THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 1871.

Grey River Argus, Volume X, Issue 848, 15 April 1871, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 1871.

We understand that Mr Wilkie has decided not to resign his seat in the Provincial Council of Nelson for the Grey District. We are glad that this decision has been arrived at, as any uncertainty upon the subject had the effect of unsettling the public mind. Pursuant to circulars issued by his Worship the Mayor a large number of the citizens met at the Masonic Hotel yesterday afternoon for the purpose of finally deciding whether or not there should be a Citizens' Ball on the occasion of his Excellency's - visit. The Mayor presided, and informed the meeting that he had received a telegram to the effect that his Excellency would leave Hokitika by Ashton's coach Tuesday morning, that he would hold an undress levee at four o'clock the same afternoon in the Court House, and attend the Citizens' Ball . in the evening. The following day the Governor would proceed to the Coal Mine, but his further movements would be uncertain, as everything would depend upon the arrival of the Luna, •which will coal and convey his Excellency to Wellington. After the causes which had led to the resignation of the sub-committee previously appointed bad been explained, and the decision of the Borough Council not to appropriate any money towards the proposed ball had been canvassed and dis- > cussed, it was decided, upon the motion of Mr Harrison, M.H.R., that a citizens' ball should be given on such a scale as would afford all citizens an opportunity of attending. On the motion of Mr D. Maclean it was. resolved to leave all the airangements in the hands of a Ball Committee, consisting of Messrs E. Wickes (Mayor), W. H. Revell, C. Whitefoord, W. H. Harrison, H. Kenrick, D. Maclean, J. Kilgour, and Bowman. The opinion was freely expressed daring the meeting that the Borough Council ought to have subsidised the ball to some small extent, and the matter was compromised by his Worship the Mayor undertaking, on behalf of the Council, that the band should be provided. The meeting then separated, and the Ball Committee at once took steps to ascertain the best arrangements they could make. They met at nine o'clock in the evening, when it was finally decided to hold the ball at the Masonic HalL Tenders were received from Gilmer Bros., James Johnston, and

Mr Cameron for the supply of the ball supper, and there was a strong feeling on the part of the Committee in favor of holding the ball at the Volunteer Hall on account of its large size, but in the first place the terms of Mr Perkins, the owner of the Hall, were so extravagant (LlO 10s, exclusive of lighting), arid in the next;, the Committee! would to have incurred about L 35 extra expense in erecting additions for supper room and ladies cloak room, that the Committee found they could not possibly undertake the responsibility on 1 their own shoulders. The tender of Messrs Gilmer Brothers was accepted, and although it was much lower in the aggregate than any of th« others, the Committee still saw that a probable deficiency of thirty pouuds or over was probable. . As the Borough Council had declined to assist, the only way of getting over* the difficulty was by the Committee individually becoming liable for a certain proportion of the possible liability. This was done to the extent of about fifty pounds collectively, and definite arrangements for the ball were then made. The ball will be held in the Masonic Hall, and the supper in the spacious billiard room underneath ; in addition, there will be card rooms and ample convenience for the ladies. The price of tickets were, after much deliberation fixed at the following rates : — Double tickets to admit a gentleman and one lady, 355 ; and for every additional lady, 10s 6d ; gentlemen's single tickets, 255. At these prices it is to be hoped the public generally will unite in making the ball a success. The tickets can be had on application to any of the members of the Committee — viz., Messrs Wicks, Revell, Whitefoord, Harrison, J. Kilgour, D. Maclean, fcH. Kenriek, and Bowman to-day, and up to Tuesday afternoon. Any gentlemen intending to bring a lady or ladies will be required to give in their names, which will be endorsed on the ticket. We may inform our readers that the Committee desire to make the ball in every senseapofmlaT one, and one in which all classes of tho community can participate. As the members of the Committee have undertaken considerable personal responsibility in the matter, -we trust they will be heartily supported by the public, and that the festivity will be in every sense a successful and enjoyable one. We are informed that the Minister of Justice (the Hon. Mr Sewell) is, in conjunction with the Attorney-General, preparing a new Bankruptcy Bill to be submitted to the General Assembly at the forthcoming session. It will be remembered that last session the Bill then introduced was thrown out chiefly because it had not previously been discussed by the trading community and the Government promised that before any further measure would be submitted to the Assembly, a copy of it should be circulated amongst the mercantile community prior to the meeting of Parliament. So far as we are aware, nothing of the kind has been done, and as we believe the Bill now in process of incubation contains some new and special features, it is highly desirable that the Chambers of Commerce and the trading community generally should have the opportunity of judging of its provisions before members are asked to give them the effect of law. In our last, issue we reported a sale of a share in Newton and party's claim, Paddy's Reef, Inangahua, at L 750. This was a typographical error, and should have been Ll5O. A meeting of the Borough Council was to be held last evening, but it was adjourned by the Town Clerk until Tuesday morning, as several of the councillors had to attend the meeting of the Governor's Reception Committee. A meeting of the Fire Brigade was held last night, in order to make arrangements for the reception of the Governor. It was resolved that every exertion should be made to receive his Excellency in a proper manner, and that during his stay a concert should be given, volunteered by the members of the Choral Society and Tonic Sol-fa Association, on Wednesday, the 19th inst. It is expected that the Town Band will give their valuable services on that occasion, so as to make the whole affair a success. The following is the reply received from his Excellency the Governor, in answer to the invitation of the Mayor and Borough Council, requesting him to visit Ureymouth : — " Mr Mayor and Gentlemen — I thank you for this address and for your invitation to Greymouth. I assure you that a visit to your important town and district always formed part of the programme of my tour in Westland. I have arranged with the Chairman of the County Council to proceed to Greymouth on Tuesday next. I shall then have the pleasure of addressing you at greater length. Meanwhile I again thank you for your kind courtesy.— G. F. Boaven. flokitika, April 13, 1871." One of the most pleasing portions of the programme in connection with the Governor's reception is that allotted to the juvenile population. A platform will be erected at the place where his Excellency will be first welcomed to the town (near the Sefton Bridge) capable of accommodating about four hundred youngsters. Refreshment will be provided for youthful appetites by his Worship the Mayor, and no doubt the visit of the Governor will be a red letter day in the memories of all the children there. Our readeta -will remember that during the absence of Me9rra JFeatherston and Dillon Bell in England as Commissioners for New Zealand, it afforded some room for criticism that the sum of L4O figured on the vouchers for expenses as the cost of a court suit. It was supposed that this little item of extravagence had been incurred on behalf of the elegant and gracelul person of the Hon. Dillon Bell, but it has transpired that only one of the Commissioners, Dr Featherston, was presented to her Majesty — the inference, therefore, that the fortypound Buit was worn by him on that occasion. As Dr Featherston is again going to London aa Agent-General, the outlay of £40 for a Court suit may prove to have been not altogether thrown away, as it will be available for future occasions. We should be curious to know if the Court tailor measured the Hon. Dillon Bell for the garments, or Dr Featherston — there is not much difference in the size of these gentlemen, but, Buppose that the Hon. Julius < i Yogel had been appointed Agent-General, I and had to appear at Court in Jjhe confined habiliments provided for his predecessor. The Colony has saved something even in the matter of its tailor's bill by sending Dr Featherston home instead of fulius Yogel. One of the witnesses in the case Regina v. Creed, heard in the District Court on Wednesday, writes asking when there is any likelihood of his expenses and those of the five other witnesses being paid. We must plead our inability to answer the query, more especially when the Crown Prosecutor and the Clerk to the District Court pleaded ignorance oji the subject. The difficulty was explained before the Court on Wednesday, at the close of the case, by Mr Harvey, who said :— " Your Honor ; A difficulty has arisen about the payment of the witnesses in this case. Mr Abbott, the paymaster, is dead. I have no authority to pay them, and neither has Mr Kenrick. They ought to be paid at once, as they have to go up country for a considerable distance, and it is certainly a very great inconvenience that they cannot now receive their expenses. I can only make out a voucher, and hand it in to the Registrar's Office at Hokitika ; but when money will be forthcoming is another question . How the jury is to be paid I am sure I don't know.

— The Judge : I can make a recommendation that in future the Clerk of this Court should have a credit for the payment of witnesses. He is bound to pay the jury.— Mr Kenrick : Yes; bat I have no credit for it.— The Judge : That is an absurdity. 1 will make the recommendation 1 have already mentioned, but that does not meet the present case. — Mr Harvey : We can telegraph to the Colonial Treasurer, to place a special sum to the credit of Mr Kenrick to pay the witnesses in this case." — And there the matter ended. The witnesses attended at the Court next morning, and had the pleasure of seeing the Judge and Crown Prosecntor leave for Hokitiko, but when they are likely to he paid they have not the remotest idea. The Paroa Road Board were to have a meeting last evening in relation to the irregularities of the Board's late Secretary, Mr Hurst. We mentioned a day or two ago that the Chairman of the Board bad placed the matter in the hands of the police, but we understand that Mr Hurst had anticipated this step by leaving the Colony by a sailing vessel from Hokitika. Full enquiries have been instituted concerning the financial accounts of the Board and other irregularities in addition to those previously discovered have been ascertained. We shall be able to publish a report of the Board's proceedings at the meeting in Monday's paper. The disclosures recently made have been severely commented upon elsewhere, and it is to be hoped that the Board will, for its own reputation, leave nothing undone to bring everything to light. The important discovery Jhas lately been made at Green Island, Otago, that the herring — the real home herring— frequents our shores. A fete on a scale of magnificence has been made at Ross in aid of the local hospital, realising the sum of L4OO. The bazaar alone was the means of realising nearly L4OO, and, deducting expenses, the whole affair will probably place the Committee in possession 0fL320. At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, before E. Wickes, Esq., J.P., James Lenoard was fined 10s for being drunk. — George Louis Jakobs was charged with stealing L 3 4s 6d, the property of Alexander Patten, at Clifton, and was remanded for a week, for the attendance of witnesses, but was^admitted to bail, himself in L4O, and two sureties of L2O each. There were over 500 applications lodged with the Registration Officer up to the 31st March, to be placed on the electoral roll for the Grey Valley District. The most of these come from the country districts, the town applications being mostly changes of qualification. The "unemployed" cry, says the New Zealand Herald, is proved to have been nothing but nonsense. Since the time of the agitation numbers of contracts for pick and shovel work have been advertised, and hardly any men have come forward to take them up. Those who have tendered, moreover, are not of j the members of the agitators. The Lake Wakatip Mail, we regret to say, deems it necessary to make these remarks : — " Winter is evidently coming on apace ; and, so we predict, are hard times for many unfortunates in our midst. We regret to pen those words, but truth demands that we should do so. The fact is, the place is overdone with a town population, and, as the season advances and several works in course of construction shortly become completed, it will fare ill with the poorer class through the winter, unless aid is rendered by the charitable, or our merchants are willing to add to tbeir list of already too many long and outstanding accounts. Glowing accouuta of our prosperity have attracted hither many — and some of them with large families— from the less prosperous districts of Southland and elsewhere." If an offer is made or accepted by telegram, and there is an error in the telegram, the loss must fall on one of the two parties — the sender of the message or the receiver. This very question was tried in Dunedin not a month ago, when Mr Strode decided the sender was to suffer for a palpable, nay an admited mistake by the telegraphist. By the last mail we learn that the Court of Exchequer at Home, in Henkel v. Pape, has decided that the loss is not to fall on the sender. The facts of the case were these : — The defendant wrote to the plaintiff to send him a sample of Snider rifles, as he thought he could fix an order for fifty. He then sent a telegram to the plaintiff— "Send by mail three Snider rifles." The telegram, through mistake in transmission, reached the plaintiff, " send by mail the Snider rifles." The plaintiff thereupon sent fifty .rifles, but the defendant refused to accept and pay for more than three. The plaintiff then brought the action ; but the court held that the defendant could not be made liahle for the mistake of the post office authorities in transmitting the message. It was argued that the defendant ought to have had the message repeated, and that by not doing so he was guilty of negligence. This argument dies not appear to have influenced the court- '