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Grey River Argus, Volume X, Issue 802, 21 February 1871, Page 2

Last evening the Greymouth Voiuntee* Fire Brivade met for a compulsory practice There were twsnty-eiftht members present, and three good practices were gone, through

at different points f f Mawhera Quay. It is much to be rcgrettad th: ■+, ou the occasion of thet c practices, cue general public hold aloof from assisting in pumping the engine, and thus cause an unnecessary hardship to the Brigade. Besides, this apathy hin-lers the members from becoming proficient in learning their duties, an I becoming f imiliar with the stations they have t<> occupy in case 3of actual danger, when they are kept at mere machine wo;k on the levers. It is to be hoped that on the occasion of the next practice this fault will be remedied, as we believe it is only the result of thoughtlessness on the part of the citizens. The European and American Mails via San Francisco were delivered last evening. Tn oonsuquence of the mail boxes having been for some hours under water in the hold of Airedale at the time of her wreck, a large proportion of the letters and papers were thoroughly soaked, some being reduced almost to a state of pulp. It is very probable that many letters aud papers will miscarry owing to the obliteration of the addresses. The consecration of the St. Andrew Lodge of Freemasons, Greymouth, and the installation of officers will take place on Thursday, 23rd at high noon. The interesting ceremony will be performed by Brothers Lazar and Harvey, of Hokitika. A banquet will be held in the evening to celebrate the event at the Lodge Room The Wellington Evening Post informs us that some informality has been discovered in the voting papers for the two members to represent the City of Wellington, and grave doubts are entertained as to the validity of the return of Messrs Hunter and Pearce. Mr Browne, district surveyor at Ross, has made arrangements vith the (Jhairm <n of the Road Boara and Mr M'Leod, to start in a few days with two men, to make a reconnaissance survey of the country South of the Mikonui, between the b' i ach and the mun range, with a view of marking nut a line of road. It is Mr Browne's intention to ascend Mount Ilangitoto as a good point for observe i ons. The charge of sheep - stealing againßt, Elmund Trahey.. of the Teretnakau. was cone' u led yesterday by the defendant Ivimj committed to the Supreme Court for tri >1. The Magistrate remarked strongly upon the evidence given by the witnesses La r sen anl M'Ken:ie, but he left it to a higher Court to Bay whether further proceedings should be taken with respect to them. The defendant was admitted to bail. A skeleton was recently found in the bush neir the tramway, and at the inquest it was staged to be that of a miner named Joseph U iliamson, who was supposed to be inline Subsequently i* was rumored that William--Bon had been admitted as a patient in the Lunatic Asylum, Ohristchurih, and inquires were set on foot by the police, v\<\ a tetter ha* been received from the authorities of the Asylum, stating that no person of such a name or description was aver admitted as a patient to the Christ church Asylum. The following was briefly referred to in a late Auckland telegram :— ln the Caledonian Company, the amalgam, of which there wa« 97000z, was fired eaWy this morning, and the result 244 1 nz of retorted gold. Fully 2000oz of this has been got from the specimens lr»ken out since Saaurday. and the average is lnz to the pound. There is a further quantity of amalgam in hand, but. this will pass over into next month, as it will take a considerable time to clean ; anH it is no joke cleaning it, for when it comes off the plates it has no equal on the field for dirt. T must congratulate the shareholders upon their stroke of pood luok this month, for up to four or five days a-.ro the yield for the month looked very " s^edy." and in lieu of an exueoi' d deficiency, there is a prospect of 30s or 40s per scrio being paid, as close upon L7OOO wortn of gold has been deposited this rUiy. The prophet of the FTauhaus says the natives wh<> sh^i poor Todd ousht to have out out and taken away his heart as an offering to their god, which might hay« prevented other Europ.-ans being murderffl Something must bs done by the Borough Council, and that speedily, if a vessel is to b? unloaded at the Greymouth wbarve3 At the present time there is not a safe approach for a single dray to take away a load. At the only landing-stage at which the Kate Conley was berthed on Saturday, a dray, with an ordinary load, sank nearly up to tbe anxle, notwithstanding the efforts of two horses and eight men to drag it out, and r had to be unloaded. A very small exp -nditure would make the approaches comparatively safe. This evening an emergency meeting of the Greymouth Masonic Lodge, will be held at the Masonic Hall, Gilmers Hotel A very welcome change took place in the weather last evening, the long-continne 1 drought having given away to welcome showers of rain, which, it is to be feared, were too light to last. It is not often that similar complaints are heard from the West Coast, but the present season has baen a very exceptional one, and everything has been at a standstill for want of rain. Many complaints have recently been made to us regarding the landing of powder on the wharf in the centre ot Mawhera Quay ( nly the other day seventy kegs of powder were landed there, and the slightest accident would have lai half of th-i town in ruins, besides destroying many lives. It is to be hoped this matter will bo looked into, so that, if possible, some arrangement may be made by which large conswnmt-nta of powdev can be landed nearer the magazine than they are at present. A telegram from Dunedin dated the 18th inst. in the Independent, says that in the Supreme Court, on Wednesday, Mr B irton, | barrister, applied for a rule nisi, calling on Messrs Driver and Macandrew to show cause why a criminal information should not be filed against them. The presiding judge said that the case bore a political aspect, and he suggested a postponement till after the election of the Superintendent. Mr Barton agreed to postpone his application if the case of Driver v. Dick, in the .Resident Magistrate's Court, was also postponed, which was agreed to by the other side. The Ida Valley Deep Lead Company, ' >tago, has struck a rich lead at a depth of 170 ft. The washing stuff is in a gutter, and is of considerable width and thickness. Its ra'ue may be imagined, as it gives from one and a-balf to two ounces a load. - By the late arrival of labor vessels from the New Hebrides, we learn that Ross Lewis, who possesses a large plantation at Tanna, intimated tc the people of the cutter Speedy that be would pay the natives to fire blank cartridges at the Fiji labor vessels, as their operations interfered with yam buying — We have news of a shocking occurrence at the Ba Biver. Of the Solomon Islanders 011 Messrs Perkins and Macintosh's place, one was a man who bad been taken prisoner in <ome native fight, and he was on bad terms with the rest of the gang. Last week he was away two days, aud alleged that he hid lost his way. On his return, one of the other Solomon Islanders, who was preoaring the food, said, "Now you've been vithout working two days, come and ielp me to cook these yams." The man •iade no reply, but a mon-ent afterwards, vhen his countryman was not looking, he •truck him a fearful blow with an axe, nearly severing bis bead from his body. The other iati.es, who were not far away, rushed up, »nd the murderer was secured jMr Maokiu. ',

tosh had gre.-it difficulty in keeping the •itad man's mates from killing him ;ib once, but with the assistance of the other whites on the station he tied the murderer to a tree, gave him thiity lashes, an>l left him there while they went to hrenkfat and on returning the m:in h>d chocked himself after the manner of hia country, by throwing his heid l>aek and stopping respiration. The other Solomon men were rather disgusted at not being allowed to console themselves for the loss of their countryman by feasting on his dead enemy. Mr Macintosh speaks highly of the men, and declares them to be the best plantation hands he has had on the place. The official declaration of the polling foe the return of a member to represent thf electoral district of Totara in the Hoiiße or Representatives, was declared on Saturlay by the Returning Officer, ft. G. FitzGerald. Esq. The following are the numbers polled by each candidate :— Tribe, 134 ; Keogh, 131 ; Carreras 79 ; Hoos, 15. Mr G. H. Tribe was declared duly elected. The mining news from Coromandel is not very important. The claims a^e steadily at work, and most of them are getting cold. The machined will be busy for some time, most of them having already work the next month or six weeks engaged. The G>lden Belt has a cake of twelve ounces, but the crushing is not completed. The Nil Desperanduin battery has erected four additional stampers. A small crushing for the Bay View gave three ounces to the ton.