Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1219, 17 June 1872, Page 2

The District Court sat again on Saturday, uutil 5 p.m, hearing the evidence and arguments in the appeal case, Joyce v Kenrick. We give a condensation of the case as far as it has gone, in another column. It was adjourned until Tuesday morning. To-day, at 2 o'clock, bankruptcy cases will be proceeded .with. — .;. A report reached Ahaura on Saturday that a landslip had taken place at Duffer Creek* on Friday, seriously injuring three men. It is feared one of them will not recover. ■ Further particulars are not to hand. Two men, it is reported, have been lost in the neighborhood of the Little Grey Saddle, since Sunday. Search parties are out looking for them from both sides of the^ range. Up to Friday night there was nothing heard of them. .With regard to the storage of powder in the Dangerous Goods Store, the Secretary of Customs, at Wellington, has informed the Collector of Customs, here, that the County Chairman has been communicated with re> garding the necessity for the erection of a powder magazine at Greymouth. ■ It is our painful duty to chronicle another accident in the Grey River, resulting in the loss of life, the victim being a boatman named John Butler. The deceased was one of those who recently escaped drowning the other day while in Mr Constantino's boat. From what we have been able to leaio, it appears that the deceased proceeded as far as the coal pits on Saturday last, and started from there yesterday morning bound for the Twelve-Mile. He was driving the horses in Mr Antonio Lardi's boat,* and while crossing the Grey, opposite or near Langdon's, the horses were observed to be swimming, and Butler was seen to fall off, and never rose again. It is feared that he must have taken cramp. H« was one of the oldest boatmen on the Grey j was about 26 years of age, and for industry and for industry and general urbanity was universally respected. The body has not yet been recovered, and much sympathy for the deceased is felt throughout the town. : The usual monthly practice of the Greymouth Volunteer Fire Brigade will take place this evening, at eight o clock. Mr Simpson, flax-dresser (says a Wanganui paper), recently met with an accident whilst attending to the machinery, which drew his hand in, and crushed it. He was brought into town, where he remained some few days, apparently doing well. He then went out to Mr Shield's farm, where symptoms of tetanus began to supervene, and rapidly assumed a fatal character, the patient sinking rapidly, and dying on Wednesday evening. I Dr Earle attended deceased, and did all in his power to overcome the fatal symptoms, but without success. In England, death from tetanus has been of much rarer occurrence . since the discovery of chloroform, which is looked upon as a specific in that disease. The snow and hail storm, which began in tho up-country, districts on Monday, 10th ultimo, raged without cessation until Thursday at midnight. It snowed heavily on Wednesday night, and during Thursday especially at sundown on the latter day. There were occasional hail storms on Wednesday, with high winds on the following night. Much damage has been done to fiuming in the mining districts, owing to falling trees and branches brought down with the great weight of half-f ozon snow. A sharp frost set in on Thursday evening, (and in consequence of this this the rivers had not risen much beyond the ordinary levels, but it is feared there wlil be heavy floods when a general thaw sets in. The Colonist affords the follow Ing information to oarsmen of all kinds : — The Interprovincial Regatta Committee at Wellington have decided that the champion race be for four-oared outriggers, with or without coxswains, the prize to he Ll5O in money, or in such other forms as winners may prefer. It is also proposed to give good prizes for races by gigs and whaleboats, the latter to be fitted with all the necessary gear and appliances for whale fishing. The races, it is

contemplated, will be held in Wellington harbor during the month of February, 1873. The course for the four-oared gigs will be straight, or nearly bo, and will extend over about three and a-half to four miles of water. All the races will be open to allcomers, professional or otherwise, provided that they are accredited representatives of the Colony or Province from which they come. We have been requested by the committee to call the attention of the boating community of this Province to these particulars, and to urge on them the necessity of making up their minds whether wo shall be represented at the proposed regatta, and, if | so, whether by one or" more boats. The crews intending to compete are requested to communicate with the secretary, 'Mr H. Kent, at Wellington, as soon as possible. We have no doubt that a good crew might be chosen to represent Nelson, and if they were put into practice at once, would be able to give a good account of themselves at the above races. ' I In a paragraph we recently pointed out the necessity, for the establishment of a school at Marsden. Since then we have received the following letter, which by way of correction, we have pleasure in publishing : — "Seing a paragraph in this morning's issue to the effect that there is no school nearer Marsden than Greymouth, I beg leave to correct that statement, as I have had a school inParoa upwards of two moaths, and the parents of the children will testify to the attention paid to them. I also can have testimonials from parents in Nelson, where I have taught many years. Finding how great was the want of a school I -wrote to Mr South asking him what would be doiieby the .Board of Education to assist this district, but received no answer. I also spoke to Mr Fox (I believe a member for the district) and he distinctly told me parents must afford to pay for their own children, so whefe the certainty of a subsidy is I cannot sec. I shall be obliged by you correcting the statement that there is no school nearer than Greymouth. I am, Sir, yours respectfully —Emma Godfrey." The writer of " Casual Notes " in the Otago Dally Times thus refers to a colonial and provincial legislator :—" Mr Mervyn uttered what he no doubt considered a dreadful threat, when he hinted that he might cause the reporters to be excluded from the Council if they conbinued to be unpleasantly critical. He will doubtless be * surprised to learn' that the > reporters are not at all desirous of either listening to, or reporting his maunderings, and would be exceedingly grateful to him if he would bake a step which would spare them much weariness, both of the flesh and spirit. To listen to Mr Mervyn is bad enough, but to report him too must be excruciating. Mr Mervyn, however, showed his sagacity bj not writing to the Times about his grievance, for had he done so it might have been discovered that he is not an . authority as to spelling, although he does talk a good deal about education. While speaking of Mr Mervyn, I remember that I have an apologyHo make' — not to him, but about him. I find that I did Scotland a great injustice last week in stating that she was the native country of Mr Mervyn. This is not the case, as Mount Ida's representative was raised from elsewhere. As one who has Scotch blood in his veins, I rejoice to find that ' dear auld Scotland ' has been spared this indignity at least; and when I next go into the Provincial Council, and listen to Mr Mervyn 's follies, 1 shall do so with a lighter heart than heretofore, being spared the humiliating reflection that he could call me countryman."' A novel instrument called a "Pedometer," and intended for the purpose of measuring the distance covered by a person in walking, is on view at the shop of Peterson and Co, Christchurch. It is English invention, and is of a very simple character. The mechanical portion is enclosed in a watch oaso, wliiub has a dial, on which quarter miles and miles up to twelve are marked. The mechanism consists of a lever working upon a small wheel, which communicates with a hand that revolves round the dial. The instrument is suspended on the thigh, and as each step is taken the leVer moves up and down. This causes the small wheel to revole, and the hand making a corresponding movement around the dial, the miles covered are registered. The instrument is in a silver case, the size of an ordinary watch. • The Wellington Post of the 4th instant has the following :— " Yesterday, an amusing scene occurred at one of Mr Duncan's auction sales. Acting under instructions from the Provisional Trustee in Bankruptcy, Mr Duncan offered for sale the Hutt omnibus, horses, and plant in the insolvent estate of Walter Brown. The sale brought together a large number of spectators, and. Mr Duncan mounted the box .for the purpose of commencing the sale, but he was interrupted by Mr Ollivier who, on behalf of several creditors, protested against the sale proceeding. Mr Duncan and his 1 client, acting under the advice of Mr Borlase, proceeded to sell, and did so after, much discussion. The whole proceeding was so much enjoyed by the spectators that they at last became excited, and a number of them seizing the bus, loaded as it was with the auctioneer, Trustee ia Bankruptcy, rival lawyers, and a number of other gentlemen, quickly ran it out of the yard, down the street, and round a corner into another street, where the bus and its precious freight were allowed to remain." The Otago Daily Times reports:--*' We are glad to announce a discovery, which gives every promise of being an important one for the Province. Some twelve months ago Mr William Heckler, a miner, found specimens of copper in the neighborhood of Mount Watkin, near Waikouaiti. He himself did not know anything about copper mining, so he got Messrs Ehas Nankivell, and William and John Clyina, natives of Cornwall, and who had had an almost life-long experience in copper, tin, and lead mines, to take part in the search for copper ore. . Since that time the whole, four have been- more or less engaged in the ■searchbeing confident, from the indications which they found, that copper existed in abundance in the vicinity. They looked about closely over the neighborhood, and a few days ago found the long searched-forlode, which they are sanguine, from surface appearances, is a large and payable one, and which, for the good of the Province, and as a reward to their energy aud perseverance will, it is to be hoped, prove 30. The lode on the surface .of tho ground is from 18 to 40 feet in width, and consists of what is known as "gossan," intei mixed with oxide of copper, and yellow, grey, and green copper ore. It gives what is considered by the party to be every appearance of payable ore below. They also think it not improbable that they may come upon tin ov lead. Yesterday, they received protection, from the Waste Lands Board, and they intend to set to work at once to put down a. tiial shaft. The result of their sinking will, no doubt, be awaited with interest by all who are desirous of seeing the development of the resources of the Proyinca.