THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 1874

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1779, 18 April 1874, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY SA TURD AY, APRIL 18, 1874

The Register thanks us for giving it the designation of the semi-official organ of the Superintendent. At the same time we gather that the compliment we paid our contemporary fits badly; judging from the rambling and incoherent collection of words which did duty for a "leader" in the Register yesterday. Perhaps it would have been more correct if we had said that the Register was not a " semi-official." but the " official" organ of the Superintendent, and that the only articles in it that are worth reading are written by a gentleman who is as competent in the Editorial chair as he is in his official capacity. We like to read the emanations from his pen, however much we may disagree with their arguments ; but we do object to the slop goods which, having done, duty in the Ross News, are considered fit wearing for the public of Hokitika. The Kesident Magistrate gave judgment in the case Hamilton v. Elliott, a dispute with respect to the first prize in the late Derby Sweep on the Greymonth Jockey Club Handicap, at Ahaura on Friday. Mr Whitefoord decided not to entertain the question of the legality or otherwise of themeans by which the defendant Elliott became p6s3essed of the money. It was sufficient that he admitted receiving a certain sum from the treasurer of the sweepstake, and the Court would decide upon the evidence offered that Hamilton had. a pro-prieU-y interest in that money. A decisi -n of Judge Richmond, in which an an authoritative interpretation of a clause of the "Resident Magistrate's Act, 1846," which is embodied in section 47 of the " Kesident Magistrate's Act" of 1867 was reli d upon in support of the judgment. This clause gives the Magistrate power to deal in equity and good conscience with all cases coming before him, and to see that substantial justice be done irrespective of the technicalities or quibbles of the law. Judgement for the plaintiff for the amount claimed, Lsl 2s, with costs and expenses, ""he defendant gave notice of his intention to appeal. .1 he Christchurch coach reached Hokitika at noon on Thursday after a rough journey. The driver of the coach reports that the telegraph wire had broken in an awkward place at thft gorge, but the linemen were promptly on the spot effecting repairs. It is still impossible for the coach to get light through, though Messrs Gassidy and Clarke have provided every facility for the convenience of passengers, in the shape of saddles and horses to get over the broken of the road, which extends over a distance of about a mile and a-half. The outward coach was left at the head of the Bealey, and Mr Mueller was also observed to be making a thorough inspection of the road, with the view to reporting upon the same to the Provincial Government. The Christchurch mails were delivered at Greymouth last evening. Iho West Coast Times says that " the number <if objections ( to those claiming to bo placed on ■he electoral roll this year, will be exceptionally large. Not only will the names of a great many who have left the district be expunged, but a very large proportion of the new claims will be objected to on various grounds. Tn some cases, the claims are witnessed duly by an elector, hut the signature of the claimant is absent ; in other cases, there is no attestation ; in others the so-called witness is only a householder, but not an elector, and not on the roll, therefore, the attestation is valueless." We (Argus) are glad to say that the objections in the H-rey .district willbevcy few, great care having been exercised in filling up the applications. Mr Stevenson, acting-Chief Postmaster at Dunedin, has introduced a plan of inking the dies for stamping letters in the Post Office, calculated ' to save very heavy labor and much. time in preparing -letters for forwarding or delivery. Although not altogether new, it is, we believe, adopted there, for the first time in New Zealand. The plan is simple. It consists in. merely tying a piece of silk over, the face of the die, by which means ink sufficient is absorbed by one application to the inking pad, to enable the operator to Btamp from two to three hundred letters. The value of this method in saving labor can be estimated when it is understood that, previously to its adoption, it was necessary to make two movements to stamp one letter ; one stroke was made on the inking pad to ink the die, and one to stamp the letter. Now, only one Btroke is necessary on the inking pad for perhaps two hundred letters, timo is saved, and the hand and arm are not so fatigaingly jarred. We understand the plan was originally discovered by an old New Zealand resident some years ago, and brought under notice by a firm to whom he confided the management of his in ereat in it. He has since gone home to share in the profits of its successful application. Mr Stevenson informs us that it was used in stamping tickets on the North British Railway some years back, and is now universally practised on railways. His attention was recalled to it by a late arrival from England. The Courier, speaking cf the township of Cooktown, says :— " Although barely four months since the first exploring party landed here f rom the Leichardt, a town of respectable appearance and considerable size has sprung up. '• The rtiaih street from the wharf is. almost a mile in length, lined with many large stores and places of business ; an extensive trade is done, and the population cannot be less at the present time than 3000 souls,"

A miraculous escape frqn%,de!atti.bccurrecl the other day a ; t'4io3s. v /rhe Guardian '6t I Thursday gives the following account :— " A lad named Robert Hyndman, ]3 years of age, son of Mr James Hyndmau, miner, of j thi ■ place, was buried in an old shaft, near the turbine claim, yesterday forenoon. It seems he should have been home about 11 o'clock, but did not make his appearance. Between one and two o'clock, his father became anxious, and went to the turbine claim, and asked the men if they had seen him. The answer was in the affirmative, and the place pointed out where he had been noticed. His father, accompanied by Mr Camile Malfroy, went over to the shaft, and heard the little fellow moaning, who told them he was covered with slabs. A stage was immediately erected, and the work of clearing away the rubbish commenced, there being— as always happens in such instances —plenty of willing hands. Daylight disappeared, but the lamps were brought into requisition, and the work went on with all possible speed until 10 o'clock, when the little fellow was rescued from his perilous position, numbed with cold, but, with the exception of a few bruises, not much the worse. His escape is truly miraculous, a slab which lay acros% his head haviug prevented the earth from coming in such close contact as to cause suffocation. Great praise is due to the miners, who never relaxed their efforts till the "oy was brought to the surface. He was carried to the hospital, and placed under the care of Dr Puff. The unfortunate Perseverance Gold-mining Company, Collingwood, is about to die the death of all Nelson Companies, espeecially when brought out under certain auspices. It is to be (voluntarily) wound up, after some five years of mismanagement, if not something worse. Gold to the amount of LI O,OOO has been taken from the mine, and L7OOO sunk by the shareholders. It is stated that Mr Olson, the manufacturer of the well-known Auckland tomato sauce, will turn out of his manufactory this season, from LBOOO to LIO.OOO worth of this well-known sauce He is importing LIOOO worth of bottles, and he anticipates that the three paddocks in which he ' has tomatoes growing, will yield him not less than 200 tons of fruit. These facts show how a large trade may be built up by the requisite skill, and devoting care and attention to the article manufactured. His Excellency the Governor has been cruising in his yacht Blanche off the picturesque coast of Marlborongb, calling at some of the settlements. He does not appear to have won golden opinions from the settlors— at any rate those of Port Underwood, for the Express says :- " The inhabitants have not conceived a pleasant impression of His Excellency from his first visit to the locality. It appears that, as is their custom, they went alongside the yacht, not knowing what craft it was, nor who was on boird, with a view of getting orders for provisions. They were, however, ordered off i stanter, and — well, they do not entertain a pleasant recollection of the event." With regard to the projected railway extension from Auckland to the southern portions of the Middle I.sland, the Sout-hern Cross says : — " Mr Mackay has just returned from the Taupo and Napier districts where — along with Mr Carruthers, the Engineer-in-chief, and Mr Turner, Resident Engineer for one of the Auckland districts— he had been for the purpose of exoloring a line of route in which to continue the railway into the southern districts of the island. Mr Carruthers is very well satisfied with his examination. The route is easy for alone; distance, and the country practicable all the way, so as to unite aline carried through the southern parts of the province with that which is laid out from Taranaki. From Uangiriii — the once famous and well-chosen Maori stronghold, now the headquarters of our navvie volunteers— to a point 35 miles beyond Taupo, Mr Carruthers finds that there are no engineering difficulties, and that a line of railway can be formed as easily as on the Canterbury plains. From that point Mr Mackay and Mr Turner went to Napier with the view of examining the country in that direction, while Mr Carruthers proceeded to Wanganui. The country to Napier was found to be rugged and difficult, and not practicable for a railway unless at an enormous expense. Mr Carruthers found a line which, carried 40 miles, would connect with the Taranaki line. This would be more costly than the line to the point referred to beyond Taupo, but it was nevertheless a perfectly practicable lice. As for any ODposition of the natives, that is not likely to be great through three-fourths of the distance, by recent land purchases and other arrangements, so all causes of opposition are, we believe, removed ; and, for the reft, it is not supposed, when the time for absolute work arrives, that any obstacle will be experienced in that direction." The Coroviandel Mail, referriug to the gild yield for the past month, noticed in these columns a few days ago, says : — " The National Bank have also ahout 3001 bof specimens from the Union Beach on hand, and a yield of about 400oz is expected from these, so that the total amount deposited might fairly be comuuted at 5500z instead of 150oz. The returns for last month show a decrease from those of February of 2S9oz 14d\vt 12gr, those of the Bank of New Zealand for February being 6870z 15dwt, and those of the National Bank of lOOoz. If, however, the yield from the specimens be included the return of gold will be considerably swe'led." The General Government is calling for tenders for the construction of four steam launches, intended to be used in connection with immigration and quarantine, and by the Customs Departments at Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton, and Dunedin. It will enable tnore ready and safe communic ition to be had with our island quarantine stations than is possible at present, and these launches can no doubt be turned to useful account in a variety of ways. The monstrous sized eelß that are to be found in the rivers here (writes a Christchurch correspondent) are proverbial. But on the Hea'thcote is a malthouse, and I presume there they fatteu to perfection. At all events a woman living near the locality in question, and having a number of ducks was surprised the other day to notice one of them kicking up some extraordinary capers, with its legs in the air and its head under the water. As it was near the side, the woman reached the legs of the duck and began pulling them, thinking that the Lead was entangled in weeds. But she tugged and tugged all to no purpose, and the head suddenly gave way, the head being down the gullet of a huge eel which she caught sight of, and which she stated to have been as thick as a man's thigh. Imagine the situation. From the Port Gore Gold-mining Company, Queen Charlotte's Sound, good advances have been received, and it is reported that in the claim is a body of stone f'om 18in to 2ft wide, showing gold all through it. The Picton Press says : — About 80 tons of stone are at grass, and a still further quantity will be ready for crushing before the Turner battery is disengaged, and it will be necessarj to make a further call of Is per share to cover expenses of the mine till some stone can be crushed. In the Queen Charlotte Company driving is still going on, and the drive is in now 180 f t; a good sized leader has been cut. and it is expected that the main reef will be struck in about 20ft. No discouraging ac->' counts* have been received from any of the mines, and the shareholders in each are sanguine that their enterprise will be rewarded ere long?

The' /contractors of Blenheim are taking a high 1 stand: f In soleun conclave they have resolved that in future if any person offers a contract and objects to accept the lowest tender, he must pay the lowest tenderer two pjr cent, if under LIOO, anl one per cent, if above that amount. It is not stated in the advertisement how the demand is to be enf >reed, but we presume the contractors have Agreed among themselves not to accept any contracc unless given to the lowest tenderer, or the black mail paid. If the person calling for tenders follow the example of Government, and require each tenderer to lodge a marked cheque with his tender, we fear the contractors will find it impossible to oarry rut the little scheme. A Maori women named Jenkins recently died in the Wanganui district, aged 110. The old lady, says a weekly contemporary, remembered the visit of Captain Cook to these shores, and often gave a vivid description of his advent, and of the profound impression his ship made upon the native mind. The Maoris had never seen a Bhip before, and took it for a huge bird, supposing thi sails to be wings Cook's visit was iv 1796, from whifh an idea of the longevity of Mrs Jenkins may be gathered.