THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, JULY 3, 1871.

Grey River Argus, Volume XI, Issue 915, 3 July 1871, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, JULY 3, 1871.

The monthly and half-yearly meeting of the Greymouth Volunteer Fire Brigade will take place this evening, at the Brigade Hall, when all members are requested to attend, as business of importance will be discussed. A meeting of the Grey River Hospita Committee was held at Gilrner's Hotel, on Saturday evening, at which were present — Messrs Revell (chair), Whitefoord, Masters, Moss, Kenrick, Thompson, Maclean, King, Greenwood, and Arnott. The minutes of the previous meeting having been read and confirmed, the Committee proceeded to consider the applications for the situation of Day Wardsman, of which there were teu. After a careful enquiry the choice of the Committee fell upon Mr Thompson, who has held the appointment temporarily since the suspension of the previous wardsman, and he was accordingly appointed to the office. A letter was read by Mr Whitefoord from the No : Town Benevolent Society (which has already ! been published in our columns) asking that the same privileges should be conferred on them as were given to the Red Jack's Society. M r Whitefoord was requested to inform the applicants that the Committee would be glad to accede to their request on the terms asked, provided the number of members was not less than 50. The meeting adjourned to Saturday next. The Permissive Bill which was formerly intended to be made a Provincial affair, is j found to be very unpopular in Auckland, and we understand that the hon. member for Wanganui has decided not to bring it before the Council. We understand that in another form a Bill of the like purport will probably be brought before the General Assembly at the next session. An inquest was held at the Court House, Cobden, on Saturday, by Mr Whitefoord, R. M, on the body of a man who was found on Friday morning last, in the Grey river, a short distance above the gorge. The following evidence was given : — George Davidson : lam a boatman residing in Greymouth. I have seen the body viewed by the coroner and jury. I identify the body as that of a man known as " Long Bill," but Ms proper name is William Duckworth. I was employed to go up the Grey •River yesterday morning to a spot near Archer's. I then saw the body of the deceased. The body was caught in a snag in an overflow, with the head and one arm down. We carried the body down to a boat aad brought it to Cobden. I observed no marks of violence on the body. I worked with deceased at Mr Langdon's, at the junction of the Grey and Arnold rivers. Mr Langdon keeps a punt there, and deceased was in Mr Langdon's employ. — Richard Senior : lam a laborer living at Coal Creek. I was going along the beach of the Grey River yesterday morning, the 30th June, about nine o'clock. When near Archer's place I found the body the jury have seen. Ido not identify the body. I did not know a man named William Duckworth. Mr Archer was with me when we found the body. The body was in an overflow of the Grey river, aud was caught in some snags, and seemed as if it had been carried down the river to where we found it by a< flood. I came to Cobden and gave information to the police. The last fresh in the river was about a month since. — J. W. Archer : Jam a farmer, living at Coal Creek Flat. I was in company of Richard Senior yesterday morning, 30th June, 1871. We found the body about 150 yards from the Grey River in an overflow. There is a strong stream of water where we found the body in flood time. There was a fresh in the river some five weeks since, sufficient to carry the body to the place where we found it. I cannot say whose body it was we found. I did not know a man named William Duckworth. The body is in the same state now as when it was found. — Harriet Langdon : I am the wife of John Maunder Langdon, and live at the junction of the Grey and Arnold Rivera. My husband keeps the ferry at the Grey and Arnold junction. He is at present at Westport on business. I knew a man in my husband's employ of the name of William Duckworth. Duckworth was employed as a ferryman. William Duckworth fell off the punt about two? months' ago, and the body had not been found up to yesterday. My husband was on the punt with deceased ! when he fell off. I was at the house with two young men named Robert Grey and Albert Geinberg. It was about 9 o'clock in ;the evening and was a dark night ; the moon was just rising. My husband and the deceased had been in the house together up to that time. They went out and took the punt over the river for the purpose of crossing a passenger named Kennedy, a butcher at No Town. I heard my husband call out to Robert Grey to bring the boat over. Grey did so. My husband called out to a man named William Curtis, who lives near. He came with his boat, and search was made for William Duckworth for two hours. Nothing was heard of him up to the present time to my knowledge. William Duckworth had been in my husband's employ about four months. William Duckworth was sober when he left the house with my husband to i take the punt over the river. The punt was on the side of the river where Kennedy was •at the time Duckworth fell into the river. I heard no call for help from Duckworth after he fell in. There wris no fresh in the river at the time. I have seen deceased when working the punt get outside the rails for the purpose of . pulling the ropes connecting the punt with ; the wire crossing rope. The river had lately ■ altered its course, aud the punt was difficult to work. My husband handed over the j wages due deceased to the Curator of In--1 testate Estates, and wrote to his (deceased's) ; brother in Cbxistehurch. —James Edwards : I am a constable in charge of Cobden Police Station. 1 did not know deceased. Yesterday morning Richard Senior reported the finding of a body about a quarter of a mile above Coal Creek Junction. I proceeded to the spot with the first witness, George Davidson. 1 found the body now viewed by the jury. Davidson at once identified the body as being that of "Long Bill," saying he knew hi.iv. : The body was lying on an old ' snag, with the shirt over the head as if from : the action of (he water. The body presented the a;>;x\ir;mee of that of a man who had I been ft; !in!< ; no marks of violence were objservn!>:<- J :e.arched the body. There was ;no propo. i.y on the body. On the Bth May ilast Mr Kennedy reported to me that Langj don's ptmtman had fallen into the river off ithe punt. It began to rain that night, and ■ there was a strong fresh in the river for some .'days afterwards. Mr Kennedy said he was ;at the time of the accident waiting to cross ithe river in the punt, but did not actually

see the man fall into the river, Mr Kennedy stated that as soon as the man fell into the water Mr Langdon jumped into the water, and felt about the punt for him, but could not recover the body. Mr Kennedy also stated Mr Langdon was searching for the body when he left the spot to come to Cobden. — The jm-y returned an open verdict, to the effect that the deceased, William Duckworth, was drowned by falling off Langdon's punt. I The sea has made further serious encroachments on the beach between Molesworth and Palmerston streets, Westporfc. At the rear of the premises occupied by Mr Williams, chemist, there was a face of fully five feet, which had been cut away by the action of the tide. On Thursday evening the weather was threatening, and a heavy sea rolling home, but the additional damage effected was inconsiderable. A small instalment, yet still an instalment of the public works to be undertaken in Westland, is made the subject of advertisement in the W. C. Times by the Colonial Government. Mr Blackett, as Acting En-gineer-in-Chief, invites tenders for the construction of a dray-road from Hokitika to the Kanieri — this particular piece of road being, no doubt, dealt with as a section of the main road between Greymouth and Ross. The other day, a quarryman of the name of William Robertson, engaged at the upper Port Chalmers quarry, met with an accident while engaged getting a blast ready. A loose stone tumbled down aud struck him on the right leg, below the knee, fracturing the tibia. He was at once brought down by his mates to Dench's Hotel, where the injured limb was promptly dressed by Dr Prysdale, and the patient removed to the Hospital. A meeting of the Presbyterians of Dunedin who recently memorialised the Presbytery on the subject of a new charge for the City was held in the Athenaum lately, for the purpose j of considering the recommendations of the I Presbytery. After some discussion, the following motion was canied : — "This meeting resolves to adhere to the position taken up by the memorialists, viz. , the. necessity of establishing a fifth Presbyterian charge in Dunedin, but in the meantime expresses its willingness to allow the movement to remain in abeyance for the present, so as to give the congregation of St. Andrew's an opportunity of finding an efficient clergyman to fill the present vacancy. And further, this meeting resolves to aid and assist materially and otherwise the said congregation in obtaining a suitable pastor. " The Otago Daily Times says :- It is now nearly three months since proceedings in the Resident Magistrate's Court against Mr Barton in connection with the alleged libels upon the General Government terminated, and although frequent applications have been made by witnesses for the Crown for payment of their expenses, the Government for some reason or another are unwilling to respond. Many of these witnesses attended Court fer more than ten days at very great personal inconvenience ; and in some cases where loss of money was involved by attendance at Court, the witnesses can ill afford to remain out of pocket of the amount which is due to them by the Government. A majority of the witnesses are employees of the Daily Times, hence, probably, the unwillingness of Ministers to pay. When the order for payment is ultimately given, no doubt unpleasant reflections will arise in their minds when they commence to calculate what they have had for the money. A correspondent at the Dunstan diggings, Otago, wrote as follows, a few days ago : — Mid -winter, and the sun still shining brightly ! Slight frosts and occasional damp, foggy days now and then intervening to remind us of the season. Folks, passing wise in weather lore, predict that we shall yet suffer for it, and experience winter in all its nipping intensity. Meanwhile "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof !" seems the general maxim, aud our townspfeople are making the most of the present favorable opportunity for gardening and out-door improvements. Horticulture has become quite a popular institution in the Dunstan district. Owners of allotments, town or suburban, are all busily bestirring themselves in fencing, planting, and otherwise improving their properties. There is hardly a rood of spare ground in or around the township that is not being rapidly converted Into a state of productiveness. Some hundreds of shrubs and choice fruit trees have been planted during the present month, and Dunedin nurserymen have yet to complete their orders from this district. At Alexandra, also, a similar activity prevails, and the roadside from hence to Cromwell is dotted with gardens and patches of civilisation. The climate here is unrivalled, at least in Otago, for its fruit producing capabilities, and horticulture and kindred occupations will soon add to the reputation of the Dnnstan as a pleasant abiding place. In some of the gardens first cultivated, fruit and vegetables have been produced that would have held a premier position at any of the Dunedin exhibitions. The jury system which prevails in this colony is no doubt in strict accordance with ancient precedent, but it is nevertheless an extremely slovenly one. In some, if not all, of the neighboring colonies, a great improvement upon it has been in work for a long time. If those to whom it naturally falls to look after this matter had any just appreciation of the excessive tax the existing method entails upon busy men, they would long ago have turned their attention to the matter, and endeavored to mitigate the evil. It would not be very difficult to do so, even i£ there were no examples to guide them in their endeavors. The whole jury system requires revision. The arrangement lately made, which secures a slight remuneration to all jurymen actually empannelled, has only very slightly moderated the evils which have been complained of. We do not pretend for a moment that trial by jury can be retained as an institution amongst us without subjecting those who are liable to serve as jurymen to inconvenience. This is one of the sacrifices which the citizen of a civilised State has to put up with, in return for the many advantages he reaps as a member of such a community. The inconveniences, if not cheerfully borne, are not murmured against in those cases in which the public benefit alone is concerned. But when men are dragged away from their daily avocations, obliged to kick their heels from day to day in the neighborhood of the Court-honse until it is decided whether their services are i wanted or not, and, if empanuelled, have occasionally to listen for days together whilst an intricate case winds its slow length along — when they have to endure all this, not for any niattar affecting .the well-being of the State, but "simply because two of their neighbors are of quarrelsome temper, or try to overreach one another, they complain freely and have very good reason to do so. It is certainly an important point of public polity , that the civil Courts of Justice should be kept open in the land. The man who is afflicted to-day with tho miseries of the jury box, or the still worse troubles which so often await the juryman when he retires to the comfortless prison in which a decision has to bo arrived at, may to-morrow find himself obliged to call upon the Courts to i defend his own rights But those for whose private benefit the State sees it desitable to I maintain the Civil Courts ought to be made to pay for that benefit They do pay pretty smartly, we know, but they are also permitted in many instances — in all instances of protracted trials— to levy a serious tax on the time of their fellow-citizens without compensating them in any reasonable way. \