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Grey River Argus, Volume XVI, Issue 2146, 25 June 1875, Page 2

We draw the attention of those interested to the notice in our advertising columns of a Meeting of the Greymouth Building and Investment Society, to be held at ' Waters's Eotel, this evening. ! A Chinaman named Bang Lum . hanged himself at Welshman's on Wednesday. . In the morning he refused to goto work, but his mate At Took went, and when he returned to dinner he found Bang Lum hanging to one of the rafters of the hut. He was cut down immediately, but was found to be dead. Deceased appeared to be all right on the previous day, and the witnesses could assign no cause for the rash act. An inquest will be held this day at Barnhill's store, Marsden- road, to which place the body has been removed. The Magistrate's Court was occupied yesterday investigating the remanded charge against Edgar Snow of having unlawfully assaulted a Chinaman named Ah Hawk at Marsden. oh the night of the 14th of June, with intent to do him grievous bodly harm. George Tin Ya acted as interpreter. ' The facts as collected from the evidence seemed to be that there was a quarrel in the store, and some wrestling took place. They went out on the roacf, when Snow'followed them, pushed Ah Hawk down, then picked up a stone and hit him on the forehead Ah. Pong said he was only three yards from the prisoner when he picked up the stone. He ran after the prisoner. Ah Hawk sang out in Chinese that he had had his head broken. The two men were on the ground, the prisoner on the top. Pulled him off, saw nothingia his hands, but told him he was killing the man. Ah Fong held the prisoner down until some Europeans came up, when he took Ah Hawk to Russell's. He was then insensible. Dr Morice said that about the 15th inst. he went to Marsdeu to see Ah Hawk. He was suffering from a severe contused wound on the right temple which was right down to the bone. Ah Hawk had lost a large quantity of blood. The wound must have been produced by a blunt instrument, but the blow must have been a very violent one. If the wound had resulted from a fall, he would have expected to have seen grazes on other parts of the face, unless the man had fallen upon some sharp stone projecting from the ground. The wound might have been produced by a blow from a stone in a man's hand. After a number of other witnesses had been examined, defendant was committed to take his trial at the next sitting of the District Court, bail allowed himself in LIOO, and two sureties in LSO each. . The following items of Koss news are from the Guardian :— " A quarter share in the Greenland water-race was sold on Saturday for L6O. The race is expected to be completed by 'Christmas. —Section' No; 3 of the Bowen and Okarito road (north end) is expected to be finished shortly." The following extended notice is given by the telegraph department !— The steamer Omeo is expected to leave Port Chalmers at 2.30 p.m, on Saturday, the 26th inst. Telegrams for the Aus'ralian Colonies or Europe via. Java Table, will be received at the Greymouth office for transmission to Port Chalmers up till 1 p.m. on the 26th inst. An Auckland telegram in a southern paper is to the following , effect : — " At a meeting of four hundred Kaipara natives, a petition to the Queen was adopted praying for the continuance of Sir Donald M'Lean's services as Native Minister for ever. The Chief who prepared it said he understood it ; was necessary to petition the Queen in order to keep the Native Minister among them. Two hundred signatures were appended." The Borough Counoil of Timaru are agitating for the appointment of a Harbor Board for that port. In consequence of the action of the Dunedin butchers in, without any apparent reason but to enhance their own profits, raising .the price of meat ldperlb, the formation of a co-operative butchery is strongly advocated in the local papers. .... The West Coast Times of yesterday states that the Arahnra road, in consequence of the neglect of the authorities to provide for the increased heavy traffic on the road in the conveyance of timber and the Waimea Waterrace pipes, is in " a scandalous condition. " The last monthly escort in Otago brought down 13570z of gold. A member of the Otago Provincial Council was detected smoking whilst the Council was in Committee the other day. The Times says that late sittings have, a " demoralising effect "upon hon. members. At Hayelpok, Otago, the ice in a lagoon was strong enough to admit of skating, in which a number of residents indulged a few days ago. - Mr Macandrew, in proroguing the Otago Council, said he cordially agreed that the ; proposed constitutional changes should be first defined »new, and then calmly and deliberately considered by the people. If this were done, abolition would find but few 'supporters. -. ■ : ' ; The Evening Post contains the following telegram :—" An extraordinary revelation was made in' connection with the purging of the electoral roll fo.r-,th,e. notorious Waitamate district) contested, twice by Von der Hyde and J. S. Macfarlane. A piece of land a|t Riverhead had been divided into allotments by the agents of the latter, and sections given to employees and a very miscellaneous collection of people, on which application was made to vote. All these were objected tpi but the man who objected had been pjaid by Mabfarlane's agent to sign an order .withdrawing the objections,, and kept out of ' the way. The Revising Officer, on the repre* Vsentation of counsel, refused to permit the [withdrawal, aad 166 claims to vote were /.struck og, oostß|b9ing ; aPpwed is the oaa,eso

80. Such a wholesale attempt to corrupt an electoral roll was never before disclosed in New Zealand." We are informed that the line now being taken by the surveyors of the Mikonui Water Race, will be six miles shorter than the old survey, but this will involve the driving of a tunnel about a mile and threequarters in length. Referring to the death by drowning of Mr John Gilfillan of Wanganui, through the capsizing of a canoe, in which he and two other gentlemen were making an excursion on Lake Rotorua, the Herald says: — "Mr Gilfillan was the last male representative of his family, we believe, and was a pative of this neighborhood. Some of our oldest residents have a vivid recollection of a tragedy which occurred in 1847, in what is now known as the No. 2 line valley, and of which four members of the Gilfillan family were the victims. A party of six natives attacked the residence of the late Mr Gilfilian's father who escaped through a window, and on his return found his wife and two children, two sons and a daughter— all murdered, John, then a very little boy, having by some happy accident contrived to escape the notice of the savages. The settlers, after a week's chase, succeeded in capturing five of the murderers, who were tried and executed according to the summary process of martial law. One of them, who seems to have been a mere boy, succeeded in baffling his pursuers,. or rather was allowed to escape in consideration of his youth," Julius Duncan, a newspaper reporter in the Beecher-Tilton case, who committed suicide, in a letter to his employers advised them of his intention, said—" I am weary with the blasphemy and perjury of the Beecher trial, and poisou myself to get out of it." Henvy M. Cleveland, one of the. witnesses, is in such a state of physical 1 prostration, consequent on severe cross-examination, that he is not expectedto survive." Messrs Moody and Sankey, or some of their friends, are proposing that the American revivalists should undertake the conversion of the British Legislature. It is proposed that the service shall be held in her Majesty's Theatre, and a circular t« questing the attendance" of members of both Houses will bevißsued bytwo gentlemen^, members of the House of. Commons, who are on the Committee. It would be rather interesting to observe how a converted House of Commons would behave itself. : : A very curious circumstance (says the Melbourne Argus) in connection with the prevalence of diptberia at Yea*; has been: re-" ported to us on the best authority. It will be remembered that for some time diptheria was constantly breaking .out; amongst -the children attending the state school. at this place, and in consequence the school for many months was almost constantly closed. Ultimately the children were removed to another building, and diptheria, .ceased in the district. In the meantime the Building was thoroughly fumigated and cleaned, and for three months remained unoccupied. A short time ago the Government lent the building to the residents for;the purpose of a tea meeting,' and we are informed that all the persons who sit onone form in one portion of the building were immediately after seized with the disease. It was on this form, placed in the same. position, that nearly all the children who attended this. school and previously suffered from diptheria used to sit. We do not pretend to explain the circumstance, but the fact is as stated. One of the oldest — if not the oldest—Oddfellows in Dunedin died a few day ago. His name was George Giles, aged 67, and he had been a member of the Independent Order for 37 years. He had held the office of Outside Guardian to three lodges of that body in Dunedin for a considerable time, and over 100 members of the Order paid the last tribute of respect to his memory by accompanying his remains to theit- resting-place. Steps are being taken in Dunedin to aid in the establishment of a Celtic Chair in the Edinburgh University. Much heartiness was displayed at a recent meeting, at which the following resolution was carried by acclamation :— "That . this .^meeting heartily sympathises with ; the movement that has been initiated, in Sco land to raise an endowment for the establishment of a Celtic Chair in connection with the Edinburgh University, and resolves to give a hearty response to the appeal made by the Home Committee to the Highlanders in the Colony to aid in raising. the sum required, viz., L 12.000 or L 14.000." A committee was appointed. The traffic upon the Southland railways, like that upon the lines in Otago proper, increased greatly last year, and the official report upon them in other respects is thoroughly satisfactory. The passengers carried during the year ending 31st March, 1875, numbered 23,505 more than in the preceding twelve months, and the goods traffic showed a progressive increase j the money result of the improvement being that L 22 ,163 was received last year, as compared with L 13.101 in the previous year. The several lines, too, are reported to be in " fair working order," and the rolling stock is also in good condition. At a large drinking saloon in Fulton street, New York, kept by Mr Slane, the following notice is posted up in large letters behind the bar : — " No discussion about the BeecherTilton trial is allowed in this establishment." The cause of this annnucement is thus explained by the New York Times :—" Two strangers began arguing the merits of the case. One was a pronounced advocate of Beecher, the other a firm believer in Tilton. The discussion grew warm, and' finally the Beecher man, catching up a large ice-pitcher standing on the bar, threw it at the head ef his opponent. His aim was not as firm as his intention, and the missile flying wide of its mark, demolished a pier-glass worth over lOOdol. The next "morning Mr Slane hung up the placard. His example has been followed by many other saloon-keeper." The Wellington Tribune says it will be some time yet before we can hope to have the telegraph to New Plymouth. The Taranaki News, whose editor is well informed on Native affairs, says that any attempt to take the wire at the present time between the Stony River and Opunake would probably result to loss of life to one or more of those engaged | in the work. The temper of the natives on this question (the writer continues) : is not improved since Honi Pilhama was told by Te Wetu, one of Brady's murderers, that he would shoot him on the first attempt he should make to erect a telegraph post. < At a meeting at Parihaka, a Ngatiporou Native, told those assembled that they would. never' cease to be troubled on the question of wire until they killed Mr Parris. And, on one occasion, Te Whetu and another Native stopped the cooch and asked for Mr Parris, when he was expected to be fa passenger by it, for the purpose of killing him and so settling the telegraph question. Whatever difficulties have existed have been aggravated by the articles on the subject— (which are often translated to the natives) urging on the Government that the wire should be taken, orthat the Government was going to take it forthwith, &c. -and by the Paheka Maories, who occasionally travel the coast, and<do all they can to embarass the Government in its dealings with natives. " The Wanganui Herald eays:-^" The battle of Waireka, which took place on the 28th of March, 1860, will no doubt be fresh ia r the memories; of most of our readers, who will remember that Mr F. G. Rawson, of New Plymouth, was severely wounded in the le on that occasion, The wound was bo ba

that his life was despaired of for some time, the bullet having passed through the upper part of the thigh bone, severing it completely in two, aa well aa shattering it lengthwise as far down as the knee-cap ; and the pain has been so excessive at times as to prevent Mr Rawson from moving about. However, on Sunday week, after beinp confined to bed several days, and poultices had been applied to the wound, a jagged piece of bone about two inches long and three-eighths of an inch thick, worked his way out of the flesh. The Budget, from which we gather the foregoing facts, says that the bone has probably travellelthe whole length of the thigh, and that the cause of ps»in4s now removed. So singular an occurrence is worthy of note, it being now over 15 years since the wound was recaived." The Otago Daily Times, of the 15th inst, says :— " It is our melancholy duty to record a fact that will cause consternation to the' members of the House of Representatives, and also to all members of the Reporters' Galleries. Mr J. C. Brown, the honorable member for Tuapeka, has suddenly developed into an orator. He delivered no less than five speeches in the Council yesterday, and although he appeared to be somewhat awk- : ward at first in his new character, he gradually improved, and at last even soared into the region of eloquence. His fellow Councillors were considerably surprised at this outburst ; but surprise at last gave way to admiration, and the hon. member • resumed his seat amid loud applause.' " The Rimutuka railway tunnel, on the Wellington Railway, is now a quarter through. Progress at the rate of one foot day is being made. The Otago Guardian has a leading article upon the character of the Dunedin bar, and < its general tendency is not to induce ons to hold a very flattering opinion of the legal profession is the southern city. The Guardian says : — " We are loth to single out any particular members of the profession as offenders, but we ' would, in all seriousness, ask the legal gentlemen of Dunedin if they approve of, and intend to allorr to pass uncensured, such. . disgraceful scenes . as those which were enacted in Macassey V. ' Bell some months ago, and in a later case in the Residenv Magistrate's Court, when it went the ; round 1 of the iiorthern papers . that one legal gentleman stigmatised another 'as 'a damned scoundrel "? In the same case one of the counsel insinuated that his Worship the Magistrate's knowledge of the law was very slight, and'that Tie would as soon have a merchant on the Bench to adjudicate o^ the case then being tried. ' Still more recently, and onljr a day or two ago, we heard of a scene having been enacted in the same Court which would not for one instant be tolerated in any -respectable school-room in the Colony, or,. if such a thing did happen as that a schoolboy were caught asking a schoolfellow to come outside and he would pull his nose, as one learned gentleman is reported to have said to another on Friday last, the boy would be well r caned. What 'people in the other Provinces think, of our bar when such interchanges of courtesies are permitted, can easily be imagined:' ;i We' have heard reports of a barrister, who was defending.; a prisoner on trial for .his life, obtaining. an adjournment of the Court for ten : miuutesV during a critical part of his . Bpeech-, for the. defence, and then withdrawing .with, the, prisoner into an ante-room, ' ' and literally extorting from him, by threatening to' throw up his brief, a fee.; of LSO, in "addition to what he hadjjreviously received— some one hundred guineas. ' The Ross people are 'plucking up their spirits a little at the prospect of some improvement in the Condition of gold-mining in that district. The formation of a . public company to wurk the Kohinoor claim at Redman's'appears to have been so far successful, a considerable number of shares having been disposed; 'of.'; lt is expected that the company will commence active operations as Boon as possible. The Kohinoor is not the only claim at Redman's which may be looked upon as likely to be prolific of gold, as the new party that have taken up the Bowen Extended have struck fresh ground, and are doing well. "Last, but not least," says the Ross Guardian, " is the cheering intelligence from Mr Tribe, about the Mikonui Waterrace." The member for the Totara has written a letter to Mr Cuming, which is published in the Guardian, and with reference to the Mikonui race, he says : — " As to Mr Vogel's absence, I can easily understand your anxiety, but his wprdß.to me were: that the Ministry had decided to make a re-survey, and that if the report should be favorable, would provide the means to make the Mikonui race. He told me this soon after the division on the Abolition resolution, and said it had been decided in the Cabinet a few days before, but he waited the result of the division before communicating it. I consider the Ministry are bound to provide for the construction of the race, if the report be favorable ; and as ; my influence with them has grown steadily, and now .my colleages unanimously support the work, I think the odds are largely in its favor." The Mount Ida sludge channel, like other General Government works on the gold-fields, is not much nearer completion than it was a. year ago, whilst a party of private miners have accomplished a similar work at half the cosb and in half the time already consumed. Now that the winter has set in, we would recommend to our readers the advisability of supplying themselves with warm clothing and blankets. In reference to this subject we are pleased to see that Messrs Smith and Barkley have a large stock which they "have imported direct from the home markets, thereby saving the importers' profit, and giving their customers the benefit' of same. Messrs Smith and Barkley have also a splendid stock of flannels, wool plaids, and F/renchJmerinos.— Advt. The Provincial Council of Otago have voted L 250 to the widow of the late Mr Hawthorne, who was formerly Rector of the High School, Dunedin. We notice that Mr Duncan M'Lean, Boundary street, has imported a very superior quality of Rum, called Red Heart Ktun. As there is a great deal of sickness and colds about, we quote some remarks from the London Morning Post : — "Red Heart Rum, the oldest, purest, and finest stimulant of the age, especially selected for hospital purposes by the Society for Aid to the Sick and Wounded in the late French and German War. Rum varies in quality as much as port wine or claret, and it is only the finest, and oldest descriptions that have the beneficial effects so justly ascribed to the .Red Heart Rum by the medical profession, so that when Red Heart Rum is recommended in cases of consumption, cholera, dysentery, low fever, cold, overwoiked brain, &c, unlike other Rums, the Red Heart Rum is totally free from any bilious properties." — Advt. ...':..■