groans were heard by a passer-by, when assistance was at ouce forthcoming, and it was found that his leg was broken. He was put into a cab and conveyed to the Hospital, where he was examined, and the poor old fellow's thigh proved to be fractured in two places. Wb are glad to hear that the Government, upon reconsideration, have decided to retain the services of Constable Knapp at Brightwater. To have done away with the constable in that district would bave caused a great public inconvenience. Owing to the Wakatu being detained at Wanganui by bad weather, Ehe will not arrive here until to-morrow morning, and Mr Mabin's sale of cattle and sheep coming by her is postponed until 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The results of the Cambridge local examinations, which took place in New Zealand in February last, were received from England by the last Sau Francisco mail. At the examination in Nelsou, which was supervised by the Yen. Archdeacon Mules, seven candidates were sent up from Mrs Scott's school, and of these three passed, one of them taking honors, a result at which the Principal of the school may well feel gratified. At Wellington a larger number of candidates presented themselves, but only one passed. The returns of the Telegraph Department for the quarter ended June 30th are published, and show a considerable falling on. as compared with the corresponding period of 1879, the number of ordinary and press telegrams forwarded being 337,957 against 343,327, showing a decrease of -5370, while the receipts were £17,748 lis 2d against £18,936 7s 6d, being a falling off of £1187 16s 4d. The value of the Government telegrams forthe last quarter was £7166; in 1879 it waß £7986. The Chief Justice yesterday granted probate of the will of the late Hon. Nathaniel Edwards, M.L.C, to three of the executors named in ihu will, who are resident in New Zealand ; and permission to grant tbe life probate to the fourth executor, who resides in London, was reserved. The estate is said to.be worth £140,000.— Post, July 31. The Post says: — The question of removing the country police will be brought up in the House. on Tuesday by Mr Richmond, who is to ask the Government, " Whether they have taken into consideration the advisability of establishing some system of rural police, at a comparatively low rate of pay, in such country districts where it hag been found necessary, with tbe view of retrenchment, to

remove the police of the regular force formerly stationed there, so that life and property may have some protection ?" A meeting of the Stoke Volunteer Rifles was held at the Stoke Hall on Saturday last, Captain Malcolm in tbe chair. The Chairman said that no doubt they were all fully aware of his reason for'calling them together. It was to consider the awkward position the Government had placed them in by the withdrawal of the capitation allowance, which, from a circular they had received, they had every reason to suppose would for this yfeaf have been paid. The corps had wished to conwith the regulations as to dress, and the Management Committee, acting upon instructions from the company, had ordered a new uniform from England, and incurred liabilities to the amouut of £250. It was for them novv to decide Whether they should at once resign and forfeit the amount advanced, or continue on and make up the deficiency otit of their own pockets It appeared to him that the Government set very little value on their services when they considered that niuepence per week per mau was too much, and that fourpence halfpenuy was enough. He looked upou it that it was a polite way of saying:— We don't want you; we don't like to disband you; but you can disband yourselves. They all know it was not the paltry pittance received that kept them together, for he was aware that it cost every man of the company double that amount besides his time, and that whenever called upon they were always at their post. With these remarks he left the matter entirely in their own hands.— Private Naylor strongly endorsed the opinion expressed by Major Harris in the House that we ought not to trouble the Government much more, and also that he did not object to have bullet holes drilled in uniforms provided by the Government, hut he unquestionably did object to such damage being done to clothes for which they had themselves to pay.-r-Several members having expressed themselves somewhat in the same strain, Lieut. Paynter said it was certainly a nasty knock for the Volunteers, but they had surmounted worse difficulties than this before, and it would not do to show the white feather now. Nevertheless, the treatment they had received from the Government was far from satisfactory, but he would be very sorry to see the company broken up. — Pvt. J. Ching proposed, and Private W. Stafford seconded the following resolution: — "That, considering not only the efficiency, hut the good feeling existing among them, and the esprit de corps, it forty-five would consent to sign an agreement to indemnify the Management Committee, they would still contiuue to serve; if not, to at once disband." More than tbat number having consented, it was further resolved, atter a division, that those who do not sign the agreement be at once requested to resign.— The Chairman was instructed to lay the case before the Government, and after other business had been transacted, the usual vote of thanks was accorded to the Chairman, and the meeting separated.