THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, MAY 23, 1872.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1191, 23 May 1872, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, MAY 23, 1872.

The San Francisco mail was sighted off Auckland yesterday afternoon, but directly after this had been reported the line between Christchurch and the coast broke down, so that we have no news to hand. We may expect it early this morning. A tolerably heavy fresh came down the river yesterday, showing that the rain of the last twenty-four or more hours had extended up the country, and was not of a local character only. Communication with the up-country gold fields was partially cut off. The river works stood the brunt well, and occurrence of flooding disaster like that lately experiencd. The Nelson Government has been most successful in giving general dissatisfaction. As will bo seen by a telegram in another column, the Amuri people are as discontented as those of the Grey Valley, and are no more likely than the 1 .tter to he contented with the sops to Cerberus that have been recently thrown. We learn from a reliable source that the whole of the machinery precipitated into the river at Westport, through the wharf being carried away by the p.s. Charles Edward, has been found, and, though yesterday the .river was too high to work, that there is apparently every certainty of all the submerged gear being recovered with very little damage. ' There was only one case at the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, that of Thos. Nelson, who was charged with deserting the, barque Kate Conley on her last. trip. The l Resident Magistrate was away engaged on othar official duties, and his Worship the Mayor occupied the bench. Captain Roberts attended, and said it was not Ms wish to press the charge, but defendant was nevertheless remanded till to-day, bail to be taken, himself iv L2O, and two sureties in LlO each. Signs of the good times that are said to be coming, in the development of the Grey Valley and Inangahua mines, were visible yesterday on the wharf iv the shape of three first-class large American freight waggons, which were brought by the Kate Conley from Melbourne, and are intended to be used between this port and Reefton as soon as a road is made. They are constructed to carry between three and four tons, and when at work will prove not only a profitable speculation to their owners, but a boon to the inhabitants through where they will pass, as the rates of freight will by this means be enormously reduced. The performances at the Volunteer Hall last evening were for the benefit of the Garrick Club of this town, Mr Burford and Miss Stephenson giving their services in acknowledgment of the valuable assistance rendered by the amateurs during their recent season. The weather was bad, and the attendance consequently limited, but the pieces, "The Ticket of Leave Man" and the "Loan of a Lover," passed off most successfully. We fear, Tiowever, that the funds will not be much benefited in consequence. We may add that the Greymouth, Volunteer Band attended, and greatly enhanced tbe enjoyment of the evening. A meeting of the subscribers to a new school, to be called, the No Town National School, took place on Monday evening last, at Haisty's Union Hotel, Mr G. M'Beath in the c»iair. The honorary secretary, Mr Livingßton, read the subscription list, when a committee was appointed, consisting of Messrs Hines, Haisty, Clarke, Watkins, Paffitt, M 'Donald, and the Chairman, to wait on Mr Warden Whitefoord, with a view of obtaining a site on which to build a school bouse, to receive subscriptions, also to carry out generally the wishes of the subscribers. The above praisewoi thy step of the promoters should at once insure substantial cooperation from all parents and guardians, as well as from all others feeling an interest in education. What may, in. tbiß Province, says the Lytlelton Times, be termed a monster specimen of brown coal, was brought into town from the Malvern district and lodged at the Museum. It is 7ft in length, is about 3ft square in the largest part, and weighs 1 ton o'ewt 2qr. The Quality is very good, and is w *>rth quite sufficient per ton in Christchurch to make the seam whence it has come well worth working when the projected railway is carried out. The seam, of which the specimen formed a part, is by ho means a new discovery ; indeed, it is the first indioa-

tion that was seen in the Province. It is on the Homebush run, forming a part of the lean's estate, and crosses^ the river Selwyn a,| the foot of rural seqtion N 32B, between Surveyor's Gully and rural' section 3855. This point is about forty^four miles from Christchurch, and is at present the intended terminus of the railway. . The seam was .first discovered twenty-one years ago by Mr Abner Robinson, a stockman on the Homebush station, and was the first proof of the existence of coal in Canterbury. The block 'bfougfil to town'was' washed 'out' terrace during the recent hea\y flood in the river, and as some proof of the strength of the stream it; xaxy be stated that, notwithstanding its great weight, the coal was carried over half a mile down stream. It is also stated that the flood laid bare several new seams of coal, but for its truth we are not prepared to vouch. The specimen was delivered into the care of Dr Haast by Mr M'llwraith. Those accustomed to the use of oatmeal diet will be pleased to learn that it has found a champion in the editor of at least one newspaper. The Dunedin Echo asserts that "oatmeal imparts brains — a commodity \ scarcely to be found iv these beef-eating colonies." Mr Smith, who has recently been lecturing in Dunedin on Spiritualism, while replying to an opponent said : — I trust I shall be excused for pointing out that the doctrine is not " my" doctrine. I accept it and believe in it most implicitly ; but every word of the lectures I have delivered on Spiritualism has been given to me by higher intelligences than my own. I am, as I have already said, a mere amanuensis. The Thames Advertise)' of a recent date says :— The last pile of the new goods wharf at Grahamstown was driven yesterday afternoon, and very little more remains to be ; done before the whole structure is fit for the 1 use for which it was built. There still reI mains a portion of the tramway to be laid, and a few mooring-piles to secure, before it is handed over by the contractors to the Government. Mr Travers, whe has lately been engaged in collecting geological and other specimens, has lately arrived from the Nelson Province, where he has been very successful in obtaining some valuable and highly interesting Saurian remains. They arrived lately by a coaster to the Heathcote wharf, and were from thence conveyed yesterday to the Christchurch railway station, to be forwarded by the first steamer to Wellington. Mr H. Carter, of Wellington, intends taking out a patent for a machine for making casks, tubs, buoys, or other cylindricalshaped vessels, either straight, bilged, or conical, or the frustrum of a cone, to be known as a combined cask-making machine. Captain Foster met with a serious accident ac Oxford, Canterbury, last week. He was driving through the township, on his way home, when the horse took fright, and, notwithstanding all Captain Foster's endeavors, ran into a trap driven by Mrs White. The collision was of such a violent character that the axle of each trap was broken, and the occupants violently thrown to the ground. In the latter Mrs White escaped with nothing worse than a severe shaking, but Captain Foster was much more unfortunate. In addition to severe contusions about the face and head, one of his arms was broken, and Dr Burrows, of Rangiora, had to be called in. This gentleman, on arrival, set the fracture, and Captain Foster is now doing as well as can be expected under the e'reumstances.—On Saturday afternoon an accident also occurred at the new building in course of erection for Mr C. Clark, in Hereford street. A labourer named Blatch fell from good fortune no bones were fractured, he was so severely shaken that he has not yet been able to resume his work. The inhabitants of Rangiora were shocked the other morning to hear of the death of Mr Edwin Pearce, a gentleman of independent means, who has resided at Rangiora for the last five years, who hung himself in his own house between five and six o'clock on Sunday evening. The unfortunate man appeared to be in his u-iual health on Sunday, though of late he has suffered from depression of spirits, but in the afternoon he sent his family away to the Sunday School, and Mrs Pearce went to tea with a neighbor, On returning home all the doors were found to be locked, and the police were at once sent for to force an entrance. On entering the house, the sergeant found the deceased hanging to the joists in the pantry, and at once cut the body down, but found that life was quite extinct. A writer on New Zealand topics in the English Spectator recently said :— Our troops left New Zealand beaten and demoralised. "We like your red-coats," said a chief to myinformant, "they never do us anyharm," and the sarcasm was unpleasantly true. But the natural expectation that when the English army was withdrawn the Maoris would conquer back the island failed none the less. It soon appeared that the natives had suffered crushingly from famine and disease, and the colonists, under better leaders, displayed an unexpected energy and tenacity. So tho war closed by natural collapse, and on the whole favorably for the English race, who were able to confiscate patches of land here and there. Yet the natives do not consider themselves beaten. With few and slight exceptions they were never defeated except by a superior force ; and their most formidable opponents were men of their own race in our pay. A closer union amongst themselves, such as an unjust attack upon a portion of them might produce, might entirely change the issue of |the next war. I do not say that I think the Maoris likely to win permanently if hostilities are resumed. The odds of numbers, science, and wealth are terribly against them. But I think they will die hard, and that a fresh war will retard the fortunes of the island for years to come." The danger to the public health from the burning of arsenical pyrites in the neighborhood of dwellings is illustrated by the following case, rwhich has been brought under the notice of a Bendigo pape.. 1 —Some time since, a man living in a hut with a galvanised iron roof situate in close proximity to Koch's crushing machine in Long Gully, was taken ill, and removed to the hospital. He was there, the symptoms being slight, though the disease appeared serious, treated tentatively, and recovered sufficiently to be discharged. Hardly had this been the cose when his mate, who was suffering from a precisely similar form of disease, was admitted into the same institution, and the coincidence at once attracted attention. An examination proved that the usual sign of arsenical slow poisoning was present — the white line on the nail — and Dr M'Gillivray and Dr Stuart drove out to the hut, where they found not only the roof coated with an arsenical compound, but an arsenical sediment in the tank of water attached to the premises. The first man again betrayed symptoms or poisoning, and an examination proved beyond doubt that asecond'poisoning had commenced. TJ n der proper treatment both are out of danger. A Victorian papor publishes a communication from India, showing the means used for producing stoneless fruit. The system has been adopted with success in the above country, and if carried out in these colonies where stone-fruit is so abundant, would largely increase the per-centage of its weight and value, in grapes especially. "Inarching," it should perhaps be explained to some, means the bending over of branches of trees,

and binding with the inserting them in the wood of others on different stems. The description of the method cannot fail to be interesting, and is given thus' : — At any time during the cold season select a branch suitcl for inarching • split it up carefully for the length of somewhat less Lhan a. span ; scoop out cleanly all the pifch ; bring the split halves together again, and keep them bandaged until they -have, become thoroughly united. At the usual time, tho beginning of the. rains . (in India) inarch the branch thus treated upon a suitable stock, takr'ng for the place of union the portion just below where the split was made. Uron a branch of the tree thus produced a similar operation is performed, and so on for successive seasons, the result being that the stone of the fruit becomes less and less after each operation until it disappears. The pulp increases in size and flavor. This process has been applied to the grape-vine at Malaga, and plants have been thereby produced which bear the finest fruit without a vestige of stone. The other day an accident, fortunately unattended with fatal results, occurred at the stores of Messrs Bennett and Saunders, Tuam street, Christchurch. It appears that a grain store had been recently erected at the rear of the stone stores, and the men were engaged in storing grain on the floor. They had got in about two hundred bags of grain, when the man underneath was called away into the yard. He had not been gone but a few moments, when the whole floor gave way, the walls bursting out, the bags; with the man who was storing them, be^ng precipitated to the lower floor. Fortunately the man fell, amongst the bags and was unhurt. On inspecting the premises we found that a portion of the front . wall, with the joists and studs, had carried right away, breaking the uprights ; these being of very slight construction and not at a ll , fitted to sustain heavyweights. . It is pretty well-known that a few eminent civil engineers are of opinion that in our principal lines of railways there is a great waste of material, power, and expense ; and that with light railways and completely filled trains there would be more profit than at present. It should be understood that a light railway is not necessarily a very narrow gauge ; it is light in construction and in rolling stock, as may now be seen in an example in Buckinghamshire. There a line six miles in length connects the Duke of Buckingham's estates at Wotton with the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway. The gauge is 4ft 84in ; there are no heavy engineering works ; the highest embankment is not more than 12ft, and the deepest cutting 10ft. All the turnpike roads and lanes are crossed on a level, which saves the coat of bridges ; and with exceptions, the only fences are the existing hedgerows. We are informed that the estimate for this line was exclusive of cost of land, not more than LI4OO a mile. It is obvious that a single line of railway, such as here described, worked by horses, would in many districts prove a most valuable feeder to a main line, and would be at the same time sufficient for the wants of the inhabitants, Our Coromandel contemporary states that double the number of carpenters could be profitably employed there if they could be obtained, and adds that there are great complaints of the scarcity of labor generally. Under the head of " How we assist the Devil," a religious paper says :— "We consome millions of gallons of distilled spirit yearly." The editor must be making money. The Thames Guardian has the following : — " We are informed on very good authority that there are two natives, a man and a woman, at present at Ohinemuri, who measure about 6ft Bin and.Gft 10in_ respectively^ Tney came irom inland, from the Taranaki Province, to join in the tangi over Taraia. The natives say that they never saw a Maori or European anything like the size. They say that they are nearly as big as the Chinaman (Chang) whom they saw in the theatre. The Shortland natives tried to persuade them to come down here, but they would not do so. They are, we hear, brother and sister." The following notice, signed by the Premier for the Postmaster-General and Commissioner of Telegraphs, appears in the New Zealand Gazette of May 10:— "It is considered necessary to call attention to the inexpediency of the practice which has grown up of making too free a use of the telegraph for ordinary official correspondence, which could be as well conducted by the post ; a practice which, while it adds very greatly and very unnecessarily to the labors of the Telegraph Department, is, as compared with transmission by post, extremely costly. Officers of the Government are, therefore, strictly enjoined to confine the use of free telegrams to matters only of precsing importance, which do not admit of the delay of the mail, and to make sush telegrams as brief as may be consistent with their being intelligible. It is further enjoined, that the use of the telegraph on Sundays maybe avoided as far as possible, in order that the officers of the Telegraph Department may not be deprive! of the privileges of the day more than canbe helped. Anyinfringement of these directions will be followed by th.3 officer in fault being surcharged with the expense of the unnecessary work thus occasioned." Wanganui, says the Pout, fs a perfect hotbed for lawyers, and a very queer Jot they are. Indeed, that lively and pugnacious little township seems to have become the habitat oi the "briefless" and unsuccessful from all other parts of the profession. The Father of the profession there is one Mr H. B. Roberts, who, besides being a barrister and attorney, dabbles in almost every other conceivable business, from the manufacture of pabulum yitce, up to horse dealing and bill discounting. Curiously enough some mysterious feud has long been rumored to exist between Mr Roberts and the Judge, and the former has hitherto always contrived to give his Honor " a wide berth." But fate ordained that they should at length meet, and that Mr Roberts should come to unmitigated grief. It was in this wise. The Court met, the Judge was seated, and the bar mustered in full force. His Honor asked counsel if they had any motions to make, whereupon Mr Roberts "said he would have been ready to make several, but that living in the country he had not known when the sitting of the Court was to be held, and was not therefore ready." This was so palpably a story that his Honor metaphorically fell upon Mr R., and snubbed him awfully, telling him that no excuse could justify his assumed ignorance. But his Honor was more cruel still. He pressed Mr Roberts as to what the nature of his proposed "motions" were, and that gentleman couldn't tell, so he got another snubbing. Ultimately the Judge agreed to sit in. banco on a future day, to hear further about Mr Roberts and his "motions," but when the time came the attorney was non est inventus. This fairly "riled" his Honor, who "said that he had appointed the sitting to suit the convenience of a men.ber.of the bar, whom |he did not see present. He considered that he had been deceived by the member (Mr Roberts), and. if he desired, he could have him proceeded against for his non-attend.-ance under the circumstances. He looked upon such a proceeding as a safe insult to the Court But (continued his Honor) perhaps Mr Roberts lives in the country." How matters were made up we know not, but at Mr Roberts' next appearance in Court he called a Maori » an alien," whereupon hip Honor in effect called Mr R. a fool, and shut him up finally. Mr Roberts will long remember his Honor Mr Justice Johnston,