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Grey River Argus, Volume XXII, Issue 3276, 15 February 1879, Page 2

Mails for the United Kingdom and Australian Colonies, per Arawata, close at the Bluff, at 11 a.m. to-day. Telegrams will be received at the Telegraph Office till 10 a. m. The new harmoniam for Trinity Church will be used for the first time on Sunday, on which occasion there will be a special musical servica. The anthem at morning stervice will be "I will lift up mine eyes ;" evening, " Incline Thine ear unto my prayer." A lecture and concert on the national songs of EBgland, Ireland, and Scotland will be delivered by the Key. W. H. Koot on Monday evening next in the Public Hall The lecture of itself will be interesting, amusing, and instructive, and as number of our best; vocalist will take part in the coucerfc, a treat of no ordinary character will be afforded to all who may avail themselves of the opportunity of being present. There was only one case before the presiding justices yesterday (R. Nancarrow and H. H. Lahman, Esqrs.) that of Eobert Russell v. W. Jones, a claim of Lls for holding poss ssion of a hotel in town as bailiff, for 15 days, at the rate of LI per day. The defendant paid L 9 15s into Court, being at the rate of 10s per day and expenses. The plaintiff proved that in all previous cases in which he hid been employed his charge had been 203 per day ; the defendant swore that no engagement as to price had been made with plaintiff, and that he understood the wage to be 10s per day. The Bench gave a verdict for the amount paid into Court, each party to pay their own costs. The tea meeting and concert in aid of the children's prize fund for the Oobden School was a very successful and enjoyable affair, the large school-room being well filled. The concert was a great success, each of the singers being warmly applauded, and the result of their efforts, let us hope, will be the means of giving the children their wellearned prizes. The West Coast Times of yesterday says : — His Worship the Mayor and Messrs Cross and Walker, the Railway Committee, appointed by the Borough Council, interviewed G. S. Cooper, Esq., Under Secretary, yesterday as to the policy of commencing the Hokitika and Greymouth Railway, at the Hokitika end. simultaneously with the letting of contract at Greymouth. Mr Cooper, though not directly connected with the Department of Public Works, promised to wait on the Hon. James Macandrew and lay before him the views of the committee. It was shown that the works were urgently needed, to stay the drifting away of population, that so soon as a few miles of Hue bad been made it would pay more than working expenses, and that LSOOO could be temporarily diverted from money voted for harbor purposes at Greymouth, and not presently needed, the same to ba recouped out of vote 3of next I session. Mr Cooper made note of these and other points of lesser import, and promised careful attention to the wishes of the dsputation. The second competition for the prize rifle offered by the Greymouth Rangers takes place this afternoon and Monday. Referring to the proposed testimonial to MrWoolcock, M.H.R., the New Zealander makes the following remarks : — " All this is well ecough, but there is this evil feature among some of our professional politicians which deserves alteration. They devote the whole of their time to political affairn, and the State does not pay them a sufficient sum annually to ensure their comfort and decency ; and this lack had to be obtained by the testimonial business, which ia growing and becoming a great nuisance. Tha men we mean do nothing during the recess but live on feeding on the expectancy of getting something by and by. Let the House distinguish between the memb«rs who work during the recess and those who do not, and pay them proportionally;"

The Koranui Coal Mining Co, Limited, held their annual meeting on Tuesday. The , balance-sheet presented by the secretary (says the Buller News) was thrown out, and the manager instructed to make a searching ' investigation into the accounts, and report audit thereof at as early a date as possible. The directors' report was received. It was resolved to rrore the directory to Wellington. Messrs E. W. Mills, Wilson, Miles, Isaac Plimrner, and D. Anderson, jua (all of Wellington), and Mes3rs Gilmer aud Bailie (of Westport), were elected the Board of Directors for the ensuing year, A remarkable instance of animal sagasity has just beBn related to us (Dunedin Ace). It appears that when Burton's circus left Waimate for Oatnaru, a little dog belonging to Young Australia missed the train at the junction. He wandered about the platform till the arrival oi the next down train, and by that train he came on to Oaniaru ticketless. On arriving here, seeing the circus tent, then being erected, he made for it in great glee, evidently rejoiced to be home again, The total number of officiating ministers of religion registered under the Marriage Act for the Colony is 494. The Church of England claims 185 ; the Presbyterian, 57 ; Roman Catholic, 110 ; Wesleyan Methodist, 74 ; Congregational Independents, 13 ; Baptist, 14 ; Primitive Methodist Connection, 16 ; United ditto Free Church, 12 ; Lutheran Church, 8 ; Hebrew, 5 ; Church of Christ, 1, The Otago Daily Times remarks :— " The gross income now derived from the working of all New Zealand lines is nearly L60,C00 monthly, and before long will be a million annually. The economical management of such a business as this is a task that may well absorb much thought and attention on the part of the Government, who are ultimately responsible for the results." Lord Carnarvon, late Secretary for the Colonies, is about to be married to a cousin, Miss Howard, daughter of Mr Howard, of Greystoke, Cumberland. The railway contractors carrying on works in the vicinity of Dunedin, are employing Chinese labor, a batch of 150 Mongols having been lately put on to work. Our relations with China are safd to be very cordial, and Sir Thomas Wade, our Minister, has suddenly left England for Lahore to consult with Lord Lytton on, it is said, the aspect of affairs in Kashgar, and the allying the Chinese in antagonism to Russia. At Hong Kong, on November 29, the newly-appointed Chinese Minister to England and France, at a banquet given by the Governor, stated that Mr Pope Hennessy's impartial and excellent Government had cemented the friendly feeling between England and China. The Minister adr>ed that he regarded the friends and enemies of England as the friends and enemies of China. A scandal in connection with the Reform League, Melbourne, is reported. An officer i 3 alleged to have accepted LI 00 to get a person appointed a Magistrate. More corruption iv the Land office is also alleged. J At an election in England lately, speaking of his opponent in the field, Sir Richard Wallace, M P., incidently remarked, " Who is this Mr Wilson ?" One of the free and independent electors, desiring to air his smartness, sang out as only an Irishman can at election times, and not far from Bush Mills distillery • — " He's a bushranger from Australia." This created considerable amusement, but it was capped by another of the O'Neill faction exclaiming, " Begoria, he's worse — he's an Australian equatter !" an announcement which evoked a storm of groan 3 and hisses. It is rumored on good authority that Sir William Fitzherbert has seceded to the ranks of the Opposition, and Mr Bunny is reported to have done likewise. Messrs Saunders, Wakefield, and Barton are also enemies, as is also the new member for the Waitaki The position of the Government is viewed as rather precarious. Could they appeal to the country they would obtain a large majority. The following paragraph from a late .long Kong paper will doubtless bo very comforting to those persons who are afraid of the Chinese overrunning the Colonies, as the new field is in every way better suited to the Chinese temperament, and hue clin named being mostly of the class who indulge in emigration:— "We learn that the Hakka Chinese are taking very kindly to the scheme of emigration heneo for British Guiana, and that the missionaries here will lose close upon a hundred of their converts by the shipment now being arranged. The Chinese, having once satiafied themselves that the Guiaua to which they are going is under n X £ h rUi °' ap P sar Perfectly content with all that follows — arsuing, wo suppose, that British protection involves not only the certainty of exercising their industry to the best advantage, but security to enjoy the legitimate products of their labor. Be this as it may, there seems to be no difficulty in obtaining emigrants for this revived scheme." A contemporary has compiled the following statistics from the recently published figures ot the municipal assessments: — Dunedin, assessment for year, L 275.000, increase, L 25.305; Wellington, L 240.743. increase, L 34.431-; Christchurch, L 216 702, increase, L 48.622 ; Auckland, L 155.04 7; increase, L 14.874 ; Wanganui, L 47.57 4; increase, L 5992 ; Invercargill, L 47.578, increase, L 8956; Timaru, L 45,800, increase, L 10.300.