The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 1873.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 164, 9 July 1873, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 1873.

Caledonian. Society. — From the thorough success which attended the entertainment given by this Society last week, the Society will givo another this evening, at the Provincial Hall. The programme is a most attractive one. Eyes v. Henderson. — In this case Mr Travers applied to have the trial moved to Weilington; Mr Conolly opposed this and proposed Nelson as the place of trial. The Judge has fixed to hear it in tha latter city, in August next. Christ Chukch. — The parishioners of Christ Church will hold their annual meeting this evening, at the Bishop's schoolroom, for the transaction of the usual business connected with parochial matters. We trust that it will bo well attended. Football Match. — The return match ■ — Old Cellegians v Town and College — will be played at the Botanical Gardens, on Saturday next the 12th inst. The game will commence at 3 o'clock; and aa there are a large cumber of players on both sides, a good game is anticipated. New Zealand Ikon. — Wo have been shown a specimen of iron smelted from the Taranaki iron sand. It is 22 inches lon}.', und 2\ square, and was prepared at WelliugtOD. On being suspended and struck with a hammer, it rings like a bell of a fine tone. It is very bard, as was proved in the attempt to grind it. We learn that there will be an amalgamation with our Nelson productions, as the iron ore, fine clays, &0., of our province will be used in its manufacture, as was described by Mr Tatton in his evidence before the Select Committee of both Houses of the General Assembly last year. All Saints' Church. — The Parish Meeting of this Church was held last evening at the Bishop's schoolroom, the Rev. J, Thorpe, Incumbent of the Parish, presiding. The Churchwardens' report was read, and the balance sheet produced, showing— that with the funds at their disposal, they had been enabled to pay off arrears of interest owiug at the commencement of the financial year; and also to reduce, in a slight degree, the debt owing on the Church, which now stood at £470. The current expenditure had been met by the ordinary income, but the above payments could not have been made had it not been for the handsome contribution of the ladies of the congregation; being the proceeds for the sale of work, held some time since. A communication was read from the Choir, formally handing over to the Churchwardens, free of all encumbrance, the large cabinet organ now in use at the Church; the funds for the payment of the instrument having been raised by a series of concerts and entertainments, given by the members of the Choir, with the assistance of friends. Votes of thanks were passed to the ladies for their assistance, to the members of the choir for their valuable gift, and to Mr W. Hale for his liberality in laying out. and planting with shrubs, the grounds surrounding the Church. The following gentlemen were then elected Church officers for the ensuing year : — Churchwardens, Messrs Thornton and Rodperson; Vestrymen, Messrs Lowe, Pasley, Holloway, T. Garrard, Pickering, H. Edwards, and Burford. A cordial vote of thanks to the Rev. Mr Thorpe and retiring officers, concluded the business of the meeting. Oua obituary column contains the announcement of the death of Mr J. H. A. Lowe, who has for a length of years been connected with the Daily Southern Cross in various capacities of trust, and in all of which he performed his duties with the utmost devotion and thorough uprightness. — D. S. Cross. New Zealand Flax.—- The following testimony as to the value of New Zealand flax has been published in the Lyttelton Times :—" 7. Westminster Chambers, Victoria-street, London, S.W., March 26, 1873. — Sir,- — I have much pleasure in forwarding to you a real damask tablecloth, made entirely from New Zealand phormium, by Messrs D. Lornie and Sons, sf Kirkcaldy, and hauded to me by Mr C. Thorne, of Mark Lane. I understand that this is the result of the first attempt by this firm to spin and weave the New Zealand fibre ; and that the slight' yellow stain observable in the cloth is occasioned by an unavoidable hurry in the bleaching operations, The sample sent however affords the best possible evidence of the applicability of the fibre to the finer textile fabrics, and canuot fail, I am sure, to interest your Association, I ought to add however that aa yet I have not been able to ascertain whether these fabrics can be produced from the native -dressed flax at a price that will pay. — I have &c, I. E. Featherston, Agent- General. — The Chairmau of the Flax Association, Canterbury." The Wellington correspondent of the Wanganui Herald writes : — " I heard a clergyman, yesterday, endeavoring to persuade his congregation to give liberally in aid of Maori missions. He pleaded eloquently, but he admitted that, in the

face of the news of last weak, he feared that there would be but little response to his advocacy. And he was right. It was not Christian, perhaps, but it was natural." The following resolutions in tho Education Bill was moved in the Napier Council by Mr Dobel : — "There shall be levied and raised yearly upon every gallon of wine, and of spirits, and upon every pound of tobacco (save tobacco used as sheepwaah) imported into the province as a wharfage rate, the rates following, that is to say, — for every gallon of wine, one shilling ; for every gallon of spirit, two shillings ; and for every pound of tobacco, one shilling ; and that tbo proceeds of the said wharfoge rate so levied, shall be paid to the Provincial Treasurer on a special account for the benefit of education in this province. The Rev. Father Nivard took his final departure from the Thames by the steamer the other day. The 'ladies of his congregation presented him with an address and a handsome gold watch and chain at the chapel just before he left. The address was feelingly replied to by Father Nivard, and immediately after a number of lads presented an address. Father Nivard was accompanied to tho steamer by hundreds of people, anxious to do honor to him at the last moment of his departure, which was a most affecting one, and one to be remembered by mauy in this community for a long time. In his reply the Rev. Father Nivard said that " even the bell in Shortland had been a present from a Protestant." The hall of the Christian Young Men's Association, Auckland, was full of eager listeners lately, on the occasion of Dr Wallis's able lecture on the "Darwin Evolution Theory of Man." In the nbppnce of the President, Mr Henry Ellis filled the chair, and Rev. G. H. Turner engaged in prayer. The lecture was delivered extempore without a note, and was one of the most logical discourses that we have listened to for a very considerable time. Dr Wallis had studied his subject closely, and explained the. peculiar principles of Dr Darwin, upon which tho philosopher had reared his theory of development, viz., natural selection, heredity, and the survival of the fittest. We state unhesitatingly that the Darwinian theory was bandied in a masterly manner by a calm, unprejudiced mind, interspersed occasionally with strokes of true Scottish humour ; and as the lecturer swept away one by one the sophistries of Darwin, the faces of the audience became brigter and brighter; and when it was pretty clearly shown that man, like other species of the Creator's handiwork, was a distinct being, endowed with distinct moral and perceptive faculties, and that he could not have descended from the monkey, a burst of satisfaction arose from the mingled audience. — Star. Self- Supporting Gaols. — Referring to the report pubblished by the gaoler, at Napier, the Auckland Herald says— Tha gaoler of Napier is following suit to the governor of the Dunedin stockade and other of our principal gaolers and governors, and has endeavored to prove that his penal establishment is not only self-sup-porting, but quite, a money-making concern. The net profit for the year is stated to be about £361, so that should all other prisons in the colony be equally successful, the Provincial Government, instead of placing money to the debit of estimates for the support of gaols, will in fact calculate upon something handsome coming to the credit of revenue. But officers ap.pointe'd to the command of our prisons must be good book-keepers as well as safe custodians. They must understand the cooking of accounts. For instance, a dozen prisoners are employed in laying out the gaoler's garden, and sowing celery seeds. This work is placed to the credit of gaol earnings at the same rate as so many market gardeners would have demanded, had they been called in to do the job. If prisoners were employed making something that would sell for so much more than the raw material and their board and lodging would cost ; or if they were set to labor on reproductive works, we could understand such a system of keeping accounts; but when prisoners are employed doing something merely to keep their hands from being idle, and this something is not worth anything, we cannot but think that such reports are fallacious, and intended to deceive or bolster up a false theory. Prisoners will always cost money over and above what they earn. It is so in other colonies and in other parts of the world. All such reports sent in by provincial gaolers are worth about as much as the paper they are printed on.