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Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1931, 14 October 1874, Page 2

Pursuant to notice, a public meeting, convened by the Mayor, was held last evening at the Melbourne Hotel, in response to an invitation to co-operate with the inhabitants of the Eeefton district in an endeavor to induce the authorities to complete that portion of the road, between Squaretown and the Little Grey Junction, which is now in such a bad state as to threaten speedily an entire suspension of traffic. His Worship the M ay or occupied the chair, and in explaining the objects of the meeting, stated that the condition of that portion of uncompleted road was now such that unless prompt steps were taken traffic must cease, thereby «ccasioning incalculable loss and inconvenience to the population of the Eeefton district, and to the commercial interests of every one concerned. Mr W. H. Harrison, M.H.R., explained how the matter stood. He stated that the sum allocated out of the Middle Island Railway Fund for road works on the South-West Gold-fields had proved inadequate to the completion of the main road between Greymouth and Reeffcon, but that last session of the General Assembly a grant of L 50,000 was authorised to be given to the Provincial Government of Nelson for the purpose of completing a through line of road between Nelson, Westpott, and Greymouth. . It was his opinion that the expenditure of this money depended entirely upon the Provincial Government of Nelson, and he was afraid that there was a disposition on the part of the Executive of that Province to expend the money as much jas possible in the Buller district. He was aware, however, that the General Government regarded the completion of the road under consideration as one of the urgent works to ba carried out, and he had no doubt that if a strong remonstrance was addressed to the General Government, steps would bo taken to urge the Nelson Government to proceed with the work without delay. He suggested that the Minister of Public Works should be at once communicated with, as a'so the Superintendent of Nelson, pointing out the seriousness of the matter, and the necessity for prompt action. He then moved, and Mr Masters seconded the following resolution, which wascarried unanimously:— "That the most urgent necessity exists for completing that portion of the road from. Greymouth and Reeftoa befeweea .Squaretown and the Little Grey Junction, communication ; being now almost entirely suspended, and must become entirely so should prompt steps not be taken to complete the road ; and that the General Government be requested to urge the Provincial Government of Nelson to construct this work at once out of the money appropriated by vote of the General Assembly last session for completing the road works between Nelson, Westport, and Greymouth." A resolution moved by Mr Ashton was caried — " That the attention of the Provincial Government of Nelson be directed to the general state of disrepair of the road between bquaretown and Reefton, it being now almost impassable ; and that the Provincial government be requested to state whether it is their intention to complete the road between Squaretown and the Little Grey Junction out of the grant of last session of the Assembly, ar)d, if so, when ?" His Worship the Mayor was requested to forward by telegraph the resolutions of the meeting to Reefton, to the Minister of Public Works, and to his Honor the Superintendent of Nelson. I ast night Mr C. Burford took his farewell benefit at the Volunteer Hall. The first piece was "The Crown Prince," in which Mr Burford played the character of Albert Augustus with much effect. The other parts were very well represented. The afterpiece of "La Somnambula " was a great hit It is TTritten in an easy style, and is most enjoyable, and seemed to be immensely apprec ated by the audience, as the encores were numerous. Miss Stephenson, Miss Howard, and Messrs Hydes and Burford certainly appeared to much advantage in their difficult parts, and they fully deserved all the applause they received. For to-night the programme consists of "The Peep Showman," and a repetition of the Burlesque of "La Somnambula," for the benefit of Mr Hydes. The Hospital Removal Committee are requested to meet this evening, at eight o'clook, at Gilmer's Hotel. At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, before W. R, Revell, Esq, R.M., Sarah Lynch was charged with having no visible lawful means of support. It is only recently that she was liberated from prison, and since then she has lived in a cettage in Albert street with another well-known character named Barbara Weldon. Their midnight orgies caused the neighbors, through fear of fire, to ask the interference of the police. When Sergeant Moller went to the house on Monday, at noon, the whole of the crockery in the place was smashed, and the defendant was in bed, not sober. There was some beer in a bottle, but no provisions in the house. He arrested her on a charge of vagrancy. Constable M'Kenna stated that the defendant's husband was working on the railway works at Westport, and that the contractor, Mr M 'Lean, had offered to pay her passage there, but she positively refused to go. The defendant stubbornly refused to ask or answer any questions put to her, and the "Magistrate, after remarking up>>n the number of times she had been before him, sentenced her to two months' imprisonment with hard labor. The only civil case called was Maddigan v. M'Neil, but as there was no appearance of either party, the case was dismissed. The Bye-laws of tbe Corporation of Greymouth as to wharfage and tonnage rates have been assented to by his donor the Superintendent ; also the Bye-law adopting certain parts of the 13th schedule of the Municipal Corporations Act, 1867.

Many miners are leaving the Wakatip district for the Palmer diggings. The "Westland Provincial Gazette' of Monday notifies that Constable EoViert Steele has been appointed Keeper of the Greymoutk Powder Magazine. A shopkeeper was fined 5s and cost 3at Christchurch a few days ago, under the Statute of Charles 2nd, for selling a cocoanut to two boys on a Sunday. KA. proposal to lay down street tramways ■^Jjjnedin has been submitted to the CorTvWation of that city by Messrs Bain and Mndlay. They ask for a concession for 21 years. There is now no one imprisoned for ] <&M iv DunediQ Gaol. The individual that j was lectured by Mr Bathgate, and sentenced v> 30 days' imprisonment, paid his debt and was discharged. It is reported in the Otago papers that two Danish diggers have succeeded in getting gold to the extent of about L9O per man per week, on a terrace up the hotover river, and in a most unlikely-looking place. About 130 families, 299 single women, and 40 young men have been received into the Caversham Immigration Barracks, Dunedin, during the month of September. These were passengers by the Corona, Otago, Parsee, and Tweed. One of the Christcburch stock auctioneers has stated publicly that he should not be surprised to see as much as 40s realised for prime beef before Christmas. This prediction will not give our new comers a lasting idea of New Zealand as a land of plenty. A cannibal act was committed by a man named John Fargraves, at the Princes street Immigration* Barracks, Dunedin, the other day, on a fellow immigrant named William Noel. During a disagreement between the parties, Fargraves wantonly bit a piece off Noel's ear. The following question is under the consideration of the Diocesan Synod of Dunedin : — " That in the opinion of this Synod it is desirable that whenever two or more services are used in conjunction in the celebration of public worship, the minister, or person officiating, shall not, so far aa the Lord's prayer, the prayers for the Queen and Royal Family, and dignitaries, and the creeds, are concerned, be required to repeat such portions as are similar or analogous to others contained in and intended to be used by him in any other service, and that this resolution be submitted to the next General Synod." A young lady was placed in a curious quandary recently in Otago. Owing to the heavy weather one o 1 ? the up-country coaches was stuck up, and the bulk of the passengers elected to walk through the snow to the nearest settlement. ■ A young Scandinavian lady and a Chinaman felt unequal to the task ; yet the young lady would not stop with the Chinaman, so, to smooth matters, a gallant young Scotchman agreed to act as middleman. So the quaint trio— the Chinaman, who could not understand English ; the young lady who knew not Chinese ; and the Scotchman, who, we are told, knew neither, had the coach to themselves for the night in hungry misery. w crgeant Smith, of the Otago police, dropped upon a man who has been wanted a lone time at Oamaru the other day. While looking at the new skittle alley at the Swan Botel, the Sergeant noticed a man for whom he thought there had been anxious inquiries, and, accosting him by name, met with a ready reply. The man's name was Burleson, and a warrant was issued for his apprehension nice years ago for stealing a draft foi Ll6O at the Teviot. About that time the Sergeant had a two days' ride in quest of his man in vain, to find him at last in the accidental way above noted. Burleson was immediately arrested, and has since confessed to the crime with which he is charged, Burleson has, it appears, been since levanting from New Zealand, in business in Sydney as a baker, but, with that fatality which seems to attend breakers of the law, returned to tbe scene of his misdoings only to fall into the Bands of the Philistines. A Melbourne correspondent writes j — "Whatever may be the case with trade, work is very brisk in Victoria at the present time. It ha? indeed a fictitious brisknpss. owing to its receiving such a stimulus by the very large public works undertaken by the Government. I suppose that at no former period were there so many men employed throughout the Colony by the Government as at the present time. Besides the ordinary works of constructing roads, bridges, harbor works, &c, there are four or five lines of railway being simultaneously formed. Then there are very large buildings being carried! on in Melbourne — tbe new Government House, now nearly finished, and forming a conspicuous object in every view of Melbourne ; vast new railway sheds, Custom House, the immense building for the new Public Offices, the new Law Courts, and others. The effect of all this is that the cost of building work of any kind is immensely enhanced, and is,still advancing." The London retailers' of gossip to provincial papers have recently been taken up very much with the doings of Mr Albert Grant, who lately presented Leicester square to the people of London, and who has since been unseated as member for Kidderminister, on the ground of bribery and corruption at the election. His total bill tiere alone for the two days amounted to L 307. This Mr Grant, a few months ago, changed his name from Gotheiraer, and he has amassed, by mining ventures — chiefly in American stock- a, fortune, which he seems desitoas of spending as rapidly as he has made it. Having spent a good deal of it on others, he is now spending it on himself, in the erection of a magnificent mansion at Kensington, which is to contain no less than 90 bedrooms alcne. Each of his twelve children, also, is to have a bathroom to itself, the batha being of mahogany lined with marble. Mrs Grant is reported to assist her husband to dispose of his fortune by spending immense Bums of money on laoe. These and other details of the life of this nouveau rkhe appear to bs greedily swallowed by the newspaper reading public of Britain, to judge by the manner in which they are copied by the papers from each other. A recent importation of the " haw haw " species, says the Thames paper, was some time ago doing the grand tour of this island, and chanced to arrive at a hostehy in one of the frontier settlements. The wtather was a trifle warmer than it is now, ani the flies were troublesome. During the progress of the meal which had been preparei for the guest, the flies became ravenous, and the whilom ornament of Belgravia rang the bell — they had arrived at that point of livilisation to possess a bell — and the waiter came "Waitaw" said the traveller, "Woufd you be good enough-ah — to remove the fUg-ah." The waiter retired to inform the laadl»rd of the strange request that had been preferred. Now, the landlord was one of his owi best customers, and as the sun had passel the meridian, or was over the main-top, ot had reached some other point which is considered an excuse for frequent libations, he was n no humor to tolerate airs even from a good customer;"*liahdlord proceeded to his gust's presence, and, in polite frontier languige apostrophised his visual organs and limbsas a prelude to inquiring what the guested wanted in finding fault. The visitor listened to tie eloquent interrogatory of the landlord,witlout evincing the slightest surprise, furthethan to adjust an eyeglass in the coolest ani most aggravating manner,' peculiar to hit I class— for the purpose of better scanning the

intruder. He then agitated the tintinaVu- i lator once more, and the waiter appeared, " Waitaw," he sairl, still preserving his characteristic coolness and impudence, " will you be good enough-ah — to remove-alx the j landlord and the flies-ah." The landlord was so confounded that he removed himself, and the visitor was soon left to finish his meal with only the companionship of the flies. The "West Coast Times" of yesterday notices a report on the Greymouth coal by the manager of the Hokitika Gas Y/orks. Our contemporary says : — An indiscriminate quantity 26 tons 14 cwt. of Grey coal operated on yielded 307,973 cubic feet of gas, as shown by the station meter, making the average return of gas, per ton of coal, 11,517 ft. The amount of coke produced; from each ton of coal carbonised, was 12c"3>i; 3qrs 121 b, and the tar 13gal. The illuminating power of this gas is equal to seventeen candles, that is to say, if burnt at the rate of five cubic feet per hour it will give an equal light to that of the above number of candles. The same quantity of gas produced from Newcastle coal, we are told, will not give nearly as great light, whilst instead of yielding eleven thousand and a halE feet, New South Wales coal will return little if any over nine thousand feet per ton, or little more than three-fourths of that from the Grey. These facts are incapable of contradiction, and must open the eyes of managers and shareholders in gasworks elsewhere, who have been importing dearer coal, which is only three parts as productive. The coke, we omitted to say, is reported by Mr Courtis to be of excellent quality, and singularly free from ash. Fire clay retorts have been used, and worked without an exhauster; by the aid of the latter, if we understand aright, the gas is better, and the return slightly larger. As a matter of course, the tar and coke remaining from the Newcastle coal is larger, but its value is trifling in comparison with that of the gas, and the .difference is so slight as hardly to effect the estimate in the smallest iegree. Surely, in the name of all that is rational, companies in New Zealand, after such a statement as this, will not continue to send to Australia.