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Grey River Argus, Volume VI, Issue 366, 19 May 1868, Page 2

We had fully expected being able to furnish our readers this morning with a summary of the political trials at Hokitika yesterday, as we had made arrangements for being supplied with a resume by telegraph. Owiug to some unexplained cause, our dispatch did not reach us as expected. We are requested to announce that the installation of the Masonic Lodge, in Greymouth, and the Banquet in connection therewith, will take place on Monday next instead of the following day, as originally fixed. There is a most unusual number of surgical cases now in the Grey River Hospital. Out of a total number of twenty-seven, seventeen patients are sufferers from accidents of one kind or another. Some of the cases are very serious, such as compound fracture of the thiyb, and fracture of the foreleg. There are very few fever cases. The hospital is now more than full, several of the patients being obliged to lie on the floor. The Resident Magistrate's Court stands adjourned until to-morrow (Wednesday) morning. There was no Court yesterday and no business of any interest on Saturday! The adjourned meeting of the Westland Education Board will be held at the County Secretary's Office, Hokitika, on Thursday evening. We are indebted to pur spirited conteinpoiary, the Westland Observer, for the following items of late telegiaphic news from Welliugton, under dato the 17th :— "The meeting of the General Assembly is prorogued to the 23rd June.- The Manawatu Purchase Enquiry is over. A few dissentients to the sale of the block have refused to go on with their claims, owing to the desertion of their law agent. The enquiry may be renewed with tho consent of the Governor.- The natives of Patea have been stealing the settlers' cattle and horses. Colonel McDonnell

has gone oat t» ith a strong force to recover them. — A terrific fire took place at one o'clock this morning on the beach, resulting in the destruction of four shops and o;ie hotel, Three either shops were partially destroyed. j The fire broke out in the shop uf ill* ly K illie ] draper, spread to the South. Sea Hotel yi i Captain Mundle, and soon suajd the simps of Webb, cabinet-maker, ;tncl Armstrong, saddler. On tho other side, Jamus' liniu 1 and a furniture warehouse containing a large and valuable stock, caught fjre, find the shop j of Carmont and Haigb, butchers, wag burned ' down. Coker's, the tobacconist, audßrown's grocery store, which stood at the corner of th.c street, were partially burned down. Here the flames were checked, and ultimately the lire was extinguished. The loss is estimated at from LIO.OOO to L 12,000., of whiph, perhaps, one-ha,lf is covered by insurance. For? tunately there was no" wind, else Beach street would have been almost entirely swept away. In reporting the answer of his Honqr Judge Clark to a question from Mr Perkins in the Court on Tuesday last, we did not give it sufficiently clear, Mr Perkins applied to know if a declaration of inability to meet engagements could be made in the District Court here, although the debtor did not reside within the jurisdiction of the Court. Mr Perkins, pointed out to his Honor that, according to section 45, part 5, of the Bankruptcy Act, such declarations may be filed in any District Court. His Honor ultimately agreed with Mr Perkins, aud stated that although petitions for adjudication must be filed in the District or Supreme Court nearest to the debtor's place of abodfi^eclarations of inability could be h'led in any District Court in New Zealand. We have drawn attention to this matter because this ruling enables a debtor residing in Westland, for example, to file a declaration of inability to meet his engagements in the District Court of Otago, and get protection from arrest. A movement has been commenced for the establishment of a, Chess Club in Greymouth, under the anspices of F. Guinness, Esq. The opportunity that will thus be afforded to chess players of lighting thoir. battles o'er again on tho mimic battle field will no doubt be appreciated. The Club have, we believe, engaged a room at the Queen's Hotel, Grcsson street. The trial of the political prisoners com. mencud at Hokitika yesterday. Four counsel have been retained for the defence, viz., Messrs Ireland, Q.C., South, Kees, and Guinness. The prosecution is conducted by the Attorney-General, and Messrs Harvey and Button. We learn from the West Coast Times, that on Friday last the Attorney-General, applied to his Honor Mr Justice Uichmou'd for the admission of his learned friend, Mr Ireland, to practice in the Supreme Court of New Zealand, subject to his learned friend passing the usual examination. He might mention that Mr Ireland had filled the position of Crown Prosecutor in Victoria and New South Wales. He was a member of the Irish bar and held the local rank of Queen's Counsel in Victoria. Mr Ireland had not with him the evidence of his admission to the bar in Victoria, but the Crown Prosecutor for the District, Mr O'Loughlin, who was in Victoria with Mr Ireland, could furnish proof that the learned gentleman had been admitted there, and he (the Atto'iiey -General) would take care that an affidavit was prepared to substantiate that fact. His Honor said that he had no hesitation in granting the application, and he would state that in cases of this kind he almost regretted that there were certain preliminaries to be gone through. But as the law was, he was obliged to deal with general cases, and therefore he could only deal with Mr Ireland's case in the ordinary way. The order for admission would be granted subject to the learned gentleman passing the usual examination. We have no news of special importance to report concerning the up-river diggings. The improvement which has taken place continues, and the population is steadily increasing. The late fall of rain has been of great advantage to those diggings that are dependant upon local supplies of water, and the various sluicing parties are in full work. Therush that recently took place on the North Beach is not going ahead very fast, although about 100 men are on the ground. The sinking being deep, over 60ft, a great many of the elaimholders are waiting to see the result of the shafts now going down. Nothing definite has been heard concerning the prospecting parties that recently left for the purpose of exploring the country at the head "of Coal Creek. The amount subscribed towards fenciug and clearing the Cemetery is L 57, of which sum L 52 has been paid. The Westport Times states that accounts from Mokihiuui are to hand, but there is nothing new to report. As hitherto a few are still doing tolerably well, but no fresh ground Has been opened. The hopes of the Mokihiuuites are now fixed on theii coalmine, and if the lessees only show any like activity in opening it up, there is no doubt that it will be the means of supporting a small population. In the Supreme Court, on Friday, the case against Mary Phillips, of Greymouth, indicted for perjury, was tried. The case was founded upon one which had been tried at the Resident Magistrate's Court, at Greymouth, between the prisoner's husband — Henry ■ Phillips — and one Ellen Mooney, or Hastie, in which case the prisoner had sworn falsely. There had been an agreement of partnership in theßallarat Hotel, Greymouth. The agreement was signed by Hastie, and the prisoner affixed her mark. The Phillipses denied the partnership, turned Hastie out of the hotel, and sued her for board and lodging. The evidence was almost the same as that taken before the Resideut Magistrate. During the cross-examination of a principal witness, his Honor called the Crown Prosecutor's attention to the form of the indictment which could not be said to bear out the charge of perjury. The witness M'Guire proved that Mary Phillips admitted she had signed, an agreement. The indictment did nob aver <

that the agreement she swore she had not B ; gned was the one to take the hotel in partjieiship. A 3 to her swearing that Hastie and llcrsuir were not in partnership together, she wjyht welj dp that \\ ithou,fc committing . perJur/- Tljat was a question, of law which lui^tit vu^zle many a lawyer to decide. As Id tlie ijuestion of fact that she swore she did !if)t jut her mark to a certain agreement, tu»t charge was co vaguely laid in the indictment that he did not think it could be ppoceeiled with. H"e wished Mr O'Loughlin to understand that he was not imputing any blame to him in the inatber. This was one of a most difficult class of cases, aud it was no fault of the Crown Prosecutor's th a.t the \qdictment failed to lay the charge so as to obtain a conviction. His Honor tlren adressed the jury, informing them that the case had broken down, and directing them to acquit the prisoner. A verdict of "Not Guilty ' was accordingly recorded. The prisoner, on being informed that she was free to depart, seemed as much puzzled and astonished at the unexpected result as gratified with the intimation of her release from custody, but quickly recovering her presence o.f mind, bowed very politely %o, the Court, and made a hasty retreat; It would tend much to the public convenience if the telegraph operator would cause the shipping telegrams to be posted on a board hung outside the office, so as to be accessible after 5 p : m. We have before mentioned this matter, and we cannot but add that the officer in charge of this station should not compel the necessity of a ftference to head-quarters on the subject. It is astonishing how circumstances do at times alter opinions. The Wed Co.ast Times, which has consistently since its commencement treated Greymouth with contempt, has now arrived at the idea that attention to this port is a good card to play against the formidable opposition that has been established against the Times in Hokitika. It is satis, factory to notice that at last the West Cocmj Times is " glad to find that the Grey bar is in a good condition. " Time was when a very different tale would have been told. We understand that there is no probability of an immediate reduction in the price of coal at the Nelson coal pit, in consequence of the working expeuses being considerably increased just now through the opening of fresh drives. The authorities disclaim any desire to make any profit of the mine, but object to incur any loss. As soon as circumstances will permit a commensurate reduction will be made, in the price of the coal. The Westland Observer— the first number of which appeared on Saturday last— is in ■ many respects a welcome addition to the ranks of journalism in Westland. Of one thing the public may be certain, that the management of our new contemporary is a guarantee that questions affecting the public ■interest will now be treated dispassionately and impartially by at least one metropolitan journal. We congratulate the proprietors I and conductors of the Observer on the highly creditable appearance tho paper has made, and on its having at once commended itself to the constituency whose support it seeks. We may, without misgiving, predict for it a successful career. The Westport Times publishes a portion of a letter received from an old West' port resident, now living on the Auckland gold field, lie writes: "lam now stationed at Shortland. Since I came here I have wandered ovei many of the crack claims, Hunt's included, and was struck with the vast wealth therein contained. I saw the other day one ton of stone crushed,, which yielded ,3030z of gold, and I have heard of larger yields than that. One ton is said to have produced 4070z, which is a most extraordinary quantity. Shortland is a large town, * and in many respects similar to Westport. The habits and style of the people hero are very different. They assume more of city life about them, dress in. black, with gloves and bell-topers. There, are a large number of steamers and vessels trading regularly between Auckland and here. The trip to Auckland is a very delightful one. The steamers in the trade are first-class, and usually crowded with passengers. At "the Easter holidays a great number went up to town. When I got on board one of the steamers there were about fifty people on board, but during the quarter of an hour before we started, there were 300 passengers came on. Our captain Ipt go, but was not allowed to proceed with that number. Men were ordered off, but no one would go, and in contradiction to her Majesty's Customs officers instructions, the steamer proceeded on her journey, but upon the captain re* turning next day he was mulcted in a considerable fine. Living is exceedingly cheap here. Both in Shortland as in Auckland, provisions of all sorts are most reasonable, and any one can board himself here either at hotel or privately at about one-half of what it would ccst him in Westport " The Goldsborough correspondent of the Westland Observer writes on. the 14th as follows :— Thn Waimea still retains its credit of being the steadiest diggings on the coast, fresh finds are occasionally turning up, and the old workings are still returning f»i r wages to the miner. The late dry weather has retarded the operations of many; still they have not been idle, as is evident from the accumulated heaps of wash dirt whioh are gathered waiting for the first fall of rain j after which, we may expect to see a heavy escort. The ground that has been lately opened on Stuart's Terrace in the left hand branch promises to turn out well, the sinking varies from 12 to 35 feet, with from 5 to o ieet of wash dirt, the prospects vary from 5 grains to £dwt. to the dish ; the general impression is that the lead will ran into the 0,1« P r ground ' where the BQaft was sunk over ; 200 feet some time since, which, had to be ' abandoned pro. tern., fur want of funds to ' carry it on ; should this be the case, there is ] every probability of pood gold being struck, '' and an extensive diggings opened in that ! locality ; a few days will most likely tell a \ good deal, when I will give you the earliest ] information. Towards Fox's and Greek's the population is steadily increasing, which 1 in itself is a sufficient guarautee that the metal is to be got there. Similar accounts ! come m from Liverpool Bill's, where the pd- ■ potation is not only increasing, but some are 1 doing very well.