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Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1787, 28 April 1874, Page 2

A paragraph appeared in our columns yesterday, which was inferentiallj inaccurate, tt was stated" that a^pa'tieStTiamitted't'o the Hospital on Saturday evening, died " suddenly" a few hours afterwards. The facts are, that the man had been suffering for some time, and was brought to the Hospital in almost a dying state, his death occurring, as we stated, shortly after his admission. Last night there was, as might have been expected, a full house at the Volunteer Hall, on the occasion of Miss Aitken's re-appear-auce. The chief feature of the programme was the play, of the "Bonnie Fishwife," theprincipal character— Maggie Maofarlane— being taken by Miss Aitken. Her delineation of this character was, as it always is, true to the life, and it is not too much to say that the amateurs played up to her as well as amateurs could. Mr Leech was particularly -happy in his part of Mr Wildoats Heartycheer ; and the same maybe said of Mr Crocker's impersonation of Sir Hickory. 11 Gaiters, the gentleman's gentleman on foreign travel," was above the average. Miss Aitken's readings were delivered with their accustomed success, and the whole of the performance may be said to have been equal to the expectations of the audience. \ In consequence, of the great success of the "Bonny |Fish wife," it will be repeated on Wednesday eveninig next. A day's racing has been arranged by the Hokitika Jockey Club on the Queen's Birthday—the 25th May. The programme comprises a Handicap Hurdle Hace, of 10 soys; Selling Race, 10 soys ; Boothholders Handicap, 15 soys ; Handicap Hack Race, 10 soys ; and a Consolation Handicap, 5 soys We learn from the West Coast limes that an important public meeting was held on Thursday last, at the Greenstone, at Banna's Hotel, in reference to the Christchurch road. Mr Dungan, M.P.0., and other leading people of the district, were present. After several addresses, condemnatory of any repairs being effected by the Province on the washed-away Christchurch road, Mr Hanna moved, and Mr Spiers seconded the following resolution, which was carried unanimously : — "That this meeting desires to impress upon the Provincial Government the advisability of deviating the Christchurch road from its present unsafe course, and bring it through the Greenstone district, to connect it with the road already surveyed to Lake Brunner ; and it is the opinion of this meeting that by so doing there will he a great saving to the Province, and with less liability of accident happening to the rpad than by continuing it in its present course." A committee to carry out the objects of the meeting was appointed. Tt is stated that a requisition will Shortly be presented in Hokitika to the Mayor of that town, asking him to convene a public meeting, when resolutions will be brought forward requesting the Superintendent to send a formal invitation and a request tbat .the Premier ' should fulfil his pledge to visit Westland before the meeting of the Assembly. . We understand from the West Coast Times that the contractors for the Kanieri Waterrace are in expectation of being through the tunnel in about a fortnight. This is the heaviest piece of work in connection with the race. Hokitika was (says the W-est Coast Times) lit up with gas for the first time on Saturday evening, and all connected with the Company are deserving of the fullest congratulations in having so speedily brought to a satisfactory issue an enterprise of which so young a town may well be proud. Twelve months ago the Company was first projected, with a nominal capital of LIO.OOO, and at an outlay of about L7OOO. The w»rks have been completed in a manner bestowing the utmost credit on the manager, Mr Courtis, and comparing favorably, we believe, with any other works of. the. kind in the Colony. It was intended some days ago... that illuminations should be displayed at the Government Buildings and the Town Hall, in celebration of the Company's achievement, but the weather being so unpropitious in tLe early part of the day, the intended display was postponed until Wednesday evening next, when a few devices prepared for the occasion will be lit up. The Guaidian of Saturday says :— Mr M. Oassius visited Ross yesterday, and returned to Hokitika in the evening. That was the last we will see of him for some time, as he leaves for England by the first San Francisco steamer, which sails from Auckland at an early date. The following from the Marlborough Press must be taken with a large grain of salt : — "Information has been received in Picton of the discovery of a qnarfcz reef, in a new direction, bearing an almost fabulous amount of gold. We give the rumor for what it is worth, and without placing implicit confidence in the value of the find, hope the discoverers have not over-estimated the importance of the new gold mine." From a return just mabe public we learn that the yield of precious metals in the territories and states west of the Missouri, and including British Columbia, amounted for 1873 to 72.258,693 dollars, an increa c of ten million dollars on the yield of 1872. The increase was in Nevada, Utah, and Colerado alone ; in other states and territories there was a falling off. Nevada yields as much as much as all the. others put together. We notice by the New Zealand Govan vient Gazette tbat Alexander Charles Phipps Macdonatd, Esq., has been appointed Assistant Under-Secretary for the Colony. We are glad that one of the oldest end most deserving officers in the public service has received promotion. An extraordinary failure of justice occurred recently in the Supreme Court, Christchurch. A .man named Hymns was brought up upon a charge of bigamy. The case, so far as to iiis having gone through the form of marriage on two occasions with two separate women, was fully proved; The evidence showed that he was married at the Wesleyan Chapel, in Christchurch, in December, 1873, he was married a second time — his first wife being .still alive — at Addington, by the Rev. Mr ■ M a<Jf arlane. But the counsel for the defence challenged the validity of the second marriage. He argued that the Crown had failed to prove that Mr Macfarlain was an offic a nng minister under the Marriage Act at the time when he performed the ceremony ; and also, that the certificate of the marriage was informal and defective. On these grounds, but especially the first, he contended that the provisions of the Marriage Act has not been | complied with, and that the marriage must be pronounced null and void- The Crown Prosecutor contested the point as to the certificate, but on the other he surrended at discretion. He acknowledged thut Mr Macfarlan had never been gazetted as an oft> ciating minister. The Court thereupon declared the objection fatal, and directed the jury to find a verdict of " not guilty " But now comes the extraordinary part of the business. After the case was over it was discovered that Mr Macfarlan's name had been in the Gazette all the while. Before the Court on Saturday the Crown Prosecutor rose to explain that he had made a great mistake" on "the previous day. Mr Macfaf lan,' having seen the case reported i the papers, had called at his office and pv Q

cluced a General Government Gazette of March, 1873, in v. hich his name was duly .registered asau officiating minister. It seems that whoever was employed to search for the njam'e had hot taken the trouble to look through tbie Gazettes, but had contented himself with running his eye down the.index ; aud, not finding. Mr Macfarlan's name (which had been accidentally omitted from the index), he jumped- to the. conclusion that ithadJieyer been gazetted at all. Through this "piece of cafeleßness, and the prompt advantage Mr Joynt took of it, Hymus the bigamist escaped scott free. Owing to a dispute; .having occurred as to whether Bird really'' had performed his journey of eleven miles from Perth to Laun ceston within an hour, he again ran on Friday, the 13th. March (we learn from the Launceston Examiner), to settle the dispute. As on the previous occasion, it was arranged that he should leave Russell's at 4, and arrive at the International at 5 o'clock, but owing to some delay it was half -past 4 before I he left, and he arrived opposite the International Hotel lmin 15sec under the time allowed. Several persons had gone all the way out to Herth to accompany Bird, and at the top of the Sandhill others joined the party. He started away at a great pace, and kept up the speed the whole of the way, never showing any signs of fagging, and: on his arrival he did not appear so much distressed as the horses which had been ridden into town with him. Eleven miles in 58min 45sec is something really wonderful for any man to perform, particularly when it is considered that the road traversed is exceedingly hilly, and in some parts very rough. It is the habit of many of our colonists, | says a southern contemporary, to ignore or 1 undervalue the quality of our native 'woods. Thus we send to Western Australia for jarrah, to New South Wales for ironbark, to Tasmania for blue gum, stringy bark, and other kinds, to the old country for ash, elm, and oak, and to the .United States !hnd Canada for pine. It is more than probable that we have eviry variety of timber in our woods that would answer the purposes of those which we now import , were they fairly tested. Our soft woods— such as kauri, rimu, totara, and white pine— for internal housebuilding purposes, cannot perhaps be surpassed by any grown south of the Line ; while for out-door work, totara, black birch, and puriri will prove perchance as enduring as teak, . jarrak, oak, ironbark, or mahogany. The cabinetmaker has unknown treasures in the hinau, the rata, the, re ware wa, thekawa kawa, and many other varieties, while among the lesser timber trees many will be found possessed; of a speciality that will, in the future, be highly appreciated. For tim-ber-producing alone, however, our forests should not be valued. The bark of the towai. and manawa is valuable for tanning purposes ; and that of the hinau, the makomako, and other varieties, is useful for dyeing. It has been asserted that the branches, roots, leaves, and bark 1 of the kauri, under proper management would yield a large quantity of kauri resin ; while ha^f a dozen or more of our other forest uroductions have been proved to be of a medicinal character, and of a oommercinl value. Alluding to the great beche de mer and other trades of the Pacific Isles, the Southern C7'oss gives the following :— •• It is very surprising to contemplate the diversity of the 'little games' wherewith to make money, inaugurated by men who • do business in the great waters' of the South Sea. For example, there is that of a master mariner known to me, who goes by the name of the 1 Dustman,' happening in this manner—sCertain of us, on one occasion, boarded this mau at sea, and being invited into his cabin found everything covered with a fine impalpable powder. It was everywhere — upon the deck, upon the table-cloth, in the glass tumblers, in the soup ; the captain's hair and beard were full of it, the black steward's wool was encrusted with it, and his skin seemed to have contracted a drab color; every man in the ship was the same. ' What could it be ?' we inquired of one another. Not guano, for it did not smell ; not sulphur, for it was too light, and of the wrong color ? Ashes ! that's what it was. This man had found a great deposit of it on a volcanic island recently in eruption. Ho had filled his vessel, and was on his way to Europe with it, and it proved the most valuable cargo he had ever carried in his life, for the Russian Government purchased it at a high price, for the purpose of making cement to lay between the stones of their fortifications. But as concerns beche de mer, men may stroll about the seas looking for islands whereon to cut wood, or to dig ashes or guano, to make barilla, or to pick fungus, <ar to 'gather shell- from youth to age,' as the poet says, but what say you to catching snails ? a singnlar operation, verily ! but an immensely profitable one, ludicrous as the thing may appear."