Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1329, 1 November 1872, Page 2

We are requested to direct the attention of intending tenderers to the fact that tho time for receiving tenders for the erection of a Masonic Hall has been extended till Menday, the 4th insfc., and that tenders for fencing the Gas Works are receivable up to the same date, instead of the 11th.

The cattle sale of Messrs Mark Sprot and Co., for next week, will be held on Monday, instead of Tuesday, for that occasion only.

A match is to take place at the rifle range to-morrow, when the rifle given by the Company will be again shot for. This be : ng the tenth competition — the rifle having to be won three times by the same individual- is a tolerable proof of the success of the plan of handicapping the young shots, so as to j^ivo them a good chance. At the two last competition? Volunteer J. H. S. Faul (20 points), and Dr Morico (scratch) were winners, each for the second time. There are now four men who have each won twice, so Saturday's shooting will probably be interesting. We understand also that there is a probability of a set of money prizes of some value being shob for on the 9th November, tho Prince of Wales Birthday.

Entertainments for the benefit of."Sufferers by the Flood" have been incidents in tihe history of Greymouth, and Miss Stephenson and Mr Burford, acting upon the principle that charity begins at home, might with propriety announce such an entertainment. For, if theie were any eminent sufferers by tho flood on Wednesday night they werp the members of the dramatic company themselves. " The Marble Heart" was announced for performance, and Aspasia and Phryne, and the oth9r. young lady with whose classic name we are not familiar (unless it be Lais) had, with the aid of the property-man, assumed their drapery and their marble aspect, ready to take their places on their pedestal. The other members of the company were at the " wings," or midway into their " buckskin," preparatory to the fulfilment of the design of their profession by holding the mirror up to human nature. But it is in the nature of human nature to prefer natural to artificial spectacles, and physical nature had provided the former in the form of a flood. The actor's occupation was gone. The curtain continued pendant. Phryne and her sisters washed their faces and went home—provided the flood did not prevent them from reaching tho domestic hearth ; Marco's morning and evening dress remained unfurled j and the manager reverted to his normal condition of grim humor, with an extra shade of melancholy over his "manly brow"—looking blankly as if he had seen, not Banquo, but his banker, for theatrical maaagers realise more than most men how hard a task it is to "make the ghost walk" every Saturday. After the disappointments tlwy have lately had, culminating in this " disaster by flood," it is to be hoped that the company will have some encouragement to play, as they play to-night. "The Love Chase," and on Monday " The Marble Heart."

The entertainment which was given in tho Volunteer Hall last evening, in aid of the funds of the Trinity Church Sunday School Library Fund, was an unqualified sucoess, and the financial result will no doubt materially advance the interests of the Library. The opening part of the "entertainment " was a tea-meeting ; the edibles on the respective tables being provided by ladies belonging to the Church. To these ample justice was done, not only by the younger, but also by the older members of the community. After the tables had been removed, a concerfcwas given by anumberof lady and gentlemen amateurs, consisting of songs, duets, glees, and trios, interspersed . with pianoforte solos, and selections by the Town Band, tho members of which kindly volunteered their services. It would be invidious to particularise tho individual efforts of those who assisted to make the entertainment pass off so successfully,' when all did their best to please, and to enable the audienco to pass a most enjoyable evening. All who assisted upon tho occasion deserve commendation for their efforts. Mr Creswell, as Superintendent of the School, requests us to convey his thanks to all those who so generously assisted the library fund of the school.

A fataji accident to a well known miner on the Coast occurred yesterday, at the Seventeen-mile Bsach, near R&zorback. It appears that on the morning of Wednesday last, the deceased, William Eeid, and his mate, Samuel Corse, were in their paddock between eigbb and nine o'clock, when tho bank above them slipped without the flightest warning. Reid was completely buried under au immense mass of broken rpek and rubble, and Corse, who was the furthest from the bank, was severely cut on the head and struck down insensible. His mates, however, ran and dragged him out at once, and not a moment too soon, for within two minutes after he was removed a second fall took place, depositing not less than 12ft deep of stuff on the spot. Up to a late hour Jast gyening no news had been received of tho recovery #f Reid's body, although the diggers were busily engaged in clearing the earth away. The deceased waa, we believe, a native of County Monaghan, Ireland, and about thirty-four years of age. It is thought he has a cousin working about the Haufan.

The flood qi Wednesday fortunately subsided without doiug any damage worthy of note. The protection work's, wharf, and the materials contiguous, were undamaged, and tho seaward part of the town also escaped satisfactorily. From Johnston street downward a considerable current seemed to have prev&jjed in the direction of and beyond the Court House, and the footways and roadway have been reduced from the high condition of repair in which, they lyere recently put by the Corporation, but the damage is only slight, and there was no injury to property. Yesterday the rivers went down go rapidly that coach communication between Greymouth and Hokitika was, by an effort, re-established, but no Christchurch mail has come to hand, the overland coach having apparently been unable to get through. Of the fresh in the Hokitika river the West Coast Times says :— "It has done some damage to the gardens and cultivated grounds in the upper part of the stream. The crickej; ground has suffered very severely, the grandstand has been swept away as if it had been a more match-box, and a great deal of the fencing has been carried away also. In the town there was but little flood, the lower portions being submerged only for a short period."

The body of. Garl Fabricius, commonly known as Charles Rflss, who was buried in a claim at tho Lagoon Lead, S.outb Beacb ? was recovered yesterday morning, and! in tli^ afternoon an inquest was held by Mr Revell, the District Coroner. The verdict of the jury was " Accident illy killed by the falling iv of a tunnel caused by the reckless manner in which the deceased worked." The following were the circumstances under which the accident; b#ppe.ned, as elicited by the ovi-

denee :— -Deceased was prospecting a terrace by driviug in a tunnel, while his mates were ground-sluicing a flat at the foot of the terrace, at the Lagoon Lead. Deceased worked the tunnel alone by himself, and in spite of his mates' repeated cautions to secure the timber of the drive better, he did not do so. On Monday last, 28th ult. , about 4 p.m., he came out of the tunnel and called one of his mates in to show him a prospect he, had got. Both men went into the tunnel, and, when some distance in, the mate saw that deceased had cut a drain up the centre of the drive, two feet below the foundation of the props, and he at ouce ran out of the tunnel. The same night^about six or seven o'clock, when deceased., was missed, the mates wont to the tunnel and found it had fallen in. Every means were adopted to get to deceased, but, as a new tunnel had to be driven in, it was not till the night of the 30th ult. that the body could be got. Deceased was a native of Poineraniaj Prussia, He had two children in Dunedin by his first wife, and was married again on the Coast, but had no family by his present wife, who is left in very poor circumstances.

The Hokitika Borough- Council have resolved to establish a toll-gate at the town boundary in Stafford street, and have adopted what appears to be a very high scale of charges.

Scarlatina of a mild type has made its appearance in Eoss.

Mr Barff intends to become a candidate for election as a member of the County Council for his old district, the Waimca.

The Hau-hau and Blue Spur concert and ball, for the benefit of the Hokitilta Hospital, realised L 132.

"Revival" services are being held in the Durham street Wesleyan Chui*cb, Christchurch. The first of t'Ee~ series commenced last Monday. ~'

Referring to the recent reduction in the rate of discpunt and exchange, the Auckland JJerald claims for one particular Bank the credit of initiating the change. Another Auckland paper denies this, and asserts that the Bank credited with the change had, on account of it, "ruptured all diplomatic relations with another "—had, in fact, departed from the union. Our contemporary says : — " We shall not bo surprised if we find tho war waxing hot and fiery until touters will be sent out into the streets to force men into the sweating rooms, in which they will be treated to champagne for giving their paper, and taking out aaoney at discount nil per cent. The new National Bank of New Zealand, capital two millions sterling, is just about to be launched on our financial sea. We have ah idea that coming events case their shadows before, and that the softening influence of the shadow of this monster ii.stitution has toned down the fierceness of our monetary bigwigs."