The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY DECEMBER 26, 1874.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 305, 26 December 1874, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY DECEMBER 26, 1874.

Dramatic Enteetaijhient. — The City Rifles Dramatic Company will give an entertainment on Monday evening, consisting of the "Charcoal Burner," and "ltotnnson Crusoe." Mr B. Short will preach in the Temperance Hal! en bunday evening next. We leg to call attention to the a<3vcrti*ement announcing tb-tt th? seoonrt united g*thcrin? of Christians of all denora^nations w«ll take pl«cs at, Mr B. Short'?. College Hill, on New Yea» s Day. Good TfiMPLARS.—Tbs demonstration and picnic to bt. held by the Good "ie nplar) promise to be a decide 1 auccjS3 In the evening there will be a public meeting in tha ProvinJJall when the addreaef a will be interspersed with recitations, riadings,and music Thb Colonial Representatives will l?ave Nelson on the 2!?t Qf January, arriving at Manukau on Ihe 23rd. Extra representatives will b-3 taken at ihe same rate as thase for whom passages are paid by the Government, viz., lo jer cent off the u*uhl return fare. Fire. — No little excitement was caused yesterday evtniog, about six i 'clock, by the clanging ot the fire bells ami tha appearance of volumes of smoke and bright flames in Waitnea-sirei-t, which were soon found to be rising from Mr Lock's premise*, an outhouse having taken fire in an unaccountable lninner. The brigale wire ppiedily on the spot, snd, thanks to their cfbrts, the damage vao confined to the building in wbi;;h it originf-ttd, and a part of Mr Lock's stable, from which two entire horses -were with difficulty rcmotn d Mr Lock va» uninsured, and it Is said that his 1<!B3 U from £!00 to £(50. Cricket. — 2 he match between Maryborough and Kelson will taVe place in Victor? Square to-day, and a mo?t interesting game is looked for, although ie can scarcely be called an inter provincial one, as unfortunately none of the Waimea men will take part in it, a mitch between the Wakefield and Spring Grove clubs having been previously arranged. The Nelson team, there-ore, will be comprise! of town men tnly with one exception, namely, Jackson, the Motueka longstop, who, in bis particular department is a host' in himself. Ihe Mar:boroush eleven is taid to cjniprisc B'ime excelent cricketers, and to those wlm hive not male arrangtments for spending their holiday otherwise we caa recommend a visit lo the scene of acton. Gkkeral Govebnmknt Prtzs Firing. The O*dets of the Nelson District gnttici their firinu for the General Government prizas oi Wednesday, when the following were the highest scorers :— Corpl Kout, Stoke, 61 points, £3; Caiet Shone, City, 5\ £2 j (Jadct Doidae, S:okc, 56, £1; C*dfct Parker, Sto\e, 56, jBI; Sergt. Kifc'iing, City, M, 15a; Strgt. Norea'e, SStoke 53, ISb; Ca^et H. Jtdwards, City, 50, 10s; Cadet Macintosh, Artillery, 48. 10i; Cadet Eolton, City, 47, 10s; Cadet Hood, Artillery, 47, 10*; Cadet Clouaton, Artillery, 10s Wesletak Churck.— From our ed*ertising columns it wiil be seen that the fiev. Get-rge Brown, Chairman of the Weslejan Mission in Fa non, will preach in the Weiie.. an Church, Hordy-strest, oa Sunday morning, at eleven, and also conduct a children's service in the afternoon, assisted by Jonah, a Samoan teacher ; and on Monday evening give mjjpionary information en ins extension of mission work fn the iston-'is of the Paeifij. Mr. Brown, we are informed, has been 14 yews ia Sumo*, Bnil expects to sail ia April, in the John Wes'ep, to initiate ihe new mis-ioa. The foliowing 19 an extract from a Melbourne paper, showin? the intsrest the new mission has exited in Vicioria : " For many years such- interest \na not been cxci ci in our Australian churches on the euij'ct of missions, as that raised by the I'.er George Brown, of Samoa, during the pist few weeks. Enthusiasm had langui<hea* for want of fresh fueJ, and univtrsd and continued successes, even in cannibal F>ji, seemed to lull into satisfaction the missionary spirit Some new enterprise was necessary fr> rtvive the feeling which, years Bg,?, the cry ' Piiy poor Fiji ' had awakened And once more it is a nissionary, who, like the honored Key James Watkin, claims the sympathy and liberality of the Christian churches on behalf of The hea'h-n lands which lie beneath The shades of overspreading death. Having hud his pr-ject before ths Executive Committee of the Missionary Society, in Sydney, and obtained concent for a trial trip of the John Wesley early in next year, Mr Brown proceeded to Victoria (the missionary meetings in New South Walts being over), to plead ihe cauge of the new mission there. EalJarat was the first place in which he commenced his wor*. Bafore a large and fympathi'iog aseembly, in Lydiard-streeS Church, on Monday, 2lst September, he explained and urged h's plan, which he aho laid before the missionary meetings held in the Fleasant-frtreetand Baikly-street churches on the foliowing Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. In order to orgenise the effrfc more perfectly, it was resolved 10 hold meetings of tho j e interested in the project, in both of the BiHarat circuits. These meetings were accordingly held on Thursday, 24th September, at Bark ly- street, nt six o'clock, and in the Lydiard-street schoolroom, at halfpast seven p.m. By the latter of these meetings (presided over by J. Orfdie, Esq ,) after Mr Brown had again t tited bjs plan, and the matter had been fully considered, it was resolved that the Rev Mr Brown and the Rev Mr Horaley be requested 'to draw up for distribution a circular containing the substance of Mr Brown's addresses, and a statement cf the probable cost of a trial trip of the .(ohn "Wesley to the islands proposed to bs made the field of missionary labor." Canterbury Eoad Boards.— The Roid Boards in C»nteri-ury are not sans reproche, if what M rTancred ia a letter to a Cnris - church paper says is correct He eaj s .•— '« I observe in Mr Stafford's speerh, which you lately re-r>rinteJ, on lo^al revenue, that he rightly describes the grants made to Road Boards cm of the proneeds of land tabs i.s •Endowment?.' such, indeed, these funds ought to be consldereJ, acd the trnsteej of these endowments ought to make it their first care to secure remunerative investments for their triißt funds, and apply only the interest in aid of ratesfor the gradual opening outaud mniatenwKe of hghwaye. In steal oi thatthfy stem only to devise mem* of squandering the capital entrusted to thym in \ the wajs (as a general rule) least productive of advantage or convenience to the public, and without a thought of the burden to be cntai'e ion future ntepayers I will give my vote to no candidate for the Provincial Council who will not pledge hiniseif to move lor a co.nmission to inquire into ths doing* of Koad Boards, with a view to the establishment of a permanent Board at head-quartera to r ontrol and direct the operations of these irresponsible bodies."