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Grey River Argus, Volume XI, Issue 893, 7 June 1871, Page 2

The English Mail via San Francisco will be despatched by the s.s Claud Hamilton to Nelson this morning, at 9,30. The regular monthly meeting of the Greymouth Masonic Lodge, E.C., was held last evening. Brother J. J. Blackmore was elected W.M. for the ensuing twelve months ; Bro. Hill, Treasurer; and Bro. Fowler, Tyler. The installation of the W.M. and otneurs will take place at the regular Lodge, on the 4lhof July, when, we believe, District Grand Master Lazar will bo present to conduct the ceremony. Mis Harry Jackson— an actress well known t ■> niui y <.i ,iui- readers, and who has been resi tut i:i New Zealand for several years — died last week at Auckland. A lecture upon the geology of New Zealand, principally in reference to the West Coast, was delivered at Hokitika on Monday evening, by Dr Hector. There appears to have been a large audience, and the lecture was well received. As it would naturally be of

interest to the residents in this district, from the numerous references which must have been made to the coal deposits, we intended to have given copious extracts from the lecture, but wa regret being unable to do so, as the report in the West Coast Times is unintelligible. The Resident Magistrate decided yesterday that the Borough Council were empowered by law to levy wharfage rates on cattle landed on the shingle beach, at the west end of Richmond Quay. This decision will be appealed against. Quartz yielding 802 and lOoz of gold for the ton has been found on the East Coast of Africa, in the tract of country lying between the Lijfhpopo and Zambesi rivers. Scientific explorers have discovered that gold is "very widely distributed over this region, but only in quArtz-reefs, not in alluvial washings." ! The Taur&nga correspondent of the Sotitiiem Cross writes as follows regarding the case of the selling of arms to the natives: — "Our quiet community has been on the gui vive during the past week from the fact that the watchful diligence and perseverance of Detective Doolan have been crowded with success in bringing to light what is alleged to be a systematic trading with Hau-hau rebels in. ammunition, &c. It would appear 1 hat the Hon. MrM'Lean, Defence Minister, had received information, through a private source, that arms and ammunition were regularly being sold at Katikati to the Hauhaus. which caused instructions to be given to Detectives Thompson and Doolan to proceed at once to the district ; but the search in the first instance was unsuccessful ; intimation having been given of their proximity caused the suspected, to evade their object, and nothing was found on the premises. Detective Thompson then left, leaving behind him Mr Doolan, who for weeks applied himself diligently to prosecute the object he had in view, and at last obtained information as to where a portion of ammunition, &c, had been sold, which was to no less a personage than one of the King's messengers, of the name of Tupara, residing at Te Wakamarama. Upon this Doolan again searched the suspected premises, and found on this occasion, secreted in various portions of the building, an assortment of packages of ammunition, &c., which required more than ordinary caution and prudence to detect. The list before me is so long that f will not attempt to give you the full particulars of the various articles, nor the locality of the building were they were found. Suffice to say that all is in safe keeping, and will be produced in another place and on another occasion. Chas. Harley is the name of the person belonging to these premises, whose tailing is that of a publican and trader, residing Bowenstown, Katikati." Commenting on the mining mania in Auckland, the Southern Gross says :- "The wealth that is passing through the hands of a few is preparing for the ruin of the many ; and when the reaction comes, as come it will, the crash "will be more severe than that preceding. Not only to the crowd of those who are trafficking in shares, but to those who are receiving large dividends and immediately sinking them in scrip, there is danger impending ; and a cessation of rich yields from the Caledonian, or anything else that would temporarily stop the supply of means to the share market and produce a panic, would be followed by general disaster. In the circumstances the great desideratum is a movement for directing attention to other spheres for investment, so that the Province may not exemplify the Spanish proverb of "carrying all its eggs in one basket. " At present the wealth of the gold fields is being turned to purposes — we had almost said injurious. And if counsel could reach men who aie blind in the mad race for gold, we Mould seriously counsel that that wealth should be turned into other and more legitimate channels. No country could be found of a similar extent with more magnificent resources undeveloped. We have been accustomed to mourn the absence of wealth as the only cause of their non-development. There is now wealth in our midst ; and he would be a wise man, as well as a public benefactor, that would lead the way in withdrawing from the dangerous precincts of the scrip market, and invest his own dividends, and encourage the investment of the dividends of others, in some one or another of the hundreds of mines of wealth that in this Province are but awaiting the application of capital. There is money being made, and money yet to be made in the scrip market. But we are standing on the brink of a volcano, and a wise man is he who prudently retires before the explosion comes. That gold mining taken altogether must result in general as well as individual benefit is not to be doubted, but already in some respects we can trace to it injurious results. Our agricultuial statistics show a serious falling away, which is mainly to be attributed to the absorbing influence of the search for gold. And well would it be for the Province if this interest, as well as the other legitimate openings for investment of capital, should profit by that wealth which is now being suuk with so much risk, and to so little general benefit, in mining shares." The Otago Mining Conference have suggested the following amendments to be made in Agricultural Regulations : — That upon selection of an agricultural area a certificate shall issue to the applicant which shall authorise him to select such land for two years, subject to the conditions that he shall fence and improve the same, and put under crop with the plough not less than two acres in every ten acres, and pay the annual rent reserved. That no lease shall issue for two years from the date of the certificate ; but on the expiration thereof, the holder of same having complied with the conditions, shall be entitled to a lease of same for a term of five years, with the right of purchase at any time upon the expiration of the first year. That the certificate shall not be transferable. That any person purposing to construct a tail-race or head-race, or apply machinery for working such claims, in addition to the claim, be entitled to hold and occupy one acre for every L2OO expended on such claim, provided that such extra ground shall not exceed six acres, and adjoins his original claim, and with it forms the area or claim. If at the expiration of three months from the date of occupation, L2OO ; six months, L4OO ; nine months, L6OO ; twelve months, L 80 0; fifteen months, LIOOO ; eighteen months, LI2OO, has not been expended in constructing such head or tail-race, or the erection of such machinery, such extra ground or such part of the same as shall be proportionate to the deficiency of expenditure shall be forfeited. That any one investing capital in the construction of machinery for opening up mining industries should be allowed to take up a portion of ground equal to one man's claim for each LSOO so expended. The following are the particulars, as given by a contemporary, of an action for libel against a Wellington evening journal, lately referred to in our telegrams .—" The Post has been reflecting upon the pecuniary circumstances of its contemporary, the Advertiser^ the proprietors of which are hardworking young men who do not pretend to be •wealthy, and who are struggling to establish a journal which they only took possession of a few months ago. The plant of the paper is owned by a gentlemen who ha 3 leased it to the present proprietors, and the Post has repeatedly, during the late elections and since, sneered at the paper, charged it with selling itself, and with being afraid to take an independent action. These attacks have been allowed by the Advertiser to pass

unheeded till a few days ago, when the Post said — 'To people not so well acquainted with the matter aa we are, the Advertiser might possibly appear to be an independent journal vindicating a private individual from an unjust aspersion ; but when they learn that the A dvertiser is partly the property of Mr Martin himself, that he controls it body and soul by the power of the purse which he wields over it, that those who guide its utterances dare no more offend him than they can afford to mark out an independent line of action for themselves, living as they do under the constant threat of being shut up every Saturday night when the rent is due, those people will probably alter their opinion.' One will probably agree with the Advertiser that this was a little too much to bear quieuly, particularly as it was untrue." The Wellington. Evening Post informs us that the' formation of the proposed new 1 Theatre Company is progressing satisfactorily, and that there is every prospect of the required capital being raised with very little trouble, and within a week or so from the present time. For the last week or so, says the Wellington Evening Post, there has been a good deal of talk in town regarding the probable success of the search for gold, which has been carried on for a long time, and with great perseverance, at Baker's Hill. The lower tunnel has been driven in a very cousiderable distance, and although a regular quartz reef has not been struck, the drive has now gone for several feet through a kind of cement, which evidently contains gold to a considerable extent. From small trials made, it 13 believed that this stone or cement is sufficiently rich to pay well for crushing, and we believe that arrangements have been made for sending five or six tons to the crushing machine at Makara, in order that j the true value of the stuff may be satisfactorily tested. A very melancholy event took place recently, which cast a gloom over the township of Hamilton, Waikato. A young woman named Eliza Knox, daughter of Mr James Knox, of East Hamilton, had been keeping company with a young man there; It appears that about a week ago her sweetheart sent her a letter, breaking off the engagement. On a certain evening they accidentally met at the wharf, on the east bank of the river, he being on his road to Cambridge, she having the letter in her .hand at the time. She asked, him, "Was he going to wait?" He answered that he would wait at the house. At the time she was close to the bank ; she suddenly moved sideways, and -with a scream plunged in. She floated for a few minutes. The man, who bad gone some distance, returned, and the ferryman, Mr Smith, came to his assistance. The latter threw a rail, which she touched with her foot, but made no effort to catch it, when she sank. Unfortunately neither of the men could swim. Tbe energy displayed by the American press is something wonderful. No expense or danger i 3 allowed to stand in the way of anything novel that is likely to ensure popularity. The Neio York Herald is specially noticeable for its enterprise, as the following, which we take from the Times of India, will show:— "We learn from Zanzibar that another explorer has arisen, in the person of Mr H. M. Stanley, of the New York Herald, who lately proceeded from Bombay to that island, on a sort of standing roving commission, the terms of which were wide enough to allow him to go anywhere and do anything. Mr Stanley had travelled from Asia Minor to Bombay by the Central Asian, or more correctly speaking, perhaps, the Euphrates Valley route, free of ' scaith ;' had conversed with Russian governors, Persian satraps, and Arab chiefs ; and now directs his travels into countries even more unknown. When our correspondent wrote Mr Stanley had all but completed his arrangements for a start. He was to leave Zanzibar on the Ist of February, and intended first to explore the Tufji River, and then to proceed further into the interior. His retinue consisted of a hundred men. Unless extraordinary difficulties super7encd, Mr Stanley expected to be absent about twelve months. He has chosen a splendid field for romance !"