The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1874.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 288, 5 December 1874, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1874.

Weeleyan Chubch, HABDT-SxaEEr.— The Rev. T. Buidle will conduce divine service at the above Church to-morrow evening. Subjeu, " Adam's sin overruled by God ior the benefit o( the human race." Gooo Templabs.—' A JuvenileLodge is to be instituted on Tueiday next for young persons of both sexej between the ages of 10 and 16. | Brother W. T. Bond his been appointed | President, and Brothers W. Webley and J. S. I Jones, Assistant Superintendents. —At the i Loyal Nnison Lodge, last night, it was resolved lo institute a third lodge in the city, on accountof tbe largely increasing numbers of the Order. It was resolved to address a letter of condolence to the frien.s of the late Brother George Russell, who wag recently drowned at Bhnheim. Brother C. Spring wag elected W.V.T., in the place of Brother J. M. Campbell, who ia about le iving for Blenheim, and t<j whom a vote of thanks wis acconJel,as well as to Brother F. Coles on tbe occasion of his removing to the new lodge. Dbamatio Entertainment. — The City Rifles Dramatic Company gave an entertainment last night to a crowded house. The performance commtneed with the overture, played by Messrs Oakey and Cor-ick, the former on the phno and the latter on tho yio in and piccolo, from L'ltaVana in Algieri, which was fbllowe 1 by the farce •« To Paris' and bac. for £5." This went off raibcr tamely, nor did all the efforts of Mr M-.clarfn, as Mr Samuel Snozzlt, to infuse life into it prove successful. At the conclusion of the , f iTce, the stage manager announced that, unfortunately, he had been uaable to obtain the services of the promised orchestra, but that he had secured a clog dancer, and tbat i Mepsrs Oakey and Corriek would play duetts. I The dancing over, the musical selections I followed, but although the instrumentalists did j tlieir Lest, it was almost too much to expect J them to entertain an audience for half an hour. At the expiration of that perioi, the burles- ! que of Bo'Anson Crusoe commenced, and we cannot too highly tommtn. the management for tbe manner ia which ic was put oo the stage the scenery being entirely new and remarkably well painted, and the get up of the actors excellent. The toilet of the hero of the piece was perfect, his goatskin suit, and umbrella of ihe same material being admirably in keeping, though we must confess that we were somewhat astonished by the apparent familiarity of the «• Robinson Crusoe," with whom Defoe had in our childhood made us acquainted, with the use of a breech-loading gun. The acting of Mr Wix in this particular cast however, fully a'oned for such ah "anachronism, and when his man " Friday " made his appearance, we, io common with the whole audience, at once ieiobed not to be hypercritical, but to thoroughly enjoy the burlesque wbich hid been prepared with no little t ouble and sacrifke of time and labor, "Fri('ay,"and Friday's Father were amusing to a d-gree, though there was ju«t a little too much o! the ' Christy Minstrel" about the f ormer.au J -'Bella" need not have been advertised as being " no more than 45," fir she lookel a great < eai more like «• sweet seventeen." Captain Atkins, the clii f of the mutineers, waoafi 'especimen of "mißculsr Christianity," but wm not quite as well up in his part as he might have been but his singing was capital, vigorous loud, and jovial. The supernumeraries were weli got up, and entered with considerable spirit into the actinir, especially in tbe King of the C-tnnibal Islands scene in which the dancing and singing were spirited to a degree Ibe final tableau amidst a blaze of red aid b'ue fire, displayed a degree ot excellence that could not have been attained without a considerable amount of drilLng. It wa* raptur .usly received, and the pe> formers were paid the compliment of being called before the curtain to receive the reiterated applause of the audience. The announcement that the entertainment would be repeated on Monday was received with loul timers. We (Auckland Star) understand that the young girt (Cecilia Al eu) now in custody on a charge of getting fire to the dwelling-house of Mr Howard, on the Takapuna road, has niadu a confession, or part confession, this morning to the police. She has stated with some hesitancy that she set fire to the stable which was destroyed about a fortnight since. She intimateß moreover that she Bet fire to the house which was destroyed on Friday last, and that she had attempted to fire other places in Auckland, but was [..evented from carr.- ing htr diabolical plans into execution through the interference of neighbors. The girl appears to be about thirteen years of age; but aa she ia small in stature, she may be a year or two older. She is very guarded in repliea to the officers ofthe police, and ig not deficient either in shrewdness or intelligence

Shi is a native ot Auckland, and about eight months ago, li* ed with a person in Elliottstreet, where she first began to exhibit her mischievous proclivities. It would seem, therefore, that incendiarism is a kind of monomania with this girl, as she cannot assign any reason for her wilful misconduct beyond that of seeing ablaze. The case will be heard refore the Police Court on Monday next, when it is exp' cted some curious revelations will be made, which may be of service to the phrenologist, and the friends of educational progress. The Bank of England was incorporated in 1649. It covers five acres of ground, and employs nine hundred clerks. There are no windows looking on to the street, light being admiited through open courts. No mob could therefore take it without cannon to batter down the walls. There is a clock in the centre of the bank, which has fifty dials attached to it.