The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 1873.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 67, 18 March 1873, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 1873.

The brig Alarm 'is expected shortly to arriye^:^his *pbrt; with about : Bp6 \ tons ; :■; cbtf coals ; ; fioaa '•'■ Ne wcastle, to tte; order of I Gr;ipss, : Jun^ : : ijr ;',^ '"'^X: 'Pi :V:4^ t \ r.v

Volunteer Eeception, Ball, and, Luncheon Committees. — We^are requested to .state that these committees meet at the Masonic Hotel, this evening. Suez Mail.— -The Albion with the Suez mail on board was to have left Melbourne on Thursday last and is consequently due at the Bluff to-day. Inland Communication Committee. — The adjourned meeting of this Committee has been posponed from this until tomorrow evening, when a full attendance is requested, as arrangements are then to be made for calling a public meeting. Boat Accident. — An accident which, fortunately, was not attended with serious consequences, occurred to a party who, when out rowing in the harbor this morning ran on to a snag, and knocked a hole in the boat. Fortunately, assistance was speedily at hand, and they were released from their unpleasant position, after suffering no greater inconvenience than a slight wetting. Perseverance Company, — Our advertising columns contain a notification that will be the reverse of welcome to the shareholders in this Company, to the effect that a call of ten shillings per share has been made, payable on Monday, the 21st of April. A special general meeting of the shareholders will be held on the 3rd of April for the purpose of considering the present condition of the Company and the future working of the mine. QuARTEBLr Licensing Meeting. — Applications for transfers and for new licenses were heard to-day before L. Broad, Esq., R.M., R. Pollock, A. J. Richmond, and T. Brunner, Esqs., J.J.P. A publican's license was granted to Joseph Potter Parker, and a bottle license to Simon Buchholz, both of Motueka, and a transfer was allowed of the license held by Mr Tregea for the Custom. House Hotel to Mr Atkinson. The consideration of the application of William Simmonds for licensing a house situated at the entrance to Washington Valley was postponed until the completion of the house for which the license is required. Departure op the Colonial Representatives. — By the Wellington last night, Major Gordon and the Northern Representatives took their departure for their respective homes, and there was a considerable crowd assembled on the wharf for the purpose of bidding farewell to those who during their brief stay in Nelson had made a large number of friends. At noon to-day the Rangatira sailed with the Southern men, who also had an im- , mense amount of hand-shaking to go through on the wharf. Great was the grumbling at so large a number of passengers being crowded into a small boat like the Rangatira, and these complaints will doubtless reach the ears of the Government at no very distant period. Horticultural Saows.-Nelson, about the most suitable place in the colony for flower growing is the only one of the principal towns that cannot raise a horticultural show. Speaking of one recently held in Wellington, the Post says : — ln many ways it was most satisfactory, evincing as it did an increased attention on the part of the public to horticulture. The number of exhibitors is steadily increasing, and new plants are being introduced. Indeed, the beneficial results of the Society are not demonstrated at these exhibitions only. A walk through the city will convince the most sceptical, that patches of ground in front or alongside of houses that formerly were left bare and unimproved, are now converted into neat gardens, or covered with small conservatories. A genuine taste for the beautiful in plants, the gratification of which has been too long supposed to be within the reach only of the wealthy, is spreading and developing among those of us possessing only moderate or small incomes, and it is found to be not so very expensive after all. Time, taken from the hours before and after the day's work, and care, are the principal requirements • and tastes grows gradually, and we are glad to say there is a kind of freemasonry among florists that leads them to assist others in their fascinating recreation. Miss Aitken. — This lady # gave an entertainment of a very pleasing character at the Masonic Hall last evening. Unfortunately for her, the Northern Representatives took their departure at 9 o'clock, and a large number of the townspeople went down to the wharf to bid them farewell, consequently the Hall was not so well filled as could have been wished. When we say that Miss Aitken never allowed the attention or interest of her audience to flag from the first to, the last item of the programme, we are, we consider, doing no more than the strictest justice to her powers as an elocutionist, : but to succeed even to this extent the actor in an entertainment of this peculiar nature .must possess more . than ordinary ; :-^ility;;;y ;; The first,^piecev; was / tije,;;Bcene i ; .■-■■bekwja^ f little prince , was giv|c with an amount of;

expression and real feeling that at once stamped Miss Aitken as an actress of high order, The manner in which she read Mrs Cau,dle's lecture to her husband on his her I coming a Fieemason; and "Mansie Wauch'sfirst and last visit to the play," showed that she had a keen sense of humor, while the deep pathos which she threw into Tenny-. son's charming but melancholy poem <( The, May Queen " left do doubt inihe minds of her hearers that she could quickly pass from gay to grave, and still sustain the character she had undertaken to represent with a faithfulness that showed how fully she was able to enter into the spirit of the writers of the compositions she had selected for reading. Miss Aifken's favorite piece is evidently those" strange, but musical luu>s of Edgar Poe's," The Bells,-' and her varied intonation of the several stanzas which describe respectively the tinkling of the silver bells that accompany the motion of the sleigh, the merry wedding peal, and the solemn funeral knell was something masterly. On the whole, the entertainment, in which material assistance is rendered by Mr Qakey on. the pianoforte, is really a very pleasant one, and deserves a far larger" amount of patronage than was accorded to it last night. Miss Aitken will appear again to-morrow night when we hope to see a well-filled house.