Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1355, 2 December 1872, Page 2

The Stamp Duty Act of last session conies into oporation to-day. Under that Act the duty, both upon cheques and receipts, is reduced to one penny. The Reef ton Post Office, now a sub-office of Westport, is to be subordinate to the office of Greyrnoutk after the Ist January. We are requested by Mr W. H. Harrisou to state that he will meet his constituents in about a fortnight or three weeks. -: Mr Brunner has been employed by the Nelson Government to lay off and survey the necessary blocks of land in the valley of the Bailor for the special settlement scheme of the last session of the Provincial Council, and which afterwards obtained the sanction of Parliament. Mr Brunner left Nelson to commence his labors on Monday last. The Cagle Opera Troupe are to give one performance at Nelson, and one at Wellington, proceeding thence to Christchurch. The usual monthly mesting of the Volunteer Fire Brigade takes place this evening, at 8 o'clock. • A telegram has been received at Reef ton from the Superintendent, stating that the writ for the election of a member of the Provincial Council, for the district of [nangahua, was only being detained pending the appointment of a Returning Officer by the Governor. It may therefore be expected within a week. Several candidates have already announced themselves, and evidently a great deal of iaterest will be taken in the election. The unwarrantable over-cr.owding of business people into Eeefton has already made itself severely felt, no fewer than six now insolvents having filed their declarations since the last sitting of the District Court. The following is a copy of a telegram i-e---ceived by the Superintendent of Kelson from the Horn the Minister of Public Works :— " Christchurch, 28th November. Mr Carruthers proposes being in Nelson on Monday. Will you be so kind as to assist him in collecting information- for hisreport on Nelson and Foxhill Railway." ; < Another bush fire took place at. Beef ton on Thursday last. It was first observed about 9 a.m., burning among the scrub at -the corner of Barker's garden. It spread rapidly in the direction of the town, and was at its height about noon,, after which it gradually subsided. It totally - destroyed a liut inhabited by Mrs Ilcaly, besides jeopardising coctages belonging to Messrs Searii>ht and Wakefield, which were only saved through the strenuous exertions of Mr E. Donovan. There was a , very large, attendance at a meeting held at Ross on Thursday, for the purpose ; of discussing Mr Gassing propositions in reference to floating the Cassius and Morning Star Gold-Mining Company, and the result, says the Neivs, may be looked on as indicative of the speedy formation of the company. . The Bpford-Stephenson .dramatic company arrived at Reef ton on Wednesday afternoon. They have had a successful tour in tbe valley, and opened at Reefton, in the Oddfellows' Hall, on Friday evening. They r jmain at Reeftou until Tuesday, when they •return to Greymouth by way of Ahauia, Nelson Creek, No Town, Maori Gully, and the Coal Pits, intending to reach Greymouth on or about the 14th instant. . . A. meeting. of: the Westland Racing Club was held at Hokitika; on Friday evening, at the British Hotels Mr Henry Mace in the chair. There were about fifteen members present. After some discussion, it was finally resolved to hold a race meeting during the Christmas holidays ; the 26th and, 27th of December bsing the days fixed upon. In the chess tournament all the competitors have played in the first round, with the exception of Messrs Nancarrow and Warner. Messrs H. Kenrick, A. K Guinness, Newton, and Janion defeated' their opponents— Messrs Greenwood, R. C.Reid, J. R. Browne, and W. A. Moss. In order that there might be no delay in the progress of the tourney, although the first round was not completed, it wag arranged that the winners at each board, numbered 1 too respectively, should be drawn for the second round, and the result was that, during the week (as originally specified) Mr Newton will play Mr Nancarrow or Mr Warner, Mr Konrick.will play Mr Guinnsss, and Mr Janion will await his chance of beiDg drawn iv the third round against one of the two victors in the second round. While on this subject we notice from the Australian papers that the third of the annual chess contests between Victoria and New South Wales was played by telegraph on Saturday, November 9,, Victoria had proved successful on the two first occasions, but this year it was known that New South Wales could hrxat* a very array of talent into the i

field, and tho .contest consequently excited much attention in the Melbourne and Sydney chess circles. There were seven representative players choseni from each colony, and play commenced a little before 11 o'clock in the morning. On the Monday evening following, the only game left unfinished 011 the Saturday was resumed and brought to a termination. A large number of spectators assembled at the telegraph offices, anxious to witness the play, as the result of the match was at stake on this— the last and longest — game, but it was soon decided, and the match ended in a drawn battle," the scores being :— New South Wales, 3 ; Victoria, 3 ; drawn, 1. There is evidence, however, that the Victorians are still the strongest; as "one of them, Stanley, having acquired an easilywon game^ made a slip and was ; checkmated on the move ; whilst Mr Burns (also Victorian) defeated his opponent in 17 moves, having only occupied 20 minutes in con; sidering them, Mr Smith's play being, .as the Australasian observes, of that order of chess which is- known' to the jiitiated as "skittles." ' A well-known boniface at No Town, rich in flocks and herds (of swine); was recently 'served with a summons to appear at the Resident Magistrate's Court, there, on a claim made againab him for damages committed by a brood pig, the mother' of a long line of rooters, on the property of a '■ miner, one "Bullerrook" byname. The following • bill of particulars was attached to the summons :— " To your sow eating 4^lb of cheese, 4s 9d ; do do £lb tobacco, 3s ; do do'package thread and two boxes vestas, 2s ; do do 21bbutter with the basin, 4s Gd; do do 41b sugar, lib tea, 21b butter at different times, Ss 4d ; do do packet tacka and tomahawk, 5s 6d; do do tent and fly half-eaten, 15s ; total, L 2 3s Id." The defendant compromised the claim to prevent it coming into Court, but he intends to have the original bill of items photographed, and hung up in a prominent place in his bar. At a meeting held at Chesterfield, on the evening of the 23rd instant, a petition was adopted, to be transmitted to the PostmasterGeneral, preying that the district be not entirely deprived of postal communication, which the new. mail service between Hokitika and Greymouth threatens. ' The Warden, . with Messrs Pitt and Shapter, and Mr Lightfoot, superintendent Of works, arrived at Eee'fton from the Lyeli on Friday 4 evening. We hear that there was a large attendance' at the Court, held on •Thursday-. The large room at Taneth's new hotel being used. Anew prospecting claim, situate about eight miles' from the township, •was granted. The stone is of a most pro^ nrising character, and the discovery cieated great excitement, which extsnded as far as Reef ton. The Alpine Company are continuing active operations. The Little Wonder stone still proves surprisingly rich ; out of one truck load of stuff no less than 51b weight of gold being taken. The Golden Crown also shows good stone, and was the subject of a heavy law suit, instituted by Dalton and party. Mr Shapter appeared for complainants, and Mr Pitfr for defendants, for whom • judgment was given. Another action, in which the well-known person "Flower of Wheat" and others were complainants, and Dalton, and several Greymouth gentlemen, were defendants was also tried. In this case Mr Shapter appeared for complainants, and Mr Pitt for defendants. After a long hearing, the. Warden awarded nearly all J>he- disputed ground to the defendants ; each party to pay their own costs. Rumors of several new rushes are' current, and at an early day we may expect to have these r amors assume the shape of reality. We find that a clause has been inserted by the Colonial Architect in the specifications for the new Post and Telegraph Offices about to be erected at Reeftou, by which, the contractor is bound to havq it finished byJanuary 15, or less than six weeks from the date of signiug. Now, tWe does not happen to be 100 ft of seasoned timber in the place, so that if this clause is insisted on, tbe offices will inevitably ;havc to ; be : built of green wood, in which case, in less than a month, there will not be a tight, joint in the whole building. The sun has far more effect on building in the inland towns than in those built on the sea-shore, where the moist sea breeze prevents them drying beyond a certain point. ,■•■■■* ■ ; A pretty ," Rob Roy " canoe has just been built by Mr H. T. Green for Mr R,obt. Hay, of Dunedia. • Her dimensions are :— OLongth, 14ft; breadth, 22in; depth, Bin. !She is planked, and. decked with varnished cedar, 3-16ths of an inch thick, is copper-fastened, anp has a watertight compartment at each end, with sufficient buoyancy to support nearly scwt. She weighs nearly s libs. There are few places better suited for the use of these canoes than the rivers of. the West Coast, and it is a wonder that some of the young gentlemen of Greymouth ; have not encouraged our local builders to build one. A slight premium held out ; by the Regatta Committee, for the production of one at the forthcoming regatta, might have some effect. A sufficiently accurate descriptibn '. of such canoes, for the builder's purpose, is given in Mr M'Gregor's narrative of his first voyage in the "Rob Roy." A few of the gentlemen in Christchurch interested in the whitebait question have improvised some more or less priim'tive aquariums, and deposited in them some of these mysterious fish, with a view of ascertaining, if possible, their ultimate development. " :•••■■ The lights and shadows of life are touchingly illustrated in the experiences of a young actor, Mr A. St. G White, who recently died at Napier . In announcing his death, the Herald says :— Knowing how> his family would be situated in the event of either his illness or death, Mr White remained .on tbe stage, till his friends here compelled him to go to the Hospital, but it was not till he almost fainted at the close of each scene in which' he took part did Mr White reluctantly consent to accede -to the wishes of his friends. When acting with the Steele and Howard Company, Mr White threw the whole of his talents and vigor into any charactojr that he assumed while on the stage to sink exhausted into the arms of his friends as soon as his role was, completed. Never have we known a mian evince more anxiety for the well-being of those dependant on him than Mr White. Those for whom he worked till strength failed are now left alone to battle with the world. Having been debarred from ;the consolation of having cheered his last moments, it .will afford his widow and children some alleviation of their sorrow to know that. every care was taken of the patient, and that he has gone to his long rest deplored by all who knew him, ' ~ Caversham/ a suburb of Dunedin, now boasts of a lock-tip as 'one of its numerous public institutions. . . The earthquake felt.in Dunedin and several other places on Wednesday week was.distinctly felt on board the brig Ziska, at anchor, in; Port Chalmers harbor. The feeling on board is described as resembling that caused by a heavy cask being rolled .through the hold, and it lasted from three to four seoonds. In the Port and on the Quarantine Island it I was distinctly felt. The motion at the Port is described as from west to, east, and on the Island asfromS.E. toN.W.' The shock was also felt on the Peninsula, where the tremor was apparently more distinct than in town. The ground aud trees are .said to haye been seen to shake, and' crockery rattled. At East Taieri, two separate shocks were felt, causing the houses to tremble. Some also heard a rumbling sound, like distant thunder,