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Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1405, 31 January 1873, Page 2

J To-morrow an important alteration takes ! place in the time at and route by which 1 the Hokitika and Christchurch mails are ' despatched from Greymouth. The mails are * no longer to be forwarded by coach along the < beach, at hours suited to the state of the ] tide, but by tramway to Marsden, and thence by coach to Greenstone and Hokitika. This ] will secure one great advantage— regularity < in the arrival and despatch of the mails ; 1 but with' one disadvantage— greater time j

vill be occupied in their conveyance. To the ?o=)t Office authorities and to the public, lowever, the advantage of regularity will be i great one, and perhaps the slowness of conveyance will be patiently bornre with until ;he completion of the new road. The outivard mails will be despatched from Greynouth at half -past eight each morning, and ;he inward mails will be received daily at ive o'clock in the afternoon. Messrs Cassidy and Ashton's coaches, we understand, will still continue to run according to tides. The Mayor of Greymouth, at the solicitation of the Borough Council, has, we understand, communicated with the Chairman of bhe County Council, as to the propriety of a portion of the L 25.000 for public works in Westland being devoted to the widening of bhe Greymouth and Omotumotu road, already referred to as a most necessary work. A meeting of the Poultry Society was held on Wednesday at Kilgour's Hotel, Mr C. Prince in the chair. Several subscriptions were reported to have been paid since last meeting, and after the usual preliminary business, it was resolved to get up a poultry exhibition in conjunction with the flower show of the Horticultural Society, if terms were to suit. Mr Prince was authorised to make all necessary arrangements in that behalf, and expressed himself confident of being able to get up a good show of the feathery tribe. Entrances were fixed at 2s 6d per pen, and Is per. cage (for cage birds only.) Another meeting will be held on Wednesday next, when the committee appointed to collect the funds for the prizes and recommend their distribution will be brought up. Miss Stephenson, Mr Burford, and members of their company, gave an entertainment on Wednesday evening, at Marsden. Last night they appeared at Saltwater, and to-morrow evening, we believe, they purpose again appearing at Marsden. Mr Warden Broad held a sale of Crown Lands in the Inangahua Valley, at the Court House, Reefton. Two lots only were disposed of, as follows : — Boatman's Block, square 131, section 30, area 58a. 2r. 24p. ; La iding Block, square 131, section 3, area 32a. Or. 28p. Both sections <vere sold at the upset price of 20s per acre, the first being purchased by Timothy Gallagher, and the second by D. M'Ginley. Among the lands put up to auction, we understand (says the Herald) that there were several instances of lauds being occupied and improvements effected thereon, but the holders were unable to purchase at the upset price of LI per acre. Some doubt having existed as to the position of such persons, we learn that any party can purchase the land in occupation at the upset price subject to valuation, or the present holder can lease the same under the Nelson Leasing Ordinance. The result of the Invincible Company's crushing is not yet known, but it is confidently expected to exceed loz sdwt to the ton. Tn the County Council, on Wednesday evening, Mr Cassius brought up the amended report of the Public Works Com mittee on the maintenance of the Christchurch road. The report stated that the contractor had not carried out his contract in its integrity, and recommended that no further payment bo made to him until the conditions of the contract be carried out. There were also other recommendations in respect to the .maintenance of the road in future. Mr Dungan presented a petition to the County Council from miners and shareholders working in the Duke of Edinburgh Terrace, Greenstone, praying that no more business licenses be granted, for the old township. The petition was read and received. Mr Dungan also ' presented a petition from miners working in other parts of the Greenstone district, endorsing the prayer of tbe petition. It was also read and received. The following tenders have been recommended for acceptance by the County Council : — For printing, J. P. Klein ; for rations to the Gaol and Lunatic Asylum, J. Linton; forage and lighting, Kenny and Co. ; for clothing, Mulligan, Alcorn, and M* Death. Fresh tenders for coal were recommended. In its latest report of the stock market, the Lyttdton Times says .• — "The low prices ruling at the West Coast for fat cattle is seriously affecting the value on this side, and we see no prospect of an alteration unless resort is had to the preserving establishments, which we seriously advise graziers to take into consideration. The high prices ruling for hides and tallow should prevent the value of cattle going below 15s or 163 per 1001 b, and the price is now little better than that. At all events, our quotation for prime quality is only 17s 6d. On Monday last, a man employed in the bottling department at Mr William's brewery, Strand, Reefton, met with an accident which precludes the possibility of his pursuing his usual avocation for a long time. The man was engaged securing the cork to a bottle, when the bottle exploded, lacerating the second joint of the thumb on his left hand fearfully, also slightly cutting the arm below the elbow. The wounds are of an exceedingly painful nature. Mr D. M. Luckie, M.H.R., Editor of the Colonist, was entertained to dinner in Mr M 'Gee's Hotel, Nelson, as an acknowledgement of his public services, he being about to leave Nelson to assume the editorship of the Daily Southern Cross, The room was well filled, and would have been insufficient for the purpose had the wishes of a large number of his supporters been complied with, as it was desired by many that the event should have been marked by another form than that of a dinner. Mr Shephard, M.H.R., occupied the chair, and Mr Burn, M.P.C., and Mr Mabin the vice-chair 3. Iv the course of a warmly spoken and warmly applauded speech, the Chairman, when proposing the guest's health, said Mr Luckie did not confine himself merely to the arduous work of newspaper management. Whenever it was found necessary for anyone to throw himself into the breach, if no other was forthcoming, he was to be found in the front of the battle. The hon. gentleman mentioned two instances, the arduous struggle of the Wangapeka gold field, when almost single handed, but with the opinion of the public with him, he fought the battle of the miners, and of the strict law of the land. The arguments and the law they contained as delivered before Mr Domett were such as received the confirmation of that able and experienced geatleman. This was one striking instance where, amidst much and powerful opposition, Mr Luckie, relying on his own judgment and powers of research, successfully struggled for the good government of the Province, and sacrificed time and money in the enterprise. The other instance was his steadfast persistence in favor of purity of election in the matter of the Motueka election petition, when he strove, and successfully strove, to secure the object of placing in the seat the man for whom the majority of the electors had recorded their votes Without his action in that severe contest, without the patriotic sacrifice of his time and energies, to say nothing of expenditure, tbat triumph of the principle of freedom of election would not have been secured. He alone carried it through to the end. His efforts in this and other directions were early recognised by the people, Iv his book on New Zealand birds, Mr Buller tells some strange stories of the kea, or mountain parrot. Dr Haast informed him that in disposition it is most inquisitive, prjing into and examining everything that

coraes in its way. On one occasion he left a I large bundle of valuable alpine plants, lying exposed on the summit of a lofty mountain crag. During his temporary absence a kea came down, turn Sled the collection of specimens over into the ravine below, and quite beyond recovery. Mr Potts also lecords an instance of this bird's extreme inquisitiveness. On one occasion a shepherd's hut was shut up and left for a day or two, the man being required elsewhere. On his return, he waa surprised to hear something moving within the hut ; and on entering, he found that the noise proceeded from the kea, which had gained access by the chimney. On a closer survey, the worthy shepherd discovered that his visitor had been exercising its powerful mandibles to some effect on his slender stock of goods and chattels. Blankets, bedding, and clothes were grievously rent and torn, pannikins and plates scattered about, and everything that could be broken was apparently broken very carefully, even the window-frame having been attacked with great diligence. The sufferings of Vice-Royalty are thus humorously described by a correspondent of the Lyttelton Times, who was in Dunedin at the time of the Governor's visit :— After the illustrious guests were quietly settled down in their home and beginning to enjoy life, they were seized by a ruthless public and made to work like slaves for their entertainment. The Flower Show, the Agricultural Show, the Friendly Society's Pic-nic, the Caledonian Games, the German something-or-other-ein who went out and figured somewhere claimed their attention. After the official business, if they remained on the thrones prepared for them, they were the centres of attraction ; if they got down and movad about amongst the "festive throng" as we were next day assured they did in the most amiable manner, they were still the centres of attraction, though on a smaller scale. Only a few could get a view, and they seemed actuated by a desire to touch them and see if they were alive, and having found that they were, it seemed their determination to discover the actual amount of pressure they could submit to without being smothered. At the Agricultural Show I saw a rush of people to some object, and a crush round it ; being of an inquiring turn I found my way to the inner circle, when, what was my horror to see, not the runaway sheep, or dead horse, or even maimed and dying human being, that I thought would reward my exertions by the spectacle of his mortal agonies or ghastly corpse, but Lady Bowen quietly carrying on a conversation, and looking distressed and rather nervous, with that curious vacant expression that comes to people who are- trying to avoid a thousand pairs of eyes without losing the dignity of their own appearance. The Court of Exchequer has decided that to call a sporting man a "welsber" is not slander in a legal sense. In the course of the argument in the case, the Judges indirectly signified their willinguess to accept the authority of the " Slang Dictionary" for a definition ot the obnoxious word for the use of which an action had been brought. The following advertisements appeared in the Blenheim papers last week:- "Notice. My wife, Eleanor Eyes, having left my house and removed my children therefrom without my consent, I hereby give notice that T will not be responsible for any debts contracted by her.— W. H. Eyes. Jan. 13fch, 1873." "Notice.— My husband, William Henry •■yes, having advertised in the public newspapers that I have left his house and removed his children therefrom without his consent, I hereby give notice to all whom it may concern that he ordered me out of his house, and that the children left with me of their own choice. — Eleanor Eves. Blenheim, Jan. 15th, 1873." A Thames miner called on his lady-love the other night, and found his rival engaged in outting her corns. The ponderous dimen. sions of the Grahamstown miner's boots are proverbial, and the mass of that foot multiplied by its velocity on that; occasion was sufficient to entirely obliterats the rival. Many persons consider the morepork a bird of ill o:aen, and never a very pleasant companion in the bush . It is also disliked on account of killing and devouring acclimatised birds. Mr Buller, in his new " History of the Birds of New Zealand," says :— "There has, in consequence, been a crusade against the morepork in many parts of the country. But whether this wholesale destruction of an indigenous species, on account of these predatory habits, is wise, or even prudent, may bo seriously questioned. The morepork not only preys on rais and mice, but is also a good insectivorous bird, with a voracious appetite. Its habits of feeding largely on the nocturnal Lepidoptera is of itself an inestimable benefit to the agriculturist, as it tends to check the spread of the caterpillar, whose ravages are becoming more severely felt every year. It is a dangerous thing to disturb the balance of nature by violent means; and, in a new country especially, we must be careful that, in removing one evil we are not opening the door to an immeasurably greater one. For my own part, I consider the killing of a single cwl a positive injury to the farming industries of the country, and scarcely compensated for by the introduction of a SQore of soft-btyled insectivores in its place." The Oity of Dunedin mine, at the Thames, was offered for sale on Saturday week, under distress warrant, and was bought in by Mr Craig, the auctioneer, for Ll2 103. Such is the fortune of mining speculations. This claim was at one time held in high estimation, so high, indeed, that it was looked upon as one of the best things on the field, and he was considered a fortunate mon whose name was in the list of shareholders. A proposition was once made by the proprietors of the Russell battery to amalgamate, the terms of the offer being that the Oity of Dunedin should be valued at LBOOO. and the battery at t.4000. The offer was indignantly refused. Yet this claim was sold for a paltry Ll2 10s on Saturday, land even then there were scarcely any bidders.