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Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 566, 2 September 1869, Page 2

Some little interest is being taken by tbe ratepayers in the elections for the Borough Council, which take place in all the Wards on this day week. In the East Ward, one of the nominated candidates, Mr G. W. Nichol, was yesterday elected in room of Mr llae ; and as Mr Smith has retired, Mr Kennedy's return is considered safe. In the Middle Ward, it is probable that either Mr Lahtn'an or Mr Barclay will retire, so as not to split the votes, and leave it a match between the two remaining candidates. In the We3t Ward, Mr G. Simmons has been disqualified through one of his nominati-rs not being on the roll, leaving three candidates still in the iield. Telegrams from Napier report that Te Kooti is at Lake liotoaira, in the Taupo district. Ho is being watched by a party of fi niidly natives. .Reinforcements of native

allies were to start under orders of Govern- I ment. Later advices state that according to information received through Paora Hapi, Te Kooti is at present between Runanga and Tupa hararu, with 3QQ men ; but it is difficult to arrive at the exact truth. The Thames Advertiser-, of the 20th, reports that a native arrived from Ohiuemuri last eveniug bringitig news as to the sentiments of Tawhiao towards Te Kooti. Pineha, the well-known Hau-haxi chief, had just reached Ohinemuri from Tokangamutu, and held brought with him a message that if Te Kooti was found prowling about in the Upper Thames or Tauranga districts he was to be shot at once. We have not the slightest doubt of the accuracy of this statement, but Tawhiao would have better entitled himself to the thanks of both races if he had shot Te. Kooti while he was visiting at Tokangamutu. It is evident that the King, although willing enough that Te Kooti should be shot, does not like to take the duty upon himself. At last a Presbyterian Minister has visited^ Greymouth, the Eev. Mr M'lntosh of Lyttelton having arrived on Tuesday, by invitation from the Presbyterian Church Committee. He is announced to preach in the Volunteer Hall, on Sunday at 11 a.m., and 7 p.m. The St. Kilda, from Napier and Auckland, brought to Wellington the other day another batch of prisoners— five altogether. Three of them are accused of having been participators in the Poverty Bay murders, and were arrested on that charge at Hawke's Bay, but have been forwarded there to take their trial at the next criminal sittings of the Supreme Court. The other two seem to be rebellious waifs picked up farther north. Several witnesses also arrived by the same vessel, and amongst them is said to be Mrs Te Kooti, but we attach no importance to this rumor, as the wives of this bloodthirsty polygamist are as mystifying as his übiquitous personality. His wives and lives are numerous. We are informed that a man was apprehended yesterday afternoon for an attempted criminal assault upon a young girl on the Preston road. The election of a member of the Borough Council for the East Ward took place on Tuesday at the Volunteer HalL Throughout the day there was considerable interest taken in the proceedings, and the voting was very close. At four o'clock E. Masters, Esq., the Returning Officer, declared the result to be : —Mr G. W. Nichol, 88 ; Mr M. Kennedy, 74. Mr Nichol was then declared duly elected, and he briefly thanked the ratepayers for the honor they had conferred upon him. Another meeting of the Band of Hope took place in the Wesleyan Church last night. The attendance is increasing steadily, and the interest in the proceedings is well maintained. On Saturday last Mrs Cooper, an aged woman residing in Molesworth street, Wellington, while engaged in winding-up the clock whiuh stood on the mantlepiece, Bet fire to her clothes and was so frightfully burnt that she died in a few hours. In the House of Representative I*,1 *, on the 27th ult., an Otago member, Mr Burns, asked the Postmaster-General whether the Government have any objections to close the Telegraph-offices on Sunday ? stating that the question was not put on religious grounds, bnt simply to draw the attention of the Government to the fact of some officials having to work seven days a week. The Colonial Treasurer rep'ied that while the country was in such a disturbed state, the Government could not undertake to close the offices on Sunday. They recognised the hardship imposed on the officials, and discouraged the use of the telegraph on Sundays for private business as much as possible. The new fire bell recently ordered from Melbourne by the Borough Council, arrived by the Ocean Wave, and was landed yesterday. The bell weighs over 24 cwt., and judging from the slight trial of its tone which was made yesterday afternoon, it will certainly " startle the natives" when it is swung into position. It is to be hoped the Borough Council will be able to find the ways and means to have a proper bell tower erected ■without c*elay. A Gazette published on Tuesday evening contains the recently-adopted regulations respecting the granting of agricultural leases in Westland. The principal clauses are — that leases are to be granted for seven years, to be forfeited if cultivation is not commenced within three months ; and the rent will be, for suburban land, five shillings an acre, and for rural land ha'f-a-erown an acre. By information received we learn that 45 ounces of gold have been sent into Oamaru last week from the Marawhenua district. The bank gave L 3 15s an ounce for it. An accident occurred at the Thames on Wednesday evening, the 18th ult., to Professor Foster, of Pepper's Ghost notoriety, whilst experimenting with a gas apparatus. It appears that a gas bag exploded in the face of the Professor, severely burning his forehead, but without inflicting any veiy serious injuries. The last escort to Dnnedin from the gold fields brought down 7250 ounces. In consequence of the action taken by Mr Macandrew, Superintendent of Otago, relative to the Hundreds question, he has been called upon to resign by the Balclutha settlers. We learn on good authority that arrangements are now being made which will materially shorten the hitherto somewhat protracted sittings of the County Council. It is almost a certainty that for the future the sessions will not exceed a fortnight. Under the heading " this beats Hokitika," the Wellington Independent contains the follow .' lg :— The Missouri at Omaha is a tortuous, shifting, shallow, muddy, utterly unreliable stream, Its channel isjto-day here, and to-morrow is next door to nowhere. You may stand on the shore and watch a new sandbank in process of formation. Perhaps no better illustration of its nature can be given than that contained in the following stoiy, one which has just en vvenedthepages of the local Herald :— " A man about six

miles above here came to the river bank with a defined idea of crossing to the other side. He expected to have found a b >at, or at least a plank, but both were wanting. While cogitating on the probabilities of walking down to take the steam ferry he saw a Band bar beginning to wash out into the stream. A j huge and valiant idea struck him j he struck out for the sand.bar, and jumping^on it he just kept up on a run, and followed it over to the furthest shore ! His feet were a little wet, bnt there is not much fear of his having caught cold." This veracious anecdote re. quires no notes of explanation ; the river is a standing joke at Omaha, and is popularly known as the " Big Muddy." Whooping cough is now prevalent in Napier, and 12 children have already sue* outnbad. The Sedgwick Arms at Waipawa, Hawke's Bay, has been consumed by fire. The insurance does not cover the loss by £250. We have, to acknowledge receipt of the first number of Bell's Life in Melbourne, an. illustrated sporting gazette, It appears to be very carefully edited, compiled and printed, and in its own peculiar sphere, will no doubt prove acceptable to a large section of the community. We wish our contemporary every success. In the Resident Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, before W. H. Revell, Esq., R.M., Joseph Brett was fined 10s or 48 hqurs' imprisonment for having been drunk and disorderly. Margaret Scanlon and EmmaDevery were each fined LI or 48 hours' imprisonment for having been drunk. • On the civil side of the Court, J. Marsh sued H. Wick for L2 los for the hire of a horse to track a boat tp. the Ahaura. The defence was that the horse was not able to do the work for which it was hired ; but after hearing the evidence, the Magistrate gave judgment for L 2 and costs. — Yesterday two inebriates were fined in the usual penalty, and a man for assault- | ing his wife was fined Is and costs. On the evening of Sunday, Bth ult., Paroa Katipa, his wife and two children, and three other women were returning from Port Waikato across the river to the Maioro, near which their settlement is, when the canoe, which was heavily laden with pipis, was swamped, and all on board except one woman perished. Paroa lost his life through attempt, ing to save his wife and children. Three of the bodies have been recovered. They were of the Ngatiteata, Paora being a younger son of the old and late chief Eatipa. We learn that Bachelder's grand panorama illustrative of Milton's Paradise Lost will visit Greymouth in a few days, when it will be exhibited at the Volunteer Hall. A treat may be expected, as this work has been very highly spoken of by our contemporaries in .the towns where it has been exhibited. The Governor has disbanded the Westport Rifle Volunteers. From the Thames Advertiser of the 20th ult. we learn that Te Hira was informed that a party of miners were at work on the Waite kauri creek, and he sent two of his followers to investigate the matter. These individuals did, it would appear, actually discover the persons at work, who promptly informed the Maoris that they were Irishmen — talismanic words— and had therefore a right to be there. The Maoris, being two and not in a position to contradict a dozen, returned and told thentale to Te Hira, who immediately set out a mure powerful body of men, who found that the diggers had — sloped. A miner named Thomas Nuttevflle was killed on Thursday, 19th ult., whilst at work on the Mocking Bird claim, Waiotahi creek. The Southern Cross says : — lt appears that deceased and his mates, Pierce and Bradney, were at work putting a shot in the face of the drive. They attempted to fire it, but missed. At about nine o'clock they went to "gad" the stone over which the shot was, and it is supposed that some spark must have reached the powder, which immediately exploded, killing almost instantaneously the deceased, and inflicting serious injury on the other men. Dr. Lethbridge was promptly on the spot, but life was extinct. The other men are doing well. Deceased leaves a wife and two children, who are in Auckland. The last New Zealand "Gazette" supplies J some interesting information relative to saving bank transactions in the Colony, which shows a marked addition to the sphere of usefulness of this class of institution, and a very large increase in the aggregation of capital In the second quaiter of 18(59, there were 56 of these banks in the Colony, wbile for the same quarter in the previous year there were 48 ; the new accounts opened being iv a similar ratio ; but the amounts < f the deposits by new accounts not so ; for while the number of accounts in the second quarter in 1868 is SO6, representing L 24 ,983 19s 7*l, it takes 921 during the similar period of 1869 to represent the lesser sum of L 24.451 15s. This would apparently show either th«.t the depositors have less to deposit,' or that they have sought a more profitable investment, or withdrawn their deposits altogether for the purpose of leaving the Colony. The latter seems to be the most likely, as the total of balances remaining this year is considerably less than in the previous year. In 1868 there was L 20.412 14s 4d, while in this year there is only L 14,526 4s 7d. It is further shown by the fact that both the number of depositors and the amount deposited in 1869 were in excess of those of ' 1868, yet the number of withdrawals and the amount they represented were also greater in the former year. The number of accounts closed in the second quarter of 1868 was 329, representing L 9231 9s Id ; the number for 1869 was 403, representing L 16,598 12s lOd. From the popularity of saving bank transactions, it were hard to account for this decrease in their capital unless by attributing it to the present and recent general depression, mainly the reaction resulting from our nr'noas war expenditure. We hope that the corresponding tables for 1870 will usher in the century with a favorable hansel by showing that during the recess the tables have been turned.