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Grey River Argus, Volume III, Issue 176, 28 February 1867, Page 2

An advertisement appears in another column calling a public meeting to beheld this evening at the Religious -Institution Rooms "to consider the conduct of the Improvement Committee in refusing to receive a petition signed by more than two hundred of the inhabitants." No name is appended to the notice, but we may inform the public that ifc emanates from Mr Gecge Simmons, who took such an active part in getting up the petition referred to. Although a meeting called under such circumstances cannot strictly be ent'tled to be considered a public one, we trust the. inhabitants will muster ; strongly in order that the question may. re. ceive in reality a thoroughly public discussion. .' . '■;'' "■"■■ ■...'.■.■,".'". ■'•■', / / At a nieetiug of. the Hospifca] CominittcQ held l.st evening, the tenders for ..the supply of medicines for the ensuing six mouths was opened, they were as follows : — Prosser, L 12 0; 'Williams, L 270. Mr Prosscr's tender was accepted . Resplvcd that t the Secretary, Treasurer, and Surgeon have their reports prepared for- submission to the public meeting on Wednesday; March C, We have received a letter signed " Herbert Ashton" urging the necessity of the Improvement Committee taking steps for the pni> chase of a life-boat for this port. Wo quite agree with our correspondent that it is a matter of the most urgent necessity that a life-boat should be stationed, here — indeed •we need not go further for ari instance of this than the supposed castaway boat that was observed-out at sea on Tuesday. It was too late on the tide for any steamer to go out, but a life-boat might have" done so, and would possibly have been. the means pf saving the life pf the ppor fclbw whp is supposed very prpbably to have becri leftto the mercies of the wind and waves of- this stormy coast, without any means of succor. It is clearly the bpunden duty of- the Government to pro.vide life-boats for the West Coast ports, and we are surprised that this *mrtst important matter \yas uimpticed at, the late session of the Provincial Council. One of the -Auckland papers states that : •the escaped. and rc-caijtwred prisoner BloomHeld is said to. be the sbii of Rush, the riototorious murderer of Mr/ Jardinej^ and his family, at Stanfield Ha11,.. Norfolk. He w<is recognised by a gentleman visiting the Mount Eden Stockadej who had been connected with the Stafford gaol in England. An amateur dramatic performance is always mere or leas a source of a^tr(;ctiou, and the one to-morrow evening will no doubt draw a large audience. A number of gentlemen amateurs will on this occasion ])laj' as a compliment to. Mr Lionel Harding, the pieces for representation being " The. Wonder, or a Woman keeps aSebvet," and the screaming farce of "As like as,, two peas.'' We trust there will be a full house. . Au inquest was held priTuesday afternoPii before W. H. ReveU, Esq., R.M., on the body of George Leff, a passenger by tie QV.St aanian Maid, who had died pn tlie passage from Fox's. It appeared that the deceased had been suffering from jaundice, jvnd was in a weak state when he -.was put pu boani for cpnveyance to the Hospital. Every attention was paid to; him pn board the steamer, but he expired shortly after. Dr Morrice who.- had ..iriiide a 2\<?M inorievi examination stated thw the proximate cause of deathwas disease^gf ;th.e iieart, tjie piincipal artery beingSe^siiierably .QSBiliecl. : / A •'■/verdict in accordance j'M'ith. the evidence was given. J - The Brighton Thnes. of the 23rd .instant reports; that good ground has been opened at the very spot wLere the' rush reoqitly took place at the ins;fa;]c"e of a stateinerit made by "Yankee' Charley,",; Our cpiiteinporary says that 'the , sinking Taji.es from . 16 tp 30 feet, witli a good depth of washdirt, and the average prospect' is about four grams to the dish. The .s?uic pap'^ 1 rupurtji t|ia.fc a ru.^h hag'

occurred at the Tikipihi River, situate abov; foiir miles south of the Pakihi, 'and five froi the upper township, St. Kilda. It appeau the new ground is on the/third terraca fron the river bed in a S.W. direction. Tie prospectors, Tincent and party are at present washing, and the ground, though not thi richest, yields four to six ounces to the load The wash is eighteen inches to three feet thick, and of a cement nature, but in somi pf the holes recently bottomed, the wash turns out to be of a coarse sandy character. There are about 700 miners on the ground, and riot less than 100 holes going down in quick style. The riches.t ground yeb' opened is situate close to the prpspectois, and is said, judging frpm the prospect obtained by washing a small portion of the dirt, to yield one pound weight to the load. To the south of the deep gronnd some parties are surfacing with great success,, the gronnd paying Lls per week a.^naii, with very little labor attached. At the first meeting of the lmprovemeut Committee, the'inembers paid Mr Whall the complimeut of electing him as peruicinent chairman. On that occasion he frankly and straightforwardly told the Committee that before accepting the post, he wished ifc to be understood that he was oi>posed to a municipality, but that if a majority of the Committee decided in favor of it, he would not oppose it, . On Tuesday night, Mr- Whall was evidently oblivious of his former statement, and said that "ho should oppose the .proposed miyuicipality, both inside the Conimittpe, and outside privately. " How can Mr Whall reconcile these conflicting statements ? Perhaps he will try and explain at $h.6 meeting to-night, that in the same manner that he did not consider himself pledged by the resolution of the previous publin meeting, he did not consider himself bound, by his own promise. Dr Heotor, the Colonial Geologist, has recently paid a flying visit to the Pakihi and Fox's. Hie stay was too short to allow him to niiike any minute examination of the geological features of these places, but he saw sufficient we believe at Fox's to puzzle him, the gold there being found under such / singular and yawed circumstances. Dr Hector pronounces the Pakihi to be the old delta of the Buller, an opiuion that, is generally held by Ihise who have examined; the appearance of the country. Dr Hector is now at theßullereiigaged in a scries of observations lathe neighborhood of Mount Rochfort. We regret to learn that the Doctor met with a rather severe .accident whilst on his way from Wangapeka to theßuUer. The journey is a difficult one, and in ohmbing up or down a precipitous cliff the Doctor fell and put out hip left shoulder. He made the rest of the journey with the use of only one arm, and in this plight had to swim creeks and climb precipices for the greater portion of the journey. Dr Hector may be expected in Greymouth about the 7th March, when he will pmbably make this town his head quarters for a short time. . It was reported in town on Tuesday evening that some persons passing along the South Beach had observed an open boat, about, a niila cut at eca, with one man sitting in the stern -without oar 3or sails. Several persons expressed themselves positive as to the object being what we have mentioned, although it was impossible to make out whether the man w;is in distress or not. Il was nearly dusk at the/time, and we trust it may prove that the" bo.a.i arid man were j tl reality only a log or snag, Should the idea (if thojo who saw the object be correct the position of the iinfortuuate man must have been a dreadful one, as the night was very stormy ami a heavy sea. was running. It is possible that the man, if man it was, was the survivor of some boats' crew that had met with some disaster down the coast. Under any circumstances it is highly, necessary that the various steamers ninning up and down the coast should keep a sharp look out, as it is just possible that extra vigila/ico in this way may save some poor castaway's life. .Mx Revdll with cominondable proriipi* tude made ai>plication for one of the ste;ftne! a in port to proceed to the rescue, but th.o state of the tide and the heavy bar prohibited aiiy vessel going out. The following memorial has been sighed by. all the Bank managers and the. principal merchants and residents of Greymouth, and has been forward to Mr Sale for presentation, to his Honor the Superintendent : — "To His Honor William Sefton MoorhousQ, Esq., Superintendent of the Province of Canterbury, The memorial of the undersigned: Bank managers, merchants and other inhabitants pf Greymouth, respectfully shewetk,— that it is a primary duty of Gevernment to devise and to, enforce the observance of laws having for their object the' removal of all causes injuriously affecting the health or=. endangering the lives of ; the public. That the town of Greymouth is at present subject to no sanitary regulations; that in certain paits of it the health of the inhabitants at the present moment seriously affected; and public decency violated by the existence of nuisances around, and even under their dwellings, that it; would bo revolting to, describe iadotail ; and that the local authorities are not invested with powers to remove or to mitigate the evil complaihed of. Your memorialists wouid therefore respectfully urge, that your Honor would be pleased te cause steps to be taken for placing the whole of the town of Grey-si^Snth-—that is'botlf the Government: and {Maori townships —under the provisions of the : Act entitled the " Town and Corintry Police Ordinance.'/l And further that as the formation of Ma'ckay-street would be an important means for removing the evil alluded j to, as well as aigroat -public convenience and improvement to- the town; Your membralists respectfully suggest that a portion of the money voted. at the lagt sejsiqn of the Provinqal Council for the Grey district might, with great advantage, be applied to the pur-;" pose named. They may be permitted to point out the fact that Mackay -.street is coriV fined .entirely within th.c native Reserve, from which a large revenue is, derived by way of rents paid by the public. And if your m.e)i\uruilisfc>,kavgt llpoir rightly informed the

niblic are not without a special claim-tocpu ) idcration, for they have been led to believe;!iat when tho Government took possession pf hat large section of the native reserve on /hich the Post Office, Custom House, Mngis--.rate's residence a-ul Telegraph Ofiice have •een built, it wa3 at the same tlmo understood that the formation of Mackay-straeb should be at Government expanse. In eonilusion yonr memoriaiists beg to express their implicit confidence that the matter now trought under your Honor's notice will receive as. early and as favorable a oonsidera;ioii as their importance may seem to demand.-' S ; ".:.■■■'/'. An inquest was held before W. H. Itevell, Esq., on Monday last, at the Union Hotel, Gladstone, Brighton Gully, on the bodies of Alexander Campbel and John Keane, who were drowned the preceding evening, in returning from the Lagoon Town, Saltwater Rush, to Gladstone, .Brighton Gully; It appeared from the evidence of James Steele and John Johnson that about ten or eleven o'clock on Sunday evening, as they were "on their way from -Lagoon Town, and whilst resting on tlie tarrace for a few minutes for a spell, three men passed them, two. ofwhorii were the deceased. That after proceeding on their journey, and getting near to the bridge which crosses the Deep Greek, they heard cries for help from men in the water, Steele iumediately descended the steep banks, and found two men struggling for life. He at once gave/ what help he could, and after great exertion succeeded in getting Campbell oil the' side of ■ the bank* and afterwards Keane. Both of tlie deceased then tried to get to the top of the bank (30ft high), and in doing so slipped again into the water. Fteele/onee more did his utmost to render assistance, and had a , very nai row escape of losing his own life, having slipped into the creek himself, fortunately he succeeded in getting oof,u f , He and his companion then got a sapling, and tried by that means to save the men, which unfortunately was of no avail. The poor fellows sank to rise no more alive. Steele then wonfc and informei)/ the police, and next morning the bodies of the two men were recovore-1 and conveyed to the Union Hotel, and about five o'clock in the afternoon Mr Revell .summoned a jury, who, after hearing the evidence of the -witnesses, returned a verdict of accideti tally drowned. The riiost remarkable incident in this melancholy affair is that the third man has not yet beei heard of, and the only solution to the problem of what, has become of him is that he must have gi ne ahead of the deceased, after passing Steele .-and Johnsou. The two men were well respected in the Gully. . On Tuesday, the diggers inns, tered strong, .and carriad the unfortunate/ men.to flip Greymouth Cemetery, and there took ihair last farewell- of them.