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Grey River Argus, Volume III, Issue 156, 12 January 1867, Page 2

We awj informed that the first section of the Greymputh and Saltwater Crock Tramway will be opened for traflic on Monday . morning. Mr Roycll, the Resident Magistrate, has returnod. from Christchurch, but as his attendance, as well as that of Mr Aylmer, is required at the Supreme Court sittings at Hokitika, there will be no business transacted at the Resident Magistrate's Court next week. The first auction sale of vegetables and garden produce takes place to-day on the premises of Mr Amos, A rney -street, that gentleman having decided to dispose of his line crop in this mode. In the Resident Magistrate's Court, o:i Thursday, judgment for the plaintiffs was given in the following cases :— Win. Surgcrer v Anderson, LIS lls ; same v Lyons, L 14175; same v Blc.a, L 7 os lid; Shernird v Heslop, LI I:ss ; Coburn v Williams, 12s ; O'Neill v Lockutt, L'2o ; Boucher vDe Costa, L 7. Several other cases were dismissed for nonappearance. In tho Warden's Court, yesterday, the contractor for the construction of the Greymouth and Saltwater Cieek Tramway was sued by one Wilson, a miner on the South Beach, for having lilled in the plaintiffs race at Watson's creek. Tho defence set up was that the plaintiff had abandoned the race prior to the contractor interfering with it, and further that it was in a useless condition long before the alleged damage was inflicted. The plaintiff produced evidence to show that the race had never been abandoned, and that he had suffered loss. After a patient hearing of the case, which was enlivened by a few sqiuvbblcs between the respective counsel, the Court awarded the sum of LlO as damage, and ordered the defendant to restore the race. In our last issue we inadvertently omitted to state that Mr Johnston, the Collector of Customs, left the Bench during the hearing of^hc case against Capt. Nicol of the p.s. Yarra. We should also have mentioned that the counsel for the prosecution stated it to be the intention of the Collector to recommend the Cfiief Commissioner. of Customs to commute the penalty to one-fourth. J A well-attended and influential meeting ■'was held on Wednesday evening at Kilgoi r' i Union Hotel, in order to get up the first Grjymouth races. A full report appears in another portion of our columns ; and we congratulate our on the unanimous spiy.it which has at once settled all necessary preliminaries. To the advent of Mr F. I). Hamilton, who so successfully carried pff the Hokitika races, is due the credit of having originated the idea of the national pastime being introduced at Greymouth ; and we are glad to say that, as it is already decided to carry out tho events, this well-known sportsman has consented to return here after next week's Christchurch races, and superintend all the needful arrangements. The ground selected is close to the township, being on the flat between the lagoons, a little~'the other, side of the new bridge.- The dates fixed are the ISth, 19th, and 20th of March, the first day being St >B( . Patricks fete. * A discussion has taken place in the Provincial Council, respecting the services of Dr Haast, the Provincial Geologist, and several lion, members expressed opinions anything but complimentary »f Dr Haast's scientific abilities. The genercii opinion appeared to be that the geological department was a costly and unsatisfactory toy, and ought to be put an end to as speedily as possible. Tho Government asked for a vote to . cover Dr Haast's. salary, &c., for. fifteen months, within \y\rich period Dr Haast h_a.d agreed to complete the geological survey ; but an .amendment was carried, by which only n.me months' salary was voted.

Another person has been charged with arson a$ Auckland, and committed for triaL The insurance agents are resolved to prose? pute in every suspicious case; : We learn by a telegram from Wellington to the Cbristchurch papers that Mr James, the absconded accountant of the "New Zealand Steam Navigation Company, has been apprehended at Auckland, and. yemanded. to ' Wellington by the Magistrates, We direct attention to the advertisements in anpther colomn respecting the saie of confiscated, lands in the WaikatQ district. In addition to thp facilities for communication by water between Auckland and the most distaut of t]ie lands offered for- sale, rqads haye been constructed, a,ud a,re being opened up, b,y which traffic -by }and will be maintained, At the present; tjme O.obb's coaches, run daily between Auckland that point of the riyer wjiere the steamers receive on board goods and passengers fpr the settlements above ; these coaches make the journey from Waikatp to Auckland in seven hours, and before the land sales take place, they will be enabled to extend their trips to the town of Newcastle (Ngaruawahia), situate at " the junction of the Waikato and Waipa rivers, where the communication is easy over the, whole of the district in which the lands about to be' sold are included. Copies of the regulations can be obtained pn application at this'oifice. The great Maori chief William Thompson is dead. The S,oytherfi Cross of the Ist instant says : — Tntelligence reached town yesterdtiy that William Thompson, the renowned Maori leader, died, pn the way between Cambridge and MaEamata. He expired on the 2Sth December, while being conveyed across the Maungakawa ranges. We bcljeve that Thompson wrote to Mr. Firth, stating that he 'would die on the 2Sth ; and accordingly, at half -past four on that day lie expired. Up... to the hour of his death Thompson used his influence in favour of the peaceable settlement of the^ country by leasing land to Europeans. In the Provincial Council on the 3rd inst. ; on the motion of the Provincial Secretary, the House wennt into Committee of Supply on the estimate of the West Coast Goldlields. The following sums were voted :— }i arbor department. L 3995 10s ; telegraph, [ \J>?p[\ public buildings, L15,27b" 10s ; public works, L50,5()5. On this vote the sum put down for protecting the Grey River bank below the present wharf was increased from L2OOO to L4OOO, and that for a road to Ross from L7OO to LIOOO. The whole vote was passed as above. Miscellaneous, L 550 3. A very long discussion took place upon the item of LI OOO for the Westland Commission, respecting which several members wanted more information than had been given by the Government. Mr J ollie moved as an amendment that the item should be omittec 1 , which was negatived on a division by a majority of 11, the numbers being 21 to 10. AYe arc indebted to the We-d Coast Times for the following resume of the late proceedi lgs i:i the Provincial Council :— Our latest advises from Christchurch inform us that in the Provincial Council, the Grey River Coal Company's Bill has been virtually thrown out, an amendment having been carried by a large majority not to proceed with the Bill until the terms of the lease were laid before the Council. The Westland Public House Bill has been passed, though with considerable alterations, licenses are divided into three classes, the wholesale license costing LlO, the bottle license Li;"), and the retail L2O, holders of night licenses paying Li() extra. The Government resolutions with reference to the sale of the Triangle were brought down on Wednesday, on which along debate ensued, and 30s and 2()s per foot frontage was agreed to.. Mr Cassius proposed, as Jin amendment, that the price should be 15s and 10s per foot, but on a division taking place, only the five Westland members and Mr Wilson were found in its favor, all the others voting against it, led by the Ministers and Mr Hawkes. AYe understand that motions were to be placed last night on the paper by the Government, to hand over the municipal reserves to the corporation, and to guarantee au interest not exceeding eight per cent per annum on tramways, on the condition that no liability is to exceed in one year LSOOO. Gibson's. Quay cannot be handed over to the Council till the Corporation Bill is assented to, but it is hoped that an amendment to the present Ordinauca. The Corporation Bill was getting on well, and it was expected that it would be passed through committee last night. The report of the Reserves Committee is being printed, and Avill be considered to-day. The House will probably be prorogued on Monday next. Hss Excellency Sir George Grey is expected to arrive at Christchurch on Monday, and will afterwards pay a visit to Westland. A grand ball will be given by the members of the House to the' Superintendent on Wednesday, the lGth instant. A singular accident is reported in the West Coast Times oi yesterday : —An incident occurred on the North Spit yesterday morning that would have been extremely ludicrous , but for the fact that m family of unfortunates ; were thereby very summarily driven out of* house and home, their habitation being literally pulled down about their e&s.,^,The house-in question^ one of/fih^s^^^er little bnUbimgs-thatCstudfth^ North Spit, and is situatecf jupon the outskirts of the "block at the back of Beacb. street, in a somewhat 1 isolated. position close to the old steam boiler, iishat has so long graced the spit. It was there that the Eucalyptus and Storm Bird moored to land their cattle, both vessels making fast to the aforesaid boiler, and thus placed. the house between the bowline of the latter and sternline of the former. Suddenly the barque sheered into the river, and her stern warp caught the house, which in an instant was removed from its foundation of piles and hurled over on one side. A woman and three children were inside -at the time, and their terror may be easier imagined than described at this, sudden disarrangement of their domicile. Fortunately they received no bodily hurt, but evidently belonging to the poorer class, the accident is likely to cause them some distress, as the lious,e was rendered quite iininhabitjiblo,

We learn from the .Weit Coast. Times of Thursday that hjs Honor Mr Justice 'Gresson arrayed in town pu Wednesday nig]i|, after a s.oniewhat unpleasant journey from Christchurch, this being the third time he has yisited the district in his official capacity. Although the list of cases, both criminal and ciyil, are not sp nninerou> as pn forme.r qccar sions, the sitting pf the Court promises to be protracted, as spine, of the cases are exceed? ingly heavy. Tbe Press, comraenljing upon t>|ie rejatjons of East and West Canterbury, makes the following remarksi — ''Here we have 'two distiiicj; provinces, bu| pne Prcyingjal Cpun= cil. One set of Jaws is not sufficient, There . must b,3 two separate codes ; and flic >vork. of making them is already fajrjy advanced, We have two Publicjiouse Bjl|^ pne fqr-. each side, There are two edupatipn laws, two laws for hospitals, and two land systems, totally distinct one from the othgr, There are two sets of estimates, the expenditure of each province being provided for out of its own revenues, , .and \i one overdraws its account with the. fitter,- ft strict enquiry is made against the defaulter in the ledger. The -members pf the two provinces sit in one House, but- thpse of the eastern prpvinco [ never hesitate to profess their ignorance of things in the western province, whilst of the western members, pne afc least annpnnces that on the Eastern." questions which l}e does not understand' I}S votes -\vjth the Quvernr ment.of the day j applying to politics the good old rule in whist— when in doubt play trumpr. To a.dd to this curious arrangpment, ■ although the population of the two provinces is supposed tp be about equal, the one has about eight times as many members as the other. Now -(ih is arrangement may be very good and very satisfactory ; we conclude it is so to bot}i communities as neither has raised its voice against it. But when the Provincial System has passed to an honored grave, and some historian shall arise able and willing to Vlp justice to its many virtues, no more singular chapter will fall from his pen than that which will describe how these two communities, totally distinct in every feature which can make one province differout from another, yet lived lovingly together under one Provincial Government. can only account for it in one way. Canterbury and Westland must be what Father Mulcahy called— 'a twins."' The We*t Coast Thnca of Wednesday says : — " The career of another swindler has been brought to a timely close in the arrest of John Noble, 'who. was yesterday charged -before tho Resident Magistrate with, obtaining goods under f;d.r,p pretences, ;uid remanded for a week. Tljo proceedings fui his part, which evcntvally placed him in. the (dutches of the law, were nf a barefaced ch_ara.o.t;er, ag it appears that he purchased an, hotel at Stafford Town frcfln Mr Power, for- the sum of L 375, and in payment thereof tendered a cheque upon the sank pt-^ew Zealand, pay? able at the Fox's jiiver'^Hi|;h of that establishment, where, according to his statement, he head deposited L7OO, and excused his inability to produce the receipts upon the ground that his partner, who ] was then absent atFox's River, had them. This somewhat improbable yarn, was belief ed by Mr Po.wbr, who accepted the cheque, and obtained an advance Qf L7o upon it from the New Zealand Branch Bank at Stafford Town, the occurrence taken place on the 24tb of last month. On the above pretence, Noble afterwards passed sevpral other cheques f«»r smaller amounts, each of them being partially cashed by the baiik. In the meantime, Mr Huberts, the m.anagcr of t>he Plokitik? r bank, communicated with Fox's River through the Greymouth. branch, ant] informed that the whole story was a fabrication,. Noble haying no ancpunt whatever at Fo.V's. This was can"iuiunicatcd to Mr Power, whs, of .course, wasliablo to the bank fortheL7f> advanced, and he at once took steps to bring the offender to jnstice. A warrant was obtained, and entrusted to Sergeant Beat ty for execution, who, on Monday night last, proceeded to Stafford Town, and arrested his man, whose; first examination resulted as above, The Wcsthnul Qbservop of the sth jnstaut says :—" On Thursday afternoon, My Kennedy, of the Club Hotel, lodged an application with Mr Warden Prige for a lease of ten acres of auriferous land. It is situated at the lower end of the Five-mile, and is principally abandoned ground, The lease is ap-. plied for under the terms of the new Gold, fields Act, and can only be. granted by the Superintendent. Mr Mueller, the District ■ Surveyor, pui posed survoying it yesterday, and the application will most likely be forwarded to his Honor by the first mail. It is proposed to form a company, and to erect suitable machinery on the ground, which, will give employment to. a considerable number of men. Mr Kennedy disclaims all idea of monopolising the ground, and should . several miners come forward who are willing J^™rprk it by hand labor, he is prepared to :gw|j'iit up to them. We apprehend, howi|>Vfer, that the Superintendent will require security for the efficient working of so large a claim to whomsoever it may be granted.. Last Satuftlay's Westland ObservcrMnbes that "'Jsvo applicatip^-'fo'r extended claims WCTefflomde^ ln^tlic Warden's office last week, the first is an application by four men, for three-quarters of an acre, one chaiu wide, situate at the Fiye-niilo Beach, in front of the Police Camp. The other is from nine men, asking for two acres, situate about 50 yards from the north earner of the back of the Police Camp, at the Five-mile. It is very satisfactory to notice these extended claims being taken up, as miners^ by amalgamating and forming themselves into large parties, are enabled to employ horse-power, and even machinery, to keep the 'water down. This is the only means by which the deep ground will ever be thoroughly tested, and the query set at rest whether or not there are as rich deposits of gold in the, deep levels as have b.een found nearer tli? surface. Mr Warden,' Price has often intimated his willingness to, grant extended claims', and we are certain that no. ■reasonable application yv\l\ be refused."

From Dunedin, we learn that the house of -I Mr Esyrioids, senior, situated near Macau- | drew's Bay, was totally destroyed by lire ,| on the 3.lst ultimo. Mr Reynolds, who 3| is old and infirm, narrowly escaped death, j from the rapid progress madg by the flames. -? Mrs Reynolds, was. mainly instrumental in .- saying him, but not before he was severely burned on various parts p'f -jiis -lipdy.. I^ e c origin of the fire has not been ascertained^^ the house and contents, both valuable, weie, v[ | it is said, uninsured, Singe, the abpve wag j was in type jntalligence has come t° hand j that Mr Reynold's has died frpm the injuues. ( ' \ he received, at the burning of hjs h.ous c We take thp following from the Ws st Goaftt ■ 7'ijm« pf Tuesday :—'• Every report that _■ reaches us frpm the back cpuntry strengthens \ the beljef tljat extensive a}\d payable gold | fields exist between the coast range, on j . which the prii}cjpa,j (Riggings pf the district } •are situated, and the snowy mountains that <i form its eastern boundary. Many parties of t miners are buried in the bush prospecting in that direction, and .although, their labors have not resulted in any of sufl - cieut importance to ca\ise a'iStsh, their apparent non-success is less owing to the absence pf gpkl than.to the impenetrable ch<^racter\qf the country, which renders the transport of provisions, at anything like- a reaionable^ cost, an utter impossibility. We are ciedi--' bly informed by an Hungarian genileinaii, of considerable mining experience, vho hag * been prospecting up -the Kanieri and Holiitika rivers, that lie came across patches of i country out pf which a hard working man , might readily make one ounce of gold per week, the sinking being shallow with a fair thickness of- washdirt. Deeper ground however, met "vvith, as our informant's mates, aie evoii now sinking a shaft thathasaheady reached a depth of sLxtyAmr fget, |hiough perfectly dry stratas of sand and light giavel. The wovk, however, has been much hindered b.y foul aiy ; to obviate this difficulty a fanner anc\ \he necessary gear attached, thereto was dispatched by boat up themer la§t week. The men are very sanguine that gold will be hit upon, and we sjneerely hope they Avill not b.e disiipjioiiitcd, ?\s then success would lejid. to such re,s\Uts that at present are hardly appreciable. Our Hunganan acquaintance velatgd a little arecdote m rtlation t.o his sojourn in the back countiy, t Avhich is strftngly sugges.tivp p.f heavy gold * deposits in {md. abp\it the sn.pwy iangp % During ,t}ieir wanderings h}s party came* -■ftaross a Jittle greek running under a bed of soft sla.tc, th. c cvsvices of which were filled 'with sand. This they dug put, prospected, ftnd fp.und it would yield gold to the amount of three grains and four grains tp every pan- * ful, which induced, them to more thorough!" ' test, the grp\md by the aid of % small ground \ sluice, and an ounce ov twp of fine gold -\\eio, j obtained by th,^. process, i.when. their labors '< J were checked by a flood, -\vhich brought 1 down a quantity of silt and filled the crevices 'j| ; t again. As its appearance was precise ly sum <\ \ lav to that they had been washing, cuiiosity \%i pr-oinptotl thei^ %o, prospect \% s\iulsto-4hvir~**"*^' astp.nishmev.t it was found to pay equally as well. This process, was repeated three limes | 'with like results. We expect farther infor-. mation from this party in a few days."