The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1871.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 216, 12 September 1871, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1871.

Inspection Parade. — The Town Volunteers are ordered to meet for inspection parade at the drill shed, this evening, at 7 o'clock. Meeting at Stoke. — The meeting of ratepayers announced by the Local Committee of Education will be held at the Stoke school-room, this evening, at 7 o'clock. Lecture at Richmond. — Mr. Smith, of Stoke, will give a lecture in the Wesleyan Church, Richmond, to-morrow evening, on the " Rise and Progress of the Tonic Sol Fa System." Sports in the Botanical Gardens. — It will be seen by advertisement that athletic sports under the direction of a committee of gentlemen appointed for the purpose will take place at the Botanical Gardens on Monday next. We shall refer more fully to the subject on a future day. A Welcome Tea and Social Meeting- to the teetotallers on board H.M.S. Basilisk came off at Wellington lately. The chair at the public meeting was occupied by Mr. Clark, M.H.R. of Auckland. Both meetings were crowded. Addresses by the Hon Mr. Fox and other gentlemen, with songs and recitations by the sailors and members of the Recbabites passed the evening off very pleasantly. Missing. — On the sth instant, two men named John Hermain and Henry Molt, borrowed a boat from Mr. H; Crawford, for the purpose of proceeding to Astrolabe, taking but one day's rations, as they intended to return as speedily as possible. They have not since been heard of, and the police, we believe, are taking steps to ascertain what has become of them. 'We have been requested ' by Messrs. M. L. Marks and Co. to state that the balance of their, stock is expected to arrive by the steamer Phoebe, due here to-morrow. Particulars will be published in -a future ? issue- *>f this paper. We have also been requested to state that for the convenience

of mechanics aud those engaged in trade, they mill re-open on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 7to 9 o'clock p.m. They will therefore be open to-morrow evening as above. — Advt. Bijou Dramatic Company. — We notice that this company proposes giving another dramatic performance on Thursday evening. Some dissatisfaction has been expressed at our notice of the performance last week, and complaints are made that it was not a fair criticism. Now, we have no desire whatever to inflict an injury upon a local company that is doing its best to afford amusement to the townspeople, and we would therefore ask our readers to remember that the remarks, to which exception has been taken, represent the opinion of but one individual who lays no claim to infallibility. We trust that nothing we have said will prevent the house being well filled on Thursday j the shortcomings to which we alluded on the previous occasion will probably be remedied, and we hope to have the pleasure of recording that a most satisfactory entertainment was given to a crowded audience. Education in New Zealand. — The total amount expended for educational purposes throughout the colony in the year 1870 was £37,622 16s 66. Towards this amount the various provinces contributed (we omit shillings and pence) as follows : — Otago, £17, 914; Nelson, £7,423; Canterbury, £7,351; Auckland, £1,595; Hawke'sßay, £976; County of Westlaud, £955; Wellington, £763; Southland, £345; Taranaki, £243; Marlborough, £52. From this it will be seen that with the exception of the large and wealthy province of Otago, Nelson has devoted a larger sum towards promoting education than any other province or county in New Zealand. And not only has she supplied the funds, but has also adopted the most efficient means for providing for their proper expenditure. It is not then to be wondered at if she demurs to having her excellent system tampered with by the Colonial Legislature. Drawing Eoom Entertainment. — This very pleasant and successful entertainment came off at the Assembly Room, last night, before a crowded audience. The stage had been most tastefully decorated for the occasion, and it was quite clear on the rising of the curtain that, so far as appearance went, everything had been done to render the performance an attractive and successful one. The first part went off exceedingly well, the singing of Mr. Johnson and Sambo, especially, calling forth loud approbation from the audience. The antics and jokes of the two corner-men were ludicrous to a degree, and, notwithstanding the capacious bib worn by Mr. Pompey, no one could accuse him of being an infant at his work. There was a deficiency of instrumentalists among the " minstrels " but this had been foreseen, and was provided for by a piano behind the scenes, which added greatly to the effect of the songs and choruses ; the first violin, too, was handled in a masterly manner, and was invaluable as an accompaniment, especially in " The Dandy Broadway Swell." A mistake that had occurred in the spelling of the word " cuckoo " in the programme was so cleverly turned to account as almost to make us regret that there were not more typographical errors. The final song and chorus of the first part " Dashing through the Snow," was made the occasion for presenting the prettiest stage effect we have seen ia Nelson. At the first note of the musie, the scenery was changed to a thoroughly winter landscape, while from overhead the snow, represented by little pieces of tissue paper, began to fall in feathery flakes until the woolly paten of the " niggers " were white as the snow-clad mountains by which they were surrounded. It is unnecessary to say that this was thoroughly appreciated by the audience, who testified their delight by vociferously demanding an encore. After an interval of ten minutes, "Eph" favored the company with a dance, but the brevity of his performance suggested the necessity of his placing himself under Mr. Austin's care for a short time. "We're a Band of Brothers" was the next item on the programme, and was certainly the most dismally ludicrous, or ludicrously dismal ! (we hardly know which to call it) scene that we ever witnessed. The face of each one of the five brethren was in itself a perfect study, and their woe-begone countenances,: and melancholy singing had an irresistible effect upon the risible faculties ;) of,' the audience, whose approval of the absurd scene showed itself in incessant shouts of laughter. It is to be regretted that the entertainment did not, terminate here, as the farce that followed cannot be described as any thiogelse .butra- (complete failure. We are glad t'ofiodthßt'lihiß^company is to give anoth l er,|i:en l tef|4f) n pent to-morrow evening wijh* anew ' farce, and we doubt not that they will have a bumper house.