The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1874.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 304, 24 December 1874, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1874.

To-mobeow being Christmas Day there will b,; no publication of the Evening Mail. On Saturday it will be published at 10 a.m. 3 The members of the Beform League will dine together at McGee's Hotel on Thursday next. Bt the Albion there arrived, this morning a number of ezcuriioniata front Wellington, who will return by the Alhftmbra, how hodrl/ BKpect«d tifi Hokliik*

We see by advertisement tbat Mr. H. D. i Jackson has a large assortment of book*, fancy goods, &c., suitable for presents at this season of the year. Good Templars.— We remind our readers of the demonstration by the Good Templars on Saturday next. A procession, headed by the Artillery Band, will leave the Temperance Hall at 10a.m., and march round the town to the Botanical Gardens, where there will be a picnic. In the evening there wiil be a public meeting at the Provincial Hall, whea there will be addresses, singing, recitations, &c, and Mrs Palmer will preside at the piano, so that a very pleas mt evening may bs anticipated. Fire.— A fire occurred th's afternoon at Mr Brown's residence, Brook-street, which would have totally destroyed the building and probably the cottages adjoining, but for the fortunate circumstance of Mr J. Woods, who was passing, happening: to notice the flames, which were bursting out of the leau-to. He gave the alarm, and at once set to work with the neighbors, and extinguished it. Christmas Services.— A midnight mass will be held to-night at St. Mary's Church, which has been tastefully decorated for the occasion.— At Christ Church and All Saints', busy hands have been at work for the last two days in making wreaths, festoons, &c., wliich will to-day be placed ip position, and the general effect will be equal, if not superior, to anything in the way of church decorations that has yet beeu seen in Nelßon. Special musical services will be held in both these churches, that at Christ Church will be as follows: Christmas Hymn, Jesu Sedemptor; Responses as at St. Paul's; Venite, Barnett; Psalms, double chants; Te Deum, Sir F. G. Ouwley in F; Benedktus No. 111, Aldrich; Introit, "Jesu, Word of God incarnate," Mozart; KyrieTSo. 14, Handel; Doxologies, No. 3 Goss; Hymn, Adeste Fideles.— At the Wesleyan Church there will be morning service at 11 o'clock. Christmas Fake.— lf a "merry Christmas" depended merely upon a plentiful supply of excellent beef and mutton, it would be superfluous on our part to offer to our town readers the good old-fashioned wish embodied in those two words, the butchers of Nelson having taken care to provide all those who desire to secure a good Christmas dinner with every kind of luxury that is usually supplied by their particular department. Last night in front of each their shops was assembled a knot of people, to whom the Bhow of meat tbat was displayed under the gaslight appeared to offer special attractions. Having paid a quiet visit to the various establishments before the crowd began to gather, we will proceed to give the result of our researches. At Mrs Bird's, in Trafalgar-streetj there were three sp'endid bnllocks hanging up, two of which were *upp'ied by Mr Wells, of Wakapuaka, and one of Mrs Bird's own feeding; Mr Challia, of Wairaea West, had furnished the greater part of the mutton, winch was such as would satisfy the dantiest of epicures, as well as the lambs, which were in fine condition, the remainder of the sheep being of Wanganai raising. Some pretty little pigs— if such a term may be applied to this particular clasi of animal— were credited to Mr Dyson, of Wakapuaka, and a calf in the perfection of condition, from Mr Wastney's farm, completed the list of carcases, which Mrs Bird has by this time dissected, and distributed among her customers. Mr Fov had a very fair show of both mutton and beef. To Mr Wabres, Mr Best, of Appleby, hai sent a three-year-old heiftr, which was a perfect picture, even when displayed in the form of beef, and Mr J. Arnold, of Waimea West, had also contributed a very tempting looking animal of the same class and sex, while Mr Bartlett, of App'eby, had provided some remarkably fine Southdown knibs. The pigs, which were all that could be desire*!, were from Mr Ball's at Richmond, and Mr Holdaway had no reason to be ashamed of the very fine calf that was reared on his farm. Mr Pratt was so well satisfied last year with the beef grown by Mr Fry, of Riwaka, that he again depended upon him for his Christmas supply, and if his customers are not satisfied with the joints that grace their tables tomorrow, they must be excessively hard to please. The sheep and lambs were a credit to Mr Marsden, of Stoke, who had reared and fattened them, as well as to the butcher who had killed, and by a few dexterous slashes of his knife, ornamented 'them in thoroughly artistic style. The pigs were from Mr Dyson's, at Wakapuaka, and were "real beauties," while Mr Alborongh of the s>»me district had supplied the finest cal£ we saw in our nocturnal rambles. Mr Tkask depended upon Mr Norgate, of Stoke, and Mr Primmer, of Richmond, for his beef, and the carcases he displayed showed that he very well knew where to go for meat of the primest quality. Hia sheep, which were of enormous frame and lusciously fat, vote chiefly the projuce of Mr Marsden's farm at Stoke, while some haifed from Wanganui. Of their condition some idea may be formed when we state that from one of them, which did not appear to be much fatter than its neighbors, over 17 Its of caul fat was taken. From Mr Webby, of Waimea East, there had come some splendid laraba, and Mr Hall, of Appleby, deserved no little credit for a fine calf and two or three young pigs, which must have been of a most contented disposition if we may judge from the amount of fat they had laid on during their brief lives. Mr Barxett, of Waimeastreet, had also a remarkably fine show of meat. The beef, which came from Mr Jellyman's, was, of all the beef we saw, the fattest; the sheep showed the fattening properties of Wanganui grass; to Mr Jessop, of Hope, he was indebted for some moat tempting looking iambs, and to Mr Shirtliffe, of Nelson,-for his pigs, which were as fat as fat could be with any degree of pleasure to the eater thereof. The decorations of the various shops displayed a considerable amount of taste, the poplar and willow boughs of old having given place to the delicate lycopodium, and the produce of tho flower gardens with which Nelson abounds. In this particular respect, to the shops of Mr Trask and Mr Pratt must certainly be awarded the palm. We doubt whether a finer show ol meat than that which greetei the eyes of those who thronged the butchers' shops last nii?ht could be found in any other town in New Zealand. Cricket.— lt will be seen by our advertising columns that an interproviocial match between Marlboroujih and Nelson will te played on Boxing Day in Victory Square. As thU is the first crickefc match that has ever taken place between the two provinces, great interest is taken in the result, especially a? there are said to be several crack players among the Marlborough team, and there is erery probability of a lively game. The Nelson Club now have the water laid on to the ground and expect to be able to offer a very good pitch to their visitors. A small charge will be made at the gates for spectator*. This is done in order to meet the expenses attending the match, which would Jail heavily on so small a body as the Nelson club if they did not receive extraneous aid. Jt is hoped that maDy of the pleasure seekers on BoxiDg Day will Had their way to Victory Square. The captain of the Marlborough team arrived by the Phoebe this morning, and the remainder of the eleven will reach town via the Maungatapu to-morrow. Upper WAKEFiELD.—On Tuesday last tie prizes were distributed by Mr Shephard to the pupils at the Upper Wakefield School, . who had previously been examined by him. The successful competitors were as follows: — First Class: Annie Hoult, 1} Charles Hoult, 2} Samuel Hoult, Sj Phoebe Lines, 4. Second Olfcw- EimiyM'Fariaae,!; Frederick Tunai; \

cliff, 2; Samuel Wadswortb, 3; Ada Lane, 4. Third Class: Fanny Grove, 1 ; Alice Nichols, 2; Ada Hunt, 3; Earnest Tunnicliff, 4; Char ci Kiordan, 5. Fourth Class: Walter Combes, 1-, Thomas M'Farlane, 2. Fifth Class: Ellen Hoult, i; Charles M'Farlane, 2. S.xth Class: Edward Morris, 1; William Wadsworth., 2; Violet Wat<on, 3; E irnest Riordan, 4. A prize presented by Mr Shephard to the most popular child, whose name was ascertained by ballot, was awarded to Laura Batt. Sib Gbobge Grey. ~ The Australasian deals wilh Sir George Grey somewhat sarcastically. In the number of our Victorian ctintempnrary ol the 28th November we find the following comment on h's lnte telegrams : — " Sir George Grey appears to have lest bis nientil balance in hie strenuous opposition to the proposed abolition of the Provincial Governments. A telegram which Sir Gforge Grey recently sent to Mr Fitzherbart, Superintendent of Wellington, has been printed in. the New Zealand paperg. The writer says:— * Thank you for telegram. Surely men worthy of the great liberties they h*ve will not let them be taken from themselves and descendants without a struggle.' He proceeds to give the following advice: — • Pray telegraph as Superintendent to the Secretary of State, and point out the coime taken as unconstitutional, and pray that no action be taken until new election should take place and provinces heard. Parliament will at once accede to this. 1 So long as Sir George Grey confined himself to arguing that the Constitution, of which he is regarded as the father, is the highest triumph and final outcome of constructive genius, he was merely exercising within proper bounds his perfect right as a citizen t:> discuss a proposed important change. But when he goes further, and gives the highly unconstitutional recommendation to the Superiptendent to correspond direct with the Secretary of State, in the modo suggested, he allows his zeal to get the better of his discretion altogether. Our own Mr Higinbotham, whose opinions are rather advanced in some respects, may some day broach the opinion that the Mayor of a borough, or the president of a shire council, should telegraph hl3 protest to the ' foreign nobleman ' in DowniDg-street, whenever he nny choose to feel discontente 1 with any proposals of the Government, but he has not committed himself to such an opinion up to the present time. The irregular character of his advice, and the extravagant expectations as to. the effect of adopting it, are hardly likely to enhance Sir George Grey's political reputation.