Nelson Evening Mail MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1881.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 235, 3 October 1881, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1881.

Tub railway traffic returm for the four weeks ending 20fch Augußt are published and show the total receipts to be £59,613 against £51,026 for the corresponding period of last year. The Nehon line, we regret to find, instead of contributing to this increase, again shows a falling off, the receipts being £537 against £556. The difference is small, it is true, but there is nothing in the circumstances of the district to warrant any falling off whatever, and it rmut be the management alone that is to blamo. We do sot intend by this to find fault with Mr Stone, thfe loca 1 manager, who eimply baa to do «hat he is told, but with the system which prevails of laying down cast iron rules to be observed in all parts of the colony, without any regard whatever to the surrounding circumstances. Iq order to show that there is something essentially faulty in the management it is only necessary to say that day after day heavily laden timber waggon* may be seen coming into town bringing their freights from the mills which are at work within a very short diatanca of either she terminns at Bellgrove or tho station at Wai-iti, and in the afternoon tba Bame waggoas may be observed leaving town with loads of merchandise deliverable at various plices on the road withiu a few yards of which the railway runs. The results of this anomalous state of affairs are shown in the returns, whsre we find that in August, 1880. freight was carried &g follows : — Timber 255 tons ; merchandise 152 tons; firewood 345 tons; whereas in August, 1881, the amounts carried by rail were:— Timber 136 tons; merchandise 127 tons; firewood 105 tona. UnleM some alteration in the charges is made, one of the raoßt melancholy monuments to tha folly of tha authorities and the ruinous influences of red-tape to be found in the colony will bo supplied by the Nelson - Bellgrove railway whose rolling stock will be left to rot in the sheds, and rails to rust on the line while coaches are conveying passengers, and horse and bullock drays ara driving a remunerative freight traffic on the roads. Why tha powers that be do not move in the matter without unnecessary delay we cannot conceive. If the railway were in the hands of a privata company ia it likely that month after month would be suffered to pass by with the returns telling tbe game tele of a dwindling traffic, while the vehicles on the road showed that it was not for want of material to be carried, and no steps be taken to appl y a remedy ? It is absurd to suppose that such a Btate of things would be permitted to exist, and why then, we ask, Bfcould not the Government use the same discretion that would ba brought to bear by the directorate of a company ? Surely it will not require maay more cuch four-weekly returns as those published of lata to convince the authorities that they are carrying out a ruinous policy in suffering the iron to be run off the road by the flesh and blood hoiae. The total railway receipts in New Zealand for tha current year, that is from tha Ist April to the 30th August, were £343,060, while tho expenditure was £107,055, or at the rate of 57,44 per cent of tne receipts. For the corresponding period of 1880 they were £316,108, and £212,245 respectively/the rate of expenditure being 67.14 per cent. There are, however, 110 miles k:o:c -f ni'-sv row thia ft«o, tb r totei |t present w^ im j

miles, against 1194 in August iB6O. We trust that some steps will be taken before many more days are allowed to lapse in the direction of endeavouring to reduce carriage by rail in Nelson to, at least, as low a rate as carriage by road. Ax Inspection Parade oi Town and Conntry Volunteers wat held on Saturday night, when 219 were present, the Artillery contributing towards that total 44, the City Rifles 21, the Naval Brigade 46, the Stoke Rifles 46, the Waimea Rifles 44., and the Band 14, After parade the men were addressed by Colonel Lyoh, •who expressed himself satisfied with the general appearance of the men and the steadiness with which they performed the various macceuvres, brl insisted upon the necessity for their occasio»ally drilling by daylight, and suggested that for that purpose they should meet at least one afternoon in each |month. A presentation of a handsome time-piece, inserted in which is a silver place bearing a euitable inscription, was made after Inspection parade on Saturday night to Sergt-Msjor Hyde by Sergt-Mnjor Wimsett, on behalf of she H Battery of Artillery, as an acknowledgment of the services rendered by him as instructor during the last two months. SergtMsjor Hyde acknowledged the gift in suitable teim9, and complimented the Battery upon the high state of efficiency they had attained. He thanked the men for mustering at drill in the way they did three times a week for seven weeks, and for the attention they paid when on parade, which was very gratifying to him. At the Magistrates' Court this morning William Halliburton was charged with being absent from the barque Iris without leave, and was ordered to be sent on board again. At a meeting held at the Upper Moutere on Saturday, the 24th inst., the following resolutions were passed :— (1) "That it ia highly desirable stepa should be taken to secure the services of the best man obtainable to represent the new electoral district of Motueka in Parliament." (2) "In order to elicit the opinion of a majority of the elrctorsit is advisable that meetings should be held in the various Highway districts in order that delegates may be appointed to confer together at Motueka on the subject." The Secretary of the N.Z. Rifle Association notifies that Mr Fall has been appointed the local agent for the Association, and, as such, is authorised to collect subscriptions for the same. Mr Bamber, who was Mayor of "Wanganui last year, is likely to oppose Mr Ballance at the forthcoming election. Mr John Stevens, of ,the firm of Stevens and Gorton, it i« said, wiil probably be a candidate for the Rangitikei seat. Thb Gazette of Thursday last announces the appointment of Messrs Barnicoat, W. Harkaess, T. J. Thompson, T*lbot, and R. McKae, as trustee! of the Richmond cemetery. Ok Saturday the boys of St Mary's Cricket Club played a match with the Ist division of the Town Schools (Mr Chepmell's). The game was closely contested, as may be seen from the proximity of the scores after the second innings, namely, St Mary's 10S, Ist division of Town Schools 105. In the first innings the Town Schools scored 58 and St Mary's 3G, but in the second innings St Mary's made 20 runs more than their opponents. Dreyer and Buckeridge contributed largely to the total for the Town Schools and in St Mary's interest J. Wainhouse ran up the respectable scora of 10. Allen's bowling did much damage to the stumps, and Everett's long-stopping w*» much admired. The attention of contractors is directed to an advertisement which appears elsewhere calling for tenders for certaia works in connection with the Takaka tramway, plans and specifications of whioh are to be seen at the Company's office, Takaka, or at Mr Rochfort's in Selwyn Place. A psoclamatiok appear* in the last Gazttte dividing the borough of Nelson into four wardi as petitioned for by the ratepayers Ah interesting one inningg cricket match was played in the Botanical Reierve on Saturday afternoon between the English and Colonial members of the Nelson Cricket Club, the result being a win for the former with one wicket to go down. For the English, Kirkpatrick and Raikes made the Highest •cores, namely 34 and 13 respectively. For the Colonials, Sharp, Foote, and Pollock got into double figures, making 19, 11, and 11 respectively. The bowling of Thomson for the English and E. Boddington for ths Colonials was moat destructive, the former taking six and the latter five wickets. Me. J. R. Mabin will hold an auction sale to-morrow afternoon of furniture, fee, at the residence of the late Mr H. Buckeridge in Ngatiawa-street. Two or three letters from correspondents are unavoidably held over until to-morrow. We understand that Mr Dudley Ward has resigned hi 3 District Judgesbip, with a view, probably, as announced a few days ago, to contest the election for Tiruaru. j Messrs E. Wakefleld and W. Postlethw&ite are announced as candidates for Geraldine. The vital statistics for Chriitohurch for the month of September are returned as follows :— Birthi, 180; marriages, 3*; deaths, 80.