Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1880.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 209, 2 September 1880, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1880.

The alarm of fire was sounded this morning between five and six o'clock, and the members of. the ■ Brigade and others who could not resisfc the powerful attraction to leave their beds at that early hour were speedily rushing about tho streets to ascer; tain the why and wherefore of the clanging of the bells. It soon became known that the fire was in a cottage near the Provincial Hotel occupied by an old lady named Mrs Armstrong and a little girl about twelve .years of age. The police and the neighbors *' set to work and got the furniture out, and the Brigade very soon obtained a mastery over the flames, and in a short, time the ex- < citement and the cause of it were at an end, very little damage haying been done in the meantime. The origin of the fire, strange .'to say, is not enveloped in mystery. Mrs Armstrong, about three o'clock in the morning, having heard horses or some other animals moving about near the house had got up for the. purpose, of driving thema^way, < ancLori returning to her -bed had- placed a lighted candle on a table near the wall, and there is every reason to believe from the appearances that the flame had communicated itßelf to the paper and scrim on the, wall, aniijispbnigot* a Hold of -'the, woodwork,ybut f fortunately it* was discovered in "time to be extinguished before, doing much more harni than giving a fright to the occupants of the (^cottage. The building; was inßuredlfdr £75 in Jibe Standard, and the. furniture ■, for £50 in the same bffice^ ' •-.■., -.v , „,! } Some ponsternat}onwa?]cWseA v among the 'bystanders at Wymond's corner this after* , oooi) by a yoaog mm Dftined Charles Dement;

falling dowtt apparently in a fit. Monckton, however, chanced to be ne and he attended to the young fellow, and found him to be only in a faint, on hia recovery ti'oai which he was removed to hishome. It appears that he had been ailing for some days, and was probably suffering from weak • ness. The death of Mr Blancbard, Inspector of the Colonial Bank, from bronchitis, is an- j pounced from Auckland. The deceased was in charge of the Colouial Bank in Nelson some little time ago, aud anyone who was in the habit o$ being much iv Trafalgar- street about that period must have piinful recol- j lections of the fearful couph from which he ' was then suffering. Mr Blanchard passed through here a few days ago on his way to Auckland. They seem to bo working themselves up into a perfect fury at Invercargill because there is an alteration in their railway time table, and the best of the ftm ig that the local agent for the 3?ress Association appears : to be of opinion that their trouble must be amatter of deep interest tp the whole colony, as he keeps on telegraphing about it. Yesterday we quoted an extract from one of his . messages, and to-day we publish another, received this afternoon, in full. It will be observed that |here is another thrilling incident recorded in addition to the time table grievance — but we will not anticipate lest we might destroy the interest of the message: — "luvercargill, Thursday.— The townspeople are now thoroughly aroused about the alteration of the railway time table^ and are determined to protest. Strong resolutions were carried at a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce yesterday, and to-day the Mayor, complying with the influential requisition, hag convened a publite meeting for Monday evening. — Four boys have been sentenced to flogging and imprisonment for stealing fowls."" The Hawera Star reports the death from congestion of the lungs of Mr Robert Wilson, who, a short time time ago, purchased Mr Bartlett's property in Washington Valley, and afterwards bought a small farm in Waimea South, on which he was effecting considerable improvements. Before coming here he was a resident at Hawera, to which place he had been oh a visit, and was returning to Nelson, when he was taken ill at Wauganui, where he died. The deceased was a prominent and liberal member of the Wesleyan denomination, by whom his death will be greatly lamented. The Rutland Hotel at Wanganui was completely destroyed byfiie on Monday night.. A telegram to a contemporary (the Association neglected to advise us of the accident) says:— The fire originated in the kitchen, and was conducted Upstairs by the lift used to communicate with the private suites of apartments. The alarm was first given by the billiard marker, who slept in a room over the kitchen. He woke up choking-, and found the room full of Btnoke, while firo was issuing from the lift. When once the fire broke through upstairs it spread rapidly. Six jets of water were promptly brought to bear, and although at first the chance of saving the hotel appeared hopeless, the fire at length was literally beaten out by the force of water. The upstairs portion, however, is completely gutted, those rooms not burnt being blackened by the smoke and heat. Great sympathy is felt for the proprietor, by whom the hotel had lately been much enlarged and improved, making it one of the best in the colony. Some of the commercial travellers staying in the hotel lost their luggage. The following are the known insurances on the Rutland Hotel:— ,£3sQ in the Imperial on the furniture, and £750 in the Colonial on the building. Other policies in the South British were taken out, but were cancelled because the proprietor considered the premiums too high. The total loss outside of the insurance is £2000. In reference to the Kyeburn murder, it appears, from the Dunedin Star, that one of the Chinamen — Ah Lee — confessed that he and Lee Guy procured stones on the night of the murder from a neighboring yard. They struggled with Mrs Young and left her for dead. They anticipated getting a large sum of money, but, not finding it, would not take her purse and its small contents. When examined before the magistrates, however, Ah Lee refused to say anything which might criminate himself. We clip the following from last night's Post : — ln the House yesterday afternoon several members drew the attention of the Government to the fact that Mr E. J. Moor, a prospector, was alleged to have' discovered . payable gold in' the province of Marlborougb. Mr Sheehan said he had seen in Mr Moor's possession specimens of quartz, which if dona fide, rendered it desirable that the Government should take the thing in hand at the present time. He thought; they might send some of the scientific staff to see if the discovery was a genuine one, as a fresh discovery of gold would give employment to men out of work, and in other respects materially benefit the country. Mr Macandrew, who' had also seen the specimens, thought they indicated a rich goldfield in the viciuity from which they were obtained. It would be well, he thought, for the Govern'inent to give Mr- Moor a hearing. The Premier stated that if Mr Moor would call upon the Minister of Mines he would receive every attention at the hands of that geutleman. ; In the House on Saturday night Sir William Fox gave notice that early next session he would move that it is expedient to do away with the i v sale of intoxicating liquors in the . House. i ■»•■'■'''• •, ■ i The Post of Tuesday says in its "Essence of Parliament" ;— lt was late yesterday afterr noon beforethe House succeeded in making a start with the real business on the Order 1 aper— the Patetere business, like the Piakp swamp of yore, having again turned up at a most inconvenient time. Sir George Grey, who has recently been much affected by thk Patetere coirplaint, gave notice that he would next session move a motion of portentous length, nine-tenths of which consisted of mere arguments in favor of its subject, which wa3 simply that the Patetere., land should only be sold by auction, and not' privately. This singular notice was looted upon by the Speaker as rather exceeding the ' ordinary form of motion, arid he stated, that he might find it necessary to excise the "argument" from the other portions. Mr. Sheehan was 1 , of course, up in arms, and, during the long debate which followed, was very severe upon his late colleague, even going- - so far aa to imply treachery on the part of Sir George Grey. He said that Sir George had never given him the slightest hint. that he was going to bring such a motion forward, although he (Mr.- Sheehan) had but a shdrt time previously been in friendly converse with .him. After half an hour's attack upon the late Premier, Mr. .Sheehan said he would rather trust his honor in the hands of the member for Rangitikei than of Sir G. Grey Eventually, Sir George Grey withdrew for the present his notice of motion.