The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, MARCH 31, 1873.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 78, 31 March 1873, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, MARCH 31, 1873.

Parish of Christ Chubch. — Notice was given by mistake in our Saturday's issue that the adjourned meeting of parishioners was to take place this evening, instead . of on Friday, on which day it will be held at 7.30 p.m. We understand that Mr Ealph Richardson, the member for tbe suburbs of Nelson, intends proceeding to England by the next San Francisco boat. A vacancy will consequently occur in the representation of that district. North Buller Road. — The following contracts have been accepted for work on this road :— No. 1, W. T. Harvey, £720 ; No. 2, W. T. Harvey, £600 ; No. 3, R. Taylor, £344 ; No. 4, A. H. Carter, ' £335 10s; No. 5, A. H. Carter, £495 15s. G-ame in Nelson. — In order to show the success that has attended the efforts of the Acclimatisation Society in Nelson we may state that on Saturday afternoon a gentleman who was walking over the hills in the neighborhood of the town, unaccompanied by dogs, put up in less tban half-an-hour four cock and two hen pheasants, and three bevies of Californian quail, in each of which there must have been at the very least from thirty to forty birds. Export of Birds. — Mr Bille, who has been so successful in bringing out shipments of birds from England to Canterbury and Otago, has recently been on a bird catching expedition to NelsoD, and left by the Tararua this morning for Canterbury with about 200 larks and 50 hrace Californian quail, arrangements having been made with Mr. Huddleston for exchanging other birds for those taken away. The Carandinis. — Saturday night entertainments are notgenerally well attended in Nelson, and the last concert given by the Carandinis proved no exception to this rule, although the programme was an excellent one, and it is unnecessary to say that it was well and faithfully carried out. To-night Miss Rosina takes her benefit, and if the applause with which she has always been greeted may be taken as a criterion, she will undoubtedly have a "bumper house. We hope so, for she certainly deserves it. Scandalous Outrage at Waimea West. — On the congregation assembling for service at St. Michael's Church, Waiinea West, yesterday morning, it was found that some ruffian had smashed every window in the building, apparently with - a short block of wood which was found close by with small fragments of glass adhering to it. Shortly afterwards the discovery was made that similar damage had been inflicted upon the huilding used as a Sunday-school. The windows in the church were all solid plate-glass and bad been put up at a great expense. The whole district, we are informed, is up in arms about this disgraceful affair, and we trust that the police will do all in their power to bring to justice the rascal who has committed so outrageous an offence. A reward of £5 is offered for tne dis- ' -covery of the offenders. The Late Prize Firing— Mr Vogel's Speech—A. the banquet given to the Northern representatives on their return to Auckland, the hon. Mr Vogel in replying to the toast of "The Ministry," said : TMayor and Gentlemen— -I thank you very v much i for , the cordial manner in which you , have responded to this last toast, I thank:

you on behalf of ray colleagues, and on behalf of the members of the General Assembly. I regret unavoidable circumstances have prevented my hon. colleague, Mr McLean, from being present. I regret it for hia own sake, because I ara sure it would have been a great pleasure to one who has taken so much interest in all the Forces of the Colony to see how highly they are respected and esteemed by their fellows, as shown here this evening by the number of the attendance. I feel sure tbat my colleague regrets very much that he is obliged to be absent. He is, as you are, perhaps, aware, in attendance upon Sir George and Lady Bowen, who take their departure from the Bay of Islands, I believe this evening. I thank you, also, for the Ministry. Whether the Ministry have been successful in promoting tbe interest of the colony or not, this we may take credit for — I speak on behalf of my colleagues and myself — a sincere desire to promote the succesa of this Volunteer movement, and to benefit the colony as a whole I can appeal to those gentlemen who have taken part in these rifle contests during the last two years, whether they had not been able to see great improvements, not in one province only, but in every part of the country they have visited. Speaking generally, it would be difficult to find any colony which is, on the whole, more prosperous than New Zealand is at present, or which gives greater promise of prosperity for the future. (Cheers.) But that prosperity will not attend upon the conduct of tbe Ministry, but upon the conduct of the great mass of the people themselves—upon their energy, their perseverance, their readiness to take advantage of and develop the great resources which Providence has placed in their hands. I am, speaking for myself, very glad to be able to attend at this demonstration this evening, for I think it has a more than ordinary value attaching to such occasions. We have to hail the success, not only of successful competitors, bufc the perseverance with which they fought against circumstances until they succeeded in bringing to the north of New Zealand the laurels of the year. (Cheers.) I think the sympathies of those who may, perhaps, be called outsiders, are with those who, not winning, are persevering to the last, and at length achieve success. In the South, those who have engaged in Volunteering, having plentiful opportunities of practising, obtained a success and seemed to leave the Northern portion of the colony far behind. Now, not only is the North successful, but more successful than had ever been the case before, for they scored more marks this year than had been scored in any previous year. (Cheers.) And I think it is a. circumstance that Auckland has every reason to be proud of, that the newest of all countries — that newest uprising, as it were, of a new community in New Zealand — of wbich it was only known that there was a river in England bearing tbe same name, of which hardly anything was known outside the Province of Auckland — that such a community was now building up a city that would probably endure for all time, aod be likely to obtain for itself a prominent position in the colony. (Cheers). I say it is a pleasant thing to think of that in this the lateßt offspring of enterprise and energy, its own*representative in the late competition is able to say that he has beaten the whole colony in an efiort of intellectual strength and skill, and brought back the honors of the whole colony into this new region. (Loud cheers.) Gentlemen, I thank you for the hearing you have given me, and for the kindness which dictated your invitation to me to be a guest here this evening. I hope it will be in my power to attend many more meetings of this kind. I may say, as regards the' General Assembly, that although there are a few who call in question votes for Volunteer purposes, yet they bring into contrast what is pleasant to witness, namely, the large number of supporters there are in the Assembly in favor of any proposal to benefit the Volunteers. We have tried paid troops, and we have tried Volunteer troops. I think I may say that we have found, by experience, that we are able to do with our own forces in the colony, and that we find these forces can work well together. (Cheers.) The present prosperity of the colony and the experience of last year, show us that we are quite right in relying on the local forces for all the defence we may need. (The hon. gentleman sat down amidst loud cheers.)