THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 1874.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1777, 16 April 1874, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 1874.

The .Register, which appears to be a semiofficial organ of the Superintendent, has an article in its yesterday's issue upon the best means of opening up the southern pa.rt of the Province to settlement, and in the same issue appears the report ot a speech delivered by his Honor at Okarito, upon which the Register's remarks are based. His Honor has arrived at the opinion that it is to the comparatively little known southern districts that the Province must look for its future prosperity, and "he would like to see 1000 persons settled down between the Haast and Jackson's Bay, as it *ould not be long before we had improved, communication between Okarito and the Haast." And then his Honor took a leaf out of Mr Vogel's book, and expatiated upon tho source of wealth the forests would afford, provided if only the timber was cut at the proper season and so on. He proposes that a main road should be made to the southern boundary, which would have the effect ho anticipates of causing small settlements gradually to spring up. The Register] however, is more ambitious ; nothing short 'of a railway from — say, Greymcth to Hokitika, and thence to the Otago boundary, will satisfy the requirements of the Province. Our contemporary says :— It is generally admitted that a timbertrade 'if vast dimensions could be secured for W-stland, provided that a cheap transit for this article to the sea-ports of the D rovincs were obtainable, and therefore it is the duty of the Government to make the most strenuous exertions to effect that purpose. It will not be contended, we think, by any persons but those of the " old school" that the construction of a road through the forests of Westland would enable her speculators to place their timber on the wharfs— that is, if it is to be carted a great distance— at. anything like a remunerative rate ; therefore, all hopes of creating a trade in timber by means of that kind of transit, must be cast to the winds. It is absolutely Deoessary, then, that some other course should be adopted for the purpose, and no more effectual plan for overcoming the difficulty could be found than that of constructing a railway. We are aware that this idea is far too extravagant for the entertainment of very many of our respected townsmen, who pay more regaid to the first cose of an undertaking than to its ultimate success ; but we are also aware that to the construction of railways through sparsely populated districts America cavi attribute, to a great extent, her occupancy of the position of one of the most prosperous nations of the earth. The question of cost does not trouble our friend a bit ; he places his hand intuitively on the wa3te lands as security, and says : — The question then arises, how is the cost of the railway to be raised ? "We answer, by loan, if possible, giving the waste lands of the southern portion of the Province as security. The adoption of this course vv ould, no doubt, be the means of decreasing the waste lands returns for a time, but at no d'stant date Westland would be settled by a thriving people, and the redemption of the land would prove a matter of no great difficulty. A 8 to settling people on the land, without the adoption of tbe measure we advocate, or the formation of a dray road — which, we contend, is much inferior to a railway — between Ross and Okarito, or farther south still, it would be, as Mr Warden Price remarked, "pitchforking" people down, and the se:tlement scheme would prove a failure. What has become of the proposed railway to Canterbury which was to do such great things for Westland ? Has it been forgotten for .the new toy? Westland could hardly ask Parliament for a lean of say something about a million— for both these works would coat this sum — on the security of its forests? And how about the interest which the Province would have to pay? We have an idea that much more is being made of oar timber resources than is at all likely to be realised for a very long time to enme. No doubt the forest lands are valuable, and will become more valuable in time, but we must not expect that the fortune of a Province is to be made out of them. We quite agree with the Superintendent that a practicable but not expensive dray road should gradually be made to the southward, if only for the opportunities it would afford for the discovery of fresh gold-fields/ and probably the Assembly would agree to a loan for the purpose. We suppose, however, that the whole subject will come before the Council shortly, when it will be fully discussed.

The Borough Council of Hokitika are very anxious to utilise the watar from the Kanieri Lake Water-race for Municipal purposes, and at a late meeting carried a resolution affirming the desirability of obtaining an Act to enable the Corporation to levy a water rate, and to purchase the waste water of the Kanieri Lake Water-race Compauy, and further, that the Superintendent be asked to take charge of a Bill to this effect in the next session of the General Assembly. The worthy, councillors appear to have forgotton two things : — One is that should an Act be necessary it would come under the category of Private Bills, and that it is now too late to comply with the Standing Orders relative to private legislation ; second, that there is no necessity for special legislation at all on this subject, a most useful measure introduced by Mr Yogel in 1872, " The Municipal Corporations Water-works Ast," providing every facility for Municipal action in regard to water supply, without the tedious and expensive process of an Act of Parliameut. We would recommend our neighbors to turn up this Act and see if it will not answer all their purposes. We notice that the West Coast Times is of opinion that the "waste" water— by which, we presume, the Council means "spare, water" — of the Kanieri Race would neither be sufficient in quantity nor good enough in quality.

From a telegram received by his Honor the Superintendent from the Colonial Secretary'," 'iti would soem to be highly

improbable that anything can re done in the matter of the Miitonui Race until the next meeting of the General Assembly, The ; ' Colonial Secretary slate.B' -that ', ; the regret that there are not sufficient funds at their disposal ao enable them to uniertake the construction of the work. His Honor has since sent another urgent telegram upon the subject, to which it mould appear no reply had been received on Monday. It was the want of funds for tbe purpose that was the chief reason for the Government declining to go on with this work last session, and it is evident that if this and other works required in other parts of the Colony are to be constructed, a further appropriation of the Public Works Loan will have to be asked for, for water supply upon the gold-fields. We do not apprehend that there will be much difficulty in obtaining a further grant for this purpose.

Talking about water-races, we may state that Mr Young, the surveyor appointed to make the necessary survey of the Randall's Creek — or, as it is now generally known, the Napoleon Race, has completed his preliminary examination, and has found that, although there is not sufficient supply in Randall's Creek, an abundance of water can be obtained from other sources, at an elevation to command a great extent of payable ground. It is the opinion of the surveyor, and of others who are acquainted with the district, that this race will prove one of the most profitable underlakings of the kind the Government has entered upon. With regard to the Hochstetter Race, we understand that the contractors will be at Nelson Creek this afternoon, and that in a short time they will commence active operations. They expect to find employment for over two hundred men.

It is an ill wind that blows nobody good, and the rush to the Palmer, although likely to deprive the West Coast of a large number of its population, will have its advantages for the steamboat owners. We learn from the West Coast Times of yesterday that it is not improbable that the steamer Otago may be laid on direct for the Palmer. Should this be the cane it will be made known in a day or two, as the steamer is expected here on or about the 18th. Messrs M'Meckan, Blackwood, and Co, already announce that, should sufficient inducement offer, they will lay on one of their powerful steamers direct from Melbourne to the Endeavor Kiver. We are requested to announce that the Greymouth Rifle Volunteers will parade for inspecoion of arms and accoutrements this evening at eight o'clock, at the Volunteer Hall. We observe from an advertisement in another column that the carriers trading between Greymouth and Reef ton have, on account of the bad state of the roads and the cose of horse feed, advanced freight to Beefton, Black's Point, Junction, and Devery's Terrace. We observe it stated in a Wellington contemporary that the Messrs Brogden are now laying black birch sleepers on the railways in that Province, it being almost as durable as totara, and easily supplied by the large forests of Marlborough. It is notified in another column that Mr M. H. Hayden, of Ahaura, has been appointed agent for the. Colonial Government in the Grey Valley and Arnold districts, for tho Government Life Assurance and Annuities Department. The announcement of Mr Hayden's appointment is made with the authority of Mr Commissioner Gisborne. The mail cnach could not cross the Grey at the Little Grey Junction, yesterday, in consequence of rain the night previous night. The mails were crossed in a boat, and brought on to Ahaura on horseback, by r Dalton, a passenger by the coach. The up-mail arrived at A.haura as usual. Baohelder's panorama, with the cavalcade and troupe belonging to the show, were stuck up at the Little Grey, on Wednesday, at noon. The drawing in the Art-Union for the benefit of the funds of S.S. Mary arid Joseph schools, at Ahaura, is definitely fixed to take place at Ahaura, on Wednesday, 24th June. Although these schools are in a flourishing condition in an educational sense, the heavy preliminary expense of building and establishing them ha 3 been a heavy drain oh the resources and almost unaided personal exertions of one individual, and as the proceeds of the Gift Enterprise are relied upon to assist in liquidating some of the liabilities already incurred, the Art-Union, apart from the worth of the valuable articles to be disposed of, commends itself to, and deserves the support of every one interested in the education of children. A new and large building for the additional accommodation of the male pupils is now commenced, and owing to the heavy outlay already made, and the further expenditure needed to place the institution in a position to become self-sup-porting, the assistance of the general public is solicited by means of the plan usually adopted in similar cases We trust this appeal of Father Pertius on behalf of the little ones will not be made in vain, and that the Art- Union "will come off successfully. A defendant in a case in the Resident Magistrate's Court, Hokitika, on Tuesday, who had some objection to the Resident Magistrate trying the case, adopted the impudent plan of subpoenaing Mr FitzGerald although he knew nothing whatever about fhe case. Mr FitzGerald very properly refused to obey the subpoena, and severely lectured the defendant, who ought by rights to have been committed for contempt of Court. The saw-mill owners and others engaged in the timber trade are preparing a memorial to the Hokitika Borough Council protesting against the rate of 2d per 100 ft levied on all timber shipped from the port. We confess that the action of the Council iv making this export charge, for that is what in reality it is, is acting as if it desired to cripple a most important industry. A hint to betting speculators was given in the Resident Magistrate's Court, Hokitika, on Tuesday. A man named Tomsett Eued another man named Halligan for L 4 on an 10 U. The magistrate enquired what the IOU was for, to which plaintiff replied that it was on a transaction between the parties. The magistrate enquired what kind of a transaction, when it turned out that it was on a bet. On this the plaintiff was nonsuited, the defendant not putting in an appearance. It has been generally supposed that a written acknowledgement of indebtedness could not be impugned, but it seems that it is not the case, and such documents, when given to cover gambling debts are worthless. Numbers of persons are stjll leaving the Ross district, being unable to find remuaer rative employment in their old quarters. Twenty-five of these travellers came up to Hohitika on Monday night in Messrs Cuining and M'Kayls wagg.m. Most of the men on the Palmer are, says a correspondent, what is . termed in mining phrase "hatters " — that is they work singly by themselves —no one to divide any gold with. The ground being so shallow, it is only fossicking; and they all seem to say they can manage better by themselves. They generally camp in numbers of from b!x to

twelve for protection, taking ifc in turn to watch the camp. There is not much time t lost by- the miner, far he can at the same t time cook three or four days' rations and it i prevents a considerable amount of grumbling, f Or* the goldnelds, ; frequently, there is a class of men Hhat will not do a hand's turn at j cooking if they can help it. The discovery has been made, says the Yass Courier that the words "You horrid butcher, Orton, biggest rascal here,'\constitute the anagram of "Sir Roger Charles Doughty Tichhorne, Baronet." Mr R. Yuill's prospecting party has returned to Napier, after an absence of several weeks. They were unable to discover any gold in payable quantities, seeing nothing but the color. They came, however, upon an excellent seam of brown coal, on the banks of the Mahunga, in the Patea district, some 15 miles from Messrs Birch'B station. Mr James Brogden, who was recently in New Zealand, has retired from the firm of John Brogden and Sons. A correspondent of f;he West Coast Times throws out a good suggestion regarding the Christchurch. road. He says:— "l would like to call your attention to the fact that the survey of a road from the termination of the main road to the Greenstone township to Lake Brunner has just been completed ; the distance is, say eight miles; L2OOO has been voted for the work, and the General Government intend taking it hand at once. Now, sir, if this road were continued another three miles, skirting Lake Brunner, it would strike the paddock known as Bruce's. The country is of easy access, and in a short time good and permanent communication might be opened up, and be a very considerable saving to the funds of our already poor Province, which will otherwise have to be spent to repair present damage, and a like catastrophe is just as likely to occur again as soon as finished. The route proposed herein ■: has many ad vantages; it crosses the Teremakau above the Taipo, and that portion of road now destroyed ; there are no difficulties in the way, either from Hokitika or Greymouth, and ib would be of great importance to the Province in general ; it shortens the distance from the Greymouth district fully 25 miles, and does not increase that of Hokitika or its surroundings. The whole would not probably cost much more than half the necessary outlay in repairing the present wreck, at the same time would be the means ef opening up a tract of new country known to be auriferous, and portions well-adapted for agricultural and grazing purposes." Some of the delights of the Palmer River rush are thus described by the correspondent of a Sydney paper : — " Another party that came in last night stated that it was seven weeki since they left Cooktwon. Between going up and coming down occupied four weeks ; had never tasted any meat since they were about twenty miles from Cooktown going up. Almost; all who have come down state they have not tasted meat these two months. Anyone who has had to rough ie knows how he feels after a day or two without . beef or mutton ; what must it be then for those who have been living upon flour these last two months, and in many instances not much of that ? The majority of those returned are wearing slippers, their feet being swollen so much with the wet, that they cannot get their boots on. Another party arrived here to-day, who, when they left the Palmer, gave L 5 tor 131 bof flour between three to face ISO miles. In spite of all this, however, and all the advice given them, you may see them every morning rolling up their swags— no one would credit it — from 701 bto 901b— as much as they can stagger under The first swamp they come to they commence to lighten their load. Away goes unnecessary clothing. After a few miles further, clothing they actually want. When they arrive at the Palmer, a few days' rations is the most any of them have preserved, so that they can only have a look at the diggings, and are then forced to come back." The extent to which gold-mining is prosecuted in Finlaud is but little understood. " During last autumn," says the " Journal of the Society of Arts," " there were no les3 than 17 companies extracting gold from the auriferous sand of Finland. One of the companies returned a dividend of 70 per cent. The largest nugget weighed 28dwt " The Nelson Colonist says that the shares in the Para Para Lron Company are going off rapidly, in Canterbury especially. * Mr B. Rhodes, of Canterbury, it is stated, has secured 550 shares, and other influential gentlemen in that Province intend to subscribe largely. Mr George, C.E., and several other gentlemen from Wellingtan Province, were to arrive in the Claud Hamilton for the purpose of visiting these iron and coal-fields. The share-lists closed on the 14th instant throughout New Zealand. A good story comes from the ball-room. A certain gallant major, resident in Napier, went up to a lady at a ball, and requested the pleasure of her hand for a dance. The lady, whose husband was long connected with the 10th Hussars, and who is herself quite conversant with military affairs, replied, " My dea.r Major, a gentleman so well acquainted with the service as you are, ought to be aware that the ' Tenth don't dance,' " We notice in the Herald that "Mr Gillies has raised a question in the Auckland District Court, in which a great many people have an interest. He has laid it down peremptorily, that the Court has no jurisdiction to give costs in the settlement of gold-mining schedules. As his was not the side asking for costs, and the opposite side did not ask for any decision, the Court was not under the necessity of ronouncing judgment. But Mr Lusk said the Court -had acted consistently upon the practice of allowing costs in these cases from their commencemsnt. Then, repeated Mr Gillies, the Court has no jurisdictfon ; the Act does not mention or confer auy such power. If this be sound law, what is the position of those who have paid very considerable amounts in costs ? If there was no authority to mulct them in costs, can they get their money back ? " The Auckland correspondent of the Qtagq Daily Times, writes :— <f Since sending my letter, 1 find that your information as to the Polynesian Company is substantially correct. I hear, also, that circulars are either sent, or will shortly be so, to those whom it is desired to engage in the formation of the company. Great mystery ig observed, and no one outside of those to whom the circulars will be sent is to know anything about the scheme, which is, however, described as ' a , very big one.'" The Auckland correspondent of the Otago Daily Times, notices the arrival of the Pearl, schooner, from the Pamoutu Islands, with a cargo of pearl shell, variously estimated as worth from LI2OO to L2OOO. The Pearl was formerly the Lunalilo, a Hawaiian schooner, sent here for sale, and purchased by Mr Waters, a • confectioner in active business, known for his enterprise in various ways. Mr Waters, having secured the aid of two efficient and reliable gentlemen to navigate the vessel aud take charge of the venture, made it a joint affair, and a.fter four months' absence, the Pearl has returned successful, and the forerunner, no doubt, of what will be a considerable pearl shell-fleet before long. She brings also some very beautiful pearls, but none of any size or value. The shells are of the gigantic oyster, weighing about three pounds each Of these the Pearl hes brought 20,000, or, as they are of oourse halved when the oyster is removed, it will be less misleading to double the number. The best qualities range as high as Ll2O per ton, and the demand is very great,

At a Maori christening in Hawke's Bay, there were at least 500 pigeon's, 20 pigs, two , tons of fish, 200 crawfish, one ton of flour, 291 loaves of bread, potatoes in galore and a fair quantity of spirits. ■ The following are the particulars of the fatal canoe accident at Fiji, telegraphed a few days ago :— •' The news was received in Levuka of a shocking accident to a canoe in tho Koro sea, resulting in a fearful loss ot' life. A large double canoe, belonging to Na Morai Bay, was on the 15th ultimo returning from Wairiki with fifty laborers on board, whose time had expired, which together with the crew made up seventy souls. When beWeen Koro and Taviuni a heavy squall struck the canue and overset it. Twenty men were carried down by the sail and never seen again. The remainder struggled hard for their lives, but sank, or were taken down by the sharks one bj one, leaving but one survivor, who drifted ashore in an exhausted state after oeing two days and a half in the water. Among those lost was the turangalewa of Na Koro Tubu. The natives, with a remnant of their old superstition, say that the disaster was owing to the great sharkgod of Tui Cakau, Daka Waqua, who being angry with them, pursued them from Ta-. viuni and capsized the canoe, saving one man that he might carry the news. As might be expected, the sad catastrophe has given a serious check to the hiring of native labor for service in Tavinui." The New Zealand Herald notices that " a subject of very general interest was suggested by Judge Becknaji in the Auckland District Court. The point is this : Creditors of goldmine companies in liquidation claim and receive 20s in the pound. But gold-mine companies are speculative concerns, and subject to risks which are easily estimated. It may bs said that making them responsible to the greatest exten '; possible would check a tendency to reckless expenditure. This is at least doubtful. Certain, however, it is that, as sources of credit, they have been inexhaustible. The result unfortunately we Bee and know. It is a fair question why the creditors of such companies should be in a more favorable position than other concerns in liquidation, who are obliged to limit their demands by a rateable division of the assets, and be satisfied with a part in default of obtaining the whole. We understand the question will come before the Colonial Legislature in the next session of the Assembly." The Southland News says :—" The repeal of the union between Southland and Otago is an idea which has, during the p<st few , weeks, been freely discussed, and has at- . tracted. considerable attention amongst the ! inhabitants of the southern portion of the Province. While we are willing to give his Honor the Superintendent every credit for ! a desire to act fairly by the Southland district, it is becoming more and more evident every day that his good intentions are practically frustrated by the grasping selfishness ( of Dunedin. The discontent which prevails L throughout the southern districts is daily ( spreading and becoming more intense." j A correspondent writes to the Pall Mall t Gazette : — The current number of the Cohtem- < vorary Revieiv contains an article by Sir - 'Henry Thompson on a subject which, if not • very pleasant, is at least interesting. It ad- , vocates burning dead bodies as against the • present practice of burial. The article goes r at much length into the chemistry of the . subject, and shows how the decay of the I body is really neither more nor less than a i slow burning. Indeed; the ne". result of the . article may be expressed in a very few ■ words. When a man is dead he must ba t burned either slowly, by natural processes— > which is a process so unutterably loathsome . and disgusting that we dare not venture to i describe or even imagine it distinctly— or r else quickly, in an artificial fire, which mii{ht i be done in a short time with perfect decency, i and with excellent results, sanitary and i otherwise. Why choose the long loathsome, > and costly process instead of the short, wholesome, and comparatively inoffensive one ? No answer can be given to this at all, except that there is an inveterate and irra- [ tional prejudice in favor of the present , practice. 5 The approximate amount cf revenue de- ■ rived from Crown lands in Otago, exclusive ■ of Southland, for the quarter ending 3lafc March, 1874, was :-RuraMand, L 29.204 18,s » 8d; town do, L 3067 83 ; miscellaneous, f LlBlB 10s2d. Totax, L34.C90 16s sd. : A gentleman who has lately arrived in » Otago from the Argentine Republic state 3 I that he has seen blue gum trees there, from ■ seed produced in Otago, attaining a height of I 40ft in less than five years from the time the i seed was put into the ground. At Estancia > he visited three settlers from Otago,' and • found them to be in a prosperous state 5 We notice that 350 Chinese have arrived direct from China at Dunedin. Probably . moat of them will find their way to the West , Coast. i The Saddle Hill quartz reef, near Dunedin, ' shows very good prospects. The shaft sunk ; is about 130 ft deep, and the quantity of 1 stone brought to the surface and crushed " was 80 tons, yielding 14|dwt to the ton. j The ; reef, which is of considerable thickness, ex--5 hibits the quality of quartz which promises remunerative returns. ! 1 They have a new sensation in Melbourne ' in the form of an American spirit rcedium, 1 Mr Charles R. Foster. Mr Foster is a professional representative of his class, and has earned a very good living by the exercise of ' his powers for many years. He was at one ' time residing for a good while with the late Lord Lytton on the Continent, and the novelist is said to have taken the hint for his 1 character of Margrave.in *• A Strange Story" from the American medium. His plan of procedure is something in this form. A circle of visitors being formed, the individuals composing it write the names of deceased friends on little slips of paper, and then roll up these 1 aqd place them before the medium The latter will take them up one by one and 1 apply them to his forehead till he gets one to which he says he can obtaiu a response This then he hands to the person to whom he feels it to belong, and desires him to ask questions of the spirit of his friend. I saw (says a correspondent) a question put as to the date of death of the friend alluded to. The enquirer was not acquainted with the date exactly, but took an approximate one, whioh was written with several imaginary ones on a slip of paper, which was torn up into the separate dates, eaoh being rolled up into a pellet and placed before Mr Foster. ' The date believed to be correct was December, 1854. In a few seconds he took up one of the undistinguishable pellets, handed it to the enquirer, at the same time saying ''the date was from the 15th to the 17th of December, 1854," and the date written on the piece of paper selected was that above given. In some cases, the medium wrote out on a piece of paper the name of the person respecting whom the enquiry was made, and in one instance declared that ho saw the form of the person dressed in robes and reading from a book, indicating that he was a clergyman. This was correct, and a description given by the medium as to the appearance of the countenance of the person was recognised as faithful by the gentleman asking about him. Mr Foster, in some instances, obtains the name or date sought in red letters upon his head or arm, but I did not witness any of these cases. After viewing the exhibition, it is difficult to resist the conclusion that some of the phenomena are perfectly genuine and quite unaccountable, except on the assumption of the existence of jowers at present unknown to, and unreoognised by, science