THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 1871.

Grey River Argus, Volume X, Issue 853, 21 April 1871, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 1871.

The Chief Commissioner of Orown Lands for Westland (Mr Fitzgerald) was a passenger by the Luna, yesterday, to Wellington, It is understood that his visit to headquarters is with the object of settling some difficulties regarding the business of the Waste Lands Board. At the Resident Magistrate's Court, yosterday, the following civil cases were heard : — Skuglund and Purcell v. Windsor ; judgment by default for L 3 18s and costs. — Greymouth Gas Company v. G. F. Maxwell ; judgment confessed for L3O for calls,- Same v. Anseline ; judgment confessed for Lls and costs.— R. Kettle v. A. M'Kenzie ; judgment by default for L 4 and costs. — Pelling v. Stratford ; judgment confessed for LlB, and costs, for rent.— Dale v. Marks ; judgment by default for Ll2 and costs.— Hamilton and Co. v. Travis ; judgment confessed for L2O 3s Id. — D. Girdwood and Co. v. A. Montgomery ; claim of L3B for goods supplied and horse hire. A technical objection was taken to this plaint, which was sustained oy the Bench, and the case was dismissed, but a fresh summons was taken out. A number of cases were adjourned until this morning. The following biographical sketch of His Excellency the Governor of New Zealand appears in Walford's " Men of the Time" : — Sir George Ferguson Bowen, G.C.M.G., the eldest son of the Rev. Edward Bowen, a beneficed clergyman in the north of Ireland, was born in that country in 1821, and was educated at Charter House and Trinity College, Oxford, where he obtained a scholarship in 1840, and graduated JB.A. as first class in Classics in 1844. In the same year he was elected to a Fellowship of Brasenose College, of which he became tutor. From 1847 to 1851 he held the post of President of the University of Corfu .^ Whilst holding that position, he severely impugned the administration of Lord Seaton, then Lord High Commissioner of the lonian Islands, and published one or two pamphlets attacking the policy of hss measures. He subsequently published "Ithaca in 1850," "Mount Athos, Thessaly, and Epirus," &c, whilst holding the office of Chief Secretary to the Governor of the lonian Islands, between 1858 and his retirement in 1859. He is also understood to be the author of "Murray's Handbook of Greece." Sir George Bowen, -wlio ia au accomplished mudem Grook scholar, and is married to a Princess of Greek birth, was appointed, in 1859, CaptainGeneral and Governor-in-Chief of the new Colony of Queensland. The following is a copy of the letter of thanks to the Fire Brigade, forwarded by command of His Excellency the Governor: — "Sib — I am directed to convey the Governor's thanks to you for the compliment paid His Excellency by the members of the Greymouth Fire Brigade last evening. I have the honor to be, Sir, your obedient servant, Henry D. Pitt, A.D.C. Captain Amos, Greymouth Volunteer Fire Brigade." The West Coast Times states that a very distinct shock of earthquake was felt in Hokitika on Wednesday afternoon. We are not aware that anyone particularly marked the time, but it seems to have occurred about a quarter to four o'clock. It was very palpably felt by persons seated in this office. It was felt by Mr Barbor and the officials in the Post Office, and in other buildings in town the sensation was experienced. We have not heard of anyone in Greymouth having noticed the shock. Mr John Knowles, late clerk to the Superintendent of Wellington, has been appointed Under-Secretary o£ Public Works, Some little discontent is said to prevail among the Norwegian immigrants who were recently settled in the Manawatu district. It is said that there are no less than 47 candidates for the vacant Cominissionership of the Armed Constabulary. The Resident Magistrate at Ross, on Tuesday, declared from the Bench that he would grant no more licenses for dancingsaloons. Among the passengers by the Luna yesterday, special mention may be made of the magnificent Kiwi, a present to His Excellency Sir George Bowen, from Di. Dermott, of Hokitika, in whose possession it has been for the last two months. The number of sheep in the Australian Colonies, is about thirty-five millions, and the number in Great Britain is the same. At one period the returns for Great Britain showed over forty millions ; but of late years the number seems to have diminished, owing, it is said, to the large tracts of country in Scotland devoted exclusively to game. The number of cattle in Great Britain is very much in excess of the number in the Australian Colonies. The Otago Times of the 15th instant says : — " In connection with the San Francisco service, the statement contained in our Auckland telegrams, viz., that Lieutenant Woods was about to proceed to Levuka, Fiji, to survey the channel to the northward, is not without significance. It will be remembered that in the Stewart-Vogel contract the Fijian Group is, apparently by design, omitted Ju the enumeration o£ the , places between Aueklanu and San Francisco ' where the steamers mayjcall, viz., "at any of i the Hawaiian Society, or Navigator Islands. " Is this a straw Ehowing the way the wind blows ? It will be recollected that some short time since the Melbourne Argus announced that the Governor of Victoria had received a despatch from the Secretary of State for the Colonies, informing him that a fillibustering expedition had been organised in America against Australia and New Zealand. So far as regards JNew Zealand, it appears from the following telegram, published in the Otago Daily Times, and dated Wellington, April 13, that the Government here are taking precautions to prepare for such a visit, should it be paid. The following is the telegram referred to " The departure of the Virago for England is postponed by order of the Governor, on account of the news of the fillibustering expedition."