Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 659, 9 April 1870, Page 2

1 Mr T. A. S^Kynnersley arrived in town on Thursday . fp.'re.rioon, v 'and -was warmly welcomed by" all classes of the community. YeateMay morning he left for the Ahaura township -on, ,-his,,- tour of , inspection.' Mr Kynnersle'y is acting snuply, as a member of the Nelson Executive, an«i Resident Magistrate . and "Warden at Wangapeka, not as Coromissioner.of the South- West Gold Fields until aftci the cotninj meeting of the Kelffb^ provincial CounciU f : ;; ;;,., : We leirri. that. the nuinbor of applications lodged -to be! . placed/.qu i\io electoral i'oll r of •the "i -Wtatlahd . Boroughs f roiii ' 'Ci reyitiOu 1 th - was 149, and from Hokitika 69. •• It ,will;bo _kho\i'ivi^h Mtt days how many at those wi^l _ he jobjected to>Y . ;~ r , ■„ . ."., :.'z. v .\ ■' It is rumoured., in. Wellingtbfl" thStjtio Mini3try ; is^-yiinxious ; to. ifind a seat for Mr SeweH^¥h'o"is expected .out frppv f England very. slprtlyy and. that in all probability he w^tf.Ve. jjro.poßpd'fpr the' Omata district, in-Tarfttuiki, owing to" -Jf«j6f' &own'a resig-

nation, Mr Scwell's presence in the House would greatly strengthen the position of the Ministry, which is just now regarded as being a little shaky- If Mr Fox, however,, was backql up by his old colleagues Messrs Gillies tod Seweli, he would" bo able to make a bold light, and I suppose that ere this Mr Gillies is the member of Mongonui. The Luna, paddle steamer, lately purchased by the Government for LIO,OOO, when conveying Mr M'JLean from Tanranga to Opotiki, broke one of her cylinders. She i succeeded in returning to Tauranga, whore i some of the Rosario's engiueers Went on board and patched, Jie.r up. She has since arrived safely at Auckland,. • A Tauranga, correspondent reports that Kemp has released the prisoners takeu near Opotiki. Mr M'Lean'haS.gone thither to investigate the matter. : Joseph Rawlinson has been fined L 23 for smuggling tobacco at the Thames, The Government ; store at Patane was burned on the night of tho 2ud inst About three tons of< stores were destroyed. ' T.he whole! of the Canterbury province ha s now ; been declared free from pleura*pe,ueu- : tmonia." : '** •■'■""••■ ' ■ '•■' \ : ' - ! • ■ ■'. • Eleven hundred natives' "tjxe' other day iriet at Raglan for tangi qver'Nayior's grave, six hundred of the number were Hau Haus.. The affair cost the Raglan natives LI 000. The notorious prisoner named Pluiamer has again attempted to escape from Nelson gaol, he has received a senteuce of twelve months in irons. Messrj Rainer, Christy, and Western's amalgamated troupe of Minstrels made its dibut at the Town Hall, Christchuroh on the 4th inst. before a large, audience. The itronpe is twelve in number, and includes many performers who are; o}d favourites wifh the public. We take jthe. followijig items of up-river news from yesterday' 3 Grey Valley Times :— "Surveyors have besn sent to ; blaze a prospecting line for a horse-track betweeu Camp . Town and Red Jacks. . . '. We are informed that a dangerous snag baa been washed into the river at Buckley's Mistake, and that boats riiri considerable risk in consequence either . in coming up or going down. ... At Cariboo, about four miles from Napoleon Hill, 1 old Napoleon's party have struck gold. As yet the prospects are barely payable^ but they are exipected to improve as the sinking, progresses. A large number of claims are already pegged out, and those best qualified to foim an ■ opinion think highly of the locality. ... . . It is likely that .the protection granted for Antonio's track, will very shortly be cancelled as in M'Laugiilan's case. Should this be the case,' the Government intend to greatly improve the route; and what is more continue it up to the Little Grey. Should this eventuate, the public convenience will very largely -be i consulted. . ; '. . " The trial line to the Arnold was completed last week by Mr Bull aud staff, and the result of the survey has proved most satisfactory. Two very important civil cases were decided in tho Resident Magistrate's Court on Thursday,, which will be found reported at length elsewhere. One of them decided a ' nice point on the question of principal aud agent, which merchants in the habit of receiving orders from up-country would do well to peruse. : ; „. . ... . The Banks give notice to miners that in consequence of Friday next (Goodr Friday) being a baaikholiday^ gold will be melted on r Thursday, the 16th inst. . We learn that Mr David Girdwood, agent for Messrs M'Meckan, Blaekwood, aud Co.'s line of steamers, intends to proceed to Melbourne by the s. s. Rangitoto to-morrow . It is to be hoped, that he will,during hi 3 visit, make such representations, and lay convincing facts before his principals, as will induce them to pay more attention than they hitherto have done to the requirements of this port. . .... Telegrams from ■ - Wellington say :— ' c It is reported that the "Manawatu Surveyor has been again, warned off by the Natives. Singular tidal disturbances jiook place, in Wellington Harbor on Wednesday. They, were similar/ but slighter than those- on the occasion of the South American earthquake iul868: ' "••■•• :: ■■■' ■ : ___ Martin, a drill; . instructor',, lias, been committed on a: charge of rape, at Wellington. The ca3e is a very weak orie, the.-prosecutors story being flatly 'contradicted by the defendant's witnesses. The Bench have, however, decided to . leave it to a. jury to say which statements are true. . . , • VCfllonel Harrington is to superintend the ■ Colonial rifle contest at.i^yinedjii this year. A road from . Lake Wakatip to Martin 1 Bay- has been surveyed. ','. A -requisition, addressed to Mr, W. H. Reynolds of Dunedin with reference to tl c approaching Mayoralty election,.. is now in course of signature, in that city. . Rumours of .thij discovery of auriferovs quartz reefs in Marlbbrowgh a,ro again being oiroulated in : that Province.' .• A little boy, son of Mr Pollock, of the London, Hokitika, wiis run'over by a velocipede in Revell street the other evening, and Beverely injufed in the head and. neck. At the Maori Point Races, held somewhere hear Lake Wakatip, (Otago) the race in aid of the Queenstown Hospital was wou : "by Miss 'Kitk's bay n'lly Flora, . ridden by Miss Kitty 'Eirk, beating a field of twelve ; and further, it is stated the race was won solely by the really skilfiil jockeyahip displayed by ihe fair rider, j ;.■" ; I.;:- ; An Enelish paper, makes the following suggestion.;— The idea has been thrown out more tib'ati once of bur colonies sending their representotiv^e3.;to ti,e Hoi^se of pommons. Such a scheme, is, : howayer, obviously iin» possible,- .-We could not members for the colonies tplegislato on tha : inaiter of our taxation. But would the. same or any other objection apply 1 ' ini'i admitting select men i JflOttv the; colonies jnto the House of , Lords? We are evidently- im,tke : e.xe ;of the creStion ; of, life peerages, and. the difficulty already felt is to fix Jipbn the olaas!that ought to' ieeeive: theia ;aa clistinot . from hereditary peerages. itopre3entative men from dur colojiics would, form such a. class, aguiiist

whom no objection could be urged. As the Upper House deals more with general principles than with looal details, their presence would not be felt to be so anomalous as in the Lower House j and on Imperial questions ' which are so much more frequently discussed by our hereditary legislators, they would be as much at home as any statesmen located within the four seas. May we add that to the discussion of colonial questions they would bring a knowledge and an authority which would not only elucidate many an ob" : scure subject, and which would give weight and dignity to their Lordships' discussions. We may recommend . the consideration of this Bchome- as one that would not only draw closer the bonds of the colonies with' the. mother country, but would contribute to the stability of the House of Lords itself. Mr Thompson, one of the survey staff eniployed by the Ofcago Government at Martin's Bay, has had a very narrow escape from, being starved to death. It appears that a special reporter from the.office'of the Otcuja ■ Daily Times had accompanied the expedition aud being unable to get away by the sea board, owing to the stranding of the Charles Edward, he three tinges attempted to make the journey overland to' the Wakatipu Lake, and as often retutned unsuccessful, the last time in a most deplorable plight, the "sup. plejacks" and "lawyers" havin» entirely demolished his nether garments. At this juncture, Mr, Thompson decided to accompany him to the top of the ranges', and put him 011 s the track for the lake, This was successfully accomplished!,' and the " special went on his way rejoicing* "[we have since learned that he arrived at Queenstown safely.] The -return trip however, was a terrible one to Mr Thompson. On descending from the ranges, he found to his dismay that the rivers had suddenly risen, and it became necessary to wait until they fell. His journey being delayed, from this cause* the scanty . supply of provisions which he carried run out, and for three days, before reaching the camp he was entirely without food of any kind. Added' to this, he had the misfortune to sprain his ankle. On arrival at the camp, he presented a pitable appearance, and declared, that if he had been in the bush for another day, weakness from the want of food, and the pain arising from his leg, would have caused him to succumb. When the Kennedy left he was fast recovering his strength. ' ; In our last, ;w.e gave a few particulars regarding the launch of the new punt at Langdon's Ferry, on Wednesday. Since then, we have received a report of the proceedings, which we are compelled to curtail to the following dimensions. Our reporter writes : — Contrary to expectation, from the gloomy and threatening state of the -weather in the forenoon, it was thought there would be but a poor attendance from Greymouth^. However, as the day wore, cavalcade aftor cavalcade arrived oil thejjround, and 'about four o'clock the ferry presented a most gay and animated appearance from the assembled group, and the flags displayed from the uprights—some 80ft in height— had a fine effect. The impromptu ball^rbbm was decorated iv such a manner as would have been a credit to any room on the West Coast, various' devices ; were 1 jlaced at intervals round the walls, and the dinner could scarcely be surpassed, a cJtef de cuisine had been retained from Greyrhbuth, and considering the difficulties he had to contend with, certainly did his duty> admirably. After some little delay, about half past four o'clock the fas. tenings were loosened, and the " Enterprise" dashed gallantly, aud with great rapidity, into the Grey River. Fears were entertained that some mishap would occur as she was launched broadside on, but, 011 the contrary, it was a complete success —the band playing Rule Britannia. About 60 or 70 ladies and gentlemen crossed and re-crossed the river in her. I .almost omitted to mention that Mrs Langdrtn' performed the babtismal rite by breaking a bottle over the bows.' The company then adjourned, to the ball-room for dinner. Mr Masters was- in the chair, and Mr Strike, vice-chair. After doing ample justice to the good' thing's of this life, the following, toasts were giyen and responded to. — " The Queen and Royal Family" by the chair ; "The Governor, Superintendent, and Officers of the Nelson. Government" by the vice-chair, ably responded to by Mr Dobson; " Success 1 to the • Enterprise' and prosperity to Mrs and;. Mr Langdon" ,by Mr Fox, and responded to by Mr Langdon, who briefly stated that,, after innumerable.difficulties, he had been about six months in accomplishing his object, and it had cost him nearly L 1200; "Success to the Grey Valley District" by' Mr Maclean/ responded; to by Mr Jones ; . "Success to "the Arnold District" by Mr Nichbl, and responded to by Mr E. B. Fox; "The Mining Interest" by Mr Johnstone,. j and responded to by Mr M'Clure; "The I Ladies" and various other toasts followed in succession, and the dinner party broke up i about seven o'clock, after amost enjoyable I day. _ There must have been nearly 160 persons present,. There, were from. 50 to 60 j ; horsemen who had to return to Greymouth that night. lam not aware of any accidents having occurred on the return ride to Greymouth, beyond a gentleman of the medical profession falling over a steep bank, /and another mistaking the lied of the f Grcy River for thie barik r ; neithtfr-'Were seriously, injured. In cotisequence' of so many, visitors leaving, and : the threatening aspect of the weather, the ball m' the' evening \Vas. : not so successful as it might have been. I notice that Mr Langdon intends giving another ball at his hotel, on Monday, the 11th inst. Too much praise cannot be awarded to the spirited i proprietor, forithepuntSvyibe a gi-ejit boon to the public, especially. iv time, of floods. 1' confidently hope he j will;be adequately remunerated, and there, is iiot i. one '6i his guests, but wishes him every prosperity* :