Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1223, 29 June 1872, Page 2

It is said that the Nelson Government, when advised of the stoppage of all traffic by the Saddle Bush track to Reefton, promptly gave orders for clearing the track. It would be extremely out of place at any time to complain of prompt action being taken in any matter by that Government, but the allegation in the present case is that the work is one which had better be left alone, and that all efforts should be devoted to the opening up of the trunk road as soon as possible. It would be well that there should be no diffidence, but the utmost concert, between the two Governments, and if any expense is to be incurred by the Nelsou Government it might be directed to advancing the opening of the trunk road for traffic. They are not in any way responsible for the construction of that road, but their money might, according to all accounts, be more profitably expended in expediting traffic by . that route than in re-opening, for a merely temporary purpose, the Saddle Bush track. The matter is more one for the consideration of the Government officers directly in charge of ' the particular works in question, and it is to be hpped that the Provincial Government will be well and promptly advised by them, and act upon their advice! The benefit to Mr Charles Burford, at the reduced prices last night was at least a fair success, though by no means large. The pieces produced, the Octoroon and Ixion, were given as well as on previous occasions, and were as heartily applauded. To-night the entertainment will consist of Ixion and Behind the Scenes, and an afternoon performance for the benefit of country visitors will be given of Ixion. Yesterday afternoon, Mr Wickes, J.P., sat in the Resident Magistrate's ;Court, for the preliminary hearing of a case against a man named John Ward, who had been arrested by the police on a charge of perjury, alleged to have been committed before the Court at Hokitika. . The warrant and arrest having been proved, Ward was remanded to Hokitika. We understand that the construction of .the telegraph line between Inangahua and the Ahaura is expected to be completed within three weeks from this date. It is contemplated then to start a horse express between Ahaura and Greymouth, a small extra charge being made for the conveyauce of the mtß3ages. The rapidity with which the works connected with this important line of telegraphic communication have been carried on, under most adverse circumstances, is highly creditable to Mr Bird and to the Government. We regret to have another record of drowning to enter. Mr W. Knight, lately bookkeeper to Woolfe and Austin, of this town, has been recently drowned in New South' Wales, whilst crossing a river in the Gulgong district. * The only case before the Resident Magistrate yesterday was a charge of drunkenness, in which the delinquent was fined 20a, with the alternative of three days' imprisonment. Afterwards the Wardeji jtvas, engag^l ln Tne _hnori»g-of-«»-t;iKKT-between O'Grady and party v. Cribb and party. Mr Guinness appeared for the complainant^ for whom a verdict was given. . The arrangements for the pedestrian sports which are to take place at Hokitika on Thursday next are said to be progressing very satisfactorily, and a good gathering may be expected. The principal feature in the attractions will be the running of Mr Drake. • As instances of New Zealand enterprise it ia mentioned that good blacking is now being manufactured in Auckland. Mr Grey, of Upper Queen street, Auckland, converts weekly, a ton of sugar into 20001 bof lollies, which are sold at Is per lb. Wash-hand basins, and other earthen-ware, of good quality, are manufactured in Christchurch.. A grand Masonic ball is to be held in the Town Hall, Hokitika, on Wednesday evening next. The -building situate at the corner of Princea, Stafford, and Manse streets, Dunedin, and once forming part of the Provincial Hotel, is no longer to stand a monument of desolation in the heart of the town. After having been closed for nearly a couple of years, and after many, unavailing attempts have been made to have it licensed a 9 a hotel, we perceive it is now to be opened as a grocery. The Collingwood Coal Mining Company are to resume operations, partly on the faith of receiving some encouragement from the General Government In their last report the directors state :— " The sudden and unlooked for advance in freight between New Zealand has so much increased the price of coal, that, with the timely aid rendered by the Provincial Council, the other evening, in indemnifying the Superintendent in paying thiscompany any sum not exceeding L 250, your directors strongly recommend that so soon as miners can be obtained mining operations be resumed." The foliowius is the paragraph which appears in the Melbourne Argus, and upon which Greville's telegram is probably based in relation to the San Francisco mail service ? —" By the outgoing mail a despatch will be forwarded, to the Imperial authorities stating that it is not the intention of the Government to ask" Parliament to confirm the contract conditionally entered into by the late administration with M r Webb 1 and the New Zealand Government for a mail service between this Colony, New Zealand, and San Frincisco. At the same time, the Victorian Government will express its willingness to pay a fair subsidy for a service between Victoria and San Franciaco.provided Melbourne is made the terminus of the line, which would not be the case under the contract referred to." The Marihorounh Express of the 20th instant, has the following account of youthful adventure and fortunate rescue: —As the mail boat was returning to Havelock from Mahakipawa one day last week, and was. nearing home, its occupants were startled by hearing strange cries, as from some person in distress. Careful observation failed to reveal-anything except a small boat somedistance off, going towards Havelock. Mr Smith held on his course, but as the small boat became overhauled the cries became lmuler ami more urgent. As nothing else was so™ to account for the outcry that was bein» raised, Mr Smith determined to see what was the matter, and for this purpose deviated considerably from his way to see if he could lend any assistance to whoever was in the boat. It was conjectured that the boat had been caught iv a squall, and its occupant upset into the water, and that he was drowning. When, however, the boat was reached, it was found that the sole rower and creator of the noise was a small boy of about nine years of age, and who was ejaculating, with as much power as his lungs permitted, such cries as " Help I" " Murder !" " Mother !" and other noises likely to attract attention. In reply to Mr Smith the boy said he had started to go to Hood's Bay, and that his name was George Alfred

Lovell, and that liia mother had been calliug him. The truth of the matter appeared to be that the boy wanted an outing, and had taken a flat-bottom boat from Hayelock, purposing to pay a visit to an uncle residing at Hood's Bay. When he got well into the current he was forced along rather faster than he liked, and turned his boat, trying to return, but, the tide running out, he went back instead of advancing, and becoming alarmed; he emitted the cries that called the attention of Mr Smith. The boy is made of good stuff, for all the time that he was singing out "blue murder" he was "pulling hard against the stream," in doing which he exhibited more courage than is usually found in one so young. The boy's boat was taken, in tow hy the mail boat, and in a short time the young sailor was safely landed in Havelock. ■'■•■ The .Boss News of Thursday reports :— We are sorry to have to chronicle a case of attempted incendiarism which occurred yesterday morning, about four o'clock, on the premises of Messrs Davidson and Co, Aylmer street. The discovery wag made by Charles Bond, a baker, going to work at Foster's Bakery. He was formerly a partner with the present keeper of the restaurant at the National Hotel, and, as he was on his way to work, he happened to turn his head to look if they were lighting up to prepare breakfast. There were no lights at the National Hotel, but in the passage between the hotel and Davidson and Co's drapery there was something burning near the ground. Bond went up to it, and found two of the weather-boards of the store were on fire. The alarm was quickly given and the fire . extinguished. Ou. examination, it was found that kerosene had been thrown on the boards, and it seemed as if a candle had been applied, as there were several streaks of sperm below the burnt portion ; a number of matches were lying about, some not having been struck. The preliminary difficulties attendant on mining operations, to be overcome before any return can be attained in the shape of gold, are well evidenced in the workings on the Shamrock Lead, in the Buller District. Messrs Wilson and Hughes (says tho Times) have been engaged for eighteen months past in driving a tunnel for drainage purposes which, when complete, will be well worthy the name of the " Long Tunnel." They aw now in about 3500 ft, out of 4000 ft, the extent they contemplate tunnelling, and are driving through strata of fine black sand, which necessitates close timbering. The ground has been taken up and abandoned by several parties in succession, on account oi the difficult work it entailed, and the pluck and perseverance of the present holders is thus all the more praiseworthy, the more especially as for eighteen months past the claim has, we believe, yielded them absolutely nothing. A very sudden death occurred at Woodend, Canterbury, on Saturday last. A man named George Holtby, an old resident in the northern district, was sitting in the taproom of the White Crane Hotel, in company with two or three others, when he was observed to cease taking part in the conversation then going on. and lay his head down upon the., table. Those present thought he had gone to sleep, and they shook hhn in a few minutes afterwards, and told him to go to bed. As he did not answer, the call, one of them, a man named B-iley, went round the table to assist him to bed, but when he had hold of him be was "perfectly horror-stricken to observe-that therman-wardead.—Thede--ceased was an elderly man, about 55 years of age, and had for sometime past been in the employment of Mr Palmer, farmer, Woodend. The deceased had been drinking rather freely during the day before his death, and possibly that may have had something to do with his sudden demise ; but that would probably be shown at the inquest which was proposed to be held. An extraordinary accident to the Queenstown coach was lately reported by telegraph. Mr Henry, the proprietor and driver, says that the accident was caused by one of the horses shying while passing a small gully in a very narrow part of the road between Clyde and Cromwell, and in which, there is a sharp turn. The coach, horses, driver, and passenger were precipitated down a steep bank, about 100 ft in height, into the Molyneux, which at this point is deep. The passenger either got out or was thrown out when the ooach was about half way down -the bankj and escaped with some bruises: The driver, coach, horses, and mail bagg went into the river. The driver succeeded in swimming to the bank. One of the horses that got clear of the coach and harness was found on the other side of the river next morning, but the coach and other horses have not since been seen. Five of the mail bags were recovered at the scene of the accident, and one was recovered at the,Teviot, about 45 miles lower down the river. There were eleven mail bags in the coach. The accident ia one •which appears to have been purely accidental. A correspondent at Reefton, who signs himself "Sufferer," writes to us complaining of the manner in which the present contract for the conveyance of mails between Greymouth and the Inangahuais carried out. Writing on the 21st"inst., he states :— " The newspapers which left for here on the 3rd inst. have not as yet arrived. The contractor says he has got permission from the Postmaster at Greymouth. when the mail is a heavy one, to leave the newspapers at the Mia Mia to be sent on by pack-horse. . Had he confined himself to this indulgence we would have had them here long before this, but he finds it to suit him better to leave them at M 'Hardy's. Tb>. letters arrived here on the evening of -the 4th. Were the papers left as allowed, they would have been here next day, but, by this neglect, they are still lying at Squaretown. The latest we have heard up here is that the mails, just arrived by the Tararua, are coming up in a cargo boat. Is the acting Postmaster at Greymouth aware of this? Will he allow mail papers to be sent as cargo?" : There is probably some excuse for the mail contractor in the recent unprecedented severity of the weather, but the fact of attention being thus, called to the matter will, no doubt, have the effect of producing some explanation. A narrow escape from drowning is thus chronicled in. a late number of the Charleston Herald : —"Mr Slattery, in the employ of Scanlon, butcher, had a very narrow escape of losing his life whilst riding overland from Gi-eymouth. It would appear, from what we are informed, that the road adjacent to Fox's river, has been washed away to a serious extent, 'compelling travellers to take the bed of the river, and on Mr Slattery doing so he had the misfortune and the unpleasantness to find his horse sink under him, compelling him to swim for his life, and was only by occasional clinging to the rocks le was enabled to reach the river bank, exhausted, thankful to find himself once more on terra firma. After suffering the privations of anight in the bush, he made his way on foot into Brighton, carrying with him the saddle and bridle of the horse, the body of the poor beast having been thrown up on the bed of the river some distance down. If our readers are not yet sick of the repetition, we will again take occasion tore.mark that it is high time our paternal >Gr» vernment took active steps' to repair the road— unsafe— human life—have to record &c, &c. — our readers can fill in with their imagination tho oft-quoted phrases. We would, however, suggest to Mr Slattery, as ft means, of bringing the state of the road under the more prominent notice of the Government that he should send in a claim for the value of the animal lost."