THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, DECEMBER 16. 1872.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1367, 16 December 1872, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, DECEMBER 16. 1872.

There are at present three sojourners in Greymouth whose stay might be prolonged with advantage to the community—Professor Sale, and Professor Black, of Dunedin, and Mr Carrutliera, Colonial Engineer-in-Chief. Professor Black was not many hours in the town when he started, "Irish tandem," for the Coal Mine, through the intricacies of which he was guided by the captain of the mine, Mr Dent. Afterwards Mr Carruthers and Mr Sale proceeded to Brunnerton by boat, Mr Carruthers doing so, no doubt, with, the special purpose of examining the route of the proposed railway, and ascertaining the circumstances which justify its construction. During the stay. of our special correspond dent at Hokitika, on the occasion of the late County Council election, he visited the lately-inaugurated County Lunatic Asylum, and the result of his impressions appear in another column. Wo shall probably have something to say in connection with this subject on a future occasion. Meantime it may at leart be said that it is in the highest degree satisfactory to find that such changes for the bettor as are by him recorded have been effected. Messrs Maclean and Co. sold', on Saturday, the right to erecc booths and f rait stands at the forthcoming Christmas sports. The sum realised was LI 04 15h, the following being the purchasers and prices :— No. 1, purchaser Mr Hector Sutherland, L 3 4; No. 2, Mr D. Carroll, L3O; No. 3, Mr P. Hanney, L3l. No 1 fruit stall was purchased by Mr Collins for L 6; and No. 2, by Mr J: Johnston, for 13 15s. The Borough Council met on Saturday to consider tenders for the re-construction of Seiton Bridge, but the considerable differ* ence between the tenders and the surveyor's estimate prevented them from coining to any conclusion. Fresh tenders will, probably, be called for, and, if the nature of the work id fully comprehended by contractors, their future tenders will, no doubt, be more in accordance with the surveyor's estimate. According to the official declaration, Mr Robinson was elected ■as member of the County Council for the Kanieri district by a j majority of 126. I A sitting of the District Court was held on Saturday morning, before his Honor . Judge Harvey. On tha application of Mt , Newton, letters of administration of the personal estate and effects of thp late Edward El waul, .of Nelson Creek, were granted to Bridget Martin Elward. James Kenna, miner, North Beach, applied for his final order of discharge. Mr Guinness appeared for the bankrupt, and he was opposed by Patrick Warren, storekeeper, North Beach. After tbe bankrupt had been exaurinedjAt some length, it appeared that the bankrupt had already been in gaol fora month, at the suit of Warren, and that; the debt amounted to LlO, The order of discharge was granted. The Court adjourned to the 31st December. A full meeting of the Stewards of the Ahaura races was held at Gilwer's Hotel, Ahaura, on Friday evening. The report of the canvassers were read and received, and from them it appeared that the gentlemen who had undertaken the d#iy had been very . Biipccssfnl in obtaining aub>orjptfonp. 1^

was finally decided that the race meeting should take place on the 20bh and 2 1st February, 1873. A very liberal programme was drawn up, which will be published forthwith. The Grey Valley Handicap will be for L 10 0; the Ahaura Town Plate f » 40 sofa., with other events each day w equally valuable prizes, amounting alt* aether to over L3OO. The Stewards hay. set a laudable exampleit the spirited manner in which they .have taken the matter in hand,.; and owners of .horses at • a diatano will be interested in /knowing that all qual ' lied horses will have a" fair chance in competing, for the race for the Butcher's Purst is the only one confined- to district horses Another most important resolution passed i: that the handicapping must be done by th« Stewards. Instructions were given to hay. the racecourse put in order, and the questioi of erecting a new grand .stand was postponetill next meeting. ■ •■ Mr Cooper, who is declared to be the member for the Paroa district in the County Council, intimates his intention of meeting the electors on five different evenings during the present week—at Greenstone to-day, at Marsden on Tuesday, at Maori Creek on Wednesday, at Maori Gully on Thursday, and at Paroa on Friday. Had Mr Cooper not been nominated on the occasion of this election, the district of Paroa would probably nave been without a member, and, having been elected without having interviewed the electors except at the nomination, it is but courtesy to them that he should now do so and ascertain from" them their particular I local wants. It is to be hoped that the conI stituency will be as courteous to Mr Cooper ac he is towards, them, and that, if he is to take his seat in the Council, he will be enabled to do so with all available information as to the requirements ol the district. The laying of the foundation-stone of Mr Perkins's new office in Werita street— said to be the first brick building on the West Coast — ■flras treated as an event of some importance on Saturday. A parchment record of the incident, written by Mr Curie, was placed in a glass vessel, commonly called a bottle, and the glass vessel was placed under what is commonly called the corner stone* There were other bottles present, and there were also present several gentlemen who made speeches "suitable to the occasion." Chief among the latter -was Mr Johnston, of the Melbourne Hotel, who is rapidly getting surrounded by respectability in Werita street, as he was of old in Waterloo Place, elsewhere. Aa adventurous feat ia river navigation was performed on the Ahaura and Grey Rivers, on Thursday. Mr James Purkiss, a miner from Baxter's Creek, having occasion to visit Greymouthon urgent business, he arrived at Ahaura with hij^wife and child on Thursday afternoon! 'Finding it was impossible to procure horses, and no other means of conveyance tieTng available, he resolved to ''paddle his own canoe" in the most literal and practical sense. Placing Mrs Purkiss and the baby in an old canon, used for crossing the. river at his claim, he shipped such of his household goods and " medical comforts" as might be required on the voyage, and started. The navigation of the river is rather dangerous, especially to one unacquainted with the alterations made by the recent floods, but the plucky voyagers escaped the dangers of the " snaggy deep," and arrived safely before dark, accomplishing the journey of about thirty miles in less than five hours. A poor fsllow was brought down yesterday trom the country, suffering from severe internal injuries caused through being thrown from a horse. We are not in possession of the injured man's name, bub are glad to hear that under the care of Dr Morice he is progressing favorably in the ; hospital. was held at the Oouct Souse, on. Thursday evening, for the purpose of taking steps to provide the ministration of a clergyman. Mr Whitefoord was in the chair, -and explained the objects of thjs meeting, After discussion as to the best means of carrying out these objects, the following gentlemen were nominated a committee to make the preliminary arrangements —Messrs Whitefoord. White, Mirfin, Hamilton (Gilmer), Pinkerton, and Bow ley. It was decided that the Church of England Committee at Reef ton should be communicated with, offering, on part of the Ahaura Committee, a subsidy of UnO a year towards meeting the Rev- Mr Flavell's stipend, provided the clergyman visited the Grey Valley once a month, and remained one week at each visit. ■ Canvassers for subscriptions were appointed, and after agreeing that .Mr Alexander White should be requested to act treasurer of the funds raised, the meeting was adjourned t > the 19th Pecember. ' Mr Shephard, member of the House of Representatives, and member of the Nelson Provincial Council, addresses to the Westport Times a letter relating to some cominputs which appeared in that; paper on hia recent address to his constituents.. Mr Shephard concludes his letter thus:— "The | time may yet come when I may have an opportunity of addressing the various gold fields communities, and then I believe a large amount of agreement will be found between them and me. At present I refrain from further detail, aud even so much I could not wall have said had I,; not freed myself first by resigning the office of Provincial Treasurer, which act will at the end of the year finally sever all connection between me and Mr Curtis." Iv consequence of the damage done to the CricKeb Ground by the late floods, the Hoki* kita Racing Club are unable to hold the race meeting previously advertised for the 26th and 27th instant. It is, however, proposed to organise some sports for the holidays, instead of the races. The West Coast Times learns from Ross that Mr Cuming has been elected for the County Council by a majority, over Mr Tribe of 34, the numbers being— Cuming, 204; Tribe, 170. Our contemporary has no authentic information in respect to the two polling places ia the Arahura district from which he did not get returns on Thursday, but we understand that the votes recorded increase Mr Barff's majority. In referring to Mr Shephard's resignation of the office of Provincial Treasurer and member of the Nelaon Executive, the Examiner says :— " Mr Shephard only continues in office to the end of the. present month, [ without, however, exercising in the meantime any Executive functions. Various reasons are assigned for this step of Mr ( Shephard's, but nothing is definitely known lon the subject, so far aa we are aware. Mr ■ \ Shephard has shown, since he took office, that he was thoroughly up to his work, but in the present state of the Province the [ duties of Treasurer may be very well per* formed by the existing staff of Provincial ( officei s, with a" sinajl addition to their salaries, and a considerable saving be thereby effected in departmental expenditure," There was some little excitement created iv Ne'aon on a. recent morning by the minor that one of the seamen on board the Tararua had shot one his matfes, and quite a crowd assembled at the Court House wlieu the case was brought on for trial. . The story is as foljowjt ;-- On Friday last William Murray, a coal-trimmer, 'and i&h/*rd Vaughan, a seaman', had a quarrel, . when Murray fchr^w the latter down' and bit his' nose very nearly off Oh Monday morning' Murray, who Was the worse for liquor, again attacked Vaughan, as he lay in his bunk, with an open knife, when Vauguau drew a revolver that- lie had with.

him and Bttct him through, the fleshy part o f.he leg. An information was then 'laid b Vaughan on account of the first assault. Murray was not so badly wounded as to pre vent his walking from the lock-up to th( ourt House, but Dr Boor, who attendc him, stated that he considered he was in ; itate of iutoxication and unfitted to defenr himself : or to cross-examine witnesses. It is reported that a five-foot seam of coal has been found atthe Hope, a tributary of che Buller, distant something less than fift> miles from Nelson. As soon as the fact waf communicated to the Superintendent, hi' Honor decided on sending Mr Lightfoot. Superintendent of Public Works, to inspect >;he seam, and bring samples of the coal t<Nelson. Several years ago, coal was found over a large area on the northern side of the range at the head of the Hope, but its inaccessible position was unfavorable to the working of the coal, which, however, was of good quality. If the seam now discovered prove to be part of the sanv* field, which is by no means unlikely,.it will be of considerable importance. The Nelson Examiner states that Madame Carandini and three of her talented daughters, accompanied by two good male voices, will pay jtfew Zealand a visibin the early part of the ensuing year. The youngest of the ladies has only been before the public for a short time, but all accounts unite in admiration of the sweetness and power of her Binging. The Freemasons of Auckland celebrated St. Andrew's Day by a Masonic pic-nic. The New Zealand^ Herald estimates the cost of the late session of the Assembly. at X25.000. ! The Melbourne Herald says there is to be | an attempt to close the bars at the bathing ! places, on the ground that their existence conduces to tippling among the young ladies. There appears to be no Maori equivalent for I "Road Board." In an advertisement in the i Poverty Bay Standard in the native lan- ! guage, there appears, in the place of these nntranslateable words, the following curious rendering :— " Rori Pori." , I Four old natives have recently died at Te j ■Rotoiti from starvation. Food is generally very scarce amongst all the Maori inhabitants in that district.