THE Grey River Argus. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1869.

Grey River Argus, Volume VII, Issue 478, 6 February 1869, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1869.

The members of the County Council appear to be thoroughly in earnest in their endeavors to provide means of communication throughout the country. They have by their votes affirmed the desirability of opening up the country by means of roads and bracks in all directions. The next question for consideration is, " where is the money to come from 1" Some of the Councillors are in favor of borrowing, and say that money can easily be obtained at a fair rate of interest fiora the Banks, or from private individuals ; while others maintain that the money caunofc be borrowed legally ; and, even if .it could, it cannot be obtained, because the County has no security to give but its "promise to pay." Meantime the Chairman of the Council has adopted the idea of bori'owing, by inserting in the estimates a sum of £50,000, to be raised by this means, to be expended in making roads, tracks, bridges, &c. He stated to the Council that negotiations are now pending whereby part, if not the whole, of this sum can be raised ; but supposing it is not obtained, the item can be struck out. What then is to become of the roads which the Council have affirmed the desirability of constructing ? We suppose the same course will be followed as that which was proposed in the case of the road from the Greenstone to the Junction. The most urgently required roads will be made first charges upon the surplus revenue of the County, vtntil the whole is swallowed up, and there is nothing left for the Road Boards and Municipalities to carry on the necessary public works in their districts. Such a proceeding would be far more injurious to the County generally than the want of a road in a particular district would be. We trust, therefore, that every effort will be used to raise sufficient money on loan to construct the main roads, so that those who in future years will benefit by them may have to bear a portioti of the burden with those who construct them. Whatever the result of the Chairman's negotiations may be— with the probability we have hinted at staring the local bodies in the face — with estimates I laid before the Council, in which the reveuue is over-estimated, and will never be realised, we were 'surprised to find a sum of £1000 set down for the re;eptiou expenses of H. R. H. the Duke of Edinburgh and the Governor when they visit Westland. We are as loyal as our neighbors in Hokitika, and wpuld receive those distinguished visitors jus warmly, bu> we confess that

we would rather see a mile of a main j road ,or two miles of a tramway constructed in any portion of Westlatul than see a thousand pounds tbrowu away on reception banquets. We give both the Prince and the Governor the credit of having more sense than to think less of Westland because the public money was not lavished upon their reception, It is to be hoped that when the item comes under discussion, the members will throw aside all false delicacy which they may have on the subject, and strike outtlie item. In this course they have the example of Nelson, where it has been advocated that in the depressed state of the North Island the money which would be spent in an official visit from the Priuce, should be sent to the relief of the settlers who have suffered by the war. It was thought that when the matter was properly represented to the Prince, he would pay Nelson an unjqfficial visit, and if such a proceeding can be -publicly advocated and influeutially supported in Nelson, there is no necessity for the sum we have referred . to being set aside for official .receptions in Westland.

The stewards of the Greymouth Annual i Eaces have issued the programme of the forthcoming meeting, which takes place on Wednesday, the 17th March (St. Patrick's Day) and the following day. The prizes offered are worthy of any town in the I Colonies, and will, no doubt, have the effect of bringing together some of the best horses in New Zealand. For the Greymouth Handicap — the great event of the meeting — a prize of L 225 is offered, and for the Town Plate and Hurdle Handicap prizes of 100 soys each. The other events will be found detailed elsewhere. The entries and nominations are to be made on Saturday evening, March. 13. The only remaining house in the once-busy Blaketown, with' four freehold sections of land, were yesterday sold by auction by Mr D. Maclean, and 'knocked down for £30. ' Mr Lodder, chief engineer of the Government steamer Sturt, reports that, after three months' trial of the coal obtained from the Kawa-kawa mines in the Bay of Islands, he finds it decidedly superior for steam purposes to that of Newcastle. ' Although recruiting for the Armed ConI stabulary Force was stopped some time ago, 1 three men have been enlisted by Mr Andrews, Collector of Customs, owing to the peculiar circumstances attending thMr application. One of them is the brother of Captain Buck, late of the 65th Regiment, who, it will be remembered, was killed with Von Temps'ky and others at Nguta-te-o-Manu. He was working a claim up the river, and for a considerable time did not hear of his brother's death ; butwhen he did, he and his mates at once abandoned their claim, came to town, and made application to be allowed to enlist. They will be sent to the front by the Beautiful Star to-day. The Daily 2 x imes, of the 26th ult., says : — "Dunedin Harbor appears to have become of late a favorite place of resort for sharks. The boatmen plying from the wharves report that yesterday the bay was * full of them ;' another report being to the effect that they were there in thousands. This must be taken with a grain of salt, however, although it is certain that several persons were after them with boathooks, and we believe that four were killed." At the Resident Magistrate's Court, on Thursday ", the following civil cases were disposed of :— ln the case Crawford v. Jacob Peters, in which judgment was reserved, it was dismissed with costs. .Isaac O'Donnll v. Freeth, claim of Ll2, dismissed with costs. W. Sampson v. Wick, claim of L 4 10s ; and J. Graham v. Margaret Hearse, claim of L 52 3s 9d, adjourned to the 9bh instant.- Yesterday, before Mr Greenwood, J. P. , two drunkards were fined, and the remaining cases, including two of perjury against Mrs Phillips and Mrs Harrison, were adjourned to Tuesday next. The Wanganui Herald says the Okehu has been crossed by a large portion of our force, and a position taken up in the bush. The Herald considers that Colonel Whitmore is adopting the right kind of strategy to ensure success ; and is convinced that Titokowaru will stand and fight at Nukumaru. Retreat at the present. moment is« not a question for discussion with him. Tito is a diety, believed in as such by his followers, and possibly by himself. His assumption is not by any means 1 an absurdity if we consider the influence it gives him and tlie spirit it infuses into his men ; he dues not appear, even to a European, less of a god than Alexander or Canute, who assumed as much. The two Hau-bau prisoners, now in Wanganui gaol, say that Tito cannot be defeated ; he is a god, and must come, to St. John's Bush. If bi* whole army is imbued with such a belief, as it- most probably is, it is rather fortunate for up. It .indicates that a stand will be made at Nukumaru ; for the issue of the contest involves to Tito prestige, and a place among the gods. He cannot afford to be beaten back without the loss of the mighty power which exists in a deep faith. The Herald thinks a few days will "decide much." We are glad to find that steps are at last | about to be taken to have the Greymouth Cemetery placed under a proper system of management, and it is to be hoped the deputation appointed by the Borough Council and the Cemetery Committee will move actively in the matter. The system carried out at present is a disgrace. No person takes charge of the ground, and it has been the habit of at least one undertaker in town to keep graves ready dug, and, if he is not questioned, to use them on the first occasion, irrespective of the religious denomination to which the deceased person belongs. A case, heard recently in the Resident Magistrate's Court, disclosed.

this fact, and that on one occasion the coffin was about to be lowered into the grave when one of the company asked in which portion of the Cemetery they were. He was informed that they were in the Roman Catholic portion, and as the deceased was a Protestant, - the company set to work and dug a grave for their deceased friend in the proper place. | There being no one in charge of the place, and no record kept where men are buried, except where headstones are erected, it would j be a serious matter if events transpired which | required the exhumation of a body. An effort should be made to place a man in i charge, and to have a proper register kept. Another distressing instance of the callousness of some parents, says the Otago Daily Times, was brought under the, notice of the Resident Magistrate on the 26th ult.,, when two interesting little boys, about six and three years old respectively, were brought before the Bench to be dealt with under the Neglected and Criminal Children Act. They were the children of a, solicitor of the Court, Michael Kidston, now in Melbourne, and were taken from the mother's hauße by the police. They were found in a state of comparative nudity, huddled together on the cold boards of their dwelling, covered only by a few rags. As the police were not able to make out a case of habitual drunkenness against the mother, or to prove that her house was the resort of bad characters, the Magistrate said, much as he regretted the fact, he had no other alternative but to dis* charge the children. Mr Ward said he wished it to be known that there were persons in the town who were prepared to take charge of the children, if the police would j give them up to them, and forward them to their father in Melbourne. His Worship could make no order in the matter, but the police authorities could act on their own discretion. The following is an extract from a letter from the Camp, Westmere,,on the 21st ult., by one of the recruits who recently left Greymouth :— -". We are always on the move ; we have made six marches in ten days, and have not a minute to call our own. We are called up at all hours of the d*y and night. We sometimes marclvup to the pa at night, stop there until daylight, and then march back, get a day's spell, then off again. If we have any time to spare we have to go to drill. Yesterday we made a move six miles nearer to the pa ; the main body is within ten miles of the great pa that is to be taken. We are cutting roads to get up to it auother way round by the back. The grand affair is to enme off in about ten days, and we are getting everything ready for the big guns and mortars. It is said there are eight hundred natives in the pa. It is one of the strongest ever built. We tried the big guns on it a few days ago, and out of thirty shells fired, twenty-eight took effect. We thought we were badly off before on the Auckland side, but this caps all I ever saw. The men are running away every day, ten and twenty at a time. We have to fight for everything we get,' even our tucker. We get no rum as we used to. If I live 1 through the big fight I'll write again, if not you will see it in the papers."