The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 1878.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 22, 25 January 1878, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 1878.

We regret to learn that the Rev Samuel Rowling Purchon, the resident Wesleyan minister at Motueka, died this morning. Mr Purchon had for some time been suffering from an affection of the lungs, and his death, although greatly regretted by those amongst whom he had ministered, was not altogether unexpected. The funeral will probably take place on Monday. At the English and Continental Photographic Atelier there is ou view a large group of the members of the Harmonic Society. The individual photographs are excellent, and the group is well and artistically arranged. Smaller cards containing the photographs iu miniature are obtainable. The Divorce Courts at home have had a busy time of it lately. From mail telegrams in the iV. Z. Times we learn that divorces have been obtained by Colonel Stuart Wortley, Lord Arthur Sydney Pelham Clinton, Capttain French of the 19 th Hussars, and Mrs Dennis, wife of a captain in the 14th Hussars. Trie Lodge Deputy of the Loyal Marine Lodge, 1.0-G.T., delivered one of his series of J' Lay Sermons," which have become quite an institution, at the Lodge meeting, in the Fire Brigade Hall. Taking for his motto the phrase "Heave Away," he read the members a lesson of unity of purpose and effort in their work, and spoke of their duty socially as men and women, and politically as citizens. There was a full attendance, and the " sermon " was. listened to attentively ; the anecdotes and pat sea-phrases being much relished, and at its close Bro. MacLean Dunn received a hearty vote of thanks. This Lodge is fast becoming one of the most popular in the Order, its numbers which already exceed 80, being constantly on the increase. At the Magistrates' Court, before H. E. Curtis and J. Symons, Esqs., the case of Spanton v. Franzen, in which plaintiff sued for £9 9s, the price of 430 hop poles, a portion of the evidence having heeu heard some weeks ago, occupied a considerable time this morning. Mr Bunny appeared for the plaintiff and Mr Acton Adams for the defendant. The defence was that the poles were not ordered by Franzen, but there had been merely an arrangement that he was to act as Spanton's agent for their sale. Evidence was taken at considerable length, and counsel having addressed the Bench, their Worships retired, and after an absence of forty minutes gave judgment for £3 Is 6d, the balance of the poles to be returned to the plaintiff, and each party to pay his own costs, the Chairman remarking that in cases of this kind, where there was no documentary evidence, it was exceedingly difficult to arrive at a decision, and expressing the opinion that it would be far better if such disputes were settled out of Court.