THE The Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, JULY 4, 1872.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1227, 4 July 1872, Page 2

THE The Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, JULY 4, 1872.

In* yesterday's issue there was published, on the authority of the Westport paper, an extended report of a case to which allusion has already been made in these columns— a case which had come before Mr Harvey as District Judge, atod which has intimate reference to the action of the Nelson Government in connection with the matter of granting; mining leases at the Inangahua. The subject dealt with in the decision of the Judge,thus reported, has been before the public for some time. It was the cause of .considerable excitement at the. Inangahua, and it' was prominently, if . hot altogether pertinently, brought under the attention of the Nelson Council during the recent session. At the Inangthuait was discussed as a Watter of policy. ,Ih the Nelson Council it was spoken of by the mover in the matter, Mr Donne, as a case involving questions both of policy and of law, and, solely upon the plea that it involved a question of law, no determination upon it come to in the Council. The very circumstance of the matter at issue having so soon been brought before the, law courts of the Colon y demonstrates the wisdom of the Council in declining to deal with it as the subject either of action or recommendation on the part of a purely representative body. It is well that the matter was brought before the Judge, and it is well that the Council declined to deal with what so early and appropriately .came befoie him, and what could only inappropriately have been dealt with by them. But, in justice to Mr Donne, it must be said that, while the propriety of the Council's declension to deal with it is illustrated by the fact of its coming be j fore a Court,, the accuracy of his argui ment* upon the main question at issue is } equally illustrated by the. decision which the Distribt Bench has fust given. According to the showing of the member for Charleston, the action of the Superintendent in Nelson was" wrong, at least, in law, and that showing 'has been fully sustained by the Judged decision. According to the reports in the Nelson papers at the time of the discussion, and according to our own c< rrespondence, Mr Donne, in discuising the matter, "dwelt strongly on the wording of the Act, maintaining that the Superintendent was bound either to grant irv Mo or- refuse

in tbto. There had been a misapplication: of the law, and a state 1 of cojftUsiph had • resulted. He held an' 1 c>pinion> founded 'on'the experience bfj^ftrdens' Cqurts, in', miiiters of a similar intricate klfid; that the whole thing was illegal, and he believed that if the question ever came before the Attorney-General, as he had no doubt it would do, his opinion would be the same. The confusion he spoke of had arisen because the distinct terms of the Act had not been, complied u with.. t ""Accorauig^thV la^'atior practibe", ' wfien ' an application for a lease of ground is regularly made in the Warden's Court, that' ground is' protected against all comers until the application is either granted or refused ; and he read the clause of the' Act, which entitled any such applicant, in the event of his applied for ground being encroached upon by others, to apply to the Warden's Court, which would be bound to give damages against the trespassers. Now, he contended, in the cases referred to, neither one nor the other of the alternatives to which the Superintendent was* restricted by the law had been complied with ; : the applications had been neither granted nor refused." The point thus raised was a somewhat nice one, many who took an interest in the matter contending, according to their crude conceptions of the law, that a partial granting of an application was not a refusal, or, as argued in other cases, that a refusal of any application might be made by the Superintendent, followed by a granting of part of the lease applied for. According to the terms of the 108 th section, the Gold Fields Act'provides that " any applicant for any lease or license, or for any claim which may be granted under the provisions of this Act, or under any regulations made in conformity therewith, shall mark out the land for the lease or license in .respect of which he shall apply, in the manner prescribed by such Act or regulations, and if any person who shall not previously have been in lawful occupation of such land'shall at anytime thereafter, until or unless authorised thereto by the Governor, enter upon, occupy, or in any way interfere with such land, such entry, occupation, or interference shall be deemed a case of trespass or encroachment within the jurisdiction of the Wardens appointed or to be appointed under this Act." The two questions plainly put to the Judge, under this particular clause, or under the Act generallyjwere— first." Was a Gazette notice, of 24th April, 1872, notifying the intention to grant the applicants for the lease a reduced area of six acres, a granting or refusal of the original application ?"-—tq which question the Judge gave the answer " No ;— and, second, "Was the ground applied for as a lease on the 6th October, 3871, protection under the 308 th section of the Gold Fields Act, 1866, until the applicants decided whether they would accept such reduced areai or abandon their application altogether ?"— to which his Honor's answer Was "Yes." According to our reading, this decision cannot mean that any Gazette notice, proclamation, or regulation made by the Superintendent or the Governor's delegate, in relation to such leases, is ultra vires, but simply that, in regard to particular applications made under certain regulations, such regulations as Tit tlio- ii«*u»~a£_fche_aDDlicatiori being made must be adhered to, or, in the absence of any such regulations, the spirit and letter of the Act must be observed. Regulations, we take it, according to this reading, cannot be enforced when they are framed, as we may say, "after the event," and consequently any reductions in the areas of leases which have been made by the Nelson Government are likely to be held to be null and void.

Though the question was not pointedly raised in the issues submitted to the Court, the Judge, we notice, took the opportunity of expressing his opinion that the proclamations in the Gazette made by the Executive Council were totally valueless, "they having no power to make order or regulations relating to leases." This observation of his Honor, we presume, applies less to the 110 th section of the Act, which requires that any regulations shall be submitted to the Ac* sembly,.than to the fact that, in Nelson at least, whatever may be the case in one other Province of the Colony, the Governor's powers are delegated solely to the. Superintendent and are not divided between him and the Executive. Of course these powers .are, in any. case, delegated to the Superintendent, in virtue of his ojfice as the chief,, and, be it remembered, popularly elected chief mem-, ber of the administration of the Province. It is not really Oswald Curtis, or Herman Lahman who is, in such cases, appointed the Governor's delegate. They v may be so appointed in letter, but the sjirit in which they are selected must' surely be that of recognising the office, not the man. It cannot, therefore, be incompatible with the exerefse of the functions of that office that, in the event of his having advisers, the Superintendent should, in fact, act as far as possible, in accord with both the Provincial and Executive Council. Except in Otago, however, the Executive Council is not recognisable or responsible, and certainly, in Nelson, the less responsibility thai ia assumed by the respectable but, as it happens, perfectly irresponsible triumvirate consisting of the Treasurer, Secretary, and Solicitor, the more becoming it will be. They have no powers delegated by the Governor, neither is there deputed to them any power by the Council. They cannot be described as a nonennity, but, in connec- ■ tion with Colonial representative institutions, they are a most decided anomaly.

As we mentioned in yesterday's issue, a fire broke out at 3.30 a.m. on Wednesday in the stable of Mr A; Constantinej situate in rear of Hospital street. The details which we then gave were substantially correct, although necessarily hastily compiled. We have since elicited the following particulars: —The building in which the fire originated was a two-storey- one, a stable on the ground floor, in which there were three horses, and the second storey in which a large ; quantity of goods were piled re&dy for conveyance by boat to up-river diggings. The horses were fed at 10 p. m, and between 12 and one o'clock Mr Constantine, before, retiring to rest, visited the door of the stable and found everything right. About half-past 3 a.m. he was awakened by an unusual noise mode by the horses, and hurrying to the stable he found, that the place was on fire close to the door, and that the flames were speedily finding a way into the upper loft. He raised, an alarm, then burst in the door and got hold of the mare that was nearest to the flames. After, great .trouble he got ' her out, turned her adrift in the yard, ran back, and got a horse half out of the doorway " when the. mare ttin back into' the atable«dob>, and

although he hit her repeatedly she forced her'way in, capsizing Mr Constantine into the flames, whereby his side and left arm were badly, burned. He .managed to scramble otit'j got ariake, with the intention of cutting away the side-posts of the door, so as to liberate the horses which were jammed there, but at the second blow the head of the axe broke short off, and another could not to be obtained in time to be of service. The three horses were roasted alive, and the most of the goods in the store destroyed. ,Th,e.ioss to, Mr^O.onstantinbxwill.be between LGOO and L7OO, and a 9 not a farthing of the amount is insured, much sympathy is Mb for him in town; especially as he has of late been followed by "a streak of bad luck," in the shape of cargo-boats capsizing, horses drowning, atrajirig, and burning. It is to bo hoped the climax has now been arrived at, and that, so far as a most respected citizen is concerned, the tide has now turned. So far as the Fire Brigade was concerned, the alarm was a late one, owing to the watchman being at the upper end of the town when the fire was first observed ; and the place was in full blaze before the alarmbell rang; but the Brigade turned out smartly, and were soon on the spot, and into working order. For a supply of water the engine was. got down close to the Tidal Creek, but volunteers to work it were few, owing to the muddy hole in which it was placed; and the heavy rain which was falling at the time. After a few strokes of the engine, three lengths of the hose burst in succession, and although they were patched up as well as could be on the spot, a full jet of water was never got to play on the burning building, and it was principally owing to the energy with which the hand-Buckets were plied, and the pulling down of the place, that the adjacent properties were saved. The hose which burst is the vulcanised india-rubber hose which was bought by the Borough Council about eighteen months ago; 500 feet of it is how useless, and will not again be trusted at a fire. The occurrence related above ought to teach the residents in Hospital street and the Borough Council the necessity of having a stand-pipe driven, somewhere near Trinity Church corner ; and we may also remark that a similar necessity' exists in Mackay street, 1 where it would be highly advisable to fix a stand-pipe near Glenn's Bond, and another between that and Tainui street, so that in case of alarm both engines could be worked with advantage.

A rush took place on Monday last to a terrace situate about half-a-mile below the junction of the Greenstone and Black water Creeks. A number of claims were taken up and will at once receive a fair trial. The prospects obtained are payable, being at the rate of about 7dwt to the load. The gold is said to be distributed right through the wash, but it remains to be seen whether thisis not merely 1 a patch" on the outside of the terrace. A meeting of gentlemen interested in the establishment of a Building Society in Greymouth was held yesterday afternoon, and the usual preliminary business was transacted. A Provisional Committee was formed, and a prospectus drawn up and ordered to be printed. There is no doubt that the Society will be at once floated. That intolerable party, the clerk of the weather, and those inexorable people, the printers, have interfered materially with the amiableaurl admirable designs of our dramatic reporter. He was, in the fullness of his heart, and of his knowledge of the abilities of most of the members of the company now performing at the Volunteer Hall, desirous bf seeing the front seats well filled' last evening, but he found that people do not affect front seats during extremely wet weather, and tHe printers inotruotiono are that his notice of the performance must, in the number of inches, be in inverse ratio to the quantity of rain which has fallen within the last ; twenty-four hours. Otherwise, he might have had opportunity of saying, at great length, and in as good language as he could use, how much Miss Nyei Miss Matthews, and the other members of the comedy and burlesque company now performing in Greymouth deserve to be seen o i the stage, and -how much they are certain to be appreciated when once seen. As it is, this notice of the performance must be confined to the statement that, in the burlesque "Lurline," Miss Nye acted, danced, and sang with more' ability than any actress has yet done on "the Greymouth stage," that Miss Matthews was as perfect in burlesque as she has ever been-, except that her native modesty seems still to prevent her from turning her honest face to the audience— that Mr Ingles is a vast improvement upon what he was when he made his debut in Dunedin, thac Mr Cripps is a much more promising actor than his name is professional, and that Messrs Wolfe and Thornton thoroughly sustained their -own parts and the reputation of the company. Of Signor Donato's dancing it' ma} briefly be said, as has often been said before, that it is marvellous— so much so that, last evening, some of the spectators were so satisfiad with it that his most difficult and possibly painful, though elegant, exertions were encored. Last, and least in point of size, though hot last or least in other particulars, dbseryes to be mentioned "Little Amy," described in pjay-bill French as " La Petite." The persons to be seen on the stage this evening are the same, arid the pieces are " Poor Pillicoddy," and the burlesque " Don Giovanni," the interlude to consist of " dancing" by Siftnor Donato, and " delight" in the circumstance of hearing, him, an Italian, singing Irish songs.

A contemporary says :— Nelson has beaten Wellington at foot-ball. They cannot beat at "log-rolling." .

■■' On : one of the examination papers put before the Candidates for "the New Zealand Univeraity ; Bcholarships appears the following :^- v Describe the formation of dew." A precocious aspirant appended to it the remark, "Query— mountain dew or honey dew??' ■■-■„ The Anderson's Creek Quartz' Mining Company have now their -tunnel in 622 it. The surveyor was on the ground on Thursday last, when, after observations having been taken, the distance to be driven to the cross drive from their shaft where the reef was. struck will be something: under 90ft from the face' of their present tunnel. ' An amusing exhibition of the effects of laughing gas upon the human system; took place at a free entertainment given by Dr Carr, at the .Academy of Music, Grahamstown. Several gentlemen, well known at the Thames, were induced to inhale the gas, the effect of which was to develop in a remarkable manner the idioayncracies of those subjected to its influence. Excepting in the case of one. the " subjects " showed fight, and evidently regarding the doctor as their mortal foe, chased him most ludicrously about ;the stage and stalls. The scene was intensely absurd.

About seven tons of ironwork, forming a portion of the machinery for the Anderson's Ureek Quartz Mining Company, is now landed at the machine site, and additional portions are hourly expected, the contractors being fully determined to lose no time in erecting the batteries, and having everything prepared, ready for crushing. The Inangahua Herald tells us that the tunuel is now going on at the rate of fifteen or sixteen feet per week, md at the present time they are only eighty feet distant 1 from the end of the drive following the reef, put in at the bettom of the shaft. This drive is 50ft to 60ft in length, and the depth

of the shaft is 137 ft. The latter* hot having' been baled : out for some months, 1 contains water to ,a. depth of fully 100 ft,; so:.; that considerable care must -be exeroj&jd in' tapping the drive. The' oonseq uences, should it" 1 sttddenly.burst through, would not alone be fatal to ;the men engaged in tunnelling, but the probabilities are that the rdsh of water would bring down, the tunnel;: and .completely destroy the result of the shareholders' labor during the past fifteen months. With ordinary care, however, such a catastrophe need not be feared. .... . ..

A meeting of. the local Board of Health was held at the Custom House yesterday. Present -W. H. Revell, Esq., R.M. (chairman), H. F. Andrews, Era., Collector of Customs, Mr J. Wilmot, Health Oflicer, arid Dr Morice. Mr Andrews drew the attention of the Board to the necessity of appointing a proper officerj in the ■-, event of the absence of the Harbormaster, to' ask the necessary questions from masters of vessels arrinngoff the Dprtj under clause 115 of the Harbor Regulations. It was agreed to have the necessary authority printed, so that it could be used by the Customs officers whenever required. It was proposed by Dr Morice, seconded by Mr 1 Wumot, .and agreed to, that the Chairman should call the attention of the County Chairman to: the, necessity which existed for the immediate ; selection of a site for a lazaretto, the selection of, the site to be left with him. It was agreed that the County, Chairman should be . asked; to odd the names of Messrs E. Masters; JR. Reid,

and G-. Kingj to the Board. ■ [Might we suggest that it would, at least have been courteous to have added the name of the Mayor of Grey mouth, j The Canterbury Press is informed that the ltev. VI. Bailey has been offered tho incumbency of Reefton^ by the Bishop of Nelson. Bishop Suter formed the' acquaintance of Mr Bailey some, years ago, and on his consecration to the diocese of Nelson, wished Mr Bailey to accompany fhim' to New Zealand. We believe that Mr Bailey has declined the Bishop's' offer, signifying 'his intention of returning to England. ,' The Wesbland Company (Rhody Ryan's) Inangahua, were expected to start crushing on Monday last, but this expectation is rather premature, as the tramway from the paddock to the machine site will take some, little time to complete.' : ' ' : A discovery of copper ore near Waikouaiti, Otago, was recently reported. The lode on the surface of the ground is from 18ft to 40ft in width, and consists of what is known as "gossan," intermixed with oxide of copJer, and yellow^ grey, and green copper ore. t gives what is considered l>y the party to be every appearance of payable ore helow. They also think it not improbable that they may come upon tin or leadi The Ajax Company (Shiel's prospecting claim), will have about 100 tons put through by next . Saturday night, , since the last crushing. The- false bottoms still give them a great deal " of trouble, and until ' the right size (ordered some- time back) arrive, the same difficulties will arise as heretofore. The 4th of July sports at the Cricket Ground, Hokitika, will take place to-day, when Drake, who beat. Twohill, will run against Coleman. , : A rare piece of honesty under the circumstances was exhibited in Auckland a few days ago. ."A, purse, containing L 25 was lost,. and then advertised for. The person who' found it brought the purse and contents # to the office of the Evening Star. The owner gave the! finder. a couple of pounds,. which were reluctantly accepted, and which the man stated he would not have accepted but that he wasabsplutely without a penny. He was also •without work. The next issue of the paper contained a paragraph stating that if the Under of the purse called he would learn of two situations which he could choose fronv ■-' .' :V M ■. ■ -..." ; : ' :. : -/ ;..; ,-■ •-..; . ,.

At a meeting of the T/estland Waste Lands Board, held at Hokitika on Monday, the following business relating to this district was transacted :— The following letters were read — From Hugh Cassidy, applying to have a block of land thrown open for sale, situate on the Blackwater, on the west side of the Hohonu and Marsden road; 'and applying further, to purchase 200 acres in the block, by special .agreement, at 10s per acre. From Mr Warden Price, forwarding two applications for agricultural leases, one at Fox's Creek, and one on the Greenstone road, : and recommending that : tho same be granted. Peter Thompson applied, through his agent, Mr Hawkins, to have four acres of suburban laud in block 52, Grey district, put up to auction. Granted, L2. deposit paid. In reference to H, Cassidy's appKcation, the Board directed the Chief Surveyor to report on a block of land near Blackwater Creek, Hohonu, and Marsden Road/ to be thrown open for sale as rural land. With respect to Mr Cassidy's' application to purchase on the terms of " special settlement, " he was informed that he must apply .in the first instance to the County Council. The Board ordered that a block of land on the Goldsborough and. Greenstone road about ! one mile east of Goldsborough, be thrown 1 open for sale as suburban land, the block to ; be numbered 74. " With respect to the appli- 1 cation of Piezzi, for an agricultural lease on the Greenstone road, the land being included in block 74, thrown open for sale at the present sitting, the Board refused to recommend that the application be granted. !

A fewnightß ago, on the North Canter- j bury Railway, a cow lying between the rails I was run over and killed. The only portion ! of the animal over which, the wheels passed ; was the horns, which were both cut off. i The body rolled along for about fifty or sixty] yards before the engine, and the four car- 1 riages attached cleared it: Both engine and ! carriages were lifted from the, rails as they j passed over the cow, but happily they did * not run off the line, and no serious injury' was done to the machinery.' *.:.;■.- A very painful accident occurred at Black's Point, Inangahua District, oh Monday morn- ; ing, to a man named William Ross, who had; the misfortune to inflict a, very severe wound '< upon his left foot with an axe while splitting; firewood. Ross, it appears, was chopping firewood for Mrs Harris of Black's Point, and had placed his foot on the log to better, secure it. The log split more freely; than he >i anticipated, and the blade, o£ the axe cut , through the sole and upper of the boot, inflicting a terrible gash. in the foot. Thewound is seven's inches in length", extending from the big toe joint to the inßtep. The ar« teries and smews were divided, and the bone of the big toe split. Mr David' Graham) an old -resident at Tauranga, on the occasion of bis leaving the district, is reported to have given, the local prospecting association the following opinion upon the mineral wealth of the locality:— "Tauranija was the outlet to the interior. The natives told him twenty 'years ago that it was the ' kopu ' (belly) of New Zealand. There were rumors of gold being found at Tauranga. He had himself seen nuggets of 31b and 41b weight. He had seen a Dugget that size which was full of mundic. . He Believed there was there the greatest silver mineral field in the world. From information of which he was then possessed from the natives, of the quantity, and from the nature of specimens shown him, which they declared could be found, he had no hesitation in saying it was one of the richest mineral fields in the whole world, not excepting South Australia and California." -

The average daily number of criminal prisoners in the prisons of Scotland during 1871, was 2619.