The Nelson Evening Mail WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 1871.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 181, 2 August 1871, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 1871.

AsNelson Hospital. — A meeting of the Hospital Committee was held this morning for the purpose of appointing a house surgeon, for which office there were twenty - one applications, fire of them being from Victoria. The appointment was conferred upon Dr. Boor, late of Wellington. Hampden Street School. — At a meeting of the Local Committee of Education, held yesterday, the appointment of a master of the Hampden Street School, for which there were two candidates, Mr. Sunley, and Mr. Arthur Brown, was conferred upon the first-named gentlerann. Supreme" Court. — The Civil Sittings will commence on Wednesday next, the 9th inst., when the following cases will be heard : — Pike v. Travers; Walk ins and another, trustees in the estate of John M'lntosh, an arranging debtor, v. the Bank of New Zealand; and Connal v. Beauchamp and others, trustees for the wife of George James, of Blenheim, a bankrupt. The Canterbury Press says: — "At this time, when the consumption of Colonial wines seems gradually to be coming into favor amongst up, it may not be uninteresting to note the fact — one, by the way, not generally kuown — that there is in our midst a wine manufactory, in the cellars of which are some 5000 gallons of wine, manufactured nearly solely from Canterbury grown fruit, the only exception being oranges." Lecture in Aid of the Wesieyan Church Organ Fund. — Captain Peek's promised lecture on his experiences by sea and land was delivered to a crowded audience at the Wesleyan Church, last night, the chair being taken by J. Nancarrow, Esq. The proceedings opened with a hymn, after which a prayer was offered up by the Eev. W. J. 'Watkin, followed by the anthem "Blessed be thou " which was sung in really excellent style by the members of the choir, who mustered to the number of thirteen. The lecturer was then introduced by the chairman, and commenced as follows : — " Sometimes we find ourselves in a fix." He proceeded to say that, on the present occasion, he found himself in tliis unpleasant position, as it had been advertised that he was to deliver a lecture, a word to which he objected, it heing his intention simply to give a seaman's yarn, in which he proposed to relate the experiences of some of his travels which had extended iv all directions, to North, South, East, and West. He did not pretend to appear before them as an educated man > his education having been confined to a few years spent at a village school, which had been afforded to him by his parents,, and for which he could never be sufficiently grateful to them. It was not a silver trumpet that be was going to blow,, bat what he had to say might be compared to the harsher, but still loud and powerful tones of the ram's horn. With this introduction he proceeded to relate the experiences of his sea life, commencing with his first visit as a young boy to London, when, for the first time, he saw a ship, and the wonder with which he viewed such a structure was graphically and amusingly depicted. Then followed an account of his first voyage to Hobarton, and he alluded feelingly to the kind reception he there met with. After leaving that port his ship was wrecked, and a voyage of 200 miles had to be made by him, in company with the other sailors, in. a "cockle boat," at the end of wliich he found himself in Calcutta, where Iris life nearly fell a sacrifice to cholera. Than there was the trip to England, and the astonishment and joy with which he was received by his parents, who, having heard of the loss of the ship in which he sailed from home, had given him up for lost. And so he pleasantly talked on, in a homely but forcible manner describing his various voyages, the lecture, or yarn, being divided into two parts, the choir singing another anthem in the interval. At the conclusion of the lecture a vote of thanks to Captain Peek was :proposed by Mr. M. Lightband, and seconded by Mr. R. Lucas, and carried by acclamation. The doxology was then , song, and the benediction pronounced by the i&evv W. J. Watkin, after, which the meeting broke up. ■ ' "■ ':'""'-' " ' ■