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Grey River Argus, Volume XI, Issue 1019, 1 November 1871, Page 2

This evening the members of the Greymouth Volunteer Fire Brigade intend opening a reading room for the use of its members, which will be supplied with draughts and chess, together with London, American, Colonial,, and Provincial newspapers, magazines, &c. As soon as the funds of the Brigade will admit it, it is intended to form a library in connection with the same. Several of the defendants who were fined at Camptown on October 25th waited on the Magistrate, after the adjournment of the Court, with a view to getting the fines reduced. The Magistrate heard the arguments urged in mitigation of the penalties, and taking the circumstances into consideration, informed the parties that such of them as would take out retail licenses within twenty-four hours would have their fines reduced to L 5. Four of the defendants took out the licenses and paid the reduced fine, and the fifth paid the full penalty, LlO, with costs. The price of cattle at Mr Guinness's cattle sale, Ahaura, as reporced in our issue of Monday, should have been from L 6 to LlO 10s, instead of L 6 to L 6 10s. The Wizard Oil Prince's entertainment at the Volunteer Hall last night was crowded, who testified their applause by purchasing numerous bottles of the " ile." The annual ball of the Greymouth Rangsrs will be held on the 9th instant (Prince of Wales Birthday), at the Volunteer Hall. At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, Thomas Bailey, landlord of the Full and Plenty Hotel, was charged with assaulting Margaret Edwards, on the 25th ultimo. It appeared from the evidence that plaintiff was employed by defendant in the capacity of housemaid, and on the day in question she took some clothes into the dining-room to iron, when defendant ordered her out, and on her not complying he took the clothes off the table and threw them into the passage. Plaintiff followed him out with a flat-iron in her hand, which defendant alleged she threw at him, and which struck him. A struggle ensued, and defendant, according to plaintiff's statement, struck her in the face with his fist, giving her a black eye. Several witnesses were 'called, but none of them saw the assault committed, though they all saw blood on the plaintiff's face, and "heard" the scuffle going on in the passage. His Worship having heard the case, and Mr Newton on behalf of plaintiff, and Mr Perkins for the defence, fined defendant Is, each party to pay their own costs. — Estate of Hartley Studdart (M. Kennedy, trustee) v. Finn. Claim for L 4 10s, on an IOU, Judgment by default. During the remainder of the session the House sits every day, and at half-past one. The Hokitika Hospital Committee, at the last meeting, on Monday night, resolved to commence an action for libel immediately against the proprietor and editor of the West Coast Times, the cost of the prosecution to be defrayed by the members of the Committee who approved of the proceedings. In the Assembly, on the 24th ult., the Gold Mining Districts, Gold Miners' Drainage, Land Transfer Act Amendment Bills passed through Committee, and were read a. third time. For want of other news, and pending the growth of gigantic gooseberries and gigantic swindles, the Auckland papers have been recording the measurements of hens' eggs of abnormal dimensions. At the Resident Magistrate's Court, Cobden, yesterday, before C. Whitefoord, Esq., R.M., Walber Hatley was brought up by Senior Sergeat Goodall, charged with stealing a silk scarf and a silk handkerchief, value LI 6s, from the shop of Mr James Hayes, draper, Ahaura, on the 29th ultimo. The ptisoper pleaded guilty to the charge, but receiving a previous pood character from Sergeant Goodall, he was sentenced to one month's imprisonment, with hard labor. At the last meeting of the Royal Humane Society of England, the Society's bronze medal was awarded to John Gurney, and a testimonial on vellum to James M'lntosh, for saving a man named Robertson, who jumped overboard while intoxicated, at Port Chalmers, in five fathoms of water. The occasion was on the departure of the ship Otago for England, in February last. Our reportof the occurrence states that, "although there was a strong wind and a nasty sea on at the time, the second officer, followed by one of the boys of the Otago, sprang overboard and placed a lifebuoy over the man's head and shoulders, thus supporting him until all three were rescued by the pilot-boat which happened to be close handy. " M 'Intosh was the boy referred to ; and Mr Gurner, the second mate of the Otago. The Boss News, of Monday, gives the following mining items : — The majority of the deep claims during the last fortnight have suffered no diminution in their returns, and the sluicers in the various gullies have had a merry time of it. From the out districts the news is still satisfactory, although nothing heavy is reported. The greatest attraction lately has been the new rush, near the Totara Punt, to which a great many men have paid, within the last week, marked attention, and the place now assumes a very lively appearance. Donnelly's contributes a fair share of metal, and the Totara is still supporting a great many plodders. Donoghue's and Redman's- -especially the latter, afford ponvincing proofs of the faiMi the miners located in that neighborhood have in the' ground they are dealing with The heavy flood during the latter part of last week had no effect on the dams in Donnelly's Creek, but did a little damage to one or two of the tail-races, which will, probably, give the men a few days labor to repair. On the whole, the prospects of this district have an upward tendency, and when the Koh-i---nor is operated on, and the Sailors' Gully, claims get in full swing, the neighborhood of

Ross will assume a very lively appearanco. The Old Wbim parly on Jones^ Flat are carrying six faces from the capstan on the Morning Star, along tie Standard boundary, and are putting in 7ft 6in and Bft legs, with 9ft caps. They work their ground by three shifts, and employ eleven men below and two on top each shift), Last week's work gave a return of lOloz of gold. The miners in the Cassius claim are blocking out and putting in a main drive, with 9ft Gin caps in the drive. They now employ twenty men below in each shift, and work three shifts, with seven men on top' dttring the twentj - four hours, cxolusire of dn'vers, &c. From 5 to 9ft of first-class wash b being taken out at present. j The report of the Royal Commission (says the Spectator) on the Supply of Coal is out. It comes pretty much to this. Professor Stanley Jevon3 was right, and we are burning our coal fields up. If everything goes on as, at present, our supply will be done by the year 2000. If we get down to 4000 ft, which is possible, but will be costly and dangerous, and if the population increases in a decreasing ratio, it may last till 2230. Long before either time the, price of coal will rise very sensibly indeed. There is a limit to the rise, of course, for at a certain price per ton foreign coal could be brought in, but still all manufactures would be very severely affected. The best hope is in a new motor not requiring such a consumption of bottled sunlight to feed it, but that seems far off ; and we fear we must look forward to a time wheiyEnglandwillagaui.be an agricultural country very much burdened with debt, and with a population," organised on Swiss principles, of about ten millions. The debt, as Mr Gladstone advised, should be paid before that. " An inquest was held at the Tuapeka Mouth Hotel, Tuapeka Mouth, on the 21st tilt., on the body of David Taylor, a laborer, aged about 50. It appeared that the deceased and a man named Parker left Lawrence for Tuapeka Mouth, a distance of 17 miles, in a three-horse dray, at 4 p.m. on the 18th ult. They were very much the worse of drink, and also carried a bottle of gin with them, which they drank on the way. At a hill called the Black Pinch, about 10 miles from Lawrence, it is supposed that the deceased was in the act of putting on the break, and that whilst doing so he was knocked down by the dray. Anyway, the wheel passed over his left leg, catting it nearly off, and causing him to bleed to death. Parker fell from the dray at the same time. He was too drunk to render any assistance, and being so, he went to sleep and knew nothing of what had occurred to deceased till he awoke in the morning and found him lying dead. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death. The Sydney Mail publishes a leading article in praise of New Zealand flax rope. It says: — "The character of the rope made of the Phormium tenax is excellent. Most ot the captains that have given it a fair trial prefer it to Manilla for all running gear, on account of its superior elasticity, durability, and softness. There are qualifications of this statement, it being said by some to be not so good as Russian hemp rope for water purposes, or for standing rigging, though the latter would be soon driven from the market if the Phormium rope were sold at 45s per cwt. In strength it stood the British Government test well — nay, in the 'breaking machine' it stood just double what the test for new hemp rope is. The hemp test is S4lbs. Some of the flax stood at 210lbs. There seems thus no doubt about the rope-making capabilities of this fibre." We have been favored (says the SoutJiern CrossJ with a perusal of a private letter sent by a gentleman in Auckland to a friend in Victoria who had forwarded LIOOO for investment in Thames stock. The responsibility of investing the money was declined, the reasons assigned for doing so being thus stated : — " Ido not feel justified in investing it on a field where there is so much mismanagement, and as a rule here the better the prospects of the claim the more change you have of losing your money, unless you wish to become a speculator, and join in the system of rigging the market. As lam aware your object is to have a safe investment, I unhesitatingly state there is no such thing here I may be able to make money for you, but the risk is too great. The Thames Gold Fields are undoubtedly the richest ever discovered, but you have les3 risk in Victoria, mining being carried on with more honesty and integrity of purpose." A little girl, of scarcely three years old, was lost near the Totara crossing last Sunday, but was found on Monday morning near the lagoon, having passed .a night in the open air. The child is 'the daughter of Mr James Thompson, of Ross, and strayed away when Mr Thompson and his family were about getting into a boat to go down the lagoon. Search was made for the child immediately on her being missed, and was continued during the night, but without avail. Yesterday morning, as Mr Reeves was returning to Hokitika from Ross, he overtook Mr Thompson and some other persons who were about to drag a water-hole, where they ex.pected to find the child's body. After he had left them he fancied he heard a child's cry, but concluded at first that it was but his own imagination, as he was at the moment thinking about the child. He soon, however, heard the cry repeated, and making his way to the spot, found the poor little thing lying amongst some flax bushes. -He then hailed the men who were dragging the water-hole, and restored the child to her father. She was in much better spirits than might have been expected under the circumstances. The Hawke's Bay Telegraph says :— "The inevitable consequence »f Mr Vogel's policy must be taxation, and we fear that in supporting that policy the colonists of New Zealand did not give the dark side of the question sufficient consideration. Mr Yogel himself stated that taxation was a necessary part of his scheme, bift this disagreeable feature of his policy was lost sight of by nearly all in their anxiety to share in the benefits of large expenditure of borrowed money. The public works scheme acted on the minds of the colonists, much in the same manner as the announcement of the discovery of a new and splendid gold field. It will now ; be the duty of the Assembly to provide the means of paying the interest of the new loan, and it is tolerably certain that a re-action will take place. Already fhe Colony is gioaning under a heavy weighty of taxation, and it is difficult to imagine any additional burden that. will be borne with any degree of pleasure to meet our increased and rapidly growing liabilities. The difference between the national debt of Great Britain and our own national debt is so vast that we hesitate drawing a comparison, but it ought to be known that the difference is in favor of England. The New Zealand debt has atlpresent reached L7?500,000, and as our population is but little over a quarter of a million, every man, woman, and child, being Europeans in the Colony are in debt to the extent of L3O, and they have to pay annually L 2 per head to meet the interest oc that debt. In 1870, the interest on the English National debt was L 24 270,000, which was equal to a charge ■>f hit 153 9d per head of the population. Tho difference in favor of England does not cease here, the interest of the National Debt is expended in England, and the creditors live within that country. The interest of the greater portion of the New Zealand debt-rr if not the whole of it— leaves the Colony, and drains it of half a million pounds sterling every r "year. 5