Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1176, 6 May 1872, Page 2

The contract for the construction of the road between the Mia Mia Flat and Reefton is at present progressing slowly, and it would seem as though the Nelson Government were adding to their other Greymouth obligations by allowing that line to languish. We understand that some thirty men only are at the present time on the work, and that, if the present "stroke" is persevered in, the completion will not be accomplished much befoie Christmas.

Our usual correspondent failed to send the results of Satui day's racing at the Nelson meeting, but Mr D. Carroll, of this town, has most obligingly furnished us with the necessary information from a telegram received by him. The Town Plate was won by Peeresp. For the Criterion, Awatea was first, and Lacenfeed second. The Stoke Handicap was taken by Slander, Peeress running second. Lacenfeed started, but broke down, These are all the particulars to hand. The second deposit of L2O a-side, in the matches pending between Drake and Twohill was paid on Friday night, and was handed to us on Saturday last. We have now L4O in hand from each of the competitors, and there seems every certainty of the raceß coming off without any hitch. Owing no doubt to the threatening weather, the attendance at the Volunteer Hall on Saturday evening was not so good as might have been expected, though Mr Burford and Miss Stephenson, as usual, gave their audience the greatest satisfaction. They will nppear again to-night, and it is to !••• lin;>e.l <"at the elements will be favora"'.l . Yesterday forenoon the Rev Mr M'lntosh, in the Presbyterian Church, made some remarks concerning the day of fublie thanksgiving appointed by the Governor for the recovery of the Prince of Wales. He said he Lad seen a notice in the papers that such a day had been appointed, but whether it was true or not he could not say, as he had received no notice of the fact from the Governor. He had consulted with the other clergy mcx in town, and they had resolved that unless they received official notice of the fact before Thursday they would take no notice of it ! We were always under the impression till now that a proclamation' by the Governor, published in the Gazette, was sufficient notice to all ranks and classes in the Colony. As the statement "made in the papers 1 ' appears to be "doubted, we pub lishj the proclamation entire as it appeare * a

in the General Government Gazette, of the 26th ultimo: — "Whereas it has pleased Almighty God to restore to health his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales from dangerous sickness, it is fitting that her Majesty's dutiful and loyal Bubjects in the Colony of New Zealand should manifest their sympathy with her Majesty and the Royal Family, and should unite with the rest of her Majesty's subjects in testifying their thankfulness to the Almighty for His merciful interposition in sparing the life of his Royal Highness : Now therefore, I, the Governor of New Zealand, in exercise of all and every the powers vested in me in this behalf, do, by this my proclamation, appoint Thursday, the 9th day of May next, as a general holiday and day for a public thanksgiving; and do hereby invite the clergy and ministers of religion of all denominations, and all other her Majesty's subjects in New Zealand, to observe Thursday aforesaid as a day of special thanksgiving to Almighty God accordingly;"

The Ross Guardian states that Mr Tribe, M.H.R., received six guineas for attending the Road Board Conference, although he is not a member of any Road Board. Three men are engaged repairing the Saddle track, and will be constantly employed until the new road is opened.

Excellent stone was obtained during last i week iv Newton's claim (United Baud of I Hope), Nos. I, 2, and 3 south, Kelly's line. The company struck the reef some time past, but the quality of the stone was only medium until the last few days, when very rich stone was found in the reef. A party of menj employed by Mr Courtney on the road works between Reefton and the Mia Mia, have levanted with fly, tents, and provisions, the property of the contractor. Mace and Company, says the Inangahua Herald, will renew crushing on Tuesday, by which time the pumping gear for returning the water to the dam will be in order. The last two days' rain has been insufficient to effect any great improvement in the way of supplying water for working. A meeting has been held at Fatea, at which it was agreed to memorialise the Government to make a grant of land to all those settlers who defended that town during the late .outbreak. In a late sly grog selling case tried at Reefton, a witness swore that he was not aober at the time he went into the defendant's house, and remembered nothing that had happened whilst there. The defendant, a woman named M'Cullough, was fined L2O, notwithstanding the witness's defective memory. A large number of the refused and curtailed leases at Reefton, and in the district, have been aepin applied for as leases, and the necessary deposits paid. A Chinaman named Ah Mcc was killed at Reefton on Friday last, by a fall of earth. He was working in a tunnel, when the second seb of slabs came down upon him and closed him ir, and before he could be got at life was extinct. A verdict of accidental death was recorded at the inquest. The Reefton gaol is becoming a celebrity. The Herald of Saturday says :— "The Reefton police quarters have been gazetted a gaol, but no steps have been taken to provide suitable* accommodation. Several female prisoners have been already in custody, and it is the merest accident that theit | almost immediate discharge from custody I has relieved the police authorities from serious embarrassment."

The offer of Messrs Slattery and Sutherland to erect a lodge room for the use of the Oddfellows in .Reefton has been accepted by that society. The lodge room will b« 3oft by 22ft.

We (Ross News) are pleased to be able to state, authoritatively, that- the Resident Minister of the North Island has issued directions to Mr O'Connor, the District Engineer, to have Section 10 on the Hokitika road widened to 12ft, and lft of metal laid on ; sc that the length from Ross to the Lake will be made uniform, as at first intended. :

A sad and fatal accident occurred at the mouth of the Hawea river, opposite Wanaka station, Otago, on the evening of the 13th ult. It appears that on the day mentioned a shepherd arrived from an out station with a pack horse, and that Joseph Edmondson— Mr Campbell's groom — who was on horseback, undertook to lead the animal across the Hawea ford. It was quite dark at the time. The two horses landed on the opposite side of the river in safety, but the rider had disappeared. It is surmised that the pack horse, on entering the river, had pulled on the halter and dragged the unfortunate young man off the animal he was riding, and that, being unable to gain a footing in the rapid current, he was swept into the Clutha and drowDed. The deepest part of the ford is not more than two feet, but the velocity of the current ia very great. A search party was organised immediately after the sad occurrence, but no traces of the body could be discovered. The deceased was about 25 years of age, and, remarks the Cromwell. Argus, was well known and generally esteemed throughout the district.