Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1610, 2 October 1873, Page 2

A meeting of the Committee of the Horticultural Society was held last night. It was' reported. .'that, there was a ■ balance to the ! credit of the Society of L 25 17s 6d. It was arranged that the annual meeting of the subscribers should be held on Tuesday next at the Melbourne Hotel, and that the Flower Show should be held in the Volunteer Hall on Thursday, the 27th November. A meeting of the Literary Society Committee was held last evening, when the following business was transacted :—Arraneelnents were madp to formally take over the entire assets of the old Society. The election of president was then entered upon, and

Mr W. M. Cooper was elected ; Mr iiutt was >lso appointed treas rer. and Mr H. H. Wolters secretary. The Committee are at once to commence re-cataloguing the b oklist, and in order to rlo this before a re-issue can be made, all books that are at present in circulation must be sent in before the transfer can be completed.. Complaints have recently appeared in these columns regarding the want of lamps on the barricades erected within the town boundary on the formed portion of the Greymouth and Marsden road. In justice to the police we may explain that at the time the obstructions were erected they were reported upon by the constable on duty, and when the Borough Council took over the maintenance of the piece of road from Mawhera Quay to Chapel street, the barricades were removed. Why the others are not lighted up at night, is stated fo.be because the 'road is being constructed by the General Government, and has not yet been taken over from the contractois or thrown open for public traffic, and the police have no power to compel the lighting-up of these barricades ; but this is a very questionable interpretation of the law, arid one which we think ought to be tried, so far as the road extends within the Borough. A case of maliciously cutting and wounding cattle, the property of Messrs Hill and Hampton, running near the. Stony Lead, South Beach, is at present being investigated by the police, and it is to be hoped the crime will be brought home to the perpetrators of the cowardly act. On the 28th and 29th, several cows were cut and wounded by some sharp instrument, and the deed must have been perpetrated by some resident in the neighborhood. The almost uninterrupfcedf all of rain during the last two days has had the effect of bringing down a visible freshet, so heavy, indeed, as seriously to impede traffic in the interior of the up country districts. At the time of going to press, no cessation appeared likely to happen, so that should, the rainfall continue much longer, we may, fully expect the Grey to be running between " bank and brae." Should there have been much snow remaining on the hills, the greater portion must have come away during the last few days. Protection has been granted to Andrew Tulloch for twelve months' for a ferry on the New River. The Borough Council of Hokitika have caused a regulation to be gazetted imposing a wharfage rate of threepence per hundred superficial feet, to be levied on all pine logs exported from Hokitika wharf— to date from Ist September. . Wednesday was kept as a solemn fast amongst those of the Hebrew faith, it being the Day of Atonement. The negotiations which have been pending for some time between the directors of the Hau Hau Company and the County Government, came to a successful conclusion on Tuesday, the directors disposiug of the line for the sum of LSOO. The Government; guarantee to construct a dray road the entire distance of the tramway, and holders of land along the line will no doubt reap great advantages in consequence. A meeting of the Hokitika Coal Prospecting Association. Committee was held on Tuesday evening, when there were present Messrs Churches, Meyer, Preshaw, Elliott, and the manager, Mr Purn«ll, who reported having struck a seam of coal in the tunnel ordered to be driven by Dr Hector when inspecting the workings and formation. The. Ti77ies says that the seaaa is sft thick, and the roal of equal quality to any produced on the Coast. The Committee were aware of this fact and immediately telegraphed to Dr Hector the result of their researches. Dr Hector replied at once to prosecute still further their researches, and placed at the disposal of the Committee another sum of LIOO from the General overnment fund for such purposes. Tie manager received instructions froii the Committee to sink a shaft on the seam, to ascertain the depth. A telegram was scut t6 Dr Hector for further instructions, but up to the Committee's closing their meeting no reply had been received A Marlborough paper of a recent date states that the hew Telegraph OfficßS are completed, and in readiness for the White's Bay staff, who are expected to. transfer themselves and apparatus in the course of a few days to their new location. A correspondent of the Daily Times writing from Wellington says New Zealand politics are as the gritty foetid dust blown into the mouths of wayfarers in the Empire city. Log-rolling, caucussing, ear-wigging, and many similar arts reduced to a system^ The worst men on bo.b sides enjoying most influence. Land in the Wanganui district is rapidly increasing in value. At Marton 44 sections were offered by public auction last week, and not one was passed, while several changed hands afterwards at advanced rates. The section^ were sub-divisions of a 10-acre paddock, purchased some few years since at 12s 6d per acre. By the recent sale the owner realised over LI2OO. Owing to the recent boisterous weather we are still without news from the Haast, the Titan not having yet returned, and there is no news of the Waipara. In the meantime many persons are anxiously awaiting intelligence before moving. A rather serious accident is reported to have happened to Mr D. Talbot, senior, of M.otueka, by his falling irito'a boiler in which he was brewing,, whilst in the act of putting in some hopsi The unfortunate man remained in' some time before he was extricated, and when he was taken out, it was found that both his legs had been seriously scalded. The Select Committee on Colonial Industries has recommended a bonus of 25 per cent, on the cost of establishment of blast furnace for pig-iron and machinery, and for the manufacture of bar and rod iron up to LSOO, subject to the approval of the localityf?)Also, a bonus of 6d per gallon up to 50.000 gallons, for the production of kerosene oil in the Colony, of average price and approved quality They recommend that the Public Works Department should endeavor to utilise the material in the Colony for the manufacture of Portland cement ; that steps should be taken to stop the wastful destruction of forests; and that free passages be given to co-operative associations coining out to establish industries. Two men, named Edward Clark and Alexander M'Rae are supposed to have been recently drowned in the Taieri river, Ofcago. The circumstances which favor this supposition are briefly stated by the Guardian : — '•Tlipy were engaged cutting and rafting timber about six miles above the township of Outram. About the 12th inst. their boat was seen drifting down the river during the late flood, but no. danger was then apprehended. But when the river subsided, Constable Stream thought it strange that the men did not C'-me down to look after their boat. So, on the 1 7th inst , he,, with Mr Paterson, whose occupation is similar to that of the missine men, ineffectually attempted to reach the place where they worked ; but, after great difficulties, succeeded in doing so on the 21st. They saw M'Rae's wife, who informed them that her husband left his hut on the 19th, saying that he had a raft nearly finished ; that he ' would complete it, and return. But he had : not done so. She had gone to the hut occu- : pied by Clark, and found that . he also was ■ missing. The river was then rapidly rising, : and it is supposed that M'Rae, seeing one ■

of the rafts with timber floating aw*y, called upon the other man to come to the boat and follow it. A short ■ istanue below where the rafts were fiistenci is one of the rapids, or small cataracts, where, no doubt, the boat was capsized, and both men drowned. In consequence of the swollen state of the river, neither of the bodies has been found." Sir IT. D. Bell has coined the word " districtalised." Nothing new has been heard of the proposed copper and silver mint, Ministers having; evidently thought better of it; ;' but Mr Vincent Pyke, who is evidently of the opinion that, if the mountain can't go to Mahomet,— Mahomet can be taken to the mountain, proposes that New Zealand gold be allowed to be exported in bond to the Victorian Mint, there to be coined and returned, paying duty afterwards on its true ascertained value. This would, of course, be a severe blow to the banks in their gold-buying capacity, and will, doubtless, meet with strenuous opposition from their numerous supporters in the . House ; but it commends itself to the common sense of everyone, as the miner vill be ttereby assured of getting full value for his dust, and the Colony reap all the advantages of a mint without the very heavy outlay necessary to establish and maintain such an institution. Mr Yogel, for the present, has declined to give a favorable answer, on the ground that it would have the effect of doing away with the gold duty, though we do not see why it should, as the gold would be retained in the shape of coin, and would have the duty deducted before it was returned to \its rightful owner; but doubtless the question will bear fruit before long, and Mr Vyke is entitled to the thanks of the mining community tor his attempt. The Post considers that the law should step in to prevent betting on elections, and suggests that it would be well to add to the questions which can now be asked of an elector before he votes such an one as thi3 : — ■ Have you m/ide any bets which will be determined by the result of jj/his election, or have you any pecuniary interest in the return of any candidate ? If unable to answer this question satisfactorily, tne vote should not be received. The following miraculous escape of two children from violent deaths is recorded in the Southland News : — " It seems that two children, ignorant of the risk they ran. walked deliberately across the line as .one train was leaving and another entering -the station. Owing to the warning cries of some spectators near, the little ones, fortunately for themselves, remained transfixed with terror midway between the two lines of railSj while a train passed on each side within a few feet of them " Iri the New Zealand Gazette of 18th Sept. a statement showing the number and amount of post and telegraph money orders issued at the chief and accounting post offices in the Colony during the quarter ending 30th June, is furnished for general information. The total number was 12,591, and their value L 53.292 10s 10 i ; as asa nst. for the corres ponding q uarter of 1872, 1 1,173, value L4B. 69] 33 Id. Out of these, there were issued in New Zealand 1507 telegraphic money orders, valued at L 7414 0s lOd, as against 995, valuek at L 4874 18s 2d issued during the corresponding quarter of the previous year, The number of orders paid in the Colon j during the June, quarter was 9077, valuec at L 38.325 17s sd, as against 7705, valued. al L 33.405 10s Bd, during the second quarter oi 1872. ■•■■.• With regard to a recent fatal accident neai Christchurch, the Times says :— " It would appear that the mm who died at the hospita! on Tuesday evening, from the effects of ai accident on the Papanui road, was na'mer Catterick, and he resided- at the back of Mi Goss- timber yard. He was a married man; butrhad been separated from his wife foi some time, and lived with his two sons, b.otl of whom are of A tender age. He was sen! by Mr Goss with a load of bricks to the Papanui district school, and it was af tei delivering these that the accident occurred Having unloaded his bricks, he got on to hi! dray to drive home, but on the horses reach ing the main road the leader turned north ward instead of towards Ohristcburcb, anc it is presumed that in getting down to pui the horses right he fell under the wheel, foi the next thing observed by a woman whe saw the horses turn was the deceased lying ot the ground, and the team going on alone." ' With_ regard to the manner in w hich the shares in the National Insurance Coinpanj have been rushed, a Dunedin paper says :— When the share list closed, there Itad beer applied for in Dunedin 135,055 shares, and in the country districts of Otago 13,979 The returns from the country districts aw incomplete as yet, being only those to bane by post. To show how smartly ''things military' are conducted at Wellington, a corresponded of a southern contemporary states thai another progress report of the War Meda Commissioners has just been issued, and th< medal awarded to a few men for services prior to the 31st December, 1866. Bettei late than never perhaps, but the claims tc the decoration cannot surely be very apparent when they take so long to settle. One of our great military bigwigs, Colonel Gorton, Brander-in-Chief to her Majesty's stores, has just issued his departmental. report, and a most- amusing report it is, and most charmingly^ctiticised in the Evening Post, oi the 12ch. How in the name of wonder the officials, high and low, of the Civil Service, can put up with the vagaries of this dignitary is beyond my comprehension ; but I suppose a fellow feeling prevents them from taking any action that might lead to the erasure of a good fat billet. Most people are inclined to think that the story of the branding of all the posts, rails, and sleepers on the Hutt railway is only a newspaper exaggeration, but it is perfectly true, and nothing on which the broad arrow can by any means be got to stick is allowed to escape the officiousness of the gallant colonel. Writing about Australian preserved meats in the Vienna Exhibition, in the Sydney Morning Herald, an old Sydney colonist says :— " An official who was present at the trial says — Those meats gave the most unqualified satisfaction to all the foreign jurors, who made their meals entirely from them, to the exclusion of all other competitors. Brazil swearing, with tears in his eyes, he had never eaten a tongue half so good in all his experience in South America. Which Colony produced that tongue 1 know not, but there were several Queensland brands, also New Zealand, also Victoria, and one Sydney brand amongst the lot, viz., Sydney Meat Preserving Company's seasoned beef, ditto ditto corned beef. 1 fancy those New South Wales lots, and those from Adelaide were forwarded by MrD. Tallerman." The fallowing paragraph from a Hobart Town paper of 6th September, will be read with interest by many persons in this Province:—"On the 30th of August, A. E. Bird, reputed the Champion long distance runner of the world, got up some sports in the barrack yard ; and as jie was announced to do ' eleven miles within the hour,' a great crowc l assembled to see him. Bird, however, did not attempt the task, and he wa<> naturally much abused. This induced him to a better purpose, and on Tuesday afternoou in the company of a large crowd of people, he commenced his long journey on the main road. He had at least a mile and a half of rough road metal, newly laid down, to travel over ; but he completed the whole distance in exactly six minutes over his timej the 10th mile being finished under the hour."

A writer in the Westland Register asserts that Mr E. Barff has lately assumed the sh ipe of a com mission agent, and adds : — "I wish him success. Anything is better than f what some people call • bolitics,' in which branch of learning Edmund did not shine. But I protest— in the interest of the doughy fraternity— against such an unheard of combination as commissioi: agent and baker. On the premises occupied by the redoubtable Barff is a large' oven, arid villainous. rumor i/' hath it, that dinners may be baked therein, fc especially on Sundays. I hope Barff will'J| take an opportunity of refuting this scandal, or instead of being the ' flowery ' he will certainly be dubbeci the * floury ' Edmund."