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Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1199, 1 June 1872, Page 2

The foot races between Twohill and Drake, for LI 00 a side, commenced on the racecourse to-day at two o'clock. Owing to the recent good weather the course is likely to be :'i good condition. It is announced in another column that the bazaar and art union which was to be held in aid of St. Mary's Convent, Nelson, is postponed, owing to the goods having been delayed through the late war in France. As soon as they arrive notice will be given of the time when the bazaar will be held, but in the meantime it is intended to continue disposing of the tickets. We remind our readers that Miss Clara Stephensnn, Mr Burford, and company, will appear again to-night at the Volunteer-hall, when the performance will be for the benefit of Mr and Mrs Drake (Miss Folland). The entertainment selected is the deeply interesting play, "The Peep o'Day Boys." There is every prospect of a splendidly fine night and we have no doubt a very full house, will be the result. We notice that Mr G. H. Tribe has ceased to have any interest in the Boss Neios, The tender of Mr W. O'Dwyer, for the construction of a track from Donoghue's to Bowen, for the sum of L 460, has been recommended by the Tender Committee of the County Council.

At noon, ou Wednesday, the men declined to work in tbe Star claim, Ross, at the old rate of wages -L 3 per week for ten hours' work a day. They demand L 3 10s per week for ten hours a day, or L 3 per week for eight hours a day. At a meeting of the Kanieri District Mining Association, held on Wednesday last, it, was resolved- " That the Secretary write to the Waste Lands Board, and ask them to set apart a timber i eserve for mining purposes for the district." On the motion of Mr Wearne, seconded. by the Chairman, it was resolved—' ' That the Secretary prepare a draft of a petition for presentation to the General Assembly during the next session, praying for a reduction of the gold duty, the same to be submitted to the next meeting of the Committee." It was also resolved "That the {Secretary communicate with all the other mining associations on the West Coast, and also in the Province of Otago, asking their co-operation in the matter." Considerable discussion took place as to the necessity of preparing a petition similar to that sent from the district during the last meeting of the Assembly, praying for an alteration in the County of Westland Act, so as to exempt mining claims and plant from taxation by the Road Boards, and ultimately it was resolved to let the matter stand over for the present. In the Resident Magistrate's Coutt, yesterday, John Cahill for being drunk and disorderly, was fined 20s or 48 hours. — itobert M'Ready and D. Macfarlane were charged with having assaulted Henry Peters on the 26th insfc, at Diamond Gully. Mr Perkins appeared for the complainant. Complainant said that he was a ininer working a tunnel between Welsyman's and Diamond Gully, He and his mate were working for Mr Hamilton. The tunnel had originally belonged to the defendants. On Sunday lasb he was in Ilughes's store and . the defendants came in M'Farlane called complainant a coward, and 'the latter went out to fight him when he was attacked by both and knocked down senseless. As soon as he went out they used most violent threats, and said they would knopk out his brains. He was afraid that his life was in dancer. In cross-examination complainant said that he could not see who struck him, as it was very dark, but he believed th". defendants did. He denied that he had first said that he was a better man than Macfarlane, or that he had spoken lightly of the works of Robert Burns. In reply to Mr Fprkins, complainant said that Macfarlaue struck him in the store prior to his being knocked down. John Hughes, a storekeeper, at Rutherglen, proved that complainant and defendants created a row in his store, and he put them out, but he did not see the assault.

They were all drunk when they came there. James Hughes was called, but proved nothing. M 'Ready denied the assault in loto, but Macfarlane said that the complainant had a quarrel 'on Ilia relative merits of Shakespeare and Robert Burns. They were both a little inebriated, and they fought two rounds when complainant got a black eye. A witness named Clark corroborated Macfarlane's statement as to their being a fair '.stand-up fight,' in which complainant got the worst of it. The magistrate said there was not ■ an*iot* of evidence against either of them to rbind them over, and dismissed the case. In a case, Trott v. M 'Ready, the complainant did not appear. — J. I?. Martin prayed that the previous defendant should be bound over to keep the peace as he was in bodily fear of him. M'Ready had already been bound over on a previous occasion when he assaulted complainant. The magistrate was not satisfied chat sufficient occasion had been given to bind defendant over and dismissed the information.—Captain Vernazani, captain of the schooner Garibaldi, charged a seaman, named William Lane with disobedience of orders, but the case was not proved and the information was dismissed. The theatre at Ohristchurch is to be entirely renovated, with the object of redeeming the building from the bad repute into which it had fallen among the respectable classes, whose contributions are really the mainstay of establishments of the kind. The work of the pile-driving for the jetty; at Moeraki has been commenced by the driving of one of the ; .pi^es. Satisfactory progress is being made. •• At a meeting of the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society, Mr S. Bealey spoke in favor of the importation of the : seeds of North American forest trees for planting in Canterbury, such as the- hickory and-others,-and ultimately moved— ,!,' That : LlO worth of forest tree seeds from the Eastern States of America be sent for," which was carried. A correspondent of a local paper calculates that the amount annually expended ny Auckland on "drinks" is L 95,000. Richard Wright, says a Hawke's Bay paper, has been charged with having, on Sunday, the 19th inst., committed, a rape on Margaret Mary Cameron, a child five years of age. Mrs Cameron, the mother of tbe child, and Dr Hitchings, who had examined the child, were examined, and the medical evidence was plainly to the: effect that violence had been committed. The prisoner was committed for trial at the next' criminal sittings of the Supreme Court. The Dunedin Acclimatisation Society has just received a very valuable parcel of seeds, obtained from the garden at the Taj, Agra. The seeds are fresh, and comprise sixty -five sorts of trees, shrubs, and flowers, selected as being suitable to the climate of this country. .

It is reported by the Taranaki Herald of the 18th instant, that the trial stuff from the border of Lake Taupo showed the existence of gold and silver. The Herald suggests that every exertion should be made on this side of the Tuhua ranges to get the natives to bring iv specimens, or even wash- | dirt, that it may be tested by experienced hands. A deputation of Catholic residents waited upon the Canterbury Government lasb week to induce them to consent to the subsidising of a Roman Catholic orphanage. The object advocated by the deputation was that they should have the care of the Roman Catholic orphans now in the orphanage handed over ! to them and all subsequent orphans of that denomination. The Government returned an answer to the effecS that the request would receive early consideration. Fabulous stories are told of the wealth of some of the old identities of Sandhurst, Victoria. One man is said to have L 50.000 a year, another to have mining property worth at present prices nearly half a million sterling. A few years ago they were both working miners. These sfcoriea are verj pleasant to hear, and, making#the ordinary allowance for exaggeration, are, probably in the main true. The police are reputed to be very wealthy. A seedy-looking constable, who certainly so far as clothes went was no credit to the force, was pointed out as having an income from one mine of from LSO to LIOO per week. Fancy the delight of being escorted to the lock-up by a bobby of that description, At a recent; meeting of the members of the medical profession in Auckland, we learn from the Southern Gross that "some conversation took place about- the high rate of infant mortality in that city, but the astonishment of the professional men present seemed to be, not that the rate of dsath was so high, but that it was not a great deal higher. Two major causes were adduced for the high death rate amongst the children — the liberal tise of 'soothing powders — which had a really soothing effect ; and the great amount of artificial feeding of children which existed here. If mothers were to nurse in the manner nature intended they should, the death rate would rapidly diminish. Steadman's soothing powders were said to contain a large percentage of calomel and after partaking of them for some time, the mouths of such children assumed a sloughing condition." •.-..-• From an Inver'cargill paper we learn that at a Tneetiug of the Waste Lands Board held there a few days ago, " a letter from Mr F. Luhning was read applying for an exclusive lease of the beach line and 100 yards inland from high water mark at Port William; also the beach line and one half mile inland from the water line in Half Moon Bay, and beach line and a half mile in the rear from Ackers' Point to opposite Native Island, all in Stewart's Island, for a term of years, paying a reasonable rent after the first three years, for the purpose of forming a company to work and smelt the steel sand; or export it to Europe. It was resolved that the ap,plicaticn in its present form could not be entertained, but that should the applicant prove himself to be ; in a position to erect machinery for working and smelting the sand on the spot, every reasonable concession within a more circumscribed area would be granted him at a nominal rent. The West Coast Times of yesterday reports that a rush, wWch has occasioned some considerable excitement, set in on Thursday on some ground about a mile and a half from the back of Woodstock, iv the Kanieri district. The ground is situate oil the sideling of a terrace, and the lead is reached by tunnelling into the terrace. A party of four men have been prospecting on the ground for about three months. They: drove a tunnel into the terrace to the extent of about i2oft, crossing the lead and going beypnditto, some distance One of the party, Giovani B.eroz, who i" a ie Ulent of Hokitika, came into town oil J'uesday to apply for a, prospecting plaiin, and yesterday Mr Warden Aylmer went on the ground and a test was made. The first dish washed only showed a speck of gold, the second was not much better, but the third yielded five grains. Others were washed afterwards with even better results. A ltogether from six dishes a yield of fully a ; pennyweight was obtained. Mr Ayliner granted to the prospectors a treble claim. , Tbe lead, which is about 30ft wide, runs east and west, and the depth of washdirt is close on 4ft. Already about a mile of ground has been taken up, and claims were being pegged out after dark last nighc. A very large rush is expected, and a belief prevails that there will be ground enough along the lead for. 2000 men. The prospectors have been obtaiivug gold for some time from the

ground they were working, and have disposed of ifc in Hokitika without disclosing where they were getting it: The reason they, assign 1 for their reticence, and JEor not having pre> viously applied, for a prospector's claim, is 1 * that tney,desir,ed to test the lead thoroughly before occasioning what might have proved a delusive rush. I Under the heading " the right s6rt"6T!m-* migrants," a correspondent sends the followm'gto the Wellington Independent: — 1 note in your issue of the 15fch ulfc an extract from the 1 - • Wctranga' Chronicle' 'as "follows^" Afarmer residing wibhin^a hundred miles of Muddy Creek, and whose age w 56, states that he has an. uncle living who is 99 years, of age ; bis father is 94, and is still hale and; hearty; his aunt died at the advanced age'" of 104 ; he has fourteen' children still living,' of whom six are married, and nineteen grandchildren. We would draw the attention of the ' Government of Action' to the above facts, and suggest the advisability of importing a few more of his family. Not much need for assisted immigration then !" I would ask you which has most assisted the population of a colony, the farmer above mentioned or Mr-——, who lives within a hundred miles of Rangitikei, and who has 10 children living, 7 of whom are married (one aloiie of whom has 18 children), 65 grandchildren, and 21- great-grandchildren ■ (his oyrn age is ,85)) making a total of nearly 100 people^ many of whom are in a fair way to augment that number. • ; ■■ ..: • ' We cannot say decidedly that Mr James Smith who has recently been' lecturing on spiritualism in Dunedin is mad, but we know that people have, been locked., up as ; lunatics for less than the following extract from one of his letters ,in the Otcigo Daily : Times. He says— *' As to' the evidences "in ' favor of Spiritualism, they l - are far stronger than any that Dr Copland could adduce in favor of the genuineness of every wbrd of the New Testament. His religious-^ belief rests upon the. contents of a book 1800 years old ; mine rests, not on the inspired and uncorrupted portions of this book only, but on the testimony- of spirits with whom I have conversed face to face for xriairy con 1 secutive months, -in" the presence of a dozen people, and which spirits are educating four of my children iri every branch of liberal ih^ struction, including music, drawing, the^ Latin language, Greek. and Roman history, chemistry, botany, ■ geology and arithmetic ; and this, magnetically, and without the utterance to them of a single word, except ia correction of new lessons after they siave been written by the children. These. are facts which can be testified to by many witnesses, and of which I shall be prepared to give Dr Copland ocular demonstration it he should ever visit Melbourne. ' '■.■-;: V A correspondent furnishes the -Arrow Observer (Otago) with the following mining notes : — " The mining interest of the Wakatip district is now really looking more.-pro-mising than ever, and no doubt can possibly exist as to the permanency of these golgl fields— from the results of recent washings up at the Shotover, Arrow, and Cardrona, and tbe great extent of payable ■ ground known to exist. A large number of miners have come into the district during the. present year, and continue to arrive and set into work. The European miners are opening their eyes, and possessing themselves with eagerness of all available water for mining every part of the~distncC Some Chinese parties ' have recently sold to Europeans water rights, &c, for rather high prices— LSOO, Ll2O, and LBO being instances known ; while other changes of a consider? able nature have taken place. The miners generally are progressing; steadily, and are ' settling down with contentment, erecting for I themselves substantial comfortable houses. Mining at Cardrona is looking up. The deep lead north of the township is turning out right from the Enterprise to below Bowes and party. I learn that the former claim has paid exceedingly good dividends — so much as 501 b weight having been taken out aince the Christmas holidays. The shareholders are put to great expense and delay by reason of water destroying their drives. The Empire race, fluming, wheel, elevator, and pump are all in working order, and the shaffc is being sunk satisfactorily. The Cardrona Mining Company are opening out a large tail -race through bhe drift. It is 12ft wide and 17ft deep. The Old Band of Hope, the Banner of War, Great Extended, and other companies, are r getting extensive machinery ready, and the miners are all cheery from prospects, obtained.. The Chinese are stripping— taking the creek on a face an acre wide and the immense depjib, of from 45ft to 50ft. They hammer, gadze, and blow asunder tremendous boulders, the size of an American waggon, and wheel most of the mullock a long distance."