Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1109, 16 February 1872, Page 2

. — . A deputation of the inhabitants will wait upon the Hon. Mr Fox at Gilmer's Hotel, at half -past twelve o'clock to-day, for tho purpose of presenting an address. Negotiations between the General Government and the Borough Council, with reference to the protection of the town, have been going on since the arrival of the Hon. Mr Fox in Greymouth, and will, no doubt, soon be completed. Meantime Mr O'Connor, the District Engineer, is actively attending to what is, no doubt, an awkward intrusion upon his already excessive work. At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, the hearing -of the charge of larceny against Hugh Robinson and George Squire was adjourned for eight days. In the absence of the Magistrate, Messrs Greenwood and Reid, J.P., disposed of a number of civil cases. The town of Titnaru, as will be seen by our telegrams, has given extraordinary and prompt proof of its sympathy with the Greymouth sufferers by the flood, by subscribing a haudsome amount, and already forwarding a part of it for distribution. Yesterday the Committee again met, when some further distribution of relief was made. The names of several gentlemen were also added to the Committee, and Mr R . C. Reid was appointed Treasurer, Upon the amount of subscriptions received will, no doubt, depend the future action of the Committee in associating other Committees with them, or in extending the area of distribution of relief beyond the town and its immediate vicinity. The Sharebrokers' Act has come into operation in Aucicland. We believe fourteen sharebrokers in the city have taken out licenses, which represents a total sum of L 350. There will likely be a number of licensed brokers at the Thames and Coromandel, so that the total number will be considerable. The ranks,

however, in the opinion of the SovihernCross, will be considerably thinned by the Act. It has been hinted that the licensed sharebrokers purpose holding a meeting on an early day, to increase the commission fees, so as to more rapidly refund from the public the license money. Mr Oswald Curtis is truly an unfortunate man. As if it were not enough to; b£ accused of doing nothing for the Province |as its Superintendent, he is now accused by' the mouth-piece of the Opposition of which he ia an avowed member — by the Canterbury Press— of doing too much as M.H.R.— of "pandering to locai cupidity," of "running' with the hare and holding with the hounds," of "using much intrigue in extorting from the Ministry the funds for the Foxhill railway," and of generally "adopting a line of conduct, in connection with public works, which, if not absolutely |indefensible, is at least extremely questionable." The Opposition organ has, in fact, thrown the hon. gentleman over, and has not dealt gently with him in doing so. We may quote, in full, the opinions of the Press at another time. The Riverton sealing boats have arrived witn 745 skins. . ■ The men on strike have resumed work upon the Waikato railway by contract. Eight hundred birds for the- -Canterbury Acclimatisation Society were landed from the Charlotte Gladstone in splendid condition. ..».-..■' Mr Donavan, proprietor of the Shamrock Hotel, Lawrence, Otago, has died suddenly. John William Harris, settler, at Poverty Bay, has poisoned himself with morphia ; he had besn drinking. An open verdict was returned. The election of the first Mayor of Wanganui has resulted in the election of Mr Watt, late of the. firm of Taylor and Watt. The result has caused great excitement. Splendid shooting has been made at the Rifle Association meeting, at Dunedin. In the small-bore match at 700 yards, Captain M'Farlancl made 27 out of a possible 28 points. Several others made 26 points. It is the intention of the Lincoln section of the Hon. Johu^Hall's constituents, to invite that gentleman to a public dinner at an early data. The duty paid in Dunedin on New Zealand spirits during the year' 1871 was L 4942, as I compared with L 2652 in 1870, showing an I increase last year of L 2290. - The Clairellen left Cardiff on the 15th November, with railway plant for the Port Chalmers railway. :.'••>•>•■ - The Chinaman Ah Hoon, charged with receiving money obtained by Kee Chang for spurious gold, has been committed for trial before the Supreme Court, invercargill. The manufacture of earthenware drain pipes has been commenced in Christchurch with, say the local journals, considerable success. . The Mayor of Wellington has received a letter from the Rev. Mr Knell, of the Wairarapa, informing him that nine families had been left totally destitute by the late fire at Carterton. It is rumored that Port William is consi lered the best site for a special settlement by the Superintendent of Otago and those members of Executive who accompanied him on his recent visit to Stewart's Island. Among the "delicacies of the season >? provided at the Club Hotel for the Superintendent and friends, when they arrived In Invercargill, was a three-year old brown trout, weighing between two and a-half and three pounds, taken from- the Acclimatisation Society's pond at the Makarewa. On Wednesday, last wee.k, a. welcome rainfall occurred in Canterbury, and some parts of the other eastern Provinces. While improving the pastures, it was not too heavy to injure the grains, and was serviceable in extinguishing several bush-fiies. A number of Chinese and a general cargo of Chinese goods have been brought to Port Chalmers by the barque Seagull. She brings 120 Chinese, all told, viz., 113 passengers, 5, assistants, 1 doctor, and 1 interpreter, all in perfect health. The convalesence of the Prince of Wales was announced from the stage of the Dunedin Theatre, on the arrival of the English mail, and was received with great cheers. The band played the National Anthem and the large audience rose en masse* Twelve different persons, in Levuka have initiated a paper currency on their own account. The notes are for very small amounts, and a writer in the Fiji Times states that he lately negotiated about four pounds weight of paper money in exchange for a sovereign. | Signor Cagli, of the Opera Company, was invited to give a benefit for sufferers Iby bush fires in the neighborhood of Dunedin. As the company was leaving, he could not do so, but forwarded a donation of ten guineas, and seven guineas -for the Benevolent Asylum. In Madras, LSO a year is -voted for deporting monkeys from the bity, and L2QOO for deporting loafers, another standing nuis* ance. Probably it is to this system of deportation that we have so many of the latter in New Zealand. Operations have been commenced again at the Melbourne glass works after an interval of nearly two years. The company has been reconstituted, and in a short time it is expected to have the manufactory in full working order. At present aodawater bottles are turned out which are little if any inferior to the imported. Mr Sheath, Telegraph Inspector, has, in compliance with instructions from the Government, surveyed the route for the proposed extension of the eleptric telegraph to Coromandel, We learn that'- Mr Sheath in. tends to recommend that the wires should be stretched along the coast, instead of inland. The, specimen of gold-bearing quartz brought from Wangarei to Auckland has not yet been tested. It is said to contain at the rate of about an ounce and a half to the ton, but to be so exceedingly patchy that it is questionable whether a large quantity of the stone -Kould pay for the crushing. The prisoner Haley, who is in custody for sending threatening letters to Mr Russell, Auckland, and for otherioffences, seems to realise his position considerably. His hair has turned quite grey since his apprehension. The Cross says in one night a great change in this respect was noticeable in the accused. ; The representatives of the several browing firms in Auckland have convened a meeting " to consider the price of beer." Considering the price of beer, says the Cross-, admits of a wide interpretation. It may be that, owing to the excessive amount of thirst lately experienced by the Auckland "multitude*, the brewers propose being humane by reducing the price of their beverages ; or, os is alleged by some, the scarcity of water necessitates a rise in the article. The hotelkeepers state that they are quite willing to submit to a reduction on the charge, of colonial beer ; but if a rise isj contemplated, why then they themselves will have a meeting on the subject. . - : Fort Britomart, the first fortress in the colony, will soon bo numbered amongst the things of the past. Workmen are employed removing the guns from the fort to the Albert Barracks, Auckland, whore jt is in- I tended to store them. When the guns haye '

been all removed operations will be at once commenced to cut down the hill for the purpose of forming the Auckland station of the Waikato railway. . The land: next the town not required for the railway will be handed over to the Harbor Board, and will be a very valuable harbor endowment. Some amusing blunders occur in telegraphy. Recently a Victorian piinter expected a fount of the type known to the initiated as " long primer," from Melbourne, and as the proprietor did. not receive it with other goods ordered at the same time, he tele* graphed for its immediate dispatch. The telegraph clerk, however, not knowing anything of the mysteries of " the chapel," sent a message that the " long printer ■ bad not come to hand, and requesting "him" to be forwarded immediately. There is a great scarcity of female servants in Auckland. Tn the Council, -in speaking upon the difficulty of inducing females to. immigrate, one gentleman remarked (referring to the Auckland Provincial home emigration officer, who it would appear is an old, and not over handsome gentleman)— " There was no wonder why they were not successful. It was of no use sending old fogies on such a mission. If young good-looking fellows were commissioned, plenty of young girls would be got." The brands of all cattle shipped f torn Wanganui to the West Coast must, in future, be notified before shipment, to a Provincial authority, Mr Jordan. He relies on the following clauses of a Provincial Act :-.- Every person, who shall be about to shii> cattle from any port in the Province of Wellington shall, at least four hours before shipping the same, deliver to the Cattle Inspector at such port, or any other person appointed for the purpose, a description of the cattle intended to be shipped with the brand or brands, if more than one on them or any of them. Again— lf any person about to Bhip cattle shall .neglect to deliver to the Cattle Inspector, or other person appointed to receive the same, a description of the cattle intended to be shipped by him with the brand, or brands, if more than on one them, or any, at least four hours before shipment of the same, such person shall forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding LSO. * Dining the last session of the Assembly a considerable portion of the labors of the Joint Committee on Colonial Industries was devoted to the subject of paper-making, The inquiries tended in ■ the direction of a combination of this manufacture with the preparation of the phormium fibre and the many grasses of New Zealand which the information elicited proved to be puitable to the formation of pulp. The General Government havo now given practical effect to the recom? mendation of the committee that a bonus of L 2500 should be offered for the first 100 tons of printing paper produced by machinery. A notification in the Gazette states that the reward will be paid on the fulfilment of the following conditions s— The paper to be manufactured in New Zealand by machinery permanently established and working in the Colony; the required quantity to be com-, pleted before the 30th June, 1873 ; and the weight of each ream of printing paper to be not less than 301bs. This reward will be paid in addition to any bonus offered by Provincial Governments. The Canterbury Press, in an article enforcing the necessity of efficient drainage in towns, draws attention to the excessive mortality amongst children in New Zealand. It says :— Alluding to the great excess of infant mortality in the provinces and cities of New Zealand, an Auckland contemporary has taken the colonial statistics for five yeais ending 1870, and it appears that during that period 9959 children were born in Auckland, and that of these 1537, or nearly one in five died before the age of five years. In Wellington, in the same period, there were 4352 infant births and $9,3 infant deaths ; in Nelson, 2859 births, 385 deaths ; in Canterbury, 9905 births, 1464 deaths ; in Otago, 11,091 births, 1336 deaths. Putting the figures in another form, during these five years Otago lost 120, Nelson 130, Wellington 135, Canterbury 145, and Auckland ISO out of every 1000 born. Of deaths of infants from one to two years of age, during the same period, there were in. Auokland, 376 ; in Wellington,' 107 j in Nelson, 76 ; in Canterbury, 228 ;in Otago, 186. Of deaihs of infants under one year old there were in Auckland, 1223 j Canterbury, 1066 ; Otago, 963. The Waimakariri ,was flooded last Friday by the fall of rain in ,the hills. At 1 a.m the water was running over the north road between Treleaven's and Chaney's corner, and some of Mr Chaney's crop was slightly damaged. Further north, between White's bridge and Kaiapoi, the water was running over the road near Mr Monk's farm, and .'he bad a field of wheat damaged. Between two and three o'clock the water began to rise very rapidly in the north branch of the river at Kaiapoi ; and, as it was not high tide till about four o'clock, some persons who had witnessed the rapid rise in the river awoke the proprietors of some of the stores in Charles street. Mr Beharrell, of the 'Northern Store, was the first to begin to move goods from the storeroom on Black's old wharf, and he succeeded in getting out all that was likely to be damaged before the water rose over the floor of the store. Messrs Belcher and Fairweather's storeman, assisted by several others, succeeded in raising the bales of wool in the wharf store before the water rose high enough to damage them. The water -did not rise newly so high at Kaiapoi as was expected, and no damage was done in the town. The Wesleyan Conference recently held ia Melbourne was the largest Ecclesiastical Assembly that has yet congregated in the soul he- n hemisphere* Over a hunded ministers were present, the majority being from Victoria, but' there were also representatives frQin the colonies of New South Wales, Tatini»i;ia., South Australia, and New Zealand. The following ministers from Ne.w Zealand attended :— The Rev T. -Biiller, Tiames; C. W. Rigg, Auckland ;T. Buddie, Wellington; WVT. Watkin, Nelson,; A. Reid, Dunedin ;.. A. .K. Fitchett, Christchurch ; R. Bavin, Tiiharu ; and W. Morley, Lyttelton. It has been felt for some years past that the present system by which the interests of the church in several colonies were entrusted to one conference, hundreds of miles apart, involved great inconvenience, and a proposal ye.ar after year has ; been discussed to constitute an annual conference for each colony, with a general conference of representatives. At the recent session it was decided by an overwhelming majority that the time for such' a change had fully come. Upon, a motion that the number of annual conferences be four, the Rev. C. W. Bigg moved as an amendment, that New Zealand be attached to New South Wales. All the remaining New Zealand representatives were strongly in favor of a separate Conference for this Colony, and Mr Rigg's views met with little sympathy, only two others voting with him. Ultimately it was resolved that four annualjconferencea be constituted, viz. : — l. New South Wales and Queensland; 2. Victoria and Tasmania ; 3. South Australia ; and 4. New Zealand ; with a general conference triennally. Various other matters of importance relative to Sunday Schools and other subjects were discussed, and for two days the laymen in attendance gave earnest attention to the financial schemes of; the church. The appointments for Westland for the coming year are as follows :— Hokitika, Rev W. G. Thomas ; Ross, Rev. H. Dewabury j Greymouth, Rev. J. A. Taylor,