THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1873.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1596, 16 September 1873, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1873.

Considerable " muss" is being made in Nelson. on the subject of the. subsidy granted by the General Assembly, on the motion of Mr Macaudrew, for the purpose of encotiraging the .establishment of regular steam traffic between the east and west coasts of the Middle Island. It is accepted as an attack upon the trade of Njalson, though the ■ relationship of Nelson to "the -West Coast is nothing more than that of a mere depot for the deposit, detention, and transhipment of goods from * other ports. It is an interference with " the enterprise of oneof its mercantile fizjms" — with the work of one of the " greatest- wages-paying firms in 'the city,"— and so on. "iFprgetting: the fact thjeit! the; West Coast contributes to a subsidy paid to the owners of the steamer Lady' r ßarkiy for running in the smooth water between Nelson, Motueka, and Cctllingwood, the system of subsidies is condemned' in ioto, and the propriety of this 'subsidy in particular is disputed. Were the proposed service purely a Provincial one,' and were Nelson in the proper ;sense a port of export, there might be'reason .for thus condemning. a subsidy wbjicn might only promote the, trade of rival Provinces at the cost of one whose situation and enterprise commanded a monopoly. But the facts are far other wise. .;•; What. Mr Macandrew proposes is that the Colony should secure to itself a trade which it has listlessly neglected for years ; past, and ; therefore thaitheGreneral Government should -grant ai subsidy to be supplemented by the Provinces according to their means, and, their .interest in improved : intercommunication. It was /'the palpable propriety, of this proposition which led to Mr Macandrew getting the larger majority which he did, and which recommends it to the sense of the inhabitants of all parts of the Middle Island save Nelson. The. project is in fact only a temporary substitute for the railway which should have been one of : the first:.works included in the 1 schedule of the Public, Works Act, and if it receive the same ' favor f ronr Provincial Governments and the more important commercial communities 1 asiitihas 'done from members of the Assembly, it should be the means of contributing , greatly to the colonial 'trade, and to the interests of the producer and the .consumer. ,-If liberally augmented by the .Provinces it should also ■ be the means of, largely promoting settlement; in parts of the Colony* which are yet 8 wilderness. In Westland, and. on the west coasts ; of Nelson and Ofcago, ; there rare-' ports of ample ; capacity for shippings 'and ■ contiguous : to .Valuable, territory, which are as yet un visited, v but which might > become emporia of trade if encouragement were ; only, given for a tithe 'by subsidy, and , the regular visits of steamers. '.'JM"er.ely..from_. a. Greymouth" point of . view, the resolution; of .the .Assembly is one "which deserves to be received with. special favor, But. for, the.< coat-mines 1 of this district,. the proposed trade is one which could scarcely, be contemplated, arid- which' would not prove the .commercial s.uccess which it promises io be. . ThVf acjlities fpr . obtaining ooal at 1

this port formed, in fact, some of the weightiest reasons which the advocates of the subsidy could quote, and it should be the effort of the Nelson Government and of the Borough Council to foster, in every way, by Jhe increase of these facilities, a trade is so much calculated to benefit the district and the Colony. The debate on the subject of this subsidy was too lengthy to permit of the complete quotation of the report, but,, as indicating the arguments used by the proposer -of the motion, and as a reply to the strictures which have been made merely in the interests of the port of Nelson, we quote some of the remarks madebyMr Macandrew when he introduced the motion and carried it successfully against the slight opposition offered by the Government. In his opening speech Mr Macandrew is reported to have said : '•Honorable members were no doubt aware that although the West Coast of the Middle Tsland abounded in minerals, timber, and splendid harbors,, and also [ contained no inconsiderable amount of land available for settlement, it was for the most part a terra incognita. The fine County of Westland might also, to a certain extent, be considered more a part of Victoria than of New .Zealand; and it was with the view to remedy this state of matters that he submitted this proposal, so as to make the settled portion of the West Coast a part of ourselves, and to develop the resources of the large uuoccupied portion of the Middle Island. He need not point out that the want of steam communication had deprived the rest, of 'the Colony to a very large extent of the benefits of gold in Westland. He found, on referring to the statistics, that during the last four years Westland imported upwards of worth of goods —in round numbers, £2,000,000 — chiefly from Melbourne. Had we had steam communication with Westland, he. believed the : profit derived from this trade, or that represented by a very large proportion of it, would have been secured to ;and .spent in the Colony; Moreover, of this .£2,000,000, a very large amount had been paid to merchants in Melbourne, which ought to have gone info the pockets of producers in this Colony, being paid for wheat, oats, flour, butter, cheese, and other commoditfes produced in New Zealand, The people of Westland were .evidently very desirous of being brought into communication with the rest of the Colony. Honorable members would recollect that the other, day a very numerously signed petition was presented, praying that the Legislature would take steps to construct a railway from the East to the West Coast of the Middle Island. For his own part, he believed in the desirability and practicability of that railway, and he : hoped, that before many years were. over, they would see it constructed. This work, however, would take many years to accomplish, and they would do well, in the meantime, to avail themselves of what was within their immediate reach, by constructing what would be virtually a railway right round the Island. He did not submit this resolution merely on commercial grounds, but claimed the support of the House for it on social and political grounds also. There was no doubt that at present the people of the East and West Coasts were altogether strangers to each other's wants and requirements, and had little or nothing in common ; but by establishing regular steam communication, such as he proposed, they would be brought more into contact' with each other, which would result in their mxitual benefit. In replying to the arguments which were used against the service, or, rather, against the system of subsidy, Mr .Macandrew was more explicit. ■-" What he desired to' obtain,^ 1 he sajd, was a regular steam trade , right round the Middle Island, so that the steamers should call at all the principal ports of the west coast as well' as the' e^st coast. He was quite aware that the modest sum stated in the motion would not be sufficient to secure the establishment of an adequate steam line ; but the Province of Otago would, he believed, be, quite willing to supplement it. As ne had stated, the establishment of the line would be the means of opening a large extent of country which was at present & terra incognita. It was i intended that the steamers should go round by Martin's Bay, Jackson's Bay, Preservation Inlet, and Stewart's Island. In regard to Stewart's Island, he might say that it was capable of maintaining a large population, and its productive powers were capable of being largely increased ; but before those results could be brought about, it was absolutely necessary that there should be steam communication. As had been stated by the honorable member for Taieri, the Province of Otago offered a sum of £1500 some time ago to secure a steam line,- but it was found that it could not be carried on for that sura. At the present time there were no vessels in Otago capable of . taking up the trade, so that henorable members need not run away with the idea that the, proposal, was merely a local scheme for the aggrandisement of Otago., If the motion were passed, he presumed the Government would advertise for tenders, and the company best qualified to perform the services would no doubt get the contract ;. but , instead of its being injurious to Nelson, he believed that Province would reap a considerable advantage from the existence of the line, as it would put it in communication with every part of -the Colony. He did hot believe in subsidising- steamers except as the means towards au end, and if, after a year or two, the trade were not selfsupporting, he would "be quite agreeable to its abandonment; The object of the subsidy was to induce some company to commence the trade, and the circumstances were ! altogether exceptional. He hoped the House would agree to the motion. Even if it did so, the Provinces of Otago and Canterbury would probably have to increase the sum in order to obtain an efficient service, and he thought it would be very 1 unfair to expect those Provinces to undertake the whole expense of a line which would benefit every part of the Colony." . .

A meeting of subscribers to the projected public library, and reading-room was called for last night at Giliher's Hall. Owing, we suppose, to the boisterous condition of the weather, there was a very small attendance. The chair was taken by Mr W. S. Smith, but a motion for adjournment was immediately moved by Mr D. M.'Lean until Wednesday evening ; and he suggested that in any, future announcement a public meeting should be called, and not a meeting of subscribers, as the Provisional Committee was appointed at a public meeting. Mr Woolcock seconded the motion,, which was carried, and the meeting was adjourned until Wednesday evening at the same hour and place.

We are informed by te agents, Messrs G.W. Moss and Co., tlzatip to the present time 3500 shares have btn applied for on the West Coast in the Mional Insurance Company, and that the sare-list closes on Monday next. "Young Sport" vrritesjin reply to the letter of "Old Sport," tat the highest vaulting at Greymouth •v'as done by J. Heaphy clearing 9ft l^in, a, tne Christmas Sports of 1872. In Drake's natch of 200 yds with Twohill, the time Was aid to' be 21sec; The qualifying expression stms necessary, as its correctness was questiced. Charles Harvell, who atnnpted to commit suicide at the Ahaura ast week, was brought up yesterday at tt Resident, Magistrate's Court, Cobden, charged with being a person of unsound lind. On the evidence of Or Morice, wh deposed that accused was unfit to be at la?e, Harvell was committed to the Lunatic Asltim at Nelson. The Act to alter the electoal districts and number of members of the Pimncial Council of kelson has received tht issent of the Governor. Ahaura and No Town have been declared sub-districts under the Neloa Gold-fields Local Revenues Act. The poclamation of the districts and the bpundarbs will be found in the first page of our presmt issue. The municipal electionin Htkitika resulted in the return of Messrs Higgh, Barret, and Prichard. The following ware the votes polled i.-rr- Higgin, 223; -Barrett, 209 ; Prichard, 187; Dalrymple, 142. The elec-. tiori did not excite much interest. Mr Barrett,says the Times, received a large number of plumpers, Mr Dalrymple was laid up with a severe illness, and was, therefore, tmable to take any active part to pneure his election. - The Borough Council of Vestport have resolved "that a memorial be prepared and forwarded to the Postmister-Oeneral, through the acting Postmaster at Westpprt, representing the existing reiuirements of: the settlements north, of Wetport, as . regards r postal communication, more especially Ngakawhau and Mokihiiui, and praying that a bi-weekly post be established thereto from , Westport, and branch post offices opened at both places," Intimation has been receiv«d in Westport by Mr A. D. Dobson, Disirict Engineer, that the General Government will expend L 12.000 in extension of road works from the Nine Mile to the Lyell. For this sum a good road will be made throughout, the Ohika Hill cut through and the distance from Westporc ! to Lyell reduced to 'about 35 miles, an easy day's journey. The works will include improvements : also on the Reefton road to Christy's. ■ - ' A man named Hider who had been employed at the Melbourne Hotel, Charleston, as second cook, has been chargsd with stealing groceries and other articles from the kitchen. Portions of the stolea goods were fouud at M'Kitterick's butchery, (where Hilder had requested to leave a bundle) and at the hut of Mr G. Moore. Mr Ligbtband, of Nelson, has made a liberal offer of special prizes to be offered for competition at the forthcoming exhibition. They are as follows :— LI for boots, consisting of two pairs each of men's, women's, and youths' boots, pegged bottoms, calf and kip uppers, the leather being Nelson or New Zealand manufacture, and of a kind adapted, for ordinary wear ; Ll for the best exhibition of Nelson or New Zealand leather ; Ll for two or more suits of tweed clothing made from Nelson or New Zealand tweed, either by machine or hand, with a view to competition with the pmported article ; Ll for the best exhibition of domestic and manufacturing sewing machines ; Ll for the best assortment of Nelson made fruit and grape wine, the awards to be taken by the exhibitors whose wines may receive the 'largest sale at the refreshment rooms at the exhibition ou conditions imposed by the Committee. Mr . Lj Broad has offeied a prize, to be called the Vice-President's prize, consisting of books to the .value of L 5, to be selected by the winner of j tbe. prize, for the best written story, to be competed for by residents in the Province of I Nelson. Mr Stavert offers a patent lever English hunting watch, of the value of L 7 7s; as ; a prize for the best bale: of prepared flax of not less than 3cwt, the quality of the flax itself to" be taken into consideration as well as the excellence of manufacture. - Mrs C.. C. Howard, formerly of Dunedin, has been appointed by Dr Featherston one of th^ emigration agents for New Zealand in the United Kingdom. .It the date of the mail ac&ices she had gone to, Ireland on official business, and on iier return to England it was her intention to visit a number of the Provincial, towns to further the emigration scheme. ",; . The Lyttelton Times of the 4th iastant says :—'• A revised edition of a very highly civilised Maori exhibited an. act of thoughtfalpess on his own' behalf, at St. Paul's Church, at the close of the service last evening, which it is doubted whether a European could have equalled ;; he certainly could not have excelled it. Alfter the sermon the usual collection was made towards the offertory by: the churchwardens' going round with tiie plate. Our dusky friend referred to placed in the plate by mistake hajf-a-crown, which he intended should have been a coin of nearly the same size but of considerable less value — a penny token, it is presumed. Discerning bis mistake, he left hist seat, walked up th ■ church aisle to where the churchwardens was making his collection and coolly took the half-crown out of the platfi,.making;use of; these words at the same time, •No fear cocky ! Too much money.' Then the Maori walked back and took his 1 seat -with, a mind at once sereue and assured:"" . A wholesome hint to counsel and prosecuting police is conveyed in- the, following remarks by one who writes in tbe Nelson Mail on the case of Eyes v. Henderson : — *, <f ;A painful and' most disagreeable trial has occupied the Supreme, Court .during the greater part of the present week, lam not going to. enter ; ,into the merits or otherwise of the plaintiff's or .defendant's side of the question,' but merely prefer,' to it to say how gratified .and pleased everyone who has attended the Court has been at the delicate and temperate manner' in which the case,' which, in itself, was bubbling over withnasty details, was conducted. All grossness, all matters calculated to do violence to tne feelings of either of those immediately concerned, or of the audience, except where it was absolutely necessary Jjo refer tp them, have been carefully kept out of sight, and the counsel on both sides gamut be too highly complimented upon the delicacy of feeling and gentlemanly spirit they have .- displayed throughout the whole trial." Did anybody ever hear of the Red Jack's Friendly Society? We (Wellington Post) confess to ignorance on the subject until, iv a Greyraquth paper, we lately met with a . notice of the celebration of the third anuiversary of the foundation of the society. They celebrated this event by a ball, and had. it seems, a Professor Joseph to get up the decorations, and the reporter mentions the efforts • of; " George the Cook," as well as those of " the musician, " , in. eulogistic ■, terms . One member, in replying to the toast- of "The Ladies," remarked " that # very few of us would, be here to-night* or ia'fact anywhere else, were it not forth** ladies." It would be interesting to know something more about the Red Jacks. During the debate in Committee of Supply on the item of LBSOO for general contingencies in the Native Department, Parata said :

— " If tlie hon. member (Sir J 0. Wilson) would propose that this money should be voted to the support of Native women who were kept by Europeans, then he (Mr Parata) would agree with him." ■ The flon. Treasurer of tho Grey River B ospital begs to acknowledge the receipt, on Bth August, of Ll7 from Mr John Card, subscriptions^ -A"ckn(swleagmpnfr'ef' this" amount was inadvertently omitted in the report of Committee meeting in the Argus of 11th inst. " The only aristocracy that can exist in a Colony" was defined by the Hon. Dr. Grace , in the Legislative Council the btli6r day to be au " aristocracy of learning, character and integrity, , either . universally, admitted, or tested by long-continued exposure to the temptations of public life." ' -'■ - |l . The sea trout in the ponds of the" Southland Acclimatisation < Society are showing signs of spawning, and a demand is now being made for stocking, by private enterprise, some of the distant rivers with trout. ' The Duns tan Times reports that on Satuday night last, or early •on Saturday 'inorriing, the claim of Mr Michael Kett,- which is situate on the west bank of the Molyneux, about half a mile ' from Alexandra, was visited by some unprincipled scoundrel or scoundrels, and robbed of a quantity of gold, the proceeds of the previous week's washing. Mr Kect estimates his loss at about LSO. It I was.his practice t to wash up once a fortnight and he assumes the thief, whoever he be, was acquainted with this fact. A company has been formed at Port Darwin to start a newspaper, but in the meantime, a manuscript journal, has .been issued, under the title of ' the Palmerston Free Press., It consists of one sheet of quarto letter paper, with a half -sheet supplement, ?, and is sold at Is per number. The second number contains leading article, paragraphs, letters, advertisements, telegrams, ; &c. The editor, in -his appeal to the public, says :— "We are prepared to stand or fall by their decision ; i£ favorable, we will soar triumphant'neath ethereal skies till the crack of doom. If we fail, we are content to abide by the issue, and throw ourselves, as Curtius in the Romanlorumdid of old, into the fathom-, less abyss and yawning chasm of obscurity, there to meet with the fate we deserve for : our presumption — locked from the world by bolts freshly forged from the : hands of Vulcana and guarded by the treble-headed dog Cerberus, in the nethermost recesses of Hades." That's not bad for Port Darwin. We notice from our latest files that a Mining Accident Bill is a measure which the Minister of Mines, in 'Victoria has -prpmised .toi introduce-in the Assembly the first favorable opportunity; One o£ its chief provisions will be to render companies liable for accidents arising from want of proper care and adequate inspection of their mines and machinery. .. The large nugget, weighing about 1750z, which was found a few days ago in the Eldorado Claim, SmythesJale, says the Age, has been modelled by the Mining Department,' and been added to the numerous models of nuggets which the Secretary of Mines is collecting as illustrative of the character of the auriferous deposits, throughout the colony. The nugget , contains 170oz of pure gold, and was obtained at a depth of 155 ft, and about 255 ft from the nearest quartz reef, and in what is known as a ; dry heavy wash. ■ :■-■".-'••■ .'.'■... . . We find the following amusing story regarding the reports of mining managers in New- South Wales in the Sydney Morning Herald : — "A short time since, the directors of a mining company in the city instructed', their mining manager, to send a fortnightly telegram of the progress made^ &c. Two telegrams were sent in due course, and a day. or two ago the ; mining manager sent a letter, from which the following is an : ex: tract : — ' 1 hope our board will not believe all the contents of the fortnightly telegrams; for if I have to compete with other mining managers in telegrams : for the Press, it is, only fair that I should do as they do — lie a little. Some of them around here do so; confoundedly j .but,' however, that is none of my business."' In the New Zealand Gazette of August 28 is .published a proclamation under the hand ofthiß Excellency the Governor, and in accordance with the provisions of the I-aatni-gration and Public Works Act, 1870, defining roads, from the Arnold river to the Buller river, and from Ah aura to Amuri is thusset forth :— Commencing at the Ahaura township;and proceeding thence across the Ahaura pi4in ia an easterly direction aboufc four miles ; thence following generally the course of jthe Abaura river to the saddle between it and the river Wakauiua; thence across the saddle and down a branon of tne Wai-au-ua. The Timaru herald, of the 27th informs its Teaders that during the month the •" "first " • house built in Timaru, known as Sara Wil* liajns's, and some twenty iyears ago the resi- ; denceof Messrs Rhodes, station masters, has been pulled down, and the debris sold for Lls. The property now belongs to the , N.Z.M.P. Company, and the removal of the old wooden building was necessaryto make room for premises which we hear it is the intention of the company to erect on the site. The arrival in Christchurch "of Fox, ., ihe pedestrian, is noticed by the Lyttelton Times, which, says :— " His intention was, to make terms for three hurdle. races,'.' one at 120 yards, one at 440 yarrls, and another. at 880 yards ; but as lie 880 yards was quite out of Harris's distance, and was not included in his; challenge, he declined the proposal. Further negotiations ensued, and a match was made fer three flat races, on the following terms : -100 yards, Harris to give two yards start ; 150 yards, Harris to give four yards start ; and 200 yards, Harris to give five yards start ; stakes, LSO a side ; and to come off within four weeks from Saturday next, on the course at the Agricultural Show Grounds, if procurable. Both men will train in Christchurch. The distances for which the match is made are. the same at which Fox beat Drake on level terms. The man winning two events out of the three will be declared the winner of the matoh." ■ • . Anew building material (the Avierican Builder says) is fomuLin coal-dust. The mixture is composed of one- sixth cement arid five-sixths coal-dusk In the Waverley hydropathic establishment at Malrose the experiment waß tried. A series of thick sheet-iron plates are stiffened at the. edges with angle iron, the plates being attached to uprights of T iron, and being kept in the proper position by pins, the plates are so fixed as to be readily raised as the building progresses. After the requisite proportions of mine-dust and cement have been mixed together, and the whole thoroughly saturated with water, the mixture is flung in between the plates, and large pieces of slag or stone bedded in it ; thereafter another bed of concrete, which fills the insterstices between the large pieces and thoroughly fixes them ; another layer of stones or slag is then added, and so on till the space between the plates all around the (building is filled. After being allowed to stand for a nighr, the concrete will be-hard enough to allow of the plates being lifted in the morning. .The : chief feature is its extreme simplicity. When gravel can be obtained, it is of course ■ '' better, but the slag refuse of furnaces and useless stones can be readily utilised in this manner; aad make better, ihouses than brick.. • In moving thei second; reading' of the Floatage. of Timber Bill. .Mr^yogel, said :— ,• «« Very few persons' attached sufficient importance to the wealth whibh New Zealand-

possessed in its timber. All over the world timber was advancing in price, and was likely to continue for the next few years to advance very much more, in proportion for the advance in iron and other materials. But there was another reason why timber wa3 rising in value, and it was, that the immense consumption of timber during the half-century bad, to some extent, exhausted the supply in those countries where formerly; it was : moat abundant. Norway and Sweden were even now making most Btringent provisions as to the way in which their forests should be worked, and he was , aware that considerable enquiries were being made as to the forests of this country." . ; ,'An .lEuropiean miner, known as il Maori Bill," from his associating with Maoris iv the early days,, and who has spent; some years past' in the Martin's Bay settlement, last: week returned to- Glenorchy (head of Lake Wakatip) with a quantity of gold in his possession, obtained by ,him at Big Bay, and variously estimated' at from 12oz to 18oz. The Bruce Heraid y s travelling reporter examined an ounce of the gold, which he had sold, at Kinloch to supply immediate wants. The sample was fine scaly gold. Two other miners named Morrison and Thomson recently visited Queenstown for.Bie Bay, , and visited the head of Lake Wakatip last week. They report the * average earnings of the miners there are L 2 to L 4, r but as much as LlO aday isotherwise reported to have been obtained there in shallow ground, and all are said to be well pleased with their eatnings and prospects. . ";■'•., Messrs Brown, Ewingi^jTCornave ""jusjT completed tbe uiiform clothing in which the officials on tbe Dunedin and Port Chalmers Railway will shortly make the-ir appearance. Station-masters are': to;don suits of superfine | blue cloth arid doeskin, braided with broad silk, and decorated with sUverised buttons ancj .light/blue '; piping. .The letters' "OMj,Z indicative, of the words ,',' Otago Railways,", will'bccupya promiderit position oh the ca^s|.i on either side of a silver crown. Those jmportant: functionaries : connected With ' the passenger traffic, the Guards, will owe their immediate identification to lettering, as the word "Guard," with- crown, on their caps, will perpetually proclaim their office. A patent leather belt,. also, .with satchel,-rest-ing on a "double-breasted frock . . coat, with trousers of familiar material, 'wiirform part of the Guards' equipments. The Porters are to, wear double-breasted semi-reefing jackets, bfi blue cloth. In accordance, also, with custom, their office, like that of the Guard, will be distinctly shown by lettering. Similiarto those of the Station-masters,, the Porters' caps" will be decorated, with a crown, supported on either, side b the. letters " 0.R.," but worked in white worsted/ -.;