Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1893.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXVII, Issue 226, 25 September 1893, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1893.

The Wellington Eecntny Post a few d.iys ago drew attention to a clause iu tho newly passed Electoral Ace, through which a good many people are likoly to come to trouble. Under the law in force till the Act wa9 paa>od a mau could register as an elector in each district in . which ho owued the necessary property qualification, though for some years it has not been lawful to vote iu more than one district at a general election. Now it is provided that no person shall appear on more than one electoral roll, and some people are very likely to find themselves liable to a penalty of £5. The duty is cast on all those who are enrolled more than once to select tho roll on which they wish their names to remain, and anyone failing to do so within forty days from the commenoemei't of the Aot is subject to the above mentioned fine. The clause of the Act is as follows : — " Every person who at the commencement of this a ct is to his knowledge registered as an elector in respect of one or more qualifications in more districts than one, and who under the provisions of section 11 is entitled to have his name retained on the rolls for such districts, shall, within forty days next after the aforesaid commencement, choose the district and the qualification in respect of which respectively he elects to continue to be regis* tered, aud within the aforesaid time shall notify the Registrar of each district that he desires hiß name to be retained on the roll of the said district; and such Registrar shall inform all Registrars of districts on the rolls of which he shall notice the name of the person sending him Buch notification, of the fact of such notification, aud such Registrars shall thereupon delete from the rolls of their districts the name of such person. And any person :.s aforesaid who, knowing his natuo to bo on mora than one rolf, fails to give the notice hereby required to be given to any Registrar within the time mentioned in this section, sliall be liable to a penalty not exceeding £5, and shall not be entitled to yoto at any election so long aB he kuowiogly allows his name to remain on more than oue roll." The Aot came into force when it received the Governor's assent last Tuesday, bo that there remains little more than a month to notify the r.egis. trars of the ohoice of roll. The clause is an exceedingly h irsh one, and many persons who have every desire to obey the law are likely to be caught, owing to their igaorance of its provisions. (j[ course a plea of ignorauco of tho law is no defence in case of prosecution, and it is very desirable that in this case the liabilities under •vhich a considerable part of the population lies should be made publicly kuowu.

A correspondent writes :—An inquest was held at Tadmor on 21st inst. before Mr S. Goodall J.P., acting as Coroner, touching the death of George Arthur Big^s, a«ed 4 years and 2 months, the son of Mr George Biggs, of Tadmor Hill, farmer. The evidence showed that de ceased in company with his sister, who is about two years older, went to a neighbour's, and on returning over a footbridge across the Tadmor 'iver ti,e ]j tt]e ooy became giddy and fell off the bridge into the river where he was drowned: The little girl it seems went into the water to his assistance, but it was too deep for her to reach him. She then cried out and ran and told her mother, whose residence is about a quarter of a mile off. Mrs Biggs at once ran down, and calling as she went, attracted the attention of Mr Thos Hodgkinson who quickly went to her assistance, and immediately rescued the body of the boy from the water, but it was too late, for although every effort was used to restore animation it failed, The body had been carried down for a distance of fully twelve chains. A verdict of accidentally drowned was returned, with a rider added calling the attention of the County authorities to the fact that the footbridge is of no use for children inasmuch as the hand rail is too high and stands out too far for them to reach, as examplified in this case for the little fellow called that he was giddy and tried to grasp the hand rail but could not, hence the sad result. A proper wire suspension footbridge is urgently required and if not supplied other accidents will assuredly follow. Mr Knott gave his limelight lecture entertainment in several parts of the country last week. At Wakefield on Wednesday and at Dovedale on Thursday there were crowded meetings. Ihe railwhy returns for the four weeks ending 19th of August show tin total receipts to have been £7 2.452 Os ad, and the expenditure £55,073 Gs lOd In the carresponding period last year the revenue \v,.b £75,628 19s 7d, and the expenditure £(50,768 17s 2.1. Of the revem", the North Island lines supplied £24,652 11s gainst £24,714 7s 3J, aid the Middle Island lines £49 799 9a Bd, agaii.st £50,814 12a 4di The North Island lines absorbed £20,196 10a 7d, against £20,091 7s 3d, and the Middle Inland lines £34,876 16s 3d, against £40,677 8s lid. The revenue from the Nelson section was £524 15a 2d, against £688 13s 2d last year, and the expenditure £674 13s sd, against £613 6s 10(3. ,»The Otago Daily Times says that the report of Professor Hooker on the tin deposits at Pegasus, Stewart liland, is adverse, and he sees no hope whatever of making the alluvial tin pay. The only portion of eight sections that could be called payable is the wash in M'Fayden's creek. The value of the deposit there he estimates at £1562, but it would cose £1500 to bring to water aud make means of o niveyance to tho port. He is tquaily outspekeu with regard 1 1 the 8 - oallcd lode formation. He sa^s the whole nput'tionof the lode rested on the presence of a few good patches of tin-bearing stone, and ignoring the barren stone, Personally, he Bays, he would not put a penny iuto the property.