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Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1490, 14 May 1873, Page 2

We believe that Mr James Jolmston, of the Melbourne Hotel, is the successful caterer for the supply of the supper at the opening of the Masonic Hall. Mr James Taylor will supply the wines and spirits on the same occasion : An adjourned meeting of the Poultry Society will be held this evening, at eight o'clock, at Middleton's Hotel, for the purpose of appointing a Committee, electing officers, and to decenrine the future proceedings of the society. Messrs Maclaren and M'Cabe announce a farewell performance at the Volunteer Hall, this evening. Since Mr Maclaren appeared at Greymouth he has, in company with Mr M'Cabe, visited the Ly ell, Reefton, and the principal towns of the Grey Valley Gold Fields, at all of which places they performed to crowded audiences. Mr Maclaren will be assisted on this occasion by La Petite Amy as "Sprightly," an entirely new role to her. At the proceedings in liquidation re the Morning Star Gold Mining Company, Ross, at the District Court, at Hokitika, on Monday, 12th inst., debts to the amount of L 350 were proved. A man named Alexander Alien, an inmate of the Grey River Hospital, attempted tp drown himself yesterday morning in the river. He was noticed making for the wharf opposite Tainui street, and on reaching it he threw away his cratches, and divesting himself of some of his clothing, jumped into the water. The man was rescued by the owner of one of two boats, which put off from the wharf after him. He did not. seem to be very much alarmed, for when the boats came up with him, he wai floating calmly down the stream on his back, and got into one of them after inquiring what they (the boatmen) wanted. He was taken to the White Horse Hotel, and shortly afterwards removed to the Hospital. Allen was sent to the Hospital last Christmas from Hatter's Terrace, Nelson Creek, where he fractured his ancle, while wrestling with another man in the street. He has shown symptoms of mental unsoundness recently, which will probably account for this freak of his. When he was missed from the Hospital a search was insituted, and those looking for him arrived just in time to see him taken out of the water. A veritable chiffonnier, a real, true, Pa-risian-bred cJiiffbnnier, has turnrd up at last out of France, "i'esterday, ab the Resident Magistrate's Court, a smart, lively-looking Frenchman, appeared to a judgment summons at the suit of a compatriot. On being questioned by Mr Revell as to his occupation, he said he was a gatherer of rags, bones, "bits of brass, and broken glass," &c. This inaugurator of a new industry further informed the Court, with a genuine Communistic shrug, that if th« plaintiff did not " give him much long time to pay, he would get nothing." The Westland Register accuses the Hokitika Evening Star of "insinuating" that the trial crushing of stone from the reef at Kokotahi, which has caused so much fuss lately at the capital of the County, was "salted." The Star denies the accusation and calls its contemporary "another." We await the issue. His Honor Judge Harvey held a sitting of the District Court at Hokitika on Monday, in the Supreme Court House. Several credi' tors in the matter of the Bell Hill Waterrace and Gold-mining Company appeared for the purpose of proving their debts against the company, which is being wound up. Mr Scott appeared as liquidator. The following claims were admitted :— -J.Linton, L 35; G. Dalrymple, L 5 17s Id ; Sutherland and : another, L6L Is lid ; J. Schooler, L 59 10s ; J. Crerar, L 3 18s 6d ; W. Runcie, Ll2 12s j Robert Ecclesfield, L6O ; C. O'Driscoll, L 5; Shane and M'Gregor, L 317 17s 4d; Thrower, L 2 10s ; Bank of New Zealand, L 134 2s 6d ; and J. Davidson, L 4 18s. The liquidator asked for his Honor's direction as to declaring a dividend at once: His Honor saw no reason why a dividend should not be declared, and those persons who had not proved, had only themselves to blame. Mr Roberts, one of the Wanganui lawyers, has been having rather a bad time of it during Judge Gresson's judicial visit to that locality. The lawyer's character has been rather roughly handled, but that perhaps would not have mattered much, and so the unkindest cut of all was reserved for the last. In the case of Drury v. Roberts for slander, the jury, on the sth instant, after four hours' absence, returned averdict for plaintiff on all the issues, damages LSOO and costs. Speaking generally of theatrical criticism a " Dunedinite in Victoria " says that Mr Fairclough, the new tragedian, is not a success ot the Theatre Royal, Melbourne. The critics have a standard, the guiding-stars of j which are Brooke and Montgomery, and any would-be star who does not reach this stand- ( ard is crucified. It is little wonder that English and American stars care- not to cross a dangerous ocean to find themselves bankrupt in reputation and pocket in a city of a few thousand inhabitants. No such standard prevails in England, but I see it prevails in | everything in the Colonies. I think that nature is the best standard, but as nature is rather vague, or as the human, mind, perhaps it is better to say, on the average;' is incapahle of condensing its 'interpretation of nature

w Ithout help, parhaps it is well to accept nature personified :' i a Brooke or Montgomery, although such personification may result rather harshly to those who, like Mr Fairclough, do not possess the physical advantages of the two "fortunate—unfortunate " actors referred to — two men, who in one sad sense of the paradoxical phrase may be said to have been victims to their own golden prosperity, thus reversing the. usual rule of life. It seems that Mr Fairclough was engaged on the sharing system, and the Melbourne correspondent of that excellent paper, the Hamilton Spectator, is responsible for the statement that his share for one right of " Richard III." was only 10s ! | The shareholders of one of the claims at Clearwater, Ross, have reduced the wage 3of the men working for them to L 3 per week of ten hours work each day. The ground is heav y, wet, and dangerous, requiring skilled miners to secure it, who will hardly engage to work at the reduced rate. The Ross News in speaking of the owners of the claim, sayß : " As to the men whom Dame Fortune has— only for a short time, perhaps— placed in the position of employers, they would act wisely if they well considered the matter before adopting a course which must prove exceedingly injurious to their interests." At the Resident Magistrate's Court, on Monday, at Hokitika, Richard Panton was charged with an attempted rape on his niece, a little girl named Jessie Wright, aged six years. Commissioner Jame3 asked for a remand till Tuesday, as there were several witnesses whose attendance he had not had time to procure, the prisoner having been arrested only the day before". Mr Tabart, who was the presiding Magistrate, granted the remand as requested. The circuir stances of the case are unusually atrocious, if anything like whafe they are alleged to be, bat, of course, we cannot state them . We may say, however that the prisoner is between forty and fifty years of age, that the mother of the child s.- id to have been t^saulted was his sister and is dead, and the father is absent in Australia, At the half-yearly meeting of the Edinburgh Tramways Company, Dr Wood stated that a machine would shortly be tried r'n Edinburgh which would draw the tramway cars without smoke or noise; Another certificate as to the supeiiority of New Zealand made steel comes from an English cutler, Mr Smith, who has identified himself so conspicuously in the manufacture of steel from the Taranaki iron sand, gave a sample of the metal in the rough, and also a razor to a gentleman on his way home to Englanc* The piece of metal was given to a Birmingham manufacturer to give his opinion upon it, and he declared it to be superior to any metal of the kind- he had ever seen. The razor was sharpened and put to a practical test on the owner's face. The result was so agreeable that he prizes the article as only a man can who appreciates the luxurj of a good shave, and would not part with it for ten times its intrinsic value. There is not a barrowful of coal for sale in Napier, and, says the Telegraph, as no vessel is expected with coal, a fuel famine is imminent. That such a state of things is permitted to exist in a country abounding in rich coal fields, does not reflect much credit on the colonists of New Zealand. Narjier is not, by any means, the only town in the Colony where periodical coal famines occur ; at the seat of Government, a short time ago, the only fuel to be obtained was wood, though the West Coast Coal Fields are within a couple of dajs steaming, and are easily accessible. We (Post) are glad to hear that the difficulties which seemed impending from the non-fulfilment of their contract by the Colonises' Aid Corporation are likely to be avoided. A telegram has been received from London, stating that LI 5, 500 have been sent to New Zealand for the purpose of meeting the engagements ef the Corporation with the Government ; and as LSOOO only is yet due, it would seem chat the Corporation intend to take up some of their bills in advance. The Wellington Post, of the 3rd instant, says: — tk The possibility of bringing coal from the Ngakawhau mine has been demonstrated by Mr Dransfield, who has just imported a small cargo of the coal. It has been tried in several household grates, and is found to burn freely and cleanly, throwing out a good heat. Indeed the excellence of the coal has been thoroughly established by practical and scientific tests. All that is required to bring the coal generally into the market is a steam tug or two for the Ngakawhau river. This will probably be accomplished by means of a company for the purpose, with L 30.000 capital, in connection with which Mr Beetham, of Auckland, is now :on a visit to Wellington. We understand that he is meeting with gratifying success in getting shares in the proposed company taken up." In an article on Prison Discipline in New Zealand, the Wanganui Chronicle says : — At present there is only one really safe place of detention iv the Colony. We refer to Dunedin gaol, and it is far from perfect. All desperate criminals are, at present, sent to Dunedin to undergo their respective terms of imprisonment. There is therefore the nucleus of a proper penal establishment already in existence, and , there are many reasons why it should, be recognised by the Government as the chief of ,such establishments, and provided for accordingly. Dunedin is not troubled with earthquakes, and stone can therefore be used in the. constiaction of gaol buildings and enclosures— an advantage which would not be found farther north. The Irish Prison system is, perhaps, , the most perfect at the present day, and would form a good model for our New Zealand system. Pipeclay Gully, near the Bannockburn, Otago, seems to be a favorite rendezvous for stray animals and birds. During several months of last year, a solitary sheep— rio doubt tempted by the grass which grows abundantly on the edges of the terraces — took up its abode there, and when disturbed, used to make straight for some abandoned tunnel, where it found a comparatively safe retreat. Shortly afterwards a native paroquet took a fancy to live underground, and was frequently seeu emerging from its subterranean domocile as the tunnellers were going to work in the morning. The next solitary adventurer was a half -grown lamb, but it did not stay long — the sunless atmos^ phere of the tunnels being uncongenial to the instincts of the juvenile jimbok. Last week a fine fat wooahen was found* in a drive, captured, condemned to death, and* executed for being illegally in possession of auriferous ground, A similar fate befel the pocr paroquet, for wild cats are very numerous in the neighborhood of the old workings.