Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume IV, Issue 273, 12 October 1867, Page 2

The latest news from Auckland with respect to the alleged gold fields at the Thames is that a meeting has been held at Mr Cochrane'a Rooms, for the purpose of raising a sum of L 250 to complete the sinking of two abandoned shafts on the K.trnka Flat. The chairman (Mr J. W. Bain) stated that about L2O had been subscribed^ but as there was a very small attendance at the meeting, and as the matter had so far. been treated with apathy, he proposed an adjournment.- Thig was carried, aud the meeting adjourned without transacting any business. The latest mining news fro n the North is thus summarised by the Westport Times : — Our mining news in this issue is meagre in the extreme, and we have vciy little news to tell. A report was circulated- that a prospecting claim had been applied for 'within ten miles of the Buller, but it had no foundation whatever. At Waite's Pakihis work is steadily proceeding, and some of the returns of last week's working have been very o d indeed. Prom up the river, where it was expected a rush would take place, nothing further has been made known. The accounts from Mokihinui are good generally, and gold has-been brough* down in moderate quantities. One storekeeper bought fiftytwo ounces in a few hours, and brought it down -on Tuesday last, and as we are informed, more was offering. There is nothing fresh from Waimongoroa, but the quartz prospects continue to be as good as ever. ; We see by the Nelson Provincial Gevernment Gazette, that the Provincial Council of that Province is summoned by the Superintendent to meet at Nelson on Tuesday, the 29th instant, at one o'clock. At the Resident Magistrate's Court on Thnrsday, before M. Price, Esq., R.M., Anne Charder was charged with disorderly conduct in Werita street. The arresting constable stated that the prisoner was very, disorderly — screaming, making a great noise, and collecting a crowd. ' She had also created a disturbance at the "store of Hamilton and Nicol. The prisoner admitted the . offence, and after being severely reprimanded by the Magistrate, she was fined 20s and ; costs. ■ At the same sitting, a civil case was heard— Matthew Callan v. Alex Monro, which was a claim for the balance of rent alleged to be due for the Alabama- Hotel. The case was gone into at some length,*but it was ultimately adjourned to Tuesday, the 22nd instant, for the production of material' witnesses. Yesterday morning Isaac O'Doj - nell was charged with a breach of the Slaughtering Ordinance, in so far as he did, on the 6th instant, slaughter ten sheep without haviug given notice to the' Inspector of Slaughter.-houses. The defendant's plea was that the sheep were slaughtered oh Sunday, and he gave the requisite notice on Monday. He did not think it was legal to give the on a Sunday. The Inspector stated that on Sunday, the 6th instant, from information leceived, he proceeded to a yard near the line of tramway where there was no sheep-pen, and found that ten sheep had been slaughtered, and the fellmonger was in the act of removing the skins. .Twenty -four hours Rafter this he received notice from the defendant of his intention to slaughter the sheep in question. Samuel Ainsworth said he was employed by the defendant's brother to ; slaughter ten sheep on Sunday, the 6th 'instant.-*- They -were not killed in the defendant's usual slaughter-yard, and thehidoe

were taken. away within ten minutes after , ihe^laughtering. In cross-examination, the 'witness said it was the custom, when the tide was full, at as to allow the fellinoriger's boat "to come to the yard, to remove the skins at once. He had been told by the defendant never, ,to slaughter sheep for him unless he knew that, the notice had been given to the Inspector. The Magistrate said the defendant had laid himself open to fines amounting to nearly Lloo— -L5 for every head of cattle slaughtered, and a further ! sum ' for every skin not producablg iihree" days after the slaughteVing. In the present case he would inflict the lowest penalty allowed by the Act— Ls anil costs. There was an information in the case Hamilton v. Charde, for using threatening language. Mr 0 Loughlin asked for an adjournment for a fortnight, as he believed matters could be ai'ranged amicably. The Magistrate suggested that it would be better to dismiss- the information, as the parties had not appeared^ This was done, and the Court adjourned. A■• meeting of the members of the M.U.1.0.0.F. is to be held at Hunt's Club Hotel, at eight o'clock this evening. The Grey River llace Stewards are summoned by advertisement to meet at Kilgour's Union Hotel, . on Monday evening, for the purpose of electing trustees. ' ; The Bazaar in aid of the Wesleyan Church. Building Fund has been continued since our last, biit its success has been very materially interfered with by the bad weather. Notwithstanding this the attendance of the public has been encouraging, and the promoters of the Bazaar are hopeful that should any break in the weather take place to-day they may still have a very satisfactory balance to show as the result of their labor. It will be continued this afternoon and evening, and is wel worthy of a visit. The amount taken on Thursday was close on LSO. The election of members for the Municipal Cour c'l'of Hokitika took place on Thursday with the following result :— Button, 325 ; Patcrson, 274; M'Beath, 251 ; Bartlett, 227.; Boyle, 221 ; Prosser, 218 ; Shaw, 207; EcclesSeld, 173 ; for the ninth seat Higgin and firowne tied at 161J, and should the numbers of those two candidates continue unchanged, after a more rigid scrutiny previous to the official declaration of the poll, a fresh election— so far as regards them— will have to take place. - The correspondent of the WestpoH Times a 6 Addison's Flat, writing under date Oct. 8, says : — -The crisis has arrived —by this I do not meau to frighten the business people more than they seem to be at present. The place has just had to, meet the demands of many who have waited as long as possible, for their means, then obliged to press; One followed the other, until it shook the confidence of all. To add fuel to the fire, the Exchange Casino (a building that all said was before the times) was sold at auction for L.2-SQ, A small price truly, but there are few men who care about laying that sum of ready money out in a place so large that he fears he'd be lost, and so he would ; but the purchaser ia this case will be found to be the right man in the right, place, for if- any one can make it pay Mr, Sheehan will. But really to see the excite* ment on Monday last, and hear the anxious enquiries as t.q the probable future of this plao>, you would imagine that the ground had given in so far that the washdirt had gone out of sight entirely, or that the mining population had deserted it to a man. Some went so far- as to say that men whom I knew to bs hard at work on good claims at the time, lnd been, as they called it, dnffered out. But since then people seem to have come somewhat more to their senses. If they would but freely use one of them they c-ul'd see the daily increasing number of sluice boxes at work is not a sign that they are merely washing for amusement, and that some people must be very fond -of building if the lot of new aud substantial places is any criterion. A great deal of damage has been done to ground between the first and second township through the breaking in of the creek during the late rain, whi.:h, no doubt, the numerous Warden's Court cases threatened will soon show. This, I take it, is a healthy sign, the ground being worthy of so much dispute. One of the claims has been in so often that the expenses would have built a court of its own. We are in receipt of our Dunedin cones pondent's letter, under date October 5, the only interesting items in which are given below : — An inquest has been held this week touching the death of a man named Brodrick, who had been injured in a fight with another named Strachan, who has been apprehended oa a charge of manslaughter. The post mortem examination declared the cause of death to have been a rupture in the small intestines;, and from the evidence taken it appeared that the two, while fighting, had fallen. An open verdict was returned, and Strachan has been liberated on bail, pending the result of further inquiries by the police. A movement is ou foot among the Roman Catholics intown, forthe purpose of procuring a British Bishop for. tlw Middle Island, considerable inconvenience being felt . . from the fact that the clergymen stationed; here belong to the French mission, and not able to apeak English so as to be easily understood, particularly by the j oung. A meeting was held last night in the schoolroom, and several resolutions in furtherance of the object proposed and adopted. By the Vicksburg, from Glasgow, a large accession has ; heen made to the bone and sinew of the province, in the shape of about 200 immigrants, including over 40 single females,- all of whom, I believe, have already found situations. There is yet room for plenty more, the demand for domestics still existing, and wage 3 remaining at a high figure. The '<" Abolition of Arrest, f or. .Debt Bill" has been shelved in the Legislative Council: The following account of the manner Sin which its fate was v sealed is taken from Hansard:—The, Hon. Mr Acland . moved the •second reading of this bill, but would not ■object to' "an amendment that it be read that ■ day six months. It object jn-as /to. abolish imprisonment for debt; and a. bul forgoing ' toa.t ha.d. certainly passcd^durihgithe present':

session of the Imperial Parliament ; but he did not think there was any necessity for following English legislation so rapidly as circumstances here were very different. ' He regarded the power of arrest as a wholesome check on the proceedings of 'men. who, here, were so apt to run into reckless trading, and incur debts without any probability, of paying them. Another reason "for : nbt^passing the Bill was that it and the Resident Magistrates' Act, which they had so carefully considered, would be diametrically opposed in their provisions. The Attorney General had no great feeling one way or the other; and considered it doubtful what the effect of two conflicting -• bills, passed during one session wot Id be ; but- thought that the latter, *being a separate Act, would override the provisions -of the Resident Magistrates' Act. -But the idea of such a conflict would not be creditable to the good sense of the. Council. The hon, Dr Buchanan moved that the bill be read a second tune that day six months. The hon. Mr Meuzies seconded the motion. In a country where there was so much reckless trading, the idea of removing such a wholesome clieuk as the power of arrest would be most injurious. The conflict with the provisions of the Resident Magistrates' Bill was also another reason ; as he should be sorry to sea anything done likely to counteract the gopd results expected from the bill. The amendment was put and agreed to. The bill was ordered' to bo read a second: time that day six months.