Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1113, 21 February 1872, Page 2

For the last thirty hours a great bush fire has been raging along the line of Tainui street. After the Brigade had conquered the fire in the neighborhood of Mr Cooper's on Monday, some thoughtless or malicious person set fire to the twenty acres of ground owned by Messrs Kilgour and Perotti, on which the timber had been recently felled. The flames raged up towards town in a most threatening manner, so that at 2.30 a.m. yesterday the Brigade was again called out by the bell. All Monday night and Tuesday forenoon the fire spread rapidly, notwithstanding the efforts of the people residing in .the vicinity and large numbers of volunteers to keep it down. About oue o'clock yesterday M'Carthy and' Co.'s brewery and a number of private houses were in such imminent danger that the fire bell was again rang, and the Brigade speedily at rived with their engines and other apparatus, and commenced to play upon the burning bush, so as to save the adjacent cottages from destruction^ the me.mbersof the Brigade working like beroes to save life and property. About two o'clock the fire burst in behind Tivoli Gardens, and mode a clean sweep through them, burning up, in about ten minutes, the old hotel, theatre, and the cottage occupied by Mr E. B. Fox, leaving nothingbut a heap of ashes. All the goods on the premises were saved by tbe members of the Brigade. Throughout the afternoon the fire continued to rage, and the Brigade to fight it, until daylight had gone, and the order was given to pack up. The members of the Brigade deserve the highest praise for their indefatigable exertions. Late last evening the fires were still raging in the neighborhood of the houses in Tainui street south, but there was some hope that the gale would break, and rain fall before morning. At the Ahaura a sum of L 23 has been contributed to the fund raised for those who suffered by the recent flood. The list of subscribers is published in another column. The Superintendent of kelson, Mr Curtis, has arrived at Reefton. He intends returning to Westport, and to proceed thence to Greymouth by sea. On Saturday last, at Bell's Gully, No Town, " Cockney George " and his mate, just as they were finishing for the week, turned up, much to their delight, a lOoz nugget, which was sold in town yesterday. It was a pleasing surprise to them, they having been only a fortnight on the ground. As it may be of some interest to the public to know how far the late floods affected the race-course, we are glad to state that it has not injured it in the slightest degree. It has been rather benefitted by the silt which was left, and which haß now sunk through the grass aud, if anything, enriched the ground. The small quantity of debris deposited is being removed, and in a few days the course will be quite cleared. The inner or old course will be ready for horses to take their necessary training after Friday next, and the only thing wanting is the means for horses to cross the creek. This, we understand, the Jockey Club is energetically ontlca-

voring to supply, and most likoly, as soon as horses are allowed to train, the means will have been obtained. Mr. Hill,' the contractor for putting the; road l in repair, has done his work, atid the road can now be traversed in security, he having removed the several land slips and put new culverts where the .others are found defective, In no previous season has the course been in such good order or looked so well. The gale of last night was so strong as to shake to their foundations much .more subtantial structures than the marquee in, which the World Circus Company performand it was necessary to postpone"" the performance until this evening. Mr T. M. M 'Donald has been appointed Crown Prosecutor in the District Court of Western Otago, and Mr J. W. White, Crown Prosecutar at Timaru and Oamaru, Mr Huberfc.Day Church has been appointed Resident Magistrate and Deputy Registrar at Blenheim. MrH. Wjjgg, late resident engineer under the General Government at Auckland, has been succeeded by Mr James Stewart, C.JB. By the last San Francisco mail despatches have been receivsd from the Agent-General in England. Tenders for the Bupply. of materials and plant for the Dunedin and Clutha .Railway had been accepted, and portions had been shipped by the Jessie Headman and Margaret Galbraith. Materials for the Canterbury .Northern Railway had been shipped by the Wild Duck and England. Nothing further is reported respecting immigration, save that the emigrants for the ship England, for Wellington, included 81 Scandinavian adults. Mr Brogden is making his way from Auckland to Wellington overland via Taupo and the hot springs. Thanksgivings for the recovery of the Prince .of Wales" were returned in the churches in Wellington, on Sunday week. Wellington has been constituted a district of the xCechabite Order. The effect will be i to greatly facilitate the extension of the order throughout the Province by the constitution of tents in the country towns. Hitherto authoritj has had to' be sought fiora the Auckland district: The Ross Neios learns that the contractors for the construction of the new road are pushing ahead their work vigorously. The portion of Mr Moran's section', which is let to ten working men, will probably be formed by Saturday next, and all the bush is cleared off the remainder. It is anticipated that the whole of this section, including the bridge, will be finished in .about six weeks. Connelly's section is all. cleared, and will be formed in- about,a fortnight. Mullins will, it is expected, finish forming by the end of the week, and complete his job in about four weeks. . A Wellington contemporary says :—"Yesterday (February 6), notice was given to Mr Brogden by the. Minister of Public Works that the data for the lines — Auckland to Mercer ; Wellington to Upper Hutt ; Napier to Pakipaki ; Invercargill to Mataura ; and Dunedin to Balclutha, would, be supplied on that day month. Mr Brogden is allowed another month to prepare his tenders, and immediately on their acceptance the work of construction will commence." The telegraph wire is to be at once erected between New Plymouth and Stony River. This portion of the line having been finished, it is hoped that some effort will be made to connect it with Opunake, so that uninterrupted communication may be established with the other parts of the Colony. A contumacious, .Mount Benger correspond dent is anything but complimentary to honorable members of the Assembly. He says : -If I get much more egotistic I shall sink low enough to be an M.H.R. for a goldfield? constituency— the deepest depth of degradation yet attained by human ingenuity. A Tuapeka paper states that two marriages between European .women and Chinamen will take place next week. Both the ladies are new chums, having arrived about eight months ago. They are young and blooming, though they can scarcely be considei ed • • passing fair. " One of the expected bridegrooms is a resident of Dunedin, and the other lives in the Tuapeka district. Of the ladies one is a barmaid at Waipori, the other is at present a resident in the Chinese Ccn?p, Lawrence. .. "Fire! fire! ' A wild hurrying to and fro of excited people; a lurid glare of light from the sudden darting forth of flames- and in a moment, without the slightest warning of impending danger, the peaceful quietness of the summer eve is changed to a scene of dismay and terror, as men see their property, the accumulation of years of honest industry, in danger of speedy annihilation. Such was the terrifying experience of our townsmen, for a brief interval, on Monday evening last, although the dangerous outbreak of fire was providentially subdued with comparatively little loss, and the greater calamity averted." Such are the horrifying strains at the commencement of a leading article of the Diuistan Times, in consequence of some gentleman's bedroom having been burnt down at one o'clock Jast Monday, and a six-stalled stable "gutted" at nine o'clock in the evening of the same day. The following are the names of some, of the Christchurch subscribers to. the Greymouth Eelief Fund, as published in the local papers :— Messrs Harry Sawtell, (Mayor), L 5 ; John Anderson, L 5 ; W Pratt, L 2 10s ; J P Jameson, L 2 2s ; E B and F A Bishop, L22s ; W Calvert, L 2 ; M B Hart, L 2 ; T D Jones, Ll .Is; F Hobbs, Ll Is ; His Honor the Superintendent, L 5 : B Hale, LI Is; Richard i Clarke, 2s 6d; Twentyman and Cousin, L 5; Mr Justice Gresson, 15 ; H Cohn, L 2 ; A Blyth, Ll ; J 0 Manson, Ll ; Lane Brfcthers, Ll Is ; Baber, L 5; T, ss; W Vincent. Ll ; Miss Anne Barnard) Ll Is; Geo Gould, L2O ; Mrs Peacock, senr, L 5; J T Peacock, L 5 ; W Montgomery and Co, L 5 ; W Neeve, Ll ; J Hughes, L 2 2s ; Wood Bros, L 2; S Bealey, L 5; H, J Tancied, L 5. ' It is said in Auckland that the Cyrus Haley charged with incendiarism was for some time a resident in Duuedin, and a connection of Riordan, who acquired unenviable notoriety for similar proceedings there. Tbe Otago Daily Times believes this to be a mistake. The rumor is perhaps attributable to_ one of the Riordan brothers having joined Haley as chef de cuisine and general manager of the restaurant started by him in the Exchange Buildings, and so prematurely burnt in Auckland. The Hokitika Committee of the Greymouth Flood Relief Fund met on Monday evening at the Town Hall, the Mayor in the chair. Mr South was appointed Treasurer, and the subscription 'lists having been handed in, it was ascertained 'that the subscriptions collected amounted to L 194 17s 6d. Many ingenious calculations have been made with regard to the amount which has been realised by the wool grower, owing to the advance which has taken place in the price of this staple ; but, remarks the Wellington Independent, it perhaps has never been noticed that the addition to the income of the Colony, owing to the increase in the quantity of wool produced, has been even greater than that which has been obtained by the rise in price. The quantity of wool exported from the Colony in 1870 was 37,000,0001 bin round numbers ; and it may be safely estimated that the quantity ex ported this season will be 50, 000,0001 b. Even an advance of 3d per ]:ound on the whole o this quantity would only realise

L 925.00 0; but if the price of wool had not advanced at all, and lemained the same now as it did in 1870, the value of this increased, quantity at ls'-'per pound would amount to no less than L 650,000. This large increase of production^ when added to the large increase of price, still further increased from Id to Hd per pound, must have a very beneficial influence on the prosperity of the country.. ■ A most valuable discovery has lately been made at Ohiwai, a cluster of hot springs a, short distance from the Kawakawa coal mines. These springs have long been noticed for their curative properties in cases ■ of scrofula and diseases of a similar nature, but; it is only lately that the reasons of these healing effects have been discovered. Investigations . have proved that mercury exists in immense quantities in the neighborhood, distributed through the sand deposits through which the springs percolate. The secret is thus disclosed. The waters administered internally, or used in bathing, act by virtue of their mercurial properties, and surprising cures, related by the natives in the neighborhood and by invalids who have'resorted to Ohiwai for health's sake, are no longer surprising/Apart, however, from the medicinal value of the springs, the discoveries of quicksilver are most important, in a commercial point of view. The meeting of working men at Auckland, held a few days ago, in support of the eight hours movement, seems to have been arowdy affair. According to the report in the Southern Gross, a mtfn, who called himself aa " Irishman j" came forward, and began to speak against the object of the meeting, when he was met with great uproar. Tie protested that he had a right to speak to the motion before the meeting, and against it if he thought fit. The meeting would not listen to him, and at a later stage of the meeting he was dragged away, struck, and knocked down. A reporter connected with our morning contemporary, at this stage, remarkel that the action of the assaulters was shameful, and unworthy of Englishmen. Upon this a great rough fellow raised his , fist, threateningly, and demanded whether he desired to be treated similarly. As it was not likely that anyone would desire the honor, and as the odds were very large, the ■reporter thought it best to let them settle their differences without his interposition, and therefore retired. Mr Green followed, and accused the former speaker as an agent of the devil, a limb of Satan ; that he had, been sent there to disturb the meeting on behalf of Mr Brogden ; and used other abusive language. He drew figure's of speech in abundance from the Bible and Pilgrim's Progress, but their application to persons and circumstances did not appear very clear. Mr Betfcany wanted to know whence this nine hour system originated. Some said it was from Mr Brogden, some the General Government, and some the Provincial Government. (A voice : The General Government.) If so they mu3t register their votes and throw them out. ' (Another voice : No, Henderson and Wrigg.) Whoever were to blame for the introduction of it, the}' must stick to the eight, hour system, and, when the elections come on, they should put in right men and oust the. others from their places.