Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1974, 3 December 1874, Page 2

A fire, which luckily did not extend beyond tho building in which it originated, broke ont yesterday afternoon in a small cottage in Rae's right-of-way, occupied by a person named Long. The* fire was discovered shortly after its commencement, and the. ffre-bells promptly brought the members of the Fire Brigade to the rescue, although the engine did not arrive<»as speedily as coukl have been wished, owing partly to the inaccessible nature of the locality, and, we are sorry to Have to add, to the lack of assisttauce in dragging the engine and^hose-reel to the scene. By the time the Brigade reached the building, the greater part of the furniture had been removed, and the efforts of the Brigade were confined to preventing the spread of the fire to the adjoining premises. In this they were quite successful, but the cottage itself wa3 destroyed. Several instances of that pluck which occasions of this kind call forth were not wanting, and amongst those who distinguished themselves, we may mention Mr Walton, to whose efforts the safety of an adjoining dwelling was mainly due. The fire is supposed to have originated through a defective fireplace. No ono was in the house at the time. Ifc was fortunate that but little wind prevailed at the time, and that was in a direction which carried the flames away from the adjacent buildings, otherwise the disaster would probably have been more serious. Captain Amos reports that the place available for the engine on the beach was obstructed by loose stones. There were nearly 1000 ft of hose, including the new canvas hose, required to lift the water from the engine to the top of the hill.

The meeting of this Licensing Court, for hearing and deciding applications for publicans' licenses, transfers, &c, takes place tomorrow, at noon, at the Court House.

We see by an advertisement in our columns that the mortgagees submit to public auction the Little Wonder mine and battery, the property of Messrs Carroll and Cairns. The "Herald," of Tuesday, says .— " As miners, both have gained a very favorable repotation, and after becoming considerable employers of labor they were conspicuous by their liberality. Their enterprise has been productive of very important results to the Lyell district, since it was the development of their mine that first gained for that district a vepntation which, attracted outside attention and capital. The Lyell residents will view with much concern the adversity which has overtaken two more of the deserving pioneers of that district."

At the "Resident Magistrate's Court, yesterday, before the Hon. H. H. Lahman and W. H. Harrison, Esq, J.P.s a female inebriate was fined 20s with the alternative of twenty-four hours' imprisonment. Agnes Holmes, a laundress, residing in Maekay street, was charged on. the iuformatiou of G. O'N'eill with having assaulted him, and done actual bodily harm. The parties are neighbors^ and on the occasion of the assault some acrimonious words passed between them, and the defendant resorted to the argumentuem ad liominm by striking the complainant on the left eye with, an old iron, hatchet, inflicting the injury complained of. The complainant's face presented sufficient evidence of the assault, and had not the weapoa been blunt, it is probable tbat it would have done more serious damage. As there was a probability that the defendant had received some provocation, she received the mitigated sentence of fourteen days' imprison ment with hard labor.

Mr William Craig is appointed a member of the Licensing Court, of Ahaura, viceG-. L. Greenwood, Esq, J.P.

A paragraph io our columns a day or two ago stated that Mr W. M'Culloch, of the Thames, bad been appointed Provincial Grand Master of Freemasons hailing under the Scottish Constitution in New Zealand. This is a misapprehension. Tiie appointment refeis to the North Island only. Mr John Hislop is P.G.M. for the Middle and South Island.

The "Lyell Argus" of Saturday last, under the heading "The Main. Reef," says : — "The opinion that a large body of very rich, stone would some day be discovered near the head of Irishman's Creek, which is a tributary of Lyell Creek, has been advanced over and over again by those who were best able to judee, and repeated efforts have from time to time been made to ascertain its whereabouts. The last and best directed of these efforts was one under the auspices of the United Alpine Quartz-mining Company, Limited, and we have the greatest possible pleasure in announcing that their enterprise and perseverance has at length been crowned with the most complete succesc. Lyell can no longer bo taunted with the ephemeral character of its quartz lodes, for in the low level tunnel of that company's claim there is now exposed to view 50ft of a Teef as well defined and infinitely richer tWi any other yet opened in this island. The importance of the discovery was adequately marked by the first banquet ever held in Zalatown, which took place on the" 23rd November, when 37 "f the friends of the shareholders sab down to partake of their hospitality and to congratulate them on their great good fortune. The arrangements of the evening were carried out in an admirable manner, and 1 both the banquet and the ball which succeeded it were thoroughly enjoyable.'^ |

Sir George Grey (says the " Southern Cross") has not resiled from the position he has |taken up respecting Provincialism and th«> allocation of the Land Fund as arranged by the compact of 1856. From circumstances which have come to our knowledge we believe tbat at the next general election Sir George will present himself as a candidate for a seat in the House of Representatives, and it is probable that he will offer himself for one of the seats for the City of Auckland.

Another old and good 1 colonist has gone to his rest Sir Samuel Osborne Gibbes has been gathered to his fathers at a good ripe age. For the last quarter of a century he had been a settler at Wancarei, in the Province of Auckland. In his early life he served his country in various capacities with faithfulness, and before coming to this colony had taken employment under the Government of New South Wales. He^as esteemed by every community among which he resided, and his loss will h<s much felt. Sir Osborae "'Gibb'os was one of the Nova Scotia Baronets, and is succeeded in the title by his son, who is now chief clerk in the Immigration department, Wellington. '

Measles continue to be very prevalent throuahoub the Province of Otago. We learn that no less than forty of the Industrial Sjhnol children, at Duuerlin, were affectotl with the diseaso about eight clays since, and now seventy-five are ill. There have been no cases at the Caversham Barracks since their erection, except two, which were introduced from shipboard.

Francia H. Byrne, late correrponding secretary of the Hibernian Australian Catholic Benefit Society, was placed on his trial at the^Criminal Sessions, Melbourne, on the 19th ult, charged with embezzling three sums of money, 30s, L2O, and L 4 6s belonging to the society. Mr Molesworth defended tKe accused. The case for the Crown was that it was Byrne's duty to receive moneys belonging to the society and pay them to the treasurer within forty-eight hours. On 23rd February hejhad appropriated to his own use 30s passed for payment to Messrs Wallach Bros, of Elizabeth street; on Ist May the L2O that had been received by him from the Beechworth branch of the society to pay for members regalia ; and on the 11th June, L 4. 10s passed to Mr S. H. Roberts, for work done on the society's behalf. These sums it was said Byrne had nob accounted for. The defence as to the smaller items was that Byrne had received them to pay into one credit and he had paid it to another : and as to tbe L2O, that was a private transaction between him and the Beechworth society, with which the prosecutors had nothing to do. His Honor summed up in favor of the accused as to the smaller sums, but against him as to the L2O count. The jury, after a quarter of an hour's deliberation, acquitted the accused. Another information was at once filed against Byrne, charging him with the embezzlement of other sums belonging to the same society, and he was admitted to bail to take his trial on the fresh charges.

From the " Otago Daily Times" of the 19bh nit, we learn that amongst the large quantity of gold brought dowa by the Northern escort was a magnificent cake from the Cromwell Company's claim, weighing 1200oz This parcel was obtained from 250 ton 3of quartz, being 4oz 16dwt to the ton. Mr Logan informs us that there is another cake of equal size ready for retort on Ms return to Cromwell. •'1 he Company's mine promises to rival the Thames Caledonian, as the stone at present being taken out gives indications of proving even richer than that recently crushed. The above specimen was recently exhibited in the window of Mr J. Hislop, Princes street, where hundreds had the privilege of admiring ib. The annual carnival at] Beechworth this year exceeds in magnificence and display any yet previously held. The Chinese, as usual, are to the fore with their gorgeous costumes, representing,, ifc is s»id, a value of more than LIOOO. The (Germans also make a great show, . having received from the Crown Prince of Germany a number of splendid uniforms, and in these the German's of the Beechworth district figure as German cavalry. All [thines conspired to make the affair a success. The weather was exceedingly fine, and there were nearly 10,000 persons assembled to witness the procession. A fancy ball was held in connection with the carnival. As tbe expenses incurred on the present occasion will be lighter than those last year, it is expected that the funds of the charitable institutions of the district will be largely benefited.

A novel application of the telegraph has been devised in France — the transmitting copies of maps and diagrams. A numerallygraduated, semi-circular plate of glass is laid by the telegraph over the map to be transmitted, and a pencil of mica attached to a piveted slip of metal, also divided into numbers, is allowed to move over the plate. Looking through a fixed eye-piece the operator traces out his map on the glass with the adjustable mica pencil, and, noticiug the numbers successfully touched on the plate and on the moving metal arm, telegraphs to his correspondent, who, by means of an exactly similar apparatus, is enabled to trace out an exactly similar map.

Mr.Codman, in his recent work on Utah, says "I nas astonished to hear polygamy advocated by ladies of education and refinement ; among them a school teacher who strongly favored it, perhaps because she was no longer young. At an hotel where I was staying I met a young married lady of one of the first families of Salt Lake. Two of her intimate friends were with her. One day, when they were out of the room, she asked me, ' What do you think of A—?' ' She is a charming giri,' I replied. ' Indeed she is, exclaimed Mrs B — , 'I do wish Bt— (her husband) would marry her, I should so like to have her with me all the time !' "