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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume II, Issue 137, 14 June 1867, Page 3

: A mistake occurred iv our report of his Honor the Superintendent's Speech to the Council which is liable to serious mis- '"• construction, aud which we hasten to coy- •: rect. Id the paragraph referring to the '•■ general participation of the province in ■ its revenue, the Superintendent is made ; to say, that " the lai-ge sums drawn from \ the other parts of the West Coast, while ■ it was yielding little or nothing to the •'• revenue, could not have been so appropriated," whereas the passage should read thus, " the large sums drawn from the other parts of the province to be expended 1 upon the West Coast," &c, &c. His Honor Mr. Justice Richmond ar- :| rived last night by the Otago from the '■; "West Coast. The Judge is not accom•'"l pauied by bis family, and has not as yet, j we are informed, fixed upon any permanent '.!«■ place of residence in the city. •$ The performances of Andy Blake last I evening at the Odd-FelJows' flail, was | unquestionably the greatest triumph which 1 the Nathan Troupe have achieved since | their arrival heve. The Hall was crowded if in every part with a highly delighted If audience. We had intended givingr|la sketch of this domestic drama, which, :p however, our present space Iprecludes us |lfrom doing, and we raust therefore conill tent ourselvas with stating that the •|| character of Andy was pourtrayed by y| Little Marion with marvellous truthfulsilness to nature ; the. rollickiug drollery If and mad love of mischief of the unbridled M boy contrasting strangely with. the tender

pathos of the deeply affectionate brother. The characteristic play of the features aud the astonishing alternation of voice from grave to gay, accompanied by most appropriate gesture, which was observable throughout the drama, point at once to the possession of wonderful imitative powers, subjected to careful training aud to au extraordinarily precocious genius. A more genuine success was never achieved, and the fact that a tiny child, like Little Marion, was able to move to tears a large audience composed of all classes of society, is iv itself the best proof of our assertion. Mr Small's "make-up" as the General was admirable, and his impersonation of the bluff, warm-hearted veteran officer, the beau ideal of an Irish gentleman, was everything that could be desired. Accustomed as we have beeu to see Mr Small in purely comic roles, we were quite unprepared for such a display of deep pathos and sensibility to the more tender emotions. We have left ourselves no space io mentiou the rest of the performances, and can only state that Mr Small'sburlesque Willikindandhys Dinah was superlatively ludicrous , and abounded in puns and coutortions of the English tongue worthy of the Brothers Brougham, while the characters were well supported, and the costumes, etc., hot!) rich and tasteful. The entire performance is auuounced for repetition to-night and to-morrow, Au accident of a peculiarly strange \ character occurred at Captain Johnson's residence, at College Hill, on Thursday last. It appears that a lad, mounted on horseback, was crossing the yard near the house, when the animal was suddenly precipitated through the cover of a wp.ll, the very existence of which was unknown to the present occupants of the property, having beeu covered over with wood, &c. The lad managed to scramble off the horse's back to the ground, and thus escaped any injury, while the animal fell with great violence to the bottom of the well, which is about five feet in diameter and 25 feet iv depth. Tackle was immediately procured; aud, after considerable trouble, the horse was ultimately raised ? to the surface, strange to say, quite un-' injured by the accident which had befallen him. We learn, from information received by the Otago, that the bar at Hokitika is at present iv a very bad state. The steamer Bruce is ashore, and vessels which had entered the bar are unable to make their exit. The election for the Local Committee of Education for the city of JSTelson took place this morning at the Court House at 12 o'clock. The Provincial Treasurer, J. Sharp, Esq., was called to the chair, and having stated the object of the meeting, called for the nomination of candidates for the office of members of Cotnmitee, when Messrs. Jas. Hooper, R. Burn, D. Burns, and H. C. Dauiel, were declared to have been elected. But a small number of persons were present, and the proceedings, as usual, appeared to create little interest. We extract the following from a leading article iv the Lyi tie ton Times of the 28th ult., referring to the preseut political situation in Otago. — fi lf circumstances have arisen necessitating the refusal of that delegation, these should be sufficient to shew ("hat the provinces do not present obstacles to good government, or resist the amendment of their own abuses. This self-recuperative power is one of the greatest glories of the British Constitution and is the effectual preventive of those revolutions by which other countries are disturbed. ***** "The provincial Government of Otago will surely not afford a fresh opportunity for interfering with its proceedings. The summons to the people to express their opinion on the question in dispute is a very unwise one. No such thing can be truly done unless throughout the whole colory. What would be thought of the French settlers at Akaroa giving a unanimous plebiscitwn in favor of uniting their farms to New Caledonia, uuder a confederation? And yet the absurdity would be greater ouly in degree and not in kind. The reckless vote iv favor of the one million loan can be injurious to provincial interests only in virtue of its indiscreetness. But it is to be regretted. Despite the cavils of the Otago Daily Times we must repeat the statement that the only specific engagements which that loan was proposed to meet were the debt of seventy thousand pounds for harbor improvements, aud the loan of 1856. Public works and immigration were no doubt mentioned as objects to be promoted by the loan; but the !

public works were not specified, and of course there was no attempt made at estimating their cost. The proportion to be expended on immigration, was not even named. It may be that the Provincial Council of Orago is accustomed to deal in lump suras and lump measures after this fashion, but such legislation only occasions suspicion elsewhere. The Council hints at great doings, which may win favor iv the case of a plebiscitum, but a3 certainly ensure rejection from the General Assembly."