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Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 644, 5 March 1870, Page 2

We understand that application was made on Thursday to Mr Whitefoord for a right to cut flax upon all the unsold land oh the Totara Flat, extending for a length of several miles. We also learn that similar applications are to be - m made for other! portions of the district, and that some parties have even, in anticipation of their being granted, proceeded to Charleston to purchase steamengines wherewith to work the machines. In one of our issues about a month since, we pointed out that this ought to become a permanent gourco of iudustry, and we are glad to find that it has been so extensively taken up. We have heard it urged that the expense attendant upon the preparation here I would be so great as would debar speculators from entering into the scheme ; but we are glad to see that the anticipations of theae croakers arc not listened to. We'bsJifcvb that Messrs Girdwood and L^jjlj&m havb already ordered their machinery. * ; The' patience of the Resident Magistrate was severely tested on Thursday and Friday in the two cases of Atkins.on v. Graham and Graham v. Cockburn, The first wag com' menoed between twelve and one o'clock, and was not terminated until nearly seven p.m. ; , while the second, on the following day, was the only civil case upon the list, and yet occupied the Court for nearly four hours. Tins

latter case was a sequel to a former one, in which the positions of the principals -were reversed, and, where the decision was in favor of the then plaintiff for £45 and costs. As the only direct evidence was the testimony of the plaintiff and .defendant, and each swore directly contrary to the state menfc of the other, the Mcigistrate, in order to meet the ends of justice, was compelled, with some of the items claimed to split the difference, allowing only one-half the amount; No' books had; been kept by cither party, and the total sued for consisted of small items, the proof and disproof of which, as the Magistrate said, was most unsatisfactory. On Thursday week a disastrous fire occurred at the station of Mr Thomas Carter, in Marlborough. It appears that the hands were engaged in dipping the sheep near the wool-shed, when some sparks from the furnace ignited the roof of the shed, which was totally destroyed, with all its consents, including 40 bales of wool, 50 sheep, a large quautity of skins, wool-press, &c. Mr Garter was at Nelson at the time. A match has been made, to come off this day week, between Messrs William Wright and. D. Twohill; for L2O a-side, to run 150 yards, the latter receiving eight yards' start. The match is expected to be close, and will be a most interesting one. Twohill, in his last race, proved himself a determined runner, and is as full of pluck and stamina as his oppouent is fleet of foot. We ( W&ttpovt Times) alluded in Saturday's issue to a report that gold had been struck in payable quantities on the south side of thr Buller river, and in continuation of the northern terraces. During the past few days a considerable number of miners left town, and yesterday the reports were confirmed that the prospects were deemed payable. It appears that the prospectors applied at the Warden's office last week for a prospecting claim, but the ground having been prospected before — some two years ago — the application was refused. The application for an extended claim was, however, granted. Report fuither says that there is a large area of ground uuprospected, and it is extremely probable that the population in that direction will increase so soon as the whereabouts of the prospectors is fully made known. Yesterday morning Mr William Madison, lately a publican in Hokitika, died in the Hospital here, leaving a, wife and children totally unprovided for. Actuated by a pure spirit of charity, and in order to help a deserving object, a fewgentleman commenced a canvass yesterday for subscriptions for the widow and family, in which they were pretty successful. To-day this canvass will be continued, and we hope it will meet with all the success that such a deserving object ought to receive. For some time past there have been several miners prospecting the country up Fox's river, and from rumors lately received in B:ighton, it would appear that they ha/c not been working there for nought. One party lately came to town ai:d disposed of their gold, stating that about St. Patrick's Day there might be an application made which would cause sleepy Brighton to 'wake up again. little has yet been ascertained as to the exact locality whence the rumor emanated, but it is known to be beyond Daylesford Terrace. Telegraphic communication with Christchurch had not been restored up to a late hour last evening. The West Coast Road is still closed for coach traffic, and the mails have to be packed from the Saddle to the Taipo, upwards of 20 miles. In the case of Miss Hood, brought before the bench of Justices yesterday, much interest is manifested by' the townspeople generally, and the Court was crowded with expectant listeners to the proceedings. At first the Magistrates were loth to grant the adjournment, but eventually acceded to it in order that Mr Hoos might be produced. On his production the second act of this interesting drama will be enacted, and it will afford some excitement to watch the rival players. It is well known that the bench of Justices here- (not Mr Eevell alone) hold opinions about this Licensing Act that are diametrically opposed to those held by the County Chairman, and that some of them have fearlessly and unmistakeably asserted in his presence that his actions are illegal. He on his part is as determined that his reading is right, and we believe he is sustained in his opinion by the County Solicitor and Mr Fitzgerald. We learn from Hokitika that the prizes at the ensuing Easter Race Meeting there will amount to L3OO or upwards. This ought to be another incentive to the owners of good horses to send them to the Coast, as the two meetings are held closely together. The conclusion that was arrived at on Thursday even ing, at a meeting of the stewards at Hokitika, was, if possible, to come to an arrangement with Mr Clapcott for the use of his ground. Apropos of our own races', we were glad to see such an evident improvement effected iv the short time the County Engineer has had his men at work upon the road. From the progress they have made, weather permitting, it will be finished and available some time before the 17th. Mr Bradley, also,* has made a commencement with his bridge across the creek behind the grand stand, and will, on Monday, start cleariug the track to it from the end of the present road. The course itself is being daily rolled by men engaged by the stewards, and it looks vvoll. The W. C. Times of the 4th iust. states that a meeting of the Board of Education • was held last evening, Present :— Mr South (in the cliair) ; Mr Gibson, Ross ; Messrs Moss and Harrison, Greymouth ; Messrs Crerar and Aloorn, Hokitika. Oh then.otion of Mr Moss, seconded by Mr Gibson, it was resolved— "That the Board concurs in the appointment by the Comity Chairman of Mr W. H. Harrison as luspoctor of Schools, and that the Board undertake to sanction the payment of the travelling expenses, of the Inspector, duly substantiated by vouchers of any expenses lie may have incurred in visiting the various districts." It was moved by Ml'

Harrison, and seconded by Mr South — "That in the opinion of the Board no steps should be taken to appropriate the vote of tho County Council for educational purposes, until the Board has been placed in possession of full and complete information con" cerning the educational requirements of the various districts in the County, and of the facilities which exist for introducing main and side schools in the several centres of population;!' The resolution was carried unanimously. On the motion of Mr Gibson^ seconded W Mr Moss, it was resolved — "That it -ttL'an instruction from the Board that the do as early as possible furni h the Board with a report of the, existing state of the schools in Westland, and of the educational requirements of thevaaious districts in the Count}'." The Board then adjourned to meet again, when tho report of ehe Inspector shall be brought up. We may mention that theexamination which is to be made by the Inspector will also serve the purpose of supplying information which has been requested by the General Government respecting the state of education in the County of 'Vestland. A meeting has been held at Charleston for the purpose Of providing races on St. Patrick's day. There were not many present, and the following gentlemen were appointed a committee to collect contributions and make other arrangements : Messts Henderson, ■ Crewdson, 'Swan, Scanlan; Behan, Forder,M'Carthy, Cardigan, and Neale. A subscription list was opened, and before the meeting closed a considerable sum was promised. Should there be sufficient funds a, second day's racing is promised. Messrs T). Maclean and Co. submitted to auction at their rooms yesterday the booths, refreshment stands, right to tend horses upon the course, ani the right to sell the cards of the races. The attendance was vcjry large, anijhe bidding of a most animated nature. The auctioneer, iv submitting the booths, first expatiated upon the valuable nature of their situations, and was answered quickly and numerously as the biddings advanced. The contests for each site were not confined to a few, but seemed to be very generally partaken in by all the publicans present, and the amount realised was considerably in excess of last year. The following is me order of purchasers and prices :^-No. if Mrs Ogden, L 39 ; 2, Pat. Hanney, L 36 ; 3, Sam. Rich, L 34 ; 4, John Stratford, L 3 2; 5, R. B. Goff, L2G ; 6, J. C Moore, L 26. Fruit Stalls— No. 1, William Baker, L 4 10s ; 2, James Johnston, L 4 ss. Right e of tending horses, John Bradley, Lls 10s. Eight to sell cards— William Eiley, Ll9 10s. Total amount realised, L 236 15s. This amount is greatly in excess of last year, and is a capital augury of our meeting:* success, as all the reports we receive tend to show that a large amount of visitors may be expected. The races at Tiraaru came off on Feb. 25 and 26. The following is the result of the different events :— Maiden Plate : Wideawake, 1. Timaru Cup : Tantrum, 1. Hurdle Race : Star of the South, 1. Handicap Race :^ Star of the SouShj 1. Tradesmen's Plate : Maid of the Milf 1. What promises to be a payable quartz reef is said tt have been discovered on one of the small islands in Cook Strait, near D'Urville's Island. This island is private property, and measures are being taken to test the value of tho ground. A passenger in the William Cargill has brought out with him to Wellington an invention for flax-dri'ssi' > g, patented iv France; aud it has been proved by actual experiment that flax as now prepared, further treated by this process, which* is not by any means costly, is valued at Lls per ton more than before it had gone through it. According to the Freema/ioti** Journal, it i 9 estimated that the Masonic Order at present contains about 1,300,000 members. Of this number, .130,000 are in England, 100,000 in Scotland, and: 50,000 in Ireland. There are about 500/000 on the Continent of Europe, 300,000 in the United States, and 50,000 in other parts of the world. Aside from Asia, the number in India will probably reach 50,000. An Otago paper states that Dr Moran, Roman Catholic Bishop of Port Elizabeth, Cape of Good Hope, has been appointed Bishop of Dunedin. It is also stated by the same paper, that his diocese will extend over the entire Middle Island, and that he will shortly arrive in the colony. Yesterday morning (says the ■ W. C. Times of the 4th inst.) as the goods intended for shipment by the Waipara, were being conveyed on board, a small case, which was directed to the agent of the Bank of New South Wales, on being lifted gave indications that the contents were, of an inflammable nature, and being immediately put down again, on taking the lid off it-was found to be burning, the bottles in the case containing a strong acid used for melting purposes. The lid was taken to , the police camp, where it may now be ,seen with unmistakeable evidence upon.it of the burning process it had been subjected to ; indeed, when taken to the camp the lid was. still burning. What became of the bottles of acid we are unaware, but we would draw the attention of shippers of goods of such nature of the risk they incur in not stating outside the packages that the contents are of a dangerous character. A serious fire, or rather series of fires, occurred at Carterton; Wellington Province, on Monday, the 14th February, by which several v dwelling houses and other property were destroyed. Some clearing fires happened to be smouldering in the surrounding bush at the time, when a northerly breeze that was blowing suddenly freshened into a gale and fanned the expiring embers into several raging fires. The'first of these swept across the road from Mr Humphrey Callister's paddock, setting fire to Mr Edmund Anderson's houpe, which was entirely consumed. We understand that Mr Smith is insured. The next five sprung up very suddenly at Messrs Anderson and Hugkan's saw mills, between three and four in the afternoon, and in a short time everything combustible about the mill had disappeared. Tho engine and other machinery, however, sustained hut" little

damage, aud will be repaired and at work again within three weeks or a month. The fire having passed the sawmills, swept across the Masterton road, burning a" bridge and Messrs M'Cormack and Beard's houses. Mr Challis's house was on fire three times during the evening, but was saved. A considerable number of the inhabitants of Carterton remained out of their beds most of the night watching their propertp, as any change of wind might have created a fresh danger. The following Northern items are fronr the Lytte.lton Times of the Ist instant:— Napier, Feb. ' 27. News has been received from Auckland to the 24th. There is to be a monster Native meeting shortly at.Ohinemuri. Its purport is said to be to organise a hostile demonstration against Tukekio, the most obstinate opponent to the opening of the Ohinemuri gold district. A monster meeting was recently held at the Thames ; 1200 diggers were present, and they agreed to petition the Government for employment or passages to other colonies. The Superintendent replied that he would certainly not grant passages, as plenty of employment at 5s per diem- was attainable. The Luna brought from the Thames 1636 ounces of gold for the Bank of New Zealand, Napier. Fifty Ngatiporous, under Rapata, were to start from Turanganui on the 27th for the Uriwera country. The Arawas and Wanganuis are advancing under their own chiefs. The Sturt takes 150 Ahuriri natives to MoLaka to-morrow, Colonel M'Donnell does not accompany the expedition. All the Native tribes engaged will receive a liberal bonus if successful in taking Kooti and Kereopa, but nothing if they fail. All the Natives engaged have agreed to the above, whicli is considered a step in the right direction. The following are the winners of the chic events of the Dunstau races on the first day :— Maiden Plate, Misslnne3; Handicap, Mr Delaraain's Wildboy ; Hurdle Race, Mr Cowin's Poison ; Town Plate, Mr Barnard's Foretop ; Hack Ttace, Mr Glassford's Dick. In the second day's racing, the Dunstan and Free Handicaps, were both won by Mr Delamaiu's Wildboy. The Consolation Race was won by Musician. During some time past it was supposed, and (states the Bullarat Courier) not without good rer.s >n, that some of the miners in the employ of the Great Northern Junction Gold Mining Company were defrauding the shareholders by stealing gold from the mine. So well grounded were the suspicions, it was deemed advisable to obtain the assistance of Detectives Easou and Hyland, who took the case in hand some ten days ago, and closely watched the ground until Tuesday evening, when, for reasons best known to themselves, they laid an ambuscade, and arrested five of the men immediately upon their leaving the shaft. The prisoners were Thomas' liashleigh, Silas May, Christopher Tomkin, Joseph Roberts, and John Higgins, several of whom had long been employed by the company. On being searched, a considerable quantity of gold was found upon them, the' man Rashleigh (who admitted the robbery and endeavored to exculpate the other men) having in his possession ' a tobacco-pouch almost filled with the precious lnetaL The prisoners were all conveyed to the Western lock-up at about six o'clock. It is strongly suspected that many hundred pounds' worth of gold have been stolen from this mine of late, but full particulars will doubtless he given at the police court examination,