THE Grey River Argus. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1870.

Grey River Argus, Volume X, Issue 764, 10 December 1870, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1870.

The result of the election for the County Council appears to have been taken to heart by Mr Joseph Kilgour, and, under the advice of »cry questionable friends, he has attempted to cast the blame of his defeat upon this journal. He publicly accuses us of "having published a misrepresentation regarding him, ah hour or two before the poll commenced, and toe late for him to give any explanation or denial." The accusation was that he was pledged to vote for Mr fioos as County Chairman, in the event of both being returned. We know very well what Mr Kilgour means— that he means to get out of the difficulty by the use of the word, pledged, and this we will come to presently. As to the charge of having misrepresented him a few hours before the poll, we emphatically deny it. The facts are that on Monday night he was asked iv a public meeting by Mr Simmons if both he and Mr Hoos weie returned to the Council he would support the candidature of Mr Hoos for the Chairmanship, and he replied distinctly that he would. The question and answer were reported in Tuesday morniiig's Akgus, two days before the election. On Tuesday evening ho was again asked the question, again he auswered it in the affirmative and with no hesitation, and again it was published in the Argus on Thursday morning. If Mr Kilgour was not pledged to Mr Hoos, he was, after these public avowals, pledged to his constituents j,Tv»n.-J»- fron^Wcgv/ -■'virtrivt — rrvs 3 -nmd pxiu — \tl J ; If Mr Kilgour wished to retract what he said on Monday night he had plenty of opportunities of doing so before the election, and ho has no right now to complain and attempt to cast the blame on to our shoulders because his own frank avowal cost him his election. The elections throughout the County for the seats iv the Council took place ou Thursday. The results aie fully given elsewhere, with the exception of the Okarito District, from which no returns have yet been received. So far, the new Council is constituted as follows :— Messrs Reid, Bonar, Guinness, Lahinau, O'Connor, Barff, Robins.m, and Button. Speculation is rife as to the result of the election for the Chairmanship, and the names of at least three candidates are freely canvassed until the result of the election at Okarito becomes known. Mr Bonar is generally considered "the coming man," but we imagine there is an equal probability of a Grey mouth member becoming the next County occupant of the seat of honor. ; Yesterday forenoon, a few minutes after Mr J. -Payne was fined for assaulting Mr Browne, t\vo sympathisers started a subscription list, and; in order to ascertain the feeling of the people, limited the amount to a very small sum. Within fifteen minutes the whole amount of the fine, costs of Court, and professional costs, were subscribed, and from the feeling displayed, L2O could as easily have been raised as L 3. On Thursday evening Mr W. H. Harrison, M.H.R., who is seeking re-election to the General Assembly, addressed a crowded meeting of miners and others at the Greenstone township. In a speech of nearly two hours duration he explained the course lie explained the course he had hitherto pursued in the House of Representatives, and his opinions upon the leading political questions of the day. His views upon Gold Fields administration elicited frequent evidences of approval, and at the close of his speech Mr Harrison was loudly cheered. A resolution in support of his candidature was unanimously carried. We have received a full report of the meeting, biit it arrived too late for publication this issue. The usual Christmas sports iv Greymouth will be held cm Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, the 26th, 27th, and 2Sth December, and the regatta on Saturday, the 31st December. The prizes offered amount to a total of nearly L3OO. The .right to the booths on the ground will be sold by public auction on Thursday next by D. Maclean and Co. As it is now over five weeks since Mr Twohill. of Greymouth, challenged any person in the Colony to run him for a certain sum of money .and the championship of New Zealand he now claims the honor of being the fleetest runner in the Colony. An adjourned meeting of the Licensing - Bench was 'held at the Court-house yesterday. Present— W. H. Revell, Esq., R.M., C. Whitefoord, Esq., R.M., and J. Greenwood, Esq., J.P. Licenses were granted to James Jones, Dunedin Hotel ; E. J. Bylund, Scandinavian Hotel ; C. H. Rhodes, Ferry Hotel; Daniel M'Kinty, Rose of Australia Hotel ; and a bottle license to H. J. Whitmore. Transfers of licenses were granted from J. Kilgour to Peter Cameron for the Union Hotel, and Pelling to Stratford for the United States Hotel. The amateur concert last night was in every souse a success. Every condition necessary to constitute a satisfactory entertainment : was forthcoming. First and best for the purpose of the concert there was a crowded audience, and there was an attractive programme, which was in all its several parts faithfully presented to the auclienue by good and careful musicians, vocal and instrumental. We do not intend to " criticise ' the performances, but we may say i without making comparisons which are proverbially odious, it was one of the best

amateur concerts given in Greymouth. Veiy | warm praise is due not only to those wlio in- i diviclually distinguished themselves, but to the performers generally. It was evident that they bad practised carefully avid fully understood what they bad to do. The part song and e;leos were capital— well chosen, and°well sung. The solos were in most cases very creditable, and income cases excellent ; ; and both pianists and conductor aided materially the efforts of the vocalists, it was such a concert as we Avould like to listen to , every week, and we hope the society will not be long before it favors the public with another musical treat. The Wellington Independent has been informed that a gentlemen, at present on a visit to New Zealand, has swum across the Waikato heads-about a mile broad— and this feat has not been performed for a long time before. It was attempted about seven years ago by a Maori chief, who was drowned. The tanks, recently laid down in Charleston for the purposes of the Volunteer Fire Brigade, have not been found to answer, owing to faulty construction. During the last heavy rains, the leakage from each tank averaged about one hundred gallons per hour. Out of the sum voted by the General Assembly at last session for Road Boards, the Governor has ordered the amount of L 14,000 to be divided amongst the Road Boards of the Province of Otago, in accordance with a scheme proposed by the Superintendent, amended, and then approved of by the Governor in Council. It is to be hoped that the newly-elected County Chairman, whoever he may be, will immediately see to this matter, so that Westland may not be last again, and have her claim disallowed on the plea that the money is all spent. The County o£ Westland has been proclaimed a district, within the meaning of "The Execution of Criminals Act, 1858," and the public gaol, situated on Reserve 441, in the town of Hokitika, has been appointed the place for the execution of criminals under the said Act. During the quarter ended 30th September last the Customs Revenue at the following ports was as follows :— Hokitika, L 12.910 ; Greymouth, L 10.831 ; Nelson, L 723 9; Westport, L 5030. During the same quarter Hokitika exported 25,9180z of gold ; Greymouth, 23,9760z; Westport, 16,8100z ; and Nelson 22010z. Dunedin only exported 36,2380z, so that the County of Westland far exceeded her. We notice that the General Government accounts are still kept the same as when Westland was a portion of Canterbury— the four ports of Hokitika, Greymouth, Okarito, and Lyttelton, being classified together. The total quantity of gold exported from New Zealand to the 30th September last was 5,402,066 ounces, of the value of L 20.999.924. From a recent Gazette we take the following appointments :- -H. E. Kenny, Esq., to be Judge of the District Court of Taranaki ; C. E. Rawson, Esq., to be Clerk of the same; Captain Robert Scott Machell, late 62nd Regiment, has been appointed Assistant Private Secretary and Ex'ira Aide- dcCamp to his Excellency, vice Captain A.M. Smith, resigned; Amelius Morland Smith, Esq., has been appointed Record Clerk in the Colonial Secretary's Office.

The European. Mail, speaking of the negotiou of the million loan, says :-—" Their obtaining the Imperial guarantee to a million loan was at the time a surprise alike to polibieal and city circles, and the ability, tact, and firmness with, which the New Zealand Commissioners, concluded the negotiaAll doubts as to the identity of the human remains, discovered near Henderson's Mill, near Auckland, lately, are now fully at rest, and there cannot be the shadow of a doubt that they belonged to the unfortunate Captain Weston, whose mysterious disappearance excited such speculation about three years ago. A pistol found near the remains was taken to the farmer Lovett, who at once identified it as the one which he had lent to Captain Weston under circumstances previously detailed by us. The identification of the revolver set all doubts at rest, and it is now only too plain, that the unfortunate man, af ber borrowing the weapon, went into the bush and shot himself. The damage to mining plant in the Buller district, arising out of the late flood, has not been of an extensive character. Patrick and party have again had a portion of their flumiug swept away, and on the terraces several small landslips have occurred. At Giles Terrace the ground is many parts dangerous, and heavy landslips are threatened. In the town, the heavy rains of Monday resulted in a large fresh in the Buller River, which, we regret to say, has been productive of further injury to the river bank and the protective works at the foot of Gladstone street. The stone crate has been undermined, and another fresh will probably suffice to precipitate it into the river bed The ptone groin, recently completed, does not appear to have sustained the slightest injury; but it is apparent, in order that the narrow strip of thoroughfare may be preserved between the Bright street and Kennedy street wharves, that some additional protection must be afforded. The condition of the river bank near Gladstone street, is also very serious, and unless something is done speedily, a'l the properties adjacent to the river must ultimately be destroyed. The latest news from the reefs in the Inangahua District, contained in the Went' port Times, of the 6th inst., is as follows : — "An up-river boat arrived in town yesterday, and a block of stone, weighing about oOibs, out of Anderson's reef, was brought down by the boatmen. The sample of stone w.'iS taken promiscuously from a heap 1 brought out of the drive, and though au extraordinarily rich sample, gold being visible all over its surface, portions of the walls of the drive exhibit the metal in even greater abundance. From Kelly's reef, the accounts are also good. A party, who recently returned from visiting this claim, states that an expression of opinion is unnecessary ; that the body of stone, even if moderately payable, would suffice to render the reef valuable* The stone, however, is of exceptional richness, and the development of these workings must exercise a very marked alteration in the gold returns of the Buller district. Mr A Eussell, who is intimately acquainted with the mos'i payable claims on the Themes, gold fields, pronounces most unhesitatingly in favor of the Inangahua reefs. On visiting Cooney's claim he was perfectly astonished at its unparalleled richness. The walls of the drive everywhere contained gold plainly visible, and portions of the wall literally blazed with the precious metal. The miners on the ground are perfectly satisfied with their prospects, and, although the want of capital and the difficulty of obtaining water-power must tend to retard the early development of the reefs, every one on: the ground, as also such as have visited the locality, are perfectly satisfied as to the results. At three different points, extending over a direct line of a mile in length, stone has been struck; in each instance exhibiting a well-defined and rich reef. From the Murray Creek cement workings very favorable accounts are also to hand. The company have their machinery sufficiently advanced to commence crushing in a few 'days, and have a quantity of cement raised which is expected to yield 10oz to the ton. Competent judges think the first month's crushing will give, at least, IOOOoz of gold.