THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1873.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1422, 20 February 1873, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1873.

The gold, the result of the crushing of tbe Energetic Company, lnangahua, was brought to town on Tuesday night, and lodged in the Bank of New Zealand. The correct return throiign USe^raachine, wriicfi yfeldecf "TCSoz lldwt of retorted cold ; but the blankets and tables were not touched. The latter are supposed to contain between 50oz and 6Coz of amalgam. We have heard from good authority that the first 150 tons put through was very poor stone, and did not yield more than 4dwt to the ton. The stone the company's men are n^w taking oui shows gold, and it is expected that the next crushing will give a better return. The Ahaural races take place to-day. A special coach will leave Ashton's Hotel this morning, at 5 o'clock, carrying passengers at reduced rates. The Superintendent of Nelson landed at Westport from the Charles Edward yesterday morning. He is accompanied by Mr J, T. Catley, receiver of Land Revenue. Inspector Shalcrass came on to Greymouth. In consequence of the Warden ot the district having proclaimed the days of the race meeting at Ahaura public holidays, the regular sitting of the Warden and Resident Magistrate's Conrts, at Ahaura, were held on Wednesday, 19th instant, instead of Friday, 2lßt instant. The cases tried were numerous and important. A few days ago we drew attention to a case of extreme destitution, in which a woman named Tagqat t had given birth to a child, under most distressing circumstances. Public sympathy was aroused and applied in a practical shape by the Mayor, but recently it has transpired that the woman in question was unworthy of the charity extended to her, for on Tuesday she was found by the police in a state of drunkenness, with her child in a nude state, and a notorious prostitute, also lying drunk, in the same house. As the child's life was apparently in danger, it was taken, possession of by the police, and the mother was locked up .for drunkenness, and yesterday fined 10s or 24 hours' imprisonment. The Magistrate took time to consider what order to make with regard to the child. Elizabeth Turner was fined 20s, or 48 hours' imprisonment for having been drunk. Michael Scanlan, supposed to be of unsound mind, was remanded for medical examination. We are informed that the first issue of a new weekly paper, to be published at the Lyell, is announced. It is to be called the Lyett Argws and Matakitahi Advertiser, and will make its first appearance on Friday. Mr Ivess, of the Reef ton Herald, is the proprietor. The fact of ' the Volunteer Hall being crowded for three consecutive nights is a tribute both to the excellence of the Carandini entertainments, and to the good taste of the inhabitants of Greymouth, It is, indeed, a gratifying sign of more than mere good taste. Considering the number of dramatic and musical entertainments which have lately been given in Greymouth, and the large attendance which each attracted, it is a s»gn of material prosperity. If a large amount of capital has been indefinitely invested in the reefs, there is evidently enough fS \ ep ?. e °P te m pocket-money. One significant indication of the excellence of the !?»n^w entß is the circumh P ,n Wplv° a Gaeh ° ccaßion the audience ha 3 ™ JX Tn^T^ of those who «™c present on the first evening on which the family appeared, and the majority are aWa anxioustohearmorethaneventheproerammes contain. Last evening the programme was a very choice one, and it was considerably supplemeuted by the performers readily complying with the not ajways considerate encores* Tbe unaccompanied part songs, such as "Caller Herrin," the "Autumn Song," and others, were again a special feature of the entertainment, and were much appreciated. Mr Gordon also contributed materially to the variety and excellence of the entertainment

by his admirably sung solos. His presence here with the conipauy not only contributes to their success, but ought to be useful also as a means of instructing those amateur/ voralists who occasionally appear on the. same platform. It is a feature of his singing that he not only sounds the musical notes, but also enunciates the words, so that the audience has an opportunity of comprehending the sentiments, instead of listening to mere empty sound, signifying nothing. It is unnecessary to say that, in solo, Miss Rosina and Miss Fannie were listened to with silent admiration, and that, as accompanists on the pianoforte, their execution was the acme of excellence. At tkc Resident Magistrate's Court, No Town, at the last sitting, a defendant in one of the civil cases tried was guilty of disrespectful behavior, and of making use of offensive language towards the Court. He was committed for contempt, and removed by order of the Magistrate. Previous to the final rising of the Court, tho prisoner was brought up, and on being asked what he had to say in palliation of bis contumacy, he denied that he had been " contemptible" towards the Bench, as he merely did it justice when he said that the decision given in the case, in which he (the defendant) was interested was "scandalous and unjust. " The Magistrate, • with great forbearance, allowed the defendant to continue peaking use of equally insulting remarks, and in consideration of his general character, even allowed him an opportunity of retracting what he said, and of apologising for his conduct. He refused to follow the friendly advice offered, and further aggravated his offence by setting the Court at defiance. The defendant was then sentenced to one week's imprisonment with hard labor, without the option of paying a fine. Some of the wits of Charleston have prepared an admirably iionical address which, it is said, they intend presenting to Mr Curtis on his arrival. It is questionable if anyone would be bold enough to present it personally, but its purpose has been served by it being published in the columns of the Herald. Mr Cassius was to propose the following motion in the County Council last evening: — • That in the opinion of this Council, clause 05 in the County of Westland Act should be amenled, and that the County Chairman, instead of being elected as hitherto, by the County Councillors only, be in future elected by the general body of electors, either from amongst the County Councillors or from amongst the electors. That in the event of this resolution being carried, the same be communicated to the Colonial Secretary, with an earnest request to take the necessary steps for the carrying out of the above views during the next session of the General Assembly." The Waste Lands Board met at Hokitika on Tuesday. Gilbert King applied, by his agent, Mr Learmonth. to purchase sections 260 and 262, town of Greymouth. Granted, L 24 paid.— Robert Keown applied, by his agent, Mr Learmonth, to have 10 acres of suburban land in Block LXXXIV, Grey district, put up to auction. Granted, L 5 deposit paid.— W. M. Cooper applied, by his agent, Mr Learmonth, to have three sections of suburban land, comprising 26 acres, in Block LXXXIII, Grey district, put up to auction. Granted, Ll3 deposit paid. — Henry Castle applied, by his agent, Mr Learmonth, to have five acres of suburban land in Block LXXII, Grey district, put up to auction. Granted, L 2 10s deposit paid. — John Austin applied, by his agent, Mr Learmonth, to purchase section 284, town of Greymouth. Granted, Ll2 paid. — David Thomas Faulkner applied, by his agent, Mr Learmonth, to have five acres of suburban land in Block LXXXI, f-rey district, put up to auction. Granted, L 2 10s deposit paid — James Kelly applied, by M^«&J& L^rn^t^to. LXXXII, Grey discrict, put up to auction. Grrnted, L 3 10s deposit paid. — In the matter of the pasturage run of Hill and Hampden, and the complaints of the miners on the South Beach, Grey district, the Board deci'ied that that postion of the run from the Railway Reserve to the sea beach, be reS3rved for commonage purposes. Mr Learmonth appeared for the holders of the license, and Mr Dungan supported the petition of the miners. A telegraph station has been opened at Richmond, in the province of Nelson. The recent reported discovery of a quartz reef at the Cascades, on the Buller river, which at first was discredited and even contradicted by some casual visitors to the locality, turns out after all to be an undeniable reality. The reef, says the Times, has been further traced, is well defined to a width of two feet or more, shews good colorable stone, and what is more to the purpose than all gold finds, is overlapped with extensive outcrops of coal, evidently extensions of the Mount Rochforfc measures. The long talked of track from Westport may yet prove of infinitely more value than as yet anticipated. The following amusingly erroneous paragraph appears in the Wellington Post :— "lt may be interesting to some of our readers to know that the work in connection with the Bruuner Coal Mine, for which the Government have invited tenders, is about 74 or 8 miles of railroad, and does not include a bridge over the Brunner. This river, which is subject to heavy freshets, will require a large and substantial bridge, and taking this into consideration, together with the short supply of rails and rolling stock on hand or ordered, and the nature of the country, an early completion of the work is hardly to be looked for. The following is from a recent issue of theMelbaurne Herald:—" We called attention in our Friday's issue to an offer said to have been made by a merchant of this city of LIOO for the purpose of kidnapping Dr James Patrick Murray, the South Sea murderer, and landing him on the island of Bouganville. The news of this offer travelled quickly to the neighboring Colony, where it appears to have been interpreted as a reward of LIOOO for securing Murray and place him on board an outward bound ship. That it must have been so read is manifest from a telegram received on Saturday night by the manager of the Anglo-Australian Press Telegraphic Agency, Melbourne. This telegram reads, 'Dr Murray in hand. Telegraph guarantee for advertised reward.' The message bears the name and address of the senders, and would seems to imply that Dr Murray has really been kidnapped, and is in private custody waiting further orders. How the captor imagined the whole thing, would end, it is difficult to say. At any rate, he followed Mrs Glass's old maxim, and caught his bare. It would be as w.ell for all such enthusiastic spirits, however, £o remember that even Dr Murray has not yet lost his civil rights, and that the law protects him as it does a good many other unpunished scoundrels. He is fair game enough, in all conscience, but yet it is dangerous to meddle with him,"