The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 1868.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume III, Issue 128, 2 June 1868, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 1868.

The Wellington Independent has the following : — lt has been stated that Mr John Morrison, of London (the agent for the Colony and for Wellington and Nelson Provinces) had been paid a commission * in the face of a resolution of the Council declaring that the commission should not be paid.' This is not exactly correct. The Provincial Treasurer has, we hear — while the Superintendent was away — paid the said gentleman a sum to the tune of about £1,160 ; but this sum was on the estimates ; only it was by some understood that before any payment on this head was made, the matter was to be referred to the Provincial Council for revisal, mauy persons thinking that Mr. Morrison should not be paid a commission on the cost of erecting the wharf (which he had nothing to do with) as well as a commission on the cost of materials delivered in London. Besides it was only reasonable that he should not be paid a commission on the slip until the present settlement is completed by an act which has to be passed by tha Provincial Council at its next sitting. It is a very large sum that has been paid for a few days negotiating for a slip and a wharf; besides it is well known that all the hard and practical work of inspecting the material iv the country and seeing it shipped in London, fell to the share of Mr C. R. Carter, who, as yet, has received no payment. It must be a profitable thing — in these hard times — to be agent for so many governments — to receive so many commissions, and to get leave of absence into the bargain to procure more. We are gratified to be able to state that Mr W. C. Hodgson, whose late serious illness excited such grave apprehensions in the minds of his numerous friends, is in a fair way of recovery, his medical adviser giving the best hopes of his speedy resto- | ration to health. The anniversary supper of the Past Grand Lodge of the Order of Oddfellows took place last night at the Nelson Hotel, when about 30 were present. The Provincial Grand Master of the District, Mr John WigzelJ, occupied the chiar, sapported in the vice cbair by the Deputy Grand Master, Mr C. Brighton. The repast was served in Mr M'Gee's usual excellent style, and the various loyal toasts, and those appropriate to the Order, were received with much enthusiasm. We understand that the last pile of the Waimea Bridge will be driven to-day ; six piers are already completed, and the three which remain unfinished will probably be completed in about six weeks' time. The span of the bridge is 554 feet, and on tlie completion of the Wai-iti j bridge, at Spring Grove, which is to be ! commenced immediately by the came con- [ tractors, a large quantity of the timber required for the purpose being already on the ground, a pleasant drive will be practicable at all seasons from Nelson through Waimea West to Waimea South home by the Wairoa Bridge. We would remind our Richmond readers of the lecture on the Poets announced to be delivered to-morrow evening, at the Wesleyan Chapel, by the Rev. W. Lee, whose recent Jecture on the same subject at Kaiapoi, Canterbury, was favorably quoted in our issue of yesterday. As we have already notified, the anniversary tea meeting at the Wesleyan Church, Hardy Street takes place this evening, to be followed by a public meeting, with addresses, &c, by various ministers and friends. The Moutoa is to make two trips tomorrow to the Rabbit Island, at 8 a.m., and J p.m. respectively, and in order to save time and trouble, intending passengers are requested to be punctual, and also to provide the requisite change for the payment of their fare. It will be seen tbat Madame Carandini and her party purpose making a flying visit to this city, and will give one concert at the Oddfellows' Hall, on Friday evening, at reduced prices. As they will leave for Melbourne the next day, this will be the last and only opportunity of hearing these accomplished artistes before their fiual departure from the colony. The sudden increase of crime in Christchurch appears to have created consider-

able alarm, and the Canterbury papers complain that there are ouly three constables for duty in the city, auurpber which is described as beiug ludicrously' incompetent for the purpose. Mr Charles Dickens (snjs the Philadelphia correspondent of tbe Times) is still received everywhere he goes iv America with the most gratifying proofs of esteem, and his readings continue to attract crowded and appreciative audiences. The sales of seats in the various cities continue to attract large competing crowds, and Mr Dickens is coining moaey, though, like every one else here, he is suffering the penalty, and will have to pay a heavy tax — probably 20,000 dollars— to the Inland Revenue collectors on the money given to hear his readings. He constantly receives the most polite attentions from the American people. In Philadelphia the mayor tendered him the hospitalities of the city, but he has madfi it a rule to decline all proffered hospitalities, though they have been made on every side. He walks about all the places he visits, and says of the American cities that he could never have recognised them from his recollection of their appearance at the time of his former visit to that country. In Philadelphia he has taken great interest in the thousands of small but neat houses which are the homes of the working people ; and his visit to the Public Ledger building in Philadelphia was commemorated by Mr Childs, the proprietor, by christening a large new Hoe printing machine, first put in motion in Mr Dickens's presence, the 'Dickens Press.' An Italian emigrant recently returned to his native town, Narese, with a fortune of 45,000 francs, in paper. He laid his wealth upon a table and sallied forth, leaving a little child at play in his room. When he returned home he found his hardearned fortune a mere smouldering heap of ashes upon his own hearth. The child, for want of some better amusement, had flung the pile of notes into the fire. In a paroxysm of fury the man stretched the innocent offender dead at his feet with a single blow, and is now in gaol awaiting his trial for murder. A letter from Pesth states that the daughter of a man employed on the roads near that city, aud who resided in a cottage between Alt Ofen and Uercem, has just confessed, in a fit of remorse, that, in concert with her father, she bad committed not less than 16 murders during the last ten years, for the purpose of robbin" their victims. Seven skeletons had already been discovered by the authorities, and information given by the young woman has led to the finding of the nine others. Advices from St Thomas, dated the 14th of February, state that the efforts of the divers to recover the specie sunk in tho Rhode on Salt Island,jduring the hurricane on the 29t!.i October last, have been partially successful, £2500 out of a total of £3000 haviug been saved. In answer to Mr Gorst's queries on New Zealand affairs in the House of Commons, Mr Adderley says there is no intention to maintain even a single British regiment in the colony. The .Manchester Exaraiuer states that on the day of the Fenian executions, it printed 192,645 copies, which it believes to be the greatest weight of newspapers ever printed and issued in one day from an office in the world. The public were supplied at the rate of 35,000 per hour, or nearly 600 per minute.