THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1872.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1090, 1 February 1872, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1872.

In another column will be found full particulars of the last rush to the Teviot, from our own correspondent, and which bears testimony to the richness of the mineral resources of tha Grey Valley. This, combined with other news of an important nature, compels as to hold over our usual leading article and other items. „ An inquest was held yesterday afternoon, at the Town Hall, before R. C. Reid, Esq., J.P., on the body of Sophia Roff, 1 who was drowned in a waterhole on the previous day. The evidence was similar to the account given in yesterday's issue, and a ve-dict of " Accidentally drowned "was returned. .- The annual 'examination of candidates for the Nelson Provincial Scholarships took place at the School, at Cobden, on Monday last, under the superintendence of the Rev J. Mintosh, M: A., o£ Greymouth. We understand that five candidates . presented themselves, and that the examination lasted upwards of five hours, but the result will not be known until all the exercises are collected from the various sohools throughout the Provinces. '>..<::■■..' The writer of " Under the Verandah" in the Melbourne Leader gives it as his opinion that the British republic is indefinitely postponed. Tfie first misfortune which has befallen the Royal family has awakened the dormant and almost defunct feeling of loyalty, and we now hear of public meetings refusing a hearing to the very sentiments which three months before they applauded so vociferously. John Bull is a very worthy fellcnr, but at times a little inconsistent and illogical. Half the tall talk which haslately been indulged in ab London and the large towns in the north of England would have produced a revolution in any continental state, inasmuch^ as the government would at once have attempted to suppress the meetings, and thus have been brought into colh'aion with the people. But in England the gas is allowed to escape nosily but effectually,' and an explosion is thereby avoided. About daylight on Monday morning the residents nearthe Ross Hospital aud those at the upper end of Camp street were alarmed by a lond rushing sound, which arose suddenly, and was of short duration. It was found to be caused by a rush of water'f rpm the Fire Protection dam, which had? ourst, and allowed a heavy stream to flow down to the street, until the dam was nearly empty. Fortunately, no'seridus damage was done, as the water took its corirpe clear of improved ground, except in Mr Paul Hohn's and the Hospital Reserve. - ' During the discussion on the Estimates, I in the County Council, on Tuesday evening, it was stated by one of the members, in reference to the vote for gaols, that at Greymouth there is but one prisoner, and he occupies most of his time in playing cricket. So says the West Coast /Times, but the name of the person who said it is not given. It is a gross calumny— not as to the number of prisoners— but the prisoner in the Greymouth Gaol is kept rather hard at work road-re-pairing. , W. M'CawNelßon, policitor, of Blenheim, has been appointed a Crown Solicitor for the Nelson Judicial District. > With regard to the spread of dummyism in all branches of business a contemporary says : — "This peculiar and not very wholesome style of doing business has assumed a new shape. With dummy land selectors we have been long familiar, dummy shareholders have become recognised institutions; but until very recently dummy bills of exchange, that id, acceptances signed with' the names of men who had no real existence, were unknown in the Colony. The excuse set up is that the discounter looks exclusively at the goodness of the. second name, and the collateral security deposited in the shape of shares, and that there is no fraud, inasmuch as the capi- ' talist knows perfectly well that the acceptor is a myth when' the transaction is first offered to him. Would such an excuse be taken in the case of a prosecution for forgery?:; Bill discounters may like these sort of securities In ordinary bill transactions they have only one remedy ; in dummy cases there are two. If they cannot recover their money by the issue of a writ, -they cun always fall back upon the criminal law. It was probably for this reason that Overend, Gurney, and Co. (a? we have been told they did) preferred discounting forged acceptances." ' '•■. The ÜBual meeting of the Grey River Hospital Committee was held r last night.. Present: Messrs Nancarrow (chaii 1 ), Revell, Kennedy, King, Arnott, Greenwood, Mac-, lean, Gilirier, ' Eenrick, and Reid. The minutes having been read and confirmed, the correspondence was read as follows :— From W. H. Hayden, Hon. Sec. Ahaura SubCommittee, enclosing list of subscriptions and the BVtm of LI 1 9s ; from J. W." Jones ] and P. Bjorkluncl, secretary and treasurer of Callaghan'B Sub-Committee, enclosing L2s l3s; I from W. M'Kechnic, secretary of Clifton SubCommittee, enclosing LSO 14a 6d— making a total of Ll5O 14s 6d for that district. The letters , wore received with thanks. The "rcaaarer acknowled the receipt of the West- | land subsidy for October, L 44 13s 6d : do do , for November, L 45 17s 6d; sale of vegetables,, Ll2 12s; Nelson subsidy for Pecembcr, LG3 15s Gd ; second subscription West Ward, Ll4 14a ; and the amounts

stated above from the country districts. The ; Visiting Committee reputed the Hospital in ' a good condition ; the jatimber of patients on ; the : 31st December wer«;2l ; admitjleil during January, 25 j discharged, 17; died (Catanach), 1 ; regaining, 28. The accounts for the month, amounting to L 199 13s 4d, were laid on the table and passed. Tenders for supplies, &a, for the ensuing six months were accepted as follows:—B urials, L2. 17s 6d. J. Quinn ; milk, 34d per quart, W. Fairhall j coal, 20s per ton, . G. Martin ; meat, 4fd, Hildebrand and Weber; washing, L 6 10s per month, Harriet Dawson ; bread, BJd per 41b loaf, W. Dickie, Cobden ; groceries, Duncan M'Lean ; wines and spirits, Duncan M'Lean. ! The Committee 'for the month are Messrs Kennedy, Arnott/ and Eenrick. An enterprising party of miners, who have been engaged in sluicing operations for several years on the terraces of the righthand branch of the Waimea, have sent an order to Melbourne for LBOO worth of iron pipes, to be used in conveying water across the branch, thus avoiding the old method of fluming. The ground intended to be worked is of considerable extent, and there is no doubt but that the holders of it will reap a golden reward in return for the outlay they are now incurring. . ' Melbourne is witnessing at the present time some startling innovations upon ordinary church practice. The pulpit ha? been converted, for the nonce, at one place of public worship into a revolving lecture platform, each side presenting to the congregation a new creed. Thus, for instance, at the Unitarian church, in the absence of the regular pastor on leave, the congregation have had successively before them a Univers«Jist, a Darwinian, and a Spiritist. How far this experiment of rotatory services meets the spirit of the times is best manifested in the crowded state of the church since tlie ordinary ministration was discontinued. Of the character of the discourses it need only be said that they, are higher flights, intellectually, thah'dre attempted _ at the ordinary places of religious worship; and as lofty ascents excite the imagination of thd people, they are listened to with greater earnestness than is given to the discourses of men who limit pulpit instruction to hard, dry theological discussion. . What we all want to learn is tersely expressed in a late number of the London Tivies. We „will quote the paragraph : Political reforms are and must be ineffectual to regenerate the world.. They may assist in improving it ; they may clear the way for the operation of more powerful agencies ; but unless something more be added, the freest trade, the widest suffrage, the closest ballot, the most thorough-going abolition of privileges, ; wiU^not avail to prevent the recurrence of old* evils^as at'firsti '" It is said that in the celebrated Tichborne pocket-book, found at Wagga Wagga, and which has now reached England, there is a memorandum written in a cipher known but to one gentleman in this country, who we may mention saw^ the' pocket-book when it first began to be, talked about. The following words are dated as having been written fifteen years ago :— "I am Roger Tichborne; I hope to be Sir Roger." The evidence taken home against the present claimant's assertions of his personality may not, therefore, prove so ; valuable as it has been asserted it would. With the key to the cipher in his hands, Sergeant Ballantyne could do wonders. 1 The Legislative' Council has found : a champion in Colonel Brett. At a banquet' given by the Ellesmere Agricultural Association the gallant colonel is reported to have said. : — " He felt pleased and honored at having a seat in the Legislative Council. He considered it one of the greatest legislative houses in these seas. It included very eminent, talented men, and men who were devoted to the interests pi the countrymen who had got consciences and men who were determined to raise this country from ' the lethargy and embarrassment it had been laboring under for the last eight or nine years, at least since he had been in the country. During the last session— of course he spoke under correction— upwards of eighty Bills were brought into the House for approval and. sanction, and not one of those Bills went through without the deepest in- : terest, care, and attention being paid to it, and its merits and demerits fully discussed •for the guidance of young member, like himself and others. He was sure that any gentleman who took the trouble to peruse Hamard ought to be proud of that House. He would not make invidious comparisons, . but he contended that their care, attention, and industry, and their desire to do every-; thing for the advantage and prosperity of the country, were not to bfl surpassed by any legislative body. , • Mr Blewitt, the Otago Provincial Government interpreter, in his half-yearly report to the Warden for the district, deals mainly ; with the steps taken by him to enforce the taking out of miners rights by the Chinese residing in the Tuapeka district. Mr Blewitt sayß :— " I have on some occasions summoned over twenty Chinese in one day, most of whom 1 were tined more or less ; but I regret to state that, unless very strictly looked after, they will not take out rights, though in many othe- respects I must admit their conduct is good, lam strongly inclined to believe that if the old Victorian system of arresting .were adopted, they would, take out a greater number of rights." • The interpreter contemplated a visit to the Dome Pass, which he is of opinion would have resulted in a large addition to the revemie, but was prevented from carrying out his design by the prevailing bad weather. On a subsequent visit to that locality, thirty. Chinese were summoned ■ before the Magis- ; trite -for having no miner's rights, and all fined more or less, and about LSO collected that trip ;' but what the effect of these proceedings has been Mr Blewett does not pretend to say, although -he inclines to the belief that it has been wholesome. At the same time he recommends that an example should be made, as he -finds ''the furtner these men are from a court house the more secure they think themselves, and therefore are . indifferent and negligent as to their rights." ... :■ ■-■ .