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Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1473, 24 April 1873, Page 2

According to our latest information, the poll for the election of a second representative of the Grey Valley in the Nelson Provincial Council has resulted in the return of Mr J. D. Pinkerton. After the receipt of the returns from Cobden and No Town, on Tuesday, the expectation was that Mr Wilkie had again been returned, he having had a considerable majority at both these places, but the result was different at each of the other three polling-places, and over the whole district, Mr Pinkerton polling a majority of ten. The result should have been known to us on Tuesday evening, and the information was punctually presented on that evening at the telegraph office at the Ahaura, but in consequence of the communication being interrupted, the message was not received until Wednesday afternoon. The following are the returns from the different pollingplaces : — Pinkerton. Wilkie. Ahaura ... 27 ... 4 Half -ounce ... 30 .. 2 Nelson .Creek... 30 ... 5 No Town ' ... 4 ... 23 Cobden ... 7 ... 54 ! Total ... 98 ... 88 An extraordinary meeting of the shareholders of the Greymouth Gas Company takes place this evening at Johnston's Melbourne Hotel, at 8 o'clock, for the purpose of considering the advisability of declaring a dividend and other business, At the Resident Magistrate's Court, yesterday, before Messrs Masters and Reid, J.P., John Anstey was fined 40s and costs for allowing a bull to wander at large. Fiom a letter in the Westport Times it appears the Nagkawhau Coal Mining Company have at last opened up, or. rather con- 1 eluded negotiations for the floating of a com- 1

pany to properly work the mine. The present proprietors have agreed to accept payment, partly in cash and partly in scrip, for their present interest, and the principal. object of the proposed company will be to establish a regular steam communication between the Ngakawhau and the Buller Kiver by means of one or more steam tugs sufficiently powerful to take in tow a string of coal lighters which will discharge their freight of coal either direct into coal ships at anchor in the Buller River, or on to wharves fitted with appliances foi the easy loading of vessels. In any case, says the Times, tbe floating of the company will conduce to much increased activity in this port, and would, seem to be the very best arrangement that could possibly be devised, pending; the construction of a railway from Ngakawhau to Westport. Mr Kirby, coal merchant, Queen street, Auckland, has received a splendid sample of Raglan coal. The Waikato coal mines and those at Kawakawa, he is satisfied, will " pale their ineffectual fires " when once shipments are received from the Eaglan mines. • The body of a man named Thomas Milan was found in a creek at Coromandel. The head and one arm were separated from the body, and evidence taken at the inquest appeared to indicate that the remains while lying in the creek had been attacked by pigs. No conclusive evidence regarding the way deceased had come by his death was adduced, and the jury returned a verdict of "found drowned." A requisition has been signed and forwarded to the Chairman of the Paroa Road Board by the inhabitants of the Rutherglen district, requesting Him to convene a public meeting, at 7 p.m. on Saturday next, for the purpose of urging on the Minister of Public Works the necessity of causing a change to be made in the present surveyed route of the Greymouth and Marsden road. At Ross, on Tuesday, a young woman narrowly escaped meeting with fatal injuries. It appears that she was leaving a dwelling at the back of the Camp, and, owing to the darkness, she walked into a shaft, y^jch j 9 about 50ft deep. Fortunately, the residents of the neighborhood heard her cries, and rushed to her assistance, when, after some little difficulty, a rope was procured, and a miner was lowered down the shaft, to send the poor girl up. The hauling process was speedily effected by a dozen willing hands, and it was found that, although she was very much cut, no serious injury was the result of the accident. The Thames Advertiser is responsible for the following : — "As an instance of the rapidity with which news travels, and the undue importance invariably attached to ru> mored goldfields, we may mention that an old Thames miner was induced to leave the comforts of a home in Nebraska county, United States, on reading a report of the opening of the Upper Thames, and make all haste for the long^talked-of new El Dorado. We need scarcely add that his disappointment is great, and that he purposes returning instanter." A meeting of the Tender and Contract Committee was held at the office of the County Chairman on Tuesday, to consider certain tenders for the maintenance of roads for the ensuing twelve months. In a majority of cases the lowest tender was accepted, but there was an exception in the case of the Grey and Arnold road, in which instance the lowest tender was rejected, and the next lowest accepted. The establishment of a toll-gate upon clie Kanieri road appears to be a probable source of considerable revenue to the County. It is said that the tolls collected last week amounted to Ll6. This of course includes the Ross traffic, According to the lists posted at the Resident Magistrate's Court, there are 444 applications for registration nnfchp newelepinral ™n fnr tiio BJoUUika district. There are but twenty-two applications in the Totara district. A second meeting of the promoters of the Westland Steam and Freight Company was held on Tuesday at the store of Mr W. Evans, Hokitika, when the subscribed capital was made up to L 12,000, Another meetr ing will be held, and a prospectus will then be issued. At the Auckland Police Court, a man named Sutton was charged with having been drunk. He pleaded guilty, and, on being asiced where he got the liquor, replied, "At home." No sooner had he made the statement than a voice- -apparently a female one ~aaid most distinctly and emphatically, "No, you didn't." His Worship said this sounded rather suspicious, and fined the man 20s aud costs. Tlie Adelaide papers of the 29 bh ult. goutain notices of the death of Captain John Watts, who died on the previous day, at the advanced age of eighty-seven. Captain Watts formerly belonged to H.M. 73rd Regiment, but he sold out of the army, and arrived in South Australia in 1841. He was then appointed Postmaster General of that colony, which position he held until 1861. The deceased gentleman only survived his wife three weeks, their marriage having taken place more than half a century ago. The effects of the late accident at Wishart and party's Golden Crown Claim, Clearwater Creek, in the Totara district, which happened on the 17th March, have nearly been got over. A new shaft has been sunk to a depth of 260 ft, and slabbed all the way down with three-incb split timber. In sinking, two layers of wash were cut through, both of which look very promising. The party are now opening out at a depth of 205 ft on good payable trash. At tbe Supreme Court, Auckland, when his Honor Mr Justice Johnston was sentencing a woman who was convicted fop illegally pawning, he asked Captain Eyre, the Governor of the Gaol, if there was any classification in the female department. Captain Eyre replied that there was not, but that all the women were associated together. His Honor then remarked that some years ago steps were taken towards ascertaining the true condition of the prisons in the Colony ; and he had the honor of presiding over the inquiry, which was a very full one. The result was, that it was indicated to the Legislature of the public that the state of things existing at the time was serious and alarming ; but he was not aware that any material steps had been taken since in the matter. To his mind, it was one of the most pressing and urgent claims upon the Government of the Colony to have proper penal establishments. He knew himself, from personal observation, the amount of mischief that could be donp by one profligate female amongst a lot of less hardened women ; and their classification in the gaols was a matter which should not be overlooked. A meeting of the Mikonui Water Race Committee was held at the Road Board Office, Ross, on Friday last, Mr W. Banks in the chair. A letter was read from Mr Tribe, stating that he had presented the petition to the Hon. the Premier, and that it was under the consideration of the Government. He also stated that the prospect of getting the race constructed was not bright, as t. Waimea Race would cost L 20,000 more th Ue was estimated. Letters were also read ffrauo au Mr Tribe to the Government, urging th m necessity of putting the race in hand at one Mr H. Cuming read a letter he had written to c tbe Colonial Secretary, relative to the County Engineer's report. 'Mr Cnpiing urged upon t.he Committee the advisability of keeping up t he agitation, He would like to see both

races commenced about the same time, as one staff could then do the lot. He was very much afraid, if the Waimea Kace was commenced before the Mikonui, that the miners would leave the district. A very sudden death occurred last week in the immediate neighborhood of Mr Thiele's Junction Store, near Addison's Flat. A man named George White, well-known and respected throughout the district, left Mr Thiele's store and walked across the grass paddock to the boat landing on the bank of the Buller river, in company with "Lawrence Larsen, boatman. In a short time after they returned, and in coming up tbe steep path on the river bank White complained that he felt a severe pain in his side, and said he would lie down in the grass and rest himself. His companion left him, and on returning a short time after in company with Mr Thiele, they were horrified at finding the poor man dead, having apparently succumbed to heart disease or some similar malady. The deceased had lately been exploring at the Cascades, and had before been working at Addison's Flat. He was about 50 years of age, a native of the North of Ireland, and has a brother and some other relatives in Adelaide. The pearl-fisherie3 and the trepang or becbe-de-mer trade on the Pacific Coast of West Australia are beginning to attract the attention of capitalists and speculators in the other colonies, and we (Melbourne Leader) should not be surprised to find that it may occupy the attention of Parliament in the same way that tbe whaling industry has done. At present the business of searching for the mother of pearl is carried on in a very primitive style, and yet the results have in some cases been very successful. We hear of murders being committed by the Malay crews occasionally it is true, but we also hear of considerable fortunes being amassed by a single venture. Some specimens of shell obtained on our northern coasts have been considered worth as much L3OOO a ton, and not very long ago a single pearl found in a shell from Western Australia was sold for Lso^ in London, and resold again for LIOOO at St Petersburg. During the last twelve months 211 tons of pearl shells were despatched from Torres Straits southwards, and the value of these at L2OO per ton is L 42,001). As the exploration of the coast from Western Australia to Port Darwin proceeds, the extension of the pearl-fisheries will grow with it, and there is every reason to believe that another valuable industry has been added to the already inexhaustible resources of the Australian continent. The members of the Wanganui- Waitotara Eoad Board have been puzzling their brains over a design for their seal. At a discussion on the subject a Wanganui paper says, some amusing suggestions were made as to the design for the centre. Tongariro and- Euapehu have been monopolised by the other local corporates, so that an original idea was wanting. The district being essentially a pastoral one, one of the wardens suggested a " Lincoln ram." Breeders of Leicesters rebelled, and urged the superior claims of their class. One warden preferred leaving it to the skill of the engraver, for he did not think it could be possible to distinguish which particular breed the design was intended to pourtray, unless the engraver, like the boy at school, took the precaution to put under it, "this isa Lincoln sheep." The matter was ultimately left in the hands of the chairman.