The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1567.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume II, Issue 279, 25 November 1867, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1567.

The fortnightly meeting of the Board of Works took place on Friday evening last, at half-past 6 o'clock. Present: Messrs Bentley, in the chair, R Bum. Webb, Hooper, and Field. The minutes of the former meeting having been read and confirmed, the report of the Public Works Committee relative to the repairs to the road in Hampden street, near the residence of Mr Burnett, was read and adopted, and it was arranged that the work should be done on condition that Mr Burnett contributed half the expense of a man's labor for two days. A letter was read from Mr Karnes, asking for permission to erect blind posts to the front of his premises in Trafalgar-street, which was granted. The report of the Finance Commit tte relative to the examination of the late-books, accounts, etc., of the Board, was read and adopted. A discussion arose as to the collection of rates in arrcar. and it determined that the Finance Committee should wait upon 11. Adams, Ksq., the Solicitor to the Board, in reference to this subject, and report the result at the next meeting. The expediency of.keeping the sluice-gates down at night in case of fire having come before the Board, it was settled that Donald .Stewart" should attend to this matter, and also that ihe secretary should examine the state of the Trafalgar-street sewer, and if any repairs .were -found necessary, proceed with them at on ve. "A letter was read f-oni Mr Watts, the InFpector of Nuisances, calling the attention of the Board to some gorse hedges, which constituted a ( nuisance *o the neighborhoods specified and recommending their being- cut or removed when growing 0:1 the roads. Tließo'.rd, conceiving this duty ou.jht to have been performed by the Inspector issuing notices to the proprietors of these hedges without any fur:her intimation to the Board, proposed that the Inspector of Nuisances be empowered to enforce the provisions of the Gorse Act. An amendment on this motion was carried tn the effect that the Secntary write to Mr Watts requesting him to re>ign his situation as Collector and Inspector of Nuisances to the Board, by tlieir next meeting, on account of neglect of his duties. The Board then adjourned until Friday, the 6th proximo, at half-past 6 o'clock. The following Presbyterian clergy arrived yesterday evening, by the Taranaki, to take part in the proceedings of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand, to be held in thisci'y during the present week: — The Revs. Messrs Johnson, MMichael, Ross, M'Gowan, Elmsli ', Duncan, and Russell. Amongst the other passengers were his Honor the Superintendent of Jlar*b rough. Dr. Ren wick. M.H.R., Mr Gray, Inspector of Pos: -offices, Messrs Conolly, Buckley, Tetley, Empson, J. Sinclair, Eastgate, M 4 A lister, Carruthers, Axup, Hutchinson, Pratt (3), Day, Hen right, and Freeland, Mr A. Otter6on ami Mrs Otterson, Miss Fearon, and the Misses Martin (2). We understand that on and after the Ist of December next, the telegraph station at Heathcote Valley, in the province of Canterbury, will be closed. This probably arises from the opening of railway cemmunication between Christchurch and Lyttelton,* and consequently, the trains constantly passing through the iieathcote, would no doubt, render the office a mere sinecure. Communication with the South was resumed on Sunday morning. Amongst the passengers for Sydney by the Mataura were the members of. an Italian Opera Company, under the title of the Compagnia Lirica Italiana, whose arrived in the colonies has been expected for some time past. We do not recognise amongst tbem any names of celebrity upon the operatic stage in Europe. The competition for the Government prizes by. thejVolunteer Artillery Company took place at the City Butts this morning. The commencement of the firing was retarded for some time by the rain, which fell heavily until about half-past 10, when the weather became fine. The scoring was certainly not up to ihe mark, though probably much allowance may be made for the fact that the company has not long been in existence, and their practice has consequently been verv limited. The prize' rifle was .* , 'on byPrivate W. M'Gee, who scored 37, followed by Private J. VV. Taylor, for 3b r and T. A. H. Snook and J. Muncaster. who were" ties for 32, and who afterwards shot off, the former being victorious. These three la6t mem*, bers of the company will therefore be entitled to, compete for the Champion Prize Werun^erstand^that a cricket. match is to take place'' to-morrow at Stoke, between eleven Teetotallers" and eleven disciples of John Barleycorn, ■wbi-.h- has. created considerable interest in the, -neighborhood.

- We learn with deep regret that letters were received by the Panama Mail conveying the sad intelligence of the death, on the passage between Panama and New York, on the 19th September, of Mr Otto Wiesenhavern, late of thi** city, who left Nelson for Europe on the 6th of August last. It appears that Mr Wiesenhavern had reached Panama in good health, but stayed on shore for nine days, being anxious to see as much bf the •■•lace as possible eri passant, whilst the other passengers remained on board the steamer. On the 14th September he found himself unwell, and immediately placed himself under the charge o p the doctor of the steamer (the Arizona) who pronounced him to be suffering from what is known as Panama fever. He gradually became worse, and on the morning of tlie 19th breathed his last, tiie steamer being about one day's sail from New York. His body was committed to the deep the same afternoon, the burial service of the Church of England being read bv-an Anglican clergyman who happened to be on board. These melancholy details will be read with much interest by the numerous friends whom Mr Wiesenhavern left behind him in Nelson, and who will join with us in deploring this sad termination to Tiie career of one who had ga : r.ed golden opinions by his genial qualities and his upright, businesslike conduct, frjm all with whom he came in contact. We have been requested to call attention to the great inconvenience to which residents on the Waimea-road, and tlie thickly populated suburb of the city, situated in the immediate vicinity of the College, are exposed through the want of a postoffice or letter-receiver in that neighborhood. We are informed that one of the letter-carriers pas>es the College at. least once a day, and it is ■suggested that if a receiver were placed at Mr M arris's store, it might be emptied by him on his way to the Postoffice. This arrangement would, we are assured, confer a great boon upon the neighborhood, and we trust that the Postoffice authorities will see fit to acquiesce in so reasonable request. The .Nathan Juvenile Troupe make tlieir reappearance before a Nelson audience at the Oddfellows' Hull, this evening, in two entirely new pieces, which, we understand, have been in preparation since their former visit to this city We cannot doubt that these clever and interesting children will receive a welcome as cordial as was accord d them during. their last sojourn here. The Evening Post, remarking upon the backwardness displayed by the Wellington cricketers in commencing operations, reminds them that they have some debts of honor to pay in the shape of return matches with the Provinces of Nelson and Marlborough; and adds that it is a' ways considered a point of honor to save a vanquished opponent .whnt is technically known as his 'revenge,' and that last year a direct promise was given to their cricketing visitors from Ne'son that a return match would be played, but owing to the fact that a majority of the best Wellington players were unable to obtain a sufficiently long holiday, the march never came off. The Post reminds the Wellinston knights of the willow that this year there is time to make amends for their past shortcomings. An application has been made by the Wellington Volunteer Fire Brigade to the Militia Office for a capitation allowar-ce of £2 10s. for each member of the corps, under the '24th clause of the Volunteer Aot of 1866, in which a provision i9 made for all Volunteers, under which category Fire Brigades are distinctly classed in the introductory clause of the Act. A reply has been sent to the effect that the corps could entitle itself to the capitation allowance by being armed and drilled in accordance with the Volunteer Regulations; but as no provision had been made for the services of the corps by the General Assembly, it could not, in any event, receive the allowance during the current financial year. At a meeting of the brigade, held on Friday evening last, it was resolved that the brigade should be immediately enrolled, if uch could be done without necessitating the arming and drilling of the brigade, even at the risk of forfeiting the capitation allowance. It is ordered in the New Zealand Gazette that the census forms and returns shall be delivered by the several sub-enumerators at the dwellinghouses in their respective subdistricts, between Monday the second day and Thursday the nineteenth day of December (both days. included), in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixtyseven, and that the said forms shall be demanded and received by such sub-enumerators on the twentieth day of December, in the same year, or as soon thereafter as practicable. The same Gazette notifies the appointment of J. Sharp, Esq , as chief enumerator for this province. A notice has been issue 1 from the Stamp-office, calling tbe attention of the public to the fourteenth section of the Stamp Duties Act Amendment Act, 18fS7, which enacts that if a document be presented to the Commissioners to be stamped more than one month and less than three months after execution, the person offending shall pay a fine of twenty per cent, upon the value of the stamps to be affixed; and if the document be presented more than three months after execution, the fine shall be at the rate of 100 per cent, upon the value of the stamps to be affixed ; but in no case shall the last mentioned fine be less than £o. The Independent says that private letters were received by the Mataura. which state that the Hon, A. G Tollemache intends leaving Eng- . land for Wellington in January. Mr W. Fox, was, when the mail left, residing at Durham with his brother, the Kev. G. Fox, Canon of Durham j Cathedral, and would-sail for New Zealand in the November steamer. The Independent states, on good authority, that the Hon. J. C. Crawford, the Resident Magistrate at Wellington, has resigned his seat in the.Legislative Council. This statement would seem to corroborate the alleged dictatorial' conduct pursued towards this gentleman'by the Premier. We Uarn from the Lyttelton Times that four distinct methods of sounding the fire alarm bell, each method being significant that the fire had broken out in a particular quarter of the city have ! been submitted to the Christchurch City Council and have received their -approbation. * For the purpose of. conveying this intelligence the city is divided into four districts, numbered and named asfollowa:— N.l S.E., No. a S.W., N0.3N.W., No. 4 N.R ; and to prevent any -mistake as to which ore the districts bo auiaber*! sl..* named a

conspicuous object in each is pointed out. These matters being* borne in mind, the signals are very simple and intelligible. When the tire is in No. 1 there will be one stroke of the bell- clapper, and then a rapid succession of strokes; then the single stroke will be repeated, followed by the ringing, and so on all the time the alarm is being given. When the fire is in No. 2 two signal strokes will precede the alarm, and so on through all the districts. The proposition seems to be very simple and feasible, and a similar arrangement might, we think, be adopted with advantage iu this city, as has been the case for many years past in Melbourne. ' ;. The artesian well on the racecourse reserve, Napier, has proved a failure, the pipes having bent on a dep h of some 150 feet having been attained. Several other wells however are in contemplation. The ilome News, in >iving a report of the proceedings of the Pan-Anglican Synod at Lambeth Palace, states that the Bishop of New Zealand delivered an able address on September 21st, at the close of which the reverend prelate informed the congregation that the offertory would be applied to the endowment ot a bishopric iu New Zwiiund. for. as matters now stoud, his successor, in the event of his own death or re signation, woud not have more than £80 a year for the support of his sacred office. The total amount realised by the offertories during the week was between £30a-ai)d £400. Goldfields have been discovered in Stewart's Island, and. by all accounts, promise to turn out well. A considerable number of diggers are already at work and making uood hauls. The Ballarat con e-ipmident of the Geelong Advertiser understands that Madame Celeste has positively declined to accept an "engagement to appear in Nl-w Zealand, and that atter appearing at Sandhurst, she will retire from the stage altogether. There has been a squabble in Sydney about the coming of the Prince. A ball was to be given, and the Ladies' Committee somehow have gave great ofience in defining what parties were 'select' and what were not. A certain journal attacked the committee "somewhat coarsely, and the son of one of the ladies so traduced gave a personal castigation to one of the proprietors of t:ie paper referred to. 'Why don't ycu wheel that barrow of coals Ned?' said a learned miner to one of his sons. 'It's not a very hard job; there is an inclined piano to relieve y-ou.' 'Ah,' replied Ned, who had more relish for wit than work, • the plane may be inclined, but hang me ifl am.'