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Grey River Argus, Volume III, Issue 195, 13 April 1867, Page 2

The excitement concerning the recent discoveries in the Bnller district continues, and a large tide of population has set in thither, both from Hokitika and from the Grey. The latest news is connrmatory of the fact that a large rush has taken place, but positive information is wanting, There appears to be little doubt that the Buller rush is a very considerable one, and it seems probable that it is warrantod by circumstances, but nothing beyond mere rumor is to hand sinoe our last issue, We understand that the exodus from Hokitika is assuming yery large proportions, the various steamers for the north being crowded with passengers, ! It is well to remind tho publio that according to tbe Dog Ordinance, any person assuming the ownership of an unregistered dog, either by allowing it to follow him, or by otherwise identifying himself with the animal, is considered to be the owner, and is liable to be fined, Some recent cases have occurred in whioh parties absolutely not the owners of unregistered dogs have been fined, because they came within the interpretation of the Ordinance, It is announoed, by advertisement, ' that Mr Harrison will address the electors on Tuesday evening next, at the Star Hotel. Mr Whall, the "retired member, has announced his intention of offering himself for reelection, We request the attention of our readers to a notice appearing in our advertising columns, to the effect that on Monday next summonses will be issued at the Court-house by the clerk for cases in the District Court, the first sitting of whioh will be on the first Tuesday iv May. The extended jurisdiction of the Resident Magistrate's Court will cease on the loth instant. The Press gives the following account of the recent fire iirChristchureh : — " A very destructive fire occurred this morning in the block of buildings sitnated at the rear of Gloucester and Colombo streets. The first alarm was given shortly before one o'clock, when it was discovered that the stable in the rear of Mr Jameson's store was on fire. The building was' connected with the long range of stables lately in the possession of Bruce and Co, and also with the stables in the rear of Messis Lane Brothers, butchers, and both being filled with hay and other inflammable materials, quickly became ignited. The wind at the time was very light from the north, but a considerable time elapsejl before the Fire Brigade brought their engine to bear upon the flames. So imminent was the danger that the whole of the stock of Mr Jameson, grocer ; Messrs Lane, butchers ; Mr Coates, jeweller ; Mr Prince, Sydeaham House; Mr Phillips, clothing store, Mirs Dwyor, tobacconist; and Mr Gee, tbe confectioners, were entirely removed, and although the premises were not destroyed the loss from removal must be very great. Most fortunately there was but little wind, or the dnnage would have been much greater ; but at a low computation it must amount to L 20.000." The Lyltelton Times estimates the loss at 1,10,000. We regret that a clerical error occurred in our police repqrt-iii Tuesday's issue, by which it was made t^ appear that Mr W. J. Coates was fined for a breach of tiie ' * Puljlic House Ordinance " instead, as it should have^een printed, of the !' Police Ordinance." The offence consisted in allowing rubbish to accumulate opposite the defendant's promises. Auckland is becoming as notorious .for commercial... irregularities as for fires. A telegram from Nelson states that the business of thcßank of Auckland came to a stand on the.2nd instant. The manager attempted to abscond, but was prevented from doing so.( No defalcation appeared on examining the) account, but four thousand pounds' worth of '= overdue bills were returned as specie (?). The other banks have taken up the business and will discharge the liabilities. The Neiv Zealdnd Advertiser of April 3. says .-—"The depression of the times is affecting companies as well as individuals in Auckland, as we learn by our files that an extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders of the Auckland Insurance Company was held at theii offices the other day, to consider a resolution respecting the windingup or disposing of the Company. A resolution passed at the general half-yearly meeting; authorising tho directors to take the necessary steps for winding-up the affairs of the Company in such manner as they may think right, or to dispose of the business of the Compauy to some other office doing business in Auckland, was unanimously adopted. We regret to learn, also, that matters are so bad in Auckland that a scheme of emigration from that province to California is being actively carried out," The writs for the election of members of the Provincial Council for Grcymouih, Hokitika and Westland districts have been issued, and the elections will com m'cnoe~ next week. On Thursday next, the 16th instant, the nomination of members for the electoral district of . "Westland" will take place at Hokitika, and the polling will come off on the following Saturday. The date of the Greymouth nomination is not yet officially announced. Thq Bruce Herald of March 20, relates the folloM'ing romance of Mr Macandrew's election : — " At- the West Taieri on the polling day an old settler, with a horse and cart had travelled several miles to. record his vate, but, before doing so, had to stable his horse ; while in the act of unyciking, the horse bounded forward, knockingfhini down, treading severely on his hand f while the wheel of the cart passed over hi& arui and head. Medical, alfe, \\%& promptly Procured, but the injuries

were of so severe a nature that he was ordered to be carefully conveyed- home. In due course the doctor's orders were being obeyed, but on nearing the polling-booth our hero observed he was being driven past, made a signal to stop, and ordered the man to drive him to the poll, to which the driver objected. Upon which the poor man made a desperate effort, half raised himself, and addressed him thus — 'With my last breath I command you to drive me to the poll, that 1 may vote for Maeandrew.' He was accordingly driven to the booth— -the papers were brought to the cart and signed in a way to satisfy the returning officer that the vote was for Maeandrew ; having done so, he exclaimed with extreme satisfaction, 'I can now die in peace, as I have done my duty to an honest man, and a man who helped me and my family at a time when I had need of it.'" We understand that Mr Aitken, the surveyor recently despatched by the Government to ascertain the practicability of a direct road from Greymouth to Maori Gully, has reported that no road is practicable in the direction desired, the country being broken and precipitous. He recommends that a tramroad should be made from the Arnold Township to Maori Gully ; and we understand that urgent representations have been made by the residents iv the district ii>favor of this suggestion. We learn from the West Count Times of Thursday, that the usual fortnightly escort from Ross was rather a small one, 1500oz. being brought by the Bank of Now Zealand, and lOOOoz, for the Union Bank. In consequence of the dry weather there is a great deal of washdirt at Donoghue's diggings and at Ross, that cannot at present be made available, but should rain set in much larger returns may be expocted by the next escort. On this occasion no gold was sent down by the B«ink of New South Wales, their cus* toiners chiefly being those miners who are waiting for rain, in order to wash up. By our latest files from Dunedin, we see that the coroner's enquiry relative to the late fire had commenced. There seems to be no doubt that the fire commenced in Mr Wilson's shop, and that it originated through the combustion of a quantity of kerosene, kept in a drum from which retail customers were served. But the cause of this combustion is a mystery, and likely to remain so . there was no lamp left alight in the shop, and two hours before the fire was discovered the shopjiad been left in apparent security. From whatever cause the fire proceeded, it is evident that the kerosene oil was the medium, and this fact should induce persons to use the utmost caution with regard to this article, It ia to be hoped the late terrible fire in Dunedin will cause the inhabitants of this town to be as oareful as the inflamablo nature of their property should make them. - We learn from the West Coast Time*, that that at the request of tho deputation who waited on his Honor at Okarita on Monday last, Mr Arthur, of the Five-mile, has been added to the Mining Conference now sitting,"! and that gentleman ■ arrived by the Bruce, and attended the Conference for the first time on Wednesday. The following i% the latest news from Tauranga regarding the hostilities in that district. The Tauranr/a A rgu« of the 30th ultimo says :— "Mr Clarke came 'in yesterday evening, and brings intelligence that .the ! Native Contingent, under Major M'Donnell, ! attacked one of the Hau-hau pas on Thursday, about eight miles from 'Jiofnvua Camp, and took it, killing numbers of tho Hau-haus, eight bodies of whom were found on the field. Most of these infatuated m"n are I -natives from the Waikato. There were no casualties, we are happy to say, on our side, not even a scratch. This is glorious intelligence." The same papfr of the ..same date, contains also the following letter, dated' Rangiwcia, March 25 :— " A native woman arrived here yesterday, A from tho Thames, via Kati Kati, and reports that the Ngatimaru <#§, busily employed in conveying all theafSnovcable effects up the Piako, and have, or intend upon the arrival of Tupaia to join the Hau-haus, and give the Arawas a thrashing. A day has been fixed to attack the Waikato settlements, Wanganui, Tare-* naki, Napier, Tauronga, Rotorua, and Opotiki. She also reports that Mr 4 Mackay endeavored to form the Kgatimarus into a native contingent similar to the Arawas, but that they would not fight against their own blood (thereby meaniug any natives who have sympathy with the Hau-haus) ." The following particulars of the recent discovery near Westport is given by the West CoaM Times of Thursday :— " The rush i 3 situated on a large flat between the Waimangaroa Range and the river, and the pros.pectors' shaft is not more than seven miles from Westport, on the Nelson side. The sinking is deep but easy, through alternate layers of dry sand and gravel, until at 57. feet a layer of hard cement, two feet thick,, is reached, immediately overlying the washdirt. The latter is four feet thick, and consists of black sand, intermixed with clay and gravel, that when washed j'ielded from 2gr. to 9gr. of heavy flat gold to the dish. Higher up the flat, against the direction of the stream, two other shafts are likewise on on gold, but as the bottom dips in that direction, they are considerably deeper than the prospectors', one being 82 feet, the other 97 feet. Between 300 ;aud 400 miners are already on the ground, which is marked out in all directions. The prospectors believe their dirt will yield from 2oz. to 3oz. to the load. ' The. Wellington Evening Post of tho 3rd instant contains the following, relative to the swindler Cox, who lately absconded from Auckland : — " It appears from the Auckland" I journals to hand by the Taranaki that every j day some newly discovered 'delinquency on ! the part of this systematic moral scoundrel is being brought to light, and it is extremely fortunate that the activity and zeal displayed by Mr Burne and Mr Inspector Atchison have had the effect of .securing th^^MJflMrij the fatherless, and the v/^^^^^^^^^^H tails of his particularly fl^^^^^^^^^^l wire so thoroughly siftecrap^^^^^^^H warrant being sent down M^^^^^^^^J 1 j —J^^^B

Magistrate at Auckland for his apprehension. In our yesterday's issue we mentioned that at a meeting of the ' Auckland Land Society, No. 7,' some of the defalcations had been exposed, but on the 26th ultimo, more of his nefarious transactions became known. The New Zealand Herald of the 17th, tells the story as follows : — • Yesterday, one who had been his client, a hard-working, industrious tradesman, was surprised at receiving from a well-known firm a demand for a quarter's interest on LSOO, On. enquiry into the-mat-ter he found that it was only too true that he was indebted. About twe years ago he had purchased a property subject to a mortgage of LSOO, He instructed Cox to raise a mortgage of LIOOO on this property to pay offthe existing mortgage of LSOO, and pay over the other LSOO to him. Cox raised the LIOOO as a second mortgage, but never paid off the first one, and pocketed the LSOO himself. To prevent discovery he paid up the interest himself regularly, on the first mortgage.' From the same journals we learn that public feeling in the North is very strong against the man, and that the disinclination evinced at first to take any steps for his recapture was not caused by. any sjonpathy with him, but owing to his large family, who are thrown into sufficient disgrace already. Cox's property has-uot yet been all sold, but it is ex- ' pected the estate will realise a large sum of ( nionej r , as the sale of his law books alone, which took place on the 26th ultimo, brought in no less a sum than L 235. Detective O'Hara, of the Auckland police, arrived by the Taranaki yesterday, and after placing himself in communication with the local constabular}', proceeded in company with Constable Fraser to the resftlence of Mr Lewis, of the Defence office, in the Tinakeri Road, where Cox Was apprehended. On being locked up for the night in a cell in the sta-tion-house, the prisoner was searched, and a small bottle of mix vomica was found on his person. This morning the prisoner was placed in the dock, and remanded until tomorrow, when the charge brought against him by Mr-Burne will be disposed of, and a remand to Auckland applied for. In the course of the forenoon the prisoner was removed under the custody of Constable O'Hara and Braser to the gaol, already graced by the presence , of another of the family, in the shape of Alfred Cox, the pri soner's brother."