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Grey River Argus, Volume V, Issue 324, 11 February 1868, Page 2

A small shipment of gold, 2000 ozs., was made at this port by the Bank of New South Wales on Saturday night, per Gothenburg, for Melbourne; and, yesterday, 2247 ozs. were shipped per Tararua, fur Sydney, by the Bank of New £calanil,

As will be seen from our report, the nomination at Cobrien on Saturday was a very tame affair. Owing to the residents in Cpbden having apine months ago purchased their sites, and there having been no opportunity of registering on the eleptoral roll since until just now, there were not more than two yoters present, beypnd t|je candidates themselves, who, it will be seen, "did the amiable" towards each other. In a day or two more, the river will haye entirely eaten away the roadway }n front of the lower township. During the last three pr four days the bank has fallen away in blocks of several feet tvery day, caused by the wash qf the tidal waves at h.igh. water. Opposite the block between Johnston and .Arney streets there is not mp.re than, six feet clear from the edge of the footway to the river, and before the high springtides are over we qiiite expect that. the buildings will have the water close to their doors. This is a most serious state of affairs, and we cannot see exactly how the work of destruction is to be prevented. There is no doubt whateverthat $he qidinary wash of the waves at high $ide aie now doing more harm thaji a fresh. Every tide, tue bank is undermined, and the slightest disturbance sends down tihe superiu cumbent earth ajid gravel. Something must be done by somebody, and that yery soon, if the lower part of the town is to be preserved. A memorial to the Hon. John Hall, as Chairman of the County Council, and the delegate of the Governor, is now being cireir lated for signatnre by the residents in the Greymouth district, praying him to re-con-sider t\\e arrangement recently made by which Mr luspector James was driven to resign h}s apppintnient in the Police, The facts of the case are. briefly as follows : Mr James, who is an old and much respected officer of Policy, and has discharged the duties, of fiie office of Inspector at Greymouth for nearly two years with great zeal,dilligence, and efficiency, early in this year received an intimation that in cqnsequence of the exigencies of the public service rendering a general reduction of departmental expenditure necessary, he would have to receive a lower salary — that of first-class sergeant. Mr Jame§ expi essed his willingness to accept the reduced salary, bu,t objected to the re duction in rank. It seems, however, that " the exigencies of the public service" — and probably spme. less cogent reasons — prevented Mr James's proposal being accepted, and accordingly he retired from the force. The memorial prays that he may be reinstated in his rank as Inspector of Police at Greymouth, and we are sure it will be ver}' largely signed" The projected visit of H.E..H. the Duke of Edinburgh to Nelson is thus spoken of by the Colonist: — "It is calculated by those in authority that the projected visit to Nelson of His Itoyal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh will cost the province £1000. This is no suppositions item ; it is the sum which it is estimated the Government of this Province will have to disburse on the occasion. In the present state of the Provincial exchequer, with an overdraft of £15,000 at the Bank ; with roads and bridges wanted in various localities where the welfare and convenience of settlers depend on increased internal improvements ; at a time when economy is being preached by strange and wondrous disciples of reform, and Provincial extravagance denounced by quondam prodigals, we ask, in all sober earnestness— ls such expenditure for such a purpose a warrantable outlay ?" The New Zealand Gazette publishes a return of the quantity and value of gold ex ported from the various ports of New Zealand for the year 1867, which shows the following results : — Auckland, 6637 oz ; Havelock and Picton, 501 oz ; Nelson, 9123 oz ; Westport, 86,413 oz ; Brighton, 44,427 oz ; Greymouth, 127,997 oz ; Hokitika, 243,309 02 ; Okarita, 9828 oz ; Dunedin, 149,364 oz; Invercargill, 9151 oz; Bluff Harbor, 3 oz. Grand total, 686,753 oz, of the value of £2,700,275. We are glad to learn that a portion- of the plant for commencing the railway of the Nelson Coal Company is on the way to the colony. Mr Sampson informs us that he has received full instructions, per Gothenburg, to prepare for active operations, at once. A large sum of money is ready for this purpose, three leading shareholders having advanced £15,000 in addition to the money already in hand. A quantity of firebricks is also to arrive shortly to complete another -coke oven. We understand that it is the intention of the manager to commence the manufacture of patent fuel before long. In consequence of the inclemency of the weather last Wednesday, the qricket match between two elevens, chosen from the members of the Grey River Cricket Club, did not ' take place, biit will be played (weather permitting) at the Court House Reserve tomorrow. The following members of the club have consented to play : — Guinness' side — A. Guiness, Paul, Smith, Thomson, Procter, Jenner, Macdougall, Lyell, Holloway, Nancarrow, Heaphy. Cohen's side — F. Cohen, Buckingham, Wright, Gleeson, Croft, Bradley, D. Cohen, O'Donnell, J. C. Revell, S. M'Dowall, Kerr. Any members of the club who may be present when the match, commences will be picked in to play; the wickets are to be pitched at one p. m. sharp. A meeting of the subscribers of the forthcoming Annual Eaces was held last evening at the Albion Hotel, for the purpose of electing stewards and other general business. There was a large and influential attendance, and from the amount of interest takeu in the proceedings we have no hesitation in saying that this year's meeting will, be a most successful one. It was stated that the course had been inspected, and was found to be in splendid condition . The following elections were made :— Judge, W. H. Revell, Esq., 11 .M. ; treasurer, Mr Davies ; hon. sec., Mr Lahman ; starter, Mr Kennedy ; clerk of the course, Mr M'Lean ; stewards, Mr Messrs. Duttou, R. M., Davies, Lahman, Whall, M'Leau, Comiskey, Perotti, Kilgour, Thompson, Smith, Wickes, Tonks, Fitzgerald, Strike, Sheedy, and Maxwell. The meeting is to commence on , St. Patricks's Day, 17th inst., aud be continued on the following day.

The Nathan Juvenile Troupe made their last appearance at tbe Union Theatre last evening. The performance was for the bene? fit of Little Marion, and we were glad to see the house well filled in Bpite of the very disagreeable weather. The performers were up to their usual excellence, and the troupe were loudly applauded. They leave us, after a' most successful, but far too short campaign, with the best wishes of the community. The first meeting of the n«wly elected County Council took place at the Courthouse, Hokitika, yesterday afternoon.' The proceedings were evidently confined to hearing the opening address of the Chairman, the Hon. J. Hall, a summary of which will be found in another column, as we receive^ it by telegraph fr-om our correspondent late last night. In the face of the information to hand by private sources, and the details which have from time to time been made public, it is impossible to. understand, the causes which are attracting the attention of so many of the mining population on this coast towards Queensland, unless it be upon the well-known principle that the further away any diggings are, the more attracti ve th ey beoome. Eighty * seven men left for that place yesterday in the Tararua, and^many more are talking of going. For their information we may state that we have seen a letter from the Queensland diggings giving a most deplorable account of the prospects of the men there. At the latest aocounts there were about 8000 men on the diggings, while only 250 were on gold ; but even these could make no use of their good lu.-k, for there was no. water to be had in the vicinity 5 and the writer of the letter-, while he wishes, he had never left the West Coas*, expresses his belief that in the course of a month the population now gathered to-, gether on the Queensland diggings would be once more scattered over the face of the earth.