THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 1873.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1474, 25 April 1873, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 1873.

If the prayer of the poet is not exactly complied with •by some superior Power conferring upon us in these Colonies the gift to see ourselves as others see us, it is at least partially so by the publication of the comments of. such writers as Mr I Anthony Trollope and others who have recently been visitors to thi3 quarter of the globe, who have taken notes, and who eke have printed them. Holding up the mirror to Nature as Mr Trollope and other authors have done, it must be confessed that we suffer severely from colorblindness if we cannot discover, in their works, a correct delineation of men and manners in the Colonies. Mistakes may be made with the mirror, as in the case of the crude observations of Mr Wentworth Dilke— defects due to the haste with which the traveller covers the ground, and to the disposition to earn a reputation for cleverness in style at the cost of carefulness with regard to facts. Even Mr Trollope may not altogether enjoy immunity from criticism, but that applies more to the literary etchings which he first contributed to the columns of the English Press, than the more perfect picture which he has since published in book form under the title of "Australia and New Zealand." By his Melbourne publisher a portion of this work has been published, and is noticed by the Press of that part of the Colonies of which it treats — Victoria. To a notice of its contents, and to quotations therefrom, the leading Melbourne paper devotes several of its columns, and, although the quotations are more distinctively applicable to Victoria, they are sufficiently so to all the Colonies to justify their distribution as a means of enabling us to see ourselves as we are seen by others, and especially by some of the shrewdest observers of the day. Beginning with the notice which Mr Trollope takes of Melbourne, its physical and architectural features, its institutions, and its people, the Argus admits that, in his description Mr Trollope has done the city justice. While he says that the commercial capital of the Colonies has something to boast of, he objects, however, to ■ its citizens blowing their own trumpet, I j and on that subject he rather tersely tells us of a general colonial characteristic. Thus he trumpets our trumpetings : — " T suppose that a younsj people falls naturally into the fault of self-adulation. \ I must say somewhere, and may as well ■ say here as elsewhere, that the wonders performed in the way of riding, driving, fighting, walking, working, drinking, lovemaking, and speech-making, which men and women in Australia told me of themselves, would have been worth recording

in a separate volume, had they been related by any but the heroes and heroines themselves. But reaching one as they do, always in the first person, these stories are soon received as works of a fine art much cultivated in the colonies, for which the colonial phrase of ' blowing' has been created. When a gentleman sounds his own trumpet he ' blows.' The art is perfectly understood and appreciated among the people who practise it. Such a gentleman or such a lady was only ' blowing !' You hear it and hear of it every day. They blow a good deal in Queensland, a good deal in South Australia. They blow even in poor Tasmania. They blow loudly in New South Wales, and very loudly in Now Zealand. But the blast of the trumpet as heard in Victoria is louder than all the blasts, and the Melbourne blast beats all the other blowing of that proud Colony. My first, my constant, my parting advice to my Australian cousins is contained in two words — 4 Don't blow.'" Selecting rather the pagos in which he is more severe and sarcastic than complimentary to our social idiosyncracies, we quote the following too often correct comparison between the old barons of Old England and the breeders of beeves and sheep in these parts of the newer world : — "As were country houses and country life a century ago in England, plentiful, proud, prejudiced, given to hospitality, impatient of contradiction, not highly lettered, healthy, industrious, careful of the main chance, thoughtful of the future, and, above all, conscious- perhaps a little too conscious — of their own importance, so now is the house and so is the life of the country gentleman in Australia. And as Justice Shallow, in times still farther distant, was ever anxious as to the price of a good yoke of bullocks or a score of ewes, so does the Australian country gentlenun never omit his solicitude concerning those things which have made him what he is. The value of beef in the Melbourne market, and of wool at London, are continually in his thoughts, and as continually on his tongue, even though he may have reached that stage of prosperity which cannot be much affected by the transient rise or fall of prices. . . The Victorian wool-grower or grazier will be sure to tell you, if you visit him in his own home, what has been his produce of wool, and what prices he has realised for it — and will take you to his washpool, if he wash his sheep before shearing, and to his woolshed ; or he will show you his Durhams and his Herefords, and boast how he has led the markets. Out of the full heart the mouth speaks. He has made himself what he i& by his sheep and oxen, and the sheep and the oxen are still dear to him. His grand-son or great-grand-son will probably be as outwardly indifferent as an English country gentleman, who is no more given to talk of his rents than a banker is of hisj>rofits, and who is concerned wholly, perhaps with his hounds, perhaps with his library, perhaps with his politics, or perhaps with his cook." And of the sons of these same country squires — types of the colonial "young man " — Mr Trollope writes as plainly and truly when he says : " The young colonial scion is not called on to compete with the elite of the youth of the mother country. But in the competition to which he is called, he hardly as yet holds his own. He rarely runs into bad vices. He does not drink, or gamble, or go utterly to the dogs. But he is too often listless, unenergetic, vain, and boastful. Up to a certain age, that of boyhood, he is generally clever, quick at learning what he does learn, and very often superior in general information to a boy from Harrow or from Winchester. He has more to say for himself, is less ' addicted to mere boyish amusements, and comes out as a man at an earlier age. But he has that fault which belongs to all produce of field and garden which grows ripe too quickly. When Clara in 'Philip Van Artvelde/ boasted that she, being of the softer sex, was privileged to grow ripe on the sunny side of the wall, she had probably not yet learned that the fruit which hangs through the autumn has the finer flavor, and can be kept till the end of winter. The colonial young man — a young man while he still should be a boy — hardly keeps the promise of his early years, and seems to lack something of that energy which grows up among us during the protracted years of our juvenility." In the chapter on the fair sex, our author mingles gentle corrections with as gentle compliments in a manner which, it is to be hoped, will be properly appreciated by " the girl of the period." It is thus he compliments : — "If we are to take personal appearance as the good thing most in request by the female sex, I think that the girls born in the Colony have the pre-eminence. As a rule they are very pretty, having delicate sweet complexions, and fine forms. They grow quickly, and are women two years earlier in life than our girls, — and consequently are old women some five years sooner. They are bright and quick, hardly as yet thoroughly educated, a3 the means of thorough education for women do not grow up in a new country very readily, but they have all achieved a certain amount of information which they have at their fingers' ends. They never appear to be stupid or ignorant — because i they are never bashful or diffident." And thus he ventures to correct fair colonists or their daughters on their acquired or inherited foibles : — " They demand all that chivalry can give them. No ladies with whom I am acquainted are more determined to enforce their rights in that direction. But they make their claim with arms in their hands — at the very point of the bodkin — Stand aside, that I may pass on. Be silentthat I may speak. Lay down your coat upon the mud and perish in the cold, lest my silken slippers be soiled in the mire. Be wounded that I maybe whole. Die that I may live. And for the nonce they are ! obeyed. That strength of custom still prevails, and women in Victoria enjoy for. a while all that weakness gives, and all that strength gives also." In saying all this, however, he is not without compunctions, and he covers his retreat once more by compliments : — " I write these words in fear and trembling, lest the ladies of Victoria should condemn my book, and set me down as one who had accepted and betrayed hospitality. Let them remember all that I have conceded to them. They are lovely, bright, qnickwwitted, and successful. If, having said so much on their behalf, I venture to add a few words o. counsel, they should remember tha

unqualified praise is always egregious flattery." Estimated only by these extracts of his observations on features of colonial society, the work is one which should be read with pleasure, though it may not contribute always to our colonial pride, and we may reasonably anticipate with some impatience the publication of the chapters which more particularly apply to New Zealand.

Cobden is a township whose inhabitants possess a penchant for demonstrations which usually take the form of gunpowder, rockets, and Roman candles. They are generous in the use of these materials, Greymouth, from its situation, having the advantage of enjoying most the pyrotechnic display, and Greymouth usually reciprocates the feelings of its neighbor by indulgiug in "squibs" on each day following the demonstration. Of course the late Provincial Council election was an event of considerable moment among the limited community on the north side of the water, and that they took an interest in ib was illustrated by the fact o? 61 voters having gone to the poll. With 54 of these voting in favor of Mr Wilkie, and 23 at No Town, the first impressions, and especially in Cobden, were that that candidate would prove to be the chosen of the people. Among his more enthusiastic supporters the wish became, father to the thought that he really was elected, and that Cobden had done it. Accordingly there was the usual investment in a keg of gunpowder, and there arc many amusing anecdotes as to its manufacture by local artists into articles suitable for a successful pyrotechnic display. While this was being done the unskilled cheered lustily in the street, and greeted each other warmly and wetly in Gilmer's. Sore was the disappointment when Pinkerton's paltry ten votes turned the scales in his favor, and lost to the preparers of the powder all their love's labor. The least disappointed was, perhaps, the candidate himself, for it was more by persuasion than personal desire that he was in the field. Though scotched for once, Cobden, however, is not completely killed, and is not forgetful of Cromwell's advice fco " keep their powder dry." The only difference may be that Cobden will not be so precipitate in future in making purchases of powder. An extraordinary general meeting of the Greymoutb Gas Company, Limited, was held last evening, at Johnston's Melbourne Hotel, for the purpose of considering the advisability of declaring a dividend, and electing an auditor in the room of Mr G. W. Moss, resigned. Mr H. Kenrick was voted to the chair. After some remarks by the Chairman as to the prosperous position of the company, he read the balance-sheet for the half-year, which shewed a profit to the company of L 625 5s lid. It was then moved, seconded, and carried that- a dividend of 10 per ceut on L 6500 be paid at the office of the company on and after the Bth May, Mr Lyell was elected an auditor for the company, which terminated the business, It is understood that a cake of gold weighing 9130z was received in GFeymouth, last evening, from Anderson's Quarfcz-mining Company's claim, Inangakua. This quantity is said to have been the result of crushing 600 tons of stone, or more than an average of l^oz to the ton. Such a result exceeds expectations, and should encourage hope* as to the ultimate product of the Inangahua reefs. YJe have to remind the shareholders in the Greymouth Masonic Hall Company, Limited, that an extraordinary general meeting will be held at Gilmer's Hotel, this evening, at 8 o'clock, to consider important matters connbcted with the company. Considerable complaint has been raade as to the delay in opening telegraphic communication with Ross. It is now expected that the line will be open by the end of the week. Mr W. J. M. Larnach has been asked to assume the Dunedin managership t»f the National Bank. The bank buildings have been bought at valuation. Barker's Hotel and outbuildings, at Reefton, have been sold for L4l. Slattery's Hotel and Oddfellows Hall are also advertised for sale. A copy of Mr Warden Broad's annual repoi't to the Nelson Council appears in the Inangahua Herald of Wednesday. He estimates the population of the Inangahua, Lyell, and Upper Buller districts to be 1032 miners and 853 others. It was Mr D. M. Luckie's intention to have attended the Nelson Council during the ensuing session, but he has, it appears, since found it necessary to alter his arrangements. In a short address to the electors of iNelson, dated Auckland, April 31, he says: — "I find that private engagements necessitate my resigning my seat as a member of the Provincial Council. I had expected that circumstances would have permitted me to be present during, at least, the latter part of the Council's sitting. As, however, the ?olonial Parliament is not likely to meet for some time, and my attendance at both the Assembly and the Council would necessitate two periods of absence from Auckland (in both of which business arrangements will not permit me to indulge), I am compelled to forego my intention of being present at the Council. I tender my resignation in time to allow a successor to occupy my seat. I have to thank the electors of the city for the confidence they have reposed in me as a member of the Council, and to assure them that while they continue to honop me with their confidence, as their representative in the higher Assembly, I shall forget neither their requirements nor my duty to the district." The expectation thai; Mr Seymour might | become a candidate for the Nelson SuperinJ tendency is not to be realised. The Eppress says :— " We are authorised to say that the cock-and-bull story relative to the probability of Mr Seymour becoming a candidate for tbo Superintendency of Nelson is untrue, as that gentleman has no intention of deserting Marlborough." The Warruambool Examiner contains an account of an inquest on the body of Archibald Brown, who was found hanging from a tree on the reserve on the 28th of March. Constable Heaver deposed to going with Mr Rose in the evening and cutting down the body, and finding in the pocket a knife and three pence, with a few papers, viz. — two cards, one of Mr Gaunt's, jeweller, Melbourne, and the other belonging to the Britannia Hotel, Melbourne ; also a testimonial from Macdonald Bros, Oamaru, New Zealand ; also several receipts for pew rent in the Presbyterian Church there ; and besides, scrip for ten shares in the Kelly Gold Mining Company, Grahamstown, New Zealand. Mr Murray's circus troupe, after a short but successful stay in Hokitika, proceeded ' overland to Christchurch. R. A. Butterfield has been arrested in Dunedin and remanded on a charge of bigamy in Ngw South Wales. "The Australian Sketch er with Pen and Pencil," is the name of an illustrated paper to be shortly published by the proprietors of the leading papers in Melbourne. The Hokitika Racing Club have decided to hold a race meeting, at the new Racecourse, on the Queen's Birthday. The schooner Kenilw.orth, which recently , arrived at Auckland, brought news that the Samoan Islands are still the scene of tribal , wars, which show no sign of abating. Indeed so far from the disturbances decreasing, they j are assuming a more formidable aspect than

ever. In an engagement which lately took place, no less than forty of one party were killed and decapitated. From present appearances, the internecine wars in" these islands will ultimately reduce their population to a mere nothing. The failure is announced of Messrs Peter Lawson and Sou, an old-established firm of London and Edinburgh. Their transactions in seed and guano have shown, it is understood, very satisfactory resul*s, but losses were made in 1866 by. speculations. in .the. Liverpool cotton market, and recently the position of the house has been'prejndiced by its connexion with the San Domingo loan. The liabilities are roughly estimated at L 600.000, and an unfavorable liquidation is expected. The death of Captain Tucker, of the barque Camille, is reported from Wellington. A requisition, signed by a large number of i the inhabitants of Fox's, Waimea district, praying for the establishment of a Post Office in that locality, has been forwarded to the Postmaster-General. A sad accident occurred at Stoke, Nelson, on Saturday last, when a little girl named Annie Kenning, two years of age, was crushed to death by a barn door falling upon her. Mr W. A. Thomson, the lecturer of the Australian Mutual Provident Society, has been compelled by a death in his family, to postpone his lectures in Nelson, and to proceed to Auckland. Writiug of the West Coast railway scheme, the Nelson Mail says : —"The general idea is that the larger scheme proposed by Mr Yogel should be entered upon, and with, this view the Comnuttee have postponed issuing a prospectus until they have ascertained to what extent Canterbury is likely to assist in the work." Two men, named Squire Nuttall and George Milner, miners employed in the Caledonian claim, were recently charged at the Thames Police Court with stealing five pounds weight of auriferous specimens from that claim. Nuttall was discharged and gave evidence against Milner, who was committed to take his trial at the Supreme Court. : . "iEgles " writes in the Australasian: — I noticed the other , day the purchase of a valuable station propertj for L 20,000 by ad enterprising and successful man, who, a few years ago, was a packer on the Gipps Land road. A great part of his profits have arisen from profitable mining ventures, and it is said that his most valuable mining interest he obtained in barter for an old pack-horse. If the property alludftd to had been valued at twice as much money he would have had no difficulty in paying for it. This is the bright side of the picture of what may happen to a man in Victoria. The New York World, which has been figuring upon the cost of an occasional dripk, says :— Once in a while a pensive me may be heard to say, " I wish I 'had all the money back that I have spent for drink for the la3t ten years." No man in twenty, that retrospectively gazing gives utterance to that wish, has in his mind an approximating estimate of the amount which a person of even moderate bibulous propensities may spend upon drink in the space of tea years. Leaving wines and expensive liquors out of the question, let us see what the plain cocktailist, or modest imbiber of oldrys, is likely to disburse on his favorite refreshment in the course of a year. Take a very moderate man, for example. Assume that he drinks every clay four glasses of whisky afc 15c. That amounts to 60c a day, which "makes 4dol 20c a week ; multiply by four, and you have I6dol 80c a month, which comes to 201 dol 60c a year. Thus, if a man who has gone on at this rate for ten years had all his liquor money back, his pockets would be inflated to the tune of 2016d01. This is only a small-beer calculation ; but thjnk of those who spend five times thab sum on liquqrs, and remember that their name is legion, The Neio Zealand Herald of the 12th inst. says :— A person finding, himself the worse for liquor in the street last evening called a cab, and told the driver to take him to the lock-up. The request was complied with — the driver drove to the station, where his " fare" gave himself into custodyj and was locked up for the night. Mr Lachlan M'Gowan, comedian, and Mrs M 'Go wan, arrived in Dunedin by the Albion, from Melbourne, on Thuisday last. Miss Stephenson and Mr Burford continue to perform there with success, though the former faaa bgen suffering from a severe cold.