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Grey River Argus, Volume III, Issue 177, 2 March 1867, Page 2

At the public ineetiug on Thursday evening, the. accusation wa3 made against this journal^ tljat it had not given a fair and impartial report' of the proceedings at the last j meeting of the Improvement Committee. . Iv another column will be found a complete refutation. of th-iS; statemeht, ten out of (the twelve gentlemen forming the Committee having colifirnied both bur accuracy and impartiality. Twq yery fidly aiteiided and satisfactOTy meetings, of ;Stowards of _ the forthcoming Greymouth Races have been held during the week ; the one on Thursday at -Kilgour's, : when Mr J. Paul . was added to the list, and.

the other last night at Johnston's. The rej porJa-oT the course and collecting committees promise well for the sport being carried out with ample credit to our district, as the ground is being rapidly cleared, and subscriptions are coming in liberally, At the first canvas made yesterday morning no less than L 230 (including the amounts presented by part of the Stewards) was obtained in the ■two townships. We learn that several telegrams have .already been received hero for stabling to be got ready .for Christchurch horses. \;,. We understand that divine service will be conducted to-morrow in the Religious lustitntion llooms, by the Rev. J. Hall, Presbyterian minister." The glection for the superintendency of Otago has resulted in the. return of Mr Macandrew by an immense majority, the number of votes for the respective candidates being — Macandrew, 2259 ; Dick, 1392. This result is the more extraordinary, considering the extreme efforts made by Mr Dick's party. Not a stone was left unturned to bring Mr MacaMrew into public contempt. ■■■■All the charges against his conduct when Superintendent were raked up and published, and the leading journal unceasingly deprecated his election. By the Constitution Act, the Governor has theright of vetoing the election, but it is a question whether he will do so in this instance^ in face of the ovei powering majority Mr Macandrew has secured. The West Coast Times of Tuesday says :— "It cannot be denied that the old Five-mile goldfield is in a very depressed state, and represents merely the shadow of its former Bslf, so greatly has the population diminished in number, whilst the area of ground workable and absolutely in hand is — compared with its former broad proportions— woefully circumscribed. Considered as a diggings, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, its day is past, althoiigh it is generally admitted that tl.c gold already extracted from the ilats and terraces around the township, does not . represent more than one-half of the precious metal, distributed through the ground— if indeed the proportion is not less, as themaik bottom has not yet been tested, and is very justly supposed to carry heavy deposits. Many companies have been formed at the Kauieri for the purpose of re" working the old ground upon a more elabor.iti s-ystem than hitherto adopted, and also to test the value of the stratas of gravel below the level of the prdsout workings, which have been carried on upon a false bottom. We cannot say that these coalitions have proved eminently successful, but one great good has resulted from them in giving an impetus to this branch of mininjr, whilst the later formed companies, having the experience of their predecessors to go by, are less liable to commit those mistakes to which previous failures may to a great extent be attributed." ■'. The Amateur Performance at the Union Theatre last night, was a coriiplcte succep- , and it is not too much to saj' that tlio success was legitimately earned by the performers. It is" hot usual to „ criticise the several actora on occasions of this kind, it is sufficient for.. U3 to say that *Jie various gentlemen performed their pru^s Tory well. There was a full housb f and the applause was a sufficient expression of the approval with which -their efforts were regarded. Som-a. oi'thc aina? teurs showed a remarkable acquaintance with tkeirparts^indeed, it might fairly have been imagined that they were " to the-man-ner 1 :orn ." Next week the amateurs , will play for the benefit of the hospital, and wj are sure that a good house will reward their efforts, ;■■'■ *.-' '■■: For somo time the customs .authorities have had reasons for believing that illicit distillation is carried on in Westland. One reason for this supposition is the unusual extent of the consumption of low qualities of sugar, which is not accounted for satisfactorily, even for brewing purposes. To check fraud of this kind upou the revenue, a proclamation was recently issued, offering rewards Up to LIOO for the discovery and conviction of offenders; and this has, in one instance, been the means of bringing one culprit to justice. At Hokitika on Monday last David Ballau was charged with having in his possession an illicit still. It appeared from the evidence of Inspector Biroham,, that he went in company with 'Sergeaut Hickson to prisoner's place at the Big Paddock, and there found a still (part of which was, pro> dticed inCouri), some malt, a thermometer. •a hydrometer, kegs, and other apparatus used in distillation, together with a quantity cf. spirits, wort, &c. Some of theses were -found stowed away in bags in different parts of the prisoner's dwelling, and some were in a kind ofcave; reached by a shaft arid-a drive, where apparently the manufacturing -operations were carried on. Sergeant Hickson corroborated the Inspector's evidence, and a prisoner's counsel vainly endeavored to elicit f rein them by cross-examination that the apparatus seized- was used in "cordial" and ginger-beer making. Mr G. C, Lemming, custom-liCTtseofiicer, 'said thathe understood cordial-making, and the still could not have been used for that purpose, unless to distil the spirit used in. making cordials. He was .positive that the spirii; seized, of which that produced in Court was a sample, had not passed the: custonirhouse. His Worship held that the offence had been proved, and inflicted a fine of LIOO, or- six months' imprisonment. The prisoner said he could not pay the fine. .. ■' The traffic returns of 'the Greymontli and Saltwater Creek Tram way Go. /for the week eiding March 1; show the receipt f or passengers amounted to L 57 13s b'd, and, for goods j 1/2 2s. ■_ The total number of passengers was 533. " ' ' '■;- - • ' *. • -.. '■ •■; Avery largely signed petition in favor ofthe Separation of the North and Middle Islands has been presented' to the Governor at Dunedin. Mr Dick (the Superintendent) s in : presenting the petition said "I may state that there is a \yide-spread feeling*' cijnongst this community, that ifclis necessary that every effort should ■■■uop b.e m.&de to secure the separation of ttyr two islands. The iuhabiUuils o[ the MiljUlo Island have hitherto as,

sisteel earnestly in the prosecution; of. the Maori war; They think, however, that the war being now finished, it would be well that the .two ' islands should hereafter be separated ; so that if there is war in the future, the inhabitants of the Northern I> I land, who are especially interested, and who know better how to manage the Maoris than wo in the Middle Island can know, may have the management and the responsibility to themselves. As to all existing liabilities, the peoj)le of the Middle Island are satisfied, and quite prepared to bear a fair share — to accept ami to aid, a perfectly just and equitable settlement; but as to the future, they respectfully ask that your Excellency will endeavor to procure for them, as from this time, a separation between the two islands. His Excellency replied. > Gentlemen— On-re-; oeiving. from you this important and numer-busly-fiigned petition, I beg to assure you that I will, in compliance with those Constitutional usages on which the future good £*> vornuient of this colony so largely depends, cause it to be transmitted to my responsible advisers for their consideration and advice as to the steps I should take in relation to it." The --West CqcM y } inm of Tuesday relates the following rnecdote : — Yesterday morning j. a man named Joseph Connolly, who evidently was laboring under deep distress, applied to the police for assistance to recover his wife, who. was missiug ainoe the nightHe stated that lie was tjie proprietor of the London Hotel, at the Big Paddook diggings, and, accompanied by his better half was re-, turningthithcr after payiiigayisitto Hokitika, :/ They left town at 4;o'.<}lpek- in the afternoon and had" proceeded about a couple' of -miles upon the journey, when he met an acquaintance, and stopped to speak to him, whilst the woman continued onwards.' He conversed with his frinul for about ten minutes, and then hastcued after her, but much to his auiiizcmcnt failed to overtake the fair dame,' and on reaching his house found she had not arrived there. He at once concluded that she must have strayedoff the track and so lost herself in the thick -scrub, and, without more ado, started in search of her and spent the night wandering amongst the tangled thicklt3 through which the track runs. His j search proved unsuccessful, and, thoroughly alarmed, he hastened to the police cajnp for assistance. This was granted him, and the constables were about starting when the coaoh fromG_reymouth arrived in town, containing amongst other passengers, the missing fair one. She was recognised by her husband, who happened to be standing by, and further proceedings for her recovery were thus, happily, rendered unnecessary. It appears she did wander from the track, and being unable to regain it, made for tlie sea, being guided by the souiid of the surf: ( 'ompletely, exhausted, she reached the '■ beach next* morning, at a point riot far from the Arahura; and the Grey coach happened to pass at the time secured a seat in it, and arrived in town as above stated. ' : . ' -