Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1645, 12 November 1873, Page 2

The entertainment given for the benefit of the Literary Society took place last evening, and, as far aa attendance went, was a success. The lady and gentlemen amateurs who carried out the first part of the programme acquitted themselves ve^y well, but we cannot say so much for the farce, which, as played, was rather a farce upon the pky. Mr Cooper announced that the Society intended to give a series of similar entertainments monthly. , It appears that overtures were made to Mr Shephard and to Mr Albert Pitt to become candidates for the Superintendency of Nelson, but both declined. A fire occurred on Saturday on the pi'emises of Messrs Christian and Ponton, coachbuilders, Nelson, but was fortunately extinguished before it reached serious dimensions In the Nelson Provincial Council elections, Mr Boase announces that he will address the electors of Cobden to-night at the Schoolhou'se. Mr Oswald Curtis and Mr E. J. O'Conor arrived at Westport yesterday by the Kennedy, the object of both being to wait upon the constituency as candidates for election as Superintendent. One of the landmarks of Ross —the poppetheads of the Cassius claim—was removed on Thursday. The wood was found to be perfectly rotten, and, if they had not been taken down, they would have dropped to pieces through sheer decay. The reclamation of Mussel Bay, Port Chalmers, is being fast proceeded with. About forty men are employed on the work. At an entertainment under the auspices of the Good Templars, which took place at Invercargill the other evening, Mr Mackune, we learn from the " Southland Times," intimated that he had received an application, bearing more than the requisite number of signatures, for the formation of a Juvenile Gflod Templar Lodge in Inyercargill. This afforded him the opportunity of congratulating Tnvercargill on the fact that it was the first town in New Zealand to have a Total Abstinence Society, the first to inaugurate tha G^od Templar movement, and in a short time would be the first to have a Juvenile Good Templar Lodge. The " Wakatip Mail" states that a party are out at the head of the Lake prospecting for a cattle track to the Haast River. It is understood that Mr F. E. Wright, at present' Chief Postmaster, Christchurch, is about to be transferred from thab office to the office of Chief Agent for the Government Annuities and Life Assurance for Canterbury. Mr Wright joined the postal department in 1858, and has therefore been in a position to watch its growth from very small beginnings. The Freemasons of Canterbury have resolved to establish three scholarships, " which, while assisting the parents of the successful competitors in their education, would also fully enunciate the principles of the Order." They are to be of the annual value of L 25, each tenable for three years ; one is to be competed for each year, and " open to the children of subscribing Masons, and to the children of deceased Masons, who may have been subscribing members within five years from the date of decease to any lodge in •Canterbury." The age of competitors is limited to twelve. William Williams, a miner in Otago, committed suicide recently under strange circumstances. Across the Shotover River, near the reef, there is a "boatswain's chair" erected; and it seems that Williams had attached a rope to the line on which the "chair " works; had then exactly measured and lengthened the rope so that with his body attached it should just reach the river below; had then fastened his arms in a running noose at the other extremity; and then thrown himself from the " chair " into the water. His body was completely immersed, and only his arms visible above the surface of the river. Strange to say, although in constant intercourse with his mates —some of whom bad been BchoolieUofra with him—

deceased never showed the slightest sign of ; mental derangement, and of course his suicide was never contemplated. Deceased was 36 years of age, and a native of Cornwall, England, where his mother, brothers, and obher relatives reside. The following "yarn" is published in a Victorian paper :— " It is .believed by those who have resided at Echuca during the height of summer, that there is no place in the world like it for flues, and an amusing story is told about them. Some time back a railway official applied to be removed from the district, on the ground that the fleas were unbearable, and their attack 3 would be injurious to his health. His request was deemed absurd, but, determined to prove that he had told the truth, he one night got up, lighted his lamp, went flea-hunting, and in the course of on hour or two had filled an ordinary-sized matchbox with these bo&om companions and backbiters. Next morning he sent his • game' down to the department, and tbe ' powers that were' were so amused with his originality that they granted his request." Throughout the Wakatip district, Otago, the " Mail " reports, all classes of crops are looking most healthy and promising. In the course of about two months, says the " Otago Daily Times," operations will be commenced towards the erection of an extensive brick manufactory in Dunedin. The site secured is a paddock close to Hillside, on the Kensington road, and here will be built a large kiln on the Hoffman principle of continuous burning, capable of burning out 70,000 bricks per week ; and with a view to Bupply this quantity, machinery on the compressed plan has been sent for from England, and, it is expected, will arrive here so as to be ready for work by about the middle of February. Kilns of the above description are now generally in use all over Europe, and the proprietors of the patent right for New Zealand have had one in operation in Canterbury for the last two years. The " Otago Daily Times " of October 29 says : — A short time ago we mentioned that Mrs Caroline Howard, formerly of Dunedin, had beeu engaged by the AgentGeneral to promote female emigration to New Zealand, and that she had opened a branch office in London. We now observe from the "Munster News'' that Mrs Howard had proceeded to Limerick in August to endeavor to obtain female emigrants in that quarter. Mra Howard has an advertisement in the same paper announcing when and where she will be found, that she will answer all enquiries free of charge, and making known the fact that free passages will be given to all respectable single females. Altogether she seems to be going about her business in a businesslike way, and this, coupled with, her long experience in Dunedin, would seem to show that in her the Agent-General has secured a valuable ocadjutor. Ihe Wellington " Post " of the 25th inst. has the following : — " In reference to a statement published by our contemporary this morning, that the Provincial Government of Wellington have declined the offer of the General Government to hand over to them the charge of immigrants after their arrival, we are authorised to state that the Provincial Government have not made any such reply, the only intimation received from them being that they have not as yet come to any conclusion on the subjeot. The Superintendent of Hawke's Bay has accepted the proposal. The Superintendent of Auckland has decided to leave the matter for the decision of his successor — the Superintendental election in that province taking place early in November. The Superintendent of Canterbury has promised to send an early reply. The Superintendent of Otago has declined to accept the charge, unless it is coupled with unfettered discretion, a proposition to which the General Government have declined to accede, and are consequently making other arrangements in Otago. Replies have not been received from the other Provinces. An awful man goes about visiting people's . places for the "Bruce Herald," and relating the results of his visits under the heading " Our Traveller." To say that he gushes in language would but faintly describe his style. It may be more appropriately said that he wallows in words. In his last description of a gentleman's house, the following succulent sentence's occur :— " The busy bee, too, hung upon the chalice of the rose, or kissed away the dew spray of the roseate apple blossom, and bore to its honey store its luscious food. Tall gums stand sentinel outside to foster with their shelter the gentle conifera and lowly flowers, while afar down 'midst yon forest glades the carol of the birds gladden the ear." Mr Pyke's powerful writings of " adamantine rocks, which stand with serrated selvages athwart a gaunt sky," or something or another, is nowhere when compared with this fellnw. But the choicest passage he has penned is that in which he goes above himself complacently, andon being presented to the lady of the house " observes with pleasure the kindly reception which I was accorded."