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Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1108, 15 February 1872, Page 2

Information was received in town last night, that Mr Johnston, the Town Surveyor, '"who is now engaged surveying the lately-discovered track to Reefton, had been fortunate enough to strike another shorter and much easier route, whereby the distance Spverfhnrf^qfl&rje'r miles. Fuller""information will he to hand immediately. Sefton Bridge still remains in a dellapdated state, Unfit for any kind of traffic. We understand that the material for repairing it in a substantial manner is ordered, and may be expected every hour, when the work will be proceeded with energetically. Mr Wi"iam Smith, of Ahaura, had a narrow escape from drow jingin the Ahaura River, on Tuesday evening. He attempted to ford; the liver on horseback below M'Kenna's Brewery, and was carried away by the current which was rising rapidly. The horse was landed, first on an island near the junction of the two branches, and on the rider making a second attempt to reach the mainland, the horse and himself were carried into the main river, and swept down near the junction of the Grey. The horse eventually struggled ashore, and it is to the good qualities of the horse that this venturesome traveller owes his life. This recklessness is highly censurable, because, in this instance, the rider, from a long residence on the river, should know perfectly well it was dangerous to attempt crossing it. The Committee appointed to receive funds collected for the relief of sufferrers by the flood, and to distribute the same, have been engaged during the past few days in their charitable work, and have already distributed about L24o,in sums of from L 3 to Llo.among those whose need is most urgent. A distribution of blankets and clothing has also been made by the Ladies' Committee. Many more applications are anticipated, in town and country, and it is satisfactory to know that further contributions have been made to the fund. In town Ll5O has been subscribed in money, besides contributions of provisions and clothing, and, besides the vote of the County Council, another Government contribution—namely, LIOO from the Nelson Executive— has been promised. At Hokitika a meeting was to be held last evening, as a prel : minary --to a canvass for subscriptions, or such other*' steps as might be advised, and, as has already been stated, promises of assistance from other towns in the colony have already been made. Some assistance has, in fact, already come, a cheque for LlO having yesterday been handed to tlie Treasurer of the fund by Messrs D. Maclean and Co. as a subscription from Mr Wood, of the well-known Canterbury flour mills. The Committee will continue to act from day to day, meeting at Gilmer's Hotel. An adjouued special 'meet? lg of. the Borough Council was held at the Tow a Hall last night, for the purpose of consideilng the state of the protective works. After a discussion, it was resolved :— "That in consideration of the General Government advanciug sufficient money to complete permanent harbor work, this Council authorises the Mayor to pledge the revenues of tho Borough to the extent of LBOO or LIOOO per ' annum, -with interest, for the Borough's portion of the works as fixed by the Government Engineer." It was also resolved that a temporary foot bridge be, at once constructed at j Sefton Bridge, and the Public Works Committee report as to permanent; repairs for horse and dray traffic. The following account of a complete little quartz-crushing plant (the first manufactured at the Thames) recently erected near the Karaka Bridge, will be read by our goldmining shareholders with interest :— The plant consists of a six-horse power pillar engine, with Cornish boiler, a steam stamper battery, and four large berdans, each four feet in diameter inside, fitted * Ith drag and revoking balls, and each berdan attached to the counter shaft by clutch gearing ; a shoot leading from the table of the battery traverses over the whole of the berdans, and is fitted with sluices, bo that the tailings from

the plates may be let into either of the ber- ; dans, as may. be most convenient. The whole, of the, berdans are self -feeding. Over eaqh'jla'a boi v^hiclf'can b^fltled, yith tailings, and by'ineans bf waterpipes a constant stream is kept flowing into them ; and fr° m the box the water and taiUngs are conveyed together into the berd: is. / . When Mr H. V. Stevens, r\ Auckland broker, absconded, to America .from Auckland, says a contemporary, ""an enquiry waß made, and it was found that, according to the terms of extradition, it was necessary through the Governor to communicate with the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and through him with the President of the" jDp'ted States, before the machinery of. the I law could be put in motion for" the arrest of the furtive. In the circumstances it was felt that the effbib would be futile; and, very singularly, the correspondence on the subject was mainly conducted by the, clerk who has just followed inthe steps of Stevens" no other than Mr M 'Donald himself. On Friday last a man named Joßeph Jenkins, whilst sinking a well on Block 27, Thames, came, at a depth of 9ft, on to a sort of gutter containing a lot of quartz and labble, from which he got some very nice specimens. Mr Phillips, who lives on the next allotment, was a T so sinking a well, and, at a depth of sft, he has come on the same kind of stuff, and got good gold out of it. The land is, we understand, the property of one of the constables of the A, C. Force. Jenkins says that, if it were his'property, he: would be glad to work/it, as he considers it would pay. A very painful death occurred on Sunday last, at Parnell, when Mr John William Harris, an old and respected settler, a resident at Poverty Bay, came by his death through taking an overdose of acetate of morphia. An inquest was held, at which an open verdict was returned, leaving it undo-; cided whether the deceased had committed suicide, or had mistaken the quantity of morphia administered by himself. He bad lately been intemperate in his habits, and had some time ago attempted to injuie himself with a 1-" 'fe. , The usual monthly meeting of the mem--bers of the Canterbury True Blue,; Lodge No. 3 of Loyal Orangemen, took place on Tuesday evening last at the residence of a member of the lodge. The walls of the room were hung -with flags and the standard of the Order was placed "ia prominent position, the effect being rendered more imposing by the costumes of the brethren present who appeared in full regalia. The Lodge having been opened .in the customary manner, several new members were adnrUted and others proposed for selection:; among other business it was reported that the Lodge was in a satisfactory position in every respect. According to the Neio Zealand Herald, the Auckland Artillei/ made a direct but feeble attack upon the, clerk of the weather a few days ago, by firing a few salvos of t,jras about breakfast time. The morning n»sts having assumed the form of a cloud, a rush was made for Fort Britomart by a body of would-be rainmakers, and several rounds of blank cartridge were- fired, in' the hopes of startling old Jupiter Pluvius out of his exasperating condition of equanimity. The consequence was the instant dispersion of the mists, and awraihful glance from old Father Sol, which made the " Navals " only too glad to hide their diminished heads. The West Coast Times remarks:— We notice that the member for Greymouth, Mr Fox, has returned to his duties in the County Council. His abcence was doubtless unavoidable, but it has been a topic of remark that the Council, during that mern-be-'s temporary retirement, has been very dilatory in getting trough- the business of fte.g&ssmft I f4M : aike^j^ that progress be made in the administration of the affairs of the County. We may mention that a somewhat mean advantage was taken of the absence of the hon. member from his seat, to pass a resolution whereby each absentee is to be mulcted in the sum of one pound sterling for each absence from a meeting of the Council. Mr Bell, the contractor for the mail to Okarito and southwards of that port, has furnished the West Coast Times with some particulars of his last up journey, by which it would appear that the service is both arduous and dangerous. He says that after leaving Hunt's Beach, he was stopped for over 23 hours at the KaVigaloo, the stream not being fordable. It appears that the subsidy has been withdrawn from the ferryman, and he has* in consequence withdrawn himself. Bell contrived at last to get over to the island which is not far from the southern shore, but there he was stuck up for a long time, without any prospect of being able to continue his journey, as the river gave no signs of subsiding. Ultimately however some diggers' became aware of his position, and crossing over to him in ah old boat, took him off. After that, he says, he had an awful job to get across Cook's River. The boat was swept out right into the breakers, nearly fillingtwice, and but that there were two good men rowing, the whole party would have been drownecL After reaching Okarito the remainder of the journey was perfoimed without difficulty. Mr Bell states that there a great deal of injury has been done by the flood down south, and at the Wanganui, where he is located, the whole of the surface of land has been washed away. He has lost bis crops and three acres of good land, which he had under cultivation, ia now only a bed of shingle. The Canterbury Acclimatisation Society are to be congratulated on the. great success they have had by engaging Mr Bills. .The following birds have arrived in excellent condition :— 64 partridges, 43 thrushes, 95 blackbirds, 60 goldfinches, 50 redpoles, 4 quails, 4 rooks, 5 jackdaws, 31 starlings, 19 hedge-sparrows, and from the Zoological So^ety, London, 5 water fowl. On Thursday last, a boy ien years of age, named Thomas Wood^'-was accidentally kicked on the head by a colt at Cbristchurcb, and on being taken to the Hospital it was found that, ' i addition to being much cut about the face, he had sustained a fracture of the skull. We are glad to say, however, that he is now doing well.- -Another boy, named Charles M 'Queen, aged 15 years, and the son of Mr M 'Queen, Kaftuna, was thrown from a horpe on the same day. He was much bruised, and one shoulde? being dislocated, he was at once brought to the Hospital, where he is now in a favorable Btate for recovery. About four o'clock on the morning of the 2nd instant, fire burst out in the shop of Mr Haskett, Conkson street, Kaiapoi: The following is a detailed list of the damage done by the fife :— Haskett's saddler's shop, totally destroyed; building insured in the New Zealand office for LIDO, and stock for L2OO. Crobke's stables, totally destroyed ; building insured in the Liverpool, London, and Globe office for LIOO, stock all saved. M 'Donald'B butcher's shop, totally destroyed ; building insured inthe New Zealand office for L2OO, stock and furniture uninsured, nearly all destroyed, estimated loss, LSO. H. Eerr's blacksmith's shop, totally destroyed; estimated loss, Ll5O, uninsured. Taylor's blacksmith shop, totally destroyed ; estimated loss, L2OO, uninsured.' Simson's dining-rooms, partially destroyed; insured in the Liverpool, London, and Globe insurance office for L 300) estirijated loss, 175. Tae total loss will amount to about LI2QO, • d L 675 will be covered by'uisurance,