THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1873.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1614, 7 October 1873, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1873.

is iriadp of the, probability of *an early visit being paid .to Greymouth by i/ti | Biackeit, the Assistant : Cojpnial; Engineer. „ It , -is, to be hope^. that; the cUrrent , : rumor ,j is,. , (Correct. ; The harbor works are rapidly being; completed to theppint of their present design, and it becomes, every ,day a more interesting question how and how soon they are to be extended out of the vote whjlch is understood to have been passed 1 for that specific purpose. The season of floods is approaching, ; : arid -their probable : action npon the bed of a river which has recently 1 been', 1 materiality altered by nature arid art is "a subject^^of some speculation. It is 'reasonably suggested .that mere town protection works do not form the total of even immediate necessities. It is further suggested that these very works, by extending seaWard the" natural buttress formed; by the south side of the Gorge, in; addition "to 'the irifluerice'bf the river above the Gorge, may pPssibly' contribute to the stream taking its course to the sea by ; CoKderi,- arid, of ! course, taking Cpbden with £ it.. In view of such ; a : contingency ■ certain Works above the Gorge •have nbeen, .spoken of by non-profesaional theorists, and others whp equally answer 'to description, but whose ideas seem a sha'dd more practical,' recognise .the necessity of a rough break:waterjQn.4feexbrth.side of, the river, seaward from the Gorge onTtta north side, and parallel to^ the "elaborately erected work on the. south. The subject is a fair one for .speculation^ and suggestion, but engineering opinion is preferable, and. we should; be: justified in recognising ; MrBlackett's presence as. a preliminary to the settlement of a not unimportant local question, and'tbi the further prosecution of important;; local public works. . •

The fcelegrams .y^u'eh we^^ publish tb: day ! contain jitems. of cphsiderable '. initerest to' the reader of political^ ;l?gal, 'pr cpmmer-; cial sympathies, but to the miner the one little item that inone^of 'the •or Samoan .group of islands rich quartz : reefs*Jbave; been discovered rwill probably be speculated upon only a degree leas!' eagerly than- the prospects Jof - the •Haast. The Samoan Islands have been prominently mentioned in connection with American' annexation or protection, and still more jreceiiftp- ;as a'pbssible plabe^bf settlement forthe Mbrndoris^ but the cont ;templation of its; future, as a. field for i 'uartz-mming^is more engaging. To ;■-•' '.ny in^Nevir Zealand 'ihje.tpppgraphy v physical peculiarities of the islands ■"■■' Mliar,' but for, the readingof those m they are not .familiar, .we quote ■;■ ~—^~te^ly~%^lSDl^^/accbunt pf our limited, library; of refer- ; f lording, ;,to' r :^ ; t;';;'..Mcdun.i| ,

" Navigators' or Samoan Islands, .a grpiip of nine islands, with : some ,isleta|,; in.-the Pacific Ocean, lying ripfth o f $hb Ifrie^d jy Islands, in lat. 13 o^— l^K^O 1 £s.4ajid long. 168°— 173° "W. The four "principal islands of the group are Mauna, Tutuila, Opolu, and Savii. Of these, Savaii, 40 miles in length by 20 miles broad, and haviDg a population of 20,000, , is the largest. Area of the group estimated at 2650 square mile's'; population 1 about 56,000. With the exception of one. (Rose Island), the N. I. ace all of volcanic, origin. For the mbstpart they are lofty, and broken and rugged in appearance, rising in some cases to upwards of 2500 ft in height, and covered with the richest vegetation. The soil, formed chiefly by the decomposition of volcanic rock, is rich, and the ' climate is moist. The forests, which inclhoVthe bread-fruit, the cocoa-nut,, banana and palm, trees, are remarkably thick. The orange, lem on, tacca (from which a kind of "sago is made), coffee, sweet potatoes, pine-apples, yams, nutmeg, wild sugar-cane, and many other important plants, ; growing luxuriantly. Until recenijiy,. when, swine,, horned; cattle, and horses were introduced, there were no traces among these islands of any native ; mammalia except a species of bat. The. natives are well formed (especially the; iriales), ingenious,, and affectionate. The women, who superinterid the indoor work; and manufacture mats, are held in high respect. There are English and American mission stations on the islands, .as wellias several Reman Catholic establishments, and many of the natives have embraced Christianity." .

The monthly meeting of the Greymputh Volunteer Fire : Brigade, itook jplace. last evening. Present— Captain Eissenhardt and 20 members. Among other business, arrange? m'ehts were made for increasing 'the efficiency of the^rigade.by appointing extra members to the vFii'6' Company; 1 'Messrs A. R. Guinness', 1 Langfoid, and Polgreaves were elected new members. The i October sittings of the District Court were held : ,at Hokitika last Saturday. In thi^ matter of • Michael MLulligap, Mr Hawkins applied Ipir an order, of (tiachd^ge.; His .Hpnpr suspeiiiied ' the order for three months „ The Boss Guardian; learns, on most; reliable authority that Mr John White intends offering himself; as a candidate for the Superintendency of the Province of Westland. . Two cases of scarlatina have occurred in Ross. Both are described as being of a mild type. ■■■■ •;■ ".- ■;■■: ■ " ' ;- ■■■'■"■ <■■'. : - By a recent copy of th.c Hong Kong Times, we learn that Mr C. R. Thatcher/ "the Inimitable," is in Hong Kong, or at least was on the 24th June last. ; . On that day he was brought; up at the Summary Jurisdic-; tion: Court/ before his Honor J.H.Ballji and' aued.by.Mr ; W'. Curtisfor 7d01. ; , the price of printing "150 copies of poetical produc-tions/'-.vMr Thatcher was described' in the rep'ottof the Court as a collector of fossils, shells, and, curios, a recent; arrival in Hong ICong, but well known in Australia and the, Colonies. The ; M Inimitable" -had pWid 3d01. ; into, t; Court, ■ and ; disputed (the remaining ? 4dol. When the case was likely to turn against him,, he applied and gave judgment for the plaintiff. ' \ The jarrah forests of Western Australia have' been "estimated by a competent judge to-be Worth LiOO,pbO,pOp.. ;. ' \j-* : • Mr J.,T...Hart, r i whp I has; for the last twelve years held' 'a^clerkship >|_'ixti^the Customs department, D|ine,(iin, has receivedtne appointment'of chief clerk in ;tha Custom House, Christchurch. i The following 'remarks :iby : the Southern Gross,:a,re very naturally suggested by the contents of a recent telegram : — " We observe • that the fire-bricks for; the construction of the Taranaki Steel and Iron Company's furnace; are proposed ;tp:bß ordered from England? Why? There is an abundance— an inexhaustible supply— of the beat fire-claj in accessible, and suitable parts of New,. Zealand. Why overlook this raw material, "and the, work'it would supply to bur own workmen ? We propose to make ourfown steel and iron; ■ yet we send to England, for the ibricks;' to make the furnace in which to smelt the ore f ; Surely this is a mistake." . : | As a general thing, one would not fancy ' suicide a good subject to ! crack jokes about, but some of the members/ cf the Mutual' ■ Prorident Society appear to think differently. The prospect . of being. ; able to hang themselves with impunity to their policies seems to have put some of them into , immense spirits;/; At a late meeting it was proposed tb give a claim | on the policy of a suicide tohis .creditors, but not to his wife and family, on the ground, as forcibly, put by one speaker, that " no man would be such a fool as to cut his throat for a creditor." This remark was greeted, with " much laugnter, " Ap the expense, we are rather glad to find, ■of the creditors. One never, knows what .men may be fools enough, to dp ? . and. it is at l6ast as well not to. hold' out temptations to tender-hearted young men to cut their ithroats "instead of their "sticks" to oblige their tailors. . j The young .persons, who dispense nectar and ambrosia at .6d,.per sip across a bar counter are often (say'B '"^Egles") obliged to listen, to much insipid, inanity. .-' This, is, perhaps, tb them as trying a portion of their , 'duty as the pouring out and glass-polishing branch. Now and again it must be quite a relief tp^ be enabled to say something pert and incisive. „ A , dark-complexioned, man (who doeßn't mind repeating a joke, even when its point is aimed at himself), haying shaved off a somewhat thin moustache, said to Hebe, "Do you observe any change ' in ■ ,me ?" , • To , which, ■ with commendable presence of , mind^ . she replied, "Well, yes,. now that I look at you— you've washed yourself." v : A discovery, of alluvial gold on Maori territory in the.North Islaud is thus reported by the Auckland Herald:— "Yesterday afternoon a nugget of very pure gold, weighing five and a-half pennyweights, was brought to pur office ; by Mr Aubin,^ storekeeper, i of Alexandra; It. was obtained: by two Hauhaus. : at , Pir'ongia, whp brought it to Mr Aubin, , believing it was gold, but. not knowjing^its..intrinsiq value. ; The: nugget, which" is in, our,; possession and may be seen by those of inspecting . it, has been tested, .and the quality! found to, be worth L 3 17^ ,j6d;an. ounce. We relate the bare facts, without.offering any comment; ,. There is the,nugget v , There is-the storekeeper who bought, it t at. i Alexandraj , and , who. .brought it into town and placed it in our possession. There are the. two flauhaus, , .who dug the nugget up and sold it. Beyond this we: mow nothing, and can say 'nothing "further 1 than that such; a , discovery of alluvial gold in any part of "the , colony outside the boundary line of Maori!' landj^would product ! a large rush and : a great pegging' off of claims;";^ ■■■ ' ■■:•■■.->■■' ■"■ ::-:" r^' a correspondent, -of the SoutJiern Cross describes as a little scene, trivial in itself, and yet suggestive of, hidden purposes,- 'occurred in the Thknies Police 1 Court during the hearing of the case jOf perjury against the two nien, : Gribben' ahdMorley. A dispute had arisen between Sub-Inspector Bullen, who was prosecuting, and Mr Tyler, one of the defendant's counsel, about a document that was sought. to be put in aa evidence. Mr Tyler waxed warm in his obvjection, and carried the point, the Beach 1

ruling in his favor, whereupon the Sub-In-speefcor smiled. Mr Pyler jumped up, and, in apparently high dudgeon, accused the Sub-Inspector of disrespect in laughing at the Bench. The Bench, horrified, glared at the unfortuaate Sub-Inspector, and, after a moment's pause, one of the Justices taxed him with discourtesy, and was supported in his remark byjttftern look of righteous indignation from his fellow on the Bench. Thus properly'- snubbed, the Sub-Inspector humbled himself by protesting that he had smiled at Mr Tyler and not at the Bench. "1 hope it was,so," rejoined the counsel, blandly. The counsel and Sub-Inspector exchanged quiet glances, and the former smiled as well lie might— for the desired impression had been made." ; There are the various orders of Oddfellows' Ancient Foresters, Free Gardeners, Rechabites, and Good -Templars, with whichvall our readers may be presumed to be more or less familiar, but the "Order of Husbandry"! is something upw.- Of this new 'order we take the following from an American journal:. — '■ At last we hear something definite of the plan and purposes of the mysterious ' Order of Husbandry ' thathas so sudderily become a power in the Wesfc -It is a secret, cooperative, industrial-, beneficial, : arid literary institution, with yarious j rites borrowed from the secret societies. Apparently it has; nothing to do with politics. Men and women are alike admitted. The members, of the first degree %c designated respectively as Laborer and Maid ;■ in ithe i second degree as Cultivator: arid Shepherdess ;• in the third degreeas Harvester andGleaner.; andin^the ) fourth' degree as Husbandman and Matron. The membership, of the organisation at this time is estimated at 450,000, and if it does go into politics it will certainly be a powerful influence.", „.".. . ■ The following is the opinion entertained of the, Minister^ of Justiqe by.a Nor'th'lsland paper :— > Mr .Bathgate' ; ' is a most wonderful person as ,a , Minister, but as plairi. Mr Bathgate he is riot so yery, wpriderf ul at "all. We often .^meet; withVpeoplej^wiic) ,haye : much ambition 1 and ■ littie^btajns,,"; Th'ereV.are re : fo'riners, not in .office, i'^ho; hardly;. lea y,e alone a single. instiitution on all the'globe. It is a phenomenon, however, to find one of them enjoying the .emoluments and seat of authority; for it.is sb idarigerous to his colleagues, who cannot trust him, yet. must exhibit confidence — arid-ihiust ' bear all his blunders on their own "shoulders..,.. Mr Bathgate has dene enough either to immortalise or qualify himself 'for a seat in the Legislative Council— his colleagues to nominate." The Victoriansjseem tp.be; H. making; ib warm '' :. ; forr Prpfessor, Hasehnayer. ; A' late; 1 Biverine Herald has the following with re-, gard'.to him "•—" A scene which ''caused some ; considerable amusement in town, took place at the Town Hall on Saturday night. Pro-' ; fessor Haselmayer, yrho would appear, to be of a sbiriewhatnerVbusly excitable temperament, took umbrage ; at Mr j. S; O'Sh' anassy' (son of the Hori John O'Shanassy) for talking to a lady.f during the .perfprmance,; andj in a loud arid ariythirig.but courteous mariner required the offender, to go to the door and have, his money returned. Some interchanges took place, and a disagreeable feeling was engendered between :,tbe parties, which sub-^ 'sequently found vent.: It waa during the : interval, or at the dose pf the performance we are not sure which, ; that Mr.«. O'Shanassy ' demanded from the 'Professor ' an explanation of, his conduct.,; The ; reply /reflected; upon the querist's, sobriety^, whereupon Mr O'Shanassy, went through! the ceremony of introducing his 'shoemaker' to his antagonist's 'tailor.' The indignity thus put upon his seat of honor was too much for the Professor's feelings, who rushed to Mr Barry, solicitor^ and inquired with a marvellous rapidity of utterance; and- Ms hand caressing the injured., spot., whether. . it was customary in JSchuca for people to be ' kicked behind in that fashion. Mr Barry's reply, we believe, left it to be inferred that everything depended upon the recipient's deserts." ,