THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1873.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1640, 6 November 1873, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1873.

What is the purpose ioi vessels arriving at this port being compelled to fly a particular .flag when their cargoes,comprise'blastinfApowder or giin-powder? ' Is it to alarm all the little toys on the beach or to cheer the hearts of miners and quarrymeu ? Or ?is ■ it< simply ' to show compliance with the letter of a law, and defiance of its spirit? ': There surely must be some good reason, for that official Who is .usually so discreetly modestin bringing breakers of the law before the Bench, ihe Harbor-master, no sooner finds 1 a sliip- ; captain failing to .fly this particular flag, thau he lays an infoi.mation,: arid : ihe .peccant skipper, is compelled .to -..pay a pound or two out of his pocket, pp — but of the ship's hold. But it cannot be that this is the sob; purpose,', or that the law -is one which is better to honor in the ..breach than the observance. The purpose naturally and properly is to ■ warn the; harbor authorities as to the dangerous 'character of a portion of cargoj and 1 to 'enable them,' ihiis iorewarned, s to. make : .preparation for •the temporary mooring lof a vessel! in ,a situation involving, the. slightest.pbssible risk to. life, and .property. Is this purpose ever pnce, fulfilled, or is it riot regulariyy wilfully^ and culpably ignored, so far r as ; this port is concerned ? ; The ordinary senses arid experience of ordinary .persons convince them that much that is contrary; to the law is done, and -that the practice of properly regulated portsis not the'practiice here. .The practice, else where is id anchor a vessel .partially , pow.der- 1 •laden ; at a safe distance' ! ffpm' : other shipping, i even > when ; ' J other shipping are, some ? distance ifrbm the 'shbre.'"<> The practice hereis to, shift , the' responsibility off the shipmaster and the consignee by th^e.fiying of the flag referred to, and for the Harbor-master" to' accept the responsibility ibf a direct breach of theJDangerous "Gitrods^A'cr,' with^7all7|h"e"resjpon^bility of bloWirig^hinißelf "arid some' twoHhousand bodies into the air, and an ...equal number of souls — Heaveii knows •whereV The incident of inviting such risk" °is of friequent : 'occurrence, arid yesterday there was a prominent repetition of ,this apparent:desire to demolish Greyniou.th'by the landing' at 'mid-day,' at : the middle berth of the wharf, in the midst of the usual crowd of ' tobacco^smbking 1 sinners,, a large ,Bp6signmehf}o r f powder— the sahie p'bwder being conveyed by drays to its temporary place of; deposit/ through the heart of the Wwh'! 1 'THe'risk in such cases is bo con-

siderable, .while, prevention is so easy, that it is a wonder that some better arrangements have, not j before now been organisedjVahd ifc^will "probably suggest itself to Mr Harbor-master, that the adoption of some superior precautions, though they may not suit Mr Shipmaster -or,- Mr Tugßteamer, : will be much more satisfactory to the community, and, it may be, save himself and others from an undignified departure frpinthis world and prblongedtribulatioif inthe'riext.

Since M r Montrose ceased to be purveyor of interprovincial news for the Press on behalf of the]Anglo-AustralianPress Agency, ithasbeen the misfortune of ourselves and contemporaries to have our intelligence insulted, pockets emptied, and, columns filled by the receipt of some of the most airant rubbish that a newsyendor could possibly think of printing, in 'a * c one-horse" yilliage, to say nothinafof transmitting it by telegraph to all parts of the Colony. The proper course, of course, is to community the fact to the Manager, not to the public, but f> haying had to throw a lot of the rubbish daily into the waste-basket, arid nearly all we received last night, how is it possible, without exploding, to say nothing about it? ' .Reminiscences of Guy Fawkes, . Inkermann, andWilkie were revived by Cobden firing a salute of guns last night. .; At Middleton's Wharf Hotel, to-nightj the sweep on the Melbourne' Cup will be drawn, and for to-morrow night, the public will have the excitement of the Annual Albion Calcutta one. The promoters of the latter have deemed it advisable to postpone the drawing : ia order hot to clash with Mr Middleton'a Derby Sweep. A- meeting of gentlemen interested in having sports during next Christmas holidays was held last night in the Albion jHb'tel, wheu a fair muster assembled. t A few.pre- ■ liminary matters : were entered upon, arid canvassers chosen for the different wards in town. Another meeting of subscribers will be held at an early date, when a committee will be 'chosen by 'those subscribing, and most probably all the different measures necessary to, carrying their object ;to an issue will be gone into. Other places are stirring in the same direction, audit will not do for Greymouth to hg behind. At the .Resident Magistrate's Court,,. on ; Wednesday^ Ghajles Evans was fined ]!0s for getting drunk. . Peter, Moller was charged with the wilful destruction of two windows and a door, of the value of 575, the property of Elizabeth Stanford, ; and further . with making use of threatening and abusive language. As it appeared that the prisoner had b.een in the. habit of keeping up a system of annoyance ab the house referred to, and this being his fourth offence, he was fined L 5, and ordered to pay 57s damages, or in default six weeks' imprisonment. Oa the second charge. he was bound over to keep the peace in two sureties of L 5 each, or in default one month's imprisonment. ;......■■ ThY Hokitika Fire Brigade have ascertained that a ■ new fire-bell would cost at the rate of L4O per ton, and L4O for the.' pattern, at the Phcenix Foundry, Ballarat. They prefer to have a bell from Englaud. At a special meeting of the Hokitika Borough Council, on Tuesday, on the motion of Cr Hawkins, seconded by Cr Cross, it was resolved unanimously that a testimonial accompanied by a donation of LSO be! presented to Mr Lazar in recognition of his valuable services during several years. Mr Lazar expressed his sense of the favor done to him, and stated that although he would now be removed to another office, his <feelings of respect for the Municipal Councillors would not be affected, and he should be happy to give his successor all possible information. , A meeting, of members of the 'Hokitika Cricket Club was held on Tuesday, for', the purpose of; considering challenges received ; from the ; Greymouth and- Arahura Clubs; It ! was resolved to arrange for playing the first- I named club on the 30th irist, and a committee was appointed to visit tlie Arahura to settle matters,; in connection with the proposed match, which will probably be played on Monday.;: • . , On the progress of the Kanieri Lake Race a correspondent of the "West Coast Times"' sends the following : — "The construction of the race is let in small sections, to different parties of working men, so that the work will be done in the cheapest manner. Large deep cuttings, ; clearings, preparing tiniber_ for tunnels, and tunnelling are the order of; the daj 7 , and as the men seem hard workers and in good spirits, no doubt the work will be completed, as soon as possible, t^he amount of work done in the time on all ;the sections is astonishing, and the tunnel is in from the upper end 200 ft. i Mr Messitiok, of Westport, hadva.viery' narrow escape from drowning near Christy's; at the junction of the Xnangahua and Buller. He and. his horse .were carried a long distance, but by a miracle got ashore. ] From the month of March, 1872, to jtha 31st of October, 1873, there were produced in thelnangahua district 14,3720z of gold ifrm 15,550 tons of quartz, snowing very nearly an average of an ounce to the ton.; Among its- late items, ' the Inangahua i "Herald" reports*:— A partial clearing! up of the plates at the Just-in-Time, on Saturday last, showed very excellent results. It is stated that' nearly COOozof amalgam were obtained from the plates only;— The reef in ; the shaft at Anderson's is now down 7-Oft arid has a thickness of 7ffc, showing good both in its eastern and. western side/ It is'cbntemplated that the low level tunnel will occupy six to eight months in driving. ; ; The nomination of candidates for the representation of the new Cobden Pistricbin the Nelson Provincial Council takes place at ,ttie Court House, Cobden, at noon to-day. ■' The new Licensing Act, according to the 'description ofthe "West Coast Times," is certainly jioi calculated to come into force in Westlatid without causing Some inconvenience. In noticing Mr White's remarks oi} the. subject our contemporary says : — " As regards the Licensing Act, we think there was occasion for far- stronger censure of the measure thaa Mr, White uttered, as: I will be discovered whenever the time comes [for attempting ; to -work it. The Act is one mass of blundering, and . will, we believe, ultimately be found scarcely workable at all. One difficulty is Wat. the new. Act is now in force,' and that, consequently' the Blench of Justices cannot hold a sitting. i or licensing purposes, the riejyr Court ; having to be nominated, by the 'G overrior. . .' , On. the other ; hand, . the first aitting of 'the said Court cannot be held until' Xpril'riextl so that licenses which expire previous to that time cannot be tenewed until then. Again, there is no pi*o-. ; vision made for any payment of the members ;.of: the j.different Courts, although they are expected to travel about 'and hold sittings in a number of- different districts, thus incurring ;no j ' littlei expense.* >; It is' doubtful, therefore,iiwlietheripeople will ..be found pariticularly ready to accept; the Governor's nomination forso 'unprofitable an, appointment." ()::':■< ;<l'r-', -riu'ri .■:■ :-l'^) r : ::; . •■■ A meeting of -persons interested in the formation of ahoofcand ladder company and ! fire brigade has-been held at Reefton. There is a Provincial, vote of L 125 available. A requisition to the National Bank of New Zealand afr Wellington, asking that corporation to., establish ja pranch at, Reef ton, is now being signed there.

.. Tt will bo novel information for many to .hear for the first time that the first sugges-; tion for colonising New Zealand was made by an A merican —the famous Ben j amin Franklin. So. states Mr Alex. Mackay, in his interesting report on the New Zealand Company's tenths.

■ .--There., are oaow six* V'Riohmonds . in : the : field," in the combat for the representation of the city of Nelson in the Provincial Council,o.Mes|rs Greenfield, Burn, Rout, , Pitt,, Acton Ada'mSj amHJbopeiy ' :; ' "■-■ ■••=■■* •••• ■■■'■ -^ : Bishop, .Harpsr, the Primate of NewZea-, fand, arrived at Nelson by the steamer Wallace,, from the Wairau, and has taken up his residence at Bishopdale. ; Mr ' Conollyl of Blenheim, has been specially, retained by Mr.Ballauce, of Wanganui, in the Watt libel case. ■:.-.■,'.■ Reference was lately made in our columns to the practice lately adopted by some Australian firms of sending duplicate invoices to their cusotmera .in this Colony for the pur- . pose of defrauding the Customs. In connection with this,, the Wellington "Independent" states for the benefit; Of store-keepers . and others who purchase their supplies from importers, that the " genuine 1 and only " invoice of goods which are subject to the ad valorem duty is now always, stamped at the Custom House when presented with the impart entry. Retailers when purchasing goods at an advance on the invoice cost, would therefore do well to see that the genuineness of the invoice is verified in every case by the Customs' stamp. It may be useful to persons in this colony to know that there is in Melbourne an infirmary for the special treatment of diseases of .the throat, chest, eye, and ear. Patients paying 53 are entitled to one month's attendance with medicine, and every subscriber of Ll Is is entitled to four tickets for distribution to the poorer patients. These 5s fees, , together, -with-,) the subscriptions, and with donations from patients .who had not been contented with /paying ' sucH 5s fee only, make up an amount which exceeds, the expenditure for the year by L 3 3s 9d . During the year 1124 cases were treated. Referring to the Superinteudency, the Nelson "Mail " says :•— " Reef ton telegrams speak of the Hon. W. Fox as a probable candidate, bub an 'insuperable obstacle exists in the fact of his name not appearing on the roll. A good stand up fight between Messrs Curtis , and Fox would have been acceptable to 'the people of Nelson', arid ; relished by both their combatants, each of whom would have found in tke other- a foeman worthy of his steel." .' ! . . : •■■ : - ••' It is becoming customary in some of the churches in Auckland to hold what is called, a service of song, which consists entirely of singing. . ;,■ uL;I. ■. '''■ ' Here is the sort of spirit which should be shown by . the inhabitants of Westland towards the Hoki.fcika Exhibition; ■It is conveyed in a colossal offered by a citizen of New Hampshire to the Commissioners of the United State's Centennial jEx- , position. ' • Sirs— l speak of cheese — cheese in the grandest and most sublime sense of the term; cheese such as the world. has never, seen; cheese, hundreds of .thousands' of pounds of it. It shall, .be an i nimense plain,' the consolidated efforts of every manufacturer in the United States, : 1 and : will be capable, when laid down on jits side, of ac : commodating many hundreds of ..people. ' Such a cheese as the one I speak of jwould certainly create .astonishment, and wodld gain for our manufacturers the admiration of the world. I desire space for such a cheese. Can I have it? Answ.er."

Major Gordon, who had charge of the Colonial rifle competition at Nelson this year, has been gazetted inspector of the volunteer force for the current year. The " Wanganui Herald " suggests the formation of a " North Island Anti-Prpvin-cial Association.' 1 , , ; Mr Vogel,' in a letter to Dunedin, asking if the Albion's mail would be delivered on Sunday, answered :— T.he delivery of English letters to-morrow would benefit a comparative few, and would necessitate the Post Office clerks attending ai; the office all Sunday. This I wish to avoid, except in; extreme or urgent cases. ; The cricketing fraternity of the city of , Wellington are .making every exertion to be in a state of .preparedness to play the Ajickland,cricket team, who are expected to arrive there about the 18th of this month. Tie peripatetic eleven leave Auckland on | the 15th. ot the' month, the first of the interprovincial contests being fixed for the 17th at : ; Nelson; .■ :'..'"■ '■■■'■■■■'.■■;.' -. I .■ . j An eye complaint is said to be becoming prevalent. It extends throughout the Middle Island, but we, observe no notice made of it in the North. Exposure to the weather' appears to be one of the influences, but iib is said to resemble somewhat the " blight *' of Australia in a modified form. The worst part of the case says the " Wakatip Mail," is that it causes a film to grow on the eye, unless early checked, upon which color-blindness ensues. 'Commercial travellers complain this season very much about bheir eyes. Cannot medical gentlemen assist in an examination as to its causes 1 It would be at least humane , to do so. . I

Lately there has appeared in Wellington a young velocipedestrian who is, to quote "Punch"' one of the "fancy few," audjhis feats on the bicycle are certainly very extraordinary. Says the ■" Independent:"-—; He starts it, then jumps right on to the saddle, stands on it while he; guides himself with his hands on the bar ; when the velocipede loses, its impetus he sits down on the saddle aud gets a fresh start, then lies down on ihis ' back, : and again resumes, his seat;;';' When going at a gi-eatpace he lifts both legs to one side, riding as on a lady's side saddle, then jumps off, runs alongside the bicycle, vaults over it two or • three-' times, and makes another jump on to the saddle, and after: again sitting down he folds his arms and rides along without using bis hands/ His skill certainly seems extraordinary to those who are innqcent as to difficulties of .veloci-' pedestriamsm, but it appears far more so to those who have become fairly, i good riders. The tough roads about Wellington are not at all suited'for velocipedes ; but if the rider alluded to .had an asphalt course or roadway to ride over, his feats would in some measure approach that' of the young Frenchman, who astonished the London velocipedeatrians. ,• A very valuable collection of works, numbering in all about 200 volumes, has been re-, ceived by the secretary of the Athenaum, Reef ton. .

Mr Donald M'Gregor,, a candidate for election to the Provincial Council, addressed a numerously attended meeting' at the Lyell on Thursday last. The address, says, the V Argus, ■" was most interesting, and clearly showed that Mr M 'Gregor was, what oitr the motion of Mr Mobille,;, seconded by Mr Cullen, he was unanimously declared (to be, viz., a fit ; and proper person to represent the district' of Central Board.

, The following reference to a well-known New Zealand colonist appears in the MEuropean Mail " :— " The;other day the dwellers in and around Haverstock Hill were reminded by the appearance of the British iflag, which does duty on grand occasions on the roof of the Orphan Working Schbol;! that something of importance was going on in that popular, useful, and. well ; conducted institution. A fine day had brought together a large number of old scholars, jwhpj, had been ih'vited'tb the. meeting, which Jakes, nlape. once a^year. The chair was taken by an bldscholar, whoj about eighteen years ago, was one of tHe inmates of the institution, and had left it to

push his way in New Zealand. He had had a good education at the Orphan School, and the sense to make good use of it. Tn the New World he had opportunities of advancement denied him in the Old ; and thus it came to pass that the poor orphan of many years ago became the suciessful barrister of to-day, and that hepresided 'at "the mSetiag," and was introduced to the present generation of scholars as Mr James Macassey, of Dunedin, New Zealand. As he was attended by ■hiswifeffand-sister; arid as he had a ybuthful appearance, very much unlike that of an old boyjandas' he spoke with much feelins and good sense, and . declaimed .very i strongly, against the worship of mammon— a form of idolatrylwith which' young people- have, very little sympathy— it is scarcely necessary to observe that he was received with uproarious applause." , ~