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Grey River Argus, Volume V, Issue 353, 18 April 1868, Page 2

We have to acknowledge the receipt from Mr G. Simpson Smith of twelve numbers of the "Argosy," and one volume of "Tales from Blackwood, " for the use of the Hospital patients. We are informed that no less than LlO9 18s. 6d. has been collected in the Arnold District for the relief of the widows and orphans of the Fenian conspirators executed at Manchester. We understand also that about LIOO has been subscribed in Greymouth towards the defence fund for the prisoners in hokitika, committed for trial on the charge of riot and sedition. At the Road Board meeting, yesterday afternoon, Mr Whall accused us of nrisreporting the proceedings of the Board, the Chairman also thinking fit to say that our reports were "garbled." These remarks were made during the discussion of a letter from Mr Aitken, in which he declined to furnish certain information, on account of some disrespectful remarks made by some of the members of the Board at its last sitting. Mr Whall, who most certainly did say what he was reported to have said, namely, " that Mr Aitken's opinion would only go for as much as it might be worth." Whether he intended the remark in an offensive sense or not, it was not the business of our reporter to ascertain. Now that Mr Aitken resents the expression, Mr Whall tries to shield himself under the plea that he wjis misreported. Is he desirous of having the proceedings of the Board exhibited to the public in their naked reality ? Probably we may gratify him some day, and expose the absurd irregularities and absurder twaddle which make the work of giving an intelligible report almost an impossibility. We fancy that a verbatim report or two would operate in a wholesome manner on some of the members. To-night a novel exhibition will take place at the Star Concert Hall. Mr Connell, who has lately returned from Europe, has brought with him that wonderful illusion the Sphynx, or talking head, which caused so much excitement in London and Paris. A company of Japanese jugglers have arrived at Christchurch from New South Wales. There are in all six male and female performers. Their repertoire comprises feats in every department of jugglery, besides the celebrated butterfly and top tricks, which in themselves have been a source of astonishment wherever the troupe has exhibited. It is probable that they will visit the West Coast. Our readers in the Saltwater district will be glad to learn that the Road Board has instructed the district engineer to survey a track from Welshman's Terrace to the Limestone diggings. If a track can be cut at a cost not exceeding sixty pounds, the Paroa sub-committee are empowered to get the work done. We trust that this may be the case, and that the track will prove of great benefit to the miners in the district. We learn from the West Coast Times that the reason of the sudden return of the armed constabulary from the Buller was that Mr Commissioner Kynnersley expressed himself as being decidedly of opinion that uo armed assistance was necessary, the majesty of the law having been vindicated, and the disturbed districts being quiet. As a proof of his as» sertion, and that his visitors might see for themselves, the Commissioner and the two officers immediately rode qff to Addison's Flat Whilst there they went over the district, by inquiry and observation endeavoring to ascertain the state of affairs. In the meantime a rumor having got abroad that it was the intention of the Commissioner to dispense with the services of the Armed Constabulary, a, meeting was convened for

three in the afternoon, by the bellman, at which it was unanimously lesolved that a deputation should wait on the Commissioner, on his return, with a view of respectfully expressing the desire of the inhabitants that the force should be retained. The meeting being adjourned to eight in the evening, in order to receive the answer to their request from the deputation. Diiring the afternoon the Commissioner and the officers in command of the force arrived in Westport, Mr Kynnersley still adhering to his former opinion. Accordingly at eight o'clock in the evening of the day of landing the men were re-em-barked on board the Bruce, for transmission once more to Hokitika. There appears to have been a great display of local feeling on the actual realisation of the Commissioner's determination. Arrived on board the men of the Constabulary force fired a salute of four guns in honor of the Wesport Rifles and of the assemblage congregated to see them off. The attention of the Road {Board ought to be at once directed to the dangerous state of a portion of the roadway in Tainui street. When that street was formed a culvert was left to allow the water which accumulates in the swampy ground in Mackay street, to run ijnder the street. This culvert has fallen in aud left several very dangerous fissures. A small sum of money would cover the re^ pairs, and the matter ought to be promptly attended to, There is a similar case in Albert street, the culvert there having fallen in and rendered the road dangerous to the limbs of pedestrians. The Westport Times says : — "Sometime ago Mr Yates, the manager of the New South Wales Bank in this district, died somewha* suddenly, beloved and respected by all who knew him. A fund was raised, and many sabscriptions poured in towards erecting a suitable monument to his memory in the cemetery of Westport. At the present time nearly L9O are lying idle in the bank to the credit of the 'Yates Monument Fund,' and up to the present, no notice has been taken, and no plans have been submitted to the committee appointed to see that a proper monument was raised over poor Yates' grave." ' • On Sunday last the new Wesleyan Chapel erected on the South_ , Beach was opened for Divine worship. There was a good congregation, and the Rev. Mr Shaw preached special sermons for the occasion. On Monday evening a tea meeting was held in the Chapel, and about thirty persons, most of them, residents in the vicinity, sat down. Owing to the unfavorable weather there were no Greymouth visitors, who however held a tea meeting on Tuesday evening. A good number of ladies and gentlemen went down by tramway, and a very pleasant and successful meeting was the result. After the tables had been cleared, Mr Bramwell took the chair, and addresses were delivered by the Chairman, the Hon. Sec, the Rev. Mr Shaw, and Messrs Dale, Bull, Levack, and Peymont, The choir of the Wesleyan Church attended, and ' ' discoursed most eloquent music " be^ tween the speeches. Votes of thanks to the Ladies and the Choir brought the proceedings to a close. The building has cost about L7O, of which about LSO has been subscribed* The balance is not expected to remain an encumbrance long. Mr Bowen, who was spoken of as the probable new Superintendent of Canterbury, has declined to come forward, the salary recently fixed on by the Council (L6OO a year) being considered insufficient. A 3arge meeting of th* sympathisers of the Hokitika prisoners and the Celt newspaper was held at Charleston on Thursday evening last week. The speakers who addressed the meeting spoke strongly on the subject of keeping the Celt alive, and one orator, a Mr Slattery, is reported to have used the following language : — " They were merely arrested to crush the Celt, and we are met to get them out, if possible byi constitutional means; there is another alternative after then— (A voice : That's the style) —but of that I will speak another time. I think it but right, as they do not possess the means, that we should get counsel for them. (A voice : Counsel are of no use.) The session of the Provincial Council of Canterbury was prorogued on Saturday last. After reading the usual official speech, his Honor, Mr W. S. Moorhouse, by leave of the House, said — "He should like to say one or two words before hon. members departed. Of course the Council had been advised of his intention to retire from office. He had to take this opportunity of making public the fact, that with his resignation he distinctly closed his career as a provincial politician, and would retire as sbon as the members of the Executive said it was convenient, heaving regard to the public service that he should do so. He could not abstain from expressing the very great obligations he felt to those who, during a long course of years, had been connected with him in the administration of the. affairs of the province. He had very great gratification in stating that, without any exception whatever, ever since he had been Superintendent he had received the most cordial co-operation from all those gentlemen who had from time to time been associated with the business of the country." His Honor and the members of the Council immediately left t'.'e Chamber." Another "dance-girl" case was heard at the Resident Magistrate's Court on Thursday, the evidence in which revealed some curious facts. Mr. R. B. Goff, late the proprietor of the Victoria Dancing Saloon, sued one Foyne, a casino proprietor residing at Charleston for the sum of LIOO, as damages for the loss of the services of two dance girls which the defendant had enticed, from his employ, the said dance girls being the hired servants of the plaintiff. It appeared that some few months ago the plaintiff brought over from Melbourne several young ladies who were engaged to dance at the plaintiff's house nightly for a fixed period at the salary of L 2 per week. Soon after their arrival, however, their attractions were considered so valuable by rival ballroom proprietors that tempting offers were made to the damsels to induce them to desert. Amongst other candidates (or their favors was the defendent in the pre^

sent action, who by offering to give L 4 per week wages persuaded Margaret Brittain and Mary Thomas to cast aside their lawful engagement and proceed with him to Charles* ton, there to dance in a terpsijhorean hall named the "Casii.o de Venise." Tho right* f ul owner of the services of the fair ones, endeavored to prevent their leaving him, and served the defendant with a written notice cautioning him against seducing the plaintiff's servants from his service. But this was of no use; the girls went, and according to Mr GofPs evidence the profits of the Victoria Hall went with them to the extent of L 7 or LS nightly. This was bad enough, but what made the matter worse for the plaintiff was that these interesting and accomplished danaetusett left just before the Race week, to which the plaintiff had been looking forward as a highly lucrative period. Mr Goff stated in his evidence that he expected to clear LlaQ during the race week had the two girls in question not left him. But their unceremonious departure ; their ingratitude, and the machinations of his rival employers of female labor so disheartened and disgusted the plaintiff that he disposed of his business. He substantiated his claim for the LJOO damages by estimating the lessened takings after the girls left, and the prospective profits of the Raoe week which he was unable to realise. It was elicited that whenever a "fresh lot of girls" arrives at a dancing saloon, business improves immensely for a time, and the two subjects of the present action appear to have drawn crowded houses for a week, or two. The increase in the takings did not however keep up at the same rate up to the date of their departure, because, as the plaintiff naively observed, 4 ' they were not so fresh." The Magistrate in giving judgment said that the defendent clearly infringed the law relating to master and servant, and gave a verdict for the full amount claimed (L 100) with costs. The defendant did not appear. The men Duffy and O'Brien, charged with assault at Addison's Flat, were duly brought before the .Resident Magistrate at Westport. The Westpwt Evening Star says that during their examination it was proved that the windows of more houses than one were broken, that goods were taken away from Mr M'Naughton's bar by some of the rioters, and that more persons than one were injured, The evidence, however, against the defendants was inconclusive, and the informations were dismissed. It was not sufficiently complete to warrant the committal of the defendants, simply because the police did not take i the trouble to obtain it. Two. illicit distillers were fined L.so%ach with the option of six month's imprisonment, at Hokitika, on Wednesday. The West Coast Times says :— The capture of the still was very cleverly effected by the police on Saturday last, when, upon iuformrtion supplied by Sergeant Blanc,, a search party, compoaed of Mr Patten, Collector of Customs, Inspector Broham, Senior-sergeant Hickson, Sergeants Blanc and Wilson, aud two constables left town at an early hour, and proceeded northwards along the sea beach. At about nine miles from town they turned into the bush, and following an almost imperceptible track for nearly a mile, came upon a couple of huts admirably situated for secrecy in a deep gully, surrounded by thick undergrowth, It was quite dark when the police left the beach, and the rain, which fell in torrents, intensified the gloom. The party, therefore, halted awhile for daybreak, so that their arrival at the huts took place some time before the sun rose. The huts were surrounded, and at a given word entered simultaneously, two men being caught sound asleep in one, whilst the other waa found to contain <i complete distilling apparatus, that evidently had been lately in use, as a fire was burning in the furnaoe. Several barrels, con-, taiidng wort, stood on one side of the build- , ing, and five kegs of pure spirit on the other. As the removal of the plant to town from such an out of the way place would have been attended by a great deal of difficulty it was determined to destroy it, and the still, worm, casks, &c, were soon reduced to fragments. The two men were of course arrested, and the charge of defrauding the revenue being brought home to tnem on clearest testimony, they were sentenced as above. In his speech, at the opening of the Pro* vincial Council, the Superintendent, who is a staunch Provincialist, made the following remarks :— Perhaps the question in which we are most deeply interested at present, and to whicli it is probable that your attention will be directed, is — What is to be the future form of Government in New Zealand ! This question is now exciting considerable interest in various parts of the colony. It is held by some that the Provincial system is, and has always been, an abomination ; whilst others think that, although it has done good service in the past, it has now fulfilled its end, and ought to give place to something else. I confess I cannot admit either the one proposition or the other. Had the Provincial system been let alone, and been permitted exclusively to fulfil the functions assigned to it under the Constitution Act ; and had th« Central Government confined its attention to purely federal matters, it would have been to the advantage of the colony as a whole this day. As it is, I feel persuaded that, if New Zealand is to be successfully colonised, it must be by means of Provincial Governments ; and that to supersede the Provinces indiscriminately, would be not only premature, but a measure decidedly retrogressive in its tendency. With all the disadvantages with which the Provincial system has had to contend from without, and with all its abuses from within, it is probable that, but for this system, these Islands would have been ten years less forward in material prosperity than they now are. And I think that every reflective mind, in this Provinoe especially, would do well to pause before rushing into an organic change, the practical result of which will, 1 am peifectly persuaded, be one purse for aE New Zealand, That is the true meaning of Centralism — one purse for the colony j that is to say, the application of the revenues of Otago to the supporting of hospitals, police, and gaols in other Provinces, the revenues of which are absorbed iq payment of interest upon their loans.