THE The Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. TUESDAY, JULY 8, 1873.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1537, 8 July 1873, Page 2

THE The Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. TUESDAY, JULY 8, 1873.

That was a serious item of news which wa3 received from Europe by recent telegrams, touching a commodity in which the inhabitants qf this Colony largely , invest. Compared with the coal-famine, ; it comes home to the feelings of many with peculiar closeness. To some it may even be the cause of consternation, though there are prominent men among us, including the late Premier, who may esteem it a reason for rejoicing. It intimately affects the revenue of the Colony ; it involves thb possibility of serious social changes ; arid in the latter respect its influence will be felt equally by, Dives and Lazarus— at the rich man ? s table and in the poor man's tent. What is it ? Why, nothing less serious than, this — we quote the . actual words of the telegram — " that there will probably be no wine or brandy for two years !" Can there be conceived anything more calculated to interest the community in any part of the Colony where +he name cf Henhessy is, as it is everywhere, a household word 1 It may be prudence on the part of some to conceal the shock which they have sustained by the contemplation of such a melancholy prospect, but they cannot permanently hide their, grief., ;As .concealment, in mental affections, like a worm i' the bud, feeds on the damask cheek; ■ so in this case the non-concealment about one's person of a certain amount of physical stimulant produced by , the .worm will .unquestionably, in the course . of two' long, years, , reveal itself by feeding on the damask nose. The intelligent and honest majority will, no; i doubt; confess to more or !les3 of a consuming "drouth," and, converting their' affections from the now dead or scotched Mr" 1 -He'nnessy to ■ the : royal Stewarts or the noble Marquis of Lome, ; assuage it; .with: that which, by any ; other, name, smells, as sweet. •• Itmay even- be that, in their dire necessity, they may condescend , to patronise coloniaLindustries, confessing thus:— " Dunedin! With all thy faults .we love i thy! still ! " ...In still, direr necessity^ the • i unintelligent; minority might venture a step .further by partaking of the common decoction of ,hops, &c, but believing ias some do ■ that tha :i " &c." is a chemists' cabalistic sign, they may be equally disposed when.; prompted, to partake of a pint,, to "throw, physic to the dogs." Fortunately, these are not the only alternatives for the thirsty soul, and there is a class of colonial producers who, in the interests of. ;themselves and of others, 1 are, likely to find; a .source of satis- .. faction in this otherwise adverse " news. There is no evil without its compensating ;bene6t ; r it is. an ill ,wine. that brings no , one goodi.and, in brief,' if 'the. bareness of the market in the item of brandies — a jlong ago established but not openly announced fact-T-should be' accompanied by (temporary inconvenience^ as brandy itself often is, there will be the ultimate advantage 'of attention" being ;directed to the jvineyards of Australia, and the virtues of 'its' wines: 'Upon this ' the ; colonial vinegrowers have reason to congratulate themselves,, as they^haye upon the news contained in the same telegrams to the effect [that those ' much- to-be-envied gentlemen at the Vienna Exhibition, "experts," h&ve declared the Australian wines to be of a ...very high character ; and it. may be. that I 'the people of 'the colonies' geuerally will discover in this disastrous .chaace which has overtaken the growers and ' manufacturers of France a necessity for 1 diverting their tastes, and an opportunity of curing themselves of their undoubted : curse. -'■•'■' ' X " : . I To continue the moral, we may at the ! present time quote with propriety the ! dictum of Dr Druitt on our colonial wine, iin a work recently written on the subject lof their use in diet and medicine. The ! work in questioc .has... been extensively inoticed in Home magazines and., critical I journals, and from one of> ; these we. learn I what he says of Australia. As the reviewer describes .it j - the doctor is "in raptures" with some of the Australian | vintages, , and he gives prominent place in ■his work to 'the following 1 remarks by one of the well-known .growers in the | Colony : — " He " remarked that a few ; years ■■ ago ;people >: imagined ; that fine^ jwine would not ,keep ... without spirit, and that to be worth drinking at all it .must be similar to, f port u ,and sherry, and other spirit-loaded; Uqyor^ to 'wjiich • i the British palate had become accustomed during the last century. Since that time we have found alL this to be :a fallacy, and ;fpr years past our most strenuous efforts have; been directed: tq the production of pure nnbrandied wines ; so much so that several of; ,our > most .successful leading j growers, myself included, have not availed themselves /of the ■ liberty; ;tp ; distil,, nor taken out the license^ vßrandied; ; wines: I are conducive to inteWperanceji and; their : use in the British; nation aud other Eng-;lish;-speaking cofiinVijijities,' has brought ■ about' i^he <preserit 7jM37fis^?™e^*i~i&"' the world of "a large J number' of people ! banding, itogether ; under. the r <napie t of, tei% perance societies, i: &c., to .prevent the use of wholesome food. All this is the natural consequence of : ,the .use 'pf. those, abomin r able; brandied wines v They are, unnatural,, and^niinister & ( impassions that degrade man/ Pure unbrahdia' d natural wines : ape conducive to temperancef'and'thpfapt that teetotal societies are confined to those partis oi "the' 1 world' where brandied mixtures are in üße, and unknown or almost unknown^ in 'all the great* wine countries of Eiu'ope, where pure wine is the daily, food of the men, women, and even' the; children, and' drunkenness there \ being Van, unusiialbcturence^-is evidence that ii is,, the true, and pnly specific, for the present, great evil pf intemperance." ' : . Let; us. hear the doctor oh the, temperance view of the question. '", Cheap wine would cut off the temptation to gin, and -''withftati equal' bulk oi'water, would be, found, in, certain cases, a happy jsiib-" stltute for tea. I' know 'a good deal of the , better , class of needlewomen and milliners. assMant^. ;alid ; speak' from experie.ucej,^,'. ''..'.^ V J ! , -For purposes' of social exliilaration,j|amongst, classes who are not out-dqqr .i^borersi'j'beer. is iteo'cqarse. ' Man as a social animal requires , spmethirig which he can sip asie.aits and talks, and whiph pleases hiß- palate, whilst it gives

some aliment to the stomach, and stimulates the flow of genial thoughts in the _raiu. .; . . Civilised man must drink, will drink, and ought to drink ; but it should be -wine." As a learned authority, Dr Druitt goes very minutely into the specific quality of the respective wines of which he treats, but does not weary the reader with scientific analyses. If the v^ine be genuine, "the only questions we need ask aref "hot what is the chemical composition, but do you like it, and does it agree with you and do you no harm 1 The stomach is the real test-tube for wine •, and if that quarrels with it, no chemical certificate and ho analysis is worth a rush." ' Descanting on the advantage of superseding alcoholic drinks: by a free use of the light and nutritive wines of France, Dr Drnitt exclaims in a fit of enthusiasm: "It will be a good day for the morals, health, and intellectual development of the English when every decent person shall, on all hospitable occasions, be able to produce a bottle of wine, and discuss ita flavor, instead of, as at present, glory- \ ing in the strength of his potations." The Bordeaux, he says, "like other fine light , wines, make pure' healthy blood," and are otherwise favorable to health. Then he adds : "How often I have wished that the patients coming from a dispensary or out-patients' hospital could. have a bottle I of such wine, instead of the filthy * mixtures ' that they carry away in their dirty bottles ! . . . 0 Charity ! what crimes are committed in thy name i!" With much that the work contains the reviewer from whotn.we quote coincides, and he concludes with a sentence which should recommend itself to the sense of everyone who desires to discover some happy medium between toddy and toast-: and- water. He says :— " All persons of, any reflection who have passed much time in France and Italy,, are, aware that the generally temperate hab'iis' of the people of these countries are .not imputable to special '''legislation, nor to the action of organised philanthropic societies, ■ nor to popular declamation, but simply to the use of the native light wines, which, as ordinarily used in the small towns and rural districts, barely possess ' the power of intoxicating, or of injuring the moral and physical constitution."

The installation of officers of the Lewis Lodge, .M.M.M., took place last evening.at the- Masonic 'Hall. Bro. P.M; Ancher conducted the ceremony in a very impressive manner. The following brethren were invested :— Bro. Hill, W.M. ; Bro. Kerr, S.W.; Bro. May, ..J.W.; Bro. Wilson, M.0.; Bro. Newell, 5.0.; 8r0. Koche, J;O.; Bro. Rev. Watkins, Chaplin; Bro. issenhardt, TreaBurer; Bro. E. B. Fox, Secretary ; Bro. Revell, S.D.;Bro. Young, J.D.; Bro. Morton, D.O.j Bro. Moore, 1.G.; Bro Isaacs, Tyler. As the, number of vessels arriving at this port in ballast mci eases, it will be necessary to appoint some particular berth where the ballast may be discharged without injury to the river, and with as little cost to the shipowner a 8 possible. The practice has hitherto been to throw ballast, and even stone ballast, on to the wharf, which is in some ports ' an offence punishable by fine. Yesterday, one vessel, the Ocean Bird, discharged ballast, a portion of which was utilised in improving the approaches to the wharf where these are interrupted by the construction of the new tramway, but a considerable portion .of the quantity she contained was thrown over the vessel's side, and underneath the wharf. This, . of course, being only done when the I Harbor-Master's ■ attention was { : otherwise jengaged. There may be situations where i this might not be detrimental, but to do so without authority is obviously a breach of regulations, and the shipmaster ought to be if he is not informeAagainst. It^is palpably a practice which might prove most (injurious to' the' port, and which no shipj master could I 'permit without a knowledge jthat he Was doing wrong. I We have to remind the Masonic fraternity that the annual installation of W.M. and ' officers of the tTreymouth^ Lodge will take .place this afternoon at; two o'clock, at j which cereihony • the cfaf t generally are inivited to be present. A banquet in connecjtion with the above will be held in the evenling. . ■■•■■ : i In our . report of the . Bankruptcy cases iheard attheAhaura, published ou Saturday, ! ■a. serious omission took place. The, report ; stat ed that " Peter Bonetti applied for the j completion 'Of a deed of , arrangement with; I his creditors." This should nave ;: been— ! " Peter Bonetti appHedifor ;his final order of . '< discharge. There not being any opposition 'the order was granted. Christopher Irvine i applied for the completion of a deed of j arrangement with Ms creditors. The appli-. Scation was granted." ; / ! The half-yearly meeting of the Greyraouth Court. Concord*. A.0.F., was held:on Fridayevening last, ; when the balance-sheet for, the: (half-year, ending June 20, was received anc adopted. In submitting it the auditors, Messrs . Sewell and Jefford reported tiiat they 1 had '.'. examined the Secretary's, books; . and vouchers, and compared: them, with; the iTreasurer's cash book, and found them correct. We have very little to congratulate you on, .except that the :members;haye paid jup a little better, . although .there is still lover L4O arrears of contributions due to the 'Court, which makes' it difficult for the Secretary to draw up a /satisfactory?' baUnce, iand give the exact worth of the Court. The jamouht of contributions paid in was L 15 8; il2s Bd, as compared, with last term, L138 16s 6d, being an increase of' Ll9 16s 2d, nearly itheiull amount of xonfeributions for the halfyear. Yet as there; is k such aJarge amount of arrears, we would urge the Court to take some steps.tocpmpell members to pay. up at the end of each , term. The number of ;financial members is, 99, and , three honorary ;membersj . Sixhaye gone bad, and ; six "new members have made the amount of sick pfy. |L29flßs,; against L 32 10s last, term/ being.a, decrease of L2.i25.:. The. amount collected is L2ol lßs lid,' against L'2o;3,'.is j 'tdtal'worth pf .Court is. jL4sfl LJ1^;,93.7d, being L 54 17s5d more tjian last i.year.' 1 .The following; officers were then duly installed :— Bro.. P.Bpylan, Chief JSro.F,. Papl, Sub-Chief Eapgerji Bro, P. Caineronj Senior; Woodward j Bro.G. Sampson, Junior Wood? ward j Bro, J. Grapt^ Spn;or Beadle; Bro Or. Morrison, Junior Beadle; and P.O. "R, J, Jones, E, gep. A correspondent calls our attention in the following terms' to the existence of a dangerr ous trap in Tainui Btreet :— "Sir,~You would probably save the Borough Council some expense, and certainly prevent some serious accident, by calling attention to a most dangerous' trap near Mr Austin's butcher's shop, in Tainui street. 1 refer to an uncovered .opening into a drain, into which I had the ; misfortune to step, and am thankful I escaped with whole limbs. A female had a narrow escape from the same trap the other day.' By inserting the above you will oblige, &c." It is to be hoped the Town Surveyor will give his early attention to this matter. .•; A correspondent of the Press asks wby the City Council of Chfistchurch. are advertising to borrow money at six per cent, when they have recently lent L3OO to the General Government at four per cent* i

At the last meeting of the Westpbrt Hospital Committee: the medical officer's report showed a diminution in the number; of patients as compared with 'previous, years, attributable "partly to the stationary 'or diminished population of the neighborhood, and mainly, tothe fact that the district, so far as adults are concerned, has been less visited with serious illness than usual." Endemic and malarious diseases (such as swamp ;ffever and dysentery, always figuring . largely oh reports of previous years), were , only represented by a single case, and epi--1 demic diseases, current during the year, had . principally affected: children. * 5 ■ 1 A. very important judgment has, just (.been i delivered by Judge Dunne at Sandhurst, and one ( which . completely ' substantiates the • soundness of the principle insisted on in the ' Argus columns, namely, that mining companies should be held responsible for the , damages sustained; by . their workmen from > accidents occurring in claims through want •. of foresight or caution on the,part ( of the. manager.' A mirier named .FalloyerhacL been ■ precipitated to the bottom of a shaft through ' the breaking of a ladder which was proved to ', 1 have been insecurely fixed by ropes that were unequal to the strain put upon them. A plea was put in by the defendants that the manager did not know of their condition,; but the judge very properly ruled that he ought to have known,, and that the means of knowledge must be considered equivalent to knowledge. Judge Dunne has 'riot rated 1 the responsibility of the Shenarido'ah.'Gompariy a bit too high in awarding Fallover LIOO; and if it operates as a warning against : that penny wisie and pound foolish system which is carried but" under the pretext of ! ,eodnomy by some companies,' [ his decision will be.hailed: as a valuable boon by the" mining community generally. ' " - ■> - O'Brien and Blair, at the, Lyell,, have struck another leader,, with; quartz .from. 24in to,4in thick, containing- a fair^.quantityjpf gold,, .Some of the r shareholders ■ 'suggest putting in a tunnel 180 ft. ; „> , -- : . ; '--, A few days ago a fine specimen of selenite (the crystalline form of gypsum)? was pl£ tamed in the Oamaru district, where a seam; jof this substance about a foot in thickness -.exists.; Should the' seam prove! to beyan ex;tensiye one, it will pay well to work it, selenite being worth L 8 to LlO per ion. ' Chinamen are gradually :: elbowing their ■way into, occupations which hitherto,; at least in Otago, have been ' deemed; sacredi to the Caucasian race. Some of them have found employment as navvies, some.as fencers, and lately we (Bruise Herald) observed a few ." diamond cracking " by the roadside.' The Celestials seemed to take to the work kindly, and hammered away with r the, philosophic indifference to things mundane' so characteristic of the European ." lapidary." We fancy jthe Chinese will.be adepts at stacking the metal for measurement. ' : In the Supreme Court, Wellington, last iweek, Drury y. Roberts, Mr Ollivier applied for a rule to show cause why the taxation of the costs in this case should riot be reviewed. Plaintiff, or his solicitor, paying the costs of jtbe application. Rule granted. " A memorial to the Superintendent of Nelson is in circulation in Westport, arid has been numerously and influentialiy signed, Asking that a new township may be laid'off on the terrace ricross the river near the site of the old brewery, so that in the event of further encroachment by sea or river upon jtheir present holdings, the people 'of Westport may have a place of permanent refuge, and also a healthy site for present rccupa.tion, whereon, if they chose, they may, erect suburban residences'. The memorial states ; the estimated cost of a wire suspension foot bridge to be thrown across the river to be 1,950, arid 'also asks that the timber surrounding the proposed new site shall' 1 be 'reserved If or town purposes. ' ' ' ' ' ', : ' ' <■- ' ; ' • ; A.man named, John Stone). was jtaken. !into Icustody, !at Westport,; on j^edpesday, rnbrning. for being unlawfully pn,'|;he premises, pi jßey. A.. C,. Soutarj at : the .parsonage^iVKiestjport. Stone, ' who. f^orme^/wbrked at ;the JNile Creek, Charleston,' as' a JbatterV hajii in jhis sblitaiy life, become a cdh"nrirred~irionpr jmaniac on Religious subjects, • arid was for 'some time confined fin the r Nelson Lunatic {Asylum, but becomingmbresarie-hewasdis-|charged, and thereupon returned to. his ; old 'haunts and usual avocation as a miner. Of |late his mind ,;hasagaini gone: astray j; and on .Tuesday he came up from Charleston and •slept that night at the ' Oddfellows' Hotel. Cn Wednesday morning, about six o'clock, ihe- left the house, went up tbe~tramway, ;divesfced himself of every stitch . of his •clothing, -and : then breaking a pane of glass jin one of the windows of the parsonage, : entered the house, much to the alarm of the iirimates. 'On being interrogated, as to his lerrand he gave J incoherent 'answers," but Iseemed anxious to discuss religious topics. (The police were sent for and Stone was taken in custody, and since being locked up in his jcell has spent the greater portion of his time !in fancied . devotions. He .has been comjmitted again to the Nelson Asylum. I We (Bruce Herald) regret to learn the .occurrence of a fatal accident at the coal shaft, at present being sunk on Mrs Shand's jproperty, Green Island, It appears that one ;man had first beeri lowered, when a man jnamed John Mother Well who had jusb come jout 'of the shed, jumped 1 oh the sling without Ibeing ordered.- The horse hookh'ad by some imeans .become' detachedj and he' wks ; precipi^ Jtated' tothe bottomj a ! distance of 12lf t; r arid instantaneously 'killed';,;^ An'inquestwas Keld ori Tuesday 1 by Dr VHbckeri, coroner, and a verdict of "'accidental ' death" .was reiurned. Motherw.ell was 38 years of age^a'ricl & native of Paisley,, ScbtlanCw. '; ; , : ■ '• ' '-'■'.■' The South Canterbury, Times, of, June 30^ says :-t;," On i Saturday afternijo^j last Mr Smithy,;. the ; driyer ,bf the south j'cqach, on his arrival in town,' .'brought . the melancholy,intelligence tb at a fatal accide^.'ha^. ,(>cc,urred in the Waitaki r.iyer, on ' thg| Meyxous,,^yen^ ing. Before' giving' the particulars 'alb' present to harid;;'we t would meritiori :tliaTtKe"fiveFis" now running in several; ;stf earns, with spits of shingle and boulders between each of them, and it was in crossing these that the accident is supposed to have taken place, the night being ; very dark. ; It appears that on the evening in question, the southern mails, from Timaru, were qafely crossed to the, Otago side, and' on the men' returning, one of /them, named .Torn, a Norwegian, is', supposed: lib have missed' his footing' 1 and failed ntpthe stream." ' l ! ''' : '■'■•■• Private telegrams ! received; in- - ; Hpkitika from Koss,' on .Sunday, announced) the- death there, at about, three o'clock on Sunday m'orriirig,; of i-Mr 1 ;Cbarles Ija'Motbei Jßalfe,: who: lately i represented Okarita in the. Oaunfcy Council. ' ; The death was rather sudden, and we regret. to State that the deceased: gentle^ man: leaves \ a 'wife and nine children wholly unprovided lor, ' ; -- ; ;;>•■>.•: i; • . / m The Wellington Post says : — "Some very interesting additions have just been made to the contents of the Goloniai Museum, in the shape of some fossil'yeptihan^re'mairis found at Arriuri ! arid Waipara, in' ihet r Pr6vince' of Marlborougb. These are in excellent preservation, and are being well mounted i> 'They include, among other formidablelrelicsof the mysterious past, a most terrific pair- of jaws, several feet, in length, which evidently once belonged to a gigantic specimen of the crocpij <lile class, apparently a sort of cross between"' the icthyosaurus and plesipsaurus, partaking somewhat of the 'characteristics of both, yet jsvith peculiarities distinct from either. The ferioriri'ous teeth are in': woriderJully. goo3,sr^-T! servation. These novelties will well repay a visit to the Museum."

The whole of the men /employed by the Heart of Oak and Star of the East Companies, Cromwell, Qtago, struck work : last week in consequence of having received notice pf a reduction pf wages. The Heart of Oak has been paying L3 l2s, and the Star L 3 10s, per week of 494 hours ; and the reduced rate now offered is L 3 5s for the same number«of^hoursr Wages^xnen working pn^the 1 lower grpunds r — at the Bannqckburn, for in-stalnce-iare''p r aidjfrom I L3i to L 3 5s for 44 hours' work ; and tbe reefers claim the -iight.:£o^resist any reduction on their, former . wages on the grounds that the climate of the Hange is more severe) thY work more arduous and. the.hours, of .labor ; longer,; than they .are. in less elevated jJarts or the "district; ( ' \ J\/ The Hon. Dr. Pollen has been gazetted Colonial Secretary, Mr: Reynolds .having'rev signed the office. ;:•;•: ■/■ . Thei/ball .to ; the ' Governor, in; Wellington was largely attended. The Governor opened the ball with tKe Mayoress.- The Superin : tendent proposed the Governor's health. The Governor replied, thankingithe Wellington public for -the handsome reception accorded •tirii. ) He apologised if or the 'absence of Lady Fergusson, ( through, indisposition. In the course of hia speech he said : " I know perfectly well, as was observed by our Worthy chairman, that we are ; taken on trial, but you have already shown so much confidence in usthat it will^ be our earnest; endeavor to deserve that confidence, and show that, taking the figure'of ispeech employed by the chairman, regarding articles of consumption, we are neither hard nor jUnpalatable." -..- ; . A ludicrous incident, which lately occurred in the Supreme Court of Fiji, is thus .described' by the Gazette :— " The ' benches : prepared for the j^ry had been newly var- ! nished, arid' the ' jury l3 had f scarceiy sSt-ddwn when they discovered they had stuck, and i were : ; entangled, in, a r species ; of ' catch-!em-alive;6.' j Amidst universal laughterj'in which the Bench joined, His Honor ordered the" [ messenger to bring 'somte-' relief, 'andtHe j ufcy) itook their seats on copies of the Times, i which; were, liberally prpvided." - ;_.-.., .,;; 7