Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1237, 17 July 1872, Page 2

In consequence of Gilmer's Hall being engaged, the public meeting appointed to be field there this evening, to consider a memorial based upon the resolutions passed at a recent meeting held at the same place, in re the reformation of government on the West Coast, has been postponed until Friday. Communication between Hokitika and Greymouth was interrupted yesterday, in consequence of the flooded state of the streams, and we are consequently without Hokitika mails and exchanges. A meeting of the Borough Council was held on Monday evening at the Town Hall, the Mayor in the chair.. After the minutes of the last meeting had been read and con* firmed, the following tenders were opened for the construction of Leonard street: — — Rowley, LB9 ; T. Wright, L 79. The lowest tender was accepted. Mr Kennedy, by permission, moved — "That a deputation ~"fruDtt--Mi«''-!Doro«»gl* - Ow»m»il— wait atv_fi_JY. O'Connor, Esq., District Engineer, to urge the necessity which exists for the construction of approaches being made from Mawhera Quay to the wharf as soon as possible." This was seconded and carried. By permission, Mr Kennedy moved the following resolution, which was carried:— "That whereas an agreement has been made between the Superintendent of Canterbury and the Commissioner of Native Reserves, by which it was v agreed that Tainui street would be formed by the Government ; that the formation of the said street is an absolute necessity, and therefore the County Council be urged to carry out their agreement, or in lieu thereof to grant a subsidy of LIOOO to this Council towards the expense of making the said street and High steet, thereby giving the residents of Greymouth a much required road to the town boundary. That a copy of the above be sent to the County Council, and that the" representatives of the Grey be requested to support the application." For the bitterly cold wind which has recently prevailed in Greymouth, there was yesterday substituted a genial rain. The rain was exceedingly welcome on account of the .warmth by which it was accompanied, but it-j-the rain — would have been more welcome if it had been less in quantity. There was probably not more rain than was desiderated by sluicing parties, but town residents had reason to complain of its quantity in consequence of the necessity of their wearing much waterproof clothing, or of getting extremely wet in consequence of the absence of such clothing. It was suspected that the river would, towards evening, be in a state of flood. But there was, fortunately and only, a considerable "fresh." Business having been dull during the day, the element of freshness was prevalent in other places as , well as in the river. . Irrespective of the extent of wetness, it was the common disposition of men and weather to be extremely genial. Should the same weather continue for many hours, its comparative warmth and its extraordinary wetness are, however, calculated to cause a flood of uncommon dimensions at this season of the year. The snowfall up country, during the recent severe weather, has been considerable, and the melting of the snow, appended to the present rain-fall, is likely to cause a larger fresh than has been seen since the proper season of floods. A gentleman named Joseph Kinsey, who lately died in Dnblin, has left LSOOO to the Auckland Orphan Home, and LSOOO for the support of clorgymen in Auckland. A great fire has occurred at Shortland. The south-west side of Pollen street, from the old Bank of Bevr Zealand to Litchfield and Barnett's, one mile in length, has been destroyed. Particulars are given ' i our telegrams. A letter expressive of sympathy and respect for T. A. S. Kynnersley, Esq., and admiration of his action during the late Provincial Council proceedings, has been numerously signed by his friends in tha Buller district. .There is even greater reason for the inhabitants of the Grey -district expressing Ibhfcir sympathy ,- with Mr Kynnersley in regard to kis recent representation of West Coast interests, and in regard to his present illnesß, -inUitf 'ir-to'W hoped that the example given byi Jtte i residents of the Bnller district vriu 'bef '.imitated by' the'inhabitants of 'the district' tff Which Mr Kynnersley was the' distinctive and 'efficient representative during the last session of the" Kelson Council.Yesterday morning a case was heard at the Magistrate's Court which ought to act .as a caution to midnight prowlers. John Carroll was charged with having been drunk and disorderly, but during the course of the evidence it appeared that ho had been guilty of a much more serious offence, that of attempt-

ing to force his way into the house of Mr Andrews, Collector of Customs at this port, at a late hour on Monday n'ght, and seriously assaulting Mr Andrews in bis endeavors to expel him. However, the defendant appeared to have mistaken his mark, and when he was placed :t the dock he showed externulßioas of having received a sound thrashing. Mr Chamberlain went to the assistance i of Mr Andrews, rid conveyed the prisoner to the police camp, For being drunk and disbrderly, the defendant was fined LI. Mr Andrews refused to prosecute for assault, as he had already given the defendant a good sound thrashing. The Magistrate ') severely reprimanded the defendant for his conduct in attempting to force his way into any private house during the night, and cautioned him that, had Mr Andrews pressed the charge of assault, he (the defendant), would most probably have received six months' imprisonment. The Orangemen of Canterbury, who are rapid' j increasing in numbers, celebrated the 12th July by holding a great dinner party. They propose shortly to erect a hall in Christchurch. Professor Haselmayer and Mr J. Small, who are at present giving entertainments in Christchnrch, are expected to visit Greymouth in a few weeks hence. The General Government are pushing forward the branch lines of railways in the Province of Canterbury, tenders being called for the formation of eleven miles of the Rolleston and Malvern line, and eight miles of the Rangiora and Oxford line. The development of Messrs Zala and party's Alpine claim is likely to attract the renewed attention of mining speculators to the Lyell district. The Westpprt Times is credibly informed that 4Ooz of gold have been lately obtained from 71b weight of stone, and that from present indications, it is but the first promise of a continuation of a similar j'ield. , The miners at Blue Spur, Tuapeka, are almost at a standsti'T for want of water. The races are frozen up. At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, betore W. H. Reve 11 , Eaq, R.M, the following civil cases were disposed of : — Judgments by default with costs Thomas and M'Beath v Thomas Norbeyg, 17s ; same v Gaul, L 4 5s lid ; D. Maclean and Co v P. Warren, Ll6 Os Cd; J. Leonard v. P. Crawford, 17s 6d ; P. McCarthy and Co v W. Alexander, Lll ; O'Dowd v Leach, L 9 19s 6d ; G. Lowe v — Bailey; this was a claim of L 6 9s ; L 3 13s 6d was paid into Court, and judgment was given for the plaintiff for L 4 5s and costs. Brow a v Bachelor, a fraud summons for L 9 Is 7d. The defendant was ordered to pay L 3 per month, or to linicrgo one month's imprisonment. ' W. Kilner v Miss Burke, a claim of 10s ; the plaintiff was nonsuited with 9s costs. R. M'Phinn v JohnTaggart, a, claim of L 8 7s on a fraud summons. The defendant was ordered to pay the amount in two monthly instalments, or suffer one month's imprisonment. We were show x yesterday (says a Thames paper) by Captain Souter very fine specimens of fossil flax, wbich were found embedded in a reef some 300 ft from the surface, in the Oalifornian Gold-mining Company's ground, Tararu. The stem and part of the leaf are very perfect. A Bendigo paper says that at a meeting of the Old Clarence Tribute Company, Eaglehawk, a lady shareholder was unanimously elected a directress by a large majority. The adoption of the uniform rate of one shilling for telegraph messages has been a success in Victoria. The Argui says : — " The result of the reduction in the rates on telegraph messages on Ist January, 1870, has been a very considerable increase in the number of messages transmitted. In 1869, before the unif jnn lo rate was iutivduccd, the number of messages was 256,723, and the gross cash receipts thereon were L 25,154 6s 9d ; in 1871, the number of such messages was 496,043, and the gross cash receipts were L27,274 14s 2d." The Canterbury papers state that Mr Kirtcn, of the (Jhristchurch Post Office, has been appointed Chief Postmaster at Hokitika. A curious evasion of the licensing law is now practised at the Divan dancing saloon, in Melbourne. To comply with the Act, they close up punctually at twelve, and turn everybody out ; but at half-past twelve the doors are re-opened and dancing recommences, being then kept up during pleasure. It is now explained that the Albion brought the Suez mails, which were transhipped from the Bangalore at Sandridge ; but, being full of cargo, she had to leave be a hind the booksellers' and sample parcels for New Zealand. ' The boating men of Canterbury have paid a very graceful tribute of respect to the memory of Mr Andrew Macfarlane, who, it will be remembered, rowed as one of the C.R.C, crew at all the regattas last season, and died very suddenly from fever. A monument, executed in Aberdeen granite, has been erected over the grave at the cemetery, and immediately below the name ore the words " Erected by a few comrades and frieuds in respect for his memory." The Lyttelton Times of Saturday says : — "In Chambers yesterday, when asked to fix the costs on the motion for dismissal of the action in the case of George v. Toomer and Sons, his Honor Mr Justice Gresson re-' marked that every little matter was brought betore the Court, and the costs were swollen up to such a sum that it was really monstrous. Such little matters as these gave him more annoyance than deciding questions of ten times the amount on points of law. He wished the solicitors would give and take a little, and save their clients in cases of this kind." " * Some idea of the state of the road from Dunedin to the Dunstan,, vja the Hogbura, can be formed from the fact that Cobb and Co's coach now takes .three days in performing the journey, a distance •of about 140 miles. A Miss Flora Anstead is at present acting in the Princess Theatre, D"unedin, and her friends indulge in the following form of advertisement :— anoticecardorcircular. missflora ansteadscomplimentsandtvishestoinformyoub erbenefitwilltakeplaceattheprincesstheatreou tuesdayeveningjuly9whenthenewcomedyofho wsheloveshimandcreaturesof impulsewillb c p r osentedforthefirsttime. The erection of a United Methodist Church inWallabi street, Westport, is rapidly approaching completion, and will be open on or about the 21st iust. The building will give comfortable sitting accommodation for about 120 worshippers, and, in addition to the usual seat fittings, there will s\so. be erected a railed platform for the preacher, and a space will be reserved for the choir. Arrangements are being made for holding a tea meeting and special services, to celebrate the opening of the,new. edificj'e. There seems to be an encouraging prospect that ; by the, time tho construction of the overland telegraph is.;C,on)pleted it will have to be done over again.* A danger which has before been casually ./alluded to has, upon further experience,' grown to appear much more serious than was, at first thought. The danger is from the; .voracity of white ants. These pests of all tropical climates seem to exist in great force, in North Australia. A writer to the South Audralim^llegister describes their ravages in a very graphio manner. It appears that they devour' the growing trees, and sometimes eatoff the living boughs. The rapidity with which they con*

sume even well-dried timber is astonishing. It iB put into a roof to-day, and before a week fine powdery dust is observed falling from it as the minute agents of destruction are at work. Wooden, buildings must be renewed every three or four years at the farthest. But this interesting insect appears to have an especial down on the telegraph poles. Many of them are scooped out and honeycombed, and now stand mere shells, waiting for the first strong wind to blow them over. The insulation pins are coated with a nonconducting, varnish, but it makes no. difference ; Jtkey are riddled and eaten up bodily by the antß. They have not yet taken to eat the wire, but it seems likely that very soon there will be nothing left but the wire. It appears that before long it wiJl be found needful to re-construct the line with iron posts through the territory. thus infested.

At a meeting of the committee of the United Canterbury Cricket Club, the question of tlie contemplated visit of au All England Eleven, consisting of some of the most noted gentlemen and professional English cricketers, was aVuded to. No definite j'iformation as to the probability of the Eleven visiting New Zealand could be £,lven, but the committee thought that it was ad* visable that enquiries should be made upon the subject. In view of this, the Secretary was directed to write to the Secretary of the Dunedin Cricket Club, suggesting that a joint communication from the two Provinces should be forwarded to the Melbourne committee, requesting information as to the terms upon which the Eleven could include New Zealand in their tour, and as to the ar- ' rangement of matches with the Prov'nces, and with a united team selected from the players of Otago and Canterbury. In. reference to the Auckland Norman case, it appears that affidavits of J. G. Raphael, M.L.A. and J.P, of New South Wales, Maria Raphael John Le\\ie, merchant, and Jacob Marks, have been received, all proving John Norman, of Sydney, to be i the eldest son of Edward Norman, late of the United Service Hotel; that Norman's v.lfe is still living in England; that the present pretended wife is a Mrs Green, who left for Bombay with Norman :':i 1853 ; also that Annie Jones, w?fe of Mr Jones, of Duuedin, is the only lawM daughter of Edward Gorman. Mr Bennett, barrister, of Auckland,, is instructed to act for Join Norman . A serious fire, resulting in the destruction of the store at the Selwyn ::i the occupation of. Messrs John Gordon and Co, occu./ed on Saturday last. From what we can learn, the fire broke out soon after 5 p.m. :?i the back part of the premises, but how it originated is, we believe, not known. Very little of the stock was saved owing to the rapidity tv ith which the building was consumed. The stock was insured in the New Zealand Insurance Company for LISOO, and the furniture and building in the Northern Insurance Company for LSOO. An Aberdonian writing from Melbourne to the Aberdeen Free Press indulges in some remarks of a somewhat uncomplimentary character upon the colouial ladies he has met with. He says: — "I have not got acquainted with many people in Melbourne yet, and have only been to one party. I don't care about the colonial girls. They are, as a rule, rude and uncultivated. They have neither grace, refinement, nor good looks to be proud of, but they are disgustingly self conceited nevertheless, and behave with anything but ladylike propriety, If you were to take a handful of Bradford girk, dress them up with plenty of garishness and an absence of all taste, and keep them from absolute swearing they would show favorably Bide by side with, an ordinary company of middle-class girls here. If you do see a sensibly-dressed lady-like spirited aud vivacious without vulgarity, make sure she is no colonial." In au account of the recent brutal assault at Poverty Bay, the Southern Gross says tne perpetrator, whose name is Sugar, and who was one of Captain Porter's division, had been .courting the servant maid at Mr Hardy's. On one occasion he overheard her make some derogatory remarks about him. He proceeded to the house on the night of the 20th, about nine o'clock, went into the room of Mrs Hardy, supposing it to be that of the girl, and made a furious onslaught upon her with a thick stick ; and on discovering his mistake, went in search of the girl, whom, when he had found, he assaulted in a similarly barbarous ruffian manner. The ruffian tben left, leaving his victim in a state of insensibility. The servant girl, however, soon recovered and gave the alarm. Mr Hardy is a clerk to Mr Reed, the owner of much property in Poverty Bay ; and it was owing to his recommendation and influence that the wretch Sugar obtained his employment in the Native Contingent.