THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1872.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1330, 2 November 1872, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1872.

Among a number of Parliamentary papers, we have received a copy of tho report of the Privileges Committee with reference to the communication made to the Speaker by the member for the Grey Valley, Mr Harrison. We have waited fnv t.liia roport before referrin*i_tp a matter upon which there has been a large amount of warm and obviously premature comment. Now that the full and authorised report of the Committee's proceedings is ava : !able, and only now, it is possible to form something like a fair conception of the character of the incidents which led to the inquiry, and of the extent to which any of the parties concerned were compromised. According to the somewhat ambiguous, if not Jesuitical, verdict of the majority of the Committee who inquired into the circumstances, there was attributed to the member for this district an amount of imprudence in making the matter public which called for an expression of the Committee's "regrets." By four members of the Committee, at least, it was affirmed that "the Committee regretted that Mr Harrison had made such charges." It will be remembered, however, that it at the same time affirmed that " the evidence taken before the Committee raised a suspicion of an unhealthy state of things," and, so far as we have been able to peruse it, the evidence does seem to justify such a suspicion. But certainly not as far as regards Mr Harrison in his capacity as member of the House of Representatives, or as far as regards Mr James Brogden. The direction in which the 'suspicion seems to point is towards Mr Brogden's secretary, who, all unauthorised as he w&a, placed himself and his firm in an equivocal position by apparently, and while occupying that peculiar position, exerting himself with some activity as a political partizan. The evidence discloses also some circumstances relating to, yet not implicating, tho member for tho Totara district, Mr Tribe— all equally indicating tlje possible existence of an " unhealthy state of things." To give the report in full in these columns would be an impossibility, but at another time> and early, we shall endeavor, in justice to our West Coast menbors, and in consideration of the importance of the disclosures, to give as complete an indication of the evidence as our 3pace will permit. We warrant that it will be interesting, and even surprising. .- .•■• «

Tho usual fortnightly meeting of the Borough Council lapsed last night for want of a quorum.

We believe that the Hon. Mr Lahman, County Chainnanj will arrive here this mornitt| by the 8 s. Kennedy from Nelson.

The body o£ the unfortunato miner, Wm. Reid, who was buried in his claim at the Seventeen-mile Beach, was recovered yesterday, and brought to Cobden. An inquess will be held to-day. ■

Those who have seen Sheridan Knowjes'a ( omedy of the " Love Chase " in any one of the colonial theatres, and who saw it last tight hi Greymouth, would be uncommonly c&« unfairly critical did they not confeaj

that the acting was, in greater part, infinitely above the average of stages which are styled provincial. It la difficult for any but practised actors to do justice to the peculiar idiom of the beautiful language of the play, or to display that finesse and sparkle which are necessary to exhibit the thin tissue of its plot, but by the ladies especially— Miss Stephenson as Constance, and Miss Ashton as] Widow Green— this was thoroughly done ; and a good amateur effort was made by Mrs Kyle in the character of Lydia, Mr Burford, as Wildrake, played to Miss Stephenson's Constance with parallel appreciation of his part, and in the minor characters they were sufficiently fairly supported to make the play as a whole a success and a surprise to those who might have had misgivings as to the production of such a play on the Greymouth, boards.

1 he Oamaru Times reports a sad accident in the Waitangi on Thursday last, by which a settler named Neilson lost his life. Neilson, whoso family have resided on the banks of the river for some years pasb, and who follow farming pursuits, started on Thursday morning with a dray and a team of three horses to go over to the Waimate for timber. The man; it appears, did not follow the lino of the ford, but attempted a short cut, and getting into a deep hole was washed off the dray and drowned ; the three horses were also drowned. The dray has since been recovered ; but although search has besn made the body of poor iSeilson was not found up to Saturday last.

It seems that there is a claim in the Tiki (Thames) district called the Wilhelmina, which has a somewhat singular history. The local correspondent of the Southern Cross writes regarding it as follows :— " The mine is named after a lady residing in the district, and who is reported to have had a similar dream on more than one occasion, to the effect that very rich gold was embowelled in this portion of the district, although iip to the time of selection the lady never visited the locus in quo. he minutely described every portion of the ground, the blind gullies, creeks, and even a stump of a tree standing close to the present workings ; and subsequently personal observation confirmed to a nicety everything reported as having been described. The repetition of the dreams induced the undertaking to be commenced, and it is no exaggeration to state that great interest and anxiety surround tha future of this company.

Mr B. Short has bean lecturing in Oamaru for the Australian Mutual Provident Society, and, we hear, has received, within a few days, proposals for insurance to an aggregate amount of L 20,000.

The coach from Christchurch arrived in Hokitika on Thursday, some few minutes before 12 o'clock, and the Greymouth mail was forwarded next morning by the ps. Wallace. The coach crossed the Bealey at half-past 9 o'clock on Thursday morning, but met afterwards with many obstacles to its farther progress into town. Tho Taipo was very heavily flooded, and some Maoris who were passengers had to be left there. Thence into Hokitika (says the Times) the coach had to travel along a roadway which was no longer a road, as the road proper was washed away down to the Arahura. Mr Burton pushed on, and by dint of sheer perseverance contrived to overcome all difficulties and to reach Hokitika at the late hour mentioned.

An inquest was held yesterday afternoon at Stafford Town, before Dr Garland, which (siys the West Coast Times) is likely to lead to a criminal prosecution. The circumstances, as they have been furnished to tho police, are that a Mrs Iteed was attended by a gentleman professing himself to be a qualified medical practitioner, who is not so qualified, and that the medicines he administered, were of a dangerous, if not fatal charac-

ter, and it is alleged that they were the o«uo of doahll As stated in one of our telegrams, a meeoing convened by the Hokitika Literary Society was held on Thursday evening, for the purpose of making arrangements in respect to the projected exhibition to be held during the Christmas Holidays. A large committee was appointed to carry out the object proposed, and from that body sub-committees will be drafted, who will work districts severally appointed to them. There seems to be a good prospect that the affair -will be carried out successfully and with credit to those who have taken it in hand.

At the Haast T?iver, during the visit of the steamer Wallace, Mr Marks, storekeeper, who was expecting the steamer, came on board and purchased what stores ho wanted. He reported the death of a miner named Bateman, a native of Norway, who died on the 23rd of July, and was buried by his mates,., his loss casting a gloom over the little community. Mr Marks' prospecting party wei'e unsuccessful in finding gold up either the Haasb or Clark's rivers, eastward of the ranges, but he intended to prospect the count jy behind Arnot Point. Matthiea and party landed at this place for the purpose of finishing a track from the Haast to the Abbey Hocks.

The annual ineeting of the southern district of New Zealand in connection with the Australian Wpsleyan Methodist Conference, will take place in Christchurch during the early part of the ensuing month. This meeting is to be attended by ministers from Canterbury, • tago (including Southland), and Weßtland, and will be presided over by the chairman of the district, the Ktv Alex. I'eid, of Duuedin.

Mr Stafford's party, it is said, have adopted the name o£"Thg New Zealand Party," with the motto, "Progress with Prudence." What's in a name ? A tender of L 3499 for the construction of a market-place has been accepted by the Auckland City Council. The next highest tender was for only LI more. The triangular section of land on Lambton Quay, Wellington, opposite the Supreme Court, has been sold, believe that upon it will be erected a building for' the new National Bank of .New Zealand. A Napier contemporary, referring to the threatened outbreak at the Chathams, says : " A good many things have been said about Captain La "Nauze deserting his post at the first alarm of danger ; but we think one thing may be said in his favor, and that is, he evidently wad determined in the event of a general massacre of the whitea, fine person should be saved to tell the tale. This, at all events, showed nis anxiety to save life." A. meeting of delegates from the various Minera' Associations in Otago is to be held at Lawrence about the Ist o? December next, to consider various matters of importance to the gold fields. Among these will be the framing of suggestions to the General Government with reference to a new Gold Fields Act, and the appointment of a Central Committee to secure unanimity of action when necessary. The preliminary steps towards holding the conference were taken by the Arrow District Miners' Association, which obtained the consent of the other kindred associations in the Province, to send delegates to tb^o conference. Tho precise .date of the meeting will bo fixed shortly, and will then be duly announced.

We observe that the share quotations in the Thames papers lately have been given on $he authority of the Thames Brokers' Association, and not on that of any individual sharebroUer. Doubtless, the primary aim of the brokers in associating themselves together was to advance their own 'interests, but it is also certain that such an association will.be of service to the public who have

lcalings with shares, as enabling them to expose any one who may be guilty of sharj practices, and to have redress for the same The 23rd rule provides :—" In all contracts between brokers, unless the principals Inexchanged at the time of making the bargain .and inserted in the written contract, the brokers shall be held as principals to each other." The 24th rule is:— " Should amember not complete his transaction within fortyeight hours from time of sale, it shall be optional with the buyer to refuse such shares absolutely, and to compel the seller to pay the difference in price (if any) in cash on not less than twenty-four hours' written notice of intention to do so, except in case of distant markets, when the course of post shall bo allowed, if necessary." There are also rules referring to defaulters and insolveiits, to commissions, quotations, &c. The rules are signed by seventeen licensed brokers.

Persons who ' insure their lives, and afterwards feel fatigued of life, should think of their 4 families and the following paragraph from the Coromandel Mail:—"Aß a community, we should feel for the widow and orphaus of the late Mr Cazaly, who have been foully wronged, first by the conspiracy which drove their protector to madness, and secondly by a barbarous verdict which left them entirely without the means of support, for, but for that verdict of felo cle se the widow would have , been entitled to receive the amount of L2OOO, otherwise due on a life assurance policy. The Assurance Company, we understand, has taken advantage of the rule, and has refused payment of the sum insured. This, of course, it has a perfect legal right to do, but morally it is, and leaally it ought to be, under obligation to return tho premiums- paid in all such cases."

As a sample of what is done at Home by railway and newspaper enterprise we quote the following from the Scotsman:— "In supplement to our preseut system of sending parcels of the Scotsman to Glasgow and the West of Scotland by an express engine hired for that purpose, arrangements made some time ago by the proprietors of the Scotsman with the North British Railway Company, for running a special express through Fife to Perth, conveying parcels of the Scotsman, will take effect on and after Monday morning. In this way parcels of the Scotsman will leave Edinburgh at 4 a. in. daily, reaching Perth about 6 a.m., in time to bo carried on to Aberdeen, and other towns in the North and North-East of Scotland, by the ordinary 6.30 a.m. train from Perth. The parcels will also be in time for the early, trains from Perth of the Highland Railway, and of the various branch lines of the Caledonian Railway. One of the most closely contested rifle matches which has ever taken place on the Thames came off at the Tararu butts last week. It will be recollected that some time ago a challenge was issued by fifteen New Zealand born riflemen to fire a match with tho same number o£ any other nationality. The challenge was' accepted by the Scotch riflemen. On the occasion of firing, night fell before they had concluded, and the last three round 3at the 600 yards were literally fired in the dark, Li the first squad, the Scotch team obtained a slight advantage, and finished with 11 points over the New Zealanders. When the second squad had completed their rounds at the 400 yards range they had gained so far that they led by one point. At the 500 yards range, the scores were pretty eyen— sometimes one slightly in advance, and sometimes the other. After the first four rounds at tho 6QO yards range, it was stated that the New Z.ealande.rs were 5 points in advance, and the excitement of those interested was then apparent. In the i morning, betting was 3 to 2 on the New Zealanders, but later it became more favorable, and even money was readily offered | and as readily taken on the Scotchmen. There were 7 shots at each range. The following iotUooonrc i Oalnnial, T*JtS>"pß«3otot,---736. Majority for the Colonial team, 13.

An enterprising resident at the Thames is about to construct bathing machines on the sandy beach ab Tararu for the use of ladies, during the ensuing summer months.

Charleston, for a town of its size, enjoys the presence of a large amount of amateur talent, which is much utilised for the benefit of the loctil Institute— whatever that may be. Lately legerdemain has been added to the amateur performance Eeferring to a recent performance the Herald says : — Mr Bavan again concluded the entertainment with some very cleverly executed feats in magic and sleight of hand. The witch's pole was again introduced, and remained as much a mystery »o the audience as ever. His feats of "second sight" were very clever, and rather astonishing. . Numbers and sentences were written on slips of paper by the audience, and with equal facility were "read" by sprightly, who sat on the stage, with his back to the aiulience; and blindfolded, though the slips were held by the persons writing them. The trick is very clever, far more clever than Haselmayer's " Goblin Drum," and a great deal more inexplicable. Two or three other tricks were also exposed by Mr Bavan, amongst others Haselmayer's nine rings trick, showing the audience how easy it was to do anything when they only knew tlje way how. The illusion of suspended auimation was also very successfully performed. Altogether Mr Bavan rather affcrjazed the audience by the cleverness with which'he executed everything he undertook.

Some one in Auckland who had Kttle to do has recently been studying how others who have less to do— some clerks and office-boys —kill time. He says :— Their mode of passing away the leisure hours strikingly resembles that of fishing for sprats, as precisely the same implements are usjed, with the exception of a rod and' float. In the building referred to there is a verandah or balcony over a kind of back yard which is infested with .vermin, and it is , to this balcony that the individuals mentioned repair in their spare moments, to enjoy themselves in angling for- start not ! — rats. A line, after being uncoiled, is carefully baited with a small apd delicate morsel of roasted cheese. This being done, to the satisfaction of the expectant angler, it is gently '(troppod over the railing in the immediate vicinity of what is supposed to be the favorite resort of these animals, and the fisher patiently waits fora "bite," which, however, often occurs within a very few moments after the line has " touched the bottom." It is then that the excitement begins, and tho line is run out till the rat ia supposed to have a good hold, when the person above gives a {ludden jerk ; and in three cases out of six succeeds in landing a fine rat, which is knocked on tho head with an office-ruler brought for that purpose, and the tail cut off as a trophy ; after which the hoojf is extracted, baited afresh, and again thrown overboard in search of fresh prey.

The •«.' Philadelphia Ledger" employs 356 persons. *

The woollen industry in the United States is making rapid strides. Angora goats are becoming an important item, of stock in California.

A pneumatic street railway . is to be made at Minneapolis, Minnesota. Watch cases are now being made out of india-rubber in the United States.

An Albany (N.Y.) girl has brought an action for libel against her mother. Valuable Bilver mines are reported as being discovered daily in Nevada. ' ■ The value of the ' Alaska cod fisheries is increasing cent, per cent, annually,