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Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1727, 16 February 1874, Page 2

We remind the leaseholders of the Maou Reserve that the adjourned meeting upon the au< ject of sending a deputation to Wellington will be belli at eight o'clock this evening, at the Melbourne Hotel. The result of last week's crushing of tb a . Wealth of Nations claim gave 217'»z of amalgam from the places. This is quite up to the average, as it is the first crumbing since the boxes were cleaned up last week. On Friday night, as a miner on the North Beach, named Joseph Elder, wan returning home after visi ing the panorama, whilgestiug into a boat off t ie skeleton wharf, he lost his footing anl fell across a log, fracturing his left rii>s. He was taken into '.he oriental Hotel, where he pass, d ihe night, and in the morning was take to the Hospital, where he is progressing favorably. A 8 no eligible tender has been received tor the construction of secaous Nns. 1 and 2 of the Still water and Maori Creek road, fresh tenders have been called. Tuey will be received at the District Engineer's « >ffice up to noon on Monday, the 2nd March. The Superintendent of the Gey River Hospital desires us to thank Mr John Jordan, fisherman, for a present yesterday morning of 10<loz berruujs. for the use of the patients. Mr Jordan has frequently done the same thing, and bis example deserves imitation, as the annual contracts for supplies to the Hospital do not include the item •ish. The chairman of the Grey Valley Road Board has issued a circular to the members of the Board requesting them to consider thrt advisability < f striking a rate on all rateable pr perty within the boundaries of the district as soon as a valuation and assessment is made. In anticipation of the increased demand for building sites at Ne son Creek, as soon as tne works in connexion with the Hochstetter Race are commenced, Mr Surveyor ]>wis is laying off a n w townshi.* at Hatt r's Terrace, er rather extending and endeavoring to straighten the lines of the old town, a plan of which woui«l re emble an imperfect drawing of an octopede. A frontage dispute at Hatter's cropo°d up in the Warden's Court, Ahaura, on Friday. Quite a stampede occurred at Larry's on Saturday last in consequence of the news of a fresh reef having been discovered ao the right-hand branch of Landing (-reek, three miles from the township, but it was afterwards found out that the same lode had been opened by Harry M 'Closkey some two years ago ; and on this occasion by Robert Dutton. The stone is described as being of very poor quality, although there is a chance of its turning out better when opened out The Inangahna Herald announces that a company with capital of L 20.000 has been formed, the shareholders being chiefly residents of Wellington and Nelson, for the purpose of investing in the re fs in tli s district. Reports are now being prepared submitting ' particulars of the various mining coro -anies and the most suitable ones to invest in. Agents have been appointed in Reeftoii, and we believe that the speculation will be a profitable ore provided its operations are confined to mines that are proved beyond a doubt. The Energetic Company purpose making immediate application for protection for a tramway from the machine site up Murray , Creek, connecting the site with their coal- ■ mine. 1 The following telegram forwarded by his . Excellency the Governor to his Honor the . Superintendent, has been published by the ' Hokitika Evening Star :— " xkaroa, Fob 12. ' 1874 — To Superintendent, Hokitika. — Owing ■ to continued NW. winds I did not get further than Dusky Inlet, an! time pressing, left it on Monday for Wellington, by Eaßt ■ ' oast ; I cannot therefore visit Westland i again at present. — James FkrgusSv/N." i Charles' grand panorama was again exhibited on Saturday night to a crowded audience, and was much appreciated, as was also the distribution of gifts at its close. The exhibition will be continued this and to- ! morrow evenings, when simi'ar distrilm ions of gifts will be made, '10-nigbt Mr Harry Morgan, a popular vocalist, will assist the 1 entertainment by appearing during the intervals, and to-morrow there wi'l be a mid- f ay entertainment, to which children will be ad mitted for Is each, and every child will receive a gift. A man named James Long has been killed at Wellington by a fill of earth. He leaves a widow and child almost wholly unprovided for. A subscription list has been started for them, the Hon. the fiemier heading it with ten guineas. An acre of lan'l on the Terrace, Wellington, near the Hon. MrGisborue's residence, has been sold for LBOO. The number of O.ldfellows in the Auckland district is officially stated to be nearly 1000. According to the Rev. Alexander Reid, the Wesl^yan Church in New Zealand now has nearly 3'>oo European members. Pheasants, starlings, and skylarks are reported to be becoming pretty numerous near Wai acetown, in the >outhlan.d district. The members of the Auckland Cricket Cub now number over 100, but only half of them are playing members. The Thames people have made the discovery that at least Ll-2,500 must have been spent by the 2500 miners and others known to have come up in the steamers to spend their holidays in Auckland. The chief attractions to these visitors were the r ces which, however, proved less satisfactory than they expected. At all eventajrhe discovery has excited interest at the Thames, and there will be a str ng effort next year to have a racing programme sufficiently good to attract the best liors-a. and keep their people spending their holidays and their money- at home. During the summing up of Judge Chapman at Dunedin a fow days ago, in the case of Ross v. Keith and others, his Honor remarked that it wa3 a most improper thing for the architect of a building to be a contractor in any shape or form for the supply of materials for the construction of the building, without informing the proprietors of the building at the outset that he intended to supply the materials _ Such a practice was, he considered, highly reprehensible, and left the door open for great abase. He did not say that this would have b-en the case so far as Mr fvoas was oouoerned, but the principle was highly objectionable, Tt was only according to human nature that an architect supplying materials would be more likely to pass articles • f an inferior qualify which ho himself supplied, than if they were supplied i by another person. It was shown that in c the profeiwon suoh a eourne was seldom t

known, and never allowed unless there was an amicable arrangement between the architect and the pr pri^tors of the building. There is no doubt that his Honor's ruling is the correct one, and that the less that architects are interested iv the materials supplied the better. A correspo"dent of the Westport Times writes that Mr M'Kay, of the Geological Survey Department, is now at Christy's, on his wav down the river, making examination of the various f<>ssiliferous formations exposed in the Buller Gorge. The witer says: -Mr M'Kay has lately been in the neighborhood of Reefton, and lias succeeded in making good collections of palce -zoic fossils, from the vicnity of the auuferous rocks there. The rocks also in the vicinity of Chnsty'a are far from being unproductive in y'elding good geological specimnns. Mr M'Kay has collected several hundredweight of fossils, which he will forward to Welling, ton by ear iest opportunity. After visiting Westport, he intends j turneying to Charleston, Brighton, and as far north as Mokihinui. G'»ud results may be expected from such exploration, as apart from '.he knowledge it will render science, it will be th« means of making known the commercial value of the various minerals which abound so plentifully iv this part of Nelson Province. A rather amusing question was asked his Honor Judge Chapman on cho 2Lst inst.. by the foremau of the jury, in the case of R >ss v Keith and others. The evidence was conclude about four o'clock, and the jury din-mis-sed to the consideration of thdir ve-dic^. Previous to leaving the box, the foreman asked his Honor whether the Court would allow the jurymen to have refreshments, as they might be out of Court a considerable time. His H nor remarked that surely they could not be hungry, seeing that thy had gone to their lunch at one o'clock. The foreman (Mr Cutten), placing his hand upon his waistcoat, said it was getting near his dinner hour, and that nature would assert her sway His Honoi replied that the (aw took no cognisance of dinners, and indeed strictly forbade jurymen to have either fool or fire when locke-l up to consul r a verdict. The jurymen then r tir d, and, as it was nearly twelve o'clock before they came to a decision, they must have by that time become ve-y hungry— particularly the foreman. Mr Foster, M.P., in a recent speech on education, says: — "Five out of six of us have to earn our bread by manual labor, and wll have to earn it to the end of the chapterFive out of six English children in past generations were inconsequence apprenticed t*> some tra le or calling. The only English education was the apprentice system. . . . £do not undervalue book knowledge. It is a beautiful thing. But the stubborn fact will remain that after the years which have been *pent at school the pupil will be launched into life as unable as when he first entered the school door to earn a sixpence —possessing neither skill nor knowledge for which any employer in England will be willing to hire his services." The Melbourne Argus reports the death of Mr James Ellis, late proprietor ef Cretnorne Gardens, London and Melbourne The deceased was so well known in certain circles in Melbourne as to be in a sense a p ihlic character, and doubtless many will be iutett-sted in a slight sketch of his career. It was singularly checkered. Five-»nd-twenty years ago Mr Ellis was the presiding genius of the Cremorne Gardens in London, and achieved great celebrity among those who thronged to that favorite place of amusement. Reverses came, and 1852 found him in Melbourne, and again a caterer for the public pleasure. In this capacity he was connected with the celebrated institution known in those wonderful times as the Salle de Valentino, where during a certain period the musical entertaiimpnts were conducted on an almost unlimited sc*le of excellence, and where, too, he succeeded in acclimatising bals viasquts after the London mode. His heart was, however, bent upon creating in Melbourne a pleasure garden corresponding to those with which he had been connected at home, and eveutuall he succeeded in establishing "Cremorne Gardens," on the site now occupied by Mr Harcourt's private lunatic asylum. It was surprising how much his indus ry and energy led him to accomplish in this direction, how well th« gardens were laid (»ut, how creditable the decorations, and how excellent the arrangements Fur a while the place was very popular, and a great point of attraction to pleasure-seekers, but it was difficult of access ; there were no railways in the colony, and eventually the speculation failed, although a line of " goDdola" st >amers was established on the Upper Yarra for the purpose of promotin ■ passenger traffic in this direction During later years Mr KJlia was favorably known in Vl e' bourne as a refreshment cateier, and nothing ever done in that line has surpassed his performances in con nection with the Intercolonial Exhibition of 18'i6. His last enterp-ise was very characteristic. He had a number of theories in connection with econon.ic cookery, which whe.n reduoed to practice i>y himself, were always surprisingly successful. So he set up a shop in the K astern Arcade, in order to opula ise a certain kind of gas stove, invented and manufactured in Melbourne, on a principle o*' which he approved. While thus engaged, death came to him. His end must, have been quite sudden, for until the latter portion of last week he was actively engaged in his business. The prisoners employed at the new road at the Point of Deborah Bay, near Port Chalmers, while excavating, cameupnn a complete human skeleton, in a good state of preservation, the bones being f .und in a hole all huddled together, and no vestige of a coffin. They are supposed to be the remains of a Maori. A short paragraph concerning some stage folk, whose names are familiar in the Colonies appears in the European Mail :— "John L. Hall is playing 'leading business' at the Prince ©f Wales Theatre. Liverpool, and has secured the favorable opinion of the Liverpudlians, his wife (Fmily Wispman) com r mences an engagement at Manchester in the Chrismaa pantomime. Fred Younge has taken the Norwich Theat c, a d will produce Bjmn's Babes in the Wood at Christmas. Lady Don has gone from the stage proper to tha music halls, and is onctantly before the publ c. v he has just concluded a successful engagement at Dundee Carry Nels'm is travelling with La FUle de Ma-tame Aneot, who seems to be both an agreeable and profitable c mpanion. Clarence Holt is now an established favorite at the music halU. His entertainments consist of character sk- tches. and he advertises that he has already accepted engagements for the whole of next year. His daughter, May Holt, does not appear to have met with any great succ ss. Mr Akhurst's spentacular play is having a very suecesijful run. Marion Nathan, the principal member of the Nathan troupe, is engaged for the Christmas piece at Drury Lane. The favorable impression which Mr G. F. Ko»ve's new play, " The Geneva Cross," created at the Union Square Theatre, New York, has heen confirmed by the manner in wfyich the people flick to see it. The Auckland correspondent of the Qtago \ Dally Times in a recent letter says : —The recruitment of the Engineer Militia is complete, and the last detachment, after being armed $nd drilled, left for. tfye Waikato a few days ago. Dr Pollen, on turning the first; s id of the railway at Ngaruawahia, explained the origin of the force, and disavowed any other reason than the necessity of having discipline and 'organisation among the body of men whom the Government

were compelled to employ in making the railway. They nad ev.-ry reason to he dissatisfied wibli the progress of th« \nckland HneB put into the hands of contractors, and determined to push on th'.s line themselves Having cotno to this determination, they engaged men as speedily as possible. The arms, the drill, ths uniforms, and the essentially military organisation, are —according to Dr Polle ■ — merely to maintain order among the navvies, and to enable the Government to push on the work with greater rapidity The ohject of his speech must have been to assure the Maoris that the Colony had nc hostile intentions towards them I doaht very much, however, whether it wil 1 nave that effect. 0'" course no one here accents the version as fully explaining the movement, but everyone ia pleased to see the Government showing itself alive even while disowning the statements of others as to the unsettled condition of the Native tribes. It is eeneral ! y believed that they would pot have organised this Militia Engineer force unless they had good grounds for thinking that at luast a demonstration was necessary. The Maori King has summoned another meeting for the 24th March, and.ha.3 done so by adverispmenc in the Waikato newspaper. This means is used for the first time, and will be gladly accepted as the forerunner of an adoption <if European liatuts on a larger scale Whether it be so or not, Ido not think we shall now long have to wait. The Hauhaus cannot much longer maintain their present is >lation, and must decide sonn, or they will find • many of their number seceding to the attractions of our expenditure. The action against Captain Chapman, of H..ViS. Dido, is to be vigorously prosecuted in Melbourne by the representatives of Mr De Uoarcy Ireland in that city. A strong Bar has been engage ', ami Captain < hapman has sent to the Admiralty asking that an English barrister may he sent to defend the c se. It will be remembeie>l-that twelve "r eighteen months ago the settlers on the Ba River in Fiji refused to recognise King akobau's Gov-rnnient, ami armed their imported laborers to prevent Cakobau's troops from landing. Col >nel Wo»llaston White and Mr De Oourcy Ireland we c the leaders in the movement. Captain Chap nan went to the Ba in fT.M.S Dido, disarmed the settlers and made them give him a promise not to take further action, in consideration of which promise he guaranteed them protection for their past acts. The majority promised ; but the leaders, White and Ireland, refused, and were taken in the Dido to Levuka. There Ireland submitted under protest, and was released. White still refused, and was taken on to Sydney, and there released. Ireland now sues Captain Chapman for faise imprisonment, and ib is certainly desirable that it should be settled whether a captain of a man-of-war is to be invested with the power of forcibly taking an Englishman from his plantation, and ruining his propects as a settler If Mr Ireland's action succeeds, Colonel White will no doubt follow with another. Many such cases have occurred in the past, but Mr Ireland, being the son of the well-known Melbourne barrister, has proved a Tartar. Mr Ireland was also a member of the Fijian Legislature, and after his release by Captain Chapman, his admission was opposed by the Government, who were defeated on this point l >y a considerable majority. This defeat was among the causes which led to the dissolution of the Assembly, and the suspension of the Fijian Constitution The lunatic whose attempt to attack the occupants of a buggy on the main road ut Saddle Hill, Dunedin, and which we chronicled, has, says the Otago Daily Times, been captured, and is now in safe custody in the Lunatic Asjlum. He divested himself of clothing on bhe night referred to by cutting every article of his apparel off with a big pocket knife, but fortunately he did not cut himself. For more thuu an hour a resiuent in the neighborhood heard him in the distance, shouting, singing, preaching, and reciting. After he had gone on in this way for an hour or so, some travellers on the wad offered him a new source of diversion. Having first paid his attentions to the occupants of the buggy before mentioned, he next interviewed a rustic dei.izen of theTaieri The individual in question was seen riding along thfi mad just after the first affair was over. He was mounted on one fat horse, and led another, and had a half suppressed whistle ou his lips, which hetokened a stai eof abscracti n mingled with cheerfulness. The unexpected sight which he encountered of the party in purls natitralibus. however, woke him from his reverie, galvanised him into activity, and put him to flight upon his noble charger. He put his hors-s to the utmost su ed, but the fat quadrupeds for a long distance barely kept ahead of the swiftfooted lunatic, who was shoutinsr and yelling in eager pursuit The madman actually chised the equestrian from the rop of Saddle Hill road down tn the hotel near the Taieri t >11-bar The gentleman on horseback, however, managed to gain admittance before the citizen on font, and we hear the doors of the hotel wore actually barricaded to keeD out tne later. The farmer inside refreshed himself after his fright, while the unfortunate outsider, who had conceived the idea of celebrating Robert Burn's, anniversary in so original a fashion, under the influence of the gentle rain cooled down considerably. It Was not. however, till after he had put a carriage containing a family party of seven or eight— who had been to town in the evening to sing " Auld Limr Syne " for the last time with Mr Kenne <y — to flight in a precipitate manuer, that his antics were brought to a close. He stationed himself in a prominent place uuder the lamp at the toll-bar, and, after a while, under the combined influences of wet, cold, and exhaustion, surrendered himself without a struggle te a forlorn hope led t.y the toll-gate keeper.