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Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 657, 5 April 1870, Page 2

We are requested by the Postmaster to state, with respect to the annuity tables recently issued by the Government, that there is reason to believe that some misapprehension exists as to whether the sums stated in table 3 represent the amount of the annuity or only half of ib. The table shows the amount payable for the year on each LI 00 invested. The ambiguity is caused by the omission of one little comma. Mr Commissioner Kyunersley left Wes'port yesterday for the South overland, and is expected at Cobden to-morrow. He will visit all the mining centres of the river, and at the Ahaura Township and Napoleon Hill arrangements are on foot to entertain him to banquets on his arrival. It would be very graceful if his numerous friends in Greymouth would do the same. The monthly meeting of the Volunteer Fire Brigade was held at the Hall last evening, Captain Whall in the chair. There was a very fair muster of the members. Several accounts were passed for payment. The Secretary was instructed to write to the County and Borough Councils, requesting immediate paymeut of moneys due. It was resolved to pay Mr Stocks 10s for ringing the bell on the occasion of the fire at the Brighton IloteL Mr Kins» tendered his resignation as a member, which was accepted with regret. Two new members were admitted. The remaining business was unimportant. The Mauawatn survey is progressing so favorably that the last office of the Ciown Lauds Surveyor is about to be required in laying off the promised reserves. The usual meeting of the Grey River Hospital Committee takes place to - morrow evening, at Gilnier's Hotel, at eight o'clock. As the business is important, it is to be hoped the members will be punctual in their attendance. Mr and Mrs Sewell are passengers by the Somersetshire, which left Plymouth for Melbourne on Jan. 26. Mr Jus' ice Chapman and his wife are passengers by the same vessel. Iv the "Borough Council's present state of impaeuniosity, the labor of a few prisoners would be very acceptable in filling up many a water-hole, and constructing footpaths where they are much needed. During his last visit Mr Hoos promised that this would be done, but no official instructione to that effect have yet been received here. It is to be hoped the Town Clerk will press the matter upon the attention of the County Chairman without delay. We hear that a new weekly paper, to be called the Onutru Herald, is to be published at Ooiaru this month". Mr M'Lean left Auckland on March 26, in the Government steamer Luna, for Opotiki. In Hokitika it is proposed to levy a special rate of twopence in the pound on all rateable property, for the maintenance of the Fire Brigade. Dr Featheraton and the Hon. Mr Dillon Bell arrived at Marseilles on Jan. 22, in the F. and O. Company's steamship Pera. The strike at the Hogburn, Otago, is now altogether at an end, the miners on Surface Hill having resumed work. The price charged for water in that locality is 50s, and in the other portions of the district 40s per Hogburn head. Two bicycles have made their appearance at Cromwell, Otago. This is a progressive age : even the Maoris are "moving on." At Patea, according to the correspondent of the Wanganui Chronicle, they have invented a kind of telegraph, of which he writes :— " T had occasion early this week to go to Waihi, the post garrisoned by the natives of the Ngatiporou tribe, and was surprised at night by one of them asking me if I would like to see their '. waea' (wire), or system of communicating from one wharp to other. Their post is divided into two distinct pahs or redoubts. They asked me what I would like to say to, a native in the other pah ; I gave then} a

message, and to my astonishment one of them proceeded to strike a bit of string suspended from the roof of the whare, and in a short time my message was sent. I did not wait very long when the string before mentioned began to vibrate ; one of them took a bit of paper and pencil and proceeded to take down the answer to 'Py message, which when translated to me f found to be a corr§ct oneOn looking I found that the string is stretched from one whare to the other all over the pah, and that a continual communication is going on. T was so much amused at the ide,a that I conversed wjth a native for some gonsideraMe time, distant from me about forty yards. " The Post Oifice in Auckland hitherto known as " Shortlan I," is in future to be called "The Thames." William Reid Douglas, Esq., has been appointed an Inspector of Steamers and Engiue Surveyor fq? the Colony. During his recent visit to the Waikato, Mr Fox incidentally stated to a deputation of militiamen that it was the policy of the Government to encourage ijhe volunteer movement, and with this view it was their intention to try and pass a Bill through the General Assembly to increase the allowance to volunteer corps. Eats are becoming a gre<it pest at Wanganui. The Chronicle inquires:— "Can any observant settler account for the immense number of rats, amounting to some hundreds, that strew the beach from the heads to above the town ? Or is the matter inexplicable, unless in so far as it suggests a suicidal propensity on the part of the species ? There is something evj4en.tly amiss among the rats." The Bank of New Zealand, in course of erection in Grahamstown, is fast approaching completion, as most of the outside decorations are finished, and it will not take any great length of time to finish the interior arrangements. It is oajd to be a most creditable piece of architecture. An American has produced an instrument by means of which vaccination may be readily performed without pain. "It can,' he says, "be applied to a sleeping infant without waking it." Such an instrument must be a small blessing to babes as well as to mothers. A weatherboard house belonging to two miners in the Sink to Rise claim, Moanataiari, Auckland, has been burned down by ths flame of a condle catching the canvas. Oiie of the men lost L3O, and the loss of the other was about the same. The Wanganui Horticultural Society's Show was a great success. Colonel M'Donnell has obtained two mouths' leave of absence. From Napier we learn that the friendly chief Ropata has made a dashing march through the Uriwera countiy, taking Pukeria's pah and fifty prisoners, some of whom were engaged with Kooti at Ohinemutu against us. Ropata is off again in pursuit of Te Eooti's baud. A singular accident happened to a man in the Waiotahi Creek the other afternoon. A loaded gun was lying on a seat, and a person possibly from want of care, sat down upon it, causing the gun to discharge its contents, which lodged in the arm of the man. As a miner residing on the Waiotahi, Auckland, named C. B. Denny, was returning from his work one evening lately, aud nearing his own home on the ground of the Manakau Extended Gold-mining Company's property, he was alarmed by perceiving his wife rush to the door and scream out that her child was down the shaft. Mr Denny at once descended the shaft thirty feet, and brought the child to the surface, not much hurt. The store of Messrs Barnett and Levy, Grahamstown, Auckland, was recently entered, and robbed of a large quantity of tobacco, cigars, and other goods, during a bright moonlight ni.ht. A correspondent writing to the Wanganui Chronicle, says Whanganni is overburdened with lawyers. He thinks there is one to every 100 of the adult population. Madame Marie Duret, the popular actress, sustained some injury on Monday night 21st ult., after the close of the performance at the Theatre Royal, Thames, while descending to the stalls from the stage she slipped off the steps and fell heavily; The injuries were so severe that Madame Duret was unable to appear at the Theatre Royal the following evening. Among the items of news received by the English mail, that announcing the fact of a meeting of influential merchants having been held in London to consider the advisability of establishing a new mail route to Australia and New Zealand, via Milford Haven, Portland, and San Francisco, is not the least important. The prospectus of the proposed Company has been published, but it contains principally an enumeration of the attractions and advantages of the overland route across America, which are sufficiently well known in New Zealand. The Company's plan of operations, and their main arguments in favor of the route adopted, will be seen from the following extracts from the prospectus . — "lt is proposed to form a company to render this route available by running, fortnightly, large and powerful steamships, fitted with the latest improvements, between Milford Haven and Portland, U.S., the passengers, &c, being carried thence, over the Grand Trunk of Canada and Union Pacific Railways, to San Francisco, where equally suitable steamers will be employed to complete the journey to Sydney. Milford Haven is, without comparison, the most desirable port of departure, being one of the finest harbors in the world, accessible at all times, and the nearest in England to the continent of America. By its adoption, the dangers and delays incident to the English and Irish Channels are avoided (a fact beneficially affecting insurance on ships and freight), a saving from 3,6 to 48 hours on the voyage to America secured, and port charges reduced to a minimum. The proximity of Milford Haven to the great coal fields of South Wales insures an ample supply of coal at the lowest possible rate ; and its nearness to. Ireland will give great facilities fqr obtaining cheap

provisions, and will attract the bulk of the emigrants and traffic from that country Special arrangements with the Great Western Railway provide cheap and unrivalled means of transit to and from London, Liverpool, and the other great towns. Portland, the nearest American port, will be reached in eight or nine days. It is free from ice, fog, and other Qbstacle.3. to navagation, is less expensive than most others, and is in close railway communication with the principal cities of the. United States and with Canada. From hence ttje (frand Tru.uk, in connection with the Union Pacific Hailway, leads, direct to. San Francisco. , , . At the comlnengement of the proposed service one steamsr per mouth may be founi gufficiant, but so large, a local traffic is likely to be developed as wi'l warrant hereafter a fortnightly communication between San Francisco, Australia, and New Zealand. The Sandwich, Fiji, and other islands lying in the direct route, furaish, in case of need, useful coaling stations ; and when the rapidly extending cotton production of the Fiji Islauds and tbe importance of New Caledonia as a French celouy are considered, more substantial benefits may be anticipated . It is also proposed that a branch line of steamers shall correspond with the main line at Viti Levu, Fiji Islands, by which passengers and mails will be conveyed to and from New Zealand ; and, should a postal subsidy be obtained from the French Government, to and from New Caledonia." The total annual expenditure of the line, according to an amended statement by Captain Vine Hall, of the late Patnama Company, is set down at L 331,058, and the total receipts at L 520.000. making the gross profit, L 185,942. The settling in connection with the Dunedin races took place at the Empire Hotel on the 25 ult., and passed off satisfactorily. By far the greater portion of the stake 3 go beyond taat Province. Mr It. M. Morten, of Canterbury, takes away, L 37 3; Mr Delamaine, of Canterbury, L 147 10s ; Mr Webb, of Canterbury, L5O ; and Mr Pollock, L7O. At noon on the 26 ult. at the Commercial Yards, several of the winners at the late meeting were put up for sale by auction. There was a large attendance, but there was was not the slightest disposition to purchase offered. Southern Chief was the first offered, and the bi.lding was slowly run up to LISO, at which price he was bought in. Atlas was bought in at L 97 ; Banjo at L5O ; Star of the South at 70 guineas ; and Bobby Burns at L9O. The blood horse Young Caniden was also offered, but no bid was made. An unfortunate accident, attended with painful and serious consequences, occurred at Tokomairiro, Otago, the other day. It appears, says the Bruce Standard, that Mrs Keith, after coming out of the gate near to the new Athenaeum building, ran against a portion of the scaffolding erected on the footpath, when her eye came in contact with a large nail, by which the eyeball was severely injured. There are no less than 1340 officers employed in the Civil Department of governing this Colony of New Zealand. This does not include the fighting branch. The salaries vary from Ll7OO, which is the annual amount received by Chief Justice Arney, fa the lowest, L 5, which is the rate allowed to various postmasters. Four thousand feet along the line of reef, discovered at Strath Taieri, Otago, the other day, have already been registered afc Warden's office in Naseby. The distance from Naseby to the reef is stated by the Mount Idi Chronicle to be about forty-eight miles, and from Hindon, by a short cut, from eight to ten miles. The road to Taupo is rapidly growing into shape under the engineering skill of Captain Turner and the energetic labor of the Thames Volunteers. This spirited corps has been moved on, in advance of the local militia, to construct a portion of the road to Orope, and a subject of deserved admiration is the excellent feeling subsisting between the officers and the ; vmen, and the considerate care evinced by Captain Carroll for all under his charge. The Gibraltar claim at the Thames was put up to auction by Mr Gurgeon, at the suit of an unsatisfied creditor, and knocked down for Ll9O. The purchaser paid a deposit of L3O, but has since forfeited the same. His Honor the Chief Justice sat in Bankruptcy at Auckland, on the 14th ult. The only opposed case was that of Mr Shaw (late Mayor of Hokitika), who recently filed a deed of arrangement. Mr [Richmond, for the trustee, applied for a declaration of the complete execution of the deed, which was stated to have been signed by 67 creditors, representing that L 4660 of debts, out of a total of 74 creditors and L 5317 of debts. Mr Rees was for the arranging debtor. Mr MacCormick appeared on behalf of the Union Bank, to oppose the declaration of complete execution, and to apply for a declaration that the filing of the deed was an act of bankruptcy. He examined the arranging debtor at some length, and the examination was adjourned until the following Thursday. A sample of the advantages we derive from our connection with the Imperial Government and its illustrious representative. Sir George Ferguson Bowen, G.C.M.G., was furnished in Wellington the other day, an account of which we take from the Evening Post:—" When the visit of his Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh was in contemplation, the Stafford Government bought from Captain Benson a very handsomelyfinished six-oared boat, 35 feet Jong, and fitted with all the appliances deemed requisite by "leaders in the land," to cut a dash in the eyes of the vulgar when they show themselves on the water ; in order that his | Excellency might be enabled to go on board the Galatea in a style consonant with his own ideas of his importance. The price paid for the boat was LBO, and she was used on two occasions, and no further uge appearing likely to arise for her, she. was sold yesterday at auction for L2B, so that the two trips made by the Queen's representative cost tbe colonists about L 25 ea.ch, or say, fifty guineas for enabling Sir George to pay i twa vice-regal- visits in state. <