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Grey River Argus, Volume XI, Issue 984, 21 September 1871, Page 2

The rush at Candlelight Creek, No Town, is causing some attention, in that neighborhood, ana it seems it is likely to be of more extent than was at first ' supposed. The ground is marked.out and shepherded along the crown of the range from Stewart's Hill to near the township, and the population of the locality is increasing. -"Whoever has the good fortune to first get an abundant supply of water to command this range will cause "the world to wonder at his luck." There are rumors of a new alluvial discovery in the Little Grey district, but there does not appear to be any reliable foundation for the report, beyond the. arrival of a large parcel oi gold from that locality. From Murray Creek reports of the richness of the quartz reefs continue to arrive. The miuers throughout the lower diggings are forming great hop«s that Murray Creek and the Inaugahua will be a kind of paradise regaiued during the next summer. These expectations by al' accounts are well founded, for the reports from over the Saddle that have of late found their way into the papers are tame in comparison to the fairy tales of the '" Simmering crowns of <?old" one hears of at the Ahaura from returned visitors from the new land of promise. The usual fortnightly entertainment, under the auspices of the Grey mouth Literary Association, takes place on Friday evening, at Gilmer's nail. The Hewitt and Harris champion pedestrian sports commence on Saturday, and should the weather continue as it has been for the last few days, the racecourse will be in first-class order, and, no doubt, there' will be a large attendance. We notice that Mr James Johnston, who purchased the right to the Grand Stand, has lowered the prices of admission to the moderate sum of 2s Gd, and he also announces his intention to supply a first-class luncheon both on Saturday and Monday, quite equal to that Erepared by him nt the Coal Mines for rovernor Sir G. Bowen. On Tuesday last we received from a miner at Callaghan's Gully, a specimen of a metal which was found mixed with the gold found iv the claim. The substance has aince been properly analysed by Mr J. Greenwood, who pronounces it to be pure silver. This is a discovery of considerable importance, and ought to cause miners iv the district to be very' canti>us as to the stuff they throw away in their. search for gold. Mr Inspector Shallcrass, the chief of the Nelson Police Force, is at present on a tour of inspection in the Grey Valley. Changes are likely to be made in the Idealisation of some of the men, but the Inspector has expressed his satisfaction at the general efficiency of the force in the mining districts. Ik order to incite efforts to manufacture bagging from native flax tow, the Flax Association of Canterbury have decided to offer two prizes— one of L 5 for the best sample of yarn suitable to the manufacture of bagging spiyi f roni tow, and one of LlO for the best material made from such yarn suitable to the manufacture of bags, woplpacks, and similar goods. We understand that a writ has been served upon the defendants in the late tarring and feathering case at Coal Creek. The action will be tried, before Judge Ward at the next sitting of the District Court, and promises to be one ; of the most amusing that has ever been brought before a court in this district. Damages are laid at L2OO. The Mayoralty of Hokitika seems to be at a discount, no less than four councillors— namely, Messrs Tait, Jack, Todd, and Macfarlane being proposed, all of whom declined to stand. Ultimately Councillor J. B. Clark was proposed as a dernier resort, and accordingly that gentleman was elected. " ■ The rush to Sullivan Creek at Duffers is likely to ' turn out well. Gold has been struck in another; claim, and fresh ground I has been marked out at both ends of the supposed course of the lead. Half -Ounce Creek is begiuning to reyive again, and 'the beautiful weather we arc-now enjoying has a good deal to do with this improvement. , A case of death by alcoholic pcisou occurred on Tuesday morning, at Hokitika, under very distressing circumstances. The deceased was the wife of Carl Robloff, a baker in Hokitika, who; is generally respected for his industry and good character. Mrs Eohloff, who was addicted to drinking, had, it appears by. the evidence adduced at the inquest, got possession of a bottle of brandy, and had taken the wholeof it. The husband was away at work at the time, and the son, a lad of about fifteen years of age, thinking that his mother, was only laboring under ordinary intoxication, did not call 'in assistance in time to prevent a. fatal result. The medical evidence given at the inquest proved that death was the result of congestion of the brain, caused by the enormous. quantity of alconolic" liquor which the deceased had taken. A considerable amount of mining property has been needlessly sacrificed at Half-Ounce recently. From the nature of the work on this lead, it required time to prove the ground, and, in consequence, the majority of the claimholders were deeply in debt before {.-they obtained any returns. The business people, from some unaccountable course,' appear to have made a rush 1 at a claim or chare, as the case may be, as soon as the result of a washing was made known. The effect of these sharp measures has been to drive some of the most enterprising men in the district' out of it. These men, most.of whom are fairly honest in their, intentions to meet their liabilities, if they were given a chance, have preferred to give , iv at once, ratherjthan submit to the system of csp'tonnage which, unfortunately for the progress of the '

Half-Ounce district, has become so prevalent. And after all, this inj udicious pressure does nui much benefit either creditor or debtor. At the last sittin" of the Court at Ahaura a man was summoned for a small amount. A verdict was given for the plaintiff, the defendant not disputing the claim. After the case was decided the litigents, who were apparently irreconcilable ten minutes before, adjourned to a neighboring hotel to "have a drink," and the following conversation took place : — After passing; their opinion on the quality of the beer, the creditor enquired of the debtor " what steps should be taken next?", r The unfoi^unate, "debtor replied that "he was ready to go to gaol, " And now, here I am, put me in the logs." Whereupon the unflinching creditor makes answer and says "Put you in gaol; no, I'll see you first ; it's just the very thing you want, and it would be like putting a fish into water." The upshot was that both parties went home minus the day's expenses, and thinking they would have saved money by not goins; to law. Another man confessed judgment iv a case in which he was defendant, and then he applied to the Court • ' for his expenses ." The Court informed the defendant that as he had admitted the debt he could not be allowed costs, wheu the man said that "he could have admitted the debt at his claini, without being dragged all this distance to do so." This mode of proceedure caused quite a panic at first, but people are getting used to it now, and no notice is taken of it.' „_....,.■>>.. A traveller on his way from Waitotara to Wanganui, along the beach, came upon an upturned coffin on the sand. It was empty and lidless, but in a good state of preservation. The melancholy intelligence reached the Ahaura on Tuesday of the death of Master William Murphy,; a nephew of Mr Dennis M'Kenna, of Ahaura, which took place at Melbourne, on the 22nd August. Master Murphy went to Victoria by direction of his medical advisera some months ago, and he was expected back to New Zealand when the news of his death came. He was a bright intelligent boy, of a kindly and unassumiug disposition, and his early death among strangers has excited feelings of regret among a large circle of friends. By the annual report of the Acconntaut in Bankruptcy, recently published, it is shown that the number of bankruptcies in the past year was 715, as againso 520 in the previous year. Of these, 147 were residents on the West Coast Gold Fields, or double the proportion of the rest of the Colony. The u> crease is chiefly from hotel-keepers and miners. The Wellington Evening P at, referring! to the condition of Wanganui generally", says that that place now produces fifty per cent, of the bankrupt, criminal, aud divorce cases of the whole Province. The concluding portion of the report from the Telegraph department, submitted to the Assembly, refers to the "Telegram Libel Case," of which we have not yet heard the last- The Commissioner says — " It is, ! of course, essential importance that the public should be perfectly satisfied of the integrity of the telegraph officers. Out of all the departments of Government, it is the only one which depends for its success on the confidence of the people in its secrecy. Had the political Government only been attacked, Ministers would have passed it over, but, when the character and faithfulness of a . large. and. deserving, b._o.dy..pf .public servants • were involved in a common calumny, and an attempt made to ruin them in tbe estimation not only of the colonists here but of people in the Australian Colonies, it became the duty of Ministers to defend them. That this object has been successfully attained 13 best evinced by the enormous increase in the business of the department since the accusation was made. [What else can the public do? If there had been anctbsr "shop," the Commissioner would have to tell another tale.] A great improvement may be noticed in the appearance of the Ahaura township during the last few weeks. The' Court-house is finished, and will be formally .opened for public business to-day. The main street has been re-formed, and portions of the back streets have been drained and repaired. Preparations are under way to swing the new punt across the river near the town, and altogether it would seem that "something is going to happen." The main road through the Valley, it is rumored, will be commenced at once by the Provincial authorities, and if there be any foundation for the report, it will be a masterly move on the part of tbe Executive, for it will completely take the wind out of the sails of the "radicals " who are putting the Nelson Government; on its trial at preseut. The main road is the great peg on which the charges against the Government are to be hung. It will not matter much to the residents in this part who makes the road, provided it be done ; and if tbe present agitation leads to such a result, it will have done some good. The following is an extract from a Southern "paper 'regarding the prevailing practice of sleeping in Church. It is a skit on Tennyson's famous " Charge of the Six Hundred," and may pos3ibly have some local application : — " O'er their devoted heads, while the law thundred, snugly and heedlessly snored the six hundred! Great was the preacher's .heine, screwed on was all the steam, neither with shout nor scream could disturb the dream of the six hundred. Terrors to the right of them, terrors to the left of them, terrors in front of them — hell itself plundered of its most awful things, weak-miuded preacher flings — kindly he spoke and well, all on deaf ears it fell, vain was his loudest yell., volleyed and thundered ; for caring, the truth to tell, neither for heaven or hell, snored the six hundred. Still, with redoubled zeal, still he spoke oilwarcl, aud in wild appeal, striking with hand- and : heel, making the pulpit reel, shaken and sundered; called them the church's, foes, threatened with endless woes ; faintly the answer rose (proof of the^r sweet repose) from the united nose of the six hundred. Referring to the recent debate on the proposed reduction of the gold duty, and the opinions expressed 'by Mr Harrison; the Hokitika Evening Star says : — We presume that the writer in the; Ross Neios will have altered his opinions on the subject by this time, seeing that late telegrams inform us that tbe member for the Totara district not only voted on the same side of the House as Mr Harrison wheu the division took place upon the resolution of Mr O'Neill, but we are told " that Mr Tribe supported Mr Harson's views in opposition to Mr O'Neill's •motion for the redaction of the gold duty." This, we think, is tolerably conclusive ; and at the same time we must confess that it is most satisfactory to know that .at . I6ast one independent journal, which is supposed by a fiction to lead public opinion in the Ross district, holds' 'opinions totally at variance with those of Mr Tribe on the question of class taxation. It might have, been advisable for the writer in the Ross News to have been carried by his imagination a little, farther, so as to picture the attitude of Mr Tribe when opposing the reduction of the gold duty. We .do not, however, entirely agree with the' statement that Mr Harrison acted with meanness or treachery in speaking and: voting as he did.' He always opposed the reduction of the gold duty, and we are bound to suppose thao his ,present constitu; enls were perfectly aware of his opinions on the subjept when they chose him as tneir re--1 prosentativQ. The miners of the Grey valley

may possibly think that it is advisable to ' allow the gold duty to remain as it is, while the miners of the Totara and Hokitika districts may think differently. Good reasons may be brought forward in support of either side of the question. ■■'/- The Independent says: — "A gentleman wao has just come to New Zealand by the Halcione paid a visit to Mount Cook Barracks, where the experimental operations under Mr Smith, the Government Armorer, are going on. Coming direct from Sheffield with ten years' experience as manager of a large steel company there, his opinion is espe<eiaUy,vahiable. v we-say»that -he- was* delighted and surprised at what he saw, we are not using adequate language' to express his state of mind. Examining the ingot of steel we described the other day he pronounced it to be superior to the best English steel. He undertakes to sell 100,000 tons of it in England at an , advance upon tbe price now ruling there, namely L6O a ton. It is in his opinion fit for the finest kinds of cutlery. He examined the furnace and Band, and on learning the simple process by which in two operations the same result is attained as in fourteen operations at home, be could not find words strong enough tq express his surprise and pleasure. The experiment of Mr Smith is in his eyes convincing evidence tkat New Zealand has in the hitherto ' useless sand' a mine of wealth greater than in all her gold fields. "