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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 98, 24 April 1873, Page 4

The telegraph Hne between Drury and Manukau Heads is being rapidly erected. The remains of a large bird, presumedly a moa, has been unearthed on the Ahaura Plains.;;'."''." , Times notices, as,a new feature in. West Coast; practice, that the Resident -Magistrate at Greymouth is allowing eight per cent; interest bh civil I ] cases heard before hina. t . ., o

Hokitika possesses a novelty in the shape of a " Tender Committee." The Post says : — Those who have had most to do with committees have generally found them to be very tough affairs." There have been registered in Christchurch 923 claims to vote this year, as compared with 569 last year. The increase is largely due to the esertions of the Christchurch Registration of Votes Association. At Wellington, on the 18th instant, a hospital patient, M'Neil, was sentenced to one month's imprisonment for begging money from people " to buy a stamp for a letter, sir," and drinking the proceeds, lis 7d was found on him. Duking the month of March, 821 tons of quartz were crushed at* Coromandel, which yielded 19980z of gold. The Harbor View claim obtained the extraordinary yield of 2430z 15dwt of gold from 4cwt 56 dwt of stone. On March 29, 30610z of gold reached Auckland from that goldfield. One of the leading journals of the north thus speaks of the Governor expectant : — " Sir James Fergusson is by birth a patrician, by education a scholar, by training a statesman, by experience of office an administrator, and by every instinct which has guided his public acts he has proved himself to be a man of honor and unswerving principles. He is, as those who know him best can tell, astute, farseeing, and closely observant, with a will and a thoroughness of purpose not easily .moved or turned from the direction of its bent." The Westland police seem to ba peculiarly and painfully hard up. The Register says that recently the Magistrate enquired why the constables employed in the collection of Agricultural Statistics had not sent in their vouchers for expenses incurred in the performance of this special duty. The Commissioner replied that in consequence of the police not having received their salaries for the last two months, they had been unable to liquidate the claims against thera aDd therefore could not forward the receipted accounts, which do duty as vouchers. This revelation excited much surprise, and we are sorry to say merriment, seeing that a police force in so utterly an impecunious position is certainly a standing disgrace to the County.