Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume VI, Issue 402, 11 August 1868, Page 2

We desire to draw the attention of our readers to the fact that the second of the series of lectures and readings in aid of the building fund of the Wesleyan Church will be gi:en this evening in the Institute, Gresson street, by the Rev. Mr Shaw. The subject will be a very interesting one — " Astronomy and Astronomers," illustrated Gth iust. states that lctte s of naturalization have been issued in favor of Edward Andrew Ancher, saihnaker, Greymouth. J. "Roger Dutton, Esq., Cobden ; Charles Broad, Esq , Charleston ; ami William Sydney Muntlay, Esq., Buller, have been gazetted as Registrars of Births, Mairiages, and Deaths, for their respective districts. The comedy company now performing at the United States Concert Hall embraces Miss Annie Merton, Mr W. H. Newton, and several other able delineators of character. Many excellent performances have lately been given, and visitors to this pla.-te of entertain- I inent may fully anticipate a very enjoyable evening's amusement. A very stupid typographical error occurred i i our last issue in the letter of Mr Warden Dutton from the Ahanra respecting the new rush. The word only was inadvertently omitted from the following sentence :— " Gold lias so far as I have ascertained been discovered in the prospector's claim only, &.o." Up to yesterday no further definite intelligence has been received from the new rush, although many conflicting rumors are afloat. It will take some days yet to test the ground properly, and we anticipate a full report respecting it on an early day from our own correspondent. An extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders of the Grey Eiver Steam Tug Company (Limited) was held in Kilgour's Union Hotel on Saturday afternoon, for the purpose of considering the advisability of declaring a dividend. Mr H. H. Lahman was in the chair, and stated the object of the meeting. Mr G. W. Moss, manager of the Company, read a statement of the affairs of the Company during the last nine months, showing that at the present time there were available for division among the shareholders £740 9s 2d, and they had also outstanding accounts on the Grey amounting to £28 7s sd, and in Hokitika £60 7s. For this latter ! sum the Company would have to accept a dividend in Lockhart's estate. Dining the time the Dispatch was worked at Hokitika the Company lost money, and they thought it desirable to give that trade up. Last month the capital of the Company had been increased by £250. The Chairman said it would be seen from the statement made that a dividend of 10 per cent, was now available, and the directors had called them together to say whether they thought it advisable to keep the money in the Bank idle, cr to put it in the pockets of the shareholders. There was every probability that the Dispatch would continue to pay more than her working expenses, so that the dividend could safoly be declared. Mr Ash ton moved, mid Mr

Johnston seconded — "That a dividend at the rate of 10 per cent, be declared." Mr Coates moved as an amendment, "that at the present time nn dividend be declared," because if an accident happened to the steamer they would have no funds available to meet the emerguw. Mr Davios seconded the amendment pm forma. The motion was carried. The Chairman mentioned the efficient manner in which the steamer had been worked both by the otficers of the Com* pauy ancl the manager, Mr Ashton moved a vote of thanks to the directors and manager of the Company, and the officers of the D'spatch for the efficient manner in which they had worked the steamer. Mr Joyce seconded the motion, whioh was canied. The meeting adjourned.. The official notice by the Returning Officer in the election of nine Councillors for the Borough of Greymouth will be found published elsewhere. It will be seen that he has appointed Tuesday, the 18th inst, as the day on which the nomination shall take place. The Act provides that the nomination of all candidates must be made in writing, signed by three persons duly qualified to vote at the election, and by tfie candidate, in token of his asaent thereto. These noiiee-papers must be delhered to tne Returning Officer, W. H. Revell, Esq., at the Resident Magistrate's Office, before four o'clock in the afternoon oE the day preceding the nomination day. • Printed nomination forms can be had at the Court House. Another new barge, intended fv>r the coal trade, haa been built for Mr A. Constantine, and will b•• launched to-morrow. It is a very fine boat, and is constructed to carry twenty tons of coal. An accident has occurred at the wharf, by which Messrs Kilgonr and Perotti have lost about teu tons of coal. The coal was stacked on the wharf beyond the transit shed, and one of the stringers on which the landingstage of the wharf was laid gave way, allowing the stage to sink down towards the river, and shooting a quantity of the coa! stacked on it under the wharf and into ihe river. The damage clone looks worse than it really is, and will be immediately repaired by the owners of the coal. The Westhtnd Observer understands th:.t another scullers' race, for the Championship cf Westland and Ll2O a-side, is on the tapis. A Mr Galbraith, of Ahnura, near Greymouth, Challenges either Mr Giblin or Mr Hawkins to try their skill against him for the above amount and the championship (at present held by Giblin) ; the parties to row in c jual boats or best and best boats. At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, before W. H. Revel], Esq., R.M., Charles Madden, Bernard Quiu, and D. M'Lachlin, charged with having been drunk ancl disorderly, were dismissed with a caution, as they had been in custody since Saturday night. For a similar offence, Gco. G. Hiuith was fined ss, or 24 hours'imprisonment ; ai.d Antonio Wilson 10°, or4S hours' imprisonment. The Sub-committee of the Road Board have found it necessary to stop the contract for driving the piles for the enbankment near the wharf, owing, it is said, to the terms of tin; contract not being complied with, the piles not having been driven far enou_h i.ito tie bank. The contract for the construct o . of the Boundary street dam was also stopped yesterday, pending the answer of the County Chairman to certauu^uariea.add«nsßoJ-t-J»i~-We have recc iveil the following letter from a miner on the Auckland Gold Fields, which fully bears out the remarks we made in our last concerning th<3 prospects of those who proceed there :— " Auckland, July 1, 1808. De.ir Sir Will you allow me a little space in your valuable paper to give a small bit of information to my fellow-diggers respecting the Thames Gold Field. I have spent some time there and have gained a knowledge of the field ; and from its appearance, I should say it is most likely to be rich in the product of gold. Many claims are on gold, but the great want is machinery. The ground is taken up for miles, ;u.d for the present there is not much chance of getting a claim I hope and belicvo thero will be ground opened before laig; but at preseut it would be madness to go into the bush to prospect, the weather is so very wet, and the bush is a* bad as it is on the West Coast. Wages are very low, from 30s to £2 per week ; living is cheap, but is rising every day as the population increases. I would advise my fellowminers not to start for this place at present unless they have some capital to stand by otto speculate with. There are any quantity of shares for sale, ancl great swindling going on iv buying and selling. Hunt's claim is getting plenty of gold, but I have seen the amount taken from it reported over and over again in the papers for a week ; so when those papers reach othei parts of the country, they quite startle the people. This is their policy for attracting a population here, in order to consume the storekeepers' stocks of provisions, and to keep wages clown. There are hundreds of diggers hanging about doing nothing ; the rate of wages is jnst sufficient for a man to keep himself. So I conclude by asking my fellow, miners to reflect on their position before they make a start for this gold field. I am, &c, Joseph Forsyth, a digger." The Nelson Examiner, of the Ist instant, informs us that the case of assault, perpetrated by William M'Kay on Geo. Jones, a coal-trimmer on board the Charles Edward, on the 3rd of July last, was heard by the Resident Magistrate, on Thursday. The complainant, who was in a very weakly condition, deposed as follows:— "I was a coal-trimmer' on board tho Charles Edward, on Friday, 3rd July. I was on deck that day, and went into the engine-room for a tallow kettle. I went down below with the kettle, to fill it in the stock-hole ; and while filling it, William M'Kay, while drawing the rake from tho furnace, caused the rake to strike me on the light eyebrow. Hooked up to him, and said, ' William, mind what you are doing, else you'll be knocking my oyes out one of these days.' While saying that, I was walking towards the ladder, with

the tallow-kettle in my hand ; and he said, 'I'll knock your b y head off.' Those are the words he said ; and I said, ' Wil li;an, you'd better do it ;' with that he then struck me, either in the face or on the chest, [ could not say which, as it was all of a sudden ; T did not expect it. He knocked me under the lever, and the lever coming down, [ felt a'l my bones smashing about the. left shoulder and ribs. 1 watched the up stroke of the lever, and had the presence cf mind to seize hold of a lead pipe, and pulled myself out of the way of the down stroke with my riyht ban. l. I had hardly got myseP clear when he seized me by the hair of the head, and threw me round, and began punching me with his fists on the face and chest, and then kicked me about the body and head with his f(3ft. There ib one wound on my bead where the hair ia cut ofF, ami which is a wound done by one of his kicks. I then screamed for assistance, and the engineer came down the ladder, and touk him off me, or he ceased kicking when the engineer- came down. This was the end of the assault. I then managed to climb up the ladder, and was helped clown into the forecabin, where I lay down." The prisoner was committed to take his trial at the next sitting of the Supreme Court ; but, on application of his solicitor, the Magistrate consented to take bail, the prisoner in i.200, ami two suieties in LIOO each. Proceedings have been taken in the Dip. trict Court with reference to the seizure of the schooner, which occurred at this port a short time since. The Westland Observer of Saturday says : — Mr Harvey moved on the affidavit of David Gird wood, for an attach, ment against Alexander Farquhar. The suit he said had been instituted in the Supreme Court on the equity side, ancl an injunction was obtained restraining the defendants (of whom Farquhar was one,) from disposing or interfering with a vessel called the Falcon. This injunction the defet dants had tried to get dissolved, and had applied here, and to Mr Justice Richmond, when at Nelson for that purpose, but each application had been refused; and yet in despite of such refusal, and in violation of the injunction, the defendant Farquhar had taken for. cible possession of the vessel, imprisoned the captain under hatches, which he then battened or nailed down, ancl carried the ship away from Greymouth without clearing at the Custom House, or obtaining any necessary powers, thus jeopardising the property he had by force seizwl and canied away. The vessel was now, he (Mr Harvey) believed, at Auckland. A grosser Ccise of contempt of court had never in his (Mr Harvoy'O experience come under his notice. Mr South said he had been formerly retained in this case, but had received no instructions iti the present instance ; indeed, he had not received any notice from Mr Harvey respecting the application. He merely wished to ask lii.-> Honor whether tlie court; would grant the rule for the attachment absolute in the lir.«t instance, and -would suggest that a rule nuti would serve all the purpose Mr Harvey desired. A motion fora inle absolute in the first instance was a very unusual course to take. . His Honor said that three applications had been made by the defendant to dissolve the injunction of the court, all «»f which had been refused, and yet, in spite of those refusals, the proceedings complained of h;ul taken place in violation of the injunc ion. gross case or contempt of court. He di<l not think a rule nisi would at all answer the re quirements of the case, for a person who had acted in the manner this defendant had done would not be likely to take much heed of a rule nisi. Ultimately his Honor consented to let the case stand over to this morninjr (Saturday). On that day, after counsel bid been heard, his Honor wished to know whether any evidence could be adduced as to the circumstances of the departure of the vessel. Mr Harvey said that if his Honor thought the affidavit of Mr Girdwood required any strengthening, he should be able to produce others which would place the matter beyond question. His Honor said he should certainly like, before the writ of at tachment issued, to have the affidavit strengthened. The hearing of the application was, after some further discus ion, adjourned sine, die, so that Mr Harvey might renew it when prepared to do so, Mr South engaging to communicate with Farquhar in the meantime.