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Grey River Argus, Volume XVI, Issue 2047, 1 March 1875, Page 2

The election of two assessors and auditors for the Borough of Greymouth, takes place to-day at 8 o'clock a.m. and closing at 4 p.m. The candidates are Messrs Lyell, Bindmarsh, and Euß-*>ll. The polling-place is the Town Hall, Greason street.

The acceptances for the Greymouth Jockey Club handicap will Da received by the Secretary up to eight o'olook this evening, at the Albion Hotel

The adjourned meeting of the District Court will be held at the Resident Magistr te's Onurt this morning at 10 o'clock, and the Quarterly Meeting of thn Licensing Court will he held to-morrow morning at t -c <!-iurt House here, aud on Wednesday at Maori Creek.

The monthly meeting of the Volunteer Fire Brigade t#kes place this evening at 8 o'clock. An inspection of all uniforms, belts, k*vß, and other property belonging to the Bri.ade will be made, and it is particularly requested chat all the members will be in attendance. As already announced the battery at the Wealth of Nations claim was started, aftar the fixing of the new iron pipes, on the morning of Monday, the 15th instant, and the plates were scraped on Saturday the 20th, with a yield of 3910z of amalgam for the five days. The plates were again scraped on Saturday, the 27ch, with an additional yield of 4840z of amalgam, or 8750z off the plates alone for eleven days crushing. It will be remembered (says the Hokitika "Star" that last week, Mr Guinness moved in the Provincial Council, that the AttorneyGeneral's opinion be taken as to whether the Ordinances mentioned in the schedule to the County of Westland Act, 1868 were repeale I on the election of the Superintendent, ar>d that Mr Woolcocl r mentioned that the opinion of^Mr Button, the Provincial Solicitor, was, that they were not repealed. In accordance with the motion, the case was submitted for the Attorney General's opinion, and a. telegram has been received, to the effect that the Attorney-General agrees with Mr Button in thinking that the Ordinances are not repealed. Sir James Pergusson, according to the San Francisco oorresp undent of the nd news, seems to have been inferior in acuteness to an \ merican cousin. The story is — Though Sir James came here attended by a most gentlemanly valet, he did not save his dign : tv from an American sell 'Tis the custom here with the railway folks to tout for business, and ev^ry stranger who arrive* in the city is at once button-holed, 'and almost forcer 1 to buy tickets for a line he knows nothing of, or may not care to travel on. These touters are pretty sma^t fellows. One of them went after Sir James and talked him into the belief that he was a great railway magnate, who. having heard of the arrival of the distinguished and illustrious visitor, took the earliest opportunity of calling upon-fcim, with a view of giving directions for his comfort. He assured Sir James every attention would be paid to him. that his British prejudices would not be touched upon the raw, that, in fact, th« lion of England would be made so comfortable that he would have no chance of alarming r.he country by an anery growl. As a mark of respect to Sir James, be had, with his own hands, brought the tickets necessary to bis safe conduct across the continent. Sir James was delighted, the sugar-coated bait was swallowed, and the sharp runner pocketed the coin and commission that was lovely to behold. Fancy Sir James' rage when he discovered that he had been patronised by a sharp Yankee only one remove from a cabby Fancy, also, the mild and gentle protest which he would lodge with his gentlemanly valet. The following remarks from the Hokitika "Star," relating to the tramway compensation question, are worth perusal : —♦• It should be remembered that when Mr VToorhouse visited Westland in his oaoacity as Superintendent, he was in many places waited upon by influential deputations, who urged upon him to grant all possible concessions to any companies which might be willing to invest their capital in the construction of tramway lines, and that at that time, the companies were regarded with a« much favor as they are now with dislike. We cannot forget that when Westland sent representatives to the Provincial Council of Canterbury, a sum of L 13.500 was in one session, voted for roads and tracks on this si'?e of the Dividing Range, and that the wV.ole of the amount with the exception of L 350, which was paid to increase an amount collected among the residents of the Waimea district for making a track from Waimea to the place where Stafford was afterwards built, was diverted from the object for which the money had been voted, and expended in the construction of public buildings in FTokitika. and the erection of houses for officers of the Government. Under theae circumstances, the offer of the tramway companies to provide a cheap and easy means of communication with some of the outlying centres of population, was eagerly seized upon, and no unprejudic d person will deny that the construction of the various lines, in the total absence of Government roads, was to all intents and purposes, a great public benefit." The news reached Reef ton on Thursday evening that a large body of stone had been struck in the United Band of Hope, showing payable gold. A sum exceeding LIOO has been collected in the Inangahua district for Mr Archibald Moore, who received serious injnry to the head by a fall from the river bank protective works at Reefton. We (" Herald ") are glad to learn that Mr George Vl 'Lean, some years ago manager of the Bank of New Zealand at Dunedin, has invested in some of the leading interests in the Inangahua district. His purchases have been confined to the Energetic, Fiery Cross, and Golden Fleece mines, in all of which dividends will be declared at an early date. The " West Coast Times " has declined to report the Provincial Council under subsidy on the ground of the meddlesome interference of members who are discontented with the space allotted to their speeches. Our contemporary sayß :— "The simple consequence is that we shall continue to give as fair a reflex as was given of the proceedings on Friday, and that the Province will save its L 7 a week, while we shall be saved each intended insults as that coming from Mr Guinness who first ' authorised ' what was never asked for, and then spoke of • this paper which we piy ' Tn more business-like phraseology, this has been intimated thus to the Council, inthef.llowing letter to the Provincial Secretary from the proprietors of this paper :— • Sir— We have the honor to inform you that we must decline to accept the offer made by the Government, at the instigation of the Provincial Council, to Bupply a report of the proceedings of the Provincial Council in the " West Coast Times" of not less than three columns per day, for the sum of L 7 per week, during the balance of the session. We did desire to meet the Government and the Council in this respect when the proposal was first made, and furnished in this morning's paper, as a commencement, the specified quantity, being what we deemed a fair report of the previous evening's proceedings, but finding already that our attempting to fulfil an agreement of the kind in a manner which would be satisfactory to all the members of the Council would be utterly hopeless, we prefer retaining our present editoral and reporting staff untrammelled.' "

The "Lyttelton Times" says:— "Now that harvest operations are nearly over and threshing has commenced, the unerring test of the machines confirms the opinions which have been generally expressed for some time past, that the farmers are blessed with the heat crops they have garnered for many years. From every grain growing district, both in this province and Otago, we hear of lange yields, both of wheat and oats, the quality alio being everything that can be dsfeired/