THE The Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY THURSDAY, MAY 21, 1874.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1807, 21 May 1874, Page 2

THE The Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY THURS DAY, MAY 21, 1874.

The Provincial Council of Nelson have reduced the salaries of the Wardens on the South- West Gold-fields by £100 per annum. What possible good cause can be shown for this arbitrary curtailment of the salaries of these officers we are at a loss to understand. Five hundred pounds a year is not too much for the unerous responsible duties which the Wardens have to discharge in their various capacities. However, the Council is not omnipotent in this matter, as by " the Goldfields Officers' Salaries Act 1869," the .Governor in Council may, if he think fit, cause the full sum of £500 to be paid, and the amount over and above that suca voted by the Provincial Council charged against the Province and deducted from the Land Fund. Economy is a very good thing in its way, but the Council, in reducing the pay of . the hardest-worked officers in the service and preserving the rates of the other officials, is strangely inIcpnsistent. If a reduction in departmental expenditure is necessary, why not an average reduction all round.

Of all the penny-wise-and-pound-foolish things that we have come across lately, the plan pursued by the General Government in ailing for tenders for certain services by posting a written notice, outside the Court House I beats everything. A proper advertisement in a newspaper would hay* cost only a few 1 shillings, whilst the want of publicity will ; probably cost the Government many pounds. ' It will be seen from the prospectus of the Colonial Bank of New Zealand that G. W. Moss and Co. are sole agents for Greymouth aud Grey liiver district, at whose offices i prospectuses, forms of application for shares, and all information can be obtained. ; A Court for the Kevisiou of the Electoral Roll for the Grey Valley will be heM ac the j Court House, Greymuuth, ou Saturday, the 1 6th Tune. -...-.. j Volunteers should take notice that the annual inspection of arms and accoutrements : by the officer coranrindirig this district takes place at the Volunteer Hall this evening at 8 I o'clock. There is a heavy penalty for dis- { beiiience of the order. i The Auckland papers announce the death iof Mr H. Hill, solicitor, at the ripe age of [75 years. / The Elizabeth Company at Cromwell, i Otago, 'finished a washing-up on Saturday ! week. Ninety tons of stone gave a result of |9780z. * ■ ' John. and Patrick Warren, and James FitzS raid, who were committed at Oobden on onday last for trial at the next sittings of the Supreme Court, for cattle stealing, were removed to Hokitika gaol on Wednesday I morning, the requisite sureties for their apj pearance nob being forthcoming. 1 I The four sections of the Buller road, dray j formation, between Christy's and rlughes's, a < distance of seven miles, are expected to be I completed within two months. I It would seem (says the Lyell Argus of j Saturday) as if the Alpine Company were j getting into unpleasantly hob water, the I action 0' Mr Draghicavicb in taking out a distress warrant having compelled the Bank jof Mew Zealand to foreclose their mortgage, 1 which step was taken on Wednesday last.

With regard to the appointment of Sir Arthur Gordon, at present Governor of Mauritius as Governor of Tasmania, the Wellington Independent says:— -'The salary in the former govenment is L7OOO per annum; in Tasmania it is only L3OOO. Removal from Port Louis to llobart Town cannot be called promotion ; and the people of Tasmania have the unpleasantness of. knowing that their new- representative of her Majesty ia the most unpopular Governor who ever ruled in Port Louis."

The Minister of Public Works of Victoria has determined on a step which must go a long way towards popularising railway travelling, and which, if followed by a temporary loss to the revenue, will, no doubt, eventually, increase the returns. On the Ist May there Was a reduction of 33 per cent, ©n all passenger : fares chargeable for transit by the Government lines other than those running to Williamstown and Esseudon.

In an article upon the Volunteers, a writer ia tne Wellington Independent makes the following .complimentary remarks :— " An inspection has recently taken place under a new inspector ; and, as new brooms are proverbial,, we shall be anxious to see his report, which rumor .states, will not be generally favorable. It could scarcely be ; the scanty attendance at country parades ; the half and half dress' ; the slovenly way in which drill is carried on, in many cases the instructor drilling the men while the officers walk about with swo'd clanking as heel ; the shortcomings in these most essential points, discipline and drill ; these are all likely to strike forcibly an experienced officer such as Major Gordon. We have not been sparing in our comments, because the question is one whioh lien between the taxpayer and the volunteer, and as the for (ncr has a right to insist that the latter shall not make a sham of the whole thing and waste the public money." „

Yesterday the following notices of motion were down ■ ior . hearing in tne : I "rovincial Council :— l. Mr Dungan to ask — " Has his flonoi* the Superintendent taken any steps, since the late nSod, tq-pro ide for punt accommodation on ihe Teiemaukau River." 2. Mr Cumipg;to ask— "When hia Honor the Superintendent intends to refund the amount each : retatf : or wholesale spirit dealer is en* titled to under their old licenses after the let

July, and if those licerisVholdera who have been granted renewed licenses by the Licensing Commissioner))! and,who;deciiiiJ3 to take out the same, will be allowed! either a refund, or to let their old licenses rmijotit." 3 Mr Guinness to move'—" ThVt his Honor the Superintendent take the necesaarj steps to have recreation reserves set apart in all townships of the Province." And the following "'iff the "listTfor tb^ffay "affdr I Monday ;:— Thursday 1. Mr Seddon to aRk his Honor— " Whether ho intends to call for tenders for the completion of the Arahura Bridge, and, if his "answer be in the affirmative, when?" 2 Mr Seddon to move— "That a Select Committee be appointed, consisting of Mr peaker, Messrs Wickes, Robinson, 'Cuming; Guinness, and the mover, to inquire into the working of the Westlaud Wastb Lands Acts, with a view; to ascertaining whbt, amendments, if any, are necessary in those Acts ; to report next week." Monday: 1. Mr Robinson to move — " That a Committee be appointed, consisting of Messrs Cuming, Seddon, Woolcock, White, Guianess, and the mover, to consider what improvements may be made in the present; Road Board system." .

We take the following from the Inangahua Herald of Tuesday : — " The Just-in-Time mine continues its favorable indication. The reef continues well defined, with every appearance of permanency, and is 2ft in thickness, carrying fairly payable gold. About a month will elapse before crushing will be resuped.—We are glad to learn that in the Ajax mine good stone has been struck in the shaft going down, from the low level at a depth of 50ft. There is now 2ft of stone, ana with every indication of making. It is felt certain that it is the Golden Fleece run. Shareholders will also learn with much satisfaction that the indications towards the Band of Hope have become most encouraging. Stone was struck in the middle-level tunnel, which thickened from Sin to 18in, and is carrying very fair gold."

A fire occurred at Ross on Monday last, and we take the following particulars from Monday's Guardian ;— " At half -past eight o'clock yesterday morning, the inhabitants were startled by again- hearing the cry 'fire,' while smoke and flames were observed issuing from Dean's Sportsman's Arms Hotel,, in Moorhouse street. On entering the building the 1 oof and .sides of the billiard-room were seen to be in one mass of flame ; but the bucket brigade, soon got to wor k, and by dint of much exertion in saturating the walls and ceiling with water, the fire was soon subdued. The brigades with the hose reel were quickly on the spot, but too late to render any assistance. The fire started in the passage, and the surrounding circumstances tend to the ; surmise that it Was the work of an incendiary." An attempt had previously beui made to set it on fire. An enquiry is to be held.

It will be remembered that recently the Mayor of Hokitika declared the seat of Mr Cassidy, in the Borough Council, vacant, and ordered a fresh election. The ground en which it was 'leclared that Mr Cassidy was unseated was that he had been absent for four consecutive regular meetings, which is forfeiture, but he had obtained leave of absence on the fourth, though he was not present himsnlf. The Mayor took the advice of Mr Bucton, as to whether under those circumstances, the seat was or was not forfeited, and that gentleman seat an unhesitating opinion that it was. On this the Mayor acted, but the friends of Mr Cassidy have siuce then obtained an opinion from the Attorney-General, in which the" latter takes a different view to Mr. Button, and consequently the Mayor has withdrawn the adv rtiseinent for new nominations, and Mr Cassidy is councillor still.

The Harbor Board of Auckland has receivefl the following communication respecting the construction of a graving dock upon r Moriarty'a advice and plans from the Minister of Public Works :—" Whilst regretting that the Board are now precluded from carrying out their pUns by a technical legal .objection ' which cannot "c removed without legist tive action, I take this opportunity of assuring you that if the Board, on further consideration, still deem it advisable to adhere to the plans now proposed, and apply to the Parliament for further powers, the Government will be prepared to support such application."

Ihe Wellington Independent, in a recant issue, says :— " When the s.s. Mikado was at Honolulu on her last down voyage, the price of coals was ninety dollars a ton. Would it not pay some of our neglected Greymouth friends in the coal trade, who find" themselves without a market in monopolised Wellington, to try a cargo or two to the capital of the Sandwich. Islands ?"

A recent telegram announced that Mr Lemon, the general manager ot the New Zealand telegraph department, had perfected an invention of his own for the simultaneous transmission of two messages along the same wire. We learn from the Wellington papers that the line between Wellington and Napier was chosen for the late experiments, and that the signals were instantaneous, and the passage of the ctossing message uninterrupted Sharp operators are the chief desideratum. We shall probably le m more on the subject by-and-by when the system has been a little more tested.

The other day a well-known capitalist in Melbourne was sued by a firm who deal in tea and other household necessaries, for a certain sum representing the lOS 3 sustained upon 93 chests of tea. which had been found not according to sample. The capitalist, in fact, had nearly filled the boxes with worthless tea. but had pla ed a stratum of good tea at the top of each, so that confiding purchasers, having faith in the seder, might take the whole for what they saw, and nob according to what they might suspect.

The amount of gold taken down to Duhedin from the gold-fields of Otag > in the quarter ending 31st March last, was 136,9150z, against 150,0270z for 1872. Cromwell heads the list with 23,8lloz; Lawrence comes next, with 18 3050z ; Queenstown next; with 15,3650z ; Mount Ida, 14,6850z; then Blacks, with 10,9000z.

We take the following from the Otago Daily Times :—" A talented young fellow, who has ' travelled ' considerably about New Zealand and the Australian Colonies, had an idea yesterday— the "first one he has had tor a considerable time. The idea was that another travelled gentleman, who owed him some money, was about to depart in a sudden manner per s.s Alhambra for Melbourne. He went to the Port post haste, met his debtor, and being a man of excessive delicacy of feeling, did not like to mention at oiice the matter of the filthy lucre. They strolled down the pier together, and went on boa' d the Alhamora. The man who should have Beotled his little account, innocently asked the man he should have paid, ' What is the name of the steamer?' and at the same time remarked that she was a nice boat, and that if ever he went from Port Chalmers by sea, he vould goby her. Ihe travelled gentleman was at once off his guard, and even reproached bimdelf for the suspicions he had entertained about his companion. They had the conventional ' liquor ' at Dodsoh's, and parted. Half an hour later, the gentleman who knew rather more than 'a thing or two, l went down the wharf just in time to see his late friemi and present debtor waving his hat from the Alham bra's poop to the assembled crowd on the wharf, lie could: not catch him, so contented himself with bawling out a wish that the iudividual on bis way to Melbourne would be able to do the Victioriahs aa well as he had done the Dun* edinite."