The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1876.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 41, 12 February 1876, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1876.

An election is about to take place in the Grey Valley that is not likely to excite any very great amount of interest. Our obituary notice yesterday contained a notice of the death of Mr Corbett, one of the members for that district, and a writ has been issued by the Superintendent for the election of a member in his place. Seeing that the Provincial Council is not to meet again, the contest will scarcely be a keen one, unless the empty honor of having the letters M.P.C. attached to the name for a time should prove sufficient inducement to 1 candidates to offer themselves.

, A meeting '"qf tlie members of the C^ickefClutijSoireefCommifcteerwiir^i held at ithe {Masonic Hotel this evening at halfrpaafc/s-veu. 7 ►'••• \ TH^^fp,T:vß«^dle.>ili: feond„otf divine service at ttie Wesleyan Church, liardy-street, to-morrow morning and evening. The Volunteers are under orders to parade in; front of the ; Postofflce tomorrow afterpoori' at half-past three.'. They will then march to "the Government grounds near the Police Station, where there will be an open air service, at the conclusion of which there will be a collection in aid of the Hospital and Lunatic Asylum fund. . The ordinary monthly sitting of the District Court for the despatch .of probate and other civil business will be held on Monday, at 11 o'clock, in the Resident Magistrate's Courthouse. The following entries for the "Waimea South Steeplechase Meeting were re* ceived last night (the names of the owners have not been supplied to us) : Hurdle Race — Moose, Sultan, Sea King, Gray Lad (late Paust). "Waimea South Steeplechase Cvp — Don Juan, Patch, Sprightly, Sea King, Quicksilver, Q-ay Lad. Wakefield Handicap — Moose, Sultan, Patch, Don Juan, Sea King, Sprightly, Quicksilver, Gray Lad. We have been shown a draft programme of the races intended to be held at Stoke during the first week in Moy. The Canterbury Autumn Meeting being fixed for Easter week, which falls this year in the third week in April, it is necessary that sufficient time be afforded for horses to reach Nelson after running their engagements j at Christchurch. The races on the first day will comprise a Maiden Plate, Steeplechase, Railway Plate, Hack Race, and Ladies' Purse. On the second day, a Hurdle Race, Jockey Club Handicap, District Plate, Pree Handicap, and Consolation Plate. The amounts of the respective stakes have not yet been determined, and will be influenced in a great degree by the subscription list, which there is little doubt will be sufficiently liberal to ensure a successful meeting. It is stated that the two ex- Judges, Messrs G-resson and Chapman, are likely to be offered seats in the Legislative Council. The Auckland paper, state that a fire brigade, consisting of twenty, paid men, is to be formed to take the place of the volunteer firemen, whose resignations have been accepted by the City Council. It was considered that the volunteer principle has not answered well iv Auckland. Inspector Hughes will have the organisation and command of the new brigade. In addition to the bonus of £200 divided. amongst the officers engaged in the recovery of the cable, a gratuity of £5 has been given to each of the telegraph operators at Lyell's and White's Bays, who were on duty night and day during the grappling operations. The Budget says that a Maori was seen perambulating New Plymouth the other day having a small white-topped parasol, with bright green inside lining, stuck up, over head to shade him from the sun. He had no trousers, and but little other clothing on, and parasol in one hand, and a bundle of fish in the other, waa calling out " fish oh." The News reports a singular accident happening a few days since to a man named Small, working at one of the sawmills on the Bluff road. While driving a team of bullocks through the bush his whip caught the horn of one of them and flew back with such force as to break off a piece of the thong and drive it into the flesh just below his under lip. It was so deeply embedded as to be invisible to an ordinary observer, but Small, knowing from the sensations he experienced that aome foreign substance was there, went to a doctor, who, he says, accepted his fee but failed to find anything, and sent him away. He then went to another, who quickly found and extracted the piece of leather — a bit of whip-strand about threequarters of an inch in length and one quarter in width. The Lyttelton Times, referring to the efforts of those engaged in recovering the cable, says : — The history of their labor is interesting and suggestive. It is a record of skilful, careful seamanship, and great resource in the midst of many and serious difficulties. The experience gained will no doubt be exceedingly useful in the future. Should another accident happen, it will be dealt with by men who understand their work, and who, ifc is to be hoped, will be supplied wifch machinery free from the defects that have been con- i spicuous in the appliances used during the last six weeks. Large numbers of people in Wellington (says the .Evening Argus) were treated to a novel species of entertainment on Saturday evening. Mr Moulton, a lightning calculator, took up his stand on the blank gronnd opposite Mr Clark's drapery shop, and with the aid oi a paraffin lamp, a blackboard, and a piece of chalk, he did some remarkable things in tbe way of arithmetic problems; told people the day on which their birthdays fell for a series of years, and generally exhibited a short cut in figures which made the old notions of arithmetic look very absurd. Added to this, he had an exhaustless fund of humor,' and gave a two hours' discourse, which was listened to with attention throughout. His only profit is derived from the sale of books which give the key to his calculations. Mr Jennings, a Sydney squatter, has had a massive inkstand of colonial gold, silver, and emu eggs, made for presentation lo the Pope,