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Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 720, 30 August 1870, Page 2

Yesterday was the day appointed by the Municipal Corporations Act for the nominations to be, made for the approaching Municipal Council elections. For the East | Ward Mr Kilgour, the present Mayor, was again nominated, as were also Messrs Woolcock, W. S. Smith, Dr Morice, and two others who were objected to on the ground of informality.. With regard to the nomination of Mr Smith, we may mention that he is at present at Westporfc, and Avhen requested to stand, sent his assent by telegraph . It was a legal question whether this could be held as an assent in writing, and a message was sent to Mr Harrison at Wellington asking him to put the question to the Attorney-General. Yesterday afternoon the following reply was received :-"Mr Travers, who is now acting as law officev to the Government, advises that a telegraphic assent to a nomination is not valid, as it must be in writing on the nomination paper." Consequently MrSmith's nomination was not received. For the Middle Ward, Mr Barclay only was nominated, and for the East Ward Mr Moore, the present member, sothatinboth these Wards there will be no contest, and the above-named gentlemen will be declared elected by the Town Clerk on the 9th Sept. There is likely, however, to be a very warm contest in the East Ward if the candidafes The Goven3or~Tias7~by proclamation, on the recommendation of the Waste Lauds Board, withdrawn from the town of Greymouth all the land to the south of Marlborough street. This is about 300 acres, and includes all the land within the Borough upon which mining operations have recently been carried on. This will relieve the borough Council from the very unpleasant duty of hearing and deciding upon mining disputes such as have recently occupied so much of the time of the Town Surveyor and the Mining Committee. The Warden will now be able to deal with these cases. The meeting of parishioners of the Church of England takes place to-night, to decide upou the proposed additions to the building. We believe it is proposed to use a portion of the new buildings as a Sunday School. The adjourned meetiug of the Borough Council did not take place last evening for want of a quorum. *

At the Resident Magistrate's Court, yess terday, before W, , H. Re veil, Esq., R.M., , Robert Simpson,' on. remand, was- charged , with being in possession of an illicit still , and, , on the application of Sub-Inspector Hicksou, was further remanded until to-day, when Mr Harvoy, Crown Prosecutor, is expected to be ' present to conduct the case. Mr Perkins will appear for the defence.— John White was charged, on the information of Stephen Egan, with stealing a blanket, of the value of 10s, from his tent at Mosquito Creek, New River. It appeared from the evidence that the complainant, prisoner, and another, were working mates in a claim. One morninsf, when prisoner came home from s the nightshift, complainant said to him, '.' Jack, will you have this blanket ?" He took it, and shortly afterwards he rolled up a portion of his swag in the blanket, and ciine to town. Egan gave information to the police, and in Court said he did so in the heat of the moment, and was now very sorry for it. Sergeant Boyle followed the prisoner to town, found him, examined his swag, saw the blanket, asked him who it belonged to, and upon his replying that it was Stephen Egan's, he was taken into custody, The Magistrate .considered that the prisoner was fully convicted, and sentenced him to one month's imprisonment, with hard labor. The Christy Minstrels gave another of their excellent entertainments last night, and, as usual, had a large and appreciative audience. To say that the rendering of the different pieces was really good is simply to repeat what we have previously written, 'and last night Mr Rainford surpassed anything we have yefc heard him sing in the soncr "The Wolf." His magnificent voice filled the room, ami Trellmfirifcedfcheenthusirtsfcicplmulifca' that he received at its termination. Mr Bent, whose special characteristic is to appear as a real plantation nigger, does so without exaggeration or coarseness, and kept his audience in a roar of laughter from his first entry te his exifc. The quartette, "My lady sleeps," was given most effectively. The programme of to-night is an excellent one, and we would advise those who have not yet heard the Rainford troupe, not to lose the opportunity before they leave Greymouth. Mr Barff has brought a very serious charge against the officers of the Nelson Government who,, are now in charge of the Brunner Coal-mine. During a debate on a proposition of his own for the amendment of the Weights and Measures Act, he said that at the coal-mine up the Grey River, which was worked by the Nelson Government, Jje would not be in error in saying that the coal sold at the pit's mouth was' from two to four hundredweight to the ton short weight, .and that under the management of the Provincial Government of Nelson. The Provincial Government of Nelson had appointed no inspector of weights and measures for that district, an the Act did not allow the

Westland inspector to ait. The consequence \v«i9 that every person who bought coal was swindled to a very great extent. The highest penalty inflicted in" Hokitika was L 2. iind in the course of three years only on three occasions penalties had been iuflicted to that amount — once at Greymouth, and twice at Hokitika. Such a penalty as that, of course, did not operate as a check on the use of fraudulent weights and measures. The inhabitants of the district of iWestlimd were, perhaps, in a better position to form an opinion on this subject, than those of any other district in Ne\y Zealand. Instead of appointing an officer at a ridiculously low salary, as. in Wellington, where they appointed an officer at LSO a year, and did not expect him to do anything for it, the people of Westland paid their officer L3OO a year, and he devoted his entire time to the discharge of his duties as inspector, not only in the towns but also in the out-lying' districts, where his services operated as a considerable check upon frauds upon the public. He trusted that the Government would introduce .a . short Act embodying - the provisions which he had just indicated. Mr Collins said he understood the houorable member who had just sat down to make a statement respecting the coal sold by the Nelson Government— that it was short weight. He (Mr Collins) felt bouud to enter his protest against that statement. He could not believe that such rascality could be carried on under the eyes of the Nelson Government. He was not prepared to disprove the statement, not having been there and weighed the coal sold ; perhaps the honorable member had done so. He trusted that the honorable member who had made that statement' was 1 either prepared to prove that his words were correct, in order that such rascality might be put a stop to, or else be prepared to say that he was mistaken. He thought that one of those two courses was decidedly called for. In repty Mr Barff said he might state that he was in a position to say that the coal referred to was weighed at the month of the pit when it was put on board the barge?, and was found to be deficient four hundredweight. He made that statement on the authority of a gentleman whose word he could thoroughly rely upon, and who stated that he had weighed the coal himself. Although the motion was negatived by the House, the statements made by Mr Barff demand investigation, for should they be found correct a wholesale system of robbery of the public has been going on ; and should they be found to be false, the characters of the officers would be cleared, and Mr Barff would be compelled to retract the very serious charge he has made. M«" M 'Lean stated on Thursday week, in the House of Representatives, that instructions had been given to set aside a, block of land in the confiscated lands on the

West Coast containing 2500 acres, and 2500 acres in the Province of Auckland, for the endowment of the New Zealand Cross, but the delay in the surveys had prevented them from being prepared for occupation. When the surveys were completed the Commissioner of Crown Lands would give notice to the recipients to select allotments; and further that the roll book of the New Zealand Cross would be laid on the library table for the information of honourable members. Remarking upon the proposal of the Government to nominate a Chairman for Westland, the Wellington Advertiser says: — As the present Chairman and Council go out this year, the present is a favorable opportunity for applying the remedy so much needed. Westland is an exceptional part of the Colony, and must be treated exceptionally. It requires to be brought into more intimate relations with the General Government, and needs greater security for good administratiQJlJhanjts present form ©^government prohave a nominated ChaTnnan, nor will its proper powers of local government be interfered with. The Council will still make its appropriation of the revenue, and it will gain the advantage of being spared the heartburnings, jealousies, and intrigues which will always attend the election of Chairman in such a community. If the Government appoint a fit person, the County will gain in every way, and although a few political adventurers may feel disgusted, the people who are only interested in being well and economically governed, will hail the change with gladness. While the debate on Immigration and Public Works -Bill was progressing . in the House of Representatives, and the great question it involved was being anxiously discussed, an hon. member had occasion to cross the House to speak to the Premier; and how did he find the' foremost man in New Zealand _ engaged while Ma colleague '< was endeavoring, with all the sophistry at | his command, to justify his measures to the j Representatives of the people ? Why, buried J in the most comfortable corner of his bench, deeply immersed in the study of Disrapli's new novel .' Nero fiddled while Rome was burning, and possibly with the view of emulating so noble an example, Mr Fox, while the debt of the: Colony was being doubled, and measures passed which will make or mar its future destiny, read Lothair ' The following recipe for making tweed waterproof may prove of service to" some of our readers :—' In a bucket of soft water put v half a pound of sugar of lead, and half a pound of powdered alum ; stir at intervals until it becomes clear ; then pour it off irito another bucket, and put the garment therein. Let it be for twenty-four hours, and then hanpr it up to dry without wringing it. Garments thus treated stand the wildest storm of wind and raiu without gettiug wet. The rain hangs upon the clobh in globules ; in short, they are really waterproof. A gentleman who walked nine miles in a sti.rm of wind and rain such as yon rarely see, when he slipped off hist overcoat, his underclothes were as dry as when he put them on.

The Southern Cross announces that a Mr Herbert is securing a patent for a useful description of household article which is to be known ay "The Patent Portable Smoke Consuming: Oven," which can be made of any dimensions." It says : — "The. one we saw about fourteen inches broad, tha same in depth, and about two feet high, and was beiiig used upon the hob of an ordinary kitchen fireplace. It was heated by a fire i»acle underneath it, a small half-circle opening being left in front, and the other three sides coming close down to the brickwork. Them are two sliding divisions in the oven, and three separate articles can thus be cooked at the same time, allowing a division to each article. The following notice has been issued from the Colonial Secretary's Office:— The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty have notified that .Mr C.C. Stuart, Acting Sub-Lieut., and Mr H. E. Thompson, Midshipman, have desetted from H.M.S. Nymph, at Bombay, and are supposed to be in some part of the Australian Colonies or New Zealand ; and at the request of their Lordships, all persons are warned against harboiiner, concealing, or employing the above-named persons. A n illustration of the proverb, that ' ' misfortunes rev'er come single," occurred to Mr Luckie, pili^rof the Nelson Coloiikt> on Friday week. Mr Luekie bad engaged Mr Newton's "spider" to drive to Wakefield, but before leaving town, on turning the vehicle too sharply, the wheels got locked, and an ups.et ensued, whereby one of the wheels was damaged. A tjlbury toqk the plage of the

" spicier," ■ and Mr Luckie started on his journey, accompanied by a young man, a clerk iv his office. A short distauce before he reached the Bridge Hotel, about seven o'clock iv the evening, a trap was heard approaching, and although on the right side of the road, Mr Luekie drew nearer to be out of the way of danger. The approaching vehicle vr >s a butcher's cart, which came along on the wrong side of the road, and the driver, as he approached Mr Luekie, attempted to cross to his proper side, but in. doing so, the two vehicles came in contract on their near sides, which made a wreck of the tilbury, and threw Mr Luekie and his companion clean out of their seats on to the ground, but we are glad to say none sustained any serious injury. The horse got away with the shafts, and was recovered next day in Aniseed Valley. The probable annexation of the Grey District to Nelson is thus spoken of by the' Ne'son Evening Mail :— A "report" is in circulation which induces people to believe the young couple will greet each other with the first words of the marriage service— "Dearly beloved" — we devoutly hope they will not, after a time, be disposed to regard the result with feelings expressed by the last word in the same charming ceremony— "amazement." Domestic felicity is so touching a theme ; it softens all hearts, so we will not anticipate aught but prosperity, and, using a phrase not uncommon at a later epoch of married life, say to Miss Grey— " Welcome little stranger." A woman named Gratterman was brought up at the Resident Magistrate's Court, Patea, on Friday week, charged with concealment of birth,; but as the body' of the child could not be found she was remanded. The Court sat again on Monday, but no fresh evidence was taken. The prisoner made a statement to the effect that she had given birth to a child in the open air on the evening of the 12th inst. She became, insensible after delivery. On regaining consciousness she enquired for the child, and was told by Mrs Connolly, the midwife, that "she would have enough to drag through the world without that." Mrs Connolly, who had been previously arrested and discharge!, was again taken into Custody. Mr Frank Crystall, a settler, residing in the Tuakau district, Auckland, h»s been killed by a tree falling on him. •'" Mr Pratt, the proprietor of the Woikouaiti Herald (Otago), has been elected Mayor of West Hawkesbury, after a close contest.; The same gentleman's partner in business, and editor of the journal named, Mr Gill, is town clerk of the boi*ough. The Wellington Post says there ar<» two thousand men at present in want of employment in Canterbury. They wander about the country, seeking employment in vain, and many getting "tucker" at a station or farmhouse where their labor is not wanted— an exercise of charity which, if long continued, is a burden on the giver, and received reluc : tantly by many a man really anxious to earn a fair day's work. : The South Australia Advertiser states that gold has been found in the ship Kohiiioor's ballast brought from " tbe Northern Territory to Adelaide. From one lamp of quartz, about the size of a cocoanut, ten small vough pieces of gold, weighing altogether about half a pennyweight, were obtained. An ingenious American has discovered that paper reduced to pulp, rolled out to the requsite thickness, saturated with oil, baked, japanned, and polished, becomes hard, capHe of resisting all ordinary destructve agencies, and it is thought to be imperishable. Another Americcin has made a discovery which promises to be of importance— namely, that pulp for paper may be prepared from wood. Trees, after being denuded of their broadrir.^rtar^^ a c i &H^ci^Mß^^ then steamed and crushed into pulp, care being taken that they shall be so arranged that the fibre may be preserved.