THE WEEK.

It was a lotely day. The sun shone brilliantly, its heat being tempered by a gentle breeze from the calm waters of Blind Bay. Ladies r^ere dressed in their holiday aftirey and gay ribbons fluttered in the wind as crowds of the fair sex of Nelson — and where will you find fairer specimens ? — mustered on the Church »Hill to watch the proceedings below. Volunteers in brilliant hued uniforms; firemen in dull red, but useful looking, coats and flashing helmecs j Foresters and Oddfellows adorned with scarves, and Freemasons wearing aprons and glittering jewels, all carrying bayonets, or axes, or flags, or banners, or something or other calculated to enhance the gaiety of the scene, mustered . in force. The Superintendent was there, and the members of the Provincial Council, then in session, were there, and the members of the other and higher Legislatures were there, and the Bishop and clergy were there, everybody in fact was there, and the band played joyful music, *and the carriages drove about the streets in a frantic manner, and the boys cheered, and old Ben's big family of infants waved handkerchiefs and held aloft texts and mottoes, and then all the assemblage departed for the country. There were a wheelbarrow and a trowel, and a pair of watertight boots, and long rows of tables laden with eatables, and underlaid with huge casks of beer, and a platform from which his Honor addressed the assembled multitude, and the people cheered until they were hoarse, and the volunteers presented arms and kept guard, and when they were dismissed found that the little boys had eaten all their sandwiches. " What on earth is the meaning of all this bosh you are writing ? " exclaimed a privileged but ill-mannered friend who was looking over my shoulder as I wrote, and when 1 had got to " sandwiches," interrupted me with the above very rude remark. " Eh ! What," said I, rather confusedly, for I confess I had got into the confines of dreamland, " Why, don't you know that the Nelson and Foxhill railway is to be opened to-day, and I was at the moment trying to call to mind all the grand doings that marked the turning of the first sod." And so I was, and the whole scene came up before me as clearly as though it had occurred but yesterday, and I could hear the Superintendent saying, in those clear aud incisive tones of his :— " I hope that none of you feel that we are here to day merely fof the purpose of formally commencing a small line from the town to Eoxhill, but I think that you will agree with me in looking upon the ceremony as one of immense importance, as being the beginning of the Nelson Grand Trunk " Railway." Bless me ! What enthusiastic .^rj^JL rent the air as this grandiloquent '^W& struck on our ears. Not one amtsngst the 3000 persons who were present ever thought of the mudflat terminus in the outskirts of the town and the gravel bank terminus two miles short of Foxhill as the boundaries of the " Nelson Grand Trunk Railway." But to-day we are called upon to rejoice over the opening of the line of which we turned the first sod on that beautiful autumn day. After our three years experience of the manner in which we of Nelson are treated in the matter of public works do you think we shall contrive to get up a ringing . cheer if, as we stand near the two-miles-from Foxhill station, the Superintendent in declaring the railway open for traffic points proudly to " those lines of iron which, after much road crossing, climb the hill near town at a breath-depriving gradient, and descend by one nearly as steep on the other side, and abruptly terminate at the Toi-Toi valley mudflat — if, I say, the Superintendent points to this great public work and asks us to give three hearty cheers for the Nelson Grand Trunk Railway, do you think we shall do it? But I don't think I'll speculate on these /chances any longer, for before these lines meet the public eye the railway will be opened, and the cheering will all be over. For really good spicy reading give me the Blenheim papers at election time. The battle opens so quietly, nnpretentiously, and with such propriety 'that one who is not in the habit of reading these journals regularly, is disposed to think that after all it will be a very tame affair. But wait a bit. In the first issue the hope is expressed that the contest may be conducted in a fair and gentlemanly manner, and that nothing may be advanced on either side ' that is likely to give offence. The next time the paper appears, three days later, there is a tendency to pugnaciousness, and in the next the gloves are taken off altogether, and the hitting is hard and straight from the shoulder. Intentional misrepresentation, maliciously false reporting, unfair -and uncalled for comments are the mild charges brought by one against the other just by way of opening the ball, and then "lies" becomes a favorite word, which is not unfrequently used. Correspondents take their cue from editors, and if a reasonable amount of time be given before the polling, letters will appear that are as pungent as could, possibly be expected from a combination of bad grammar, threats, and downright sturdy abuse. In order to illustrate my meaning, I will give one little extract — omitting the names mentioned — from a letter headed " Noise and Windbags," which -recently appeared in, one of the local journals. Says the correspondent; — lt When any of the Henderson-Dodeon . clique speak

they have a quiet fair hearing from the other side ; but the reverse is always . the case if. ?Mr Seymour or his friends speak. There is a remedy for this sort of thing that will yet have to he put into eflect before- we lose our reputation as an orderly people, twenty pitchfork handles cut into convenient lengths will cure Messrs — -, — , and Co. of their blackguard demonstrations." And the beauty of the thing is that the norn deplume selected by the writer is "•A Lover of Peace." It is one of the most charming, peaceful, and friendly places I know, is Blenheim about election time. J\ (For continuation see fourth page.}