THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, MAY 1, 1873.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1479, 1 May 1873, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, MAY 1, 1873.

The Mayor, in compliance with a requisition from a large number of ratepayers, has called a public meeting to be held to-night, at eight o'clock, at Gilmer's Hall, to consider the proposed Borough Council loan, which, is to be secured by a special rate on all town properties. There are great differences of opinion on the subject, and it is as well that it should be fairly and publicly discussed, because the levying of this special rate will tell very heavily upon the community. It is therefore to be hoped that the meeting will be largely attended by the ratepayers interested. The Westtand Register is glad to learn that the required number of shares in the Kanieri Lake Water-race has been applied for, and that the company may be said to be fairly floated. A meeting of the shareholders will shortly be held, at which a permanent body of directors will be appointed, and the necessary measures taken to register the company under the Limited Liability Act. Another rush set in, says the West Coast Times, at Belfast Terrace on Saturday last, in consequence of Bergin and party having struck the lead, almost on the surface. They had been working at a lower level for some time past, and had put in a tunnel for a distance of about 200 ft. We have not heard what prospects have been obtained, but are informed that the dirt will give good wagei, Mr Warden Broad, in his annual report on the Inangahua district, says : — " Large quantities of antimony ore have been discovered at Boatman's Creek by Mr Caples. and at Rainy Creek by Mr Ranft, who intends applying to the Waste Lands Board for a lease. Loose blocks of the ore were found in a gully Uawing into Deep Creek, and this led to further investigation resulting in the discovery of the main reef. This metal is valuable in itself, and the adjacent coal -■mmW-renAfv ihaverv, easy matter to smelt the ore on the spot. Samples or the ore nave been tested yielded from 36.40 to 70 per cent, of antimony, and from half an ounce to one ounce of gold per ton, but there are parts, if separated, that would give a much larger yield of gold. Mr Ranft has lodged a large parcel'of about. fifty pounds in the office at Reeffcon for public inspection. Some excellent specimens from Boatman's, furnished by Mr Caples, were forwarded to the Christchurch Exhibition. The ore occurs in nearly all the quartz reefs in the district, and may possibly have something to do with the difficulty that exists in saving gold." A writer in an Auckland journal discloses some of the little dodges by means of which, four or five years ago, unwary visitors to Tapu, on the Coromandel Peninsula, were induced to invest their money in mining claims. "It was nothing unusual for some miners to carry about with them loose gold in their vest pocket, so that when a stranger wanted to see a prospect washed, a quantity was cunningly mixed up with the stuff in the prospecting dish, thus making sure that the prospect would not fail for want of " salting." Sometimes the "salt " was conveyed direct from the waistcoat pocket to the dish ; at other times ifc was dexterously deposited from the mouth, in the shape of an auriferous spittle, more or less precaution being used, according to the apparent knowingness of the spectator. Artificial specimens were sometimes made by rubbing a piece of stone with a watch-key oi a sove* reign. Genuine specimens were frequently taken from one mine aud carefully inserted in the leaders of other mines." Mr Owen Jones's section of the Auckland and Waikato railway, extending for a distance of twenty-five miles beyond Mangere, is being pushed forward with considerable rapidity. About 200 men are employed upon this portion of the line. Most of the earthworks are finished, and the next thing to be proceeded with will be laying the plates. The bridges and culverts have been mostly completed, principal among them being Craig's Creek bridge between M'Laughlan and Bassett's land. This has a span of 150 ft, and is the longest and heaviest bridge on this portion of the contract. It is constructed of timber, and is certainly a most creditable piece of work. A very successful commencement of the April term of the Ballarat School of Mines is reported by the Ballarat Courier to have been made, about fifteen students being in attendance. "Of this number, however,°the school of metallurgy absorbed the greatest number, whilst that of mining and land surveying was the worst attended. It seems strange that people do not avail themselves more largely of the extraordinary advantages offered to them by the school in the subjects of surveying and mathematics, with such first-class lecturers as Messrs Ive and Victor ; the only requirements being a nomination by a governor, which is always easily obtained, and the payment of Ll Is for the term. The I school of chemistry is, so far as its very limited accommodation is concerned, pretty will." ..Avery practical hint might be taken by the Committee of the Grey River Hospital from the following extract from the Otago Daily Times:— "They have set on foot an admirable plan for raising the charitable breeze in Melbourne. Hospital Sunday is to be the one Sunday ia the year upon which the claims of the Melbourne Hospital are to be urged from every pulpit in the city. You see there are several advantages to be gained by such a plan. First, the charity will reap the full benefit of that spirit of emulation which is common to all Englishmen, in church and out of it. If the Independents take LlO at the doors, the Episcopalians will have to try for Lls ; if the Wesleyans manage L 6, the Baptists will try for L 6 10s. Even the erratic being who patronises every church in turn, but finds himself too wise in hia own conceit to join any, will get caught

and bled. ' Think of the interesting enquiries after morning church— "What was your take ?" " How did your people come out ?" &c. Such a plan has also the advantage of spreading the net so widely, that not even a sprat can escape. Your money or your room will be the demand all round — the ladle or the door. Old curmudgeon, who always has a reason for changiug his place of worship when Charity Sunday comes round at his own tabernacle, will nave to stay at home in despair of going anywhere without being asked to contribute for the sick. .No doubt that section of the community that object to hospitals, and who think it a tax to help the sick, will still button up their pockets, but the less stony-hearted members' of society will be likely to come forward and fill up the gap. I think a similar arrangement on behalf of the benevolent would not be out of place here, and I have no doubt that such a Sunday might be agreed upou by the authorities of all the churches." In the Scotsman, of February 8, we find the following : — " His Excellency Sir James Fergusson, Bart. , who recently returned to this country from South Australia, on a visit, previous to his assumption of the Government of New Zealand, met with his tenantry on the Kilkerran estate, at Kilkerran House, Ayrshire, yesterday. The tenantry numbered about seventy. Sir James expressed the pleasure he felt at being once more in their midst, and said he wished to address them briefly on general matters in which he and they were interested. He did not intend to speak on political questions at all. In connection with the question of hypothec, however, he thought it was more a question which concerned the tenantry than the landlords, and he had no doubt that if the tenantry wanted ifc abolished, it would be abolished. He wished more particularly to speak to them on the question of cottage accommodation. He thought there ought to be better accommodation for laborers on all estates than there was at present, and it was his intention to provide such improved accommodation on his estate. He intended to provide good cottages for the farm laborers giving to each of them a bit of ground, and in some cases a cow's grass, and by this means the laborer's condition would be bettered. He intended to do all this in cooperation with his tenantry. At the close of his address, three cheers were given for Sir James and his family, and the company were afterwards entertained to luncheon."