The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, MAY 10, 1879.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 111, 10 May 1879, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, MAY 10, 1879.

The Customs receipts for tbe week ending today were £1028 9s sd. Possibly it was owing to the absence of Cr Harley, but, whatever the reason, it certainly was a fact that there was an air of drowsiness about the proceedings in the Council Chamber last night, and this appeared, not only to have communicated itself to people outside, but to suggest to them that for a good quiet refreshing slumber no place offered such advantages as the vicinity of the room in which the City affairs were being discussed. So, at least, we gather from a little incident that occurred at the breaking up of the meeting, when on the members leaving the Chamber for the Town Clerk's room, they there found a gentleman, evidently strongly opposed to the teachings of the Good Templars, coiled up on the cocoanut matting, with the doorstep as a pillow, peacefully sleeping, and quite unconscious of the fact that His Worship the Mayor's locum tenens, an array of Councillors, tho Town Clerk, City Surveyor, and acouole of newspaper reporters were gazing iv horror at the man who could dare to commit an act that almost savored of sacrilege. Gradually he was roused from his slumbers and bundled out into the street by the burly City Surveyor. A saddened but still a sleepy man, he walked for some yards, when it suddenly occurred to him that he had been subjected to an insult which he could not tamely brook, so he returned to his sleeping apartment, threw off his coat, and stated his intention of "going for" the Surveyor. That gentleman, however, took the bull by tbe horns, or rather the man by the arms, and again put him out, a policeman was sent for, and this morniug a Magistrate on the Bench was heard to utter the words "Fined five shillings aud costs." . An application was received by the Council last night from a lad of 16 years of age for a cab driver's license. It was duly endorsed, as required by the regulations, by two respectable ratepayers, and consequently some of the Councillors were of opinion that it should be granted without question. Others argued that experience had proved that names for this purpose were but too easily obtained, and that they provided no guarantee whatever of the efficiency of the applicant. There were men and boys vow in charge of cabs who had not the slightest idea of driving, and were totally unfit to be trusted with a horse, and yet they could only have obtained their licenses by the method prescribed by the Council. No decision was arrived at by the Councillors, and the onus of deciding whether the boy was likely to be a safe and reliable driver was thrust upon the Town Clerk, who, if he studies his own interest, will insist upon a number of cheap trips up and down the Port road before committing himself ta.uy opinion. THE City Council last night aproed to grant a license to the Masonic Hall as a place of entertainment, on the condition that the present doors were made to open outwards instead of inwards as they now do. In doing this we cannot but think that theyacted somewhat hurriedly and without due consideration, for it must be patent to anybody who has seen that room crowded that the present doors, whichever way they might open, would, in the case of a panic such as would be sure to ensue upon the alarm of fire being raised, be totally inadequate to tbe demands that would be made upon them. Two streams of people, one from the body of the Hall and the other from the gallery, would meeet in tbe lobby, and tbe consequences would be most disastrous. Sufficient means of egress should be provided at the back as well as at the front of the building before the license is granted. We have been requested to call attention to the dangerous state in which the Port road between the Commercial Wharf and the Pilot Station was left last night. A footpath is being formed by the side of the new road, and iv the course of the work heaps of earth had been thrown up, and although the night between 7 and 8 o'clock was pitch dark, not only were there no warning lamps, but the ordinary gas lamps were left unlighted, in consequence of which neglect, a carriage, we are informed, narrowly escaped a capsize. It is not too much to expect that when obstructions of this kind are placed in the streets some precaution should be taken to guard against accidents. '- It is gratifying to learn upon such excellent authority as the local Argus that the great wave of commercial depression which is just now sweeping over these islands has not yet reached the inland district of the Lyell. This cheering intelligence is thus conveyed to its readers by our eccentric little contemporary :— " A Butcher in the Lyell sold a Leg of Mutton yesterday for cash. (Who says the place Is'nt looking up.)" "The cry is still they come/ says the New Zealander. Edward Sheehan, commission agent, Henry Woods, lawyer; and Richard Bond, builder, have been compelled to file declarations of insolvency.