THE The Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, MAY 9, 1873.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1486, 9 May 1873, Page 2

THE The Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, MAY 9, 1873.

In his opening address to the Nelson Provincial Council the Superintendent con- ■! fined himself almost exclusively to subjects more or less intimately connected with the Grey District, and as the speech is rather long to be reproduced in its entirety, we propose making a short resume of the points which interest the residents in this district. His Honor commences by stating that the receipts of revenue show a falling off during the past year of £7000 compared with the previous year, and attributes this deficiency chiefly to the fact " that the yield of gold from the Inangahua reefs has fallen far short •»£-. the., expectations which had been formed, and that tlie ordinary gold fields revenue, as well as that which it was anticipated would be derived from 1 the sale of land and from additional gold duty, have been seriously affected in consequence. The latter source of revenue has also been greatly diminished by the unprecedented continuance of dry weather, as well as by the reduction of sixpence per ounce, made by the General Assembly, which came into operation on the Ist of January last." That is the reason for the rapidly decreasing revenue given by the Superintendent, but here is what a correspondent of the Colonist attributes it to. He says : — "lf ever a Province was wilfully suffered to drift into dangerous shoals by the Chief Officer— that Province is Nelson. It is of no use complaining save to those who hold the strings of the public purse — and to them on behalf of our illused Province we now appeal. If there should be those who think we are wrong in so doing, we would ask them to reflect why it is that every New Zealand Province (except our own) from Otago to Auckland is prospering ; why is it that we remain stagnant, with our storekeepers desponding, and our laboring population leaving us, and whether they can offer any other solution of this state of affairs than the do-nothing policy of our Superintendent. " This is the nearest approach to the truth on this subject that we hava seen published in a Nelson paper, but it is sure to be utterly disregarded except by the small section of the members of the Council whose outlying districts have LitLeilo been so shamefully neglected by the Superintendent, but all the remonstrances they may utter will fall upon a hardened ear. His Honor then proceeds to explain why he did not authorise the construction of the proposed wooden tramway, which was to be made from the Brunner Mine to Cobden, in order to make Cobden the coal depot. It is the usual excuse — the state of the revenue would not justify him in doing so, and therefore he applied to General Government for an advance from the " Immigration and Public Works Act." He says :— " The Government declined to make the advance, and a difference of opinion arose between the Colonial Government and myself as to the amount to be secured upon the property of this Province on account of the construction of the railway from Brunnerton to Greymouth — the Government requiring security for the full estimated co3t of the line, namely £54,000, but ultimately consenting to accept security for £27,200, or onehalf of the amount, the negotiation resulting therefore in reducing the liability of this Province by the sum of ,£27,200 from the amount originally demanded." For the usual Nelsonian reason, the tramway remained in abeyance, and is likely now so to remain, seeing that a tendGr for the construction of the railway on the Westland side has been accepted. The Superintendent cordially supports the proposed scheme for a railway line from the Ahaura to join the North Canterbury line at the Hurunui, and he is confident the Council will join with him, "because of the assistance which would be received from Colonial funds," as it would ultimately be a portion of a trunk line through the island. But he is still more in favor of the scheme which has lately been so prominently before the public in Nelson, namely the construction of a railway from Nelson city to Greym&uth. On this subject he says : — "The support which I have always received from you towards promoting the construction of a narrow guage railway through the heart of the Province, from Nelson to the Grey, encourages me to bring the question again under your notice with the more hopeful conditions of a unanimous public opinion in its favor, in this part of the Province at all events, and with the promise, under specified conditions, of material support and assistance from the Colonial Government. " For several months past a large and influential Committee has been at work collecting and condensing the large amount of information upon the subject existing in the records of your proceedings and other public documents, and in obtaining much new and important evidence, bearing more espscially upon the probable cost of the work.

"A deputation from the Committee has also waited upon the Colonial Government and obtained fron them a promise of support and assistance. "As the powers which I obtained from the General AssemUy some years since, with your sanction, authorising the Governor to grant land in consideration of the construction of the line to an extent not exoeeding 10JO0O acieftKAbpile, are still in operation, I am not a^^Bhat any further action on your part *wMfe required in that respect, but r^MrtVtnithorising ma to lease to a ccfcipa«JßSMfciking the formation of the through Rto, wose portions about to be constructed by tlnPolonial Government between Brunnerton and Greymouth, and Nelson and Fox Hill, and landed over to the Province ! when completed— requesting the Waste Lands Board to grant to the company a lease of the Bvunner coal-mine- ■ and authorising me to pay the cost of a working survey of the line from I'rovincial funds will be submitted to you.'] The only other topic of local interest is the announcement of a Bill conferring upon each district on the South-west Gold Fields local c«.trol over the expenditure of its contributifa to the Provincial revenue. A copy of the Bill will be in our hands in a few cays, wlen its details will be fully stated. The Superintendent says he is confident thatif this Bill is passed it will tend greatly to promote the growth of that good fee-ing between different sections of the community which is essential to the good government and permanent prosperity of the whole.

The New Zealand Gazette, of May 1, received last night, contains a proclamation by the Actiug-Governor, setting out the limits and description of the Brunnerton Railway, from a point on the south bank of the Grey River, opposite the Brunner Coal-mine, to Greymouth. The first schedule to the proclamation, which sets out the description of the line and the limits of its deviations, describes it as commencing at a point on Mawhera Quay, Groymouth ; thence through Native Reserve No. 31 ; thence through Tieserve No. 4 <*d Rural Block I, Grey District ; thenrethrough Native Reserve No. 33 ; thence through Coal Reserve No. 274 as the limits, description, and line thereof are set forth on the plan and described in the book of reference. The second schedule mentions the lands, roads, &c, proposed to be taken for the purposes of the Railway. They are as follows : — Mawhera Quay, Town Sections, 1, 2, 86, 87, 88, 89, Mackay street, Mount street, iots IX, X, S, 324, 323, 32G, 322, 227, 228, mfcive Reserve, No. 31, Public Roads, Reserare' No. 4, Grey District, Block I, RurJfSiections 7798, 1233, 1237, 1105, 1111, 13W, 7804, 1363, 1323, 1318, 1115, 1140, 130G, 1099, 1161,' 1098, 1113, Native ReservdßJJo. 33, and Coal Reserve No. 274.; and .pPj^jgfcing and intervening Crown and ot^^H^Ta, .sections, reserves, roads, watercou^Mfrivers, and beaches. An alarm o^Tire was given by the bells last night aboujjjjnine o'clock, and the engines and apparatus of the Fire Brigade were quickly turnedftpnt. The scene of the fire was in a cottage in Hospital street. The blaze was fortunately observed by some persons in the neighborhood, who burst iv the door (the residents being absent at the time), and obtaining a supply of water from some barrels at the^back, succeeded in tearing down the papenon the wall and roof, which was all ablaze^nd extinguishing the fire. But for the promM action of these persons thp cottage, and Sobers closely adjoining, must have been destroyed. A meeting was held at Waters's Union Hotel, last evening, to decide upon the best mode of celebrating the opening of the new Masonic Hall. Bro. W. q . Smith was in. tho chair. It was decided that an opening ball should be held, and Bros Moss, Kenrick, King, Cooper, Wylde, and W. S. Smith were appointed a committee to act in co-operation with the officers of the Greymouth and the Grey River St. Andrew Lodges in carrying out the necessary arrangements. A theatrical entertainment was given at the Volunteer Hall last evening, for the benefit of Mr Thornton, The attendance was very good. The first piece was the Scotch drama of "Cramond Brig," in which Mr Alexander sustained the character of Jock Howison in a very able manner. The remainder of the entertainment consisted of music and dancing, which passed off well. In order to make sure of Catching the Alharnbra, the mails for England, Victoria, &c, will be despatched from here by the coach ii>v Plokitik^. Tho mail closes this afternoon. •• Au extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders of the Grey River Steam Tug Company is to be held to-day, at the Union Hotel, at three o'clock, for the purpose of electing an Auditor. A special meeting of the Borough Council was held last night. Present— The Mayor, Councillors Woolcock, Dupre, Glenn, Moore, and Reid. The minutes of the last meeting having been read and confirmed, the Mayor moved the motion of which he had given notice, for tie final passing of the Borough Council loanof L7OOO, to be expended as set out in the schedule which has already been published. Mr Reid seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously. This was the only busiuess. The Council meets again to-night, fa' the despatch of ordinary business. We have to correct an error in our report of the Committee of Management of the Greymouth Hospital, which appeared in yesterday's issue. It was stated that the Nelson subsidy for March, of L 69 14s lOd is still due. The Committee have received 1 the amount hi the subsidy. His Honor Judge Harvey arrived in Reeftoil on Saturday lasfc, and held a sitting of the District Court here on Monday. The business this last sitting was unimportant. There was no criminal cases ; and in the bankrupts' proceedings the various insolvents were unopposed. The following came up for final examination, and obtained an order of discharge :— Malcolm Stevenson, Wm. Moore, Samuel Alexander. The matter of Michael Stanton was adjourned on the application of Mr Pitt until the next sitting. At the Moonta copper mines, South Australia, water has been recently sold at 3s per hogshead. . In a case heard before Judge Harvey and Warden Broad, at Reefton, on the 6th inst., a shareholder in the Golden Bell Quartz Mining Company was sued for arrears of calls. The plaintiffs were nonsuited on the ground that the call had not been made by competent persons, and the Court rujed that a call could not be enforced that wag made for the' purpose of winding up a mining company. The rivers Molyneux and Kawarau, in Otago, are lower now than at any previous time during the past four years, and a further falling is expected, as the frost is making its appearance. The chief items of interest connected with the miners at the Lyell are the discovery during last week of very good stone at the bottom of the. inclined shaft at the Excelsior ; and also of the leader for which Maloney was driving in the upper level tunnel of the prospecting claim, Eight-Mile, which also contains very good gold. One more victim is added to the already very long list of fatalities down to the credit of the riv^B of the colony. The Wellington police received information that a man n^med

Parsonage was drowned while crossing Gibbs' ford on the Iluamahunga river (Wairarapa) on Saturday evening. The body had not been found. Ab the Resident Magistrate's Courb, yesterday.beforeW. H. Revell, Esq., R.M, Matthew Flanagau was fined 20s or 48 hours' imprisonment for drunkenness and disorderly conduct. — A miner named David M'Kenzie was charged with stealing about 40 yards of canvas hydraulic hose, two nuggets of gold, four' LI notes, two pieces greenstone worth L 5, and other articles, amounting altogether to the value of Ll3, from the residence, at German Gully, New River, of a miner named Michael Callaghan, on some day between the 25th March and 26th April. The accused pleaded not guilty, and was defended by Mr Guinness. The prosecutor Callaghan was arrested for debt on 25th March, and conveyed to Greymouth. He left the missing property in his hut, which he securely 1 fastened before leaving. On his return on 26th April he found that the place had been opened and the articles removed. Callaghan j gave a mau named Timothy Denis the key nf the house, so that he (Denis) could bring him some clothes while he was confined in gaol at Greymouth. Denis returned the key and no other person was authorised to open the door. The prisoner was seen by a man in the employment of James Hamilton and Co. removing -the hose from Callaghan's house, and on being cautioned he said he did not intend to steal it, he was merely "taking the use of it to procure a little gold, is he was very hard up." He said further that there was an understanding between Callaghan and him that each could borrow the other's tools. When the accused had finished with the hose, he replaced it in Callaghan's hut. He was subsequently arrested for stealing it and the rest of the property mentioned in the information. Inspector Hickson, who conducted the prosecution, applied for permission to withdraw the charge. None of the missing articles had. yet been traced, and he would not ask for a remand on the evidence offered with respect ' to the hose. The charge "was accordingly withdrawn. -There were not any civil cases. A correspondent of the Inangahua Herald ] signing himseTf "Yarruin" is very free and easy in his remarks while writing of the arduous labors of the Mining Conference which recently met at Reefton for the purpose of revising the Gold Fields Regulations. He characterises the result on the whole as a " miserable failure." After informing the delegates that he could " drive a.- team of bullocks " through any part of a most important claiise introduced by them, he pities the Wardens who had "to sit and listen to " such a lot of wiseacres," and concludes by suggesting that "the delegates have evidently forgotten the present price of beer. If their efforts had been directed to bringing that liquid in a cheaper and more convenient proximity to the thirsty miner's pocket, they would have earned the gratitude of everyone who ' dearly loves his beer,' and the labors of the Conference would not have been in vain. n A correspondent of the Inangahua Herald says : — "No 2, south, at Larry's Creek, is getting to be quite a prodigy. From recent discoveries in this claim there can be no longer any question as to the existence of a hona fide reef. I told you in my last letter that they had struck another body of quartz besides the two-foot reef. Well, they have now driven six feet into the reef without haying intersected it, and, as to the quality of the stone, it is richer than that obtained in the first two feet ; there are also leaders running parallel with the reef, exceedingly rich. What might almost be termed a wonderful discovery was made on Sunday morning last by some parties looking at the end of the tips ; it was discovered that they had been throwing away tons of golden stone. I ~Batl a lOOIC at Wtw »fewno-*»ynnlf nnrl V>rouglifc away with me some very good specimens. The stone in question is a sort of sandstone, slate, and quartz mixture, and well studded with coarse gold, but until this discovery they had not the slightest idea that it contained a particle of the yellow metal. Of course it will be most carefully looked after now, and put aside for crushing. The population of the Matakitaki is steadily increasing. Most of the new comers have set in to work on the large alluvial flats on each side of the river, and they appear to be satisfied with their prospects. Mr C. Thorne, of Mark lane, London, who is now so well known in connection with his efforts to encourage the manufacture of fabrics made from New Zealand hemp, in a letter to the Canterbury Flax Association says — " I have now a piece ofperfectly beautiful huckaback towelling made entirely from Phormium. and hpar that a damask tableoloth is now positively in the loom j but 1 cannot send you a sample of these, as they are all wanted here. If 1 find any to spare, then you shall have some. Mr'Lockhart is proving a most fervent and practical disciple as regards the use of Phormium; he has manufactured for Dr Feather3ton, twine, seaming twine, roping twine, various kinds of fishing net, tow yarns, which he has had d^red, and is now manufacturing into carpets, fine yarn, from the line fibre, which is being woven into fine table-cloths, and his report is ' that the fibre improves in working on acquaintance.' This is exactly what I early maintained, and Mr Forbes confirmei. Your friend, Sir Daniel Cooper, Bart.j favored me with a visit on the 19th inst. ; he seemed greatly interested, and thinks Sydney is the place where more enterprise would be shown in growing, dressing, and manufacturing Phormium. Will the New Zealand colonists let this industry slip them ?" The Government Gazette, of Nelson, of May 1, contains the official notification of Mr J. D. Pinkerton's election to a seat in the Provincial Council of Nelson, for the district of Grey. The story that another and the real Arthur Orton had turned up at last in Otago, appears to be a pure bit of sensationalism. It went the rounds that an old resident of the Lake Wariakia, or Upper Clutha district, in Otago, who was generally known by the name of Nippen, had left for England in company with twq other pld residents, and that Mr Nippen was no other than the much -wanted Orton, of Tichborne celebrity. The Cromwell Argus states that the story is a pure fabrication, and has not the slightest foundation in fact. A "Miner," complaining in the Herald of the high prices of the necessaries of life at Reefton, inquires "why the grocsrs, bakers, and butchers of Reefton still charge the same figure for their several articles of consumption as they did twelve months ago, when money was far more plentiful and the freight from Greymouth and Westport more than double the ruling rate now. Surely if they pould do business with a profit then, they must now make at least 100 per cent. The tightness of the money market compelled our mining managers to reduce the wages of miners, and I have been auxiously waiting for our business: people to meet this reduction by reducing the prioe of provisions; but no such change has taken place, and the necessaries of life still at nearly starvation prices." A lamentable accident resulting in the almost instant death of the infant and only daughter of Mr and Mrs W. Struthers, occurred on Saturday afternoon last, at Westport. From the report of the inquest, as published in the Westport Times, it appears the little one was killed by the falling upon her of a pile of timber, which had been discharged from the Waipara steSmer on" the yytypt a$ Wegtpof t, on §rd May.

For some time past the track between Christy's and Lyell has been completely blocked up, two trees having fallen across the track and caused a portion of the bank J to give way. Two accidents have already occurred, and are reported by the Argus as follows :— " Oncoming up from Westport on Thursday last, Mr Alberto lsseppi very narrowly escaped with his life, being precipitated, together with his horse, from the track. Both horse and rider fell a distance o£ at least thirty feet, but both fortunately escaped any serious injury. The other-acci-. dent happened to a horse which was being driven back to Christy's. Like Mr Issepi's, he fell over the precipice, and it being found impossible to get him up the bank, a block and tackle had to be procured, by means of which the poor animal was lowered from tree to tree, until the rope breaking he was finally pitched into the river, from which perilous position he was rescued by George, the boatman, who, fortunately for the beast and its owner, happened to be passing at the time.