Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume V, Issue 315, 21 January 1868, Page 2

At a meeting of the Boundary street Bridge Committee, held last evening, it was decided to constiuct a dam of fascines and stones across the gap, 66ft. wse at the base and | 15ft. wide at the top, instead of the foot j bridpc first contemplated. Mr Johnston, I of the piibhc works department, undertook i to superintend the construction, subject to the approval o,f the District Engineer, and to communicate with the Government, asking permission to use the fascines now lying ou the quay. Tenders for the work and material j will be called for by notice outside the public ; works office to-day. Iv the Resident Magistrate's Court, yesterday, William Golding, for committing a i breach of the peace, was fined £1, or in default sentenced to three days' imprisonment. Thos. Crossingham, for a similar offence, was fined ten shillings. The District Court sittings commence to-day before Judge Clarke. A list of the cases set down for hearing appears elsewhere. On Saturday night, and during the greater part of Sunday, rain poured down in torrents and as a natural consequence the river wa9 in high flood yesterday morning. Through the gap in Boundary street a heavy stream flowed, rendering tho aid of boats again necessary to cross from one part of the town to another. Farther encroachments were made on the ba,nk, fully ten feet more having been carried away from the front of the lower township. The omission of the shipping telegrams in to-day's issue is due to the extreme punctuality with which the. telegraph is closed at fivo o'clock, and the fact that the telegrams are not posted, as they ought to be, outside the office. In every other port the shipping telegrams are posted outside the office, and allowed to remain there forpublic inspectionWe would STiggest to the operator here the propriety of adopting the plan followed elsewhere. A proposal has been made to construct a breakwater at a sharp angle from the end of Boundary street, so as to divert the main current of the river from the bank towards the centre of the stream . It is believed that a work of this kind will have the effect of preventing the wholesale encroachments now going on, and that with a quantity of , facincs the lower part of the town can be j protected until the permanent embankment lis constructed. The estimated cost of the proposed breakwater is LI 50. We do not know if the proposal has been submitted definitely to the owners of property in the lower township, but we understaud that there is a probability of the work being done by public subscription, provided the engineer will approve of it. The petition, praying the Governor to create tl(e town of Greymouth a Borough ' under the Muuicipal Corporations Act, 1867, was forwarded through the Hon. John Hall, on Saturday. The signatures were all duly verified, according to the Act, and we may hope to have the petition granted in a week or two. The local papers report that there is a steady increase iv the monthly export of gold from the Thames. The Banks of Australasia and the Union Bank of Australia have sent away by the s.s. Auckland to Sydney, g9B and 1415 ounces respeotivelywhile the Bank of New Zealand sends by the Taranaki, for transhipment at Wellington fpr England, 1480 ounces. In all, the Banks alone send this month 3113 ounces, as against 1200 ounces sent away at the beginning of last month. On Janviary 1, 300 ounces arrived from Coromandel, and 30 ounces by the Enterprise from the Thames, which will swell the amount forwarded to Sydney. The üboye only represents the amount forwarded by the banks, and does not refer to private parcels forwarded else where. Looking at the very little increased crushing accoru-

modation afforded to the minors during the past month, the increased quantity of gold produced is satisfactory. It is still nearly all the produce of Berdan cm ahing. There is still an enormous demand for machinery, and there is ample room a,nd an unlimited amount of work for spine score or two of machines, if they were only on tl}e ground. The assay of gold from the Tbames was concluded with the following results :— Eureka, 15 carats 2} grains ; Long Drive (two samples), 15 carats 2\ grains, and Kapanga, 15 carats 3 grains. An assay from an ingot, containing various small parcels, gave 15 carats 8 grains. The : best result that has been obtained was from gold from M'Mahon's claim, situate in the neighborhood of Mania. This was found to be IS carats 3 grains, fine. An assay of gold from Carpenter's claim gave 15 carats 3 grains; another from the Charleston, 15 carats 3f grains, and a third from that of S. K. Carter and Company, 15 carats £ grain. The other, assays ranged from 17 carats 4| grains to. 1^ carats 2| grains. Qn Saturday evening, th.c Town Protection Committee held a meeting, for the purpose of debating the best means of raising the money required to carry on the embankment of the river. After spme discussion, it was decided %q let the matter rest in abeyance until the arrival of Mr Mackay, the Native Commissioner, \n older to see what sum he would be prepared to give towards the work. l/Lv Mackay was understood $o be, on board the p.s. J[el«on, whjph was \o, haye called in here yesterday, but owing to \he fresh passed on to the Buller. It js probable that Mr Mackay will arrive in the Kennedy this ' week. A notice from the secretary of the Loyal Greymouth Lodge of the M. U.L0.0.F. appears in another column announcing that in future, commencing jfrom this evening, the lodge will hold its meetings at the Club Hotel, where a new room has been constructed for the purpose. We are glad to learn that this useful society ie progressing well in Grey" n^outlj. The line for the telegraph wires from Groyuionth to Westport has been cut for a distance of about twelve miles, which brings the route up to a point where very little cutting is required for about twenty miles. The surveyor pxpeets that the line will bo so far laid out that the suspension of the ivirea may be commenced iv about a month. It is expected that telegraphic communication with Brighton, Charleston, and Westport will be established some time \n March. An Anti-Shouting Society has been formed in Oamarn, the object of which igtto discountenance the practice of "shouting" at the bars of hotels. The association is regularly constituted, and we notice the names of several influential persons on the list of members. Each member is b> uud by a legal bond, under the penalty of £10, not to «' shout 1 ' for any person, nor accept any, drink that is not paid for by himself. The contract is to continue for twelve months. A very glaring oversight lias been made in fixing the polling places in oonncofion with the election of the County Council for the Electoral District of Westland, no polling place having been appointed in the Arnold District — one of the most important mining districts in the north of the County. The result of th.is unpardonable blunder is that 7.00 or 800 miners are practically disfranchised, as the nearest polling place is so distant and the road so bad that very few men will care to take the trouble of voting. By some extraordinary- stupidity two polling booths have been appointed at Rutherglen, although one would have been amply sufficient. The matter was brought under the notice of the Hon. John Hall the other day, but he stated that it was impossible to make . any alteration in the polling places at this election, as the Governor would have to make the order. He said, at the same time, that the Government had taken what they c msidered the best opinion they could get as to which were the most suitable places for polling booths. We regret to notice that in consequence of the miners of the Arnold not being able to vote, Mr E. B. Fox has been compelled to decline a requisition asking him to offer himself as a candidate for the representation of the Gold Fields. We understand that an agreement has been made between the various banks doinc O business on the West Coasc to reduce the price given for gold sixpence per ounce. The price in future will be L 3 15s 9d instead of L 3 16s 3d. We take the following from the West Coast Times of Saturday :— " A singular instance of prolonged fasting on the part of a dog has been brought under our notice by Captain Stevens, of the schooner Maid of Erin, and as we examined the animal an hour or two after its release, aud found it reduced to a frightfully emaciated condition, we are quite satisfied that the captain's version of the affair is void of exaggeration. During his late stay in Melbourne he became the possessor of a rough-haired terrier puppy, and transferred the little animal to the schooner, where it soon became quite at home and the pet qf the seamen, On the 31st Decembe r the Maid of Erin filled up with cargo, and I late in the evening battened down hatches and made ready for a start, The captain came bu board, and very shortly afterwards missed the dog, which, although closely searched for, was nowhere to be found, and it was therefore concluded that, tired Qf its board-a-ship life, it had returned to the shore. No further notice was taken of the circuni. I stance, and the schooner left for Hokitika, and, as usual, made a good trip, arriving here on Wednesday last. Next morning the | captain was ronsed by something scratching against the bulkhead separating the cabin from the hold,, and at first supposed the rats were at work again ; but as the only effect of the noise ho made to disturb them was to produce an increase of the scratching, the idea that it might be the dog flashed across his miud. This was confirmed when he called ou,t the dog's name, and was replied to by a renewal of the scratching. As soon as possible the hatches were taken off, and a few packages , of cargo removed, when the poor little terrier, reduced tjp a mere skeleton, crawled to, the

daylight, and faintly licked the hands of the man who picked it up. It could sparcely stand, and ate and drsvnk ravenously when fed — and no wonder, as water cquld not h»ve passed its lips durhig the preceding sateen days j whilst of solid nutriment, flour only was within the poor creature's reach, and of that uninoißtened it would scarcely partake yery freely, if at all'. 1 ' From various persons who have recently arrived in town from the Buller district, we hear very doleful accounts regarding the diggings on that part of the Coast. The continued wet weather has completely swamped out nearly all the claims on Addison's Flat ; and the digger? who have manfully stuck \o the place for months in the hope of ultimately getting the gold they know is in the ground, have been fairly disheartened, and they are now leaving in h"ndre4s. The business people on the diggings, and the wholesale houses in Westport, are a'so feeling severely the unfortunate turn of affairs, as for a long time a system of extended credit has been adopted, baged upon the belief that the gold would soon be gat at. Business in Westport J3 stated to be fearfulJy dull, and the number, of failures is becoming serious. Mr Aitken, the Government Suryeyor, who is ( engaged laying put the line fpr the telegraph wires from here to Westport, informs us that' fully one hundred men per day have passed along the beach southward during the last week or. two, but that very few can be seen proceeding the, opposing direct^qn,. And yet, ajn^dst all these, depressing circumstances, there are men of very extensive and practical experience who predict that the diggings on Waite's Pakihi will at some time become the most prolific of any on the Coast ; but that this will not occur until capital is hi ought to boar, and the works necessary to drain the ground a,ve carried Qi;t on a large_ scale.