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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume I, Issue 180, 2 October 1866, Page 3

Mr. William Duncan of the Union Bank of Australia, having been appointed Accountant at Napier, the office bearers, Sabbath- i I school teachers, and other members of the I Presbyterian Church, in this place, met with him on the evening of Friday, the 2sth ult., to express their appreciation of him as a member of the congregation. The chair was occupied by A. Sclauders, Esq., and an appropriate address having been read by Mr. Itentoul, the Rev. P. Calder, on behalf of those present and other friends, presented Mr. Duncan with a gold watch, expressing the hope that Avherever his lot might be cast, he Avould lie as useful and esteemed as he had been in Nelson. Mr. Duncan in acknoAVledging the testimonial stated the surprise as well as gratification which it gave him, and the paiu with which he contemplated being separated from those with whom for the last three years he had been so happily associated. Messrs. Gibbons, M'Artney, Robertson, and Charles Greig expressed very warmly their sense of the value of Mr. Duncan's services to the congregation, their esteem for his character, and their earnest wishes for his welfare. The watch, which is a valuable one, was purchased at the establishment of Mr. Hunter, Bridge-street. The Dunedin Evening Star says that it has been proposed, in the event of the General Government determining to seize the revenue derived from the fees and fines of the Mayor's Court, that the court shall be closed. A model of a floating battery for the defence of Hobson's Bay has recently been submitted to the inspection of the Colonial Secretary of Victoria. Mr. Wilson, the itiventer. said that his battery could be constructed, without the armament, for about £6000, any old hulk or partially burnt ship otherwise unfit for sea being available. Commander Norman, who was present, thought that the cost would be mon llfet-fcJb 12,000, which would he a comSll sum for such a vessel conposed. Mr. M'Culloeh thanked v permitting him the opporecting the model and plans, at Irawing attention to the almost sssity of such means of defence lower applied to them-, in order litiously from one point of at-

The Melbourne Age remarks-;--- '"Attention is drawn to the project of d-'rect telegraphic communication with England ; and, after discussing the various proposed modes of accomplishing this object, a preference is apparently given to a direct line from tiie North Coast to Cooper's Creek, from which spot each colony could construct its own connecting branches. From the North Coast to the nearest telegraphic station in the Netherlands Indian Archipelago, communication might for some time be earned on by Bteam supposing it should be deemed unadvisable to construct a submarine cable. This scheme would certainly entail a very heavy expence; an objection, however, which can scarcely bo -brought against the extension which has been proposed to Kiug George' 3 Sound. This lino would be of great benefit, as it would give us tho mail news at least four days earlier than at present, and would thus bring us via Galle, to within from 14 to 16days distance of London Mr M'Gowan, the Superintendent of Victorian telegraphs, estimates the cost of this work at £150,000, but Mr. Todd says he believes it could bo carried out in a substantial manner for. at the very most, £120,000. Taking this latter calculation as correct, the expense is one that might easily be borne by the colonies of South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales, even should Queensland and Tasmania — from whom, indeed, but little could be expected — refuse to contribute. The value of such an extension, at a critical time like the present, can scarcely be overestimated, and we trust that before long the project will engage the serious attention of the three colonies. At the first dinner "of the club formed to perpetuate the memory of Richard Cobden, July 21st, Mr. Gladstone, in proposing his memory, pronounced a panegyric upon that great man, and concluded as follows:- — "It 13 not upon bronze and marble that the renown of such a man as this depends. You need not by visible sigus recall him to the eyes of men; his name is written in their .. hearts. The progress, the movement of mankind is towards a state of things in which the fruits of his labors, so far from being cancelled and effaced by the lapse of time, will be felt more — will be appreciated with more lively gratitude from year to year ; and those who, ii generation hence, may meet in this room or elseAvhere, and those probably who after centuries have passed may look back upon the history of the critical time in which we live will, depend upon it, be not less alive, bin even more alive than we are to the genius and the acts of Mr. Cobden. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, in that confident anticipation, which I ! may possibly have expressed in sanguine language, but which rests upon thought and deep conviction. I close the remarks I have ventured to make."