The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1874.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 313, 19 September 1874, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1874.

7a. ■> -V^'gely attended ball wan given at the Provincial Hall last night to the captaioj|3 officers of H.M.S. Blanche. Danciiig^d tbe enlivening strains of the ship's band, was kept up until a . «fte honr thjs morning. ■ (ipOQ At the meeticg ( of the X*oyel Nelson Lodge lest nigU, - ten i\iy members were initiated. Severil ofjthe sailors from the Blanche wre present, and a very pleasent eveuJsfof **#£*_?«»*• Daring the proceed*W& B an •d&S-W waa preeented to the

officers add members of tbe lodge by the brethren on board the Blanche, io which most flattering allusions were made to the manner in which the business, was conducted in Nelson, and the large numbers who attended tbe meetings They also returned their hearty thanks for the manner in which they had been received in Nelson by the members of the Order. Fire. — The alarm was rang out at a little before four this morning, and, in response, the members of tbe brigade and several of the sailors of H.M.S. Blanche quickly assembled, and were only jast in time to save Mrs Nalder's boarding-house from destruction. The ire appears to have been occasioned by ad ember falling against the foot of the mantelpiece, wbich was thus Bet alight, and through which the flames extended to tbe paper and canvas on tbe wall. On the arrival of the brigade the Are had just made its way through the lining, and was beginning to roar between that and the outer boards, but fortunately it was extinguished before any serious damage was done. The English Opera Company had a i tremendous house on the night they played " Satanella," in Napier, tbe receipts being not less than £140. Further news from the Greenstone arrived at Hokitika, but is rather unfavorable. Tbe rush at RevelPs Terrace has had a check owing to two shafts, one sunk by Stewart aod party, and the other by Barrett and party, having been bottomed without finding payable gold. Jn addition to this ill forture, P. Macintyre and party have been tunnelling at each end of the terrace without success, and they have abandoned their ground. There has been no proper washing up as yet, but it is confidently expected that the claims on gold will prove highly payable. The first business place actually in operation on tbe rush is a baker's shop, opened by James Bigg, and so far he haa every reason to be satisfied with his enterprise.— G. R. Argus. A contemporary says :— ln visiting the premises of a wholesale jewelry firm in Dunedin the other day, we casually observed on the floor of the sale room, several immense blocks of greenstone. This led as to make enquiries as to the use of such, from whence I obtained, value, &c, when we ascertained that a large trade is now done in this stone, which is obtained from Greenstone Gully, Grey river, tbe article being worth £8 per cwt. to the Dunedin lapidists, who convert it into many precious trinkets, which are now formed of this mineral, one Dunedin lapidary firm employing alone no Icsb than six bands, Machine power is employed in the process of dressing the stone instead of the very tedious and slow process adopted by the Maoris in forming their war hatchets, &c, by rubbing one pieoe of greenstone against another. The G, R. Argus records the following incident as having occurred in the Police Court there recently, indicating gross juvenile depravity and suggesting unpardonable parental negligence in these times of general education and Sunday School teaching. A lad, who said he was 13 years of age, was giving evidence in a civil case, when a document was pat into his hands wbich he swore he wrote. He was cautioned several times by the Court, and, be persisted in his statement tbat the writing was his. He was then asked to copy it, and with the utmost nonchalance he placed paper before him, and taking a pen made pretence of commencing to write. It was soon discovered that he could not make a copy of tbe writing, for he could not write at all, and in fact, when ! pressed, he admitted be was unable to r read wbat he bad just sworn was his own band writing. The lad on being fnrther cautioned confessed that be did not write the document, and another witness subsequently swore the writing was his. Tbe Magistrate expressed an opinion that the boy bad been tampered with by eome of the parties to the suit, and while dismissing the youngster, bis Worship looked as if it wouldn't be good for the safety of the tamperists, if the Court could reach them. The Auckland Star publishes the following with its usual Thames news : — "A magnificent specimen has been broken from tbe Manakau reef, and exhibited at the bank. Its weight was over 500oz, and it is calculated to contain 190oa of gold. It is as rich in appearance as any ever taken out of the Caledonian mine." The number of co-operative societies in England and Wales is 746; tbe number of members, 300,587, of whom 60,000 were admitted, and 32,000 withdrew la 1872. The share capital amouned at the end of the year 1872 to £2,784,000, and the sums of £10,176.100 were paid, and £11,379,000 received during the year in cash for goods. The disposable net profit realised from all sources amounted to £807,748. By some inquiries recently made by the War Office, it transpires that no less than 400 old soldiers are still alive who served in the Peninsula war, or at Waterloo, though the last mentioned battle was fought fifty nine-years ago. as most of these veterans are in want of pecuniary help, it is pleasant to think that under a recent warrant, they will receive pensions of half a guinea a week each. The Singleton correspondent of the MaUland Mercury reports the marriage of five sisters in a family in that district to five brothers of another family.