THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1874.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1753, 18 March 1874, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDA Y, MARCH 18, 1874.

The Greytnouth Annual Race Meeting had to be postponed yesterdaj', owing to the continuous heavy rainfall of the previous day and night, which rendered the course unfit 'for use. Tho stewards met in the morning and decided to postponed the meeting. Scarcely had they done so, when the weather 'cleared, aud the sun shone out bright and 'warm, so that should the present break continue the course will be in fine condition today, and some capital racing may be expected. The horses Black. Eagle and Tommy X)odd arrived by the Charles Edward yesterday. The latter only will be engaged in the present meeting. The present sporting season, when sweeps are the order of the day, has been selected by )\lr K. J. Tonks, of "the Albion Hotel, to float a grand sweep on the Sydney Gold Cup to be run for at Randwick, New South Wales, on the 9th April. Tha sweep will consist of 1000 members of LI each ; the holder of the first horse to take seveu* twelfths, the second two-twelfths, the third oneWelfth, while two-twelfths will be divided among starters and non-3tarters. The drawing and general management will be conducted similar to that which gave so much satisfaction on the occasion of the drawing of the late Melbourne Grand Sweep ! A Derby Sweep on the Greymouth Jockey Club Handicap was drawn lost night at the Railway Terminus Hotel. The following were the winning numbers :-— l9l^ Malice ; 182, Yatterina ; 93, Tauranga ; 127, Gossip ; 145, Azucena ; 12, Hatred ; 305, Kakapo ; 02, Lacenfeed; 157, Calumny ; 149, Maiyina. In all, 122 tickets were drawn. 1 The "Derby Sweep made up in the Grey Valley on the Greymouth Jockey Club Handicap Race, was drawn at Pinkerton's Hotel, Ahaura, on the evening of Monday, 16th March. It was ouginally intended the sweep should be of L 250, but it was found impossible to obtain more than 200 subscribers. The drawing, which took place under the supervision of a committee of six gentlemen chosen from among the subscriber, passed of! satisfactorily, and the following is the result: Yatteriua, drawn by No. 182 ; Malice, 205 ; Gossip, 55 ; Lacenfeed, 195 ; Calumny, ,ls2. ; Hatred, 131 ; Kakapo, 149; Malvina, 179; Tauranga, 248; Azucena filly, 160. Subjoined are some of the particulars of the drawing : — Yatterina was drawn on a ticket held conjointly by Mr John K. Hamilton, Ahaura, and Mr John Elliott, Amuri. Malice, by Mr Thomas M'Kee, a carrier on the Greymouth and Reefton lioad ; Gossip by Mr M. Drennan, Nelson Creek,: and Lacenfeed by Mr M. Fox, a settler at the Hauperi on the Christchurch and Grey Valley road ; Calumny and the Azucena filly went to Greymouth ; Hatred, Kakapo, and M alvina were drawn by residents of Ahaura ; and Tauranga is held by a Btockrider at the Ikamatua The ticket taking Yatterina came out at 140, the first draw; Malice at 154; Gosaip at 156 ; and Lacenfeed at 187. Kakapo was the first horse drawn, falling! at' the thirtyfirst draw, to the heaviest shareholder in the Bweep, while Lacenfeed and Malice fell to investors of only L 1 each. The holder of Gossip won his ticket in a two-and-sixpenny sweepstake. The winner takes LI 16 13s 4d, less his proportionate share of the expenses. The share of the second horse is L 33 6s 8d ; the ihird Ll6 13s 4d ; and the starters and non-starters divide L 33 6s Sd among them The money will be paid to the winners on application and the production of the tickets bearing ih6 winning numbers at the Star Hotel, Ahaura. on and after the 20th March. The authorised return of the drawing will be made known by advertisement in the daily : rgos of 19th, Weekly Argcs of 20th March. • We again remind our readers that the Grand Bazaar in aid of funds of St. Mary's School, Ahaura, will commence this Evening, in the premises recently occupied by Messrs Kennedy Bros., Tainui street. '■ A mob of about one hundred and fifty head of cattle and a great number of sheep passed over the track • from the Amuri to Ahaura oh the days of its opening. An accident, resulting in the loss of one bullock, occurred through crowding a number of young beasts together in a narrow turn in the road. The animal, a fine two-year old, was crushed over the sideing and precipitated into the river bed below, a distance of several hundred feet. ' Most of the older residents of Greymouth will recollect Mr James M 'Farlane, the managing partner in the firm of Kobert Alcom and Co., at one time carrying on business at the lower part of Richmond Quay, and we are sure the intelligence of his untimely death will be received with a feeling pf regret by his former acquaintances, Mr Alcom last week received a telegram from the North Island, stating that Mr M 'Farlane was on the 10th March killed by a fall of earth at Coromandel, where he had been for some time engaged in mining pursuits. Mr M 'Farlane, who was an active, intelligent young man, took a leading part in forwarding the early progress of Greymouth. He was one of the promoters and principal shareholders of the company formed for the purpose of erecting a publics hall, which could be used a><art from any connection witfc liquor— a movement which led to the building of the present Town Hall in Gresson street, for a long time the only public meeting place in the town entirely unconnected to the hotel trade.. Mr M'Farlaue was a leading member of the various temperance societies in the different places where he resided. The Hokitika Gas Company have received the balance of their expected importations by the schooner Alma, and the manager is now confident of being in a position to supply the public with gas during the early part of April. A fine new four-wheeled coach, intended for the conveyance of the mails and the passenger traffic between Greymouth and Reefton, arrived at Ahaura on Sunday evening, under the experienced guidance of Mr Marchesseau, The coach, which is a model of its kind, was manufactured to the special order of Messrs Gilmer Brothers, the mail contractors, by Howland and Co., of Christchurch. It is fitted with all the newest improvements, is strong in its workmanship, elegant in its decorations and proportions, and calculated to carry eight passengers with ease and comfort. The postal authorities at Greymouth very thoughtfully forwarded a special mail on this occasion, for which they have the thanks of the residents up country. The coach returned to Gre> nv>uth on Monday afternoon, with a return mail and a full complement of passengers from Totara Flat and Ahaura for the races. The cattle track between the Grey Valley and the Amuri was completed and opened for traffic on Friday. The portion of the track made by Messrs Drennan Bros, was passed and opened on the2sbh February, and Messrs White and Garth's coutract for tlie portion on and over the saddle of the dividing range, was finished and opened on the 13th inst, The manner in which the work was performed on both contracts gave great satisfaction ; there were no complaints on the part of the worVmenof any attempt to introduce the truck system in payment, and the authorised .officer passed the works as 4one creditably and faithfully.

The Buller News, of Saturday last, reports the following coal discovery :— " Mr Organ left at this office to-day a sample of very superior ooal,.'tak'cnirom a seam discovered by him yesterday under peculiar circumstances. Being at Waimaugaroa examining the seam of coal lately f ound there, he came to the aonclusion ; in consequence of the apparent dip of the coal, that the main seam was not far distant, and that what had been discovered was only a slip. Ho then proceeded up the face of the hill, and finding a Btream of mineral oil coming clown the face he followed it up to see where it c imo from, and did not proceed far until he came to a place where the oil bubbled up in great quantities. A little further up he found the seam from which the sample was taken— it is probably from 15ft to 20ft thick, and lies within a mile of the proposed railway line, about ten miles from Westoort. The discovery is of greatest importance, and tli'e coal is in a most advantageous situation. We regret that Mr Organ did not bring in a sample of the oil for analysis as it might prove of quite as much value as the coal. " ; The Okarito correspondent of the West Coast Times in his last; letter says :— There are some good accounts coming down from the Wataroa. Everyone there at present seems to being doing well. J. Diarmid went up there about three weeks ago. I read a letter that came ?dpwn from him to a party here, wherein he stated that he had dropped into a claim that would pay from L 8 to LlO per week. Such claims as these are not easily found on the West Coast at the present time. The miners in . the Wataroa district feel very sanguine that a good gold-field will be found when once the main road is made and open for traffic, as it will induce a great many more miners to come to the locality, — At the Five-mile Beach everyone seems to be jogging a'.ong as usual ; there is nothing new. The same ground gets turned over and over again, and in some places they are washing the tailings that were washed two or three years ago, and making small wages. There is work here yet for years for a limited population. If a good process were established, whereby a large quantity of sand could be washed and the fine gold s ived, there is not a better beach on the coast than this. The population here at present bas mostly been here since the first rush, and they are so well acquainted with the ground that was in the former days rich, that they keep turning it over and over again, but nothing will induce them to prospect for fresh ground nor adopt any other method of working beyond the one they are accustomed to. There is as likely ground close alongside the present workings, but to test it properly a boring machine would be required, some of it is over 20ft deep, and the sinking is through turf and sand layers. The directors of the Dunedin Caledonian Society are already astir making preparations for the re-ope ing of their very useful evening classes for the instruction of the youth of the city, free of all charge to themselves or their parents. The export season at Lyttelton is now in full swing. As many as forty-seven vessels of all kinds are in harbor, most of them loading up with produce, and grain trains are constantly reaching port with as many as forty trucks at a tijne. The Good Templars in Christcburch are in a great state of consternation. It appears, according to a correspondent, that a country storekeeper has been brought before the Resident Magistrate ckai-ged with selling certain home-made wines, which, however, were said to contain alcohol. The storekeeper stated, in defence, that he was not aware of this, and the manufacturer gave evidence that he had been iv the habit of rraking the wine complained of for the last eight years, that it was teetotal wine, and he often sold as much as two gallons at a time to teetotallers ; but nevertheless that it contained spirits, and that a sufficient quantity wonld cause intoxication. And, when asked by the Bench, whether the council of the teetotal body were aware that some of their members iudulged in this beverage, he answered in the affirmative This i*>, of course, denied by the heads of the Order (I dare not for the life of me attempt the initials of their officers), and, altogether, the afFair has occasioned a general rumpus. The remarkable improvement noticeable in the Old Whau mine at the Thames during the last few days is the subject of very general comment, and there is no doubt whatever but the prospects are brilliant. In the lower level which has been opened up two reefs are being worked. They are about 14ft aparr, and one of them known as the hanging-wall reef is fully 4ft thick. This lode is composed of a mixture of mullock and loose rubbly quartz, none of the stones being of any great size, but many of them are ex° traordinarily rich, and present an appearance as of a solid mass of gold, and it is from this lode that the richest of the specimens have been taken. The first three volumes of the first newspaper published in Melbourne— The Port Philli}) Gazette— have beeu shipped on board the Bangalore, consigned to the British Museum, for which institution they have been purchased at a cost of LSO from Mr Strode, who was the oiiginal proprietor and publisher of the paper. Y7e understand that the volumes were offered to Sir Redmond Barry, for the Melbourne Public Library, for the same sum, but the proposal was declined, and that Mr Strode then wrote to the authorities of the British Museum, who accepted it at once. The dates of the papers contained in these volumes are from 27th October, 1838, to December, IS4I. It is a pity they are lost to the Colony. Shaft down a quarter of a mile ! "This, says the Amtraliasian, is the latest from the Magdala mine, in the cheerfully named district of Pleasant Creek. The enterprising shareholders mean sinking till they strike gold— or fire. This faith entitles them to a rich reward." Here is comfort for the proposed deep and deeper sinkers of the Thames. The Pumping Association have got an abundance of water let them and their coadjutors adopt the determination of the Magdala people and descend -to fire. At the last half-yearly meeting of the shareholders of the Bank of Victoria, it was resolved that a bonus of 10 per cent, should be paid on the salaries of all officers of over a year's standing. Such an act of liberality would be by no means out of place in the case of some of the banking institutions which are doing an extensive and lucrative business in this Colony. J A private telegram received in Rokitika on Monday, says the Times, states that the washing up at the Ajax Company, Beef ton, of about two hundred tons has yielded an average of twenty-four pennyweights of gold to the torn The quantity of gold shipped at Hokitika on Monday, per pmeo, for Melbourne, amounted to 35880z, of which quantity the Bank of itfew Zealand forwarded 14390z, and the Union Bank of Australia 21390z. Mr Rudd, of Mawhera Quay, wi hes us to mention that he yesterday received per Charles Edward a case of coral and other Fiji curiosities, which can be seen at his stoic. The medical journal draws attention to the construction of German cigars,, which are described as "even worse than the cigars sold in this country." In the German cigars are to be found bristles, hair, wood, bits of linen, leather, needles, shirt-buttons, teeth, feathers, cord, and matohesi ■ ; ■ ; :