THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1873.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1686, 29 December 1873, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1873.

Mr John White arrived in town yesterday by the Titan, and will address the electors at Gilmer's Hail to-morrow evening. Dr«. Moriee, Maunsejl, and Duff have been appointed public vaceinators, "to perform gratuitous vaccination," under 'The Public' Health Act, 1872," for the Province of Wfistland. Drs Henry and Bulmer receive similar appointments for Charleston and Reefton respectively. O. G. FitzGerald, Esq., has been nppointed Census Enumerator and Superintendent Collector for Wesiland, under " The Census Actc Amendment Act, 1867." The. entertainmestfc of Friday night, in aid of the Literary Society, will t)S repeated to- , nigh'fc-at ttfe'Volunteer Hall, - '■• ■-.- .! A man named John M 'Kenzie was drowned j at Larry's Creek, Inangahua, on Wednesda3- \ }%Bt. . At the inquest subsequently held a j vevdifibpf: accidental death was returned. ' We' bave rjeceijred fan address to the electors, to which ia affixed a signature so "very nearly resembling that of onjs.of .the randidates for the Superintendency, that unless j it wereTinlikery that a man would write a ,[ {bittefly uncharitable attack upon himeelfi iiifpe might nave fallen into tbe error of sup- ! poei. g jfcbat it was a bona fide production. This, v?c are eppyivced, it is not : nor is its publication' likely to bp otherwise than injurious,' by promoting cvii Hpitpg, and , stirring up passion, at a time when,' if eve^ calm 'judgment is required.' Under these ciicupastances; we decline to publish it. ; After the J.ot pf January .the rate of postage'.upanletiers for /pfltralia arid Tasmania will be reduced to twopence ppr half-o^^nce. This is a very important .concession to thp^e : havipg conntant business relations with those •:colonies, and affords another evidence of the >reat anxiety of the pregept Government to employ all means direct and indirect for the promotion of this Colony's trade, ft Js pnjy a few] years eincc tbe postsge to Australia was 'Sixpence per half-ounce, And now it is reduced to one-third of tbafc amount. Wo have already stated that auewisßne of posis,gs elaipps would be made et tbe beginning of the yfear.". A f fter that timej ibe descriptions of the'stairps-in use in 'Zealand will be ia follows :— One penny, Queen's head, on-* lan .oval ground, printpd in mauve ; twopence, Queen's iead, in dotted circle, printed in crimson lake ; t^ir^eftce, .Queen's head, in

circle, in sepia brown ; fourpence, Queen's head, on a square ground, printed in Indian red ; sixpence, Queen's head, in circle and hexagon, printed in blue ; one shilling, Queen's head, on an oval ground, printed in green. -> Owing to a most unfortunate occurrence on Saturday morning at Maori Gully, a blackSmith, named Michael Donaghue, lost his life. About five o'clock on Saturday morning the deceased and some friends were taking breakfast, consisting of meat, potatoes, &c, when the deceased suddenly left the room. Shortly afterwards those inside heard a noise as of a man choking, and running out found him on his knees as if in the act of vomiting, but it was evident that he was choking. Everything that could be was done by bis friends to save his life, but he was suffocated in about fifteen minutes. His body was brought to town on Saturday, and au inquest held in the evening at the Brian Bom Hotel, before M. Price, Esq , J P.. when, after the evidence had been heard, the jury returned a verdict of "accidental death." The funeral took place yesterday afternoon, and was the largest ever seen in Greymouth, there being nearly 350 persons present. The doubts at one time expressed as to the feasibility of successfully carrying through Mr Tonk's monster sweep are vow dispelled, as not a single ticket could be had at the Albion on Saturday night, while a great number of anplicants could not be supplied. There are only a very few returns to come in fr m up-country and one or two of the neighboring towns, but the intellieence to haud leaves little room to hope that many unsold tickets from these places will be at the disposal of the Treasurer for distribution. The mail from Holutika did not get through to Greymouth on Saturday. A mail was forwarded yesterday in the 7itan, but was not sorted owing to the day being Sunday. We have therefore not received our usual files from Hokitika, and are unable to give part-culara of the opening of the Exhibition on Friday, or of the races on on Saturday. It was certainly a matter of regret to the Committee, and those who were instrumental in getting up this year's sports, that the weather on Saturday should have proved to be so unfavorable for entering upon them. To-day, however, from all appearances, promises to be fine, and as the ground is in good order, and every step taken by those intrusted to carry out the different events, to ensure success, a really good day's sport may be anticipated. About the first event to come off is the Handicap Champion Race, of 440 yards, 300 yards, and 200 yards, and as there" are eleven acceptances, and these eleven are nearly the best men on the Coast, there will be such a struggle for the prize as has never been heretofore witnessed in Greymouth. All the men are pretty, well-knuwu, and each and all have their partizans, while there is a good deal of money betted upon them. The next event, the diggers' or navvies handicap, is one that should ensure a lot of entries, while it is also one that is almost certain to be productive of trouble to the Stewards, whose chief difficulty will, Uq in keeping out the professional element. However, these gentlemen are all experienced in their duties, and possessing large discriminating powers as they do, will no doubt successfully surmount this difficulty. It is to be hoped that the Cumberland wrestling will not fall through as it did last year, for suroly the name of one man is not sufficient

to frighten everybody. There are plently of excellent wrestlers among us in this'style who need never be afraid of anyone, and we hope they will at least have one good bout with whoever may come iorward. The Cornish and Devon style also comes off to-day, and as' each year has produced good entries it ia to be hoped this year will likewise bring them. The rest of the day's sports are leaping and running, and with them a good 'day's amusement, or what should be one, will conclude. To ensure success, however, it is incumbent upon the Stewards to keep order, and, abpve all, to avoid delay in receiving entries and getting off the different sports. It is annoying in the extreme to onlookers to be kept waiting and hanging about while dilatory competitors are either cojaxed or bullied into makiusr up their minds

*cj compete, they all the while intending to do so. To the directors of the sports this job is a most unthankful one and the most disagreeable of all their duties, arid those

men wbo intend to compete should be the

first to help them by entering when called orj, and do away with the unnecessary humbug and causeless delay that has previously been such a nuisance. Probably it w;nuld be as well for the Stewards, iv an

instance or two, after declaring the time for receiving nominations had passed, and sufficient had not come in, to put that event aside and so teach a lesson. This firmness and determination not to be trilled with would have the desired effect, if not in whole, in a great measure, and would allow the day's oport to be carried to a successful and satisfactory issue.

The Northern Tariiqry ffewg says : — The overland telegraph line^ we learn, is h,qw being rapidly repoled with iron poles The line on this side is completed to within a few miles of Yam Creek, and the work will be continued until the wet weather sets in, Every alternate pole is to be of iron, and the insecure ones are being replaced with the same material. The angles in the line are being taken out and curves substituted. This r poling un the northern side will extend from Port. Parwin to the Kinj. River, a distance of 230 miles, and to the south of the King River Knuckey's' party are pontjnuing the repolirg, with the fioper as jbh_ejr base. .). , Business inthe telegraph department isjincreaeing every day, botji along the cable and the overland line, and nest ygar jfc will be necessary to erect another wire between Palmerston'andtbe gold-fields. Three additional operators arrived by the Gothenburg.

(A few weeks ago, as Mr Wright of Arrowtojwn, was drowning a cat, it broke loose frbai .the ban in which it was placed, and fastened on'his hand, severely lacerating his little finger. Beyond po«Uj.c£ng the wound, Mr Wrj^bfc took no further notiee'of it ; bjafe it! did riot heal, and became so much worse ith'at he was obliged to go to the Wakatip Hospital* and last week T)r Douglas ampui tatad a portion of the finger, which is now healing.-' ■ './ JThe following tiie Spgyety Times assures US is no joke., A Ohin.ese'naai'ed'M.acpherson' tendered for a contract. The parties empowered to accept or reject tenders (they reside at Tokomairiro) expressed surprise that any Chinese should be a Macpherfltjn;' and in reply, the Celestial, in English, split yn jjitp very vulgar fractions, exclaimed "'.lt's no' ' — übjb for anyone to tender in ti|is 1 country mijess'jie ip a. Scotchman." iAn. .American, Mr ; £iid has according to; the Atjienceum, written a book of some in- 1 te'rebt on the subject of fires. "He would hope. Byery boy and girl who graduates from a i grammar trained to be ready for particular work in' case of an outbreak of fire in the' house in which they dwell.. He shows how even a single individual' may njapteKa-ifire, if he is aroused to it in time, j and has, ap every man should have, an axe. and water j&tfcandi aod readiness to apply : fcjpem; '.Tixe .conclusion at wbi.ch Mr Bird arrives • if, tjjat no fires would gr,ow into great cflrflßtrophjes $ there wereahajid-pump I witb-'ai little water, on every Bpory.pf a house, tand also, of course, somebody svjth wit to. 1 use them. A small garden-engine has often. i extinguished a fire taken at the outbreak, which in half an hour w ould have defied half

a dozen steam fire-engines throwing hundreds of gallons in a minute. It is theanthVs desire to see the 'little engines' introduced into America; but, he says, 'we' (in America) 'have heen educated for fighting, and. not -for preventing fires. An acre of racing fire, and a dozen steam fire-engines, fiahting it, is a glorious sight to most of us. "

The Hon. Mr Yogel haa .written to Mr Macandrew that, when the labor market is letter supplied, it is proposed to establish labor exchange offices on the American plan and suggests the appointment of unpaid boards in various parts of the country,("composed of ladies and gentlemen, who will give their services gratuitously in the reception of immigrants, giving them friendly aid arid counsel.

Mr Gilhertsou, of Nelson, is the successful tenderer for the Wairoa and Eighty-eight Valley bridges. The ironwork for these bridges (found by Government] will shortly arrive from England, when the work will be at once proceeded with.

The whole of the sleepers required for the Nelson and Foxhill Railway has been contracted for by the residents of that Province, the greater portion will come from Takaka, and the remainder from Wakefieli and the Moutere.