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Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1252, 3 August 1872, Page 2

The adjourned meeting of the Building Society will be held next Thursday, instead of Monday, as originally intended, in consequence of the committee appointed to prepare bye-laws finding it impossible to be ready in time for Monday evening, Monday next was the day appointed for the despatch of the San Francisco mail from Nelson, but the time has been extended to Wednesday, when the Taranaki will leave for Manakau, According to this arrange.ment the Greymouth mail will leave on Monday morning, by the steamer Charles Edward. At a meeting of the Paroa Road Board, held on Thursday night, the motion of Mr Dowling to remove the office of the Board to Marsden was, by leave, withdrawn*. — The Ba'e Collector reported further receipts of L 3 15s ; and among the correspondence a letter was read from the Hon. Secretary of the Greymouth Memorial Committee, forwarding copies of memorial. It was resolved to call a public meeting for Monday next, to be held at Paroa, for the purpose of considering same, and giving expression to the feeling of the inhabitants on the question, and the Board adjourned. We learn that Mr George Donne, member for the Charleston district in the Nelson Provincial Council, was entertained last night at a banquet, at which upwards of fifty persons were present. He was also presented with a purse of sovereigns, and a beautifully illuminated testimonial expressive of confidence and esteem. In expressing this confidence in their representative, the Charleston constituency only confirm the good opinion which Mr Donne's fellow-coun-cillors have had reason to form regarding him, characterised as he has been by earnestness and straightforward conduct. The Stephenson-Burford company commenced a second season of dramatic performances at the Volunteer Hall last evening, assisted by some of the lady and gentlemen amateurs who, on former occasions, took part in the plays previously put upon the stage by the same company. That dreary drama, "The Stranger," was the heavy piece of the programme, Miss Stephenson, of course, taking the' part of Mrs Hauler j and it was followed by one of the light comedies in which Miss Stephenson is as successful as she is in legitimate drama. For this evening " Lady Audley's Secret," with a new case, is announced, to be followed by a farce ; and for the ensuing week there is promised a succession of plays which have not yet been put upon the stage in Greymouth, An adjourned meeting of the Bell Hill Road Committee has been held at the Empire Hotel, Hokitika. A report from the Chief Surveyor concerning the proposed road from the thirty-second mile-post on the Christ* church road to Beefton was read. The report was most favorable, and pointed out that but few engineering difficulties, and those of comparatively trifling importance, exist along the proposed line of route. The Canterbury papers publish in full the Greymouth memorial on the subject of uniting the West Coast districts under one, form of local t;over<nent. A memorial somewhat similar in its terms has been prepared by the Ahaura committee, and is expected to be numerously signed in that districtThe following were the quantities of gold exported from New Zealand during the quarter ended June 30 : -Auckland, 39, 1140z; Marlborough, 750z ; Nelson, 34660z ; Westport, 66550z; Greymouth, 18. 143oz; Hokitika, 18,9430z; Okarito, 5360z; Dunedin, 44j8450z; lnvercar fe Ul,888oz; total, 132,6750z. The following were the quantities exported from the several Provinces during the first half-year of 1871 and 1872 : — Auckland, 149,2350z 1871, 71,7010z1872j Marlborough, 9920z 1871, 1030oz 1872 ; Nelson, 49,3980z 1871, 49,2800z 1872 ; Westland, 65,6950z 1871, 60,865 1872; Otago, 89,7400z 1871, 104,7960z 1872. A movement is on foot in the General Assembly, having for its object the removal of the seat of Government from Wellington to Christchurch. It is said that there is a strong probability of the measure being carried. The County Council was occupied until a late hour on Thursday night in discussing two questions; the firßt related to the amount of compensation which should be paid to Tramway Companies, and the second as to the appointment made by the Chairman of an overseer over the prison-labor gang. The tramway compensation question was adjourned, and the action "of tbe Chairman in making the appointment of overseer was endorsed, by the Council. The discussion (says the Times) was unusually lively. A seam of excellent coal, some fourteen feet thick, has been discovered during the past week or two on the run of Mr R. H. Campbell, at Craigieburn, Canterbury, on the West Coast road. The coal is spoken of as being of excellent quality and very abundant. The party of miners who have for some time past been prospecting in the direction of the head waters of the Mikonui river, returned to Ross a few; days since, bringing with them a simple of gold, but they report that they do not consider tne ground they have been working to be payable. Mr James .Mackay, of Ellengrove, Richmond, Nelson, is applying for a patent for a new motor. His machine, he says, will be " entirely self-acting, and the motive power is obtained from four hundred gallons of water confined within three compartments." Such a machine will cost about LlOO, and be of one-horse power. In. the Police Court, at Wellington, a strange definition was given by a witness who was asked to describe the state of intoxication a certain person was in at the time he saw him. " Was he drunk ?" " No ; he was full of grog, but not incapable." A Mr A. D. Bennett, of the Thames, has applied to the Government for compensation for injuries received on the 24th May last, while engaged as a volunteer at the sham fight at Parawai. The Charleston Herald reportß that last week the long looked-for, long expected, and long delayed opening of the beach workings near the Totara river was consummated by the bringing into operation two of the water races. Thus several claimß have been got to work, and in another month or less the whole

lino of --beaches ■n'll be in working order. The average return looked for is between L 5 and L 6 per man per week, so that 100 or 150 men on Buch wages constantly, must make a mateiial monetary difference to this district. The business men have stuck well to their men, and we trust, for their sake, expectations may be fu"y realised, as also that they may bo honorably dealt with by those whom they have stood by for the past few months supplying them with all necessaries. The recent alteration with regard to the Court at which applications, &c, are to be made, is a great inconvenience to those working on the beaches mentioned. The chapel in Wallabi street, Westpoii, erected by the United Methodist Free Church congregation will be opened on Sunday. The building is a comfortable, well arranged meeting-house. From the isolated parties of miners located on the Karamea river, satisfactory news is obtained, so far that they appear to be doing moderately well,, and have not been subjected to more than ordinary delays in work, except > such as arise from the vicissitudes of the wintry season. The spirit of unrest, however, has prevailed there, and some six or eight members of the little community, lured by good reports from former mates, have left the Karamea, and embarked for the South African Diamond fields. In the House of Representatives, a motion by Mr C. O'Neill, that the names of Mr Williamson, Mr Creighton, Mr J. Sheppard, and Mr O'Conor be added to the Gold Fields Committee, was negatived on the voices. The Wanganui Herald understands that an effort w 111 be made next year to have LIOOO placed on the Provincial estimates for the purpose of m&intfiirTig a dred^'igmaclr ie on the Wanganui River. The imports at the four West Coast port*), during the quarter ended 30th June, are thus valued :— Wedtport, L 6228; Greymouth. L 11.592; Hok'tika, L 9956 ; Okarito, L 293. The total values for the financial year ending on the same date, were :— Westport, L2O, 111; Greymouth, 110,466; Hokitika, 141,535; Okarito, L 1624. Satisfactory arrangements have been come to between Mr Brogden and those of his navvies who were inclined to be obstreperous when they ai rived. All the men have agreed at Picton to work 53 hours a week, being nine hours a day, and eight hours on Saturday. The remuneration is fixed at 6s per day for first-class men, and 5s for those who are interior. A number of diggers, it is said, have made application at Mr Brogden's Picton office for employment at the same rate. In moving the, second reading of the Greymouth Harbor Works Validation Bill, the Hon. Mr Reeves said that it would be remembered that the floods of February last caused great deati action in Grey mouth, and necessitated an expendituie of L 13.000, which could not be looked upon as wholly for the benefit of the Grey mouth people, as the work . would ultimately have become necessary for the BruDuer railway. The Goveiament had advanced certain sums for the construction of the works, for which they had accepted security, and the Bill was to validate the agreements entered into between the Minister of Works and the Corporation of Greymouth. The Bill was read a second time. The following is the motion., introduced in the Legislative Council by Mr Waterhouse, with the object of amending the constitution of the Upper House :— " That ; i the opinion of this Council, it is desirable that the Constitution Act be amended, with a view to providing— l. That the Council shall be constituted upon the principle of election; 2. An effectual guard against a deadlock in the legislation. of the country, through any lengthened difference of opinion between the two branches of the Legislature ; also that, in the .opinion of this 'Council, it is a matter of the utmost importance that the various Ministerial offices Bhould be defined by Statute." A series of exhibits, representing the mineral wealth of the Province of Nelson, has been prepared by Mr Tatton, chemist, for the Thames Exhibition, Province of Auckland, which will open about the third week in August. It consists principally of specimens . of auriferous quartz from the reefs of Collintjwood and the Inangahua, also of alluvial and refined gold; ores of silver, copper, lead, zinc, chrome, iron, iron pyrites, arsenic, and antimony, in their erode, as well as graphite (plumbago), and coal, besides many of the derivative products —in all upwards of eighty, accompanied by a map of Nelson Province showing the localities of the minerals.