Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1404, 30 January 1873, Page 2

A whole batch of residents, somewhere about fifteen, will have to appear before the Resident Magistrate this morning, charged i with being concerned in the prize fight which recently took place on the race-course on a Sunday morning. Mr Brunner has been appointed by Government to negotiate the purchase of the land required for the Nelson and Foxhill railway. For once a break in the arrangements oi the P. and 0. Company will prevent the arrival of the Suez mail this month with itn accustomed regularity. By the arrival oi the Blanche at Wellington we learn that the inward mail, due in Melbourne on the 14th January, left Point de Galle a week behind her contract time in consequence of the breaking down of one of the connecting steamers. The latest post date by this mail will be the 29bh November. A prospecting party have returaed to Collingwood from the head of the Heaphy River, being unsuccessful. There is gold, but the great bugbear, humping tucker where there are no tracks, will prevent the working. In Nelson there is a report of a coal discovery on the Aorere river, above Collingwood, but the precise locality has not been disclosed. There are five seams, from three to five feet each in thickness, free from shale, amples of this coal have been sent to the Superintendent. It is precisely the same coal as that of the ColliDgwood mine, and probably part of the same field. The works of the Thames Gas Company are rapidly approaching completion ; and, in a very short time, the Thames will experience all the advantages which pertain to a gas-lit town. A considerable number oi lamp-posts have been landed at the Thames admirable for taste and neatnsss of design. Tt is expected the gas will be laid on in nine weeks. Heavy floods have recently been experienced at the Pelorus, which have destroyed a quantity of mining plant, and washed away a considerable amount of timber at Wakamarina. We learn from Albertland that one of the old Nonconformist settlers is about to take his departure for Europe via America with his eldest son, who has invented and completed instruments of mathematical powers, which will reduce in trigonometrical and other surveys the labor by three-fourths. A correspondent of the Southern Cross writes :— "• They have been tested, and their accuracy is really astonishing, and this having been done in the bush is the more to be wondered at." From late Duuedin telegrams it appears that the two Christies have been unfortunate at the Colonial prize filing. The competitive trials had come off at East Taieri, and it appears ..that the two brothers had both become disqualified, neither making the minimum number of points. It is presumed that one of the gentlemen referred to is he who was" so successful in carrying off the Colonial Champion Belt. Georgia Clark, we learn, one of the female performers connected with Chiarini's Circus, arrived in Auckland by the steamship Dacotah, is known in California as the lady with the iron jaw. She is accustomed to hang by her garters and hold a man with a strap around his body, by her teeth. A Californian paper is of opinion that such qualifications would doubtless enable her to develop great strength of language when so disposed. Mr Warden Tizard's report on the Okarito district has been laid on the table of the County Council. He states that there has been little change in the population, the number being now about 500 persons, of whom 240 are miners. The gold forwarded from the district during the last six months amounted to about 3000oz, giving an average of 12oz sdwt per man, nearly equal to L 2 per week each. The returns would probably have been larger, but for the fact that at the Saltwater Beach many of the miners have been at work at a big dam which is being constructed, while others have been idle for want of water. The dam is now finished, and the owners are likely to reap a handsome reward for their labors. Mr Tizard describes with some minuteness the location of the several parties at work within his widely-

spread district, and concludes with some recommendations which deserve the attention of the Council. The first is thai; every facility should be afforded to miners to obtain sections of laud, with the view of inducing them to settle in the district. The other recommendations are plentiful supply of water, and some good roads to enable storekeepers to put down provisions in the interior at beach prices. Tauranga must be a lively place for news. The erection of a town pump haa furnished the local paper with a subject for about a score pi and several leading articles. The pump has at length been erected. By the ship City of Auckland, which left Auckland on 7th December, the proprietors of the Evening Star despatched a pair of carrier pigeons, requesting Captain Ashby to set them at liberty two or three hundred miles from the coast. On the evening of the 9th, one of them returned safely to their owner, Mr H. Brett, who resides in Parnell. Attached to each of the bird's legs was a short memorandum, stating that they were let loose 150 miles from Auckland. At the Auckland Police Court a very decently-attired woman, whose name, however, was not divulged, obtained an order for protection from his Worship the Mayor. She alleged that she was the unhappy mother of 24 children, and that her husband was addicted to drunkenness. The little strangers had come as twins, triplets, and so on progressively up to seven at a birth. His Worship did not hesitate to grant the poor woman protection under such circumstances a.gainst all, everybody and sundry, her husband included. Such a good colonist deserved what she sought. The Husband did not put in an appearance : his cares, and dread of capitation fees, and education rates for so many olive branches proved too much. The last straw -or rather seven straws — were enough to break a camel's back. In relation to the new National Bank of New Zealand, and for the guidance of the investing section of the community, Mr J. H. Troup supplies the following information to an Auckland contemporary :-"l. The English portion of the capital might have beeu subscribed for almost twice over ! 2. The salary to be received by Mr Adam Burnes as general manager in New Zealand will compare favorably, as regards economy, with that of any other general manager in the colonies. It will not amount to one-half of the generally reported L3OOO a-year. 3. The honorarium to be granted to the directors has been exaggerated, as the graduated scale fixed upon includes the remuneration for any colonial boards that may be hereafter established. 4. The National Bank of New Zealand will simply absorb the business of the Bank of Otago at its market value, and pay nothing as a goodwill. 5. Instead of Mr W. S. Grahame receiving as reported L2OOO for floating the affair in New Zealand, that gentleman possesses no arrangement whatever for any remuneration. 6. No promotion- money will be paid for establishing the bank." The damage done by the late Hood at Collingwood is thus described by a corresspondent of a Nelson contemporary :—Monday, the 14th, was more or less rainy, and at night it became a heavy downpour, so muci so as to cause the largest flood known here The coal wharf is damaged very much, th< tender supplying the steamer lying alongside at the time was swept away and strandec minus sails, mast, &c. The hull has beer recovered, and must undergo repairs. Th( up-river settlers havo lost more or less ol cattle ; in some of the houses as much as four feet of water was encountered. Th( flood at Stanton's Creek rose so high that the cattle in Lash's stockyard were swimminj about in a vain attempt to get liberty. Slat( Uiver has bepn swept of every appliance foi digging purposes ; aud the same with Eockj River. The Perseverance Mine is stopped, the race having been carried away in sovera' places. In fact, all round reports come ir of serious damage done. What is a Mark Mason ? Most plair people who are not Masons are probably unable to answer the question. The reportei tor the Southern Gross enjoys the privilege o\ being able to do so. In reporting the recenl opening of a Mark Lodge, he says:— "T< the uninitiated the term ' mark' may appeal to be one of ambiguous meaning. It has its historical associations, however, as a few words of explanation will show. The ancieni tradition of the craft informs us that th< different workmen at the Temple of Solomor were divided aud subdivided into various classes and sections for the better disciplin< of such a large body as was there employed, and that each man's work was distinguishes by an aggregate mark, by which any erroi might readily be brought home to the offend ing party. This plan is adopted by operativ< masons at the present day, their work anc tools bearing the same mark. Masonii marks on ancient buildings, which form i very interesting study to the archaeologist, commonly embrace some religious symbol, working implement, or scientific figure, Several of the old buildings about Edin burgh, the Cathedral of Glasgow, Tinteri Abbey, 1 and Youghal Cathedral, abound witl them as well as the ecclesiastical buildings on the Continent. Most of these marks, tc a thoughtful and intelligent Mark Mason, will suggest lessons of deep meaning and im portance. " The following particulars of a strange case of suicide in Wellington are given in th« Independent : — "A man named Frank Dillon, a cabinetmaker, who has been in the employ of Mr Jones for the last two years, went into the back workshop and completely severed his windpipe with a broad-edged chisel, the wound having been more of a stab than a cut, as the gash reached inwards some distance. The Inspector of Police had the man removed to the hospital at once, when Di Johnston and Mr Monteith did all that was possible to save the man's life, but the injury was too severe, and the poor fellow died in less than a quarter of an hour after his admission. The deceased was a native oi London, and arrived in the Colony some two years ago by the ship Halcione. Whatever may havo been the immediate cause of the rash act, the deceased, who was a single mau, bore an irreproachable character during his residence in Wellington, having been known as a steady and industrious workman."