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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 110, 17 April 1876, Page 2

A meeting of the members of the Permanent Building Society will be held at the Temperance Hall this evening. Of the business to be transacted the advertisement, which will be found elsewhere, supplies full particulars. We are informed by the Provincial Secretary, that he received a telegram on Saturday advising hira of the sudden death of one of the Karamea settlers named Brook, who dropped down dead in a fit. The deceased, who was unmarried, had been subject to fits for some years. This, we believe, is the first death that has occurred at the Karamea. Owing to the threatening appearance of the weather, the treat to the children attending St. Mary's schools is postponed until further notice. We are requested to btate that the copies ef the address to Mr Holder, which are lying in ninny stores throughout the country for signature, will be called in on Wednesday next, so that those who have not yet signed it, but who intend doing so, should lose no time. A congregational tea will take place in the Wesleyan Schoolroom at six o'clock this evening, for the purpose of welcoming the Revs. Messrs Harper and Reeves. The day has opened unpromisingly for the volunteer display that is to take place at Wakefield, a soft drizzling rain having been falling at intervals since sunrise, which is generally the precussor of a thoroughly wet day; The volunteers, however, mustered in strength at the station this morning at half past seven, when they started for Wakefield. It is to be hoped that the weather may yet break, so that the pleasant holiday which was anticipated by so many may • not be entirely spoiled. Letters have been received at Auckland from Sir G. A. Arney, acknowledging the receipt of « very elegant silver dinner service, presented to him by the gentlemen of the Auckland bar and the legal profession generally, as a memorial of his former association, while Chief Justice of; New Zsaland, with tbe administration of the law in that place. - There are some lucky people in Auckland. A Mr. Angus Smith, a eettler at Opotiki, has just, received a legacy of £100,000. This, says, the Herald, is the same gentleman who received the New Zealand Order- of Valor, for his gallant conduct on the 7th June, 1869, at Opepe, on the East Coast of the North Island, during the native war. 'Ih 1 - Montreal Daily Witness gives part cu'ars of (he plans prepared for the Royal Albert Bridgo, which is to spun the St. Lawrence, at Montreal, a little lower down than the Victoria Bridge. It is to accommodate a railway track, oavriage ond cart traffic, and a tramway line, and provision is also to be made for pedestrians. Its totil length will be 15,500 linear feel, or nearly three miles. It will have one arch of between 500 feet nnd 600 fot t clear span over tbe navigable channel of the St. Lawrence, with a height nearly 130 feet above the w&ter at high tide. The estimated cost of the bridge is 4,000,000 dollars (£800,000), and itß erection, which is to commence next Spriug, is expected to occupy three years. The Victoria Bridge, which has hitherto paseed for being the largest span in the world, is only 7000 feet long, with one arch of 330 feet

span and twenty-four of 242 feet span. N Its cbnstruotion occupied six years, and the total cost wap £1,260,000. Tho Rev,,Mr. Flavell, of Ahaura, was lately nominated by the Primate of Christchurch to the cure of Merivale, but by a letter from the reverend gentleman to the Primate, he has declined to accept ihe offer, at least for a time. Mr Flavell haswritten as follows:— v" Ahaura, Greymouth, March 7, 1876, My dear Lord Bishop — It is with extreme regret that I feel myself unable to accept the charge of Merivale parish. The cure is just what I wished for in every way, and the minimum stipend should have been no obstacle to my coming, did not stronger and indeed overwhelming considerations compel me to remain in my present charge. To my surprise and sorrow the district is far behind in funds to meet current expenses, and though tbis has arisan from no fault of mine, but from the lessening of the population ond commercial depression, yet, finding the church committee so largely indebted, I feel in duty bound not to leave them in the midst of their difficulties, but to work with them and try to set matters on a satisfactory footing. If this could be done in a few months, I would have asked your Lordship the favor of two months' delay, but I feel sure it would take at least twelve months, and hence it is necessary for me to stay. I could not enjoy the best cure in theworld with the knowledge that the district I had left was in such a plight." T ; he parishioners of Merivale, however, are disposed to wait tilt the reverend gentleman shall find himself in a position to leave his present euro, and, in the meantime, says the Church News, it is probable that the Rev. J. W. C. Dobie will have charge of the parish as deacon-curate. The miner' strike in the Inangahua district is being systematically conducted. The Herald of Tuesday says :-— On Monday morning a report reached Black's Point to the effect that a party of men bad gone to work in thia Ajax and Energetic mines respectively. A numerous party of men was immediately told off to proceed to those mines and ascertain ns to truth of the report, and if found correct, to use their best endeavors to induce the men to cease operations and retire from the mines until, an amicable settlement of the labor question, now in dispute between masters and employed is settled. At their arrival on the Ajax they found tbe small engine at work pumping water out of the well, but ho one at work in the mine. A short consultation onsued, when, it is eaid, the engineers in charge withdrew from the machine-house io company wilh the deputatiop, and togethor with- these prooeeded to the Energetic machine where, boya and men alike, haviug a kindly feeling for their brothers, ordinarily companions in toil, yielded to the friendly admonitions of the deputies, blew off steam, shut up shop, and retired to Black's Point, where they were received with rounds of applause by the miners, who were assembled in large numbers to learn the result of the labors of the deputation. The Great Western Railway, whioh has now the longest mileage in the United Kingdom, is preparing to have the fastest trains in the world. The two "Flying Dutchmen" — ono of which ruus from Paddington at 11.45 and reaches Plymouth at 6, and the other of which starts from Plymouth at 8.30 and arrives in Paddington at 2.4s— are at present almost, if not quite, unequalled for speed. But Sir Daniel Gooch hopes to reduce the journey by one hour, and is haviug locomotives built which are expected to run at 70 miles an hour. It is impossible, says the Home News, to read the accounts of the conduct of the boys on board the Goliath iu the hour of fhry trial and danger without a thrill of emotion and pride. Well might Captain Bourchier aay'' of/ them "They behaved like men and heroes," and richly have they deserved the complimentary letter addressed by Mr Sclater Booth on behalf of ,the Queen to Captain Bourchier, to say nothing of Dean Stanley's, sermon in Westminister Abbey on Innocents' 1 Day. " Better," said the Dean, " that; the boys, buried in Gray's Churchyard were lying there tban that for the mere sake of living they had shewn the " white feather* or failed in one atom of their duty." One boy named Boulton,. by keeping the boats in which some of bis messmates had collected, when they wished to shovo off, alongside the burning ship, was instrumental in saving not less than, according to the most moderate estimate, a hundred lives. Another fell a distance df thirty feet, smashing his face so that (he captain could not recognise bim. But he roee up, pulled himself together, made a naval salute to bis superior, and went, about bis work. Who wero these boys but two short years ago? The scum of society, the offcasts and Arabs of the street. There does not exist a more beneficent institution in this country than the training-ships of the Thames, which cheat the gaol and stint ihe workhouse by bringing up thousands of lads year after year to bo brave and honest men instead of paupers and felons.