Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 1881.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 117, 18 May 1881, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 1881.

At the Magistrates' Court to-day before Messrs Teßchemaker and Levien, J. J.P., the following were the only two cases heard : — Stockwell v. Fox : Judgment sumraous for £16 16s. Mr Bunny appeared for the plaintiff who had obtained judgment for £16 Is on the 26th January last. He said that the defendaut bad not been tendered the cost of hia attending the Court, but he had admitted the claim and stated that be could not conie to Nelson from the Lyell where he now was. The Bench said that sufficient had been done in the way of expenses, and (rdered the defendant to pay the sum in weekly instalments of £1 109, the first to be due on the 28th inst., and in default of p»ying any one instalment to be imprisoned for a month. — W. C. Hurley v W. Kearnst Judgment summons for £4 12a «j. Mr Pitt appeared for the plaintiff. Defendant vtaa ordered to pay the amouut within a week or in default to be imprisoned for a month. The last Gazelle notifies the disbandment of the Nelson Artillery Cadets. The City Cadets, we understand, are to follow suit shortly. Tub following is an extract from a circular dated 10th instant, issued by the Defence Office to Major Pitt: — "The corps in the district under your command (as per margin) are at present Under the minimum strength (50) laid down by regulations, and I have to request you will be good enough to send in a report upon the condition of those corps as regards drill and discipline, and inform the officer in command that, unleßs the strength is increased to the proper establishment within three months from this date, the advisability of dispensing with their services will nave to be taken into consideration." The following are the corps mentioned in the margin and their strength :— City Rifles 46 ; Waimea Rifles 49 ; Naval Brigade 44 ; Oity Cadets.3B ; College Cadets 45. The number of tbe City itiflea is, we are informed, mis-stated, as tbe roll contains 56 names. We should be exceedingly sorry to see the Naval Brigade disbanded, for they are undoubtedly a smarfe corps, they possess an excellent boat, aud they have already done good service on the occasion of the wreck of the Queen Bee. It would be a great pity if they were broken up and the Aurora Beet to Wellington as would probably be the case. The Waimeas should have little difficulty in obtaining the one additional member required to bring up their number to the regulation strength. In the case of the College Cadets, one of the smartest and beat drilled corpe in the Colony, some allowance might well bo made, as the number of those from whom its rar.ka can be recruited is but limited, and if there is any approach to the minimum it should be sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the Office. The interpretation generally placed upon this circular is that some steps will be taken to place the Volunteer system upon a better footing, that the capitation allowance will be restored in those cases where the Companies, by their numbers and efficiency, prove themselves worthy of it, and that those whoso parades are ill-attended and members inefficient will be disbanded. If something of this kind is to be done, and means adopted of securing a stricter discipline than now mnintains in so many corps and districts, the Volunteer service will become more useful and more popular than it can with any semblance of truth be said to be at present. Tub second coursing match of the season will take place on Mr Eden's farm at Hope at ten o'clock to-morrow morning. The following are the results of tbe first drawing : — Mr Jary's bk and w b Racket against Mr R. Mcßae'B f d Sailor ; Mr R. Mcßae's bk b Vivette against Mr Green's r b Miaa Modesty ; Mr C. Bird's r b Nelly against Mr R. Eden's r d Jack ; Mr J. Beach's f d Derby against Mr Jary's r b Haide n . We learn from Mr K. Reeves that he received a telegiam from Reef ton to-day giving the result of five weeks' crushing at the Welcome Company's mine, Boatman's Creek, as 1514 ounces of melted gold, valued at £6000, and that a dividend would be declared to-day. The mine continues to look well. In his la9t report to the City Council, the Inspector of Nuisances stated that disagreeable odors were rapidly decreasing, and that there was far less to complain of in the way of nuisances than formerly. Now if Mr Oxley will take a walk in the neighboihood of Gloucester-street, at d when he feels fatigued sit down and take a rest with his nose over the open drain in front of the Postboy Hotel, he will detecc a stink so thoroughly deserving of tbe name that it will give him a theme for one of the raciest paragraphs in the next report be addreßßes to the Mayor and City Councillors. The Chrißtchurch Press of last Saturday says :— " The demand for steerage passages for Sydney yesterday by the Union Company's Bt earner Arawata, was unusually active. For an hour before the steamer left, the office of the company was crowded with men applying for tickets, and no less a number than fif cy-five were booked within that short time. With reference to the Tararua disaster the Melbourne Arym of May 2nd says : — " Since the wreck of the s.s. Dandenong no disaster which has happened in Australian seas has created such a profound impression. in Melbourne as. the loßs of tbe s.s. Tararua. The news first received respecting the accident was that that though the steamer was lost, all the passengers and crew were saved. On Saturday, however, it. was found that the disaster was of a much more serious nature than was 'at first imagined. The office of Messrs McMeckan, Blackwood, and Co., and the Telegraph Office, were besieged with a throng of anxious enquirers, who feared that they might have bad friends or relatives on board of the ill-fated vessel. On Sunday the list of ptißßdngers was posted at the Telegraph Office, where there was a constantly changing throng of persons, all eager to learn tbe names of those who had met their death."