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Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1789, 30 April 1874, Page 2

It will be seen that the Telegraph Department is calling for tenders for some rather extensive clearings on the Christchurch road for a new line of wire to avoid the damage continually occurring on the existing route. Contractors and others will find particulars in the advertisement. During Ibis visit of Miss Aitken (Mrs Bunten) those who have not visited the Volunteer Kail have simply missed a night's enjoyment. In all of the 'first part of the programme (last night) the reader held her hearers entranced, and at the conclusion of each piece, as rendered by her the a plause was most general. Mr Morgan made a more than favorable impression in his comic songa, as he shewed ■in them a dramatic knowledge as_ well as a cultivated voice. The remainder of Mrs Bun ten's . programme was to the Scotch Scotch, inasmuch as all the old and young Scotchmen, especially the old, testified unbounded delight with the personification ot Maggie Macfarlane, and her masterly conception of Miss Thistledown as it wag de veloped. Messrs Crocker, Thomas, and Leech, who supported Miss Aitken, not only Eerformed their parts well, but without a itch went through the whole performance, and time after time elicited the warmest applause of the audience. As a whole the entertainment wherein volunteers were concerned Mis 3 Aitken gave about the most enjoyable treat we have here, ,as yet experienced. The Wanganui Herald, of the 4th April, states that it is rumored in political circles that Mr' Gillies is the new leader of the Opposition, and will be at the head of an orga ised party in the Assembly next session. We have simply to add that tf there is any truth in th* rumor— all the worse for the Opposition. There is no more ifnfit man as a party leader in the House than Mr Gillies, able and useful member as he is.. He possesses none of the qualities necessary to keep a; party together, and his temper is altogether too inelastic. A miner named Hans Jacob Lorenzen has been killed by a fail of earth at Waitahuna, Otago. He was a native of Schleswig-Hol-Stoin, and leaves a wife and family. A resident at No Town writes as follows regarding several local grievances : — '' Allow me to draw your attention to the underquoted promises recently made at No Town by members of the Nelson Executive while on their tour of inspection. The inhabitants of No Town, while contributing for business and publicans' licenses L6OO a year, are allowed to suffer further encroachments and damage from floods. Now after a delay of a month .(and after having made a positive Jromise the Work should be doiie at once) he Government has made, through a cir.

cumlocutory medium (while there are two resident M.P.O.'s in the district), a proposition of its willingness to assist us to;the extent of L4O, and we, in accordance.wjthiihe time-honored custom/are expected to* s6hd the hat round to raise the balance of the money required to complete the work. The sections at No Town, as soon as the surveyor was ready (if he was .ever.. intended. to. be) were to be sold. What busybody in the Valley is thus thrusting himself between the Government and the wants of the people and usurping the functions of the Road Board?" The following is the passage alluded to, and quoted from the Weekly Akgus, of March 13 :-" Another meeting took place to-daj. at Haisty's ; present— the Provincial Secretary, Solicitor, Gold Fields Secretary, and '! Provincial Engineer. Mr Greenfield said their special object was to ascertain by personal inspection the requirements of each district —that since their arrival in No Town they had seen the "necessity of immediate protection being afforded the town from floods in the creek ; that the construction of wing dams, or embankments, to change the course of the creek had been sanctioned, and would be made without delay" A Wesleyan Church has just been built at Eaipara, Auckland. It will accommodate 300 persons. Joseph Redshaw, an ex-Good Templar, has committed suicide, by hanging, at Newton, Auckland. He had been drinking heavily. Mr Joseph May, the new M.H.R. for , Franklyn, is said to be a fluent speaker. He has several times filled the position of Deputy-Superintendent of Auckland. The Opposition claims him as one of its adherents. Our Paroa correspondent writes. — "A typographical error was made in my last communication in describing the spot where the parties are prospecting at Scotch Jock's ; it should have been near the end of the A I line, which is a branch of the A A line where it crosses the New River near the junction of the Cockabulla Creek. There is no further npws from Scotch Jock's, and expectations are still entertained that something good may yet be struck. There is one thing certain, that some kind of road or track through this particular part would be of immense service and conduce greatly to the opening up of it As it is, the presant route from Cariboo is too circuitous and too difficult to be of any service for a horse track. There ought to be other points that could serve for starting from ; for instance, a road cut from the Greenstone road, about three miles from Marsden, would not take a great deal of money, as the distance would not exceed two miles, and would follow pretty well the fancy line, or the track from Irishman's could be continued. A good bush track at the present would suffice, until it is authoritatively known that something good has been struck. No one can form any opinion of the want of a road into this neighborhood, 'unless he has been there, and it is to be hoped that one of the members for the district will draw the attention of the Council to this requirement, and get it done at once. Every help must be held out to enable men to prospect, and this is a case at point that would do a : great deal of good. Here is almost an entirely new field, where the compass line from Clifton, Soldiers' Terrace, and German Gully, passes through, and the results from the lead being traced there would be extremely great to the Province at large. At the present time through the ahsence of any direct route the labor of carrying tucker on the back through the present circuitous bush track, entails the loss of one entire day. If therefore there is ary real wish in the Provincial Council to subserve the interest of the miners, it cannot be carried <>ut in a more practicable manner than by causing a track to be cut at once from Marsden to Scotch Jock's, and all miners will look on it as a benefit, for the more prospecting there is done there, the more likely of good npws pomfpg some day." At Grahamstown, the other day, a pakpha Maod, named John Duncan, went out with his Maori wife to shoot pigs, and accidentally shot himself. An inquest was held, and a verdict of. accidental death, returned.. 'Jhe deceased's wife was the principal witness. T. K. Fisher, merchant, Nelson, recently made an assignment. The provisional statement shows the liabilities to oe L 30,269 ; assets, L 35.74 3; but the latter estimate is Dot likely to be realised, Mr Steward, the Irish immigration agent, writes to the Tauran^a Times, stating that it is nearly certain a special farm settlement will be formed in tne Bay of Plenty. A hundred families, alj. with small capital, will settle there from the north of Ireland within ten months. Two hundredweight of specimens were obtained from the Caledonian mine on one day recently. The shares are advancing in price. The powers of the Governor, under the Bridges aud Ferries Act, 1868, have been delegated to his Honor tne Superintendent ofWestland. From a return published in the General Government Gazette of the particulars of the estates of deceased persons which have been placed under the charge of the Public Trustee during the month of March, IS74> we take the following relating to the West Coast :— William M'lnroy, Reef ton, died 28th Feb., 1874, estimated value of personal estate, under L4OO, date of order 13th March, 1874. Thomas Davis, Hokitika, amount of personal property 12s, no vesting order required. Anthony Henderson, Blaokwater Creek, Grey Valley, estimated value of personal property LI. John Lusk and Alexander Bell, Okarito, both died on 30th. December, 187.3., property in each case under L 5.0.. 0. The Cqrgmatidel News, of March 31, says . We .understand that Mr Engall, the engineer and suryej or sent out by the English company prepared if) work the iron and coal on Mr Foot's land, near the Miranda Redoubt, has entered into negotiations with the Provincial Government in which he offers to^tind half the money required to construct a railway from Mercer to the Thames! ' The Government have accepted the terras, and have applied to the General Government for sanction and funds. From Mercer to the : Thames would only be about 33 or 32 miles, and there would be a coal-field and iron district midway. Major Gordon is making himself exceedingly unpopular with the . volunteers. At the Thames he passed severe strictures on one of the oldest companies in the district, in consequence of which the company is going to disband. On the 21st the Governor'met the Friendly Nativeis Jn Waikato. There was a large number present! ! No rebels were acknowledged. Therp wefe the usual speeches of welcome, but of little worth,. . A large number of settlers were present. Bis Excellency delivered an eloquent address. He said if the rebels desired to live isolated he did not desire to drag them from it. He illustratedthe probable future by the metaphor — "So surely aa this great river spreads to sea, so surely will Christianity and civilisation spread. Better live on its bank than be carried away by the current." As regarded the land question, he would use the woids of the' Patriarch : "Is not the land before us ? Then let there be no atrife between ye and me." He was very sorry for divisions between the Natives, and would like to see the good results of civilisation extended ' among the whole Maori peopie. " You who ara loyal know you have many advantages not enjoyed by others." An address was

presented by Major Jockson, M.H.R., on be- : half of the settlers, welcoming and thanking ! the Governor for the dignified position he a^--1 sumeel, .towards the Natives who still refuse to summit to "the authority of the Queen. The Governdr said he wks gratified at the reception. He was Dot^surprised at the reference to Native affairs. The settlers had un- , dergone considerable, risk tp.their.property, if not to" their persons. The colonists 1 had to look to them to save much risk by temperate conduct- He was glad they appreciated his attitude towards the Natives. He acted under advice, which he thought was judicious. Prominence is given in the columns of the Neio Zealand Herald of the 17th April to the following paragraph — "A rumor was current in town yesterday which we cannot trace to its source, but which, however incredible, is generally believed to be true. The rumor runs that Ministers propose to move in the next session of the Assembly to increase the duty on colonially distilled spirits from 6s to 9s per gallon." This rumor, as we learu on inquiry, does not exactly represent the facts. The intention of the Government is, as intimated in communications by Mr M'Kellar, Chief Inspector of Distilleries, to the Dtmedin and Auckland Distillery Companies, in which, by direction of the Hon. Commissioner of Customs, he informed these companies that the Government propose to bring in a Bill to raise the duty on New Zealand spirits Is per gallon on July Ist, 1875 ; Is per gallon on July Ist, 1877 ; and Is per gallon on July Ist, 1879. The Superintendent of -Auckland has recently received a favorable report of the Whareori coal, from Mr J. M 'Leod, who had been engaged to report upou it. The field is situated about three miles from the Whangarei harbor. Mr M'Leod states that he has " no hesitation in saying that it could readily bo let for a remunerative royalty; and he would have no hesitation in undertaking to float a company for effectively working the field." At Opotiki, a child named Smith was burned : to death while playing with wax matches, which ignited. No one was at hand at the time. The premises of Mr Smith, brewer, at Havelock, Marlborough, have been accidentally burned down. Damage was done to the extent of L3OO, which is partially covered by L 250 in the Victoria Office. Febimana, a native of Waitorara, has received LSOO from the General Government for damages done to his property during tne late war. ".',,.. The residents in Nelson city are becoming alive to the fact, that the "bad times" which have now overtaken them may, in a great measure; :rbe traced to the irresponsible nature of the Executive. No doubt some effort will.be made at the approaching session of Council to remedy this evil, because, by it. a writer in the Colonist says, " all the effective power is taken out of the hands of the Councilors, and is lodged in the hands of the Superintendent and his nominees, who are directly interested in letting things take an easy course. Will our Councillors tamely submit to that which haa become, beyond a doubt, the cause of our slow progress? Is there really no sufficient variety of public interests which could beneficially affect the constitution of the Provincial Council and the Executive? Are the people to remain too careless and too ignorant to value or exercise the rights of electors in demanding of their representatives some action in this matter in the forthcoming session of the Provincial Council? The real evil lies in the fact that an Executive, virtually representing a single class should have such larg* means of thwarting the people as to retain the executive power in their own hands. This has been the state of public affairs in this Province for a long time back. That such a state of things still exists is in a great measure due, I believe, to the false promises of the Superintendent, which have enabled him and his nominees quietly to accommodate themselves to the steady dull system before them-rto play high on the chance of forcing aside what every other prosperous Province rejoices in possessing— a responsible Executive." ; The Mosgiel Woollen Factory, Otago, has orders in hand which will keep all hands briskly employed for the next six months at least. : Infanticide must be carried to a fearful txtent in Sydney. At a meeting for the purpose of establishing a Foundling Hospital, a lady stated that she knew of 15 or 16 cases in which young; women had come to Sydney for the birth of children, and had lodged with a certain woman who nursed them, and dosed their children with laudanum till they died. The murderess got away to California: The Taranajsi Herald says that the blast furnace now being constructed at Heniii is capable of producing from 80 to 100 tons of pig iron per week.. It is calculated that this furnace would consume the timber from five acres of forest per week, or 13,500 bushels of charcoal, and there would be required 250 to 300 tons of magnetic iron and clay, and also some 20 to 30 tons of limestone. The news to hand respecting the Mikonui Water Race, i 9 of the unsatisfactory char racter mentioned in the private telegram to which we (Times) made reference a few days ago. The reply to the Superintendent was not telegraphed as was then mentioned, but a written despatch from the Colonial Secretary's Office was posted and received by hiii Honor yesterday. It beirs date of 20th of April, and is as follows :—" Sir, — In reply to your telegram of the 13th inst, on the subject of the Mikonui Water Race, I regret to be obliged to inform your Honor that the Government would not be justified in holding out any promise that the work will be undertaken after the approaching session of Parliament.— The cairns which are being threatened in connection with the waterworks, ati present under construction, appear likely to absorb all the funds in hand' and until the ,exfent of these claims is known it will be impossible to commence anj further wotks of this nature which may involve liabilities at present unthought of— l have, &c , William H. Reynolds, in the absence of the Colonial Secretary." In the face of this definite determination on the part of the Government, we fear it is hopeless'to expect that any further steps will be taken in the matter until the meeting of the Assembly. The Nelson Post says : — "The very large attendance at Mr Brunner's funeral yesterday, testified to the high respect in which he was held in the province in which he has resided for the last tbirty-three years. Over a score of carriages, each one full of real mourners, and a number of horsemen followed his remains to the grave, nor must we omit to mention a large number of Maoris, who attended the church service, and accompanied the hearse out of town." American papers noticp the completion re- - cently, at a machine shop fn Gloucester, New Jersey, of a four-ton locomotive, or steam velocipede, resting upon two wheels, one following the other, and designed to run on one rail. The rail or track upou win hit is to run, a sample of which is laid in the yard of the builders, is Btyled a "Prismoid, or one-track railway, "and is conip sed of several thicknesses of plank, built up in the style of an inverted K?el of a vessel with a flat ration the apex Opon a Vial a speed of about twelve miles an hour was attained, and the inventor and patentee claim that the epeod can be almost doubled on a lengthened track* .■-..:.;!:■'.:.'