THE PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY. SEPTEMBER 2, 1872.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1277, 2 September 1872, Page 2

THE PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY. SEPTEMBER 2, 1872.

The County Council has closed its proceedings, and at least one, if not the last, period of its existence, without exciting any very great amount of public attention. To this very reprehensible indifference on the part of the public, several circumstancca have contributed. People have become somewhat sick of their old love — the County system, while they have become proportionately fond of the new love — the fair, misnamed, and, we fear, ill-fated maiden, "Unification." While the eye has been filled with the beauty and stature of the latter, the ear has been exceedingly deaf even to the former's " last appeal"— such being love. Political bodies of much greater import have also been in session — bodies whose ways are wiser, whose words are weightier, and whose members are mightier much than are the members of our County Council. Amid the pitched battle cf parties and the war of words in the General Assembly, it was not to be expected that people would pay much attention to the single and often singular combats on the floor of the Court House at Hokitika. There is, further, so much of theory in the practice of the Council, to say nothing of the prevalence of tramway in the'.r sentiments, that their proceedings somewhat palled upon the majority of their audience, and even appalled tho r ennitive few. Tramways nre very g<-od i-.ingr in Lheir way, but wiie;' they run through a whole session and lead to no

definite result but the distraction of members, they are calculated to be considered somewhat objectionable subjects of discussion, and thus it was with the ' County Council's session just closed. The very abundance of the one subject induced people to neglect perusing the debates, and discovering tho possible abuses by which it is surrounded. As with the one subject, so with others — there has been an indifference to them and to the discussions which they raised, yet it was not well that it should have been so. More perfectly informed than we are by their personal residence in the locality, several of our Hokitika correspondents have been impelled to communicate complaints of all sorts of questionable conduct on the part of the Council, but the impulse has been so strong, or their discretion so slight as to the intervention of the law of libel, that we have hesitated to give publicity to their letters. There is one transaction, however, to which, without saying anything as to its merits, we may properly direct attention, since it provoked some very hot language among members on the last night of the session, without the reasons why I being very clearly comprehensible by the 1 outside observer. On that transaction,

and previous to the final discussion and decision, we received a communication from Hokitika, from which we now quote sufficient to serve as narrative. Our correspondent says : — "An attempt was, as your readers know, made on the last day of lost session to prolong Mr Hungerford's contract for the maintenance of the Christchurch road

for three years, your member and our County Chairman being among the successful opponents of the proposition. iSow, however, when both Mr Lahman's term of oflice and the Council are falling into the sere and yellow leaf, he induces his innocent coadjutors to ask Mr Hungerford to send in propositions for extending his term three months or three years, it being clearly the intentijn to give him the longer term if opportunity should offer without exposing him to the chances of competition. Luckily — whether warned by a communication in your journal, I know not— but attention was aroused and the project was modified to a request for a tender for seven months' maintenance, which duly made its appearance accompanied by an apology for its high, tenm on the score of the risks of summer floods, &c, thus reversing the action of last year by securing his extra thousand beforehand instead of afterwards, That this would have been conceded there can be no doubt but for the resolute opposition of Mr Robinson, of the Kanieri, backed by an offer on the part of a well-known and perfectly capable contractor to do the same work for some £300 less. This offer certainly came in the very nick of time, and places in a very unpleasant dilemma certain of the members, to s?y nothing of a host of industrious log-rollers who, aB well as the road, depend upon him for maintenance. As the matter stands they must either throw away £'.SOO public money in favor of Mr Hungerford, give the contract to Mr Thomson, make Mr Hungerford rpduce his terms, invite new tenders, or, letting the present contract slide, undertake the maintenance themselves until the new CJonncil meets and the new Chairman or Superintendent is installed. " Since writing the above the Council has decided, in spite of the strenuous opposition of Messrs Robinson wi Kutton, to give Mr Hungerford his own terms, thus bequeathing a legacy of debt and obligation to its successor, which will require belter component elements than the present can boast of to successfully satisfy. Let us hope that the majority have committed this act in the full, as it is the true, conviction that it is the iost act of public spoliation they will be accessories to,"

Of the concluding discussion on this matter there seeing to be a pretty full report in our Hokitika contemporary, but the precise bearings of the case are npt very distinguishable on a perusal of it, and the statements on either side are bo equally balanced that, in the absence of further information, we are not warranted in expressing any strong opinion. It may be well, however, for the purposes of record, to indicate what these statements are. According to the report, the adoption of the Committee's recommendation as to Mr Hungerford's offer was moved by Mr Ilalfe and seconded by Mr Dungan, and from the next speaker, Mr Barff, there came the explanation that the Council had been led into an unfair posLtion by the fact of the Select Committee having divulged what tho offer was. He held, however, that the Council could not recede from the acceptance of the offer, and he supported it. As a sample of the \ difference of opinion existing upon the point, and the strength of opinion held at least on one side, we quote a few chouse senteucea from the remarks of Mr Robinson. Said Mr Robinson : — " The acceptance at this offer was, in his opinion, one of the greatest pieces of jobbery ever perpetrated by this Council. Matters had arrived now at such a pass that if tlieva was such a thing as public opinion even latent in the County, the Council dare not accept this offer. Unfortunately the public throughout the County found fault individually, but took no active steps to obtain redress. The passing of such a resolution as this would stamp the representative institutions in the County of Westland as a great mistake. Should the motion be carried it would amount to a jobbery which renders ifc rjmost a disgrace for an honest man to sit in the Council." Mr Button spoke on the same sido, putting the case more temperately thus : — " It was a pity that the Council had been placed on the horns of a dilemma by the disclosure made by the Select Committee, but, however strongly he might feel inclined to sympathise with the contractor, his desire to do his duty to the Council outweighed his sympathy and he should vote against the motion." Between the Paroa, member and the Greymouth member, who is not — as yet — the County Chairman, there was .a difference of opinion on the matter. Mr Dungan said " He would give his vote honestly an,d conscientiously on the question, notwithstanding what had fallen from the member for Eanieri. He could not vctc otherwise than for the motion before the Council when he considered the peculiar position in which the contractor had been placed by the Select Oommit£e£. In the difficulty thus .created it had been unanimously Agreed to obtain the opinion of the County Engineer, and when his estimate was found Lc be . nly a few pound.-; below Mr H.unge*fo?d"s, he (Mr Dang? ) fe-Jt bound to vote for its acceptance,, fol-

lowing out what had already been done The question was certainly one of difficulty. He had endeavored to arrive at a conclusion in. regard to ib honestly, and he repelled the charge made in the member for Kanieri's speech. He (Mr Dungan) would scorn to bo associ tfced with any attempt to introduce jobbery into the County Government." Mr Fox, on the other hand, "distinctly objected to the acceptance of Mr Hungerford's offer. The work should be tendered for in a fair and open manner by public contract. As the member for Kanieri had remarked, this affair bore the complexion of jobbery. Mr Hungerford was no doubt an estimable man, but still the Council could not on that account wrong the public." Accepting even Mr Fox's mild phrase, as compared with that of Mr Robinson, that there is "a complexion of jobbery" perpetrated by one or more members of a Council of nine is not a pretty combination of words, and, with such words passing between the members— translated by Mr Ralfe a3 meaning, literally, "bribery" — need it be wondered at that correspondents should rush into print, and that tho public should ask, " What's a' the steer ?" i Unique as the discussion seems to have J been, the reason assigned by the Chairman for his vote is equally so. In the words of the report, "The motion was then put and carried on a division ; Messrs Ralfe, Dungan, Barff, EJoos, and (after a considerable pause) the Chairman voting for it ; and Messrs Robinson, Button, and Fox against it. The Chairman stated that he gave his vote with the ' ayes' because he did not like to vote in company with the member for Kanieri (Mr Robinson)." This statement by the Chairman would, of course, be altogether extraordinary but for the explanation that he had previously " criticised in strong terms the statements of Mr Robinson, who, he said, seemed to consider himself the only honest man in the Council." It is, however, scarcely the correct thing, however common it may be, to allow one's votes to be guided by personal likes and dislikes. It is still less the correct thing, and certainly more uncomtno-.i, to make Buch an exceedingly honest confession.

Tho usual monthly meeting of the Greymouth Volunteer Fire Brigade takes plac« this evening, at 8 o'clock sharp.

An extraordinary general meeting ef the shareholders in the Grey River Steam Tug Co. will be held at Kilgour's Hotel to-day, at 3 p.m., to cwsider the advisability of declaring a dividend, and also to arrange af> to the investment of the Reserve Fund.

It is expected that, in the Grey Valley, the memorial which was adopted at the Ahaura in favor of unity and uniformity of government on the West Coast will receive about 1500 signatures.

Members of the Grey District Permanent Building and Investment Society who neglected to pay their first monthly subscriptions on Friday night last will have another opportunity of doing so to-night at the adjourned meeting at Gilmer's Hotel, at halfpast seven o'clock. The next meeting of the directors is to be held on Thursday, the sth instant, when applications for loans will be entertained.

The District Engineer announces that the Marsdsn ai)tl Hohonu Road, connecting Marsden with the Stafford Town Road, is now open for general traffic.

Considerable and very justifiable com* plaints are being made as to the color and flavor of the gas which is now being supplied from the Greymouth works. The ouusus of taste and smell are certainly much offended by it, and the effect upon persons whose occupation necessitates them inhaling it for some b.Qijrs continuously, is most deleterious. It is possible that the gasworks are sharing in the c( nsumption nt tbje inferior coal now being supplied from the mine, but there is a suspicion that the retorting is imperfect. Foi' S&tnrday evening there was, of course, a "sensation tlrsma" at the theatre, the said drama being " Tho Pirate's Bride," in which Miss Stephenson was the bride and Mr Thornton the pirate, and an admirable bride and pirate they made. Mr Small's singing and Little Amy's recitative formed tUc interlude, and the performances concluded witfc the "Irish Tutor," with Mr Small again as Dr O'TftoJe. The company are understood to have in preparation, for production on an early evening, tho play of "Macbeth."

There is a considerable amount of sickness prevalent in Greymouth at present, especially among children — a circumstance due probably to the sudden changes of temperature which are experienced. The Gorge wind gets a large share of blame for this, and it, no doubt, is one of the most objectionable of our local institutions in the winter season, fouj; in several other towns on the West Coast there are similar complaints of sickness among children. During the present abssnee of employment in Ross, the miners are taking up ground all \ through the hills, and the Upper Totara, says the JYeios, is likely to furnish remunet?atjve employment to mauy men. The Weztporp storekeeper who recently advertised his storo as bejn# " on the wallabi track," is now able to r nnounce '/Settled at last." The Westport Times wonders why Westport should be v ithout a sawmill, seeing that there is a large demand for saw a timber and any quantity of the raw material. Spijrjflus cons—s hillings dated 18 I— are ' i circulation jn Westport, and the local paper warns pot-sons to be on their guard against doubtful-looking ' ' roberts. " Inspector Shallcrass, the chief of the police ; -.i the Province of Nelson, is at present on his periodical visit of inspection of the force in the Grey District of the Nelson SouthWest Gold Fields. The Melbourne Herald says : — "A nugget, which was sold for LI 100, was found at the Big Hill, Tylers, a few days ago, by a poor hardworking 'hatter,' a man with a large family." A simple mode of avoiding tfye gpread of small-pox has been discovered in Alabama. They let the patient die safely by himself, hire a negro to bury him, and shoot the negro as soon as the interment is finished. A promising boy, hearing his father talk a f;rcat deal about Parliament, lately asked »im — (i Father, how long does Parliament sit ?'' '* Four or live months, my boy," was the reply. " What a long time ! why, our geese only sit live or six weeks," was the shrewd remark of the youth.

At the Resident Magistrate's Court, at Ahaura, on Thursday, 29th ult, before C. White£oord ; Es<(., 11. M., an application was made to the Gduvb by Mr Stiytefi.r a rehearing of tho case against ifrilm William Day, who was convicted and sentenced t.Q four months' imprisonment with hard labor at the sittiug of the Court on the 16fch ult, for being in the unlawful possession of a v, n -£.erpi-oof coat, stolen from the shop of James Hay,vs, draper, Ahaura, on sth July. Mr Su"ite made liitj ' apfuVation under the 2."iti) c'otion of the " Api<"l.' from .)'u-?tic.cs Act," oi 1807, which provides for a rehearing of aucU cases at the discretion of the magist-

rate. The magistrate in granting the application said he would do so ii consequence of the representations of counsel that material evidence in favor of the prisoner would be produced, and that this evidence Wiis not available on the first hearing of the charge. The magistrate further informed M r Staite tb at when the rehearing came on the Court would endeavor to procure the assistance of another magistrate in deciding the case. Since the conviction of Day on the above charge, i affidavits have been filed in the Supreme at Nelson, in support of an application for an order of prohibition, staying farther pro>= ceedings. It was now arranged that the decision on the rehearing is to be final and a bar to future proceedings. The prisoner would be released from custody on tendering approved bail. Two charges of drunkenness were disposed of in the usual manner, and a few unimportant civil cases were decided in favor of the plaintiffs in default of any appearance of the defendants. The Court was adjourned to sth September. George Barton, otherwise known as '• Yorkey," who recently made some confession as to the murder of one Thomas Costello, near Reeftcn, has been lodged in Westport Gaol for a month, for drunkenness and disorderly conduct. A warrant for his arrest on the more serious charge of complicity in murder was signed by Warden Broad. Intelligence reached Keefton on Thursday, which t«nda to remove the feeling of uneasiness with regard to the missing Thomas Costello. It appears, according to the statement of Frank Spence, that a cattle-dealer named Antonio saw Costello up the Grey on the 17tb inst., and the latter at that time particularly noted that Costello had no dogs •with h'm, that fact 'striking Kni as a very singular one. Dr Hector gives the following as the result of an analysis of a saiiple of the. Ngakawhao coal : — Water 1.31 ; fixed carbon ... ... 71.16 ; Gaseous matter ... ... 25.75 Ash ... ... ... .78 Dr Hector adds— " The coal on the fresh, fracture is very bright and lustrous, but ver/ , friable. It ignites with difficulty, cxceptlir \ a good draught, forming a very light vesictflar coke. With a little care in stoking— on account of its friable nature, tending to clog, the furnace bars — it should be a very excellent stt am coal, its evaporative power bein| 9ilbs of steam for each pound of coal, which is considerably above the best samples of the . Grey coal, or New South Wales coal, that ! have been examined. Notwithstanding the bad state of the coal as received here, it , proves to be superior for household purposes ', to the coal lately obtained from the Grey." 1 There J3 considerable meaning in Dr Hector's ; words " lately obtained. " • i A startling case of sudden death occurz'ed last week in Christchurch. The deceased, a man whose name is supposed from papers j found in his pocket, to be .Tames Berry, has f been staying at Moneys Victorian Hotel, » Market-place, for some time past. He complained of pains in his chest and throat, and told Mr Money that he thought of going to 5 Wallace's to get some stuff for it. Mr Money advised him to go and see the doctor, and he went in the direction of the hospital. When r near Dr Coward's, he fell back on the ground, rolled over, and expired. , Whales were observed in the offing from [ Otago Heads on Friday week. Two boats , belonging to Mr Bradshaw's company pave chase, and one under the charge of George Robertson, succeeded in capturing a black 3 bull by 4 p.m. The boats towed the animal ' into the Maori Kaik, arriving there at 10 3 p.m. On Saturday cutting m was commenced, and it is expected that the capture ' wilt yield $ tun'g of oil and Ccwt of bone. I Another ono, a bow, was playjjig'about, and • narrowly escaped capture.