The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1874.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 47, 24 February 1874, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. TUE SDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1874.

Harvest Thanksgiving Sbbvice. r*-This service for which preparations have been making for some time past will beheld at Christ Church this evening at seven o'clook, when the Revs G. H, Johnstone, R. J. Thorpe, S. Poole, and W. Rutherford will officiate. The chancel, we are informed, has been most tastefully decorated for the occasion with fruits, flowers, and corn. As it is expected that (he church will be crowded, all seatbolders are requested to be in their places before tbe commencement of the opening voluntary. Inquest.— -An inquest was held on Saturday on the body of the late Mr Fuller. Dr. Farrelle, who was the only witness called, stated that be was sent for on Thursday at one p.m. to see the deceased, and found his arms, hands, and back burnt, and his neck and head very badly so. Deceased told him that that he was on tne hills minding cattle when be lighted his pipe and threw tbe match behind him , He first became aware of fire being near him by feeling bis clothes burning, when he turned round and found the gorse in a blaze. He tried to put it out, and in doing so received the burns. He then walked home but bad to sit down twice from exhaustion. He waa in .such a state when he reached the house that his dog did not know him, and his wife thought that he bad fallen into some black mud. Dr. Farrelle found that the burns extended over a large space but were all superficial with the exception of those on the hands, and one spot near the spine. He told bis friends after examining him that none but a fatal issue could be expected. He went ttgain at 10 p.m. and found him sinking, and the following morning he died. A verdict was returned to the effect tbat deceased died from the effects of a shock caused by burns. The jury expressed a hope that tbe authorities would take some notice of the state of the gorse hedges whioh were very apt to take fire and cause great damage. Good Templarism. —An address was delivered by Mr Mackune, at tbe Temperance Hall, last night, to a large audience, several of the brethren appearing gaily decorated with the insignia of the Order. The chair was taken by Captain Rough, who stated that he was not a teetotaller but was a staunch advocate of temperance, the promotion of which, he thought, was most likely to be brought about by generally elevating the tone of pubic feeling, and the diffusion of education ahd practical Christianity. He theii introduced Mr Mackune, who said that

he believed all would allow that drh k was the curse of the country, and therefore they should join to put an end to ; that curse. Moderate drinkers were really atthe root pf the evil, for if it were not for v the first glass there would be no intemperance. The Order of Good Templars waß one which would soon embrace the whole world within its organisation. It was an Order that was warring not merely against the Saracen in the Holy Land, but against that far more demoniacal Saracen that was annually murdering 60,000 and sending 80,000 to prison. It was of twenty-four years' standing, having been started in the State of New York in 1850. The civil war in America retarded its progress for a time, but at its close 2200 were added to its ranks in a very short time, and it now numbered 1,800,000, of whom 6,000 were in New Zealand. It was introduced into England in 1868, and in July last there were no less than 2000 lodges in that country, and 1000 in Sootland, and this large army included several ministers ot religion. The question was sometimes aßked, was it a Benefit Society? (o which he would emphatically answer No. It was not the rival of the Oddfellows, Foresters, or Rechabites' Societies, br such like, but oHy ran counter to the noble army of licensed victuallers. Those who joined were supposed to do so not so much to benefit themselves as others. The vow taken by its members was not merely temporary, but was to be preserved sacred to the end of life. Was it a political organisation ? Certainly it was. Some people argued that it should not be, but he differed from them. They all admitted tbat drink was tbe greatest curse to society, therefore every means should be adopted to put an end to it. The Order of Good Templars was organised for this purpose, and its members were bound to support those who favored it, whether they were, candidates for theJProvineial Council, for theSuperintendency,or even for still higher offices. Their miesion was to, keep a watch upon what was going oh around them, and to organise themselves to oppose on licensing day all ill-conducted publio houses. It was of no use whatever to utter feeble complaints about such houses. They must bind themselves together to remove all such curses from their neighborhoods. Houses of that kind, breathing as they did, threatenings and slaughter to all around must be put down by sheer hard work on the part of the Good Templars. This was the substance of Mr Mackune' s opening remarks, and he then went oh to detail at length the evils that arose from intemperance. At the close of his address seventeen members were admitted into the Lodge. Mr Mackune holds a meeting at the Agricultural Hall, Bichmond, this evening, with a view to open a lodge in that district. We see by the Wellington ' Evening Post ' that Messrs Seymour and Frank Verten have left the Bellringer's troupe, and joined the Oxford Combination Company, now at Auckland. Thb New Licensing Act.— We are informed tbat there will be distinct Licensing Districts and Courts as follows:-— The Nelson District will include the Electoral District of the City of Nelsoo. and the suburbs of Nelson. All applications for licenses therefore in Nelson, Suburban North, Stoke, Richmond, Hope, and Ranzau, must be lodged with the Clerk of the Court, Nelson. The Spring Grove District will include the Electoral District of Waimea with the exception of tbe Matakitaki. All applications for licenses for houses south of the Wairoa River must be lodged with the Clerk of the Court, Spring Grove. The Motueka District will include the Electoaal District of Motueka. Applications therefore from residents at Motueka, Upper and Lower Moutere, Waimea West, Pangatotara, Dovedale, Riwaka, &c, must be lodged with the Clerk of the Court, Motueka. Where the term Electoral District is used above, it is intended to mean the General Assembly District, as defined by the Representation Act, 1870. Two General. Government officials in Marlborough, Mr Bagge, chief postmaster, and Mr Bamford, Registrar of Deeds, are reported by the local papers to have resigned tbeir appointments with a view of going into business for themselves. The 'Lyttelton Times' states that his Excellency Governor Weld purposes staying a month in this colony and will proceed to Wellington in about ten days, when he wiil return direct to Canterbury. There are many wild spirits moving around in the Tuapeka district. A travelling friend tells us that he asked for a little brandy thereabouts lately, and then; he. was in doubt whether a flight of spirits or a torohlight procession had gone down his throat. The total number of telegraph offices in New Zealand is now 98, distributed among the several provinces as follows: — Otago, 34 ; Auckland, 20 ; Canterbury, 14; Wellington, 12; Nelson, 11; Marlborough, 6; Taranaki, 4j Hawke's Bay, 4 ; Westland, 3. Charles Brown, Esq., of Taranaki, and some years ago Superintendent of that Province, has forwarded his resignation as a J.P. to the Minister of Justice, because of a remark made upon the Bench by Mr. Kenny, R.M., with regard to a certain case, to the effect " that he believed the other Magistrate on the bench agreed with him, but that if he did not, it did not matter, as he (the R.M.) had two votes to the other's one, and would therefore decide it."

A Christchurch correspondent writes: — I understand that the publication of tbe wretched Canterbury Handbook, noticed in my last letter, has been suppressed by the Government, and that a cable telegram bas been sent to the Emigration Agent to withhold a hundred copies that had been sent to him for distribution. A pretty penny will thuß be thrown away.