The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1878.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 286, 10 December 1878, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1878.

Bis Wonsinp thk MAton has kindly forwarded to us the following letter received by him this morning from the Under-Secretary for Public WOpks regarding the railway extension i — "Public tybrks Office, Wellington, Qlh December, 1878. &ir, lam : «;;^u MwZ ??g : ife^Mipister for Pubiic Works to acknowledge the receipt of "your letter of the 28th of November, enquiring wheii. it A^ proposed .to. call for tenders for the eSten.sioh bf tile Foxliiji tailwfidnd ih reply to inform you that the working pjiihs and specifications are in preparation, and iiis hoped that they will be sufficiently advanced to allow of the tenders being called for in February next.— l have, &c, Wm. Knowles, Under Secretary for Public Works." If the above refers to the thirteen mile extension and nofc merely to that to Bell Grove- it certainly is more gratifying newl Mrs. Bird sustained a serious Joss this morning in a horse which was being driven along Nile-street, when the . boy who was driving noticed that something wag wrong witli it. He got down from the cart and took the horse out, and just as he had got ifc fr^e it fell dead on the road. There was a bumper house afc the Theatre Royal last uight, Madame. Cora and Val Vose having succeeded in attracting a large number of people from the country jas well as from the town. They will nofc perform ; again to-night or to-niprrow, hut on/Thursday uight they will give their <farew*ell performance in Nelson. The College. Sports, which are to take place on Thursday next, promise to be un- | usually interesting, as no one can venture to name the piobable winner of the Challenge Cup. On all previous occasions its destination has been known beforehand almost to a certainty ,"but this year the "field" is the favorite against any one competitor. On Friday afternoon the annual distribution of [.prizes will take place. Thk Caledonian Society having been displaying symptoms bf collapse, the Athletic Club have come to the and intend publishing such a programme as will ensure some excellent sport on New Year's Day. Among other events will be a Grand Handicap of 20 soys, and what is certainly a novelty in Nelson, a Baby Show. Mr.. T. G. Scott's wire-walking performance, posponed from last Saturday bri accbunt of the weather, will positively take place next Saturday at the same time and place. The traffic returns of tbe Nelson railway continue to show a steady, increase intbe receipts, which, for the four weeks ending 1 9th October last, were £484 13s lOd, as compared with £399 4s 9d for the corresponding period of 1877. The number of passengers who travelled on the line during the month was 4,850, and the freight amounted to 684 tons. In the percentage of expenditure to receipts this stands sixth on the list of New Zealand railways, the proportion beiug 83-G5. The total railway receipts for 'the month were £47,026, male upas follows (omitting shillings and pence):— Westport, (19 miles), £203; Kaipara (16 miles),. :£34l: ; New Plymouth (21 miles), £387; Picton (18 miles), £402; Nelson (20 miles), £484; Greymouth (8 miles), £658; Wellington (28 miles), £1748; Napier (65 miles), i>2238; Wanganui (86 miles), £2279; Auckland (97 miles). £3657; Invercargill (167 miles) £3852; Christchurch— Dunedin (532 miles), £30,771. Our English telegrams to-day report another large Bank failure, which will bring ruin and misery to many households, especially in the west of England, where, as will be seen, by the following extract from the Posfc Office Directory 1877, the West of England and South Wales District Bank had branches in almost every town of importance:—" West of England and South Wales District Back, ; Head Office Bristol; (John P. Gilbert, General Manager.) Branches: Aberdare, Axbridge, Barnstaple, Batb.Bideford, Bridgend, Bridgewater, Brynmawr, Budleigh. Salterton, Bute Docks, Cardiff, Chepstow, Clifton, Crediton, Exeter, Exmouth, Gloucester, Hereford, Ilfracombe, Kingsbridge, . Llanelly, Merthyr Tydvil, Neath, Newport (Monmouth), Newton Abbott, Plymouth Poutypool, Pontypridd, Redlands, (Bristol), Ross, South Molton, Swansea, Taunton. Tavistock, Torquay, Torring«on, .Tredegar, Trowbridge, Wells, and Weston-super-mare. Limit of circulation, £83,535." A Stdsey telegram to-day states positively that Sir Hercules Robinson is to be our next Governor. The following special telegrams to the Post corroborate Reuter's telegrams reporfcthe recent British successes in Afghan : — " The. battle . which was proceeding in the Pei war ; Pass resulted in a brilliant, victory for the British forces;. The Afghan army attacked the British troops in the Pass. A fierce battle ensued, the Afghans fighting with great bravery,' but ultimately being totally defeated, with immense loss in men, guns, and stores. -The British forces which were commanded by General Roberts, were victorious at aU'poiuts, and captured the entire pass, of which they nowjhold undisputed possession." . . ... -..:'■ ll 'he following, Sydney telegram appears in last night's Posi:— "The. men engaged in the anti Chinese strike mobbed and assaulted; the nou-unionist workmen. There was great excitement. Extra police ;have been sworn in and the military. have been called to take up their quarters irr-. the barracks, where they now are, and are kept under arms day, and night." ••■■-..• .;. ! The Wanganui papers' are getting up an "agony column," which so far has been successful. A Miss Thorburh is the' heroine, and was .first requested by advertisement to bo. kind enough to call afc the Chronicle "office;; ' Then follow the appended threat and reply:— «« lf Fanny Thorburn does? not explain her mysterious : disappearance 5 on Sunday night, and fulfil her agreement, she will be prosecuted.— T. H Nicholson." "Miss Thorburn feels quite justified in leaving Mr T H. Nicholson. She has done nothing to he ashamed of. If they had acted uprightly and fair with her, so she would have done by th.em.'^. We, wish some one would tell us all about 'the war, and what they slate' each other for. It is very sad. Birds in their little nests agree,. not so these. )