THE Grey Riber Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, AUGUST 21, 1871.

Grey River Argus, Issue 957, 21 August 1871, Page 2

THE Grey Riber Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, AUGUST 21, 1871.

We are indebted to Messrs Kennedy Bros, *ne»ts of the- Magnet, for late Mea of-Me*-bourue papers, from which we clip the latest Melbourne commercial news and other [terns. The members of the Greymouth Volunteer Fire Brigade will meet for the usual compulsory practice .\t eight o'clock this evening. There were no cases at the Resident Magistrate's Court sn Saturday. There i 3 now every probability of the champion pedestrians of the Southern Hemisphere Messrs Hewitt and Han is, visiting Grevnu-uth. Negotiations having been entered into with those gentlemen as to the terms on which they would visit this district, they replied that if LIOO were given in public money to boam for, the handicapping to be loft to a local co-.mnittee, and that they should receive the whole of the entrance-money, they would visit Greymonth shortly. Several gentlemen took the matter >up, and canvassed the towu on Saturday, when promises were received to the extent of L6O, and the remainder will bo forthcoming. Such being the case, an excellent day or two s sport will bo arranged to come off at the race-course m about a month or six weeks time. On Saturday, six Kngliah skylarks were landed from the a.s. Kennedy, haying been sent from Nelson by Mr Wakefield to his son, the Warden's Clerk at the Ahaura, who inteuds to set them at liberty on lotaru Flat. What are teetotalers to drink ? It would not do for one moment to suppose that it was possible for them to get intoxicated on purely teetotal drinks, and yet it is the fact, if the following statement is correct :— Under the heading of " What we Eat. Drink, and Wear,''' the Australian Journal of June gi\ es the first of a series of articles upon frauds in food, meilicinc, and clothing, which promises to yield some useful information. The present article gives some analysis, by Mr Cosmo Newbury, of several articles amongst teetotal cordials and patent medicines. With regard to these teetotal cordials, the article states— " The majority of ' cordials,' so called, which,, are drunk with the greatest complacency by the rinnwpeeting people who have vowed to I drink no alcohol, we find to consist almost wholly of proof spirit ! Twenty-seven samples, selected without prejudice, gave an average of 22 40 per cent. . T. hat is to say, in broad and familiar terms, in an average of 100 glasses of teetotal cordial 'there will be 22 glasses of proof spirit. If judged by 1 single samples, the delusion perpetrated^ becomes more apparent. For iustanco, in a > sainpln ot .grange bitters, .botrtod by Messrs. " ing more than 39 glasses. In other words, 10 teetotalers, each imbibing in the course of a day 10 glasses of Bickford's bitters, would by dinner time have each drunk within a teaspoonful of four glasses of proof spirit, equal at least to eight glasses of undiluted brandy." The 'following remarkable, ghost story in connection with the recent Kltham murder is told iv tho Court Journal, of the Gth May : —"All have read with horror of the barbarous murder committed on a young ainl extremely well-favored girl— a child one might say— nigh on 17 years old, at Elfcham, >n Kent. The painful subject i 3 referred to in consequence of a very extraordinary circumstaEce connected with the girl's death. Tie girl expired at Guy's Hospital at nine o clock on Sunday night. A doctor, a nurse, and a detective policeman were in the room at the time, and they all concur in statin<» that at the very moment of her decease the face of a man appealed at the window close to the bed on i which the murdered girl lay. This mysterious apparition disajjpeared as .soon ns the policeman approached the which, by the way, is about 50ft from the ground. Of course there was no one there. There were no means by .which the window could bo reached from the street save; by a, ladder, and ladder there was none." The following extract from the Inspector of Schools for tho Nelson Province bears favorable testimony as to the management of the schools within the Grey district of' that Province :— "Cobden —Mr Ray.— No single master, however skilful and energetic : he may be— and the master of C'obden school 1 is both— can long continue to do justice to the forty-seven scholars who now crowd his small school-room daily. Assuming even that the numbers will remain just ai they are, an addition to the room and the employment of an assistant appear to me to be ' urgently required. By dint of extraordinary exertions Mr l?ay has largely added to the number of good readers and writers during ,the past year, the arithmetic, grammar, and geography being at least equal to what they ; were fomerly. Bruunerton— Mr Young.— Good use has been made of the fifteen months that have elapsed since Brnnnerton , was opened as a , : public, school, though it cannot be expected to compete with older ; establishments for some time to come. Arithmetic is the branch in which the scholars have progressed tho most palpably, though in other respects they show signs of careful teaching. The daily attendance is now 20, the rate of attendance, 84 per cent;, being exceptionally high. Public Opinion, say*.-— "Dr Lctboby has reported upon Dr Evcleigh's method of producing gas at a low temperature in iron retorts. The peculiarity of the manufacture consists iv the distillation of the coal at a low temperature, and the consequent conversion of the volatile constituents of the tar anto permanent gas. This gas is much less ofhensive than ordinary gas, and it is ao rich in hydro-carbons that it cannot be burnt from a standard argand burner with fifteen holes and a 7- inch chimney at a larger rate , than four cubic feet per hour, giving at I this rate tbo light of 15, 7 standard sperm j candles. •:■'.•,- I > J lle . s I/ dmi J Mowing Herald prints the I following extracts from a letter to Mr Xlt. M Stephen from his son, who is in charge of a mining expedition to Now Caledonia.— "Mindine, 11th April. ; Prfin what I have j.stieii of the, claim, I am! perfectly certain we *sUaU clear LSOOO or LGOOO the first yearbu t tot, present r I -caa , goo :abtbi%- to '•justify < more sanguine expectations. 2nd May.— , I N/eaHy all the ,; miner?; < have; a<jffr here • notWaK in the way of a gold field has been 9 »4jfX?r?J»;. a ltk,o%^ a mm -, gs& mearly Oialfi a # djrt. in a dieh theiiflthco; day, about ten muoj. from here on tie banks of the river, :"/;;;! „;.;■ ->:',{'■'.;",;■'■• i";- : f -„-.-■

but be says fcbe place is not payable. \\ c have decided to wait until we bave lOOOoz of goltl, and then two of us will escort it to Noumea, and from tbence aeud it to you to place it in the Mint. . . . I <*"«•« ?W * stems an immense time to you all, out if you could -see the hilla everything had to bo aimed up and down, and the excavations and dams we haveimd to make, you would not bo %fitfpri?ed, *Jk the time it has taken. kfn-hiiTßee?llth June -The more I see of the reef the better I like it. On Friday afternoon, we fixed up the 'Cradle amalgamator,' and started washing the stuff (after stacking all'the atones), and continued washing until last night (Saturday). We put through about seven tons, and got 13oz 13dwt, which is very good, considering, as I believe, there is twice as much gold in the stone." A sad accident occurred at Flint's Bush, Southland, on the 3rd instant, resulting m the death of a young child named Henderson, a niece of Mr W. A. Lyon. The little thing, having been left by its mother fora short time, managed to come iv contact with the fire, setting light to its clothes, which were soon almost literally burned off. its body. Aftbo\igh help was soon obtained, the injuries received insulted in speedy death. A Riverton correspondent writes under date August sth as follows:—" On the 29fch ult., three men from Dunedin (slate-makers and quarriers) left this port for the purpose of proceeding to Preservation Inlet. Ihey were accompanied by Mr N. Bates, who had formerly lived in that quarter for two years. They intended to prospect for slate, nag, and building stone, bavin?/ received protection for six months from the Provincial Government; and the best information and advice tnat Dr Hector could give them. I trust they may meet with all the success that they deserve. As they were unable to obtain on hire a suitable boat for their purpose, Mr Daniel kindly gave them the use of his, which was built last Bcason expressly for a similar purpose." A Cromwell correspondent of the Olago Daily Time* writes:—" The increased value of building allotments must be very gratifying to the poor but honest freeholders iv Croaiwell, and they certainly are much obliged to the Waste, Lands Board for the haudsome valuation they put on the price of land adjoining Mr Martin's Hotel. In round numbers, their valuation puts the land at the rate of L2OUO per acre. I declare I feel a thrill of joy at the idea of being a L4OOO man myself, being, as I urn, the fortunate possessor of about two and a-quartcr acres. L2OOO an acre! Why, if the Government will only persuade the Waste Lands Board to re-consider Mr G. W. Goodger's late application to purchase twenty acres, and value it at the same figure, they may get rid of their liabilities at once. What principle settles these valuations? A few months ajjo L2OO an acre was tho upset price of a section right opposite the one now in question." No doubt tho question has often suggested itself to many readers who, contemplating the possibility, or, . before the last mail arrived, the probability, of England going to war, who will have the command of tho British army. An English paper states :- j " Lord Strathnairn and Lord ISapier, of | Ma"dala, have been mentioned far the command of the British army in the event of I hostilities with Russia. The former distin-, guished himself as diplomatist and conibatant in the last Russian war. He also displayed great energy and skill in Central India during the tautiny, and great forbearance a? well as energy in the Fenian rising in Ireland. Lord Napier has already served in India under Lord Strathnairn, who is seven years the senior of the former. The brilliant ■ m-'nmui u/i eiAjlLeel^'iflfiictiV'was appointed commander-in -chief of a British army engaged in a European war. Lord Napier is nolTeven a Briton by birth. He was born in Ceylon just GO years ago, and althouuh he was educated at Addiscombe, the whole of his military career, with the exception of the Abyasian campaign,- has been passed in India.