Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1881.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 42, 18 February 1881, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1881.

The shameful waste of water that has been going on in tho town of late has been carried to such an extent that it has become absolutely necessary for the authorities to interfere, and as but little attention has been jpaid to the warning published a few flays aero, instructions have been issued to Mr Flett to institute legal proceedings without further notice against the occupier of any bouse where he finds the water running to waste. Some-idea of the carlessness of householders may be formed from the fact that in a town of a little over 6,000 inhabitants about half a million of gallons pass through the pipes every day. The result of allowing the taps to be continually running on tbe flat is that at the higher levels water is only obtainable occasionally and at long intervals. At the Lunatic Asylums there has not been a drop of water: in the, pipes for the last three days, and. it has had to be carried down, from a spring on ; the bills. It is to be hoped that the steps about to bo taken by the Council! wall have the effect' of inducing people to, he a little' more careful in turning their taps when they have obtained sufficient water for tbeir own household purposes. The attendance at the Theatre Eoyal last night was by no means commensurate with the merits: of;, Jhe .performance,, the acting of the Cornedy 1 and 1 Burlesque Company m the very popular drn ma " Struck Oil" being of a high order. Beginning with the ladies, we must award the pal,m to .Miss Amy Johns, whose impersonation of the lively, versatile, warm-hearted Lizzie Stoffel was remarkably, clever in that it wa9 so thoroughly natural. The quieter, yet important part, of Mrs Stoffel was taken by, Miss Lizzie. Lawrence, and we can but ( say that if she was a fair specimen Of what stepmothers generally are, then they are very much maligned- individuals. Mr Wilkinson, as the old shoemaker, Joh,n Stoffel, was. as good in his get up as he •was in his acting, and. the lat,ter was equally praiseworthy' in the Sad and in the .comic scenes, with both of which, as is the case ,in: ordinary, life, the drama abounds. The crafty hypocrite, Deacon Skinner, was fairly represented by Mr JRede, although at times he ' appeared unable — perhaps it ie to bis credit to say so — to enter very 'heartily into the villainy of the sanctimonious old humbug. These are the four principal characters in the piece, and it is no exaggeration to say that tbe audience regarded their acting as a real treat, their appreciation.' being frequently shown in a very demonstrative manner. The bill of fare tor to-night consists of Byron's Bparkling comedy " Our Girls'," and the very amusing farce "The Toodlea." After our experience of last night's performance we can honestly recommend ill who are fond of really good acting to take the opportunity of Beeing this clever company at least once during their stay in Nelson. We have one word to say in the direction of fault findiDg, and trust-that the matter only needs mentioning to prevent a repetition of what is a real grievance. We allude to the want of punctuality. It was twenty-five minutes past eight last night before the curtain rose, and if anything is calculated to try the patience of an audience it is so long and unnecessary a delay between the advertised and the actual time of commencing the performance. Thsbe was a good muster of the members of the H Battery at the Drill Shed last night, the occasion being the presentation of certain prizes by Mrs Pitt to ihe fortunate winners. Shortly after half-past seven Mrs Pitt accompanied by several other ladies and jthe* Bishop pf Nelson entered the Shed,

when the p resen ted arms, after which tbp x ollowiug members were called ont °: tiic ranks and presented with the prizes, each of which was accompanied by n f«w appropriate and encouraging words from Mrs Pitt :— Gunner Wimsett, the Martini-Henry carbine offered by Lieutenant West for the best aggregate score in three competitions. On the butt of the rifle was a silver plate bearing a suitable inscription ; Corporal Wimaetr, n silver cup presented by Lioutenant Topliss for the best attendance, at drill during the last twelve months ; Gunner Wimsett, the Battery medal, which was pinned on his breast by Mrs Pitt. At the close of the presentation the Bishop, of Nelson, the honorary chaplain of the corps, returned tbauks to Mrs Pitt for making the presentations, and assured her that in so doing the had added largely to the value of tbe prizes. One of these he was glad to find was tor regular attendance at parade, and be wished to congratulate the winner, as he felt sure that to have entitled himself to the prize be must have exercised considerable self-sacrifice, and been put to a large amount or personal iucohVenience. His Lordship also took tue opportunity of expressing the gratitude of the Voluuteers to Major Pitt for the deep interest he had always taken in the movement, and for the lime and trouble he had devoted to promotiug the welfare of those under his command. He then called for three cheers for Mrs Pitt, which met with a hearty response. Cheers were ulso given for the wiuners of the prizes and for the Bishop of Nelson, and the Battery then, headed by the Band, marched round tbe town. A Match will be played, to-morrow at Victory Square between the Nelson and Star Cricket ClUbs> wickets to be pitched at twelve o'clock. The following are the names of the respective teams :— Nelson— Askew, Balmain, E. Boddingtort, H. Boddihgton, Firth, Greenfield* litilliday, Lawry, Naylcr, Walker> and Palmer. Star— Bolton, J Bolton, .1). Faycn, Hale, Hood, Lock, Poynter. E. Sunley, J. Sunley, J. Wigzell, T. Wigzell. At the conclusion of the match the trophies in connection with the recent Australian match will de presented. The programme of tbe concert to be held at the Theatre Royal on Wednesday next, 23rd inst., is published iv our advertising columns, and will be found to contain the names of mai.y lady and geutleman amateuio, to whom it is alwajs a pleasure to listen, sr> tliat with the special attraction added of Madame Summerhaves' playing there ought to be a bumper house on the occasion. We learn that the Committee oE the Harmonic Society have on this occasion departed from their usual rule, and are lending Madame Sumtnerhayes the Society's piano, so that she will have the beet instrumeut for the purpose to perform upon* 1 which Nelson 'can at present produce. The programme of a race meeting to be held at Hope on Monday, the 7th March, appears in our advertising columns. There being a small sum in hand after the last meeting, it was thought that an afternoon's amusement might be afforded if a. sufficient additional amount were raised by subscription to enable the Committee to offer prizes large enough' to induce residents in the districts to bring out the best of their hacks to try conclusions on tho course at Hope, placed j at their disposal by Mr Dishor, and as it is probable that the Rifle Association firing will be brought to a fiouclusion on tho Saturday, the idea waa that the prizes should be presented in the morning of the following Monday, and that tho races should take place in the afternoon. The total value of the prizes offered is £100, in addition to which a saddle and bridle have been presented by Mr F.N.Jones. ' On the fourth page will be found the annual report of the Governors of the Ne'son College together with tho balance-sheet, statement of assets and liabilities, and list of scholarships. It will be seen that both financially, and as regards the number of scholars in attendance, the College is in a most flourishing condition. Of the success achieved by the pupils in all the competitive examinations in which they have from time to time been engaged there is no cecd to speak now. An Invercargill telegram of Wednesday last says : — An Orepuki miner, who recently visited Melbourne, has made a statement that perhaps he may give a clue to the perpetrator of the ss. Tararua gold robbery. He says that on the day that the steamer came in he visited a room in a boarding house cc- . cupied by one of her passengers, and found the way impeded by a carpet bag, which he tried to move with his foot, but found it so heavy that he had to put his hand to it. Its owner, a gentlemanly-looking fellow, left in an outgoing steamer soon after tbe Tararua's arrival, taking the carpetbag with him. Mr. John R. Mabin reports the sale of Colonial Bank shares at 443 6d, and Colonial Insurance at 10s. Messrs Seed and Batkin, special commissioners, are now in the Auckland district holding inquiries at the Government offices. At the Wellington Police Court the other day the Resident Magistrate intimated that in future persona who were the cause of bringing out the Fire Brigade on the occasion of fires resulting from foul chimneys would be required to defray tho expenses of the Brigade's attendance.