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Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1862, 24 July 1874, Page 2

The annual monthly inspection of the Grey- ' mouth Volunteer Rangers took place last evening ;at the Volunteer Hall. About 40 of the corps mustered, and five new members were jsworn in. Drill-Instructor Nelly was present. At the close of the inspection, the men who had entitled themselves to receive it, were paid the capitation allowance for the year. A cottage in Hospital street was partially destroyed by .fire yesterday. The alarm was given about noon by the ringing of the fire-bell ; but, • although the Firo: Brigade had the engine and apparatus at the place in a very short time 'after the bell rang,» all danger -was fortunately over ; thanks to the exertions 'of the residents of the locality. The fire, which did some damage to the house and furniture, besides destroying a; caged sinking bird, originated, it is said, through .carelessness in allowing a young child to play with combustibles. ; The adjourned charge against Annie Atherton' for a' breach' -of the licensing Act was finally disposed of yesterday at the Resident -

Magistrate's Court. The sale of the liqueu> — ginger wine — was proved on Wednesday, anil ie was also shown that the defendant was not the holder of a publican's license. An adjournment was granted to enable the police to procure evidence as to whether ginger wine was in the catagory of substances forbidden to be sold, except under the provisions of the Public House Ordinance. W. F. Strike proved on Wednesday alchoholic spirits were used in the Tnatraf icture of ginger wine, and yesterday W; M'iVlillananrl P. Grpgan corroborated the previous , evidence as to the ingredients used in miking the wine. An officer from the Customs proved that ginger wine was a dutiable article, and the sale of wine of this description to the defendant was proved by H. Giesking, % licensed spirit dealer. Mr Perkins, for the defendant, argued at length for a dismissal, contending if the defendant broke the law, that it was unintentionally ; and also that it. was not now proved satisfactorily that the liqueur the defendant sold contained spirits. There was also an informality in the information, inasmuch that the word "knowingly" had been omitted, and unless the defendant "knew" she was committing a breach of the Ordinance by selling the drink, she could not be held liable. With t egard to the last point, the Magistrate said he had power to amend the information, and as the charge was proved, the defendant would be fined L2O with, costs. Mr Perkins gave notice of appeal. A "sturdy cripple" who had, until recently, been an inmate— but evidently not n,. very " fit subject "—for the Greymouth Hospital, was charged before the Resident Magistrate, on Thursday, with using abusive and insulting language towards R. H. Rugg, the Superintendent of the Institution, 'under the following aggravated circumstances: — The defendant, who was an inpatient of the Hwspital, was put in town on Tuesray, and returned "home" after hours and after dark, considerably the worse for liquor. The The Superintendent gave him a lecture, as in duty bound,. and cautioned him as to the consequences if he again committed a similar breach of the rules of the Institution, when he became offensive in his language to the annoyance of the other patients, and the scandal of the place. Mr Rugg then requested him to take off the Hospital clothing and leave the premises, whereupon this pugnatious invalid showed fisht, and, ia defiance of all dicipline, challenged the head of the house to "box him for five shillings," using language all the while which; cannot be repeated. The Magistrate fined the defendant 10s with 'costs, remarking that a much heavier penalty would be inflicted, only that he considered the defendant had suffered some punishment in being turned out of the Hospital. i . The regular Meeting of the Grey River Hospital Committee was held at Gilmer's Hotel on Wednesday evening, Mr W. F. Strike in the chair. After the report of the scrutineers of th* late election had been read, which has been already printed, a letter was received from Mr C. A.' Hardy, Hon. Sec of the Greymouth Horticultural Society, applying, on behalf of that body, for the use of a pa»t of the hospital garden for the purpose of planting out the seeds lately received from Mr P. Comiskey. The request was granted. Mr Gilbert King was appointed Hon. Treasurer, and Mr John Arnott Hon. Secretary; and Messrs F. Hamilton, W..H. Revellj and M. Kennedy were appointed the Printing Committee ; Messrs Greenwood, Gilmer, and Glenn being the Visiting Committee for the month. At the Resident Magistrate's Court, at No Town, on Tuesday, a man named Kaae, who had just received two separate sentences of three months' imprisonment with hard labor, for petty larcenies, was charged under the Vagrant Act, with being an idle and disorderly person, having no lawful visible means o£ oupport, 16 -woo proved that he had been loafing about the locality of the Coal-mines for some time, sleeping en the coke ovens, in out-houses, and in coal-barges; Onj;one occasion,, he, it is said, found his way inta a publican's cellar, and after sampling the beer he left in a hurry leaving the spigot turned oft and letting the contents of the cask run away. He shifted his quarters, and was afterwards found at about 3 o'clock in. the morning, trying to get through the bar window of. Garven's Hotel, at the Arnold Bridge. The Magistrate lectured the prisoner, and sentenced him to an additional three months' imprisonment with hard labor. Mr J. E. Warner, of Guinness and Warner, solicitors, met with" an accident on Tuesday evening, while returning from No Town, where he had been engaged in the Warden's Court during the day. His horse shied and threw him not far from the Arnold Bridge, Mr Warner was severely shaken by the fall, and lay for a time partially insensible. The horse, which had bolted, waa caught and brought back, and by this time Mr Warner had recovered sufficiently to continue his ride to Greymouth. . At the conclusion of the sitting of the Resident Magistrate's and Warden's Courts, at No Town, on the 21st inst, Mr Whitefoord, the Resident Magistrate and Warden, took occasion to bear testimony to the high opinion the Court entertained of the services of Sergeant M'Myn, who, under the new police arrangements, will be removed to the city of Nelson from No Town. The Magistrate said that for nearly five years Mr M'Myn had performed the duties of clerk to the Magistrate's and Warden's Courts at Camptown and No Town in a most efficient manner, and to the entire satisfaction of the Bench, and that as the police-officer in charge of the district he had invariably acted with firmness, discretion, aud impartiality. Mr J. E. Warner paid a similar compliment to Mr M'Myn, on behalf of the members of the legal profession practising in the Court. We have much pleasure in. endorsing the opinion of the Warden and Mr Warner regarding Mr M'Myn, and we desire to add that during a long acquaintance with him in his official capacity, we have always known him courteous and obliging to the members of the press. •'■'•■' The following highly- important telegram from a Wellington correspondent, is pubin the Colonist, of the 18th .-—"The Government will survey the railway from East to Weatland via Amuri." This, says the Register, confirms the view "we have already expressed as to the ; probable intentions of the Government. If, therefore, there is any foundation for the rumor as to any easy pass having been discovered in this neighborhood, by a person who strictly preserves his incognito, it is quite time he openly declared his discovery, if he wishes to be of any use either to himself- or to the: public. r : The number of Colonial Bank shares applied, for in Hokitika is 3484. Ihe dead body of a female was found on Wednesday on the sea beach, at the foot of the old Waimea track. The remains have not, as yet. been identified. It is just possible that the remains may be those of Mrs Can uthera. late of Westport, an .'account of whose death appears elsewhere At the Wardeu's^Court, No Town, on the 21st instant, before Mr Warden Whitefoord, \h Hye arid' party sued J. D. Robb for damages for interference with their claim. The case was of a very trifling nature, although the complainants seemed to have gone to some expense in bringing it before the Court. From the evidence it appeared that the interference complained of was the result of a misapprehension on the part of the defendant as to tho complainants mark-

ing out a tail-race, and the Warden disr misled the case. Mr Warner, of Greymouth, appeard for the plaintiffs. Subjoined are the particulars taken from the Westport Times of the death by drowning of Mrs Carruthers, the wife of the Town Clerk of Westport : — " The town was startled on Saturday evening by the report that some one had committed suicid6 by drowning. A son of Mr Martin having reported that while lighting the lamp over the door of his father's hotel he had heard a cry from the river and had seen a. man with long hahv disappearing in the water. Inquiries were instantly made to find who the missing person could be, and at last it was found that no man was: missing, but that the wife of Mr George Carruthers, Town Clerk, had a short time before declared her intention of drowning herself. The unfortunate woman, who, under ordinary circumstances, was most quiet and respectably conducted, could not at times control an inclination to inordinate indulgence in strong liquor, and during the past week she had been some days absent from home.' It appears on Saturday evening she left the house of an acquaintance, then being under the influence of liquor, and went to another: house, where she partook of more drink. At the first place, it is said, she declared her intention of drowning herself, and on leaving the latter place, she asked a young lad residing there to take her to the middle of the street. He did so, and shortly afterwards returned to his parents in tears, and stated that Mr Carruthers had said she ' would die the same death as Captain : Parr.' It does not appear that any particular notice of this wild remark was taken until shortly after the cry was raised that some one was drowned. The first presentiment of the circumstance that the unfortunate husband receivedwaa given by the" strange behaviour of a little pet dog, the constant companion of its mistress. The dog had ■ been away with her during her prolonged absence, but" on Saturday night it returned home and lying down upon some garments of its mistress's would not stir, but continued whining as if in distress. - Up to 8 pm. on Tuesday evening no trace had been found of the missing body, ; although search parties had been out along the beach during the day in 'the expectation that it might be washed up by the tide. As an experiment, a charge of dynamite was exploded under water at the groin, in the hope that the body, if there, might be shaken adrift from any entanglement. The concussion was powerful, shaking the ground all around for some distance, but was ineffectual for the intended purpose." ■ A petty and impudent robbery was committed.at Molloy's Hotel, at the Arnold Bridge, on Saturday. A strange irian was observed prowling about the premises of Garven's Hotel all the evening, and some hours later he was found ensconced under the house, and ordered away. He went, and apparently did some bu«iness during his 1 abscence, for about one o'clock in the morning he was found under the house again, drunk, with a bottle half full of brandy, with; which he had evidently been making aii.ac- ;- quairitance, although some of it had been spilt on the ground. In the meantime Mr Molloy . missed a bottle of brandy from , his bar shelves, and there was no doukt 'ihe man had stolen it. • He was charged with the theft before C. Whitefoord, Esq., R.M., at No Town, on Tuesday, and he did not deny ; the i cKarge. The Magistrate sentenced him to ; three months' hard labor* in addition to a similar sentence he had just received for larceny at; Brunnerton. ,; : ; :... . :: /, A man named Kaae was brought before 0. Whitefoord, Esq., R.M., at No Town on the 21st. inst., charged with having stolen 30s from Charles Johnson, at Brunnerton, on the night of the 14th instant. The evidence went to; show that the prisoner and the prosecutor were sleeping in the same room at Seaton's Hotel, on the Nelson side of the river,- and Johnson left his vest hanging up in tha room whonhc Icf b in. fclio morning to-gorfro~workr On his return he found 30s, out of 34s that 'he left in his waistcoat pocket, ■ gone. The prisoner had b ■en 1 asked in the morning to pay for some drinks and board he had, and he said he only had one shilling and could not pay. ,He then went across the river to Alabaster's, where he spent money freely. Seaton and Johnson followed the* accused to Alabaster's arid charged' him. with the theft, when he said , he only had. a shilling, and offered to allow them to search. He was searched,- and 9s were found on him. ; : The prisoner then said if Johnson had lost any money on his account he would give the prosecutor his (the prisoner's) watch, and he left his watch with the prosecutor until '.'lie, paid back the 30s. The prisoner in his defence said he. had been drinking, arid did riot know what money he had when he said he only had one shilling. The Magistrate con-1 sideredthe prisoner had admitted his , guilt, when he offered his watch ds security for the. restitution of the money he had stolen/and sentenced him to three months' imprisonment with hard labor. An important extension of the railway system, Otago, has been made by the completion of the punediri and Green Island; line, and by the commencement ot regular traffic thereon. The Green Island district ; is a very important one, 'by its proximity to Dunedin, by its value as a'farming district, and especially by its possession of other resources in the form of huildihg stone: and coal. /Its coalfield is a very extensive 'one ; and, although the : coal ■ is riot of a character suited for ocean-going steamers, ' it is well adapted for domestic purposes, and for use in connection with stationary engines. The opening of the new line will materially aid in the development of the field, and practically make Green Island one of the most thriving suburbs of the city of Dunedin. • Mr Woodward's paper in' the Premier's new Handbook for New Zealand states that there are severity-seven : newspapers' published in this Colony. Their distribution is as follows :— Otago, 19 ; Canterbury, S; Marlborough, 3 ; Nelson, 10 ; Westland, 8 ; Wellington, 10 ; Hawke's Bay, 5 ; Taranaki, 2 ; and Auckland, 11. At Christchurch and Dunedin aa illustrated paper is published monthly; a Maori paper isissued fortnightly —27 weeklies, 9 tri-weeklies, 11 bi-weeklies,' and 28 dailies; This is a tolerably large provision of light literature for a population of a quarter of million of people, and should keep them well inforriied of current events. The fact of a hundred thousand shares in the new Colonial Bank having been applied for in the Province of Otago alone, indicates the existence of a large amount ofprasperity, and of faith in the future of the Colony and" its banking institution. 1 - In other Provinces there is, if not an equal," at least a proportienate demand for shares in the same 1 Bank. For some weeks past we ( Charleston Herald) have observed a pretty- full list of letters posted up as " detained for postage." On inquiring the reason, the Postmaster informed , us that the majority of the letters so detained; were stamped with the haif-pehay newspaper stamp, and as those stamps are admissable for newspapers onlyj he had no option but to detain them. Care should be tiaken in the future when posting letters that the proper stamps'orilybeused. ;■' '''■'- ; : ; A man named Eriright, a miner, was found lying dead on Sunday morning below the Half-way House between Charleston and Brigtitoo. He leaves' a wife iri Victoria. On Saturday, the Inangahua river between Reef ton and Black's Point was partly frozen over, the ice was however confined to the still water. ; ■ - . : ;:; .: As proof pf the advancing value of shares at lorry's, the Westport Times, mentions that a sale of one-eighth in. No. 2 Larry's has been effected at Llsa . ;,: : =. : :,,.., :

A proposal is mooted for the formation iof a Good Templar Lodge in Westport. The rules of the society permit females/as w.ell b,s male members to hold: office, arid actively superintend its affairs. fWithout ; questioning the need for such aninstitution, thereis very little doubt, says the Times, that its operations would be successful even in Westport. „.......„,.,.,, :. ....^,^.. c ., y ,^-.^. The;l)unedin Star remarks 'J-^'.^ln connection, with', the Samoa ;hoax, ; yie are informed by a well-known resident in the city that the^^ island; was^thofoughly. Iprospeetedimore: than twenty years ,ago -by experienced miner,s from California, and not the slightest trace of gold was found." .... r r j The Alpine Quartz-minihgCompabyi'pro,-perty,,comprising..three, leases, iSibout, fortyeight acres, at ' the Lyell, t! tbgeth : er with bat--tery, water-rights, shoot,, paddock, &c. , was sold at Westport, on ' Saturday, by auction, ; by Mr John Munro. .The whole brought. L 2150. Mr Saxtbn is the purchaser. L. : The Inangahua, Her<M of .thelSthsays- :-r Two hundred scrip in Anderson's changed hands on Friday/at rßs--9d. The figure is slightly below the riiarket price, holders de T manding,9SjtOi9g i.6d. . ,r „.-,.. .. „• r..,?. : ; As the result in a small way of the re-r trenchment policy/ o£; the ; Nelson Government, the following is interesting :— " The ferryman } at- Fox's : river I has fhauledi up' his . boat, protection and subsidy having been; withdrawn. Travellers, according to the Times, have now to ford, the stream, braving the ' : freshes- .and schilling; r-effects;i of ■: icy water." ; ; : The ■ Wellington ■ corresponderit" of :; the -: Otago 'Daily -Times says ; ,-it * f is rumored "that Mr Fox; imtends going hpme after the, session, and that a strong feeling exists that a disso-lution-will folio w ; . the, prorpgation.. „ ..;t The Wespporfi Times,- of 21st ,inst.,jhas the following:— "The 'price, of meat is,not only advancing' at but ;at ' all' other places along the coasts -Ori* the last trip of the Charles Edward ftoTHokitikathe'.providore had to pay Bd- per ; pound, for .beef for use on board. At. the'last sale .of /sheep, to account of Messrs Seaton arid Davidson, at Greymouth,' 36s pertead'w'eregiveri.'? ■■'- ■ 'By the' steamer Kennedy,' on her last trip, several .Greymouth: coritractors;:.arrived in Westport, no doubt for the purpose of taking stock and estimate of the projected railway' works, for which tenders close on the 29oh inst. • ■■i - fir.^v:\\ -v:i^^,l The Westport Road Board 'has dispensed with the services ofiits^paid^secvetary, and the local paper considers, its unlikely that the office will be a paid one for the future. The following guess has been made as to who will be the next.United States President by a Califomiancorresporiderit of a "contemporary': —'-You ought ' to "kriow ; ''-rii(ire of Americanvaffairs than we here, ; 'in some respects, .but^possibly the •latestpplitipal.sur.ritises may ; be worth something, to you. "The next President is alii the. [talk ;. .and 'there seems to be something stronger than a notion, in A f act; • a kittle bird?s -.whisper,-, that Butler is likely to fill the chair after Grant. .career- has been an. ex.trao.rdinary one, and illustrates in a striking' manner what can be'effected byillimitabre cheek and unbounded impudence. £ don't know whether North or South has .hated' General Butler's name most,' but cernainit is that he has been thoroughly detested .on all sides.': He has done things, and things have been said of him, which, would; have 'for land "completely blasted the; rep.utatiori, : political and social, of any other man ; and 'yet no matter how furious was ; the ; storm, iwhich for the time to have overwhelmed thid man, no sooner did its force abate and the weather moderate than there ihe was to be* seen steaming away steadily, right in, the teeth of everything, just holding hwown and making a little headway between the squalls. And nowthat'Sumner 48 : <leadit is expected ; that he will succeed him,. or if not in person, that a warming-pan will be. put 'in ,to keep the place warm.., for <him .untU'.the/ripe hour has arrived. Butlerisrii "is ; rampant;' just now in the States, and Grant i hiriiseE isalmostTaltogethef swayed by the. .counsels bf.the exbully. Butler you know is, a capital speaker of that kind which carries the 'mob with the orator, and he.haSi a ; "capital .head .on. his" shoulders. As a ," log-roller .^pr.pbably has no equal on the face oT this' planet, nob even inNew Zealand bf"m'WellirigtW,"wKere I this particular ; -,branch- of the timber trade i flourishes in amazing-strength." I The; Nelson Colonist, in alluding to? the I Loan Bill, which has been read a first time | in the Assembly, says:— The representatives | from this province must stand together as | one man, sink all their political ; differences, land demand —for Nelson this loan. Considering -the little . pecuniary , assistance Nelson has.. re^^ > given to the other provinces, surety the Go- : yernment, and -Parliament: will not; cannot j ignore her just claim which she mow makes ; in an hour of great need. | Favorable : news ; still comes from the | M ohikinui, : north of Westport. :i : The reet in: I the prospectors claim is materially improving ; ias it trends its wayito towards No. 1 North;land sangume shareho}ders;assert: ! that;if it, ! continaes to improve in the ratio at present ] indicated the reef will' be all gold before I reaching the northern- boundary^ !:^Atj the ■ ] river., Messrs Seaton and r partyfare actively I pushing on the construction of the coal j wharf and anticipate to-be able, in a few Iweeks time, itosup'ply coal in "any quantity |to .skippers Galling in the port.- Mr Lewis' I Sweet, the ; licensed f erryman ::ahd accommo-jdation-housekeeper,, has, ; , in view of ari injcreased. shipping ; \ trade .in '. the Mohikinui: |riyer,.;e,rect'edVa 35ft. signal, staff, to: guide,"; vessels in intering^ and has made prepara-.. tioas to use M arryat's Code of Signals. This will prove a very essential ad varitage at the port, and such iriterprise should not fail due ' recognition by , the Provincial ; authorities^ ; ; "' '■ ■ f