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Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1483, 6 May 1873, Page 2

It is pleasant to be able to announce that an entirely new and valuable seam of coal has been struck on the Coal Reserve on the south side of the river, a lease of which has been applied for by the Greymouth Coal Company. While Dr Hector's men were employed cutting the survey lines they came aciosa an outcrop of coal, which was only slightly covered with moss, and was found to

be four feet wide'on the surface. The coal is 'described as being of first-c'ass quality, very hard. This discovery is about a mile further up the river than the old work' tjs, and about eighty feet higher than the level of the Brunner mine. Information of the find was yesterday sent to Dr Hector. \t a meeting of the directors of the Greymouth Gas Co., held yesterday, it was r«solved to allow consumers 20 per cent discount off accounts paid on or before the Bth of each montn. The price of gas ■«"'! thus be 16s per 1000 ft. The Paroa Road Board have determined to carry tbe portion of the road they recentl} constructed as far as the Town Belt. As the Borough Council has made provision out of the loan tt» construct a branch road from the junction of tbe Marsden Road to join the Paroa Road at the Town Belt, this will make two good additional outlets to the town. A meeting of the shareholders of the New Zealand Coal Company was held at Wellington on tbe 25th ult., Mr W. W. Johnston in the chair. It was resolved on the motion of Mr Dransfield, seconded by Mr Johnston, that the company should be registered forthwith. The ballot for the election of the company's solicitors and bankers was taken, the choice falling respectively on Messrs Hart and Buckley, and the Bank of \ustralasia. It was settled that another meeting should be held at an early date. Deposits had been actually received for 811 shares, and it was confidently expected that the number would be increased to fully 1000 within the week. At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, James Gardiner was found guilty of having stolen a decanter containing port wine, from the Court House Hotel, and was sentenced to one month's imprisonment in Greymouth gaol. — Enoch Holloway was informed against by John Williams for having made use of threatening language. The offence was proved, and the defendant was bound over to keep the peace for three months, in two sureties of L2O each and his own recognizance for L4O Official information was received yesterday that Messrs O'Connor and Maher's tender for the construction of the Greymouth and Marsden road had been accepted. We learn that the work will be proceeded with at once. We have to remind our readers that the subscription list for the Volunteer Fire Brigade remains open at the stores of Messrs Forsyth and Masters until this afternoon, when it is expected the amount will be made up to L2OO. We have been interviewed by an enormous potato which requires a notice. It measures B^in long, \2h\n circumference, and weighs 2ilb. It was grown on the farm of Mr J. F. Johnston, Little Grey, whose land this year produced 25 tons to the acre. Tenders are invited for the services of two Assessors to the Paroa Road Board* The Westport Times says the West Coast Provincial Council members, Eeid, Donne, Pinkerton, and Guinness, whilst in Westport, were interviewed by a number of the leading people there, and matters of moment to these districts ''were debated and considered, and the members generally well posted up in the facts and opinions which presumedly were necessary to be laid before them." A meeting of the Westland Steam Tug and Freight Company was held last Friday, at which it was Btated, says the West Coast Times, that the Bank of New South Wales would advance LIO,OOO to the Company, for the purchase of vessels to carry on the contemplated trade at once. It was resolved that immediate atcpa be taken to get the deed of association signed, and that another meeting be held within the present week to appoint representatives of the company to proceed to Melbourne by the out-going steamer, for the purchase of the vessels required. The company has now evidently got beyond a "prospectus," and may be considered as a fait accompli. The Press says that it is rumored in Otago that a probability exists of Mr Macandrew, the Superintendent of Otago, being appointed Agent-General. The New Zealand Gazette of the 29fch April contains a notiiication that the Governor has been informed by the Secretary of State that her Majesty will not be advised to exercise her power of disallowance with respect to any of the Acts passed by the General Assembly last session. The Daily Soutlieni Cross has been bought up by a limited liability company, Mr Yogel gettihE! L4OOO for the plant and goodwill. The chief shareholders are Captaii Daldy and Messrs W. S. Grahame, Yogel, and Stannus Jones. The capital of the company is LIO,OOO, in shares of LI each. The South Australian Register states : — V The exports of wheat and flour from Adelaide for the week ending March 29 reached an aggregate of about 9000 tons, so that, according to shippers' measurement of 37 bushels to the ton, we have sent away this year something like 70,000 tons of breadstuffs. Of this quantity about two-thirds has been shipped to Great Britain." A Mr Reeves, a mining engineer, is said to have perfected a method for saving all the gold now lost under the ordinary crushing system, by the use of oxy-hydrogen gas com- , bined with platinum, by whioh the whole of the gold and other metals can be saved at the cost of a few shillings per ton. The method sounds rather problematical, but capitalists seems to think well of it, for we read that, at a meeting held in Greville's Rooms, Sydney, it was resolved to place the invention before the public. The demand for the 12,500 new shares issued by the South British Insurance Company has been very large in Auckland. They were offered at 30s, being 15s above par price of the original shares of the company. The list was closed on the 24th ult., and the applications were for' close on 18,000 shares, of which 9000 were applied for in Auckland. Every now and then a new district is , added to the list of those districts in the Auckland Province already known to possess deposits of iron ore. Recently the Kawau has been added to our known iron-yielding districts. That island was long celebrated .as a district where rich copper ore was mined, but if iron be found in abundance and energetically worked it may soon yield p. greater value of iron than ever it did of copper. By the recent report on the Colonial Museum and Laboratory, we learn that Sir George had sent a quantity of hydrous hematite found on the island of Kawau to the Colonial Laboratory. Mr Skey's report upon the same is very favorable. A prospectus of the proposed Ngakawhau Coal-mining Company will shortly be before the public, it having been already drafted and copies may probably reach here by the MmTay on her trip down. The Westport Times says that the projected enterprise has been very favorably received by Auckland and Nelson speculators, but amongst the latter an impression prevails that the safest plan would be to extend the proposed capital ■ from L 30.000 to L 60.000, and at once form a railway to Westport. The recent ineffectual : attempt of the s.s. Waipara to enter the Ngakawhau at spring tide strengthens this opinion long held by Westport people. It will be probably essential, to ensure the i greater amount of capital being subscribed, to obtain an extended area of land under > goal lease, and an effort in this direction has,

we are informed, been already made, and with some show of success. Messrs Spence Bros., of Melbourne, have also made proposals to construct; a railway from Westport to Ngakawhau, and upon receiving a guarantee of certain concessions and privileges, would at once float a company among Melbourne capitalists. Between two stools a fall to the ground is proverbial, but between two such promising schemes, and the probable lAnce also of the General Government bein^ wise enough to take up the affair, W&tport interests should not much longer languish. The following is from the Jewish Chronicle: — " 'I shall not intrude, ladies.' The words, accompanied by smiles, were lately spoken by a powerful personage to two ladies, one a countess, the othW a princess. The powerful personage was Rothschild, the two ladies had come as — beggars. Evidently, they did not beg for themselves but for a hospital to be erected at Ischl. Such begging is very laudable, and Rothschild did not delay in taking his pen to sign the list of subscriptions. But just before he took bhe pen from the inkstand he asked — ' Excuse me, ladies : is the hospital to be inter-communal ? That is, will patients be accepted that do not belong to the Catholic religion ?' The ladies became confused, but had to admit that only Catholic patients will have the benefit of the hospital. ' Then, ladies, I shall not intrude,' said Rothschild, and he laid down the peu. The ladies understood him without further comment and departed." The Southern Cross says that during the past year it has been several times asserted by those opposed to the indulgen:e in a glass of beer or porter that not only were the articles bad in themselves because they contain a certain amount of spirit, but because the articles of this description manufactured hers were adulterated. The attention of the Colonial Government has been drawn to the subject, and it is satisfactory to know that they have taken the necessary measures to ascertain the correctness or otherwise of these statements. The result arrived at is that, however much these beverages may be adulterated by some unprincipled retailers, they are wholly free from all adulterants as they leave the stores of the brewers. The Chief Inspector of Customs secured a number of samples of each of those beverages—colo-nial-brewed beer and porter— from the^ principal brewers in the several provinces in the colony ; had them submitted for chemical analysis by Mr Skey ; and in every case the result has been found to be most satisfactory. There were in all 42 samples analysed divided amonest the several provinces as follow :— Wellington, 4 samples ; Canterbury and Otago, 22; Auckland, 10; and Nelson, 6. This number of analyses having been performed upon samples selected unknown to the brewers who manufactured the beverages with so satisfactory results speaks very favorably of the character of colonial brewers, and shows that they provide good and wholesome malt beverages for those who desire them.