News of the Day.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XXXII, Issue 189, 13 December 1873, Page 3

News of the Day.

, , , , _.. . . .. Prize Day at Nelson College. — This is the prize-day at Nelson College. At noon Mr. Burnicoat nill attend to award to the pupils the prizes they have won. There will, no doubt, be the usual £ large attendance of friends of the pupils and the public. Bishop's School, Nelson. — The usual annual * distribution ol prizes will take place to-day at' the Bishop's School, by the Rev. Mr. Johnstone. As , the head-muster (Mr. Lee) is about to leave Nelson, having received the appointment of Inspector of Schools in Wellington, there will, no doubt, be a large muster of his lriends on the occasion. " Aladdin." — This burlesque was again played last night at the Oddfellows' Hull by the Thornton ] family, with the assistance of the ainateuro of the Artizuns' Dramatic Association. ' ] Dinnkb to Mb. O'Conor.— We understand that Mr. O'Conor is to be asked to accept the compliment of a public dinner, to be civen by his committee 1 and friends, on the evening ot the day of the declaration of the poll. The dinner will probably take place at the Temperance Hall. ' J The Representation of Collingwood. — Mr. Williiun Gibbs has been elected to represent the district ot Collingwood m tho House of Representatives. Thq election created no excitement, there being no opposition to Mr. Gibbs. Public Health.— What has become of the application of Nelson to the General Government 4o be created a borough ? Weeks have p«a»ed away, and nothing move baa been hea.vd of the petition. ( It is full time that the city was in charge of a borough council, for its siwiitary state is by no means nice. The hoat of the last Jew days has brought l out in great intensity the peculiar odours for which 1 Hardy-street, westward from Trafalgar-street, is notorious. At night the atmosphere lnis been altogether unbearable, and how the tew residents there contrive to exist, is a marvel. Such a state of things in the centre of the town is greatly to bo resetted. The Coal Mines.— Among the passengers by the Alhambra, we observe, are two Melbourne gentlemen, interested in the lease lately granted of the Brunner coal mine, and in one of the applications iv connection with the iron-fields of Collmgwocid. They visit Nelson, no doubt, to take a look for themselves, ut the mineral fields ot the province, while th,ey, escape the hottest portion of the- Victorian, ouuiiner in a trip to New Zealand. The San Francisco Maw-.— The steamer chartered to convey the first home mail from New Zealand to Fiji, there to be put on board the Macgi'egor, is the A.S.N. Company's steamer Governor Bluckall. This vessel waa built at Sydney tor the Queensland Government, and is reported to be very last in smooth water. She made one or two voyages from Melbourne to King George's Sound and back to Adelaide with the English mails, and made fair passages. She is not, however, a vessel which passengers on a loag vo>age would very much desire. She may do for a make-shift tor a vojage or two. The 8 a. Alhambra. — This vessel has, apparently, met with better weather on the run acrosa from Melbourne to Hokitika than did the Phc&be and the Hero between Sydney and Auck.la.nd. The Alhambra left Melbourne on the 6th instant, and was off Hokitika at an early hour yesterday, though at one o'clock p,m. she had not been tondered. She will, probably, rench Nelson in the course of the afternoon. She appears to have brought no luter English intelligence. Tasmanian Iron. — We observe from the Launceston newspapers that the first pig-iron produced in Tasmania haa been run off most successfully from the furnaces of the Ilfracoo^be Iron Company, near the mouth of the River Tamar. The furnaces were designed iv Melbourne, and the necessary castings were made there. " The-company," the Launceston

Examiner remarks, " begin with unexceptional pronpects." Wo may add that the works have been established by v private company of ten gentlemen, each of whom risked £l,00l) in the venture. Una they have done well for themselves and the colonies will bo apparent when it is considered tiiat pig-iron in now worth £10 10s. per tou in England. This should be an encouragement to those who are looking to the iron deposits of Collingwood, with the view of establishing works there. Promotion. — llr. Bramston, of the QueensWnd bnr, has been appointed Attorney-General at Hong Kong. . The Melbduene Defaulter. — The Victorian civil servant who landed in New Zealand by the Alhauibra on her last trip appears to have been a much cleverer person than had been supposed. Soon aft»r he left it was found that his defalcations reached £11,000. It now appears that he lias been successful year after year in deceiving tho Audit Commissioners, who are supposed to be rather sharp fellows. Aii examination of his books back to 1866 has been made by a clerk in the Treasury, and £7,000 added to the ascertained loss. The inquin will be carried back as far as 1862, when the Land Act came into operation, as it is supposed that with Hie initiation of the new land system in Victoria, O'Fari'ell at once commenced a game by which hr which he has been able to swindle the Lands Department at the rate of at least £2,000 a-jear for eleven yeare..