Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume III, Issue 173, 21 February 1867, Page 2

At the meeting of tlxe Hospital Committee , held last evening, there were present. Messrs Reyell : > (chair), King, : Wickes, Moss, M'Dpnnell, Maclean, .and Macfarland. The minutes of the previous meeting having been read and confirmed, a letter fr,om the. Provincial Secretary was received^ with reference to the vote of LOOO, stating that the Government would take the necessary steps to place the amount at the disposal of the epuimittee. The drug contract having expired, it was resolved to calljfor^fresli \ten'iler3 for the supply of drugs medicines for. six months. A resolution .was carried empowering Dr Morice to purchase the necessary instruments for the hospital immediately. Ihe meeting adjourned for one w.eek, when, the committee will arrange for^the annual public meeting. Professor La Griff, who only recently delivered several lectures on phrenology, died on Saturday, in the Hospital, of congestion of the brain. He had only bceu ill about six days, and his death occurred rather suddenly' His remains were interred, oir Sunday last. The Lord Ashley, whioh sailed -hence for Sydney via Nelson on Monday eyeuing, took with her 32450z'13d.wt 12gr of gold from this port, shippedby th<» Bank of Ne\v Zeajand. We understand that Mr E. Clarke, the newly appointed District Judge Of Westland, has arrived at Hokittka by the Gothenburg. .We are glad to. find that the new Improver nient Committee has made a good beginning, and evinced a laudable determination to attend zealously to the business, that demands its attention. The first meetingwas held on Tuesday evening at the tramway shed, and a a good deal of preliminary business was got through. Mr Whall was eleoted permanent chairman, and a sub-committee, wasappointed to draw up bye laws.for the regulation^ of the committee. Amongst the matters to which ' the prompt attention of the. committee is to to be given, i are the subjects pf the fire bri' gade j-ajid the'petitipn to the Superintendent, applying for municiiml powers. It was mentioned by Messrs Whall a ud Fisher, with re-

spect to the last-named subject, that they did I Hot consider the members of the Committee .pledged to support the application for municipal powers. They (Messrs Fisher and Whall) opposed a municipality ; but Mr Whall said that he would not offer any opposition if a majority of the committee wer 3 in favor of it. Mr Kenrick gave notice to move at the next meeting, that steps be taken immediately to obtain signatures to a. memorialto be presented to the Superintendent when in Greytnouth, praying his Honor to extend the boundaries of the town, so as to include the surveyed portion of the Maori Reserve; and to bring the Municipal Ordinance .into force without delay. The subscription lists' to the fire brigade are to be looked up, and the money obtained, and the engine procured as speedily as possible. Ainongsfc the matters to be brought under the notice of the Superintendent during his visit to Grey- j mouth, we understand, a deputation is to urge that the works for the protection of the ; river bank be at once undertaken; that a direct road to Maori Gully be constructed; and that the 'Amey street bridge be immediately thrown open to the public. A discussion took place on the question of as-, suming the liabilities of the late committee, the consideration of which was postponed until the next meeting. Later accounts from the Haast have been furnished to the West' Coast Times by Mr Cooper, of the survey department. The mosN important news is the discovery of a ' neyf patch or lead of gold upon the terrace next inland to the gnlly that was first opened. The prospects obtained were not very rich, but promised small wages, /and the diggers were sanguine that much better results would be obtained as the ground was worked into. About 1000 miners make up the population of the Haast district, "and it is satisfactory to know that very few are to be fonni hanging about the township, a general determination to thoroughly prospect the country having been apparently arrived at. Nearly 100 men, heavily swagged, departed southward across the OkuriJßiver with the intention of testing some likely -looking country about Jackson's Bay, whilst a considerable crowd left in an opposite direction to try what the country is made of between Arndtt's Point aud the Haast. Another township is to be laid off on the banks of - the Okuri by Mr Muller, the Okarita surveyor, by whom Mr Cooper was relieved, We notice that tho Provincial Auditor states the total amount which the Nelson Government has received on account of the Sonth West Gold Fields from the Ist April to the 30th November last to be L 22,854, whilst the expenditure of the Government during the same period was under LIO, OOO. We notice that a meeting is announced to take place at Murphy's British and American Hotel, to-morrow evening at seven o'clock, for the purpose of taking steps for the formation of a fife and drum band. The Weslporl . Times in a leading article upbraids the public of Westport with being indifferent and careless about the development of the golden treasure which the writer believes to exist in the neighborhood, and ap-. peals for public assistance to prospecting parties. For the information of the legal profession and their clients we may remind them that instructions have been issued *)y the Stamp Office to the effect that "all instruments not enumerated in the 16th section of the Stamp Act are. illegal, unless stamped at the Stamp office'" That is to say, that all instruments not so enumerated must bearan embossed and riot an adhesive stamp. The only instruments in writing that caii have adhesive stamps affixed are :— "Agreements, bills of lading, policies of insurance, bills of exchange, drafts or orders, promissory notes, and receipts or discharges for the payment of money. " We arc informed that a discovery which may prove of importance has been made up the Teremakau river;' a quantity of sand having been found to contain platinum. This valuable metal is found in this instance intermixed with copper pyriteSj and in su fficient quantity to lead to the belief that it will pay for extraction. J Samples of the. sand have been sent for analysis, and the result when known will be made public. From the telegrams in the Sydney Empire, we are able to glean fuller particulars of the terrible colliery explosions in England, briefly reported in our own telegram published in bur last issue :—" Ou the 19th, a terrible explosion from damp occurred at the. Oaks Colliery, near Barnsley, causing the death of three hundred and fifty men and boys" them in the pit . Parties of volunteers descended to. bring up the survivors and the dead, and continued their laborious work of rescue al night. Next day another explosion took place, destroying a large body- of the volunteers, including one of the partners and several of the managers, as well as various others not connected, with, the mine. The pit subsequently took fire, and numerous explosions followed, but without further destruction of life. v Another bad explosion from fire damp occurred at the Talk Colliery, in Staffordshire; by which nearly a hundred lives w.ere lost." :■'"• We learn from the return^ niade by the Inspector of. Slaughter. Houses, that during the month of; January two hundred and thirty sheep, thirty-five head of cattle, and thirty pigs: were slaughtered iv Greymouth. Themim'ngintelligenpefr.om.th.eßullerisnot very brilliant. The Westport Times of Saturday last says-:— " There is very little.Jnrihingintelligence to report since our last, but the little there is is; very encouraging. ;At the Waiinangaroa the claim- known as the ' Darkies' ! has beeiibottoihed, and from what we can learn, with good prospects, which is said to be a penny weight and a half to the dish; : The sinking is* said to be hard, are many places blasting being required. There" are about sixty other parties set in,' on the terrace, but none as yet bottomed exefept the prospectors, who seem to be perfectly satisfied with their prospect, and they haye good reason to be if it is as good as stated, which •we have no reason to doubt, havingobtained the information from a reliable sourqe. They are so well satisfied with their prospect

that they are building themselves a weather, board house, and making themselves snug for the winter, consequently they must have made up their minds for a long stay. The Califomian pump, recently made by Mr Cruinpton of this towk, is a great service in the working of tln*3 ground, as it is inclined to be wet. Now that the prospectors have bottomed, those other parties on the terrace will 2>ush their work forward more vigorously, and not MicawberJike, as is usually the case on new fields. We do not hold ourselves re" sponsible for the truth of the above, but in the course of a few days we hope to be able to lay before our readers a reliable account f i om bur special reporter. Since the above was in type we have heard that two other claims have bpen bottomed, and the prospects are very good. There are still many parties on the beach washing,the sand. One party is within three miles of the township, and they have been workiug for the last seven . months. They are provided with sluiceboxes, copperplates, quicksilver, and tools, and they likewise use plush iv addition to the prepared plates. They say they are knocking out tucker, but if they are not doing more ...than that, they have stuck at it longerthaii any other party wo ever heard of. Diggers generally soon get tired of 'only tucker 1 ground. From the Kanunea and Wanganui we have nothing new to report. We are daily in hopes of hearing something good from either of the above places, as there are a large /number of prospeetorsvputjof the right sort." < The first Court of -the-Ancient Order of Foresters was opened??pnj:tne. Evening of the 196h inst, at the Assembly room, Mr.'Williams' United States Hotel, Gresson street, under the style of Court Concord. The founders of the Court are Messrs Wickes, Pelling, and Levinski ; and l?r Morice was chosen surgeon. A dispensation was received from the District Court at Nelson, and the Court was . opened by D.C.li. HalL assisted by the S. C. R. and S. B, Ten members were duly initiated, and twelve members were proposed for initiation on the next Court night. Bro. Hall was appointed- C.-R.' of the Court, Bro. Wickes S.C.R., Bro. Pelling as treasurer, Bro. Allen as secretary, and Bro. Haggart as S.B. Other office's were left open for future consideration. This i 8 the first lodge' of any of the Friendly Societies that has been opened in Greymouth, and we trust the example will be followed by the brethren of other ord«rj. The Sydney Morning Herald, of the 13th instant says :— " A rumor prevailed in town yesterday to the effect that telegraphic intelligence had been .^received from England, stating that the appeal in the case of Burtrand had been • sustained by the Privy Council," and that the prisoner would consequently revert to 'the position in which he stood immediately after his conviction. We have ascertained that no such intelligence has been received by the Law Officers of the Crown." We most earnestly draw the attention* tho inhabitants to the necessity of each and all doing what they can to prevent the continuance of the numerous nuisances which are allowed to . accumulate in the public, streets and near to dwellings. We can assure ourvreaders that there is just now a large amount of sickness in the town, chiefly fever, diarrhoea, and dysentery, most of which "cases are clearly traceable to the unhealthy influences of the heaps of filth and rubbisli scattered over the town. Several of the cases ■.have -proved fatal, and others are likely to do the same; it is, therefore,. at once a necessity and a serious duty for the inhabitants generally to co-operate i» doing something for the sanitary welfare of the town. We are afraid, however, that nothing important ' will be done in this matter until the/citizens enjoy Municipal powers, and can compel public attention to sanitary regulations. The Tuapeka Press says :— " The cement hills at Weatherstone's are proved to be payable ; indeed, there, is every reason to believe they are as rich as the famous Blue Spur at Gabriel's, the cement being identical in composition, .and, in fact, a continuation of the same, stratum. Here is a field for labor and capital which will take many years to exhaust, and we could point, did space permit, to many more equally promising enterprises in this district, which require only a moderate outlay and .perseverance to de-, velope tliem; to the great benefit of the pro- \ moters, and the enhancement in no slightdegree of the general prosperity of the Province." ■ ■■■■■ ■■■■'..-■. At the Resident Magistrate's Court to-day two cases of fraud will be investigated. In one case the accused, James Paterspn, is charged with having sold and converted to his own use: a number of articles, the property of a comrade named Francis, and which had been entrusted to his care during the stay of the owner in the hospital. The other case is oue of obtaining a letter contaiuing mohey under false representation. The accused had been in the employ of fie rightful owner of the letter, and had been accustomed to write letters for., him. He thus became aware of the anticipated money letter; and taking advantage of this kuowledge,'.hecalled at the Brian^Borii .Hotel and, representing himself to be : Mr Butler, obtained possession of "the. letter, took out the draft it coutaiuedj which, he got cashed, and then decamped. - ;V ; We are glad to learn that a great number of miners have returned to their old haunts up the river, and tliat^a general revival of mining industry in the up-country, districts has commenced We understand i^hat several parties have lately set invip;tue Aliaura, and are doing well, although no discovery of more than "ordinary importance has been made. ' " The West Coast Times reports that:— "A daring robbery was perpetrated at the Revell street Police Canip on Friday evening last, and the circumstance would iii all probability have remained a profound mystery but for a fortunate ramble taken by Mr Carey (Cai-ey and Gillies) during which he observed a desk full of papers lying upon the beach, a little above low-water., mark. He immediately jumped to the conclusion that a robbery h^d been committed, and Qommunicated with the polibe, who proceeded to the spot and recognised the desk as belonging to Mr Hiskins,

the camp providore, who kept it in. his storeroom neai the camp kitchen. The key* of his room was usually held by himself only, but to an • attack of h>disposition he on the above day was compelled to absent himself from duty, leaving the camp cook in charge of the room and its contents. The room had only one window, which was too small to ■ allow the passage of the desk, and as, save the removal of the desk, the interior of the room was undisturbed and the door locked* when afterwards examined by the detectives, suspicion was directed to the cook, as the only person who could have committed the theft. He was arrested, and stoutly denied the charge, but his boots being examined were found covered with fresh beach sand, and exactly fitted the foot marks round the place'where the desk was lying, Another man was also arrested upon suspicion. V He; is an old offender, and on the day of the robbery had been discharged from custody, having just completed a sentence of hard labor, ''during which he officiated as assistant cook. He indignantly refuted the charge, and pleaded a.n~alibi, but this the police are in a position to disprove, as some of them observed him prowling about the kitchen during the early part of the evening. When the desk was stolen it fortunately contained L 7 only, which was of course missing, but had the theft taken place on Thursday night no less a suni than L2OO would have been secured by the thieves. They were brought iip for- examination oil Monday morning, and remanded for the production of .further evi-. dence." '■■ .' - ".'; v. -. ' ; - . i '.;;■.•-. ■ -'..r/' '■:■ Owners of dogs are cautioned that [the police have strict orders to enforce - the regulations with regard to the registration of dog 3. On -Saturday- several persons were fined twenty shillings, in addition to being ordered to take out a license, for neglecting to take heed to the notifiatioii which apr pearediuour columns, concerning the compulsory registration of all dogs more than three inonihs old. . It should bo borne iv .mind, also, that the police may destroy all unregistered, dogs. ■' The large importations of ■■fruit that have lately taken j>lace in Hokitika have (says the Wed Coast Times) had. the effect of so cheapening it that it has been indulged in to excess by a largo number of people, and the has been that— unused to such of diet— rdiairhoea and other bowel complaints are remarkably prevalent, and; have, we are sorry tip. say, resulted fatally in two or three instances We wish to put our readers on their guard against an immoderate indulgence in fruit at the present season, and especially to request them to regard the quality of what is offered tothem for sahv We hear most fiivoriible accounts cf the groundi selected for the forthcoming rjvee meeting, those who have seen it being highly satisfied with its adaptability for its intended ' purpose. A number of men have been set to work clearingj .and it is expected to be made ready in amijletime, The original intention was to' let the worjt by contract, but the te' , : ders were all much above the .price at whicii the Stewards ca,n get the work done by hired labor. We understand that an effort will be made by the owiier of the new stejvmer in. tended to ply up the r.iver, to have it ready to convey visitors to the races. We trust this intention will be carried out, as it will conduce much to; 'the convenience of the public, the distance by road being tolerably .'great, and the track not the easiest iii the world for pedestrians. : . The Went.Coast Timcsoi /yes.tnrday gives a fearfuLpicture of the sanitary state of Hokitika, and says that were it not for the prevalence of the smart' sea breezes, Hokitika would speedily 'become^ neither more nor less than a huge pest-house, and her.vpppulation be dejimated by the most fearful .and dreaded : visitant of 'modern timesT^Asijitic cholera.' The" West Coast Times of yesterday says : — Under the active superintendence of Mr Rochford the diversion of the main streaui of the Hokitika river into the new channel preparing for it, is progressing apace, and providing we are spared the visitation of floods, the work will be quite completed by the c: - piration ; of ■ ten days "or a fortnight at the i furthest. The gravel bank is already intu* sected by a- canal through which the water runs freely, and when the dam is a little further advanced will, by the ; increased flowcaused by the backing up of the river, widen and deepen considerably. . The discovery of gold on the; beached of Stewart's Island, is; thus reported upon to the Southland .Governmeut, by Police Sergeant \ Morton/ who / last week; visited) the' islaud. The beach at Port, William is a small one in the <bay, about 350 yards^ long and 50" wide. ?At low water the stripping is , about one foot deep, and there is about six inches of washdirt. -There good supply of water from the hM. above .the beach. This beach is a,Utakenviip., The sergeant, prospected the claim in several places, and found, a prospect of about half; a grain to the shovel and about .two grains to the dish, which he forwards to- the Commissioner. There has been no gold found in the other small beaches as yet, i but ; the sergeant believes there . are several" parties out prospecting round the island. The sergeant would not advise any miner, to come here at present except those who are intending to' prospect, and they would even require a boat and.provisions. The Wellington correspondent of the Daily Times in one of his recent letters says : "' The arrangements for the postal conference at Melbourne have been somewhat loosely .made, nobody knowing more about it, thau thai it ia to take place late in February. It was fortunate the; last Panama steamer was not four or five i days behind time through her own fault, as. it might have tended to lessen^ the favorable views which Victoria now entertains towards -that service, and materially affected the proceedings of the conference. We see in the telegrams in -the Sydney papers thatthe Meteor hasbeen pur- ! chased at Melbourne for^ne tauaniiseryice, and that she will .steam twenty miles an hour. '; As this purchass is not made on behalfj of the company, we P r^WM^^^BHHn for- the conveyaace; ''M^^SSS/BBS/jß^m -Melbounie and WeliiiPHH^^HHT;

I will get/her mails more than a dsy ; befo^j i Sydney, and despatch them a day la'^K;'i.---Tl| P.N.Z. 06. have unsuccessfully offere?l;to laiy, on the Tararua or Otago to convey|Sydney mails, &c, within two hours afterward va^ here, but at present N. S. Wales ec^biiiuesf: to prefer that the Trunk boat shouUt^oip notwithstanding the twenty-four to 'ffirty:^ eight hours delay hfere, which is necessary focj coaling, and is sanctioned by the cpntract^ Thi3P.N.Z. Co. have obtamed thV^^acti for conveying the European Mail belw^|] Otago aud Melbounie, virtually ior'sik,: months certain, i.e., for three months' notic<& Fchink I may sjifely say that there will^e) uo amalgamation between the P.N.Zi|arKfc N. Z . Steam Companies. ' The f eelingj^ihe ; Auckland shareholders is decidedly a%wnst. it ; thereiis a strong feeling agaiiist it^tt&pst everywhere, and your Mr Jones, withSlli^r?, threatens^ all the terrors of the lay^|ifis attempted." . '"■■■;^} : :lh'---The iVefeoß Evening Mail says : — The^jaurderer Sullivan has at length- found hjj^place iv the Kelsau prison gang.ovfle inay^^Beeu daily marching to and f|oy*jith hi^pllow convicts, and .worldng 3 withstliem Ht3^»city works. He looks welpf^-assumesr^^up^-ant air that is not iuppbaed to be^mit° great criminals. Xtis^iuj^menjS^nstice to the commumty v^hich he has oMpeikl, that he is at length compelled to toaplike other convicts before ; receiving the pr^wi;Tations. It has not escaped observation wit he is not in irons, and. that some hardshipl|pcast on the men who, suffering for minor oftjwes, arc placed in the same category with s^great a criminal. *.'" v. _ . limmP-yv A curious suggestion has emanate^^oni one of the leading London papers withMjard to a source from which recmits for the mrmv._.mightr be obtained. The /Sfe^^|i;: sayPi" Nor are the Sikhs the only llpe from whom recruits nnght be drawn f|ifan Imperial Englisli army. ; In the norSaern island of New Zealaud there is a racei||||.t' yesterday our deadly enemies, which Jlfi||i"C h.aps naturally the mbsft warlike upo^QiX} earth— a licoplegiftied with a rare inw^pi; for war, bold, enterprising, hardy, au<^p|f|| vrtlrous; who are the perfect aiiiilogues tmptS? Britons in the southern hemisphere, andi^^yj be more.easily brought iiuto communion with^ Englishmen than any other r^ce. In^o]^a ; battle they are the only savages in histwyH who have held their own against equal nipii' bers of cliciplined white men. Now iii''|6§pii subjection they are neither servile nprl||S?i venomed, .and many--of them, even ofptei warriors who fqughjt against ' us so gallaiiw|i would doubtless gladly ontcr a Maori cj^rplal;; in the English se'r.yica'' ; ;.'-.: ; 'As' a j>ropf of t^m feeling towards England, it may be mentiM^ as a fact that durihg'th'ii crisis of theCrii^ari; wur the chiefs of the principal northern Jpip in New Zealand went as a deputatio4^^[i^ Governor to offer their services to the^^ess£ agaiiist the Kussians." '-!MOM^-i