The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1867.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume II, Issue 245, 18 October 1867, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1867.

We regret to state that the party who left town on Wednesday night for the Pakawau coalfield, and who extended their excursion to Collingwood, report unfavorably of the goldfield in that district, relative to which such bright anticipations had been formed. They state that ail the sinkings on Washbourne's Flat have been bottomed without any results, and the ground is now quite deserted, except by Wilson and his party j •who are doing very well, though all the holes sunk in tbeir immediate vicinity have pro«ed so unprofitable. Iu Appoo's Gully, Mr Nicholls and his mates went down to a depth of about 60 leet without bottoming, but, as he stated in his recent letter the contents of which appeared in this journal, the water proved too strong for them, and they were compelled to leave it. They therefore returned to Nelson last night in the Lady Barkly. Mr Nicholls is, however, fuliy of opinion that, could the difficulty presented by the influx of water into the holes be surmounted, gold-would be found in payable quantities. Another party- who are now sinking on Appoo's Flat, have reached a depth of 108 feet, without bottoming, bat have just come upoa^pipe clay and gravel, which is regarded- as a favorable sigu. A large party of miners have left and gone overland to We&t Wanganui, and we are 'informed" that Collingwood itself presents anything but the appearance of a township iu the vicinity of a flourishing goidfitli. our .readers will perceive from an advertisement ..in.. another...column that the October'Tne&tmg of the Permanent Building Society will be held on Monday afternoon at .tfr» Temperance Hall at 5 p.m. Thu twelfth series of shares commences oo the same day; the value of the existing shares up (o the end of September last is given iu the advertisement, irom which it s^ill he seen that Che society is iu a flourishing state.

if- One *bf* the beat days' sport witnessed ip Nelson for a . long time past took place yesterday afternoon in the vicinity of Stoke, where it- had been announced, that a 'paper hunt', would take place. Not less than a hundred horsemen, with several equestriennes, and a sprinkling of vehicle.} had found their way to the low ground on the W-tzraea-road near the Annesbrook stables by. 3 o'clock, aud after a short delay the start was made, the scent ha v iug beeu previously laid, Captain Spiiler acting as muster of the hunt on. Capt in Johnson's gallant grey Harkaway, Mr R. Richardsou ou Subaltern, and Mr Arthur Collins on Hauhau, being first and second whips. These were followed', by Mr W. Robinson on Gamester, Mr Baker Gabb on Moro, Mr Kuy vett on Tim Whiffler, Mr Kiugliam- on Templar, Mr Paul on Flying Buck, Messrs Warren, Pratt, Trask, Hudson, and mauy others with whose names we were unacquainted. After a" short delay, the master having got his pack together, led off for the first fence, which he took in capital j 6tyle, followed by his whips, who were mounted on well-known Wangauui horses. Several oilier feucea on the low grouud, which tried the prowess of not' i horses and riders, were cleared in fast succession, by which time the numbers of the pack had become slightly select. The fence into the Waimea-road was taken in famous style by all the horses, but iu going up the lane towards Mr Marsdeu's residence, aud through some heavy couutry, there was a cry of 'bellows to mend' amongst the followers of the pack, and after a short check the scent was again struck, and the spectators on the road had a fine view of the 'negotiation' of a stiff rail fence, taken by^ the master in fiiie form, followed closely by the whips aud Mr Baker Gabb, who rode well to the front throughout the run. Some heavy country at the back of Mr Marsdeu's residence having been successfully traversed, a fine finish home across the grass and over two very stiff fences on to the road and out again, and then across the lane into the racecourse, where a few ' came to earth' without sustaining any serious injury, concluded a most successful day's sport. The Hunt are much indebted to Mr Stafford, who is always ready to support any m inly anuseraent, and who entertained a large party of friends at Annesbrook after the hunt, and also to Mr Marsden who, uulike some of bis neighbors, did not hesitate to throw every facility in the way of the sport. The party of gentlemen who left by the ; Lady Barkly on Wednesday for Pakawau, returned to town this morning, after going through a variety of vicissitudes *by field and flood.' On at riving at Pakawau on Thursday morning they visited two of the seams under the guidance of Mr Wiesenhavern. The last discovered seam presents a face of 3£ feet of coal, of which the upper portion is steam coal without any impurity, and the lower, separated from the other by a finger's breadth of rock, is what would be called in England ' stone coal,' and though useful for household purposes, is not so available for raising steam. The party, who were fully satisfied of the value aud availability of this coalfield, proceeded overland to Collingwood, the weather having been most uopropitious during the whole trip; in fact it is stated that not a single day has passed for the last month tbat rain has not fallen in that district. It seems strangely incomprehensible, when the complaint so frequently resounds in our ears that such rare opportunities of amusement present themselves nowadays in this city, to find that entertainments "of unquestionable merit, like those which the ; Empire ''Dram^iftic CompahjafelSoW giving at tbef Oddfellows' Halty meet -with' such meagre appreciation from' our citizens. We are told that this fact is attributable to a rumor whwh' has gained ground to the efieet tbat' the performances arenot of such a character as to prove acceptable to those who would otherwise patronise them. All we cab" say is;, that nothing can be more false and malicious than such a statement, for we have rarely /Jf«.ver^,w.itdessed any dramatic-, representations from which . aU .that. could offend the most fastidious "taste was bo rigidly aud carefully excluded, and we confidently appeal to those who have been present at the various performances to corroborate this statemeut. Our good citizens seems to forget that this dental of the public patronage to deserving artistes operates immediately in depriving us of the opportunities of participating iu the pleasures desirable from exhibitions of i . even a higher class than these, which

woulu otherwise present themselves, for we can hardly, won Her that with such dubious success awaiting their efforts, so few artistes of aDy celebrity have ventured to; visit our city. The performance of Delicate Ground, )»nd The Loan of a Lover was of such a character aa to caii for much regret that a larger audience was not present to witness such excellent ira? personations as those of Miss Annie Mer* ton and MrW". H.Newton, as Pauline and. Citizen Sangfroid in the first play, one of the most elegant aud sparkling comedies which has ever been placed on the stage, full of repartee and telling tions, and of Gertrude aud Peter Spy k in the latter, always a favorite piece, wliich was given with more than ail the incidental music,. and with the most unqualified success. The musical interlude included the beautiful air from Lurline, * Sweet Spirit,' which proved Miss Annie Merton's possession of powers of vocalisation of no common order, and which provoked another song, 'The Young Lady's No,' as'an encore; the new Americau warsong and chorus, 'Geueral Sherman's March through Georgia,' which was given by Mr Newton with immense spirit, arid was also encored; a new local song by Mr Manton, which was, we think, a mistake, as the more appreciative portion of the audience pretty distinctly demonstrated, and which was by no means equal to the capital song on the Nelson Fire Brigade which followed and which was warmly received. The two overtures, Italiani in Algieri and Tancredi, excellently well, played tty the orchestra, were each loudly applauded. To-night the company makes a very ambitious effort, the celebrated sensational drama of the Corsican Brothers being announced, with new scenery, etc., with Nan the Good-for-Nothing ; and we trust to see a far more numerous audience present than has yet been the case. We understand that it is the intention of the members of tbe Nelson Artizans' Mutual Improvement Society to hold an exhibition of work executed by them, during the race week, probably some lime in March next, for the object of procuring a library iu connection with the Society. Similar exhibitions have operated most beneficially in England, where they have taken place very generally, and we rejoice to hear that this decision has been arrived at, since we believe that it will not only show of what Nelson tradesmen are capable, but may also lead to the introduction of new local industries. On the 3rd instant, when the House of Representatives waa in committee on the Protection of Animals Bill, the Hon. John Hall said that Mr Arthur Atkinson's idea of a perfect state of society appeared to bo one wherein there were no laws, no magistrates, no offenders, no churches, no Sundays, no nothing. In short, there was an individual whom he seemed to look ! upon as the type of a happy man — Bobinson Crusoe. Upon which Mr Atkinson retaliated by reminding the Postmaster-General that at least Robinson Crusoe made a capital settler under very adverse circumstances, and he attributed his success principally to the fact of his not having been hampered with a General Assembly ! An attempt is being made in Westport to establish a Philharmonic Society in that town. A preliminary meeting has been held with this purpose, but nothing definite has yet been arrived at. Westport Times of Wednesday last says that there cannot be a doubt of a rush to Mpkihiuui having set in, and business people are going from every direction. The Times adds that as a matter of course it will be overdone, and then the Buller dis* trict will be blamed for the folly of those •who will over-rush every place that is opened. -_cA correspondent df the Westport Even* ing Star, writing from' Mokihinui, says thai tbere are any quantity of buildiuga going up afid sections continue to rise in value, via Burnett-street as. high as £80 is aeked for a section/ ortwor- -Pimber-for-building purposes ia getting rather scarce; also butcher's meat, in fact; there was no butcher meat fpr three or four days last week. There are many reports from up thia river of diggers getting gold. There are a great mauy waiting in town ready to go up when the weather becomes more settled. The terraces are still turning out well. One party washed lf£oz. out of a load of dirt last week. Dan Sullivan and party bottomed their shaft last night at a depth of 75 feet, and struck good gold, this is on the south terrace. Everyone. tUere is confident that the place is right.

Jf any of the diggers are carrying in a head . > of water, aud iu a few weeks there will be a good return of gold. The wash in Sul?\ livan's claim is from 18 to SO inches; coarse 7 gojkl; right through. • '....-', '. *, 7 J.;.' •^JThe Westport Times states that the ; amount of gold brought into Westport from the surrounding district is ou tho. increase. Notwithstanding the roughl. - and boisterous weather which prevailed, : the batiks on Saturday purchased between 400 and 500 ozs of eotd. .y- y ."