THE Grey River Argus. SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 1869.

Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 537, 26 June 1869, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 1869.

The announcement contained in our telegrams of yesterday of the defeat and resignation of the Stafford Ministry will be received with very general regret throughout the country. In a House so evenly balanced a majority of eleven for the Opposition has, no doubt, induced Mr Stafford to withdraw his threat of appealing to the country, aud to tender liis resignation and that of his colleagues. Mr Fox has been sent for and has announced his intention of endeavoring to form a Ministry. This he may do, but how long they will remain in office is another question. It is very generally believed thai; the present crisis is only the first of a series, which will end simply in a reconstruction oj the Stafford Ministry, or a general election. We regret that pressure upon our space prevents us for the present from noticing this important event more in detail. g We regret to have to announce another fatal mining accideut, which took place ou Tuesday afternoon last, at the south bank of the Eight Mile Creek, opposite the township. Three sets of timber in a drive gave way, burying a miner named Todinan. A number of men at once set to work to dig him out, but when reached, in about an hour, he was found quite dead, his body doubled up, and his neck supposed to be broken. It is said, but we cannot say with what truth, that the accident was caused by the careless manner in which the timber was put in. An inquest was to have been held by Mr Warden Keoth on Thursday, the result of which has not yet come to hand, owing, we presume, to the temporary absence of the Warden either &t Greenstone or Hokitika. At tbe Resident Magistrate's Court, <n Thursday, only one case of drunkenness was dealt with.- Yesterday, Mary Ann Eice was charged with a breach of tho peace in view of a constable. It appeared that tho defen-

dant's husband came to tho station ami laid a oomplaint against her. Constable Keating accompanied him home, when the defendant abused him with her tongue and pelted him with stones. There was another charge against the defendant of making use of abusive language in a public place. She denied both charges, saying it was all brought on her by her husband's ill-usage, She was fined 10s on each charge or 24 hours' imprisonment. She said she could not pay the fine, and was taken to the lock.up, On Tuesday and Wednesday Mr Cooper, District Surveyor, surveyed an extension of the township of Clifton (Eight Mile), and also a line for business sites at Maori Creek on the terrace next the creek, which is the most convenient for paok horses. There is now a large population around this locality, and quite a number of stores are eoing up, Bonv> of them large placos of business. Mr Andrews, Collector of Customs at this port, has been appointed an Inspector of Distilleries under the Distillation Act, 1868. Building operations are proceeding vigorously on the site of the late fire, aud in a day or two some of the stores and hotels wi'l once more be occupied. Commencing at the west end, Messrs N. Edwards and Co. have made no S'gn ; the large store if Messrs Hamilton and Nichol is almost finished ; the ground-work of Mr Flannery's Harp of Erin Hotel is finished, the walls prepared, and ready for fixing in their places ; thu first floor of Mr Johnston's Melbourne Hotel is all but complete, the brick chimnies half built, and painting operations commenced. Across Werita street, Mr Perkins' office and Mr Tmt's shop have been complete for some days ; the piles are in the ground for the Bank of Australasia ; on the two adjoining sites nothing has been dc ne, neither have the Bank of New South Wales aud Union Bank made any signs of activit}', Al rge store is being erected for Messrs Thompson, Smith, and Barkley, and is progressing rapidly. Messrs Forsyth ami Masters commenced the re-erection of their premises some days ago, but have been delayed until the question is settled where the stone walls, which ife is proposed to run through the block, shall be built. We hear that it is contemplated to re-build the Bank of New South Wales of brick, and this may alter the position of one of the stone walls. In connection with this matter, we may mention that in the Borough Council on Thursday night a number of regulations as to the building of outer-Wcills and the construction of chimnies and stove-pipes were introduced, but were referred to a committee. This will delay their operation for another week, and meantime most of the buildings will be re-erected, much as they were before, and liable at any moment to the fate which their predecessors met. The petition of the inhabitants of the Grey valley, praying for the formation of a new County, was presented to the House of Representatives on the afternoon of Tuesday, the luth insr. His Excellency the Governor has been pleased to call Mr James Paterson, of Dunedin, and Mr Charles Johnston Pharazj>i, of Wellington, to the Legislative Council. Mr Paterson for several }'ears past has filled a seat in the House of Eepresentatives as member for the City of Danedin, and he at one time occupied the position of PostmasterGeneral under Mr Stafford's leadership. Mr C. J. Pharazyn is well known as an old Wellington settler. On Thursday we were informed by telegram that a smart shock of earthquake had been felt in Hokitika at 11.23 a. m. Since then we have learned that the earthquake wave was felt nearly throughout the whole of the Middle Island— at tbe Bluff, Dunedin, Christclmrch, Timaru, and Wellington ; but, strange to say, it was not felt in Greymouth, so far as we have heard. The direction of the shock was from east to west, and its duration was about five seconds. No damage appears to have been done at any of the places where it was felt. Throxighout the week Rhodes' Harmonic Hall has been well patronised, and appears to be gaining in public estimation as a place of amusement. The entertainment was varied on Thursday night by the novelty of a " conundrum night," the prize offered for the best being a silver watch, and the worst a wooden spoon. The house was crowded, and the reading of the numerous compositions which had been sent in afforded great amusement. The first prize was won by Mr James Clark for this — " Why was the late fire like a lucky gambler ?" — " Because it commenced by playing its little games on the green cloth and finished with clearing out the Bank.'' The spoon Avas awarded to " Cobden" far the following :— "I beg to apply for the wooden spoon, or any other article suitable for tbe undersigned. , "What resemblance is there between this Hall and the West Coast.'' — "Neither can get along without Ehodes (roads)." Another mining accident has occurred up the Lyell, whereby a miner named Robert Turney has beea killed. As there was no Magistrate or Justice in the district, the miners have held an inquest on the body, when John Hayden is reported by the Wv*tport Times to have said that the deceased, who was a native of London, was working for wages in his claim. On going to work on Friday, the 18th inst., after dinner, a tree fell across the tail-race. The deceased aud he tried to clear a passage for the water underneath the tree. As he considered the work somewhat dangerous, he kept a man stationed on the bank to give warning in the case of an accident. After proceeding with the work for a short time the witness felt some earth fall down, and he called out to the deceased, seizing him at the same time to drag him out along with himself, but the quantity of earth that slipped was so great that it was impossible to extricate him. He (Hayden) was also thrown down and partly covered. The only words spoken by the deceased after the accident were, "Jack, take it off me." The deceased was buried for about twenty minutes or half-an-hour before he was extricated. 9?he jury returned a verdict of "accidental death." At the funeral, the deceased's two mates appeared at the grave drunk, and in the most

indecent manner interrupted the service, and otherwise conducted themselves in such a way as to excite the abhorrence of all present. Afterwards the bigger bully of the two kept the township in a state of alarm for some hours, fighting and throwing stones indiscriminately until the storekeepers had, for self-protection, to close their places of business. In the evening he " came to grief," and is probably by this time on his way to the Hospital, suffering from a dangerous wouud on the head, While fighting with another man, the two rolled over a cliff, and the assailant came in contact with a stump, cut" ting his head in a fearful manner. It will be guessed by the description of the.se scenes, that their perpetrator and victim is no other than "Dublin Jack."