Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1094, 30 January 1872, Page 2

The children attending the English Church Sunday School will hold a pic-nic at Tivoli Gardens, to-day, weather permitting. This is a substitute for the annual pic-nic which was spoiled by the weather on New Year's day. It will be seen in our advertising columns that the price of bread will be, raised to Is the four-pound loaf on and after the Ist of February. At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday Peter Endhand was fined LI, or in default 48 hours imprisonment, for beiug drunk and disorderly. Michael Brown was brought up charged with wilfully setting fire to a dwelling-house at German Gully, belonging to Emma Senior. The case was remanded for a week. The business transacted at the Greymouth Post Office during the past year shows a considerable increase over that of 1870. The number of letters xeceived was 87,265, and newspapers 89,279 ; letters despatched 99,259, and newspapers 74,747 ; total number of letters 186,524, total of newspapers 164,026. This shows an increase over 1870 of 12,743 letters and 39,417 newspapers. In the Savings Bank, during the year, 159 new accounts were opened, representing L 5731 7s ; 758 additions were made to open accounts, amounting to L 9423 ; total deposits madfi, L 15.154 7s. There were 558 withdrawals, representing L 12.463 8s Id ; leaving a balance in favor of deposits of L 2690 18s lid. There weie 1342 money ordeis issued, representing L 6588 Is 9d ; and 426 paid, representing LIS9I 8s sd. The bridge at Red Jack's Cieek at Camp" town has been repaired, after a delay of over twelve months since it first became dangerous for traffic. The removal of the Coal Creek bridge from its former site to its present more secure position is completed. Mr John M'Lean, of Ahaura, was the contractor for both works. The bridge across the deep bye-wash, on the track from the TwelveMile Landing to Curtis' ferry, on the Arnold River, which was carried away during a recent flood, will bo rebuilt by Thursday this week, and the road will then be open for traffic. Mr J. M. Langdon, the new proprietor of Curtis' ferry will be at the expense of constructing this work. The Tauranga correspondent of the Thames Guanttan reports that communication between the Thames and Auckland is becoming more regular and constant. Four casks of iron-sand have been shipped from Auckland by the Bank of New Zealand per the City of Auckland, for London. The sample was, we believe, forwarded for testing purposes. Mr Rolleston, Mr Justice Chapman, of Dunedin, and the Hon. Mr Mantell, of Wellington, have been gazetted members of the Board of Governors of the New Zealand Institute for the year 1872. A telegram from Wellington in the Press states that Mr E. J. Wakefield has issued the prospectus of a company to establish a new morning paper, {called the Morning Advance. By way of Fiji a report reaches us that H.M.S. Rosaria has sheltered and destroyed some towns upon the island of Gunu, in retaliation for the murder of a white man and some colored men. Quite an exodus is taking place at Charleston. The Westport Times of Thursday says, "Charleston seems to be in a state of ferment in consequence of the many departures for the reefs atid elsewhere. Properties of all descriptions ar3 for sale, and, judging from the way things are going on at present, Charleston will shortly be reduced for a time at least to a thinly populated district. With regret we learn that Mr Thomas Mackay, who, in company with Dr Hector and Mr Arthur Collins recently made an overland tour to the West Coast, met with a serious accident by a fall from his horse which became restive, and shied shortly after leaving Westport for Mount Rochfort. Mr Mackay had the misfortune to break his thigh bone in the fall, and now lies in the Westport Hospital, under the care of l)r. Thorpe. A trotting match for L2O a side came off on Monday afternoon last between Mr Bird's mare and one belonging to Messrs Stevenson and M'Glashan. The distance was about four and a half miles, the course being from I the Bridge Hotel, Nelson, to a spot some half a mile this side of Richmond. Mr Bird's mare broke into a canter shortly after starting, as she did also several times afterwards, naviug on each occasion of course to be checked and turned round, while Mr M'Glashan's maintained a steady pace throughout and came in the winner with ease, doing the distance in about 18 minutes. A price has been arranged between the Auckland Provincial and General Governments for the land and plant of the Auckland and Drury Railway. The land originally cost the province L 37,000, and is to be handed over to the General Government for L 20.000. For the plant the General Government will pay L 600 0; its cost to the province was L 13,000. Considering the circumstances under which the expenses referred to were incurred by the province, those may be deemed very favorable terms to Auckland, and the Proviucial Government may be congratulated upon having so successfully got clear of this weight of dead capital, which may now be expended on necessary works; Some suspicion was excited in the minds of the Customs authorities at Melbourne lately, by the peculiar appearance presented by a parcel of tea which arrived in the steamship Claud Hamilton from New Zealand. This shipment consisted of about ten tons of tea, which was packed in 210 bags and 14 soft goods cases. The peculiarity of the packing, so different to the usual manner in whioh tea is always imported, attracted the attention of the Customs authorities, and the health' 'officer of the city, Mr Girdleatone, was communicated with in order to ascertain if the tea was fit to go into consumption. On the 17th instant, Mr Girdlestone, accompanied by an expert, visited the bond where the tea is at present stored. A very short examination showed that, the article was quite unfit for use. It had evidently been at one time thoroughly saturated by seawater and dried by some process, no attempt having baeu made to extract the salt. When a small portion of the tea is tasted, a strong , flavor of sea-salt is at first the only thing perceptible, but soon afterwards a very

sickly ;flavor succeeds, which is not got rid of for some time, the disagreeable flavor being distinctly perceptible for fully an hour '.This -tea is beUeved to form portion of the cargo of the Hindu, a vessel that was wrecked some time ago on the New Zealand coast. The whole cargo was bought for a very small sum (about L4O), and this is the fourth or fifth shipment of this tea that has -been introduced into the Melbouiae market. Although there is not the slightest doubt of the unwholesome character of the article, the health officer does not " consider himself empowered by the Act to seize the bulk, though if the tea were being retailed, proceedings could be taken against the persons selling. There has already been fully 100,0001 b of this poisonous rubbish brought into the Melbourne market, the greater portion of which, it is said, has passed through the hands of a member of the late Ministry, who is also proprietor of the present shipment. The value of appealing to the General Government instead of invoking the immovable Provincial authorities, is exemplified in the case of the comparatively recent meeting at Reef ton. On this subject, yesterday's West Coast Times says :— " It will be remembered that the resolutions then passed were addressed to the Governor in Council, and they asked for roads and a Resident Warden. The roads have been ordered, Mr Dobson, Provincial Engineer, has been directed to take steps to carry out his surveyed road from Reefton to the Landingpand to survey from thence to Christy's Junction of the Buller— there connecting with the Buller towing track. He has also received instructions to proceed with the survey of the proposed road by the Grey Valley. The other request has met with an equally ready response. Mr C. Broad, Warden at Charleston, has received directions to take immediate charge of Reefton, and he proceeds on Wednesday next; to enter upon his new appointment. Dr Giles will hold courts, and perform the duties of Warden at Charleston and Brighton, as well as at Westport, his present headquarters. •■■•--.,. A very serious accident happened lately at the Thames to a man named Andrew Riley, one of the employees of the lessee of the Moauataiari tramway. He was stationed on the line at' No: 1 arid No. ! 2" stations, his duties being to attend to the trucks passing up and down. It seems thai he was standing at No. 1 station waiting to receive a truck loaded with quartz which was coming down from No. 2, when suddenly the hook attaching the truck to the wire rope gave^way, and the truck rushed down the line with great velocity. Seeing this Riley seized a long piece of wood and tried to check the truck . but when the. latter met the impediment/ instead of stopping, it turned right over, caught Riley in its course, and knocked him into one of the tailing pits of the Moanataiari Company's battery. He was speedily rescued, : but is in a sad condition, for it was ascertained that his knee-cap was dislocated, his back badly hurt, and his arm sprained. There were also several minor contusions on various parts of his person. He was immediately sent to the hospital. The Press of Wednesday says :— Yesterday was the hottest day which has been experienced this season in Canterbury. From the early morning a furious nor'wester blew, enveloping Christchurch in clouds of dust. The destruction among the grain crops must have been very serious in some parts of the country where the grain was nearly ripe. We have been informed that whole fields have been so damaged that they will not be worth cutting at all; and no doubt when the news arrives from the different outlying, districts it will be found thaj; the Province has sustained a very serious loss indeed. The heat for a time during the; day was most oppressive; In several places in Lytteltoff* the thermometer registered in the shade 97deg, while in the office of the port officer it was over lOOdeg. Tn the. sun the thermometer rose to 120deg. During the afternoon, however, a refreshing south-west breeze sprung up. At the meeting of the Melbourne Hospital Committee, Dr Laurence, the senior resident medical officer, reported — what was pretty well known previously — that New Zealand is addicted to the habit of trying to get rid of its pauper incurables by forwarding them to Victoria. The hospital' secretary, however, has been for some time aware of this little weakness on the part of our transmarine friends, and has had occasion to communicate with Mr Leslie Moody, our immigration agent, several times on the subject. It is not easy, and is perhaps impossible to . prevent ourselves from being victimised at all in this manner ; but it is quite easy and possible to check the evil to some extent. If we cannot prevent the influx of paupers from New South Wales and South Australia by land, we can impede it from any colony more especially as there is only one Victorian port to which these unwelcome immigrants are likely to come. The law imposes a penalty on any captain of a vessel wilfully bringing persons here who are sure to be? come a burden on our charities ; and it is incumbent on our authorities to watGh incoming vessels, particularly intercolonial steamers, vigilantly, and to enforce that penalty whenever it is incurred. At present the law is almost a dead letter. Captains and owners of vessels would soon get tired of bringing paupers here if they found the game didn't pay. A strange statement respecting the manner in which the Tichborne case is being conducted was made lately. Serjeant Ballantine spoke of Mr Hawkins' cross-examining from printed copies of the shorthand writer's notes, which, moreover, had been furnished to the Judge, but said the claimant's counsel had no such copy ; they could not afford it. The Attorney-General retorted that the claimant had four counsel, and kept his brougham. The Judge also remarked on the fact that the claimant had given 200 guineas for a horse. It was quite clear, he added, that the claimant's case could only be carried en at a great expense ; md, as he had become bankrupt, somebody else must: be bearing that expense ; for '.'.Lawyers, nave more sober sense, than to argue at their own expense." To this Mr Serjeant Ballantine replied that "counsel, haying undertaken to conduct a cause, would deem it disgraceful and dishonorable to relinquish it if they found the money could hot be found." The Lord Chief Justice said if the counsel were doing that it wa3 very much to their credit, whereupon the Attorney-General remarked : " It must not be supposed that because that remark is made on one side it; does not apply to another. I don't think we ought to stand here as as our own trumpeters ; and I regret such remarks very much. They all knew that if they engaged in a cause they must carry it through " •■■'■. A public meeting was at held at the Oddfellows' Hall, Stafford, on Saturday evening last, for the purpose of considering the question of rating made mining property. Tho Chairman of the Arahura Road Board, Mr R. J. Seddon took the chair. The hall was well filled in every part. The Chairmap opened the meeting by stating what bad been done in the' way of opposing the rating of mining property, and observed that the rate would not pay the expense of collecting, and ho believed if the miners were : firm it would not be insisted upon. The following resolutions were then carried: — "That in ttie opinion of this meeting it was a great injustice for the representative of the Government, \iz , the County Chairman, to insist o|n the Road Board having the miners inoluded in thp ordinary rate now about to be struck in the district." — "That in the event of Mr • 11, H. Lahman refusing to sign the present

rate-roll of the Arahura Road Bjard, arid thereby san'cuion their action, that ! ,ia;deputa-' tion of miners be electediit a public ijmeetiDg called for the purposeibejlent to H^kitikiftp^ Mr Labjnari, to inform him that tiHe miners will -nofc'lpay^he rate, and to insist on his sanctioning the action of the Board, and pay the money due to .them." Copies of the re- j solutions passed" " were "'ordered*^ 1 be*"forwarded ,to Mr John White, Mr Barff, p?d County Chairman. Mr yCoos, who was in the hall, stated that he did not agree entirely with what had boensaid-wt the meet^gr-He^ hoped, however,, ;the meeting .would be successful in their endeavors. The Payment to Provinces Act stated very, clearly .that mining property must be rated, arid it ' must be patent to everyone that the larger "the rate roll of a district the larger would 'be the subsidy from the ' Government. He would be glad to hear, at the same t?me, that miners were relieved of any additional taxation. . • ■'•'■■■'.