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Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1859, 21 July 1874, Page 2

A meeting of the Horticultural Society was held last night. Present — Messrs W. S. Smith (chair), P. Hamilton, Revell, Cooper, Arnott, G. S. Smith, Orr, and Hardy. The letter from Mr P. Comiakey (already published) and the package of seeds forwarded by him, were acknowledged with thanks. A committee was appointed, consisting of Messrs G. S. Smith, F. Hamilton, and C. A. O. Hardy, for the purpose of forming a botanical garden in Greymouth. The same committee was also empowered to distribute the alfalfa grass seed sent by Mr Comiskey. Mr G. W. Moss was elected a member of committee in room of Mr R. O. Reid. It was arranged that the spring txhibition of the Society should be held not later than the 10 th December, and Messrs W. M. Cooper, T. Amos, J. Arnott, G. S. Smith, and C. A. C. Hardy were appointed . prize committee to have the schedule of prizes drawn up at once, and printed and

distributed, lb was arranged that a challenge piece of plate of the value of LlO should be purchased, to be competed for by members of the Society, for a collection of vegetables, not less than five, nor more thau eight varieties. All such exhibits must be grown by and be the property of the exhibitor. The challenge plate must be won three times before it b-icotnes the property of any person, and the first coir petition for it will takes place at the spring exhibition, 1874. On dit two of the largest property holders on Richmond Quay threaten to bring ac'ions for damages against the Borough Council, for injury to and depreciation in the value of their properties indirectly, caused by the action of the Council in the matter of renting certain portions of the wharf. Heavy snow falls occurred in the upcountry distiicts on Saturday and Sunday nights A very heavy hail and rain storm, with snow, afterwards swept over Greymonth, at 2 a.m., on Monday morning. Hailstone fell, on Monday afternoon, of remarkably unusual size, but the weather again shows signs of clearing up. Mr Watson, machine manager of the Wealth of Nations claim, has reported to the Directors that the portion of fluming boxes damaged by lightning was repaired, and the fifteen head of scamps at full work, on Tuesday, 14th inst. ; also, that 2120z Sdwt of amalgam were scraped from the plates on Saturday morning last. • \t the Resident Magistrate's Court, yesterday, John JJullerfcon wa«i fined 10s with costs, for being drunk and disorderly on Saturday evening — George Abrahams was brought up on warrant by the bailiff for disobeying a judgment summons of the Court for L 7 10s, at the suit of Thomas and M'Beath, drapers! The original verdict was obtained on 20th March this year, and the defendant, who resided at the Black Ball Creek, could not be got at since. The defendant was ordered t;o pay L 2 at once, and the balance in monthly instalments of LI each, or in default, one month's imprisonment. The body of the unfortunate lad Jones, who was drowned in the Lagoon on the 17th instant, was not recovered up to dark yesterday, although continuous efforts were bei ig made to find it. Mr Hart, of Tainui street, offers a reward of L 5 for the recovery of the^emains. This may act as a further incentive to more vigorously prosecute the search, but the policy and other volunteers have been isde~fatigable ia their efforts to find the body ever since the melancholy accident occurred. A boat accident occurred on the river yesterday, which resulted in the loss of a valuable horse belonging to Mr George Martin, the owner of the boat. The driver had a narrow escape from drowning. Owing to a rather singular accident, Messrs Gilmer's coach did not start upcountry as usual on Monday. The coach, and the vehicle used between Hokitika and Greymouth, were put away in the usual place on Saturday night. During the storm on Sunday night, the coaches were shifted from their positions by the high wind it is supposed, and, running loo?e, they collided, smashing the pole, and doing other damage to the Ahaura Coach. It was too late in the day to start when repairs were finished. A Provincial Government Gazette, published on Saturday last, contains a proclamation by the Superintendent, under " The Trespass and Impounding Ordinance, 1874 " The purport of this proclamation is that the owners of any cattle found wandering at large in the streets of Hokitika, Greymouth, or Ross, will be liable to a penalty, varying from 2s 61 to LI per head of such cattle ; and if the trespass shonld occur in the night, tne penalty will be from Is to 20s ; and if any cattle be found tethered in the street, the penalty will be from 5s to LL -. The The Register observes that the proclamation omits to cite the very essence of the 40th clause, respecting cattle wandering in any street or thoroughfare of a town at night. The clause enacts that, "It shall be lawful for any constable, or any person who msot re r, to place any such cattle so found at large between sunset and sunrise, in any stableyard or enclosure during the night, and to remove tLe same as conveniently as may be after sunrif e, to the nearest pound. " The share-list of the Colonial Bank closes to-day at the office of Messrs G. W. Moss aud (Jo. During the thunderstorm which occurred on Sunday morning, the academy of Mr Scott, in Hampden street, Hokitika, was struck by lightning. The Register says :— Fortunately, Mr Scott was in at the time, and was able to extinguish the fire which, hroke out on one side of the house without difficulty. This is the second occurrence of the kind known to have taken place in Hokitika ; the piledriver, on the wharf, having upon one occasion been so shocked at the lightning, that it could stand it no longer, but capsized. Some strange individuals appear to be placed on the commission of the peace in New South Wales. In one of the country districts of that Colony, very recently, a case of larceny occupied the Court of Petty Sessions. The prisoner, when being baptised, was blessed with the name of Henry, and it happened in this instance, as it frequently does, that the Magistrate— who, by the way, was chairman of the Court — and Henry were at one time " old cronies." The larceny case closed, the magistrates had the usual consultation for ten minutes or so, and then the chairman, addressing the prisoner, said, " Well, Henry, you leave this Court without a stain upon your character ; still, for all that, we must give you three months." When will we be able to say the same regarding Greymouth ? " Ballarat may well boast of its mineral wealth remarks the Geelong Advertiser, " after what occurred at the Geelong railway station on Tuesday evening. On the arrival of the down train for Melbourne shortly after 9 o'clock, it was observed that the woodwork of the axleboxes belonging to one of the carriages was in a blaze. Such was the effect of the combustion that after the passengers had alighted the disabled carriage had to be shunted aside and left behind. The cause was soon ascertained. The carriage had been over -freighted with the gold belonging to four Ballarat banks which, together with a well-equipped escort, was en route for the metropolis. What the actual weight of gold was we know not, but "it must have been something very considerable, and Ballarat has reason to boast that probably for the first time on record a railway carriage has been set on fire by the precious ore of its mines." Melbourne is shortly to be the centre of a Victorian free-trade league, after the model of the English Anti-Corn Law Laague, which was instituted and carried to such a brilliant termination by Bright, Cobden, and men who, if not possessing their mental or oratorical callibre, were still giants in those days, while not a few still live, and are ready to do battle for any reform movement which may tend to ameliorate the condition of the masses We (New Zealand Times) should like tn see some such organisation as a freerade league in our midst." We give the fottawhig extract from the Otago Daily Times, as snowing the progress of acclimatisation in that Province. — " While our travelling .eporter was crossing Shag Valley on Monday, he was informed that a large trout had been found dead in a shallow part of the river. Immediately he went to the place, and there found one of the finest and largest trout that a pisciculturist would like to encounter. The fish, which was of Mr Young's breeding, was carried to the mill

by our reporter, and upon being weighed proved to be 14lb loz Mr Young not being at home, our reporter directed that it should be sent to Captain Hutfcon, Museum, with Mr Young's permission. On examination the trout proved to be a female one, without the slightest blemish ; and the cause of death was probably that the waters of the Shag river were divered ti wards the mill, leaving, the main stream almost dry — the fish, being near spawning, attempted to ascend the river, when, from struggling in a shallow part, it exhausted itself aud ceased existence. The fish was fonnd by a little girl, the daughter of Mr Brown, Shag Valley. In the same rivet there are now to be seep thousands of fish in every stage, from a few iuches to a foot." ' We are informed, that the works in connection with the Hochstetter and Nelson Creek Water-race are progressing most satisfactorily. With the exception of some short reaches of fluming, and an inconsiderable length of tunnelling yet. to be done, the first section, or between four and five miles of the race, is now compleced as far as the contractors have to do with it. Work has been commenced, on the second section, opposite Hatter's Terrace, atid : as the spring advances, the number of men engaged will be largely increased. As was sure to be the case when a better idea of the contour of the country was obtained; the contractors have discovered even more suitable routes for the course of the ditch. It is said that if the contractors, be allowed to make certain alterations they propose doing, from specified plan, they can, without losing fall, make detour, and save the necessity of erecting some of the most difficult and expensive flumes, and do away with the cost of fixing the iron piping as intended. The construction of the race will be ; completed within the specified time, and the contractors express a be belief that their portion of the work will be finished, as the Government complete its portion of the undertaking. The Neio Zealand Times of July 10, says : — " Mr Fox alluded yesterday in the House of Representatives to the admitted failure of the Bill which was passed with the object of restricting the sale of spirituous liquors. He was desirous, however, that the regulations formed under it by the Government for the regulation of the licensing benches should be laid before Parliament, so that the supporters of the measure might be al>le to form an opinion as to whether the failure of the measure arose from the Act itself or from the regulation. He was satisfied that some portion of that failure was due to the late period at which the regulations were issued, and some to the extremely injudicious manner in which the districts had been arranged. Through these causes the body who favored temperance had not been able to organise their forces. Mr Yogel remarked that no one was more fully entitled than the honorable member for ftangitikei to information on the subject ; the regulations issued would be placed before the House. He added that the Government proposed to bring in a measure at an early date to cure the defects of the Act.