Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 1881.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 92, 19 April 1881, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 1881.

We were 'only able to -give a very., brief and hurried' notice yesterday of the fire at St. Mary's^ the damage caused by which; we regret to learn, ia greater than was at first stated, th^; whole of the . ipterior of jhe , building,, the walls of which are of lath and ■ plaster,'being destroyed, or so badly charred as to be unfitted for further use. '■ Even the harmonium which was in the gallery' at the opposite snd of the church to that in which the fine broke out is considerably' scorched. J '-The :l flanieß were at times breaking out through the roof, and it was feared at one ticnQ' that the rpretty little spire together with the beautiful bell in t^e tower would be destroyed, but- by the exertions of ,tbe Brigade, who were very speedily on the spot after the firebell rang, this calamity was averted;, The fire was .first discovered by the Reverend Mott er, who being disturbed by a noise made by a cat in her room got out of bed to turn it out, and on looking out of : ber window saw the flames breaking out of the vestry window. She immediately rang the convent bell, the rope of which is in her room, and thus gave the alarm, on hearing •which Constable Hawksworth set the firebell at the Police Station ringing, and together with Sergeant Nash got out the hose reel, in drawing which tbey were assisted by several members of tbe Wellington Naval Brigade who were lodging at Mr Stallard's tbat night. The Fire Brigade arrived immediately after, and soon bad tbree good streams of water pouring on the burning building, while the Wellington Volunteers and the Salvage Corps did all in tbeir power to save as much property as possible. We bave been requested to state that Mass will be said for the present at the Convent Chapel every morning at Beven o'clock. By an advertisement in another column it will be seen that the Rev Father Garin appeals to his many Bympathising^riendß to help him to repair his heavy losses. The loss in Church furni- ! ture, &c, it is nbw ascertained, was underestimated at £400, and in addition to this there is the great damage to the building. A meeting of those interested ib called for tonight to consider the best means of repairing the damages. Notwithstanding the unfavorable state of.the weather there was a numerous audience at the Theatre, last, night when the Wellington Amateur Dramatic Club gave the second and last of their series of entertainments which have caised so much amusement, The programme was an excellent one, and the performance was highly appreciated by all who were present.

The anniversary tea meeting will be held at Mr Campbell's schoolroom iv Bridge-street this evening. At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday morniug, William Higgins was, on the informrtion of his wife, bound over to keep the peace for three monthß. Madame Summerhayes will give another of her pianoforte recitals at the Harmonic Hall tbis evening. There was a fair attendance last night at the Temperance Hall on the occasion of the open meeting under tbe auspices of the Normanby Lodge, I. 0. G. T. Among other items on the programme, addresses were delivered by Mr Aitken and tbe Rev. W. Lee, in wbich they commeuted on th£ number of drinking shops in Nelson and the consequent wretched description of accommodation afforded by the hotels. Reference was also made to the amount of drink selling that wasgoingou on Sunday at theßrightwater Camp A number of excellent songs aud recitations helped to make tbe evening pass off most pleasantly.