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Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1262, 15 August 1872, Page 2

A Revision Court was held yesterday at the Town Hall for the purpose of revising the rolls which had been made up for the various Wards of the Borough, as recently re-divided. There were present the Mayor, the Town Clerk, and Messrs Hindmarsh and Moss, assessors. The names of sixty defaulters who had not paid their rates in time had been omitted from the new rolls. The following is the total number of votes in each' Ward :— East Ward, 237 ; Middle Ward, 207 ; West Ward, 157.

By an information in the Resident Magistrate's Court the police have done some service by, at least, directing the attention of the public and authorities to obstructions and nuisances which the Borough Council permit or ignore. The cas6 selected was not a very aggravated , or unusual one, and perhaps it was selected on that account, to S-rint a moral to others— especially to the orough Council itself. The remarks made upon the occasion are, in fact, of more importance than the case itself, and it is to be hoped that- they will not be without effect. There need be no disposition to pounce upon every person who may temporarily and slightly obstruct a thoroughfare, but deliberate and persistent negligence deserves to be noticed, and this appears to exist, particularly on the. part of the Corporation, whose duty it should be to aid the applica tion of the Municipal Act and the Harbor Regulations, not to impede or to neglect them. The police elected to proceed under the Police Ordinance in force in the County, but it remains a question whether the particular clause acted upon can be legally applied to Greymouth. Under the Municipal Act, however, there are provisions which can be applied by the action of the Council itself, and it 13 in keeping with the whole spirit of the Act that these should be properly enforced, not ignored or irregularly^ exercised. In the Harbor Regulations, as in the Municipal Act, there are also ample powers for the maintenance of order, and precautions for public safety, on the wharves and quays ; and it should be .the object of the Corporation, the police, and Harbor-master, to exercise these powers jointly, wisely, without injury to individuals, and for the general advantage.

There was a very full house at the Volunteer Hall last evening, when the drama of " The Streets of London " was produced. It was well put on the stage, and well played throughout^ but there is no disguising the fact that it was too heavy for the company, as at present constituted, and the available scenic and stage adjuncts. The company is well adapted for light comedy, and we think that the introduction of a little more of that element in the series of performances to be given would greatly enhance their attractiveness.

The inhabitants of Nelson City are eagerly agitating in the direction of inducing the Government to undertake the construction of the Foxhill railway. With that lively interest in the gold fields which they have always exhibited, they include in their arguments the assertion that this line is the great panacea for the inconveniences of the bar harbors of the West Coast. If the question is to be affected by any consideration of the interests of the West Coast, we imagine it might be shown, and should be shown, that a railway from the East Coast, with Canterbury as one great source of supply, and Lyttelton as the port for sea- borne goods, is a work infinitely preferable to the Foxhill railway. An extension of the Canterbury railways northward, and their ultimate extension by the Amuri and the Ahaura, are some of the roost important undertakings in connection with the railway system in the Middle Island, and should be kept under the notice, of Parliament, by the public on both sides of the dividing range, jib of primary importance i

We have received two letters from Hunt's Beach, in each of which complaints of local grievances are made. In the first and more lengthy letter, the writer refers to the infrequency an! irregularity of the visits of the Waipara, to an attempt made to monopolise the supplying of all stores to the diggers, and to the atrociously bad quality of the stores supplied. He also complains of the mailman leaving the mail-bags at Gillespies when the circumstances do not justify him in doing so, and of the non -receipt of papers posted in Greymouth and elsewhere. The other correspondent complains still more forcibly of irregularities in the transmission of the mails, and instances cases where the mails failed to be delivered, or were taken back, while containing important and registered communications Both correspondents, na to the lastmentioned matter, should make representations to the postal authorities at Hokitika,

In the County Council, on Tuesday, the debate on the subject of tramway compensation was resumed by Mr Hoos, who moved as an amendment upon the Chairman's motion "that the Council go into Committee, and that each tramway be dealt with separately." On a division the amendment was lost, and, after some discussion, the debate was adjourned until Thursday evening.

At the Warden's Court, Greymouth, yesterday, before Mr Warden Ee\ell, the only case was that of Matthews and party v. Jas. Hamilton. This was a complaint "that on or aboufcthe 30th June, 1872, the defendant caused himself to bo registered as the absolute owner of a race in Sullivau's Creek, New River District, without having any legal tight to the same ; and that the original

certificate for a head-race dated the 16tli of August, 1860, No. 3491, and all right to the supply of water out of the said creek is abandoned and forfeited by reason of the legal owner or owners not having continued cutting and forming the said head-race until it was completed ; and also by reason of the said head-race having been abandoned for one calendar month by the legal [owners thereof." The complainants therefore claimed that the defendant Bhould produce the certificate numbered 3491, and any renewals of the same in his possession or in the Warden s Court, and that they be declared to be forfeited. Mr Guinness appeared for the complainants, and Mr Perkms and Mr Newton for the defendant. After a long hearing of the case, the complainants were nonsuited with coots.

A fine calf fin whale was discovered last week on the beach on Quail Island, Port Cooper, by a young man named Westlake. It was thought at first that it was a right whale, and a party went over to see the monster. On arriving where the animal was, it was found to be a young animal which had evidently got among the rocks, and could not extricate himself, and was consequently left high and dry on the beach. Means were taken to secure the animal, and we understand he will be towed into Sandy Bay, and the blubber melted down, it is thought that the carcase will yield about 100 gallons of oil.

Mention has already been made of a fatal accident having occurred at the Three-Mile Creek, Okarito. The following particulars are given by a correspondent of the West Coast I'ivics:— He was a man named Chas. Morra, who was employed by Dixon, the ferryman. The creek, which had been closed for some time, had just commenced running, and calling at the south bank on his way to the island, Mrs Dixon strongly advised him not to go to the island, but to change his clothes for some of Dixon's before he came to supper, as the creek would be running dangerously in a few minutes. Morra, however, said he could manage it, and he then pulled over to the island. Mrs Dixon saw him fastening the boat to the garden fence on the island, and it would seem that having . shifted his clotb.es> he attempted to return to the south bank of the creek, but the current proving too strong for him he was carried out to sea. The boat must have been smashed to atoms on the rocks, numerous pieces having been washed ashore at the Three-Mile Bluffy Search along the beaches north and south has been made, but no trace of the body has been .discovered. Deceased was a seaman, about- 24 years of age, a native of Memel, in Prussia, and formerly had an hotel near Charleston, on the Buller road.