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Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 645, 8 March 1870, Page 2

The adjourned case against Catherine Hood for exposing liquors for sale without a proper license was called on yesterday in the Magistrate's Court, and again adjourned until today, when the County Chairmau is expected to give evidence. But it is more than probable the case will not be proceeded with, any further. A public soiree is announced to be held in the Volunteer Hall on Tuesday evening next, in aid of the funds of the Wesleyan Church. An accident happened to one of Messrs D. Maclean and Oo.'s coal boats on Saturday, whereby the entire cargo of coke with which the barge was laden was lost. It appears that the steersman, Christy, immediately before coining to Snag Falls, handed the steer oar to his mate, in order to light his pipe ; in a moment the boat was broadside on to the snag— necessitating' the discharge of the oargo in order to lighten the craft before her safety could be secured. Ibis now clear that three-fourths of these apci.ents happen through carelessness. We have great pleasure in acknowledging the receipt of a series of atlases which have recently been published at Home by Messrs William Collins, Sons, and Company, for the Scottish School-book Association. This is no simple acknowledgment, because the books we refer to cannot be passed over in a oommonplace manner. They are wonders, not only of workmanship, but also of correctness and cheapness. It is something to find a finely got up Primary Atlas, containing sixteen plates, published for sixpence, and a Progressive Atlas, containing thirtytwo plates, for two shillings. But the gem of the series is the Advanced Atlas, a large volume of beautifully finished maps, containing the most intimate aud latest information, for the comparatively insignificant sum of three shillings ■ and sixpence. Surely after this, no house will be without copies of these invaluable aids to education. The subject of education is attracting attention in Auckland. The Superintendent has expressed himself in favor of a system of secular education, and he has in consequence been assailed by those who favor sectarian teaching. Mr Michie, the well known Victorian barrister, is now in Auckland. It appears that this gentleman has come for a change of air, and generally for the benefit of his health, but the Auckland papers suggest that some society or institution should get hold of him and let Auckland have the treat of one of his popular lectures. It is the intention of the General Government to substitute iron for wooden telegraph posts. Some of tne lines in Otago are being re-constructed <m iron posts. A Dunediu paper states that .the manufacture of spurious gold is carried on by Chinamen on the Otago gold fields, notwithstanding their double detection at Cromwell some months ago. In the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday judgment was given in the civil case, Atkinson v. Graham, heard a few days ago, which was a claim of £100 for breach of a contract. The Magistrate said the weight of evidence was in favour of the agreement between the parties, and the real question was. as to the amount of damage sustainedHe would give judgment for £50 and costs. Mr Guinness, who' appeared for th_e defendant, before the judgment was entered up, specially called the attention of the Magistrate to the fact that he had no jurisdiction to determine the case. The Magistrate said the objection was too late; as the case was decided and judgment given. (We believe Mr Guinness gave notice of appeal.) — Thomas Caffney and James Mills were fined 5s each for having been drunk.— James Cattle, of the Golden Age Hotel, was charged, on the information of Constable Flannagan, with keeping his licensed house open at 1 a.m.

on the 3rd inst. He did not appear, and the fact being sworn to, he was finad £5 and costs.— John Fullarton wa° fined 10s and costs for allowing two horses to stray on the streots, an I Barclay and Co. were fined £1 and costs for permitting eight bullocks to wander.— Francis Brown was charged with stealing a shawl, the property of Catherine M' Donald, South Beach. It appea ed that the shawl was hung out on a fence to dry, the prisoner passed, and brought it with him to town, where he sold it to Mrs Buggy, | at whose house he stayed for a few clays. He was sentenced to one month's imprisonment with hard labor, and the shawl returned to its owner. A serious fire occurred on Major Patou's farm in the Motueka district, whereby a large amount of property has been destroyed. The repairs to the overland road are so far advanced that the coach, which starts from Hokitika this morning, is expected to get through to the Cass. • Excursion trips are now being run by the steainer3 Wellington and Airedale between Wellington, Lyttelton, aud Duuedin. Large numbers of excursionists are taking advantage of the cheap fares. Another claim known as the "Little Go" has struck auriferous quartz in Wellington Provinoe. The result of the crushing showed loz lOdwt to'the tin. The Treasurer of the Groy Eiver Hospisal begs to acknowledge receipt of the sum of £14 2s, a donation from the All Nations claim, Stoney Lead, by the hands of Mr John Rees, manager ; also, £2, per Mr J. D. O'Brien, being balance of amount collected for erecting a grave fence at Clifton. A sitting of the District Court will take place at the Resident Magistrate's Courthouse to-day at eleven o'clock. The followlowing iq the business to be disposed of :- - James Wylde v. Grey River Coal Company (limited), Christchurch, Ll4O 7s 31, for services rendered. In bankruptcy, applications will be made for the final discharge of the following insolvents :— Morgan O'Cohuell, Robert Thomas, Mary Ann Pritchard, Daniel M'Kinty, and Thomas Norberg. We beg to acknowledge receipt of a copy from the publisher of the proceedings of the County Council for last session. Two swindlers, well known in Melbourne, have arrived in Otago with a large quantity of shoddy silks and false jewellery. They will no doubt honor the West Coast with a visit shortly. A man named Lamlisch has died at Wagga Wagga of a surfeit of beer. He laid a wager that he would drink aix quarts of that liquor iuanhonr, and actually drank that quantity in 25 minutes, but almost immediately afterwards became insensible. Next day he was taken to the hospital, and in a few days afterwards he died. The Timaru. Herald learns on good authority that a gentleman in Canterbury, fully capable of carrying out his promise, will be prepared to submit an offer for the construction of a good and substantial line of railway from Timaru to Temuka, if the bonus be increased to £15,000. A Duuedin paper sfc.tes that the limited accommodation for vessels at Rattray street jetty will soon be extended, and a great deal of the present inconvenience and loss in berthing, loading, and discharging vessels will be thereby obviated. The proposed addition will extend to a; distance of 230 ft from the present head of the jetty, from which it will form an angle lunning parallel with the training wall. The outside portion will be 14ft in width, formed of timber supported on manuka piles, and backed ' by earth, which will be obtained by dredging and from Bell Hill. A travelling crane, for which a line of rails is to be laid, will be provided for facilitating the discharge of heavy packages. All the work is to done by prison labor. The Paroa Road Board held a special meeting at the office, Paroa, on Wednesday evening last, the 2nd instant. Business — to dispose of cash in hand, and consider letter from County Chairman. There were present—Messrs J. O'Connor (in the chair) M. O'Connor, Stausell, Colton, and Leach. The correspondence being received, and a few small accounts ordered to be paid, Mr M. O'Connor moved, and. Mr Leach seconded, " That the sum of L 5 be spent in putting a log across the Saltwater in repair." Carried. Moved by Mr Colton, and seconded by Mi; M. O'Connor, " That 20 per cent, be paid on all outstanding accounts." Carried. Moved by Mr J. O'Connor, and seconded by Mr M. O'Connor, " That the engineer be requested to prepare specifications and cill for tenders for makiug the road from Marsden to No Name, aud from Marsdeu to Cock-a-Bulla, in accordance with the County Chairman's letter." Carried. Messrs Leach, M..O'Connor and the Chairman were appointed to confer with the Engineer with regard to specifications, &c. There being no other business, the meeting adjourned. The W. O. Times is responsible for the following statement .-—During the late session of the County Council a resolution was passed recommending that certain portions of Greymouth, not being in . the town proper, should be offered for sale at a reduction in the upset price, from L4B to L 24 per acre. The matter has since been considered by the Waste Lands Board, and the opinion of the Board being averse to the reduction, there is very little expectation that the Governor will accede to the recommendation of the County Council. Thomson's road steamers appear to be steadily making way in public estimation in England, and have been introduced into France. The Tivies' Paris correspondent says :— We have had one of the road steamers," with indiarubber tires to the wheels, iu vented by Thomson, of Edinburgh, running through the streets of Paris within the last few days, dragging behind it a heavy Versailles omnibus with fifty passengers, compared to which the six-horge power engine looked like a steam-tug towing an Indiaman. On the report of the French Government engineers leave has been granted to the road steamer to ply over two routes, several miles in length, and including some biißy parts of

Paris. The engineers report it more handy and manageable than horses, and in no way dangerous to the public. The huge indiarubber tires save tns maohinery from jolting and the road from ruts. The speed is that of a fast omnibus ; it went up the paved street beside the TLrooadero, of which the gradients are 1 in 11, and even 1 in 9, without the least difficulty, and came down again without any brake. In a wet grass field it was curious to observe how little the wheels saiik into the saturated soil ; in fact, it obliterated, on retracing its circle, the deep ruts of the omnibus wheels. This ciroumstance has drawn the attention of ! artillery officers present at the experiment, suggesting to them an enquiry whether the system might not be advantageously applied to military transport iv campaigning. The General Assembly is further prorogued to the 30th April. A great deal of ingenuity is apparently being displayed in devising means for the improvement of che machinery now used in preparing New Zealand flax for the market. Almost every Gazette contains one or more notices of application for letters patent for some invention of the kind, and the Gazette of Feb. 24 notifies that the following applioations for patents have been granted : — To Luke Nattras, of Nelson, librarian, for an invention for separating the fibrous part of the Phormium tenax and other fibrous plants from the non-tibrcus portions of such plants by mechanical means, and to John Journeaux, of Melbourne, but at present residing in Wellington, gentleman, for an invention for a machine and process by means thereof, of manufacturing the fibre of the New Zealand flax, and for the preparation of the gum thereof into an article of commerce. An Auckland correspondent of the Lyttelton Times writes : -Mr St. John Brannigan goes back to Wellington iv a few days. His labours have not been of a. very easy kind since his first arrival in this province. His tour of inspection is completed, and his visit has embraced the most remote stations, such as Haroto and others near Taupo Lake. It is somewhat fortunate he turned up here when Kooti neared the Waikatos. By his energy and prompt decision the large body of our men, half famished and short of ammunition, which suddenly turned up near the Waikato frontier, were provisioned and supplied in an incredible short space of time, and not the slightest delay occurred to our troops, then close upon Te Kooti. The Nelson annual race meeting is advertised to come off on Tuesday, April 19, and Wednesday, April 20. The events on the first day are — the Maiden Plate, of 50 soys, a mile and a quarter, entrance 4 soys ; the Tiuf Club Handicap Plate, of 70 soys, added to a sweepstake of 4 soys each, second horse to save his stake, one mile and threequarters ; the Waimea Plate, of 10 soys, added to a sweepstake of one soy each ; the Ladies Purse, of 40 soys, entrance 3 soys, second horse to save his stake, one mile and three-quarters, heats ; the Criterion Plate, of 30 soys, entrance 3 soys, second horss to save his stake, three-quarters of a mile. The second days events are— a Match, the produce of Mr Redwood's mares, Waimea, Phoebe, and Miss Eowe, against the produce of Mr Stafford's mares, Symphony, Miss Nightingale, and Opera, a mile aud a half ; the Town Plate, of 60 soys, entrance 3 soys, second horse to save his stake, two miles ; the Hurdle Race, of 40 soys, entrance 3 soys, second horse to save his stake, one mile. We notice by our Wellington files that Flying Jib won everything for which Lq was started at Wairarapa easily, The only news by the English mail which has just arrived regarding the proposed Nelson and Cobden Railway, is the following from a correspondent of the European Mail: — " In reference to the Nelson, Cobden, and Weatport Railway Company, some misapprehension seems to have arisen in certain quarters. The real facts appear to be these. The agent could not exceed the powers vested in him by the Government of New Zealand. The gradients as proposed in the Act authorising the project are not impossible ; but it is thought better, if the construction of a railway be undertaken, that the promoters should be entirely unfettered in every respect, especially as regards the formation and working of the line. No official document on the subject has been sent to the Government of New Zealand, and only very crude, and preliminary negotiations have been opened with the agent in England. The utmost liberality on the part of the colonial authorities will oe requisite to give the promoters a chance of obtaining the neceis^ry capital." .