Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume X, Issue 768, 20 December 1870, Page 2

"We remind our readeris that Mr W. H. Harrison will address the electors of Greymouth to-morrow evening with regard to his candidature for re-election to the Assembly. As it is highly probable that the elections will take place in a few weeks, and as Mr Harrison has to hold meetings at the various centres of population in the extensive . willnbe a full muster" 6T" the^elecEors. 'Sir Harrison will; hold a meeting at Paroa on Thursday evening. : On and after the Ist January, a post office will be opened at Mr Lonergan's store, HalfOunce. There was no business at ; the Resident Magistrate^ Court yesterday. • We are glad to be in a position to. announce that the Greyhiouth Rangers have again been victorious in their shooting match with the Williamstown Naval Brigade. The total score made by the Williamstown men was 3.15-points, whereas the local company, scored 410, thus winning by 95 points. Rather a tall featherthat in the caps of the Rangers ! A slight shock of earthquake was felt in town on Sunday evenine; at 7.34. It appeared to proceed from south-east to northwest, and was felt by very few persons in towu. j To,-day we publish the programme of the Christmas Sports, as prepared by the Committee, which is to be carried out during next week in town. Many very valuable prize.3 are offered, and there is no doubt that the number of visitors this year will be quite ( as numerous, and the amusements quite as good as that of any previous year. The annual regatta takes place on Saturday, the 31st instant. : At the Resident Magistrate's Court at the Ahaura,. on Thursday, the important case of . Eskine v. Feiu, was decided. A verdict was given for plaintiff for LSO, and costs. In the Warden's Court, an important encroachment case from Napoleon was decided in favor of complainants— Thomas Toohey and party, Mosquito Lead. .; Another specimen of local, enterprise was brought under our notice yesterday in the shape of an Aimanac and Directory, issued by Messrs Kerr; Arnott, and Co., of this town. It differs considerably from most local productions of this sort in giving a mass of useful interesting information connectedwith the past history of the Grey ..District. The directory is complete, and the monthly guide for gardeners will be valuable to local settlers. The whole is well printed, aid published at the very low price of one shilling. A special meeting of the Fire Brigade was held last evening. Captain Whall was in the chair and 28 members were present. The business was for making arrangements for extra plant. It was decided to call for tenders ; here for the supply of a hook ladder carriage,'ahd to send to Ballarat for a hose reel _and ladders. The annual general meeting and election of officers was fixed to take place on '-.Tuesday,'' the 3rd January next. " ; ■"' "•■"'' ' ' : ' : ; There was considerable excitement in town on Sunday, when it was expected that the result of . the . first ; crushing of the Murray Creek. Gement Company would be brought to town ; but those who were anxious were disappointed when the shareholders who had visited ,the claim to be ; present at the first starting of the machinery ieturned with the information that: the manager had determined to go on with the crushing for another week or ten days before cleaning up. The battery is going night and day, crushing nearly fifty, tons a week. The machinery is all working smoothly, and the appearance of the stuff, is very highly spoken of. ! The Presbyterian .Church Committee, Bazaar Committee, and choir are requested to meet in the Church ; this evening, at seven o'clock. It is highly desirable that there should be a full attendance, as a number of matters of interest to the congregation are now pending, .The new Church is almost finished, the beautiful stained -glass windows, recently imported from Melbourne, have been fitted, and they certainly reflect much credit both upon those who selected them and upon the manufacturers. They are a T? ry good specimen <oi , the fine old cathedral :

windows at home. The Church will be opened on Sunday next, when special services will be given by the Rev Mr.M'lntosh and the Rev Mr Gow, of Hokitika, with the assistance of the Rev Mr Sutherland, of Ross. The Bazaar in aid of the building fund of the Church takes place on the 26th, 27th, and 28th instant, and is sure to be an immense success, as we know that the ladies and gentlemen connected with the Church and their friends have been indefatigable in their exertions .to make the event not only attractive but payable. It is to be hoped, and there is not the slightest reason to doubt, ■ that the event will ooilife up tothe anticipations of its promoters. The annual inspection of ■ the Greytuouth : Volunteer Company by Colonel Harrington .took place last evening at the Volunteer i Hall... There was a full muster of over thirty ! Volunteers in uniform, and about twentyfive recruits iv undress. The Company was put through manual and platoon exercise by the oificers, and at the conclusion of the drill Colonel Harrington complimented the men upon their proficiency, and the great strides which, they had made since his last visit. He -then selected promiscuously six members of the company to fire at the butts this morning as an average test of the proficiency of the Company. He chose Messrs Simmons, Smith. " Chamberlaine, Butt, Revell, and Osborne. The Volunteer Band was in attendance, and acquitted itself very creditably during the evening. A 'meeting of the committee of the Grey Valley Hospital was held at M'Kenha's Hotel, at the. Ahaura, on Thursday, the 15th instant. The meeting was called for the purpose of openiifgtbt?. tenders for the erection and supplying material, for the building;. Out of twelve: tenders "that of Mr H. W. Young was accepted at : L77 10s for the carpenter's work and finding red pine shingles and piles. The tender of Young and Walker was accepted for supplying weatherboards, &c, at 19s per 100 feet superficial. The, building will be 36ft x 22ft, with 14ft walls. A sub-committee, consisting of Messrs j \Vhite, Pink erton, and M'Kenna was appointed to superintend the erection of the building; .■.-.-. V .; The Greymouth Gas Directory : met in the Union Hotel yesterday afternoon. Present — Mr H. Kenrick (in the chair), Messrs W. S. Smith, Thompson, H. Gilmer, Mirfin and Kerr. Some business of a Routine nature son, who had kindly consented to transact having been gone through, MrJ. S. M.Thompbusiness for theCbuipany while in Melbourne, reported on what he had done, which was received with much satisfaction by the meeting. "We understand that matters, are so far advanced as to leave little 1 " doubt but that Greymonth will be lighted up wit&'gas about the end of April. It will be ' seen elsewhere that tenders are called for the erection of the gas holder tank, previous to the arrival of the plant from Melbourne. There is nothing important going forward at the. Lyell, and the workings are almost at a standstill j and higher up the duller mining matters are also very quiet. Considerable damage has been done by the late flood, and a number of sluice-boxes, as also several canoes, have been carried away, Stewart and party have just completed a race about three miles up the M-vruia, one of the largest tributaries of the Buller, and,: having now got everything into a state of preparedness for working their ground, they ; anticipate making good wages. We observe, from a letter in the Wanganui Herald, that a great native meeting will be held at Te Aomaiama. Wanganui, on Christmas Day, and. that Topia Knroa has been to Tokangamutu to fetch Rewi, Tamati Ngapora, the Princess Sophia, and ottiers, and they have consented to attend. This letter contains a formal invitation to native signed by Mete Kingi, Paetahi, and Major Kemp. Two parties, consisting of three in each, started on. Thursday morning last, 'undertaking to blaze a track from ! Charleston..to the luangahua and Murray 'diggings. $he conditions are that one party must 'not encroach on the others line; and that a distance of at least one mile apart be kept. The first through with the work to receive LSO. We notice that at the annual examination of pupil? at the Nelson College, the son of Mr Howie, of this town, received "honorable mention " in mathematics and a prize in classics.' " '■: : .= : ." \ : r. •■ Mr Reid is a candidate for the Superintendency of Otago. Mr Gisborne has been requested to stand for Oamaru in the House of Representatives, : ••• • . ..- : The report of the Town Clerk of Hokitika to the Borough Council shows a great depreciation in the value of property in one year. In 1870 it was L 50,923, and this year it only amounts to L 29.159 10s. His Honor Mr Justice Gresson will preside at the next Supreme Court sittings at Hokitika, Mr Justice Richmond having to attend the Court of Appeal. Notice of an intended reduction of salaries has been given to all the employees of the Wellington Provincial Government. ■ : . We notice by a late Gazette that Mr Jackson Keddel, who some years ago was Gold Fields Commissioner and Warden at the Dunstan, has been appointed to a Wardenship on the Auckland Gold Fields* A communication from his Lordship the Bishop of Nelson, addressed to' the Churchwardens and Vestry of St John's, Westport, advises the arrival shortly of tbe r , Rev. Alexander Chalmers Souter, .who. will be located at Westport. The local paper says :-— After referring, to the difficulty of obtaining the services of clergymen and congratulating the members of the Church on his having been so fortunate as to fill -the vacanpy at so short a notice, his Lordship concluded :— " I purpose to recommend to the Standing. Committeee that the portion of the grant hitherto made to Westport, L9O, should: be continued for the next year, and consider that the clergyman's stipend ought, on the West Coast Gold Fields, to be not less than L3OO per annum. I do not think there ought to be any difficulty in raising this, now the church and parsonage are com-, pleted; and if.it can be easily done at Charleston and Greymouth, where there are several other denominational places of worship, it can be done at Westport. I trust, that on the occasion of the Rev. Mr Souter's coming amongst you, the Church may progress.and that there may be reunion of. its members." , ' ' An important mining case was heard before Mr Warden Giles, at Christy's ..Junction, Inarigahua, in which several Greymouth shareholders were complainants and some miners defendants. The suit w.as brought to compel the miners to admit the Greymouth men as shareholders. The following are the facts, so far as we have been able to gather them :— Some time in the month of August last, a Mir Louis Davies and a miner convened a meeting at the Albion Hotel, Greymouth, when it was stated they had found rich stone, and were desirous to form a company, and would admit the. gentlemen as shareholders upon payment of the sum of LlO each, and upon their undertaking to furnish the L2O to apply for a lease. The LlO each were paid to Davies, and in the presence of Anderson, who stated at the meeting that Dayies was his agent. The L2O were likewise forwarded to Davies, and the lease applied for. After, this was done, Davies, it would appear, abandoned the application for the lease, and never consulted the Greymouth share- <

holders, but merely telegraphed to one; of them of his having so done." He then., applied for a prospecting claim in the name of the miners, and for a claim north of :that for the Greymouth -shareholders. A portion of the prospecting claim is contained within the boundaries of the land originally applied for in the Lease 1 claim norbh was lost through its not being represented, and the Greymouth shareholders contended that Davies was not their agent, but Anderson's, and that they never ; abandoned the lease. It was admitted by the defendant that '* Davies had power to act as he liked," and that if the complainants had 'looked after No.- 1 norths they -would have given them a share. The. Gremoath men maintained that they never authorised Davies, and that, he was not their agent,, but the "Warden held a different opinion, "and gave judgment for the miners with LlB 16s costs. IS otice of appeal was at once give**. The.other morning, an old Nelson : settler, Mr William Flowers, residing at Spring Grove; dropped down and suddenly expired. He had long suffered from, disease of the heart, and, his medical advisers had told him that he. would die suddenly. . ;- . At Wai-iti, Taranaki, the -other da& while a number of the Armed Constabulary were practising at the rifle butt, one of them nemed Le«, although the danger: flag was flying, incautiously - stepped out. to the : target to look at something, and received a ball 'ia. his- leg from -a rifle which was discharged at that moment.' : ■•: .; ••:.•'; • The monthly • return from the Kurunui Company's machine, Thames, gives an excellent average of 2oz ldwt and a? fraction per ton. 1271- tons were crushed; : and yielded 2C220z of gold. .',' A party of two miners are working the surface sand on the beach between. Westport and the Orawaiti with remarkably good results. According to their own statement they are making excellent wagesj averaging fully LI a day. Payable prospects have been obtained from other portions of the beach at present lying unoccupied. ' > A handsome nugget, with small particles: of quartz adhering, was brought into West-, port last. Tuesday* by a miner working in the Excelsior Quartz Mining Company,. Lyell. The specimen was obtained in close proximity to the reefs, and weighed 26z lddWti 18gr. •- ( . , , •- ;;:.;.,, a ;;> ; : , \ A sad occurrence, apparently one oi those accidents resulting from,- the, too careless handling : of firearms, happened (says the Daily Times) at the West Taieri; on Saturday evening, lOfchinst. AMr Reid, a blacksmith, who hasbeeji re s sJ n S in that district during the past nine years, placed in his mouth, the barrel of a loaded, gun, .the nipple of which was obstructed, and which he: was attempting to clear. On placing the barrel in his mouth, he blew into it, and then placed a lighted candle close to the nipple. The charge exploded and entered his mouth, passing through the back part of , his. neck, causing instant death. ' ...•<;:! The following are the latest mining items : from Coromandel : -The crushing for the City of Dublin at the Whakaroa .battery of 23 tons yielded 3oz. The return from the , stuff crushed at. the New Zealand Company's ' batrbery for the Bay View was half an ounce to the ton, and about 20 tons were put through. The 7 tons for the Rainbow End, crushed at the sameibattery,- gave a : yield,of 3oz to the ton. The Perseverence battery Cis now crushing 60 tons for the Pride of" the Hills. A ; claini taken up between the White Horse and the Dwarf, on the Tokatea, .struck a.good leader, and some nice specimens were . taken. put; . .....'. ;. .. ; - The "' fi ring ; . for the Nelson Government Champion Prize, one of Henry's repeating rifles," took r place.at: the "City Butts, Nelson, W Thursday, last, when Private Kont,. nf .the aimea Kmes, won iv wa«u „ points,. at the three ranges of 300, 400, and 500 yards, five shots at each. Private Wm. Adams, of the City Rifles, tied with Private Kent, but according to the-regulatiohs under which the shooting occurred the highest score at the' longest' ringe took the prize. Three Jimes has .Mr Kent shown hiniself to bstheiehampion shot- of t"he Province. • A grand Maori wedding took place at Raglan recently.. ; A large number of natives and about sixty Europeans were present,; and the most complete harmony prevailed throughout. An alarming quantity of provisions disappeared, but grog was tabooed o& the occasion, The bride was. dressed in white muslin, all the stores in ' the' place having been vainly ransacked in search of silk An uneasy feeling has; been created in Wellington regarding the security of the Savings Bank deposits, which by a. local Act are compelled . to be invested in Provincial Government securities. The Savings Bank trustees hold, it appears, Lloioso^of Provincial Government debentures, which^by law the Government is : bound to pay on seven days' notice, and it is notorious that the Government if called upon, would not be : able to fill its engagements. To allay public anxiety, the General Government have undertaken to redeem the Savings Bank debentures,; if necessary., , ; ; : ; ; : : ; - . •■ John Harris Chiug, about 27 years of age, a farmer at Wakapuakarwas drowned at? the Rocks, on Wednesday evening last. sThe deceased was coming round- the Rocks on horseback in a few inches depth of water, when the horse suddenly shied, and man and. horse went into deep water* : ■ The horse came ashore, but the body of his rider was not recovered in time to. restore animation. An inquest was held on the 15th, and a verdict of " accidental death "returned.' The Otago Volunteers of the Third District fired on Saturday foi ; representatives of the district at the Colonial competitions. The -following were the highest scores : — Christie, East Taieri, 45 ; 'Buchanan, West Taieri, 44; Adam, /Bruce' district, 42. Jn the second, district the scores were : — Wales, City Guards, 47 ; Wilson, Port Chalmers, 43 ; Creagh, City Guards, 41 ; with several men to spare. ' . < • ; At the late rifle prize firing' at Wimbledon four competitors fired with the MartiniHenry, rines, and great as were the expectations which had been excited, the closeness and constancy of the fire took every one by surprise; It resembled the file firing!, of a company, and the discharges were ;so freqTient that, long before the expiration 6f the. allotted three minutes, the marksmen were impeded by the smoke of their own rifles, and had to aim at the targets through* a haze. The reckoning wasawaiteS. with^the utmost curiosity.; whenjitoame; it appeared that, of the four competitors, one had fired 46 shots, two others 47 each, and the fourth. 55 shots. No. 1 made an aggregate score of 72 joints } No. 2 scored 101; No. 3 made 128 ; while No. 4 scoredno fewer than :151, his shots having in every case struck; the' target, thus making 36 bull's-eyes, 18 centres, and 21 outers. The total nuinbbr. of hits made by the four competitors within minutes was 158., Conceive: the effect of weapons such as, these directed from the walls of a city upon an attacking' party. A correspondent of the Marlborough Press writing on the 23rd ultimo, gives the following account of :the state of things at Wakamarina :— " After a recent tour through the various Gold fields of the colony, 1 will give a sketch of the Marlborough diggings. The digging 3 commence a few miles above Canvas Town, and you there see the first body ot miners. I came in contact with a party here on a spot designated by the appellation of Quail's Terrace, taking its name from a : man whose party had been two years in endeavoring to bottom a paddock, having

great difficulties to contend with in the; shape ; 9i excessive water, which is emitted through the poiea of grayelly r shingle >flsstiVes t&at lntersect various Jaygrai, fornjtjis cj^flfly composed of debris ani,,ac'cqmulati6ns j&f deposits brought down front higher ;altifcudes by. floods. Most men, frOm the natjufe\pf the ground, would havedespairedof e-ferac-cowplishing their design; but being men with energy and perseverence, with matured experience, and having bean long accustomed ;to^ray.e jthe- storm.. oL adve^ity^he^ulti^ mately succeedea Tn overcoming all obstacles, and the result surpassed their expectations. I have been shown a paddock the ! bottomof whichyielded-24qzjr-w some return. They are at. present j fetching up a tail-race. There is anofh|r j party r-Quinlain and. Co. —who.^have, taken up an' adjacent claiti. They. haye,devise4 and. adopted a better I mdde i of "opening^the ground, 'by- means of at 'gigantic "tuiinel ? which : is to act ; as ' a tail rac^; This is ; a herculean task, anU. they "must certainly be possessed ; of stout hearts to undertake -IK i The tunnel,, when completed, will measure] 450 feet in length, 1 was kindly - shown | through 1 the part completed, 320 feet. They are at present, and have been for some time, driving through 1 a irockl They expect to htivethe tunnel completed at the endof the month, it- is certainly •delightful :tp ...see those, intrepid sons of .toil in the- bloom iof manhood ;. and invigorated ; with the- glow rf health. , ,i. v was.-inyited to their.honjes— *neat and ..eomtnodiotis-. cottages, : recently, built— which show something of a permanency. 1 was cordially welcomed with a cead niille fealtlia. Along the Wakamarina River, for several miles there :are -parties turning or diverting the stream from its origxh'ar^'ed. Fr6Tn ?: GanVaS" : Townit() DfeVp Creek,. ; a distanqe of : eight miles; there, a;.* numbers setting to .work along the river, ancl ' also at 'the- "Forks ; r but the'majority saytha't ; nothing grand is found. However, there axe : very few leaving in comparison to the num-i hers arjiving ; but there is nothipghere.that ; | would justify men" in leaving distant; field's, : !*as a good many are remaining with.expecta-; tions of something turning up. ; Most "of : the^ gold:foun4 here,' especially at Deep Creek, is : accompanied by crystals of iron ; pyrites and titanium are also found here. 1 have ascended .to the caps and cones of the ranges' in the; surrounding neighborhood ; and they abound in, trachyte, audreolite, and phonolite, composed'of amethysts, chalcedony, agate, opal,: amygdaloid,,. and tuff .rocks. ~ In my next.Jl : 'will give :rou a m6re defined description; of '■ the geological structures and features of the ; district." .. „, , - i