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Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1124, 5 March 1872, Page 2

A very numerously signed petition, praying for postal communication between Greymouth, and Reefton, has been forwarded from Reefton, for transmission to the Post-master-General. It is the desire of the Reefton petitioners that a petition with the same object should be prepared and signed iv Greyraouth, and, no doubt, their wishes will bo attended to. Every day's experience proves how necessary it is that there should be regular communication between Eeefton, Grey mouth, Hokitika, and other parts of the Colony, and, although the want is to some extent supplied by private enterprise, it is time that the po3tal authorities were establishing a regular and reliable service. It was expected that crushing would be commenced yesterday by Mace's battery on Shiel's line of reef, preparations for the commencement of the work having been completed on Saturday. . An effort is being made to start a Dramatic Club, whose members will give performances at regular intervals during tjjp wiuter months. A meeting with that object was held last evening at Hunt's Hotel. There has been sufficient proof, on several occasions, that- there uL.arap.ng the community a number of lady and gentlemen amateurs of considerabls ability as representatives of the lighter descriptions of drama, and, properly organised, a Dramatic Olub should prove to be one of the most successful of pur local institutions. .' : '...-... j The Hon the Premier was to leave Hokir ' tika yesterday morning on a visit to the southern portion of the County. He will stay at Boss only for one night on his journey down, but on his return he will remain there for two or three days to" make himself personally acquainted with the requirements of the district. . We observe that the Committee of the Hokitika Academy have been successful in securing a thoroughly-qualified lady teacher, Miss Quinlan. Three sections of land adjoining Richmond Quay, with two cottages, part of the Golden Age Hotel, and other buildings, were disposed by auction yesterday by Messrs Nancarrow, Henderson, aud Co, and were purchased by Messrs Hildebrand and Weber, the mortgagees of the property, for £220. The quarterly sitting of the Licensing Justices, for the hearing of applications for licenses, takes place at eleven o'clock this forenoon. At the Resident Magistrate's Court, yesterday, John Carson was fined 10s for being drunk, and 10b for using indecent language, and ordered, in default of payment, to be sent to prison for five days. John Wright was charged with assaulting two boya named Trahey, residing at the Teremakau. Two witnesses were called to prove the alleged assault, and the marks of injury which the boys presented, but, on the application of Mr Perkins, the case was remanded until today for the production of the evidence of the .boys and their mother.

The body of the youug nun Isaac Samuel, who wns accidentally knocked overboard by the warp of tbe tug Geelong, and drowned at Fort Chalmers on the (Jth instant, has becu picked up in one of the crevices ofQuarantine Island. Mr Griffin, proprietor of the Teuiuka coach, iuforms the Tivuiru Herald that he saw the stacks (five in number) on the farm of Mr Dunsan Scott, farmer, Level's Plains, all abtofce. The Otago Police have received intimation that Kee Chang, whose financial operations iv Southland, and escape from the Colony, via Stewart's Island, attracted public atten? tiou some weeks ago, has been arrested at Newcastle, N.S.W. The draft for L3so— the fruits of his dishonest industry— has also been secured. An^unfortunate accident occurred on February 6, at the Chatham Islands, to a man called "John, the Kanaka," who met his death whilst cattle hunting in the bush. His gun caught in the scrub, and its contents (two bullets) lodged in his groin. He died shortly afterwards. At a meeting in connection with the Presbyterian Church, held last evening, it was definitely arranged to hold the Grand Art Union which has been organised to aid the funds of the Church, on or about the 20tb instant. Numerous and valuable prizes have already been received, and all further donations are requested to be sent in to the, office of Messrs Thomson, Smith, and Barkley, Albert street, before Thursday, the Bth instant. The funeral of the late Mr Archibald Bongr took place at Hokitika on Saturday afternoon. There were about 150 persons in the procession, amongst whom were the Hon. the Premier, the County Cbairnian, Judge Harvey, Mr FitzGerald, and other of the principal inhabitants of Hokitika. All the shops in the town were closed, and flags were hung at half-mast at many of the buildings in town, as well as by the shipping in the river.

A. fire occurred last week at Taranaki. The scpns of the conflagration was a small four-roomed house in Conrtenay street, owned by Uaptafn King, and occupied by Mr Williams. The house was discovered to be on fire shortly after one o'clock on Wednesday morning, and, owing to a stiff southeast wind blowing at the time, the whole of the building was soon enveloped in flames, and it was with difficulty that the inmates escaped.

Speaking of the presence of sharks in Auckland harbor, a correspondent says :— " About a week since I was told of a Maori/ who, lazily trailing, his lees overboard at the stern of a canoe, had a Wellington boot half bitten through by.a shark which might have measured three feet in length."

Some beneficial changes have been made in the arrangement of specimens in the Colonial Museum, Wellington. Three large handsome glass cases have been placed in the square room, in which skeletons of fishes will be exhibited. One of these is already filled with .well prepared skeletons, and the whole, when completed, will form a most valuable and instructive addition to the Museum. Mr T. H. Parkinson, of Kaituna Yalloy,

Canterbury, was driving with his two sons, :in his buggy, from the valley towards Lyttcltou, when a strap broke, causing the horse to bolt. One of the boys jumped out into a gorse hedge and escaped without injury ; the other remaiued in the vehicle, which soon upset and threw the occupants out. Mr Parkinson has received very severe injuries, some of his ribs being, it is thought, brokep j the lad is also severely injured. - f v ' v "Call-Boy," writing in the Australasian on English theatrical news, says:— "Miss Carry Nelson has just concluded a very profitable tour of the Provinces. A private letter from London states that this ' pet of the public' has entered .the marriage state, having recently been married to Mr Farjeon, the well-known and talented author of •Joshua Marvel' and •Grif.'" A youth named Christie, whose latest pencJiant is to acquire notoriety as a horsestealer and equestrian, has been conveyed from Christchurch to Invcrcargill, there to be tried for his misdeeds. Christie rode on borrowed horses from Winton to Selwyn, in Canterbury, where his progress was stopped by the Canterbury police, representing himself as a detective in search of one Christie (who was himself), and was close upon seven days in the saddle, hardly taking any sleep ; and brags of his exploit. He will be remembered as having caused a great deal of alarm hardly two years ago by going on the Taieri river in a boat, which he turned bottom upwards, in order to make his relatives believe he had been drowned— a ruse that succeeded for a time. The Wanganui Herald has the following account of an accident to Mr Young's coach : - •" The Taranaki coach met with a serious accident at the Puketotara stream, near the Kai Iwi. On Sunday afternoon about five o'clock, the ordinary coach arrived at this spot, containing four passengers. Major Edwards, Mr P. A. Chavannes, Mr ReimehSchneider, and rlatario, a native, together with Mr Hall, the agent, and Mr Young, the proprietor, who was driving. Comlnencim; the descent, the horses, swerved on one side, and despite the utmost exertions of Mr Young, the coach' iv passing over an awkward hump toppled over and rolled down the gully, rolling over twice, and finally coining on its wheels again. Major Edwards, finding the coach going, jumped off without injury. The other passengers, however, rolled down inside, and were sadly bruised. Mr Young held on as long as possible, theu jumped off the side he was sitting on, slipped, and the coach rolled over him. Fortunately help was at hand, and before long the coach was drawn up, the horses hitched to, and the journey resumed. "