Mr Leslie Reynolds, Engineer to the" Nelson Harbour Board, left last evening after a visit of some weeks devoted to the preparation of his working plans for the improvement of Nelson Harbour. The plans, when approved by Government experts, will form the basis of the proposal on which the Harbour Improvement loan will be sought. The shaft being sunk on the Boulder Bank to test the form- '; ation was down about 12ft. yesterday, j The sinkiDg haß been soft as heretofore and do sign of rock has been encountered. Shareholders in the Croixelles chrome mine and others interested in the pro- I fress of the district will be pleased to hear that the chrome has again been picked up lower down the hill, and that the " show " is once more as good as ever 1 it was. The manager (Mr Millar) brought '' the news last night, and it has given great satisfaction, especially as anticipations have been fully realised. It will be remembered that a few weeks ago the chrome appeared to have given out at the end. of the workings, but steps " were at once taken to continue operations in the direction where it was believed to make again. This has been done with n the result stated, and with practically no a dead or useless work done. The new deposits are quite as handy to the aerial tram as the former ore being immediately i below the wires. The suspicions entertained by Mr Clayton, Government veterinary surgeon, - regarding an outbreak of anthrax in the Waikato district having proved to be well grounded, a bacteriological examination of specimens sent to Mr Gilruth has '■ satisfied that gentleman that the out--0 break is a 8 described. The outbreak appears to have occurred on Mr Bryant's farm at Tamahere, Waikato, a paddock of turnips on which was bought by Mr J Cruickshank, who turned steers on it. The animals were subsequently removed, - but five of them have died to date, though there are indications that the mortality (which was confined to the animals which had been running in Bryant's 1 turnips) has ceased for the present. All . precautions have been taken to confine the disease to the locality of the outbreak. Suspicions of an outbreak of anthrax among stock at Hamilton (North Island) are also entertained by Mr Clayton Government veterinary surgeon, as a 1 result of a post-mortem examination of - some animals that died on a farm there recently. Specimens have been sent to 5 Mr Gilruth for bacteriological examina- > tion, and pending the result of the investigations the utmost precautions have been taken to ensure the safety of the stock in the locality, ' Municipal management of the iraics in ' Dunedin is open to some criticism. " Disr gusted " recently wrote to the " Otago Daily Times": — "Sir, — There seems to be a growing feeling among the travelling public that the city and suburban trams are not being run to quite suit their convenience. For instance, I hear that three drags are daily to ba soen taking the employes from the Hillside workshops. Is that as it should be r Again, on Saturday night there was a crowded audience at the Theatre, and any one would have supposed that trams would have been provided to take people to their homes. Now, Sir, such was not the case. Only one car was to be found between 11 o'clock and a quarter-past, and this being the last going north, it was so crowded that the conductor refused to allow any more either on or in. Dozens were therefore left behind to find their way home as best they could. Some of us weie compelled to pay 4s for a hansom to take us as far as the Gardens, and then do the other two miles or ao on Shank's pony. This may not seem much to read about, but when ladies are compelled to do this sort of thing on such a bitter night it was anything but pleasant. I will only ask the Tramways Committee of the City Council this question : Is such management as this really and ti uly worth -6600 a year ? " At a churoh meeting at Maryborough ( Victoria) the other day, the Rev. J, G. Sterling, in the course of his sermon, referred to the death of Lieutenant Stanley Reid. He remarked that Mr Reid had been a Presbyterian minister in Victoria, but subsequently, was stationed in Western Australia. When the war broke out he volunteered as chaplain, but, not being accepted, and being 1 pager to go to the war, he offered as a private, and was j accepted. He passed successfully through the earlier stages of the war, and then returned to Australia, but when a fourth contingenf.was called for he offered himself again, and this time was accepted as a lieutenant. Ij some districts near llbury (N S.W.) mice are causing a good deal trouble, and from Berngan comes word of a regular mice plague. When ohaffbags are opened they present the appearance of a moving mass. In some places |animala have been attacked.

Major Wolfe, Commandant of the local ' Defence Forces, has received the appended letter, evidently from an enterprising young Nelson lady, and he is willing to give the project every support : " Aug. i 2, 190 U. Dear Sir, — I hope you will not think me i mpertinent, but I have been thinking lately that it' would be a good thing for the girls of Nelson if someone would try to start a Volunteer Corps for them such as they have in Wellington and other towns. 1 feel certain that if it was once started numbers svould join. I myself know of several who would join if some influential person would take the matter up. I have lighted upon you, . Sir, as the best possible person to do so, i if it is not asking you to do too much. I ■ know you have your hands pretty full as it is, but then, we poor girls are always left out in the cold, and I think it is time somebody did something for us. We see pictures in the ' Press ' of girls in other towns in their uniforms, and it makes us feel quite envious, but if you could help ua we would show them what ' Sleepy Hollow ' could do in the way of a Girls' . Volunteer Corps. Hoping this will re- ' ceive your consideration. — 1 am, etc , j Oni£ V\ ho Would Like to bb a Volun- • teeb." Major Wolfe states that there is a i Girls' Khaki corps at Greymouth, and !he believes there is also one at Welling- ! ton, and he sees no reason why a corps I should not be formed in Nelson on similar lines. If the young lady who has written or some others interested in the movement will communicate with Major Wolfe either by writing or at the Volunteer Office, he will see what can be done.j "An Evening with Authors" by the Re 7. K. S Gray, assisted by local amateurs, is announced for Wednesday, the 11th prox. The proceeds are in aid of the Saltation Army Rescue Work. The friends of Miss A. M. Evans will regret to learn that she is about to sever j her long connection with Nelson, intend- ! ing to proceed to South Africa early next ; month. Miss Evans' shorthand and type- ■ writing business has been taken over by ! Miss Greig, a Nelson young lady, one of 1 Miss Evans' pupils, and an advertisement elsewhere notifies the transfer. Miss Greig has devoted much attention to the study and practice of shorthand and type-writing, and she is deserving of all success. Miss Evans has won the esteem of all during her residence in Nelson, and she carries with her to the distant Cape the heartiest and best wishes lor her future happiness and prosperity. In view of the resignation by Mr VV | H. Roid of the Presidentship of the New ' ; Zealand Law Society after his retirement ! from the position of Crown Law Officer, 1 Mr H. D. Bell, of Wellington, has been ■ elected President, and Mr Martin Chap- ■ , man, also of Wellington, has been ap- ' i pointed Vice-President, i ■ j The Inangahua River, from its source j to its confluence with the Buller River, together with its tributaries, except Patl tinson'u and Phillip's Creeks and their f tributaries, has been proclaimed a water- ■ course fDr the deposit of tailings, » The Maoris at Pihama (Taranaki) are i' unfortunate in haviug poor potato yields " this year. When the crops were wt-ll i ' abjve ithe ground, and giving every promise of being as good as usnal, the topß withered away, and tho result iathat - the potatoes are small and scarce. a A most extraordinary case of mistaken a indentity has just been head at Broken - ' Hill (N.S.W.), Wiliiam Holmes, who s ' has been known in Broken Hill for the 3 ' past four and a half years, was bued in i the name of Henry Ward for wife dcv sertion. The evidence of complainant 3 and several witnesses was that Holmes i ; was really Ward, a watchmaker, of Crysi brook, South Australia, where he had >- ; lived up to January, 189 S. Tniß evdence s i was disproved by several witnesses, moo ! eluding Mr. Francis M'Crow, of Adela de, - j who sa.d tbat Holmes had been in his emr | ploy since 1896, aad had been in Broken • ! Hill since 1897, sending him weekly stated mentß. Other witnesses testified that Holmes had not been out of the town since 1897. The Bench held thai it was a case of mistaken identity, and dismiss- | ed it, allowing the defendant five guineas 5 costs. | Mr R. fcnodgrass, Staffordshire House, c in ano her column notifies that he is come mencing h's anaual stock-taking sale, t during which he will give a discount of „ 15 per cent off all regular stock.— Advt. a There is great rejoicing amongst the . : Norwegian ;id7ocate3 of tho rights of ■ : women. "The New Woman in Norway " c ! says the " Kloine Zeitung," "hasgaintda [ glorious victory. " For many years Ihe Norwegian " Fleminsten" have been wage ing war n gainst th>i use of the word „ I "obey "in the marriage Bervice of the 0 Norwegian Church, and iheir labou 8 are a at 'length crowned with success, or at t least with partial success. The htaa'sr rath in Christiana has ruled that the use t of the word shall henceforth not be obli--1 gatory upon the bride, but facultative. ' That is to s-ay, the bride is to be free t either to say that she will ba 'faithful s and obedient, ' or simply to say that she n will be ' faithful, '" s Since the kite has entered into the do--0 main uf science (says " Cosmos ") it has [j < been greatly perfected. The aim has v I been to give to it considerable ascensional . | foace and great stability, so that it may 1 j be used to carry into the air apparatus V used in meteorology and photography without fear of disastrous fall. But hitherto little has been done to utilise r ! its force of traction, which may be con siderablo if it is given sufficient height. j Recently, however, experiments in this j direction have been made on the Moselle by a man who, having flown a Malay kite j two metres (6ft) in length, caused it to tow against a somewhat swift current a boat holding six persons. The wind was s quite strong, and it was very easy to in- . crease the force of traction by flying ! several kites. Those of the Hargrave system would, berhaps, be the best, since one of this kind, having a height of i-A metre (4£ ft) can scarcely be held by two J men, when enough cord has been paid . out. The retaining cable must possess , great strength, especially if it is to hold several kites, or the tractive force | may rupture it. Tt is evident that in this original mode of locomotion the di- ■ rection of the wind plays an important part, for if the angle that it makes with j the watercourse exceeds 45deg. or 50deg. j the boat is hard to steer and moves slowly. Nevertheless, this method of seeking a continuous current of air at a certain height is of the greatest simplicity. If it is not used, the reason is doubtless that it has been thought that | not enough force would be developed by it. Still, the results already obtained are interesting. On Saturday next Messrs Bisley Bros and Co will offer by public auction at their ?ooms, Hardy-street, two valuable and well-situated freehold properties. One containing 20 acres first-claas land in Suburban Narth and known as " Iresillian.'' Ihe other containing' 23 acres owned by Mr Ives at Wakefield. Particulars of sales will be found in the firm's advertisement columns. To-morrow at l - 30 p.m. Mr Wm. Lock will sell the balance of furniture and effects, books and sundries in a deceased eslatej also other lines on account of variclients. On Saturday evening next at 8 o'clock Mr Lock will hod what is considered to be one of the most important land sales ever held in Nelson, The Fell Estate has been divided into i§ allotments with low upset prices and the conditions are on very easy terms of payment. As the sale is attiacting considerable attention a large attendance is confidently anticipated.