Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1723, 11 February 1874, Page 2

The hon. treasurer of the Grey River Hospital acknowledges receipt of L 37 14s, beint; the nett proceeds from a ball hell at Maori Gully in aid of the funds, and also L 3 Bs, being amount remaining on hand from last year. The ball was held on the 3rd instant on the occasion of the opening of the new Court House, and was in every way a great success. Much credit is due to the gentlemen who formed the ball committee — Messrs P. Purcell, H. S. Castle, J. Capron, and M Phillips; — for having embraced the opportunity of assisting the funds of the hospital, and for the successful manner in which the proceedings were carried but. ; .-■ ; We are informed that for some considerable perio i the Hospitalgrounds have been nightly invaded by horses, to the utter destruction of the garden. As the grounds are regularly closed by strong gates, it is evident that thttrespasaers receive access by the voluntary action of their owners, who ought, if discovered, to be heavily punished. At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, before W. H. JKev.eil, K.M., and R. C. Reid and G. W. Nichol, assessors, the following case was heard .—Messrs C. Hoos and W. S. Smith, on behalf of the Minister of Public W-rks, summone I W. J. Unites to show causs why the .im -tart <>i v •inj c isation for 22 perches of section 1323, offered to him on behalf of the Minis"er of Public Works, should not be .awarded to him liy the Resident Magistrate and assessors. Messr.Perkins and 'ewten appeared for Air Coates. and Mr Hoos conducted the case. for the Government. The piece or land taken by the Government was under the 29t.h section of "The Immigration and Public Works Act Amendment Act, 1871," for the construction »f the Brunner Railway. The assessors offered Mr Coates L3O, for the 22 perches of land required, at the rate of L4O per acre but this was refused, Mr Coates asking LIOO for the 22 perches It was proved in evidence that the defendant offered the assessors LSO if they would leave the land alone. Evidencu was given at considerable length by surveyors and others as to the value of the land in question,: and as to the corresponding! value of land acquired f r railway purposes in the neighborhood. Ultimately, the Bench gave judgment for L4O. At a meeting of the Hokitika. Hospital Committee, held oh Monday evening! a discussion took place concerning a resolution pissed at a former meeting of the Committee, resolving that the President and Messrs Todd and' T^bart should wait upon his Honor the Suneriutenclent, requesting payment of the subsidy due to the hospital. The President stated that he had tried to induce the deputation to carry out the vote of the Committee, but had not been successful. Mr Todd said that it would be useless to ask the payment of money from the Provincial Treasury until after the 24th ; instant. Mr Tait moved — " That. in the event of the deputation being unsuccessful in their application, the President, Treasurer, and Messrs Todd and Tabart be authoiised to make arrangements with the Bank of New Zealand for an overdraft of LSOO, for , the payment of the salaries of the officers of the institution." The motion was seconded by Mr Learmonth, and carried. ■ ,; A meeting of the Caledonian Gold-mining Company, Larry's, was held at Hokitika ou Monday evening, Mr Cassius occupied the chair. The balance-sheet and directors' report were read and received. The following ' gentlemen were elected as directors for the ensuing six months: — Messrs Cassius (chairman), Evans, Pollock, Oxley, and Churches. The search for the bedy of Albert Benjamin, who was drowned in the Hokitika river on unday, wa continued on Monday. Constable Douglas examined the beach ' at low water, and travelled as far as the Arahura, but did not succeed in finding the body. A correspondent writes •:— " While on the subject of roads I will mention an idea that has suggested itself to me on my travels down the Buller, and which I think might be adopted with great advantage to the public wenl. It is a common thing, under the present way, of falling the bush, to meet with obstructions caused by trees being blown down across the road. Sometimes these obstructions ' are of a very serious nature, and there is always the danger, on windy days especially, of the trees falling on the horses, cattle, or even men travelling along the roads. My idea is that all this danger and obstruction might be prevented by.Bimply falling a portion of the trees, those farthest from the centre of the roads on both sides, so as to Wn against the unfelled bush in a slanting direction, which would not- only render-it impossible for these trees' to fall across the road, but would cause them to prevent others from; .falling by their leaning against them and propping them, up. The expense of falling the bush in this way would certainly not be greater,, and I think it probable that it would be lefs, andthe- security to life and property, and tl.e freedom of the roads from obstruction rhbt would he derived from this mode of fa iing| the bush, for our roads, recommends t for immediate lidop-. tion.": ._;■,.,-. .-,...- /,

With regard to a recent scene in the Nelson Provincial Council, which was mentioned in our • telegrams, the Nelson 'EvehinglMtiil says,:— "The somewhat dreary routine of the ordinary business was on one occasion enliVened by a spirited encounter between a member who holds a seat in the Executive and one who does not There was a savour of pistols and coffee about it that I regret to say was not treated with the gravity which might have been expected from aT body of" men who, from the tone of the discussion, were not at all sure at the time that, supposing them both >> be crack shots, two of. their number would not be in a position to" claim their honorarium: for attendance in the Council Chamber on the following day, but thfi cha leugeto repeat .outside the Chamber the statement which appeared to be offensive was listened to with a smothered laugh that was quite unbecoming so solemn an occasion. Fortunately, however, the affair terminated pacitically.andsomeof the members regret that such a scene . should have occurred, and. others tnat the Speaker did not, come .between the disputants a little earlier; . , The Provincial Secretary of Nelson statad in the Council the other day that a teleeram had just i been received from the General Government (in reply to one from the Superintendent, forwarding the resolution of the Council 1 on the subject), stating -that the Agent-General had been instructed to send a ship monthly direct to Nelson with 150 immigrants, the balance of her complement to be forwarded to Marlborough. ' At Oamaru, one Thomas Hunt has been committed for trial on a charge of having committed wilful aud corrupt perjury during his 'examination as a, bankrupt" at 1 the last sittings of "the' local District Court. After bhe inquiry into the origin of a fire; at !)touopo on the > Bth inst., John Bods, the owner of the house that was destroyed, was arrestedon an information charging him with having made a false declaration as to the value of- his property: •; i i The following notification in the Wajca Maori will explain the matter about which certain Opposition papers made a great noise recently ■:— U H. T. Clark- Esq., Under-Secre-tary, Native Department, in Wellington, has received a telegraphic < message from 1 his Honor James Macandrew, Superintendent of Otago, stating that during the harvest 500 Maoris could obtain employment at L 2 per week and rations in the Oamaru district,! if they understand; harvesting work ; and thata considerable number could be employed during the rest of tLeyear at from 15s to 20s per week, with rations. Harvesting will extend over three months." '■ „ The Right.lßev. Dr Croke, Catholic Bishop, left Auck'and on the 28th ult. per Phoebe. He proceeds to Sydney, and thence by the Californiari line to Sah Francisco, where he has a brother who is Vicar-General to the Catholic Bishop of California. He wjill remain there for, some time and then go on to Europe, Home being his principal destination, where busiue3S connected with the diocese has to be settled. He is also going to bring out more clergymen to make bettier provision for the spiritual wants of the, Vlaoria, and to arrange for the introduction of Sisters of Mercy to look after the female schools. Bishop Croke will be absent about twelve months ; Christmas being the probable period of his return. He has appointed the Rev. . Father Fynnes as Vicar-General, arid aUo administrator of the diocese in all ma tefa connected with the bishopric during .his ' ibsence, to whom all communications ' connected with the diocese will now be addressed to Father Fyiines's residence, at Parnell. j Mr Clapcott, travelling Sub-Commissioner for the 'government Insurance and Annuities, has received an appointment in the North sland. Mr Clapcott's success on the goldfields of Otago has been so marked, that the head of his department has determined to give him a larger sphere of operations, which will comprise the Provinces of Wellington, Kawke's Bay, Taranaki, Marlborough, and. Nelson. He starts for this new field early in March. '..... , ; The Wanganui Heads, says the local paper, ire becoming fashionable as a watering-place — xn embryotic Brighton in fact. Several families in town have recently taken up their Vbode there, the want of house accommodation; not in any way acting as a deterrent, \ll. the romance of living in tents is there to he found, and a little colony is fast forming. An extraordinary yield of oats is reported by the Lytlelton Times to luve been obtained by a farmer at Wopdend, Canterbury, 36 ' acres >t first-class oats when threshed put yielded % total of 3216 bushels, or rather over an average of 89 bushels per acre. I Commenting- up'>n the proposed Ida a of L 250.000 for the Pr. vnce of Nelson thjj, Colonist remarks :— "We are reapt g'thl fruits of. a mis-spent youth. At three and. thirty years of age the Province finds itself without a continuous main trunk road i throughout eithe" its length or its breadthAfter parting With hundred's of thousands of acres of land, and pocketing hundreds' of thousands of pounds of land revenue, we are driven to i borrow L 250.000 to '< improve an estate, a great part of which is no longer out own, and the profits to accrue from which improvement— it is needless to point out— will go into the hands of private owners instead of into the public purse; However' ' needs must ' under certain conditions of driving : we are a gentle and inexperienced people.; content through. endless mistakes to grope our way to light*" , • . According to the Tuapeka TUvm, mining on the banks of, the Molyneux is almost suspended, the high level of the river and the scarcity of water for sluicing purposes beingthe principal reasons. The public works and harvesting operations in the province are drawing away all the miners who have not been getting much gold of late. If the miners are not careful, they will find the auriferous, ground locked up by the agriculterists on their return. Several portions of the mining reserves on the banks of the river have been already fenced and cultivated and for which, in time to come miners will have to pay heavy compensation for the privilege of working, : ' :; 'r ' J;' v ' The receatly-elected Provincial Council of Auckland got through its first session in a few days. The New Zealand Herald says: — " Nothing could have been more satisfactory than have been the proceedings during this brief sitting. The Council, the Executive, and his Honor, the Superintendent, have been in perfect accord; Members have evidently met -to transact the Council business in a spirit, we may almost say of genuine patriotism, i It appears to be.; felt that the present is a turning point in the affairs of the Province, and that it only wants members to be united injdnking all minor differences in order to advance the more important interests pertaining to the Province by which it shall again rise to the rank of importance to; which its position, its population, and revenue fairly entitle it." The "Wellington correspondent of the Otago Daily 'times says : — "A little while ago there was quite a niania toy companies. Now tlie rage is all for giving them up ' The Sugar Company have come to a determina- . tion not <"6 proceed further,* in consequence of the unfavorable nature : of-, the reply-.re-ceived from the Government' in answer tb the application for a, reduction*. of duty on the unrefined material. The Coal Company formed some time ago foiLithe purpose of purchasing two steam oolliers to trade with the West Coast, is also about to be wound up. It was found, that a,: suitable': steam collier ould be built on the Clyde for L 9900

•iut on a vote of the shareholders being taken; ifc was found to be unfavorable to "going on with the scheme." The Lawrence paper states that the netv; line of telegraph from the Mataura, viaTapanui and Switzers, is nearly completed, and.it is expected the line will be at work in a month's time. A London correspondent of the San Francisco y ßulletin; inraletter-npomtheinewivmail service, via California,, says : — ln reference to MrTarkes'i negotiations with this English Compauv, a very bitter correspondence arose, _ r a"nd :: Mr-Ilußsell y'ehWredW-lntTm^e^auily' the existence of la corrupt bargain on the part of Mr Parkes. It may safely be predicted^ that, jwhen the cbrresbonde'nce feacWsjthe Colonial Parliament, there will be& accusations of corruptipn not unlike, [tapse/which have excited so much attention in Canada. At one time it looked very „much^ as if ;the result of the controversy must be the final; abandotnent of the project, the parties had, met to promote. ' The Colbiiy of Queensland retired altogether from the ViusinessT and . New Zealand 'would have followed' suiti, but from her position she is too deeply interested in this particular, channel of .communication' Mr Russell, however, stuck firmly to his ground, using as a trump! card his belief that : the mails could hot be certainly conveyed without the assistance .of the United States,-.; and that this was -not likely to be giy.en to an English Company, seeing' that theiuture commercial interests of America were concerned. The following is stated tp be the final arrangement :— A temporary service is . to go into operation by means of steamers now in China; telegraphed instructions are to be sent there forthwith, -and 'the firsj; steamer is. to take up her position at the SanFrancisco end about 1 the last of December., next ; if Congress take 3 any action; next sessioh'that'ieads' to the establishment of a line, the English Company is to exercise its optinn ( pf' ! witndrawirSgL from ; the se'. vice ;if no such action is taken by Congress, then the company is v to, continue.to,jr i vn f .the line ten years, new-.built vessels taking'the place s 'of those' with 'which if v intended' r io begin running. Thus it coines'that thef final:se:ttlement of the whole question practically awaits the conclusions that may be arrived at during the next session of Congress." ~lt is" some* what singular that the English Company is, to receive 50,000d0l per annum more subsidy from the Colonies than that which 'th'ej very substantial American contractors named asked for the service/ Sydney agreeing to pay the whole of : the difference-, in consideration of getting her own way. .:.;.-■ ''' ; The Melbourne Telegraph says that the- . suspension : of .work in a ' vast i number ' of mines in Victoria' would' be a,; welcome, and in many cases : a much needed. 'temporary relief to the shareholders. ■ • i'ffiT ;