Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1896.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXX, Issue 221, 18 September 1896, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1896.

Nelson is deliriously " far from the madding orowd's ignoble strife," and those who seek " a laud where it is always afternoon " meet ibeir desire here. Let any Nelsonian to whom the primrose on the river's brim is more than merely a yellow primrose look around theso glorious days when it is a pleasure to live, and he must be thankful for his lovely home. The willow is waving welcome to the spring and speeding the winter in long whips of tender green.. The roße is purpling with renewed youth. The golden gorseis lighting up hedgerow and hillside. ihe young leaves are peeping from the hawthorns and climbing the tall poplars. Tho blue periwinkle is shining like maiden's eyes in ditch and on hillock. White masses of may and spirea relieve the green brilliance of our gardens, and blend with the blossom-shower of fruit trees, with the pink cf rhododendrons, and the scarlet of pomegranate buds, ihe l J aulownia is expiring in sweetest scent, and the Wistaria will soon be shedding her petals, mingling her flower-blue witii her leaf-green. We are awakened in the morning by the hymn-ohorus of birds. The blackbird, the thrush, the tui, and the mok-a-mok make priceless rnusio wbiph costs nothing, and the air is vibrant wjth the thanksgiving of the lark. sll nature is waking from her winter sleep, and opening her lips in praise to God for life With not more beauty— or more charm of climate — with not us much — scores of places in New Zealand attract visitors who pass Nelson by. The Australian fleeing from the scorching breath of his summer makes the r.oijnd trip of New Zealand ; but he must go out of his road to tako Nelson in his tour. On a clear day wo can discern tho masts of the Sydney steamers passing the iSpit for Wellington. There may be passengers for Nelson, but they have to go onward many miles, pay 'extra passage money, and tranship from the capital ero they reach their bourne. Whon the two steaniship companies which control the intercolonial ocean traffic arrange for round tours of New Zealand, Nelson is not included in the ports that may be visited without additional cost. It is everybody's business — hence nobody's business — to see that Nelson is properly served in regard to the tourist traffic ; but tho acknowledged garden of the colony is comparatively negloctod by tho spring and summer travel, and it is put out of tho way. Soon the trout will bo swarming in the streams, Jthe deer will be bounding on the hills, ihe quail will bo scuttliag in the scrub ; biit thoro will bo few to seek them! Tourist sportsmen will wander over Wellington hills, follow Canterbury streams, seek the thermal springs of tho North, the cold lakes pi the South, tho Sounds of the West; but they will pass Nelson by because it is difljcult ai^d costly to get here. It must be admitted, however, that if they came they would find us unprepared. The hotel accommodation of the city, fairly good as it is, is not based on the requirements of a greater influx of travellers | and therj is little, if any, arrangement or organisation for conducting tourists or sportsmen to the places they aro like y to seek. A handbook published some years ag > — the .Union Company's, wo think — epoke patronisingly of Nelson as a pretty enough place, whose attractions, however, could bo exhausted jn a day. But those attractioDß could not be exhausted in a year to people who love nature or to pi ople who love sport. How Nelson grows into the' heart fhppe who have spent years in the bljO»ot#ny ,of Australian scenery, <uvd Who have' Ijyp4 awe for a while, can best tell. ' We aresanfrui^noughto believe frbat if proper provision were made 1 for the fourist traffio it wonkl come to Nelson alniosf, in presence to other places in New

Zealand. If wo had a tender service to the Bpifc, and if the Union Company's steamers would go but a little out of their way to transship passengers and cargo into tenders under the lee of the land instead of passing the province and taking them first to Wellington, there to be charged extra for fare and luggage, travellers would come here in crowds. But we should also have to provide for their stay with us— furnish them with attractions and comforts, lead them to the best haunts of game and fish, conduct them to the "lions" of our scenery, and make their visit as pleasant as possible — at their own expense, of course. In New South Wales all towns which claim to be the oentre of " show plaoes " have their Progress Associations, formed by residents, the scope of the Municipal Oounci'a and othor local bodies not being wide enough to permit them to do the work the Progress Association undertakes. In Bathurst, *.he " Metropolis of the Western Plains," the Progress Association is a very Btrong organisation indeed. It raised funds to lay out a public park, it acclimatised trout and game, it issued an illustrated guide to the city and district ; and it has plastered railway carriages, hotels, and public hails with photographs of the aeenery resorts likely to prove most attractive to tourists. It has also beon conspiring to get the Governor to make Bathnrst his summer residence instead of Moss Vale, on the southern spur of the Blue Mountains, A Progress Association in Nelson oould work in union .with the City Council, the Acclimatisation Society, and the Soenery Preservation Booiety. It could guard ihe interests of the district, which are at present certainly neglected so far as the travelling services go, With such a body in existence, tourists would not be compelled to go round two sides of a triangle to reach Nelson from Australia, nor would bundles in railway extension be perpetrated without protest. The functions o£ the Association would be to promote the welfare of the city, and to increase the valuo of its properties by attracting tourists and assisting them to amuse themselves while here. There is no reason why such an organisation should not be formed, and it is hoped tho suggestions hero made will bo talsen up and carried out by representative residents.