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Grey River Argus, Volume XI, Issue 994, 3 October 1871, Page 2

A new issue of postage stamps has taken t place which may lead to considerable con- | fusion arising until the old issue is used up. The penny stamps are now printed the color of the old sixpenny stamps ; the sixpennies the color of the old twopennies, and the twopennies the color of the old pennies. The old stamps will be received at all the offices until the issue is exhausted. We understand that the Government has stated its willingness to carry the telegraph to Motueka, as requested by the Kelson Provincial Council, last session. Leonard Boor, Esq.," M.R.C.S, England. L S. A.L., has been gazetted Medical Officer of the Nelson Lunatic Asylum and Hospital, and Provincial Surgeon for the Province. A miner, named David Hastie, charged with stealing specimens from the Tokatea claim, Thames, has been sentenced to nine months' imprisonment.

Rifle shooting, which has benn laid aside during the wincer months, is once more becoming the order of the day amougst our local volunteers. Tho first competition of the season — for the purpose of selecting ten men to fire in the company matches, &c. — having been concluded yesterday morning. The late bad weather has entirely prevented any practice until the last few days, so the scores- are not up to what may bo expected

■When the men get well into training. Tho follow i ml' .are the names and scores of the team,:— Volunteer Paul, 43 points; Volunteer Ohaii-berlain, 42 points ; Volunteer Dr Morice, 42 points ; Ensism Hall, 36 points ; Volunteer Broadbent,- 36 points ; Volunteer Moss, 36 points ; Volunteer J. Smith, 34 points ; Volunteer Revell, 34 points ; Volunteer Simmons, 33 points ; Volunteer G. Smith, 33 points. Some of the good shots of last year will be missed from the ten, but a3 any member of the company has the right to challenge one of the team between each match, we may yet see some alteration in the list. Challenges have been issued to the following companies .—First Westland, Hokitika; No. 1 Company, Wellington; Thames •Kitie Association ; No. 1, Gity Guards, Dunedin ; and the Napier Corps. Some of these are well-known shooting companies. Challenges may be expected from the corps our men beat last year, so it behoves them to "keep their powder dry," and practice freely if they mean to retain their laurels. Persons who have been awarded the New Zealand war medal are now requested to send their applications for the medal to the officer commanding the Militia district within which they reside, instead of to the officer commanding the Militia and Volunteers at the chief town of the Province. Jopeph M 'Mullen Dargaville has been gazetted a captain in the Auckland Sappers and Miners Volunteers. In the course of the debate on the address in reply, Mr Stafford remarked, in reference to the paragraph' in the (>overnor's speech, anent the coiiditional-parilon men, " that he was not prepared to say th.H the desire of Fenians at home to establish a Republic in Ireland was not a praiseworthy one." A party organized by one or two publicspirited gentlemen in Te Papa, have started for Kairaai, for the purpose of prospecting for gold which is known to exist there. That portion of the country has always been highly spoken of by persons who have seen the various gold fields of New Zealand. The place is a spur of the great Coromandel rana;e, and at one portion of ifc the hills form a kind of amphitheatre, at the foot of which there is supposed to bo a large deposit of the precious metal. One of the younger sons of Viscount Canterbury, the Hon. Johu Manners Suttoi:, left the colonies by the Gieat Britain, a few clays since, with the intention, it is rumored, , cf following the example of many other junior members of the aristocracy, and engaging in commercial pursuits. By the same vessel. Professor Horsley, the most scientific, musician in Australia, sailed for England. Tho quostion of taxing absentees has again cropped up in the Victorian Parliament.. Mr Zeal urging that there was a good precedent in the practice adopted in the mother country. For example, if a person in the colony invested a sum of money in English funds, he would have to pay an income tax to the Imperial Government before he could draw the proceeds ; and the same with the colonial shareholders of the English banks in the Colony. Mr Duffy confesses that he, with, no doubt, many others, has been desirous of finding some method of reaching the absentees with larj»e incomes ; but he had not becu able to find a precedent for legislation in any country. In the House of Representatives a few days ago, Mr Stewart moved that in the opinion of this House, it is desirable that the system of grand juries should he abolished within this colony. — Mr Martin Lightband supported tho motion, and thought one of the best and most weighty reasons in faror of the .abolition of tbe grand jury system was, that ifc would be the means of infusing into common juries the intelliimn)-. rmotftfqa... tions possessed oy tliose who were, under xj, w present system, drawn as grand juror 3. — Mr Curtis, Sir David Monro, and Mr Collins spoke against tho motion. — Mr Fox, in an eloquent speech, supported tho motion. After further discussion it was negatived. Lately, the number of serious accidents, sudden deaths, .and misfortunes which have happened in this colony has been far in excess of the average. Scarcely a telegram is received" from any quarter but it gives news of one or more lives lost or endangered ; hardly a -week goes by bnt we have had to record death or fatal accident occurring to some residents in every Province. At home, speculators have discussed the fact that murders and suicides seldom occur singly, and they have generally agreed that to the force of example acting npon morbid temperaments is to be ascribed the frightful circumstance. But we also know that great calamities in the world seem to follow the same rule. Earthquakes, shipwrecks, disastrous fires, and such horrors, occur in succession after periods of calms, and are again followed by calms. Are we in New Zealand now passing through one such period of accident? aud sudden deaths? Qur files just to hand seem to bear out such a sup? position. Scarcely one of them but gives details of "death by drowning" or "another serious acciddht."

With regard to the last fortnightly crushing of the famous Caledonian mine, at the Thames, the correspondent of the Southern Cross writes: — "The last fortnight's yield has disappointed folks : more gold was expected, and to excuse the apparent falling off it is industriously reported that all the specimens were not crushed — that a few were reserved, to start the current fortnight with. Now I have made close inquiries on the point, and am satisfied that there is no holding back iv any quarter. lam of opinion that the indifferent yield (if 54600z may be so termed) is due to the not so rich as usual quality of the specimens, which, although showy, lacked substantiality. The general stuff also was not up to the mark. It is to be hoped that the next fortnight will give a better yield. Jt has however not commenced auspiciously, for the main face did not look so well this morning as on Friday last. The run has either again made poor, or else has jumped still further to the right, and will next be uncovered at the back of the winze. The hanging-wall has also dropped very much : this, as I hinted in a former letter, Mas to be expected. Appearances were in favor of a sudden come-down. Appearancjs however are notoriously deceitful, especially in the case of the Caledonian, mine— hence I should nofc be at all surprised if they brightened again in a day or two. Gold is still being obtained out of tho specimen leader in No. 1 winze. Between 2001 b. and 3001 b. of second-rate stuff were taken out this morning.