Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume III, Issue 184, 19 March 1867, Page 2

The election of a delegate to represent the miners of the Grey district in the forthcoming Mining Commission took place on Saturday at the Warden's Court. The two candidates were Mr J. A. Whall, M.P.C., and Mr Job Savage, the latter being elected by a majority of one. The numbers were — Savage* 20 • Whall, 19. Whilst the miners would have been fortunate in either choice, Mr Savage has special qualifications for the ■post, he having filledthe office of; Chairman of the Mining Board at. Creswick, Victoria; and also acted as Chainrian of the first (and only) Mining Board inGtago. We.notice that the person at Hokitika against whom the first prosecution has been brought for a breach of the Stamp Act has been .fined L 5Q i: The Magistrate said; that the-Actfgave him no option but to inflict the full fine when the -offence was proved. Mr Rees, for the,defence, gave notice of appeal. ■ It will be remembered th%t the charge Avas for having given au 10 U for above L5-with, out stamping it. £50 to pay for omitting to place a.penny stamp, should act as a I" caution " ,to ithe public. V f The completion of the Greymouth and Saltwater Creek Tramway. waa .celebrated on Saturday, by the formal opening of the line by his Honor the Superintendent, who had cprrie up fronvHpkitika specially for this purpose. The Directors had prodded carriages for the ladies and gentlemen invited: of whpmabput 40 were present; His, Honor arrived at the Company's office at about three o'clock, and after a short- conference with the Directors, took his seat in the ladies' carriage, which/ was afc once driven 1 off and' followed by the carriage containing,the otLer visitors. On "arriving at • the' Arney street' Bridge a stoppage was made, it being hoped that luY HDiior would avail himself of this occasion to declare the Bridge free.to the. public. This hope.-; was, happily not to be dmppoiuted; Mr Commissiorier Sale had got a cheque ready signed for 3EGOO (the price of the bridge), and his Honor handed it to Mr Kuhlman, and declared the bridge free. ISlrs JklSßrick, wit^, ja; bottle .of ithe (appropriate} baptismal christened the bridge " The Seftori wßridge," and amidst loud hurrahs the carriages started-again; for,a few minutes were made at the various stations/ andat the; Saltwater terminus the.toasts of the day, the health of liis Honor the Superintendent, and success to the Tramway were in, ■ champagne: : In] replying, his .Hprior expressed the gratification it always afforded him to identify hiriiself with undertakings which .'. Were calculated tq promote jmblic in-ogress and prosperity^ He' -vvas especially pleased io be m-csept

an that occasion, and" to have ifc in his power to inaugurate such a useful work, Ele was not, as had been imputed to him, flnfayorable' towards tramways J pn the contrary he was desirous of affording them every encouragement. But it must not , be forgotten that he had to consult the interests pf the publig, and he would not consent to sacrifice the public interest to the encouragement of private individuals. But so far as, he could consistently dp so he would give every facility to companies for the formation pf tpamways or "any Avork of public Utility. Of course in granting the privilege pf moiippply h.e wa§ bound to sp§ that no onq should be able to take an unfair advantage of the public. He wanted to see these, tramways connected in a complete system, and he should certainly not rest content until he saw a line constructed fron; the Arnpld, right through to Ross. I|e-wishe4 tv see tl^e lines, something better than mere carriers pf parcels -—they must be great commercial highroads! for the conveyance pf coal, timber, and the other productions of th.c country j Hig Honor concluded by wishing suooess tp the Greymouth and Saltwater Tramway, The : company then returned to the carriages, and reached town soon after six o'clock , The line, was hi excellent order throughout, but owing to the extra load iii the carriages, the single horses could not maintain a yery lively pace. The last section of. the line at the Saltwater end is much better constructed than the first portion, and the rails being broader and de§per will last much longer than those at the other end of the line. His Honor the Superintendent manifested great interest regarding the cost of construction, &c, and examined the work carefully, and expressed himself gratified at the manner in which it had been carried out. His Honor, in co\irse of conversation with the directors, gave them to understand that the Government would expect the Coriipanyto keep the Arney street Bridge in repair Nothing ber yond a short conversational interview took place between His Honor arid the directors as to the terms upon which the Government are willing to Qonogde-the line, this business being deferred until His Honor's visit next week. We believe His Honor wilt ma,ke/it a sine qua non that the line be continued to the Teremakau. ,'.'■■.. >y The following mining t intelligence i€ supplied by the Brighton Times of Saturday • — At the Pakihi a considerable amount of gold is being obtained from new claims, and there has been a rush, although not a very large one, between the Darkey's Terrace and the Basin. About twenty claims have been opened, and the half of them bottomed, on gold, whtelj will leave good wages and something to spare. The sinking is shallow, with a considerable depth of washdirt. This new auriferous area is not very extensive, so far as is known at present, arid, as we are advised, we would not recoriimend any more parties togoou to the ground. Not a day. passes but what new auriferous claims are being struck between tlie" terraces aud the Pakihi, and we havo little doubt but what in a brief spaoe- of time the whole-district from the coast line to some distance inwards will be profitably occupied by the miners. On the terraces all is life and activity. New claims are being daily bottomed, with the most satisfactory results. Much new ground has b|eh opened up, and the terrace workings are gradually wbrkingina sov^therly direction. The diggers are looking anxiously forward to the time when a track to the terraces shall be commenced to* facilitate communication between Brighton and the centre of so large a population. i The names of the gentlemen who have been returned to represerit Dunedin in the Provincial Council of Ofcago are as follows :— W. H. Reynolds, George Duncan, George Turnbull, Julins Yogel, J. S. Sibbald, John Millar, andß. C. Haggitt. ;' The following telsgram from \ Sydney, which is taken from the Argus^ appears? to contain news brought by a recent arrival from San Fraucisco .:— " Consul Rice, of Panamay has gained a suit for possession of the Jacmel Packet's cargo, which the party who advanced the money on it claimed. The vessel'has be'en sent on to New York. The captain was arrested for removing goods from the. ship, and was also sent on . for. trial. Stephens, the Head-Centre, has uever left New York, and is denounced as a s-Hpndler and huiribug . General G leeson lias been appointed Head-Centre instead. A resolution for ".Johnson's impeachment has "been referred to the • Judiciary Committee to" report. . The Medusa, for Melbourne, left New York on the of January." A notification: appears in our advertising columns announcing ; that his Honor the Su-, perintendent will ' sit in ; the Court Jbouse, Greymouth, on Monday and Tuesday nuxfc, for the purpose of receiving deputations and other business. , Those persons who may be desirous of an interview with his Honor are requested to write to him, stating the nature of their business, y-ari'd ; forward' their letters to Hokitika during the present week, We learn from the j%^ne</ Mail of tho 7th irist./ that, pending further enquiry, the Ext « cutive Council : have, suspended the f pllp'tving olficers-in the Department of Public Works j — Mr Rae, Cbmimissiorier. of JRailways and Under->Seci:etary; Mr Walker, Accountant ; and Mr Vernon, Audit Clerk. This step is eonseq^uent on a pieliminary inyestigatibn, just brought to a close. / The further enquiry wiirbe cpiulucted by'the Treasurer and the Minister for Lands/^and _ will commence on Monday next. 'Tlie^ ; office^ of_ Cp|niriissioner of Railways "w^Jl; be held loir the present by the: Minister for; Works. • x\ From the West Coast Times of yesterday we learn that a most determined case of suicide pecurred in Hokitika on Saturday last. Mr D. Jones, of the firm of Jones and LesUe, auctioneers, r Revelli;' street, was, , observed, ' about half-past five^p'clpck, in front of his store, gazing . strangely' above and around him, and immediately after-wards retired inside and closed thep enjiseg. He niust then ;have prbceededkto „j he back room and laid violent hanci^i^n^Jiimself, as at halif-past six Mr Leslie; jvvlia was about proceeding to tea at the Coniirieyjjiall Hotel, thought he TVould lh'^fc s.fe^fj^B 'store was all right, and

entered it by the bapk way. There a most horrible spectacle njet his ga?ie, for on the floor, denuded of clothing to the waist, with hjsthrpat fearfully gashed, lay his unfortunate partnerj .quite dead, ; The scene was v sickening/ "and beggars description, the fiooi being flooded with blood, which also bespattered the looking-glass -and dressing* table, and drenched the body from head to heel. Inexpressibly horrified, Mr Lsslie ataggere.oVput again, and rushed to the Pplice Camp, immediately returning with seniprsergeant Hicksori and sergeant Clements," and Dr Ryley, who happened to be there, The latter examined the body which was yet warm, atid at pnoe pronounced life to be quite extinct. In fact d§ath must haye been mr 'stantaneous, as the windpipe, and arteries were completely severed; the, c\it on the right side extending back to the vertebra, From the manner in which the blood wa§ scattered it w^s evident that the deed must have been Qp.mm|tted. in a stiinding position before the looking-glass, thesuif^ce of the mirror being spiinkled with blood, that lay jq large splashes uppn the dressing table, the §dge pf which, bore the impression of fpiir bloody fingers, wUere"the wretched man had made a despairing grasp as he fell brckwards.. The rash acjis supposed^to haye been ppm= fitted duringan attack qf delirium tremins. We learn from the Brighton Tivies pf Sat? urday, that the tramway to St, Kildaisnow being pushed forward. More than half a mile qf the whole dis^uce hag the. rails laid d.own aud the ballasting completed, whilst, the bush is cleared ready for the sleepers -for at least tworthirds pf the whole distance. The proprietor, Mr Courtney, has recently laid on geyeraj fregh gangs, pf m.ei\, the whole number pf the emplpyees being now sixteen, and expects; that a pprtion of the line will be open for traffic on MpQday week, a^d cpm. pletedtp St. Kilda in a fortnight. We (West Coast, Thries) ape informed by a ger^tleinan lately' arrived from Fpx's River, that buildjng allptments in Brighfcpu Tpwn are fetching high figures, their value haying increased several hundred per cent, within the last fortnight, As an, iustance of the worth of good sites there, we may mention that the Bank of New Zealand gave L2OO for an allotment having . sixteen feet frontage ">«nly. An iron building erected upou it was included in the sale, We take the following sporting mem. . from the Melbourne Age :-r" The blue ribbon of the Launceston turf has fallen into good hands, and all genuine sportsmen must, and will, congratulate Mr Fisher on having added another laurel to the many he and his family (true sportsmen all, in the true sense of the word) have gained on the various convincing grounds of Australia. Fishhook has .'won the Champion Cup, and in such -a mariner as shows tnat the blood of old Fisherman (that speculation worthy of a prince amongst^turfites) has not deteriorated in a foreign clime. To win the Launceston Champion Cup urider any. circumstances is no small thing, : but to win it in such company as .Volunteer, Strop, Warwick, Cotlierstorie, -and three others, the pick of the colonies, 'is ineeed a victory to bo proud of. The race was a magnificent onei the horses going in a ruck for two miles, no doubt testing each other's prowess, arid saving every inch for the last grand strggle. Old Volunteer and Strop made the first running, and for a time the race seemed to belong to one or the other, as they kept neck and neck for a.-gpod half mile, but at the final test Strop' was. found wanting, and fell off to fourth place, giving thejorw to Warwick, whilst Fishhook let out into that splendid stride, which so astonished the, knowing ones in Lantern at Flemington,l three years ago, ran clean through his horses, and no doubfc to the equal a-rtoriishmerit of the lookers-on at Launceston, finished half a length ahead. Some say that he won by two lengths, aud an enthusiastic admirer declares it Ayai three ; but that, at present, ifc is impossible to decide.. Suffice it to say that he did win, and having done that, no more need b: sayl. Fishhook does not appear to have been a favorite in Launceston amongst* betting men, and all kinds of prices have ..been taken about him. At any rate the race seems to have been consideredas pretty mi:c!i like a gift to Volunteer, as betting on him was at evens, and Mr Tait must be content With that, and with theY knowledge that the gallant old horse did his best,- and that it takes a very, v«.ry good horse tpbeat him."