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Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1332, 5 November 1872, Page 2

A meeting of the directors of the Masonic Hall Company was held last evening, for the purpose of opening tenders for the Drection of the contemplated building. We understand that only three tenders were received, and that they all exceeded the estimate formed as to the cost. It is intended, therefore, to call a special meeting of the shareholders at an early date, to take into consideration the desirability of either remodelling the plans, or increasing the capital of the company.

Many of our readers will read with regret the announcement of the death of Mr George Brodie, of Dunedin. Mr Brodie will be remembered as a member of the General Assembly of Victoria, and as a member of one of the many Governments who have administered the affairs of that colony. His name must also be familiar to the majority of those who were residents of Otago after the first discovery of gold •in that Province. He was the first and- ablest mining correspondent of tho Otago Daily Timesj, and con*

tributcd to that journal many racy descriptions of the incidents attending the discovery arid development of the Gold Fields of Tuapeka and the Dunstau. For a number of years ho was a member of the Otago Provincial Council and of the New Zealand House of Representatives. For the past three or four years he held the office of Accountant in Bankruptcy, and on several occasions, in connection with the duties of that office, he has visited Greymouth and other West Coast towns, Mr Brodie was a gentleman of genial temperament, and made friends wherever he went by his easy address, fluent spde.ch, and lively humor. In a fine<>Roraan hand, abounding with capital letters, Mr William Steel addresses " The Editor of the Argus," as follows :— " Dear Sir,- Permit Me Through the Medium of your Brilliant Paper, to Return My Gratful- Thanks To The People of Greymouth For There Kindness In Helping Me. A Poor. Wandering. Natural. Songster. By Thero Presence, and Also By There, Means. It Shows. There Is Something of Tho Real Spirit. Humanity Amongst I hem. Consider-ing The Severity of The Weather, on The Night of Tuesday Last.) I have been Informed That My Friends Wish Me. To Hold— A Fairwell Concert. This I Would bo very Pleased To Do. for the Honor of The Ladyes. Providing The Rifle Volunteers forme A Cotnmitee. Headed by There Honble Captain Held In There Hall. And Conducted By The Said Volunteers. Proceeds To be Sent To My Poor Famely At Invercargill But I Wish It To be Uuderstood. That According To My Inward Principles That. I Cannot Sing. In a Publick House So I Hope That No one. ba so Unprincipled as To Ask Me Seeing That I am a Confirmed Tottleabstaner I Remaine your Wellwisher William Steel-S. N. S." At the "Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, beforejWvH. Rcvell, Esq., R.M., J. J. Cochrane was charged with obtaining money by false pretences from H. B. Wolters. The prisoner had been engßgel as assistant-bailiff, and had sworn to the service of two summonses, which witnesses proved had never been served. Prisoner was sentenced to six months' imprisonment with hard labor.— Philip Gallagher, supposed to be of unsound mind, was brought up and remanded for medical examination. The play of " The Marble Heart," which was produced at the Volunteer Hall a fortnight ago, was repeated last night in compliance with the wishes of those who had , not seen it, and of others to whom the seeing of it once suggested the wish to see it once again. There was a good attendance, and i quiet attention paid to the performance from i beginning to end. Miss Stephenson's representation of Marco and Mr Burford's re- ' presentation of Raphael were both careful i studies, and in the death scene particularly > Mr Burford acted with a propriety and deli- ] cacy. which made it impossible for the least ■ emotional among the audience to be otheri wise than attentive and well affected. In a ! small community like that of Greymouth, "The Marble Heart" may not now bpar ! repetition, but another play which the same ; company lately performed, "The Love ) Chase," might with reason be reproduced, both on account of its intrinsic merits, and L on account of the meritorious manner in i which tho company played it when it* was , produced on Friday evening. l It is said by the Charleston "Herald that the Bishop of Nelson has decided that the ' JKev Mr Flavell shall reside at Hcefton.

The Hokitika and Arahura road is described as much requiring repairs. The Harbormaster at Hokitika has called the attention of the Borough Council to tho decayed state of the mooring piles at the wharf, and the Council have received an offer to drive, ring, and cap piles at the rate of L 6 per pile. The Ross News says that the Totara overflowed its banks on Wednesday laab, and at Mr Malfroy's saw-mill the water carried aVay a portion of the tramway. The Canterbury races take place on the 7th, Bth, and 11th proximo ; and on the 9th the Agricultural Show will be held. Scrip in the Excelsior Company, Lyell, whose ground adjoins the Alpine Company, have advanced to L 6 10s in consequence of the favorable prospects of the latter, and have still an upward tendency. A church is now in course of erection at Reefton for the Wesleyans. Satisfactory information was received in Melbourne by the last Suez mail as to the progress towards recovery of Mr B. C. A spin. all. He had himself written to his friends in that city speaking in most favorable terms of thp prospect of an early resumption of the duties of his profession. The establishment of a branch of the Order of Foresters in Reef ton is contemplated? 'a ■ JAt-the last sitting of the Resident Magistrate's Court, at the Lyell, four cases were heard, three being from Matakitaki. In the Warden's Court 40 applications were made, and the work is increasing so rapidly that the services of a constable as acting clerk are needed. Jones's Flat, says the Boss News, is assuming a more lively appearance than it has done since the stoppage of the engine, several parties having lately taken np claims. Private letters from England received in Canterbury state that Dr Featherston is devoting his attention to procuring and sending out salmon ova to Otago at the close 'of the present year. A young lad about 13 years of age, named Boyld, met with an accident on Sunday, at the Fire Brigade Tower, Hokitika; causing a compound fracture of one of his legs. A new theatre is about being completed in Wellington. Messrs Kemp and Massey have been engaged as painters and decorators, and Mr Hyder as mechanist. A Maori girl living near Parua Bay, A ucklarid, is reported to be dangerously ill in consequence of a bite received from a katipo or poisonous spider. The running of the mail coach between Akaroa and Chmtchurch is to be resumed in about a fortnight, the tender of Messrs W. R. Mitchell and Co., for the conveyance of the mails between the two places having been accepted. The whole pf th> sharegin the Canterbury Deep Sea Fishing Company have beon taken up, and so soon as a satisfactory answer has been received from Auckland respecting a cutter, the. company will at once commence aperations. In the ship Palmerston, whioh is expeoted at Port Chalmers, are rJiree locomotives for the < lutba Railway, and 270 tons of material for the Waitaki Bridge. The Bulwark, which arrived at Auckland a few weeks ago, after a seven months' voyage, has on board 310 tons of material for the Waitaki Bridge, and 225 tons of permanent way material. She will go down to Otago to discharge this, after having unloaded the Auckland portion of her cargo,. There is n " man at the corner" in Charleston who writes in the local paper some very humorous and occasionally severe comments upon Colonial and local peculiarities. He has lately been severe upon Borne Colonial specimens of the fair sex, of whom he writes thus: — "I like to converse with either a ' respectable female' or a *' lady'— speaking of both in the strict meaning of the term; but X detest, above all things mortal, that moral abortion, your • Colonial lady,' I

an sorry to say the West Coast is overrun with such like to an alarming extent^ and to think also that Charleston and its vicinity is not wholly free from this plague spot. Excuse, dear Ed, my warmth upon this sub- < ject, but when I see women aping their betters, and 'putting on side,' and in doing so perceive how villainously bad they act the part, I can't but feel indignation rising ma ump like a potato in my throat. Men, in places like the West Coast v and other gold fields' settlements, who have sprung from a lowly station in life, and are of the most humble origin, very often indeed become suddenly wealthy by those innumerable chances and turns of. good fortune which present themselves in such various shapes and forms in new colonies. But those men who owe their successes to their own efforts bear their improved positions much better than women do. The wives of such men, who may have been highly respectable women in their original sphere, as the daughters of mechanics, poor tradesmen, or have sprung from fie emigrant working classes, having now become 'ladies' know not how to comport themselves in a position they never contemplated holding, and to which they have in no way contributed in raising themselves." In the Resident Magistrate's Court, Westport, last week, Joshiia Annetfc and Ann Coleraan, of Mokihinui, were charged by Louis Sweet with maliciously damaging property. The complainant deposed that on the 14th instant he bad attended the Westport Court as complainant in an assault case, and on his return had found the lamp over his house door broken, also a fan light and the windows of his house smashed, and certain fowls and a pig, his property, killed. The Court stigmatised this case as a most disgraceful one on the part of the accused, and fined Annett L 3 for the offence or one month's imprisonment, and Cnleman L 5 or two months' imprisonment, adjudged 40s dam&ges, and awarded 40s each to complainant and his witnesses for costs and mileage, The accused were also ordered to keep the peace, Aunett for three months, and Coleman for six. On Fridaj week, at half-past six, a fire broke out in the front premises of Messrs Reid and Gray's implement manufactory at Oamaru. The loss is estimated to range from L3OOO to L3soo— none of which was covered by insurance, a policy with the Northern Insurance Company having lapsed through an oversight a fortnight previous. Amongst the losses. is one very valuable reaping machine— and one which was that day to be shipped by the Maori for Wellington had injuries done to it which prevented its shipment. After the fire, while the men were busily clearing away the rubbish, &c, one of the workmen of the name of Steel had his foot severely bruised by a main shaft falling upon it.