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Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1244, 25 July 1872, Page 2

In consequence of the heavy fall of rain daring the last two days, there ia a consider' able fresh in all the streams, and coach com-, municatio'n between Greymouth and Hokitika.haa been impossible. In the river Grey the 'fresh .has not been so heavy as might have been expected after such a rainfall as that of the last twenty-four hours, but the rain has not yet ceased, and, if the storm is more than merely coastal, a fresh of some dimensions may be anticipated. An entertainment with a benevolent purpose— namely, to enable an invalided person,; Joseph Preston, to proceed to an Australian 1 hospital— is to be given in the Volunteer Hall on Friday evening, when a number of amateurs are to give their services. Mr Wilckens, the mail-man, notwitht standing the high state of the river and creeks, made the journey down to towi| yesterday. He rnpbrts a considerable landr slip on the Arnold road, beyond Alabaster's] in consequence of which he had for a shore distance to scramble along the river bank. \ Mr H. Jackson, Provincial Auditor, and Mr Dobaou, Provincial Engineer, were passengers by the Murray to Greymouth, and; as soon as the weather has settled, intend proceeding up the Grey Valley to Reef ton. | The adjourned monthly inspection parade of .the Greymouth Rangers is appointed to be held this evening, when the Government capitation grant will be distributed. Information 'reached Ahaura on Tuesday evening; after dark, that four men were buried under fallen earth in a claim on the Duffer-Sullivan lead, near the Half-Ounce and Duffer Creeks. -A special messenger arrived = for Dr Phillips, who at once pro* ceeded to the scene of the accident. As the messenger left immediately the accident happened, he was not aware that any of the men were killed. -The names of the owners of the claim are Hugh -Toner, Ed. Murphy, Ed. Finn, and Peter M'Mahon, and it is feared those are the unfortunate sufferers. We have since heard that, two of the men have been got out alive, but their names have not transpired. Still later in the evening we were informed that all the men had been rescued. The following is a return of the number of letters and newspapers received and dertched at: the Greymouth Post Office ing the quarter ending 30th June last :— Letters' received, 29,669 j papery .■ 32,091 ; letters despatched, 28,830 ; papers, 26,120 ; total, 58,499 lotters; and 58,711 papers. These returns show an increase, on the corresponding quarter of last year of 12,053 letters, and 18,210 newspapers. An inquiry was held at the Court House, Abaura, on Saturday, 20th July, before C. •Whitefoord, Esq., R.M., with respect to a ch&rge brought against the bailiff of the Resident Magistrate's Court. This charge had reference to alleged misconduct of the bailiffat the sale, under a distress warrant, of a nuning'share at Half-Ounce. The matter was first /brought under .the notice of the general public by a letter which appeared some thne.since in the Ghey River Argus, signed "Samuel Hafford, miner, Half-Ounce." As, by the rules of vhe Government service, . the bailiff Was not permitted to reply to a charge thus publicly made, the Magistrate, in justice to all parties, granted the inquiry asked for on both aides. The complaint was that the bailiff, at the sale, bid for the share himself, and knocked it down to himself

.although the full amount of the warrant with (•oscb was: bid by another person, and also th|t he adjdunwd the sale, and that he had an ; interested motive in doing so. Mr S. Hiffprd conducted ' the case for the comMr\Edwaras, the bailiff, appeared in person. The evidence of three witnesses was taken, and it was proved that the bailiff bid L 9, the amount of the warrant, and that Mr. Lorenzo. Frixione "rose him 2s 6d," as one of the witnesses said,, which meant an Sffer of L9?'2s '6d, but the bailiff refused to take the bid, and adjourned the .sale, and that the share. was afterwards sold for L 9 Is. To this, the. bailiff replied that when he pat the share up for sale the bidding was slow and for small amounts; To save time he bid the upset price of L 9 for the share, which was the amount and expenses of the warrant, as he was empowered to do. Mr Frixione bid 2s 6d, but he (the bailiff) did not understand that the offer meant L 9 2s 6d or he would have knocked the share down to M r Frixidne. There Wais usually an amount of banter and chaff at' bailiff's sales, and he understood the offer of Mr Frixione was for 2s 6d only, and as he. knew the share was intrinsically worth the upset price he did not want to sacrifice it', and he adjourned the sale. He denied being interested in the sale beyond the desire of realising the' amount of the warrant with tie expenses, and He also denied that he bought the share in for another person, who afterwards refused to ratify the bargain. He showed, in crpssexamihation of the witnesses, that he invited Mr Hafford and others to come and bid for the share, which went to prove that his sole motive was to realise as much as he could for the judgment creditors. The Magistrate said the bailiff was to blame for not knocking the share down to Mr Frixione, but he (the Magistrate) was willing to believe it was an unintentional error on the part of the bailiff, who was new to his duties, arid he would caution him to be more careful in future. He acquitted him of the charge of being personally interested in the sale of 'the : share beyond the performance. ; of .his duty as bailiff. The Magistrate informed Mr Hafford that the proper course for him to adopt if be had any complaints to make against an officer of the Court would have been to come to him (the Magistrate) and prefer them. If he did not get satisfaction, it would; then be time enough to write to the newspapers. The proceedings terminated after both parties had thanked the Magistrate for his courtesy and impartiality during the inquiry.