The Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1872.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1294, 21 September 1872, Page 2

The Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1872.

By the arrival of tho steamer Kennedy at Hokitika, and by the prompt transmission of her .mails by coach, we yesterday received files of late dates from Nebon, and from Auckland and other North Island towns. From Nelson, the Kennedy brought a consignment of goods and powder for the Anatori river, bat on account of the heavy surf no boat could put off to receive the cargo. She will call off that place on her return trip. The extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders of the Masonic Hall Company, which was intended- to bo held at Ancher's Commercial Hotel, last night, was adjourned;" 1 from want of a quorum, till S p.m. this evening, at the same place, when it is requested that a full attendance of shareholders will be present. Haselmayer, whose name and attributes as a magician and musician, must by this time bo familiar to the eyes and ears of everybody in Greymouth who enjoys the pleasure of reading the local papers, and who endures the pain of liatcning to the hideous noise made by the local bellmen, appeared last evening, for the first time, in the Volunteer Hall. The hall was comfortably crowded. It was crowded because many persons attended, and ib was comfortably so because those who did attend, and who were only willing or able to pay for back scats, were accommodated with seats, instead of having to linger about as so many "Guppies." The entertainment was similar to that which has fieen given in every other town in New Zealand, and in every other town newspaper reporters have exhausted themselves much in describing Professor Haselmayer — his educated birds and beasts, and the results of his ow n education of "legerdemain." It is unnecessary for the newspaper reporter to do so here. Professor Haseltaayer's fame has gone before him, and, judging from the attendance at the entertainment last evening, it is a fame which is likely to lost with him as long as he is in Greymouth. That is, for a week, and as a beginning of the week which is to end his sojourn in New Zealand, the j Professor announces an afternoon entertainment to-day, at which all young people who have not seen, and all old people who have seen, yet who would find should like to see V wizards, " should attend. The jury who inquired as to the death of Mrs Tennant, Hokitika, wife of the Westland County Secretary, returned a verdict that she died from congestion of the brain and its membrances. Bird, the' pedestrian, ran eleven miles in 40aec over the hour, at Adelaide, on the 24th ult. A most determined case of attempted suicide occurred at the Hyde diggings, Otago, on Saturday last A man named Sullivan, who lives in a hut alone, was discovered about 11 a.m. by his nearest neighbor with his throat cut. It appears that the act must have only just been committed, as, on Mr Collins, hia neighbor, knocking at the door, Sullivan replied to him, saying "All right," and a moment afterwards flung open the door, when Collins saw the blood gushing from hit throat. Mr Collins raited tho

alarm, and Mr Laverty, of the Commercial Hotel, and others, arrhlng at the hut, the unfortunate man's throat was stitched up. Sergeant Eooney was sent for, as also was Dr Dick, but very little hopes are entertained of Sullivan's recovery. No cause has transpired as yet for tho rash act. Sullivan has lived at Hyde for a number of years, and has acquired the character of being a very quiet, harmless, : loffensive man. On Sunday afternoon last, while Mr Daniel Brown, of Koslyn, Otago, an old settler, was removing a bull which had been tethcrsd in one of his paddocks, the animal suddenly rushed him, goring him in the back, and trampling upon him. For innately, a neighbor, Mr Livingston, who heard Mr Brown's cries, obtained assistance and rescued him from his perilous situation. Dr Borrows, who was sent for, ascertained that one of Mr Brown's ribs was broken, and that ho had sustained other severe injuries, but he is not apprehensive of ?'iy dangerous results from the accident. In reportine; the recent arrival of German, Polish, and Scandinavian immigrants at Lyttelton, the Lyttelton Times s&ys— " Amongst tho married couples, one immigrant was pointed out as having waJ'red from the Russian frontier to Hamburg (a distance of about 800 miles) with his wife and five or six children, sleeping at farmhouses and oftentimes in the open air, on their .way to join the ship." "A Victim" writes to the Canterbury Press as follow : — "It may not bo generally known that persons giving credit to insolvents between the date of adjudication in bankruptcy and the day of tho final hearing and discharge, cannot recover such debts from bankrupts in our Courts 6i Law. It does scein hard that when a man is down and without means, in many cases for several months, you cannot lend a helping hand. If the unfortunate is an honest man you may be safe, but as there are rogues abroad who have pleaded the bankruptcy law, and cheated a fejv innocents, therefore it is best to be on your guard, and give no tick." W. C. Evatt, lately brought to Dunedin from Melbourne under an extradition warrant, on a charge of embezzling L2OO, the property of his employers, Messrs Murray, Roberts, and Co., whose confidential clerk he was at a salary of L2OO per year, was at' a recent sitting of the Mayor's Court committed for trial on tbc charge stated. The Wellington Post has the. following : — "Military glory is of brief duration. The men who risk their lives in our defence, who carry us safely acuta belli are forgotten in a few short months after their services have been dispensed with. Our contemporary, this morning, informs us that a petition was presented to the House last night, from "one M'Donnell," claiming consideration for services as a military settler. "One M'Donnell!" Can this be the mau|upon whose account Mr Fox violently denounced Mr Stafford in 1869, the man whom Mr Fox exalted as the saviour of his country, and whom he hyped "yet to ace carrying his sword at the head of the Colonial forces ?" The ever-encroaching sea has taken yet another slice off Gladstone street, Westport ; the only habitable dwellings therein remaining, except the Camp buildings and gaol, being the Post Office Hotel and Mr West's bakery store. All the other houses, says the Times, havo been pulled down or are in course of removal ; as also from the end of Kennedystreet, and each succeeding tide for the last three or four days has made rapid encroachments. The new township site at the upper end of Polmerston street is gradually presenting the outlines of its future semblance, Eintoul and Wakefielcl streets are drained, ballasted, and metalled to the contract width, and a tramway having been laid along Pahnerston street, that thoroughfare also is now nearly completed. The Wellington correspondent of the Nelson Colonist thus briefly and correctly describes the speech of Mr .Reader Wood during the recent "great debate": — "Then came delivery, cadence, action, pathos, bathos, chaff, bosh !" Referring to the result of the debate, tho same correspondent says :— "Nelson, as usual, contributed largely to turn out a liberal Government. Out of seven members only two, Luckie and Parker, voted for the Government, while five, Curtis, Richardson, Shephard, Collins, and O'Conor voted against them." Mr Nuttall has returned to Dunedin after visiting the Molyneux and its tributaries, and considers there is no difficulty in applying the submarine boat to obtaining gold from their beds. The celebrated horse Knottingley has changed owners, Mr Studholme having disposed of him to Mr Pitman. On a recent election for deacons in a certain Presbyterian Church in Dunedin (says an exchange), a sweepstake was got up J This beats all we ever heard of, and shows a bad feature in colonial society. Sweepstakes on an election of deacons ! Who would believe it ? Surely it is time that the clergy denounced gambling, when it is so widespread .amongst the people. There is not an election that takes place— not a motion made in our Parliaments or Councils, but what is the subject of betting. Even our boys are having "sweeps" and "laying odds." Where will all this end ? No industrious nature is given to gambling. Gambling and thriftlessness always go together. This is a plague spot in our society. Will the clergy help us to root it out ? Coal, says a contemporary, has been found on the property of .Mr William Dunn, Riversdale, Tokomairiro, within two miles of the township of Milton, There is a stripping of 7ft, and the seam is 19ft thick. The quality of the coal has not yet been definitely ascertained, but the indications are most hopeful, and load experienced parties who have examined it to believe that it at least equals that which is now being procured from Kaitangata. Indeed, it is believed to be a continuation of the same seam. Mr Dunn is now having a pit opened out, and within a few days it is hoped Tokomairiro will be supplied with a superior coal, and at a price considerably lower than hitherto. Mr Andrew has given notice of the following motion :— " That, in the opinion of this House, it is desirable that further negotiations should be entered into by the Government with the Messrs Brogden, with a view to Ihe acceptance, under modified conditions, of the tentative offer lately made by the Messrs Brogden to undertake the chief railway works of the Colony." A serious accident occurred at the Carrick Range (Otagc), the other day. While a man was working in a shaft a mass of rock, estimated at half a ton, fell upon him, but, strange to say, did not kill him. Although in a very precarious Btate, he is expected to recover. Mr Henderson, Mr Brogden's engineer, has left Dunedin for Christchurch. He will, we learn, probably visit Greymouth soon, in connection with railway matters and mines. We learn from the Dumtan Times that Anderson and Co.'s dredge on the Eawarau river, near Roaring Meg Creek, has obtained 40oz of coarse gold as the result of a week's work. Tho Masterton correspondent of the Wairarrapa Standard thus relates some of the incidents in the life of a swindler, and the punishment he obtained for his numerous offences. They confirm the truth of the old adage, that " Honesty is the best policy :" — Many of the settlers will remember the smart jookey-looking young aan known by th a

name of W. 8. Langston, but in Canterbu; / as Charles Madden, where he underwent two years imprisonment for perjury. After his release he practised his art on the West Coast, until it became too warm for him He then removed to Wanganui, when he practised upon two young farmers and took them in to an amount of from L4OO to LSOO, and also a poor -H'dow for LGO. He then came to We ington, and with the aid of another party swindled Mr Masters. After defrauding Mr J. Be"., on the Porirua road, his ta ;i or, a cHaper, and several publicans, besides cheating his lawyer, ho managed to get the steward of the Ahui'ri steamer to pay his passage, which he promised to recoup before landing at Otago, but contrived to slip off without do : ig so. r ter a I; ttle practice upon the unwary, he took to horse stealing, having eiehfc valuable cart horc.es atwOamaru for sale ; but tho police were on ; hfe track, and he was committed for trial and sentenced to seven years, to work on the roads, where he is now msticating. At tho end of his term it is to be hoped he will alter his mode of 7-fo.