NELSON GOSSIP.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 391, 31 October 1868, Page 4

NELSON GOSSIP.

(ebom otte own cobbespondent.) Nelson Octobee 27.

A fair city this, but oh ! so full of grumblers. Every one is complaining of dull times, and stagnant business, and apparently with good reason. In the hotel whence I date this, I am the only lodger, (a singularity, by-the-way, for which I hope I shall not be charged extra in the bill,) and the other hotels seem to be similarly circumstanced. One naturally thinks of the immense number of glasses of ale, at threepence, which must be consumed in order to support such large establishments, but ordinary calculation is baffled by the inconceivable vastness of the quantity. .No matter what faults Nelson people may be charged with, I will say this for them, that they can take their beer as well as any men I ever met, and very genial and kindly withal too. Under the impetus afforded by the goldfields, great strides have been nude during the last two years in filling up the gaps in the town. A temporary demand resulted in a mania for building, and a great number of houses of all kinds, for business purposes and private dwellings, have been constructed, in addition to the extensive rebuildings consequent on the fires which happened about a twelvemonth ago. The supply is now far in excess of what is actually required, and in every street the eye is caught by tickets displayed in windows bearing the device of "To let," or " For sale." It follows, of course, that rents are much reduced, holders of property in some instances, being unable to get a return of more than two and a-half per cent interest on their capital.

People here are somewhat funkey, just now, on the subject of earthquakes and earthquake waves, scarcely a night has passed since the great shock, but what quakes or shakes of one kind or another have happened. They appear to have been specially remarked by gentlemen detained out late at night, and nervous old ladies, but on Sunday a shock is said to have passed about three o'clock in the afternoon. The gentleman in whose house I was at the time to the tremulous motion of the dinner table, but it was so slight as to escape my observation; the papers, however, afterwards made mention of a shock having been felt. Apropos of earthquakes, the following story is being told about Dr. Hector, with what degree of truth I cannot say, but it is only fair to state that no mention of it is made in the Wellington papers. Dr. Hector, it is said, stated his conviction that a severe earthquake would occur on the night of the 18th inst. He therefore invited several scientific friends to spend the evening with him, in order to make observations, stating that he believed that the earthquake would take place about midnight. The mystic hour arrived, but brought no earthquake with it, and the learned doctor's friends began to jest with him on the nonfulfillment of his prediction. He however requested them to suspend their judgment for a while, and having gone out on the verandah for a few minutes, returned, and immediately commenced a mock incantation scene, calling around him by appropriate gestures, like another Zamiel, the dread powers of darkness, much to the amuse-

meat of his guests. Their horror however may be imagined when, only a few minutes after the Doctor had commenced his spell, the earthquake really came ; and we can hardly be surprised to learn, as the story runs, that, yielding to a sudden and irrational impulse, they unanimously implored him to desist from his unholy work. The Superintendent's letter to the Examiner has proved a most unpleasantsurprise. Comingas it doesontopof the recent ruinous fall in wool, and the general depression of trade, this large deficit of £85,000, so coolly referred to by his Honor, cannot but be a severe blow to the Province. A petition is in course of signature throughout the town, praying the Superintendent to summon the Council for the purposes of remodelling the estimates, or making such alterations in the appropriations as the crisis demands. It is doubtful however whether Mr Curtis will consent to do so.

The new water supply is a great improvement, each dry, which means every day, two turn cocks with hose and other appliances, water the streets a la Melbourne fashion by opening a communication with one of the mains. In a parched up place like this, a never failing supply of pure and wholesome water must be a great benefit to the inhabitants, but it is a benefit which it appears they have to pay, for, in some cases rather highly. The rate is levied on the rent, at ten per cent, which causes it to fall heavily on a tenant who like mine host of the Tref'algar hays a rent of £4OO a-year. The trout ova imported from Tasmania have been succesfully hatched, and the little fish, measuring some two inches or so in length may now be seen swimming about with lively activity in the ponds constructed for the purpose within the grounds attached to the Government buildings. Mr Huddlestone, the gentleman who has the management of the whole affair has been untiring in his attentions to the young strangers, and it is satisfactory to see that his patient exertions have been rewarded with the success they were entitled to.

Tou may fancy how Mr Stafford's constituents like, the following remarks which are reported to have been made by him in the House just before the dose of the session :—" There are two Provinces still—Otago and Canterbury —which have yet a right to expect a revenue from their land. I call Nelson only half a Province, as it has no land revenue, although it has a fictitious revenue, regarded in a permanent sense, from its gold. Nelson was a_ liltle quiet sleepy humdrum place until gold was discovered there. Its population was only being increased by the number of births which exceeded the deaths. There is no immigration into the Province, and no life ; in fact, it was proverbially the " sleepy hollow " of New Zealand. It was not a Province in the proper sense of the word, and was simply a town, because the one country trict traded with Christchurch from first to last, as it always will continue to do. It more a part of Nelson than the Channel Islands are a part of Prance, although the people there speak more French than English." The Premier need be a bold man to be able to face a Nelson audience after that. I should like to be present the next time he addresses his constituents.