THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAy , DECEMBER 8, 1873.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1667, 8 December 1873, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAy , DECEMBER 8, 1873.

Much sorrow was felt in Greymouth, on Sunday, on account of the death of a gentleman — George Muir. It was known by those who knew Mr Muir most that no better man has died in this district for a long time past, arid the suddenness of his death increased the sorrow felt at his departure from among the living, and from a community of whom he was one of the most worthy. Mr Muir waa not only an early settler and worker on the West Coast, but had, by the goodness of his nature, his keen humor, and his kindly hospitality, engaged the affections of all men, and had made many close, warm, and sincere friends among men. For the last six or seven years he has been settled as a storekeeper and farmer at a place called Camptown, and many people who passed that place have reason to remember Mr Muir with most friendly recollections, while many others visited the place to see him and enjoy his genial society. His death happened there on Saturday, and, as. has been said, suddenly. He was assisting others in fi«ldwork when he dropped, dead. Though in delicate health for the last two years, he was apparently stronger for some months past than he had been previously, and, on the day of tne Governor's visit to Greymouth, was able, a 9 he was also willing, to come to town, and to take part quietly in the public reception to his Excellency. Those who saw him then little expected that he would be so short-lived, and congratulated him upon his appearance of improving health, but his old ailment, though unknown to himself and others, was a serious one, and it culminated in killing him suddenly and without warning. <'n the occurrence of his death, the manager of his business, Mr Barrett, rode to town, and conveyed to his f riendsnews which was to them sad and surprising. 'As soon as the intelligence was received, Mr Donald Maclean started for Camptown, and the body of the deceased gentleman was brought to town, and taken to Johnston's Family Hotel, in Mackay street, where it will remain until this afternoon, when the funeral will take place. The hour of the funeral, w« believe, is half -past two o'clock, and the place of burial is the Greymouth cem etery. Much Tespected as he was in life, and sudden as was his death, there will, no doubt, be a large attendance of regretful friends.

Mr John Sharp, of Nelson, has been returned as member for the Amuri district in the Nelson Council. The Amuri district is a large district with a small constituency, the nuraher of votes for Mr Sharp having been 15, while those for another candidate, Mr Carter, are variously stated as 14 and 7. There was a third candidate, Mr R. M'Crae, but he retired. It is said, and we believe it is the fact, that a tender for the construction of the Wairaea Water-race has been accepted by the Government. The amount of the accepted tender is stated to be L 5373, and the contractors are Messrs Denfield, Douthwaifce, and Connor. By advertisement tenders for the construction of No. 1 section of the projected road between Hokitika and the Blue Spur are called for. A meeting of the Westland Freight and Tug Company was held at the Empire Hotel, Hokitika, on Friday evening. Mr Churches was elected to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation by Mr Evans of the office of manager. A new directory was elected, and, after the transaction of other business, the meeting adjourned. A few nights ago a fire took place in the drill-shed, Dnnedin. The Times says that | the ringiug of the fire-bell indicated the existence of a five, and by the signals that were given the Octagonjwas denoted as its whereabouts. Princes street was speedily filled with a large concourse of people, eager to ascertain the scene of the fire, which was soon discovered to be at the head-quarters drill-shed at the Octagon. The ire was found to have originated in the north-east corner of the sbed, where the meter is situated. It appears that a man named King last night opened the door of the case in which the meter is enclosed, , for tb.B pnvpose of turning on the gas; But while in the act of doing this, the gas., ' which probably was escaping at the time, burst into a blaze and speedily enveloped the case, which was of an inflammable material, on fire. The members of the band were in their room at the south end of the shed at the time. One of the members, Mr John Grimn, who happened to come in at the time, and seeing the flames, with considerable risk to himself, but with much commeudable foresight, succeeded in stopping up the pipe where the gas. which was the source of the flame, was" escaping ; and with som jfurther assistance the fire was put out without having done any material damage. Land in the Wanganui district is' rapidly increasing in value. At Marton, 44 sections were offered by public auction a few days since, and not one was passed, while several changed hands afterwards at advanced rates. The sections were subdivisions of a ten-acre paddock, purchased some few years since at 12s 6d per acr acre. By the recent sale the owner realised over LI2OO. Companions are reminded that the adjourned meeting of the Royal Arch Chapter will be held this evening, at 8 o'clock, in the Masonic Hall. At the Resident Magistrate's Court, Ahaura, on Friday, othinst, before O. Whitefoord, Esq. R.M., and F. Guinness, Esq, J.P., a woman named Smith, was lined L 2 with eost9, for disorderly conduct at Half- Ounce. The offence took place within view of bub-In-spector Goodall, who brought the charge. The only civil case was that of Peter Bjorklund y. D. O. M'Kenna — a claim for Lls 9s. The litigants had been partners in business, and the amount now sued for was one among other | partnership debts for which the defendant made himself liable when the dissolution took place. The defendant explained that he had paid Messrs White and Garth, who held the acceptance of the late firm, Ll2, and had made arrangements, as he thought about thS balance. Mr Garth was called and he said that the defendant had paid Ll2, and that the firm still held the acceptance which formed the cause of the present case, until the balance was settled. The Bench said there was evidently a misunderstanding between Mr Garth and the defendant as to the terms of the sottlement. and gave judgment for L 3 9s with costs. The defendant complained that he should be made liable for costs after he had made arrangements to settle the claim, and had given timely notice to that effect to the plaintiff. The Bench said they could see the hardships of the case, but as the matter did not lay between the plaintiff and defendant, but between the defendant and another person, the Bench could not interfere with regard to the costs. Mr Staite appeared for the plaintiff. The Rev. T. Flavell held Divine Service at Hatter's Terrace, Nelson Creek, on Friday j evening, and preached to a large congregstion. I Mr Flavell was to hold morning service at Ahaura on Sunday, and evening service at Reefton on Sunday evening. Mr Flavell was unable to hold services as usual throughout the Grey Valley during this visit, as owing to his lengthened absence from the Inangahua his presence is urgently required in that district. A meeting of the Church of England Building C ramittee was held at Nelson Creek on Friday, Mr Flavell was in the chair. It was stated the new church building at ] Hatter's Terrace was rapidly progressing towards completion, and after discussion it was decided that the opening and inaugural services would take place on Monday, 22nd December. Members of the Church <>f England residing in the surrounding districts are invited to attend. Dr Hector has intimated an intention of visiting the Grey Valley Gold-fields early in the ve<p year. Thia visit of the Government Geologist to the Grey Valley has been expected every day since some of the residents, who are now getting grey-headed, and described as " that stout party," were young, good-looking, and considered efficient all

round cricketers. The doctor will now be able to accurately and scientifically describe the places where the gold has been found ; before, he would have been in a position to indicate the most likely places in which to search for it. These latter spots are now unfortunately few and far bsbween, in which respect they resemble the visits of Dr Hector as well as those ef the Angels. It is rumored in " well informed circles " that His Excellency the Governor will again visit the West Coast in February. It is also said that Sir James Fergusson will pay a special visit to the Upper Grey Valley and the gold-fields, but it is not authoritatively announced that His Exceliency's visit has even a remote connection with the Annual Grey Valley Race Meeting;, which is to come off at Ahaura in the middle of February. A rather serious accident occurred on the main Grey Valley road between Bruunerton and the stillwater Creek on Thursday afternoon. Mr Jas. F. Johnstone, of the Ikamatua, aud Mr Edwin James, of the new Twelve-mile Landing, were returning from the coal pits, after interviewing the Governor, and perhaps being in high spirits in consequence, they were riding at a better pace than usual. Mr Johnstone, who was ahead, on reaching the rise in the road near Dick's Hotel, heard a crash behind him, and on | looking round saw his companion and his horse both spread-eagled on the Queen's highway, The horse was much injured about the head, and Mr James was also a good deal bruised, but not severely hurt. The horse must have " come down a cropper," because both the saddle girths were found to be broken, but the rider is quite unable to account for the accident. If was, howver, a narrow escape, and a very •« plain warning." The annual race meeting on Totara Flat will take place on Boxing Day and the day after. The programme (which we publish

elsewhere) includes a trial stakes, of 10 soys, weights for n,ge ; a ladies' purse, of 10 soys, welter weights and gentlemen riders, who must qualify by topping a hurdle in front of the grand stand to the approval of the fair judges congregated thereon ; a pony race, of 5 sov3, with a trotting race of 10 soys, three miles, welter weights, and a hurry scurry will conclude the first d iy's racing. On the second day there will be a butchers' handicap, of 10 soys, horses to be the property of owners since Ist October ; a ladies' race, of 5 soys, with lady riders, will be followed by the big race of the meeting, the Totara handicap, of 15 soys, two aud a-half mild»o be handicapped by the Stewards j a consflation stake, of 5 soys, will conclude the racing. Prizes will be given for tilting at the ring and other sports, and it is expected some interest will be created by the bringing off of one or two private racing matches between local " crocks," whose owners'cannot otherwise settle the disputes about the relative merits of their home-bred mokes. We learn that there has been an extensive rush to a newquartz discovery in the viciuity of JBoaEthan's Creek, tnangahua. When the coach left Reefton on Saturday morning, the plac/i was nearly depopulated, in consequence of the stampede tothenew discovery. Details are not \et to hand. The shop, with cottage in the rear, lately occupied by Mr James Hayes in the Broadway, Reefton, with the right to the section on which it stood, were sold by auction on Wednesday, for L3OO. Messrs D. Isaacs and Co. were the auctioneers It is said the same property was placed for sale one month ago, and the highest offer was Ll5O. Messrs Fox and O'Neill are declared the successful tenderers for the Saddle section of the AniuVi road, and Messrs Drennan Bros., of Nelson, for the Starvation Point section. It is said Messrs Drenuaa's tender was under L 4 per chain, and Messrs Fox and O'Neill about L 9. There is a good deal of rockcutting to be done on the work on the Saddle, and the whole length to be performed by both is between six and seven miles. Some weeks ago Mr Henry Macken, one of the shareholders in the prospecting claim on Owen's Look-out, Nelson Creek, fell on a tramway near his claim, and fractured some of his ribs. He was taken to Greymouth, and after a stay of some time he returned to Nelson Creek. Re was, however, taken suddenly ill on Thursday night, from the effects of the old accident it is said, and Dr Phillips was sent for from Ahaura, at miduigh t. The patient was again brought to Greymouth with as little delay as possible, and so dangerous is the nature of the affection from which he is suffering that it is thought he can hardly recover.

A most curious fact in relation to the electric telegraph is told in connection with the Bank of Engl md. One Saturday night the folks at th.3 bank could not make the balance come right by a hundred pouuds. This was a serious matter in that little establishment : not the cash, of conrse, but the mistake in the arithmetic, for it occasions a world of scrutiny. An error in balancing has been known to keep a whole delegation of clerks from each office at work sometimes through the whole nighfc. A hae and cry was of course made for LI OO, as' if the old lady of Threadneedle wouLl be bankrupt without it. Luckily on Saturday morning a clerk felt a suspicion of the truth to da t through his mind quicker than an flash of the telegraph itself. He told the chief cashier on Monday morning that psrhaps the mistake might have oc.nrred in packing some boxes of specie for the West Indies, which had been sent to Southamp on for shipment. The suggestion was immediately acted upon. Here was a race, lightning against steam, with eight-aud -forty hours start given. Instantly the wires asked whether such a vessel had left the harbor. "Just weighing anchor," was the answer. " Stop her !" frantically shouted the electric telegraph. It was done. "Have up on deck certain boxes marked so ; weigh them carefully." They were weighed, and one — the delinquent —was found to be just one packet of a hundred sovereigns heavier than it ought to be. "Let her go, ""said the mysterious telegraph. The West India folk were debited with LIOO, and the error corrected without ever looking into the boxes, or delaying the voyage an hour. Now that was doing business.

It is stated that Sergeant Walker, late of the \rmed Constabulary, Auckland, rand now of the constabulary at Christchurch. has received a reward of L3OO and promotion for some exceedingly clever captures which he has effected since he joined the police force at that place. Rails for the Avomoko railway have been ordered of the Darlington Iron Company, and are expected to arrive so as to be available for the railway by the time the earth works are ready for laying the way. The portion of the Clutha Railway line from Dunedin to the Chain Hills is now complete, and will be taken off the contractor's hands in a few days. The difficulties in connection with the Chain Hills tunnel, which caused cansiderable delay with the work, are now overcome. Nearly all the earth work in connection wich. the line I beyond this point is finished. Petara Kohutuani, the oldest Maori chief of the Raupaki natives, is dead. His age is Btated to be 120 years, but as twelve moons are calculated by the natives as one year, his real age, if correctly stated, is 108 years. We extract the ioflowing from the Otago Daily Times, of the 26fch~ ultimo .— " The superstition of the Chinese with regard to their dead does not seem to be dispelled by the incredulity of their European neighbors. As mentioned yesterday, the Chinese have received permission to keep thn corpse of Mon Tai, who died from opium eating, for seren days, as they declared their belief that at the expiration of that time he would return to life. About five o'clock last evening a Chinaman entered the room of SubInspector .Mallard, at the Police Station, in hot haste, with the tidings that his fellowcountryman had come back to life. Partially through curiosity, but more to satisfy the wish of his informant, the Sub-Inspector accompanied him to the establishment of Sun War On, in Princes street, where he viewed the body. It had not been disturbed, with the exception of the head, which was wrapped in a wet towel, and rested on the edge of a small tub of cold water, in which an end of the towel hung, and over his stomach was another wet cloth. Several Chinese standing round the bed assured the Sub-Inspector that their comrade lived ; but the Sub- Inspector, though confident that such was not the case, did not think it worth while to dispute the correctness of their statement." An amusing incident, occurring in connection with the launch of the St. Kilda at Auckland recently, is given in an exchange. The steamer appeared loth to leave the slip, and two or three screw-jacks were brought into requisition for the purpose of giving her an impetus. Just at this moment a pelting shower of rain came down, which drove the workmen away to seek shelter. A few minutes after, the vessel began to move of her own accord. This was observed by a little lad, about ten years of age, and he at once commenced to shove her off. His efforts were successful, and, single-handed, he was enabled to send, the vessel into the water. The sight of so small a boy pushing the ponderous iron vessel' down the way a was ludicrous in the extremo, \

Sites for building purposes are becoming of such value on Hatter's Terrace, Nelson Creek, in anticipation of increased demand for them in consequence of the probable early starting of the works in connection with the Lake Hochstetter and Nelson Creek race, that complaints of encroachment are already being made. On Saturday an application was made to the Warden at Ahaura for increased protection for the land on which the Roman Catholic Church is built at Hatter's Terrace, as sites were being taken up within the boundaries of the lease held by the trustees of the church. A meeting of the inhabitants of the Ahaura district was notified to take place at the Court House, Ahaura, on Friday evening, for the purpose of appointing a local committee to assist in the management of the Grey River Hospital. Owing to the small attendance the meeting was postponed to Wednesday, lObh December. It is hoped there will be a good attendance,. for the new committee will have to deal with the important question as to whether an auxiliary hospital will bo established at Ahaura, or whether the Nelson (Jowernrnent will be reciuested to withdraw the grant recently made to put the hospital building into repair. The indecision of the Greymouth Committee on this subject is not forwarding the interests of the parent institution, and a decided expression of opinion on the part of the Central Cotmjittee as to whether the Committee would recognise or ignore the existence of the Ahaura Hospital as a branch and auxiliary to the Grey River Hospital would go far to do away with the difficulty and settle the matter finally. The meeting to be held at Ahaura on Wednesday has not aay direct relation to the Ahaura Hospital question — it is for the distinct purpose of electing a local subcommittee of the Grey River Hospital, although, as before stated, the new committee will have to deal with the LIOO available for putting the Ahaura Hospital building jnto repair. Major Gordon, Inspector of Volunteers, is at present visiting the Provinces of the South Island. It is said that he is to return to the North Island by way of the West Coast. Canterbury hat sent 250 trout to Nelson, and they have been placed in their "native element " in the rivers Wairoa aud Motueka. An inquest has been held in Nelson on the body of Mr Abraham Bush, aged 73 years, who recently complained of freling unwell undressed and got into bed, and a few minutes afterwards died. A verdict was returned to the effect that death was occasioned by disease of the heart. Upwards of twenty immigrant coal-miners from Wales were (says the Otago Daily Times of the 26th ult.) brought by the Tararua from Wellington, they having been transhipped from the Helen Denny, which arrived at that port last week. They are healthy looking young men, and constitute a portion of a lot of fifty coal-miners that the Agent-General was instructed some months ago to forward to Otago. It was understood that the lot which has just arrived would get work on th^ir arrival on one of the Green Island pits, but for some reason or other the lessee of the pit has declined to avail himself of their services. They proceed, however, at once to Southland, where labor at present is scarce, to engage in ordinary labor, which they say they would prefer to coal-mining Two or three of the Helen Denny's coalmiuers were left behind at Wellington. I where they will likely remain. One of them, who is described in the list as a veritable skilled miner, is a female, aged seventeen.

A presentation was made at Dunedin, on the 26th ult., to the Rev. Dr. Begg, on behalf of the Deacon's Court of the First Church, by a deputation consisting of Messrs Hill, Matthew, Sinclair, and Lawson. Tne gift consisted of a gold albert chain, with greenstone pendant attached set in chased gold ; and a massive gold necklet with greenstone brooch, set in gold, the latter being intended for Mrs Begg. The whole of of the articles were manufactured in Dunedin, and were purchased from Mr Young, watchmaker aud jeweller. The presentation was made by the Deacons' Court, as an acknowledgment of Dr Begg's services in opening the new First Church, and as a memento of his visit to Otago. Dr Begg took his departure by the s.s. Tararua for Melbourne. We learn that Mr Charles Reid has been very successful, says the Otago Daily Times, in his efforts to float the Standard Insurance Company in the Northern Provinces, and has secured the services as local directors and agents of several influential gentlemen, amongst others the well-known Mr John Martin, of Wellington ; Messrs Routledgc and Kennedy, of Hawke's Bay; Mr G. W. Binney, of Auckland ; Mr Tate, of Timaru ; and Mr Aitken, of Oamaru. Negotiations are pending as to the appointment of geaeral managers for Canterbury and Wellington. The share list is filling up.