Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, JUL Y 1, 1898.

Many must have reaia^with interest the letter from* well-known local explore; regarding^ the presence of good coul in th« region of the Owen, which looality^ would, have to' use Nelson as ita^^oi^ of ontlet and supply. Plainiy\~ibj&;s&L measures .exist, jand Apparently not at a great depth, either ; and itisa'so beyond doubt that the fuel which men Could obtain with ease for everyday purposes must bo only a fraction of The quantities still left untouched. Ttfe conolnsjpQ loba, drawn from the latter to which reference is made is that, on °mDch more flimsy - evU deace of the pre9?nci oftha metal, thousands af/^ounds haVe been expended in thiVdistric ia'.Uje search for gold, while the far mo- e payable: and lasting coal resources of the pro vihce have'VftrAotea" liiite' or jw attention. ; O| courae.jao^alldßion' ifl made to the. Oollingwood, district, but to those regions whofe prosperity would directly affeot the future well-being of this city. ""That' the Collingwood d,iatrict, in going ahead, with ..marked activity in industrial dereiopment, ia abundantly proved ; but unfortunately the maid increase •£ trade consequent ou ( such development is not likely to come in thlt-difeotiotf fehlesa there be a olmurftttraJbtis I ' progress inlaitd froi* the #t;i^e anthracite, ©oil .within distance of Nelson would be the making of jthe-phvce* slbisis go self-evident that the* smtement of the if aot ia a taere, trtJiam ; bnt i( is not 'a mere traißm to assert that so fax, while attention has been given to more elueive minerals, local coal prospeotiog has had' but few advocaU;s. The Faner Glynn mine has struggled on somehow, and :wiujkU

it cannot compete with its Westporfc and Newcastle rivals till ita lower strata are reached; and the recent check administered by the fire now burning may still farther retard developments. So far as the formations in and around the district ara concerned there is no proof that we are not actually walking over great strata of coal ; while Mr Jonathan Brongh's interesting reminiscences of the caanal coal-getting in the Owen region for tool«sharpening and fa el point to neglected opportunities which may yet be availed of. Apart from the question of coal, we do not know whether the hills aroond the city are storehouses of mineral or quarrying wealth, or whether the formations are useless for the future development of kelson, industrially or municipally. As a community we -live in T wooden hotises; ; biit who c»n : tell whether or not there may be, quite' hear us, the cheap and durable building material which may convert Nelson in time into v a city of stone ? We take a good quantity of oar road material from the Boulder Bank, a process which some consider a menace of (hefbtore. The diorite makes fine roadways it ia almost too hard for ordinary purposes, and it is not the most suitable material for macadamising. It , doas not bind as rtadily as the '•blue metal," of which we have no supply, and it "plays the mischi f " with the stoneorujaer's; jaws.' .Yet the; e may be innumerable lone of " bine metal " in the hills around the city, and the material, if found in easily accessible quarries and In abundance, would not only^recder road»making cheap f^Ujg'fciii aled famish a steady ;lff»ie with other parts of the colony, '^kyon^r 'who has rambled around S»ydjney;flrh.arves must have noticed in a bend named Johnson's Bay immense quantities of this . blue metal/broken aafd EWcketf^briTOght by sea to the metropolis from "round the corner " that ia to say, from the adjacsnt coast The little town of Kiama, a few miles sooth of Sydney, depends to tome extent on its dairy prodnce for its prosperity ; but if it did not also have the blae me al quarries its port would be deserted for the railway has taken away all its coasting trade. It pays, however, to send the blue metal to Sydney by ketches, and thuß not only is the quarrying a means of keeping many men employed, but it oho » nables little Kiama to hold her own bj'tea. Similarly, we may possess iwthOmtrknowinff it a heritage of a# buiMiiitor stone wUcb fce might di*»^ w^chooM by means of th* diamond drill.! ••: ■■■'.- ■••'■■ - ■ iis-- . •.: ,_W;The opinion is'yeuturjd 'that the WWP&jf »Sp|M^dl«Dapßd drill flaajt would be of inestimable value J^seroce -t% tSit^mmumty. ;Kot only soold the municipal bodies use tbedrill for the exploitation of the hills aroond for road and building material, bnt private enterprise would be greatly aeaiated if it cou'd hir • the drill for prospecting at a moderate but payi.b'e cost. Such a system is not unknown elsewhere, and there is no reason why it should not be instituted here. The initial expenditure woulJ not hi very large, and the first discovery of importance; whether 'of coal; or of precious metals, or of road-making and building material, would more than compensate for the outlay. Perhaps the nuggfstion appeals more directly to private than to corporate speculation ; (but the dumond drill so greatly simplifies the task of exploration and prospecting, nnd so ma« terially lessens the coat, that in a mineral district the investment of money in a plant would at least pay expenses, -.while it' might be the m^fas of gainlng^anpimona indirect

*,;&,: ■-*>' -.-, ■--:-■ -~ ,;:»■ 1 'OrTcrth -easterly weather set jn last evening, and steady rain fell during the night. This moraine broke fine and c'ear, with a cold wind from the South-West. The river and the brook are in fresh. The rainfall at Nelson during the month of May was 571 inches as recorded by Dr Andrew (Sm»^eet)\gtifcts-27 inches ~tts ieqwtewdby l M£W.:#ierajmeß (WainYea Boad).v The falfclast Sight, ~ia shown by Dr Andrews record, was o'Blsicties The ;toMJal|to&e,month:-pf Jane was only Tha vital statistics for NeUon for June are as follows :— Birtbs 23 ; marriages 7 ; deaths 3. The usual annual distribution of bonus certificates by the Australian Mutual Provident Society is now being made. Constable Jeffries stated to the Licensing Committee yesterday that In the majority of oases the hotelkeepera turned their lamps down to a mere glimmer at 11 o'olook, and that the lights were consequently of no practical use in lighting the Btrect daring the night. The Chairman said the Committee had no power to order the publicans to do otherwise. The attention of the City Surveyor is drawn by a correspondent to the condition of the aaphalt on a portion of the footpath on the. north side of Hardy street, between Trafalgar and Waimea streets: The plumbers have left a couple of trenohes roughly filled up with the broken asphalt, instead of mending the path properly, and a trap for the unwary is thus exposed. Mr: J. T. Catley, who has held ap pointmenta in -the Nelson Lands Office for the past 42 years, notably as Receiver of Land Revenue, severed his conneoneotion with the Department yesterday. Mr Catley;; who has been with seven Commissioners of. Crown Lands, holds a record so far as the Lands Department service is concerned, and it is also noteworthy that from the time of his appointment till, his present retirement he has remained in the one office. His racoeasor. Jfr McDonald, who haa been transferred from. Wellington, took up bis dutiea to-day. 'As a sequel to; the disturbance that occurred in.ljpper Bridge street last Satnrday evening, Henry Walkey and Fred. Spencer appeared at the Magistrate's Conrt this morning in answer to a charge laii against them by the Police, the defendants, who were charged with "aba sive behaviour, whereby a breach of the peace \wastoccasioned," admitted the offence. Inspector Cullen stated that on Saturday night the two mon, who were ■ in< the Windsor Castle Hotel, had a few ' words and • went outside and fought for a ' few minutes. On hearing that the Polica ' were making iaquiriea into the matter, the '■ defendants went to the Polico and stated that they would plead guilty, and asked < tbat no witnesses should be summoned, < Not wishing to burden them with expense ' the police had consented to do as requea- ' ted. The detendant, Walkey stated tbat < the row arose through '• his colleague " < Spencer) wlUng him a loafer because he « Walkey) did not include him in a "shout " * On seeing the letter in the Mail signed « "Business Man," they went to the police ' as etabed by Inspector Cullen. Mr .Robin- I son, B.M , said the action of the men ( enabled h/m to deal with them in the most lenient manner possible, and ' he 1 discharged them without' iaflictina a ( penaUy. ,. .^. ; . " . / ' ; v ■: * 1 ■ '-jkiuia Wilkins A Field notify that all kinds of golf clubis, balls, eto., are for sale < at their establisment.J - j ;■•' •'■■•-■ *'■'■ ■:' , .• . ■ „; t „ Biehard Thomas, on an undefended ! charge of tllowing a foal to be at large in E Vanguard street on a recent date, was t ned 5s without oosis at the Magistrate's Court to-day. ■ I ■.■.. - • ■••( .'.■•■. ; . ■ -„.,..,... r , ; .Entriea for the Nelson Society's annual t Poultry Show will close to morrow. The a

A Press Association telegram from Wellington states that the R.11.5. Alameda, with the colonial mails to 11th June, arrived at San Francisco on Wednesday last. -.. There was a good fatte ndance at the tpreaters social given last evening by the Cotartß Robin Hood and Star of Net son. Bro Easdale presided, Bro H. Finney (supplied the music, and BroJaa, Lomsson acted as M.C. The refreshments were all that could be desired, and a most pleasant evening was spent. Mr Chas. Parker, of Motneta, whose death was announced yesterday, was an Old Nelson settler, he having arrived here 49 years ago. He, lived at Motaeka the greater part of his colonial life, and he represented that district in the Provincial Council and in- the Now Zealand Parliament for several years. On one occasion he defeated Sir David Monro in a contest for tiie latter honour.: He was a Justice Of the Peace and generally he took much interest in public affairs. Although he had reached his 90th year he retained his mental faculties till the last;. ?y*y*!-£ M*W> number of descendants. -T he P ublio has not " ot yet seen the end ot the litigation arising out of last summer s bush fires. Another case, in which the sum of £56 is claimed as damages, II ,v?^® ard at ohe Magistrate's Court on the 19th inst. The plaintiff and defendant are residents of Dovedale and Wakeneld respectively. Mr F. E. Wright, better known as "Dr" Wright, a Wellington singer, is at present on a visit to Nelson. GThe following Customs duties were collected at Nelson during the month of Jane £840; cigars, cigarettes, and snuff ±'8 j v tobacco £502 ; wines £27 ; ale and beer j612 j tea £57 ; sugar, molasses, and treacle £144; goods by weight £559 ; ad valarem £582 ; other duties £22; total £2753. The amount collected during June, 1897, was £1964. The beer duty re< cmved last month amounted to £114 ; as against £125 for the corresponding month of last year? ■ A change much appreciated by newspaper sub-editors and compositors has been made by the local Telegraph Office in regard to the paper on ' which 'press' messages h»ve hitherto been transcribed. The," flimsy," or, tissue paper (which is impossible for ink, di&cult for pencils, ■aiiii too inconveniently;." airy fairy Lillian " if the least draught is blowing in a printing room), has given place to a snbstantial pinkish paper, on which persons can write easily with pen or pencil, and whioh stands up comfortably in the compositor's case. It is hoped the innovation has come to stay. A. football team from the Canterbury Rugby Union intend visiting Nelson in about a month's time if the Nelson Onion can give them a satisfactory financial guarantee. - Following will be the Albion Club representatives to-morrow in the match with the College representatives — Senior : Hunt, Ingham, Levien, Chapman, Thompson/ Millar,' Glover Krahagan, Bright, Tibbie. Adamson, Whiting, Arnold, Fleming, Bird ; emergency,\Bradshaw. Third-class : Malor/ney, ; Lucre; Whiting, Glover Reid, Baileyi Keir.l- Spencer, Milroy, Morley, Haase.iPike, Calder, Jones, Thompson ; emergences, L Gunderson, Frater. and Johnston., „ . In spite of the inclement weather of ; . last night a larger attendance than ever gathered in the Schoolroom at the meeting of the Wesleyan Bond of Hope. In his opening "remarks the Chairman, Mr Larfans, congratulated the Sooietyupon this. MrW.T. Bond delivered an address on temperance and its many benefits. Various recitations were given by the children, and a very well-recited and much appreciated dialogue ended tho proceedings. - The charges is London of [conspiracy to defraud the Norwich Union Insurance Company, A, J. Monson, Victor Honour, Percival Norgate, and Robert Metcalfe form an interesting sequel to the Ardlamont jtragedy, in whioh Alfred Monson, was.tned at .Edinburgh in December, 1893, for the murder of Lieut Hambrough, at Ardlamont, in Arygleshire, (in the previous August. Hambroogh had been a pupil of Monson, and had died of a gunshot wound on the back of the head, ginflicted while |he was out shooting with Monson. As there was no other witness'of the tragedy than a man named Scott, who mysteriously disappeared, and as Monson's wife had an assigned insurance of £20,000 on Hambrough's life, Monson was arrested and tried' for murder, but' the jury found the case' l?ot Proven. Messrs Fairy Bros., of the Excelsior Butchery, have an important announcement in this issue. It will be seen that they intend having a display of meat every Fnday,evening ; _.» r. The high reputation which their establishment has enjoyed so many years, as the place to get your watobes, clocks and 3 j?n«l ery . re E f'f d> ia stiU ra «nt»ined by Hunter s, Bndga-street, Their long experience and u«ng only cbe beat materials enable, toem to guarantee all their work. Newswatches by the best makers. Wed. ding and other ringo made to order. Speotaclea a speciality.-Advt. Th\^marriage ceremony has been intenrnptedin various ways.- The most unique one occurred the other day when Ut Clntterbuck was being married to Miss c f hew ,. Gum.: When asked to repeat "f 1 t B u Mlnwt « r . " With all my woldly goods I thee endow," the young man hesitated and looked towards his bride. She, knowing full weU that aIL he possessed was £6 10s. said, "Oo oi, jofin, never mind, you can get comfortably furnished at Loc*» m Bndge-st. for about that price ; it will go as far for furniture as twice tha amount spent anywhere else." The cere mony proceeded and they were happy ever afterwards. ***