The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1873.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 35, 8 February 1873, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1873.

Lottery. — The drawing for "Rustic," the celebrated steeplechase horse, takes place at the Masonic Hotel this evening.

Resident Magistrate's Court. — George Sanudera was this morning charged with assaulting Frederick Waring, and fined £3 and costs £1 ls,6d.

All Saints Church. — A " sermon to young men " on " the moral and intelectual difficulties of making a confession of faith," will be preached .at All Saints tomorrow evening by tbe Rev. R. J. Thorpe.

Oddfellows Hall.— Dr Carr advertises that he will attend daily at the Oddfellows Hall, from two till four p.m.ywhen he will supply those who wish to consult him with phrenological charts, charts with estimate of character, &c.

Hop Picking is commencing in the various gardens in the Wood, but the crop this year scarcely comes up to the average, owing to the long drought. In Mr Burford's garden, .however, the yi^ld is remarkably good, and we have now before us a splendid specimen of the flower gathered therefrom.* We are informed tbat tho average from this field is a bushel and a-balf to the '•hill" which contains two plants.

Circumlocution. — The Secretary of the Acclimatisation Society, in a letter to the Examiner this morning, tells an amusing story of officialism in Nelson. He says': — I am expecting shortly salmon ova from America, and bave had the ponds in the Government (grounds cleared out to be ready to receive tbem. Not wishing to have these again fouled, or the ova disturbed when it shall arrive, I requested Sergeant Nash, o of our Constabulary, to intimate to any children he might see within tbe inclosure not to trespass there. The Sergeant very kindly suggested that a padlock on the gate might be serviceable, and that I should get a staple for the post. I at once adopted the suggestion, and in my simplicity took the staple to the Sergeant, thinking he might have a hammer in the lockup close at hand with which he would drive in the staple for me. But for a Sergeant of Police to use a hammer would perhaps be considered infra, dig , so he referred me to Constable Levy. Now had I wanted a rapscallion arrested, no matter how ugly a customer he might be likely to prove, I know of no man who more fearlessly would bave executed his duty than the constable I mention. But to drive a staple into a post was another matter, 60 I was turned over toMrCother, who baa some kind of charge of the Government premises, and who, if I am not mistaken, is an expert in using a hammer. But here again I was at fault, and was told if I wanted my piece of work performed I must get a man employed in repairing the Buildings to do it for me. By this time I had become tired of this battledore and shuttlecock business, and as I expected to have been told by the carpenter referred to that driving a staple in a post for a padlock was no part of his contract, I thought I had better do, what perhaps I ought to bave done at first — go home for a hammer and gimlet, and drive the staple into the post myself. I dare say the right thing was done by each of the individuals named according to their lights, but the affair struck me as being a ludicrous illustration of red-tapeism. It is reported that several hundreds of young trout have been successfully removed from the Acclimatisation Society's grounds at Christchurch to different parts of the Province of Canterbury. There are now at Templeton, Christchurch, 100 acres of chicory under cultivation. This industry has doubled itself in two years. The exports of chicory now amount to between eighty and ninety tons per annum. A new kiln is being constructed on the farm, and other improvements are being made on the works.

In the " dottings " of the San FranCisco News Letter we find the following allusion to the late Auckland fire : — "Auckland, N.Z., enterprise illustrated by a 25,000 dollar conflagration, Poob, pooh ! Auck., you mean well, but you cannot conflagrate worth a cent."

Up to Friday la3t the enquiries as to the alleged attempted " sticking op '" cage ,of Mr Harley on the No Town and Greymouth road had resulted in the police being unable to obtain the slightest information regarding the matter. * This and the previous case is shrouded in mystery .

A Bazaar in aid of the Presbyterian Church was recently held at Greymouth, the gross takings at which amouuted to £1086, and the expenditure to £428, leaving a balance of £657, which, after pay ing all debts in connection with the church left a sum of £260 to the credit of the Committee.

The Taranaki Herald says it is informed by a correspondent that he witnessed, whilst at Opunaki last month, a sight connected with Mount Egmont that be shall never forget. He saw the mooD, at its full, rising from behind the mountain, and from the position he was standing, when it reached the top of the cone it looked like a ball of fire rising from the crater. It is a sight we should think tbat is rarely witnessed, for at the full of the moon there are so many chances of tbe mountain being clouded over that a person might visit the place many times without being able to see a repetition of the spectacle.

Terrible ".Railway Accident in AMERiCA.-r-The New ' York Tribune in

recording an accident on Buffalo and Pittsburg railway, says : — " The cars turned completely ov;er and bottom-side up. Tney fell perpendicularly to tbe ground below, a distance of 20 feet. Tbe cars struck the trucks, and crashed through the bottoms. The stoves in the passsenger cars were directly under the trucks, and were crushed to pieces, and immediately the woodwork of the ears took fire. Fortysix people were known to have been in the same cars. The wood-work of the passenger car, thickly coated with varnish, burned freely, and, before anything could be done by" the force at hand to prevent damage, the flames enveloped both ends of the car and crept rapidly towards the centre. Penned within it at the time, with no' possible chance of extricating themselves, were 48 adult passengers, and the conductor ahd one child seated io the end of lhe car. Help arriving, about 25 dead and livine were taken out of the centre, and the flames were extinguished — more -correctly speaking, they went out for lack of anything further to feed upon. The remains of another passenger were recovered, and all brought to this place. The list foots up as follows: — Saved, all more or less injured, 19; dead, 19; missing, 8. The dead, with four exceptions, were burnt so as to be unrecoghisable. There were but three that could be identified from shreds ..of clothing adhering to the roasted flesh. Five headless bodies, and several without limbs, had the flesh all burnt off the extremities. Eight persons are missing. Tbey are supposed to have been completely consumed. There are pieces of skulls, watchew, and the like sufficient to partially justify that belief. Of four others known to have been on the train ifc is thought they will be identified to-morrow, ss friends will arrive for that purpose. The case of two is peculiarly a sad one, Mr Rice was the only son of James Rice, a leading citizen of Titusville, and his wife tbe only daughter of Austin Jackson, of Rochester, N.A. They were married on the sth of this month, and were on their way lo Rochester to spend Christmas."