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Grey River Argus, Volume XI, Issue 969, 4 September 1871, Page 2

The nomination for Borough Councillors must be sent in, signed by the candidate and three duly-qualitied voters, to the Town Clerk's office, before four o'clock to-day. It has been decided that every Monday shall be set aside at the District Survey Office, for the purpose of receiving applications for land, giving information, &c. This is what has long been wanted, *nd will prove a great benefit to all interested. There were no cases in the Resident Magistrate's Court on Saturday. A meeting of the Paroa Road Board was held at the Road Board Office, Parba, on Friday, Ist September. Present— Messrs Leach (Chairman), H. Barnhill. J. O'Connor, and Thomas Colton. The minutes of the last meeting being read and confirmed, the following correspondence was received. A letter from C. E. Button, Esq., solicitor, Hokitika, demanding the immediate payment of an acceptance for L 24 8s 8d held by one Patterson and drawn in favor of John Hurst, being part payment of salary. If .-.««. ....i.l.1 — ij-— . ~u«- -n.-re«vU i\ uuj-tfiiepiftii Roff, requesting payment of L4O for contract work executed in 188S on the Greymouth Protection Works. If not paid within 14 days, proceedings will be instituted against the tKard for its recovery. The Treasurer's report was laid upon the table, showing a balance to their credit of 4s 10d'. Moved by Mr Leach, and seconded by Mr Colton— "That the difference of interest between James Hamilton and Co.'s account and the account as it stands in the books of the Board he settled by arbitration, and that Mr Gilbert King be requested to act on behalf of the Board." Carried. Moved by Mr Leacb, and seconded by Mr Barnhill— " That the. secretary be instructed to see the Mayor of Greymouth in reference to Mr Mr RofFs claim. Mr Colton moved as an amendment — " That this Board cannot entertain Mr RofFs letter, and that the Secretary bo instructed to write to him to that effect." Seconded by Mr John O'Connor. The amendment was negatived, and the original motion carried. Moved by Mr Leach, andseconded by Mr Colton— "That the secretary be iustructed to write to Mr Button stating, that as soon as the Board • were in funds, which would lie immediately the rates were collected, Mr Patterson's acceptance would be one of the first provided for by the Board." A somewhat lengthy discussion ensued relative to the notice of motion tabled in the. House of Representatives by W. H. Harrison, Esq., for the abolishment of the present County Council, and for granting extended powers to the existing Road Boards, resulting in the following motion brought forward by Mr Colton, and seconded by Mr Barnhill— " That this Board do frilly concur with MrW. H. Harrison's notice of motion to bo moved on the 7th September, as.it would be a change of great utility, and that the secretary be instructed to forward by telegram the foregoing resolution to Mr Harrison." Carried, Moved by Mr Hugh Barnhill, and seconded by Mr Join O'Connor- "That Mr Cooper, the District Surveyor, be requested to survey as early as possible a bridle track "from the Saltwater Creek to the New Rfver, as it is an urgent necessity that such a track should be made, as that locality promises to be one of the most lasting and remunerative in the district, ap there being no practical track to that locality without great risk to life and property." Carried. Moved by Mr Leach, andseconded bj' Mr Colton— "That the secretary write to Mr Hamilton and forward him a cony of the resolution carried iv reference to his claim, stating that on Friday next at eight o'clock p.m., the secretary would be in attendance at the Board Office." The Board then adjourned.

The following figures from the report of the Wellington Gas Company will be found interesting; especially as we expect to have the gas laid on to-day;— The number of lights already provided for amount to 1500, of which number the General Government appropriate 900. The producing capacity is 40,000 cubic feet per diem, which could be increased to 45,000 if necessary. . Nearly 2? miles of main pipes have been laid through-- • out the. town. " The directors have contracted with the City Council to Ikht.twentyfour street lamps for twelve months for L2OO. The price of gas is 20s per 1000 cubic feet, a discount of 10 percent, being allowed for prompt payment. The income so far has about equalled the curreut expenditure. The capital of the company is to be increased to L 15.000 by the issue of nevr shares. The next six months' operations are expected to return a dividend to the shareholders. : The London Court Journal asks wba.t are ! the American bachelors about ? One by one they are suffering all their great beauties and great heiresses to be carried off by foreigners. Another great conquest has' been achieved •by Prussia. Miss May Parsons, the brilliant belle of the last season at Compiegne, has just become Princess de Lynar. The Prince is on the staff of King William, and the old Kaiser is said to have taken such great interest; in the successful issue of the courtship, that he has expressed a wish that the mar-

riage should take place in Berlin. But even the commands : of the Kaiser fell powerless before the resolution of the little American girl, who insisted on being married at her native place, Columbus, Ohio, refusing either the compromise suggested by diplomacy, that of having the marriage ceremony performed at Wnhington, by the Chaplain to the Prussian Embassy. . The Prince de Lynar was, therefore, compelled to make the journey to Columbus, passing through London on his way thither a few weeks ago. Such is the discipline observed on the Royal Staff, that the Prince was fain merely to hint at impatience to start forth on his love chase, novel daring to ask point blank for the congd. But Kaiser William good-naturedly set the lover's heart at rest by turning to the Prince at the grand banquet given at Berlin in honor of the return of the toasts were being proposed, and saying, ' ' Prince de Lynar, I drink to tho health of your American fiancGe, and may we soon behold her at your side hero in Germany. A pleasant voyage, Prince, and a safe return amongst us !" The next day the Prince received his leave of absence, and started from Berlin immediately. So tho resignation of Count Gerolt, who' has been fivc-and-twenty years Prussian Ambassador «fc Washington, gives rise to minor that he .will be replaced by the Prince "tie Lynar, who was for some i time Secretary to Count Goltz at. Paris. A Bill has been brought in by Mr Gillies, and read v first tine in the House of .Representatives for the abolition of imprisonment for debt. One of the Maori members has given notice that he will move .lhat a council of chiefs shall be formed for the Middle Island, to devise measured to protect Maori property in that part of the colony. On Sunday night last, a house, the property of Michael George Creen, situated near Brighton, with the whole of the contents, was destroyed by fire. At the Pour-Mile, also, on the same day, a miner's tent was destroyed by lire, and the whole of the contents. A very narrow escapa from what would doubtless have proved a serious conflagration, occurred a few mornings ago, at five o'clock, in Charleston. Mr Meredith, tinsmith, was awakened by the crackling of lire and a smell of smoke, and upon getting out of bed, discovered the lining, near the fireplace, in the back kitchen, as also the adjoining partition of the sitting-room, enveloped in flames. Fortunately, however, there was a plentiful supply of water handy, and, with, the assistance of his wife, Mr Meredith succeeded in putting out ihe fire. The escape was akin to a miracle, and another half-minute's delay would have allowed the flames to take too strong a hold to be easily subdued. The fire originatecWlike many others will in this town (says the Cltarleston Herald, oi the 29th ult. ), if some preventive means are not taken speedily— through a defective fireplace, the ashes having evidently dropped through underneath the flooring boards, which, smouldering, were fanned in flames by the N.E. wind blowing at the time. We ure glad to learn that an effort is being made to obtain sufficient funds to erect a monument in memory of the victims of the Poverty Bay massacre. There have from time to time appeared in the press letters and paragraphs upon the subject, and a committee has now been formed, who have appointed Mr 11. It. flunt to collect subscriptions in the Waikato. We are sure this effort will commend itself to all settlers who remember the.shoclring details- of the murders which have served to mark Poverty Bay history of New Zealand, The Wedport Times is happy to learn that mining matters on the Northern Teraaces are exhibiting great improvement, the present prospects tending to show that the w jrkiiigs are still far from being exhausted. Disney and party, after thirteen week's heavy driving, have been successful in striking a rich lead of gold close to the main reef . The character of the gold is superior, being much coarser thau any previously discovered in the district. The case of M 'In tosh's Trustees v. the Bank of New Zealand, came before a special jury at Nelson on the 14th inst. The action was brought to upset a deed of assignment made by M'lntosh to the Bank of New Zealand. We have not space to report the case at length. After a day and a half spent in hearing the evidence for plaintiffs, and in arguments thereon (the defendant's case not being gone into), the jury, by the direction of the Judge, found for defendants on all the issues, with leave reserved to plaintiffs to move to enter a verdict for them if the Court should be of opinion that the bill of sale relied on by defendants did not operate to pass after acquired property. A somewhat scurvy trick was played upon a gentleman one day last week when on a visit to the Northern Terraces, near Westport, in company with a well-known storekeeper. On the road they came to where a man was lying apparently senseless, and moved to compassion one of our travellers dismounted, and Simaritan-like assisted the mifortunate man to the saddle. The latter was no sooner firmly seated than he awoke from his apparent stupor, and digging his heels into the sides of the animal, quickly sped from^view. The horse w?s left at a shanty several miles distant, with grateful thanks to the discomfited owner. The scarcity of blasting powder was so severely felt at the Thames lately that the Government obliged to lend 25 kegs to save the Caledonian and other coinpauies from stopping work. The Nelson evening papej? reports that in their mining world but little is stirring j the Perseverance stampers are steadily pounding away, and the shareholders, encouraged by the result of the last crushing, are beginning to think that if the battery consisted of 20, instead of 10 head of stampers, the long-looked-for dividend, which at present is only visible to the eye of faith, would be brought within their reach, and become perceptible, not only to tho sense of sight, but to tbat of feeling. At, poran|s the battery is nearly completed ; .and in a short time the tramway will be in readiness to c mvey tho hard, solid food to the jaws of the monster which is prepared to masticate and digest it. Upon this reef depends the future of the Wangapeka. In the course of a few weeks it will be decided whether what was once looked upon as the land of promise shall become a lonely desert, or whether prospecting is still to be pushed on, and the valleys and hills to be made to resound to ths clanking of machinery. The preparations for dredging the are still being proceeded witn at Collingwood. For some weeks they were delayed by the incessant wet weather, but the men are once more at work, and in a couple, of months' time, we shall know whether this spec is to prove more remunerative thau the, ordinary run of thoscs that have been entered into in Nelson* . I suppose it is scarcely necessary to say that the more gold that the rivers and reefs are made to' yield, the _ better we shall all 'be pleased. If dredging in the Aorere proves a success there are parties >'ho are prepared to commence operations at once in the Matakitaki as well, so that it is quite possible the coming summer may be the dawn of better days for our, at present, not very progressive province. The latest paper to hand from Auckland gives the following report of the celebrated Caledouian Mine, at the Thames :— A large body of stone has been cut in the lowest level lately opened in this mine, and from its appearance 1 am inclined to think that it is the

main lode. It was cut recently in"'a,^riyej that -was opened out of the chamber towards the hill that is underneath the old workings above, in which direction I for one scarcely expected that the underlie of the lode would bo found. At the same time, it is quite possible for the lode to be there ; the sudden dip off of the reef, which I have several times alluded to lately in my reports, being taken into consideration* -If it is •thVreef,* the leader that was cut in the chamber is not the specimen leader ; and, if it is not the reef, it can be nothing else than the specimen leader blown out to a much larger size than it thows above. But lam <>f opinion that the main reef has really been struck, for I do not think that the specimen leader would develop into so large and so solid a body of stone in so short a distance. No gold has yet been seen in the stone, which, moreover, wears a hungry appearance. It does not, however, follow that the gold is run out, or even that the reef in that paiticular place is barren. I especially desire to impress upon your readers that where the lode was cut recently is on the extreme N E. side of the main run of gold, if, indeed, it is not outside the run ; also, that stone quite a3 hungrylooking is to he found within tbe limits of the main run of gold ; also, that the lode 13 just pricked only. Much better stone may be found in the heart of the lode or against the foot-wall. Some time must necessarily elapse before the question of payable or not payable can be decided. This lode must first be cut through, and then followed towards the line of the gold run. In the meantime anything appioaching to a panic is to be deprecated. Nothing has yet transpired to warrant one The lode, if main lode it is, has simply been cut into in the barren line between the No. 2 run of gold in the Otago side and the main run. But as I have several times remarked in former reports, a dip off in a reef is not a good sign, at least it is not considered so in Australia ; here, however, the rules which govern quartz mining seem to be reversed, for where the lode dips off, and sharply too, within the limits of the main Caledonian gold run, it did not |suffer any great depression of quality. The new aspect of affairs developed recently wears one good feature at least. If the stone cut is really part of the main lode the mine will contain three times as much of the latter as it would have done if the original angle of the reef's underlie had been maintained. Sinking of the deepest kind will have to be resorted to to work the mine out.

The Grey district is not the only one of the mining, districts suffering from neglect by Provincial institutions. The Wellington Independent, referring to the great ' complaints made from time to time respecting the Thames Gold Fields, publishes the following, as the mildest sentences in a correspondent's letter on the subject: — "The Superintendent very unpopular ; many of the works stopped ;. the roads impassable for want of necessary repairs ; the Government spending all the gold fields revenue in and about Auckland, and thoroughly neglecting the Thames ; the Gold Fields Secretary marching about Auckland in front of the road engine, in a cloud of smoke, at the rapid pace of two miles per hour, followed by an immense crowd of boys an I old women ; coal cannot be landed at the Thames for wantof wharf accommodation ; many of the crushing batteries stopped in consequence The progress of the Upper Tararu has been entirely stopped for six months for want of a road ; not even a track made, though the claims have been proved to be very rich. Several deputations have waited on the SoJ2Cliutendent v who^say^s Jbhat^he can do (the Bushby affair to wit, and the road engine). Continued downpour of rain ; the Thames a '.sea of mud ; drajs full of golden quartz bogged, and over the axles ; the roads, which cost large sums of money to form, are being thoroughly brokeu up and destroyed. The Government will only give a paltry LSOO to make the whole of the gold fields roads; great dissatisfaction at the Superintendent's obstruction policy, and the misappropriation of the gold fields revenue ; any change would be welcome to the, present system ; people hoping the General Govern ment will step in and take charge. " In moving for a return of grain, exported and imported from and into the Colony, Mr John Hall stated in the Assembly that, from information he had been able to gather, the amount each way was about equal, and as a matter of course, to the loss cf New Zealand and the profit of the shipping owners alone. He further said that the imports averaged 100,000 tons annually, and the exports were about the same. Though this is by. no means a promising state of things, still an explanation is easy of at least a portion of the whole matter. On the West Coast Gold Fields of the Middle Island little or no grain is grown, and if it were, there are no mills to convert it. The consequence is that a population of say, in round numbers, 25,000, are wholly dependent for a very large proportion of all necessary cereals, and for all their flour and meal on other places. Their supplies are derived both from Colonial and Australian sources, but as far as flour is concerned, a very large proportion of it comes from the latter. This is owing to freights from Australia being the same as, or lower than those from the grain-producing parts of the Colony, whilst the quality is reasonably or otherwise said to be infinitely superior, and Adelaide brands obtain the highest prices. As to the land carriage across from Canterbury to the West Coast, it is simply out of the question that it can compete with water carriage. Hence is accounted for in some degree the anomaly to which, attention was drawn.