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Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1933, 16 October 1874, Page 2

The West Coast portion of the English mail did not arrive by the Christchur'cK coach, as expected. It is most probably on board the Gothenburg, due this morning. The Reefton coach, yesterday, was only able to proceed as far as the Twelve-mile, and had to return. We are informed that all the waggons were stuck up there on account of a flood. The mails for Reef ton, on Wednesday, were sent by horseback from the Ahaura, the state of the roa<i making it impossible for a vehicle to travel. The committee appointed at the public meeting to arrange for the removal of the Hospital, met at Gilmer's Hotel yesterday afternoon, Dr Acheson. in the chair. Correspondence from their Honors the Superintendents of Westland and Uelson and the Greymouth Hospital Committee were read and considered. A telegram from the Hon. J. A. Bonar urging the Committee to give an immediate answer to the offer made by the General Government for the present Hospital buildings and site was discussed ; after which the following resolutions were unanimously carried, and the Chairman requested to forward them to the Superintendent : — "1. That liis Honor the Superintendent of Westland be requested, on behalf of the Greymouth Hospital Removal Committee, to accept the offer of LI OOO from the General Government for the present Hospital Buildings." "2. That the General Government can obtain possession of the vacant ground of Hospital site at once, and the buildings immfldiately on the erection of a new Hospital, tenders for which will be called as soon as plans and specifications are prepared." "3. That his Honor be requested to obtain from the Government, on behalf of the Committee, certain out-houses, of little value to the Government." A subcommittee was appointed to enter into an agreement guaranteeing to the G-rey River Hospital Committee a building in every respect as suitable as the present one. It was resolved that the services of the Town Surveyor be requested for the purpose of surveying the Hospital and University Resprves, and for him to report as to their eligibility as sites for an Hospital. The Committee seem to have entered into their work with energy and zeal, and have made arrangements that will shortly carry oufc the wishes of the public "meeting They expect in a day or two to be able to call for tenders for clearing and fencing the reserve, so that the building can be erected as soon as plans are prepared and approved of. Some matters of routine were disposed of, and a vote of thanks to the Chairman brought the meeting to a close. An adjonvned meeting of the owaers of submerged frontages on Richmond Quay, which are now supposed to be required by the General Government, was held last night at the European Hotel, in order to receive the report o! the Committee previously appointed. Tha Committee now produced an officially drawn up agreement, setting out the sections required by the Government, their numbers, sizes, &c, and the owners of them were asked to place opposite each section the price at which they would part with their rights to the Government. A number of those present appeared to be in favor of taking land instead of money for their sections, and the Camp Reserve ■ was mentioned as a likely spot to be cut off in. allotments for the purpose. There was a general disinclination to sign the agreement produced, only four names being pub down. Mr Parkinson thought that they ought to endeavor to come to a uniform price, and moved that sections be offered at L 25 each, and, if not accepted, the matter be submitted to arbitration. Mr Magoffin moved an amendment — " That each party put down on paper the amount he will take for his section." Mr Blackmore moved a further amendment — "That this meeting petition the Provincial Government, through the Borough Council, to provide land, either the Camp Reserve or rural land, in exchange for the sectioos the General Government require for railway purposes." He said it appeared that the majority of the section holders were in favor of accepting land rather than payment, and the Borough Council was the proper body to take the necessary steps to arrange the matter. After a discussion, Mr Blackmore's amendment was carried unanimously, and a committee consisting of Messrs Blackmore, Muller, and Parkinson, with power to add to their number, was appointed to communicate with the Borough Council on the subject. It was further resolved—"That Mr Johnston telegraph fcbe Minister of Public Works to define the sections requited, at the same time to state the proprietors are quite willing to treat personally with the Government." A vessel— the barque Comet — was to leave Port Chalmers for the Palmer direct yesterday with a full complement of passengers. We remind the owners and occupiers of property in the Paroa Road Board district that the special meeting of the Board, to hear appeals against the assessment, will be held on Thursday next, the 22nd October, and that notice must be given in writing to the clerk of the Board at least three clear days before— that is to say, on or before the 18th insb.— or really the 17th inst., at) the 18th ia a Sunday. ,

The ordinary general meeting of shareholders in- Greymouth Gas Company takes placje on Wednesday next, for the purpose 6i -reaving ' the report and balancesheet, 1 /declaring a dividend, and electing directora and auditors. ' We hear that Messrs Bnad and Reeves, on their last trip up country, had great difficulty in fording the Grey at the Junction, owing to the flooded state of the rivers. Mr Reeves was washed down the stream for a considerable distance, and after a severe struggle for life succeeded in landing on the side of the river from which he started. A sad relic of poor humanity, says the "Otago Daily Times" of 29fch, was found at Port Chalmers by a party of fishermen returning home from a cruise. They were^a little above Observation Point when their attention was diverted by an object, suspiciously like a human body, lying on the beach a little below high- water mark, arid on pulling in to examine it, found that it wks indeed the remains of some poor fellow who had met his death by drowning. The body wes well dressed in black clothes, but fearfully decomposed, only the bones being visible ; in fact, as one of the finders remarked, it was just held together by the clothes. It had evidently been in the water a long time, and may possibly prove to be the remains of the fourth of the young men who were drowned off Sawyer's Bay on the Queen's Birthday. The fishermen gave information of the occurrence to the Police ' Latest advices from the Thames Gold-field tell of quiet times there so far as mining; is conceraed. Stirring gold fiads coafciaue to be the ecepfcion, and the principal mines seem to be doing little beyond paying their way. The output of gold from the leading mine, the Bright Smile, is less than it was, the lower levels having received a severe searching, so that the crushing stuff conies to hand less freely than it did. Hence the crushing power has been reduced, pending the opening of the next level, which is described as being of great promise. The mine's yield for the fortnight ending September 9th was 580jz. Better prospects have been obtained in the Alburnia mine in a winze that is in the course of sinking to connect the upper level with the level of the Whan Tunnel, which is now the basis, of the company's operations. Work has, however, been much hindered by landslips, which carried away long sections of the quartz shoots. The. Moanataiari Company's crushing for the week ending Sept. 14th produced 2520z. The Nonpareil Company crushed 40 tons for 30dz ; the Crown Prince Company 425 tons for 311oz retorted gold. This yield was below expectations. The Old Whau Company obtained 201oz of gold out of 220 tons of stone, and the Inverness iributers 260z from 17 toiis. The Waiotahi Association and the Imperial City Company were persevering with the work of prospecting the extension of the Mahukau new lode, but had not achieved any very marked success. A. little gold was seen in the stone occasionally. A most unfortunate exchange of property occurred at Pleasant Creek recently, as a consequence of the joviality of two residents of that district. They had been spending the day at Stawell, in the transaction o f business, and, when evening came, passed a few hours in social intercourse. The nightwas far advanced when they left the hotel they had chosen as a rendezvous, and, when they mounted their horses at the door, the animals were more intelligent than their masters, who, as they separated, allowed their steeds to choose the road. The nags were used to this work, and one cantered off towards Great Western, while the other trotted soberly on towards anotlier out-lyiug centre of settlement. Unfortunately, in, the dark each Lad mounted the other's horse, and, when the spouse of Mr B rose on hearing the well-known sound of old Surefoot's hoof, and went to admit her husband, she found a stranger. Her trouble was in no way lessened when she found that A was unable to explain, and in fact fell fast asleep in a chair as soon as he entered the house. Meanwhile B fared even worse. He jogged along on his friend's pony until he reached the latter's residence, and pulled up in due course before the door. Mrs A, however, as a lady of spirit, felt it incumbent upon 'her to puoish drunkenness in her spouse, and before her supposed husband had time to notice that he was in a strange country she belabored him soundly with a stout switch. He roared lustily, and became almost sober by the time that his assailant discovered: her mistake, and mingled her apologies with in- j quiries for her missing lord. Messrs A.|and B have since arranged that they will never again ride horses of the same color when coming to Stawell to spend the evening. We learn from an exchange that in Western Australia the second reading of the Constitution Bill for establishing responsible Government has passed by a large majority. The Bill provides for a nominative Upper House, and a Lower House of 25 elected members. Compensation is provided for officers liable to lose of office oa political grounds. Mr Bar)ee 1 s pension wiii consist of Ml salary, besides a bonus equal to seven years' ' salary. Immediately the second reading was passed, the Governor dissolved the present House in order to obtain the verdict of the country.— A proposition by Sieoien Brothers to lay a submarine cable along the western or northwestern seaboard ha 3 been favorably entertained by the Government. — Inland newspaper postage has again beea abolished. — A. measure based on the principle of Torrens' Act has passed.— The Council has voted LIO,OOO for immigration, LIOOO to be expended ia obtaining ooolies. Messrs Leney and Sons, of Orpines, Wateringbury, Kent, had a sale of shorthorns, on July 3rd, when forty-one realised L 9096, or an average per head of L 221. Thrse of the bulls were purchased for this colony, namely, Charming Prince, roan, by Grant Duke of Kent (26289), bought for LSI; First Lord, rich roan, by Sth Duke of Geneva (28390), bought for L2lO ; the Royal Prince, red, got by the same bull as First Lord, purchased for Ll4O. These animals, together with the Royal Agricultural Society of England's first prize shearling Lincoln ram (of this yoar), and a first class selection of rams and ewes from the most ce'ebrated flocks in Lincolnshire, were shipped in the Lennox Castle, which sailed for Otago on | July 20bh.