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Grey River Argus, Volume XXII, Issue 3318, 5 April 1879, Page 2

The body of Mr Wm Pitt, solicitor, was found at Canoe Creek, North Beach, on Thursday afternoon at 4 o'clock, by a miner named Cruise. Owing to the flooded state of the creeks, the news of the discovery did not reach Inspector Feast tiil yesterday afternoon, when arrau gements were made to briDg the body to town. An inquest will be held to-day, and the funeial, which will be conducted by the Masinic fraternity, will take place to-morrow. The members of the Greymouth Masonic Lodge and all those belouging to the craft, are requested to attend at the Lodge room, \\ asomc Hal), on Sunday af temoo *, at one o'clock, to follow the remains of late Brother William Pitt, to the place of interment, Greymouth Cemetery. The Minister of Public Works telegraphed to Mr Pratt, who is at present on business in Greymouth, tendering hia sympathy and condolence in the bereavement of his late son (Mr C. E. Pratt) who died at Webb's accomodation house, Muilouky Gully, Otago, after a short illness The sitting of the District Court takes place on Monday, 7th inst, ob 10 a.m. Judge Weaton will arrive from Hokitika today. Bishop Redwood arrived in town yesterday by the three o'clock tram from Kumara His Lordship will preach, in St. Patrick's Ciiurcli oil Suuday. Nancarrow and Co. will sell by auction to> day a variety of produce. The other day there appeared in oui columns a letter complaining ot the want o: school accommodation for the children o: Brunnerton, The remarks of the writer an borne out by ttn Inspector, who, referring to the wa t of sufficient school buildings it almost all the places recently added to th< We .tland district, says :---" Although awar< that the financial position of the Board doei not admit of any considerable expenditure upon buildings at present, [ consider it inj duty, nevertheless, to point out cases whicl should be dealt with as soon as possible The most pressing case is thai of Brunuerton, The school building, as I have elsawhere re ported, is not more than sufficient for one half tho children at present attending thi school, and numbers have been, and mus be, refused admittance, until another build i iDg is provided. Any attempt to enlarge j the present building would be, in nr opinion, a great mistake, as it is quite ua su table for the purpose. It would be mon economics to erect a school something afte 1 the style of that at Ross, capable of affordini i accommodation for the children on botl sides of the river. Totara Plat, OrweL Creek, and Hatter's Terrace are also in need of school buildings, as those at present in use are held only on sufferance, aud are wholly unfit for the puruose. At Granville a chimney must be built before the winter sets in, or some of the children will probably cease to attend during that season. All these schools need to be provided with closetr. Red Jack's, in the Grey Valley, is also without any school accommodation, and though the number of children is too Bmall to justify the establishment of a separate school, yet, as the distance from No Town, and the nature of the track between the two places must prevent the children of the one attending the school oE the other, I think something should be done to meet the wants of the inhabitants, and perhape the best course would be for the Board to build a small school-room and subsidise a teacher under the BSth clause. There are sufficient children at No Town to justify the maintenance of a separate school at that place, and under the new management I believe the attendance will speedily increase." At tbe Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, before W. H. Revell, Eaq., Mary Jane Hayes was charged with being drunk, and was fined 10s, and costs ; the same woman was then charged with using abusive language to tho police, and was fined a farther 20s, and costs. The fines were paid. In the civil Court, Yarral v. Nelson, claim for Ll9 6s 9d, judgment was given for Ll6 4-3 Id, and costs. Messrs Revell and Lahinan, J.P.s, revised the jury list for the district of drey, for the ensuing year at the Court Houss yesterday. A few names were struck off, including all the railway officials, and a few names were added. The list presented to ths Bench by the police comprised Sl3 names. An inquest on the fire at Giljon and Devery'a place, Twelve-Mile will be held oa Monday next, and no*. Wednesday as stated in our yesterday's issue. A Christchurchg correspondent of the Otago Times tays : — " Anticipations of bad times, which have been so frequently expressed, are beginning to give some account of themselves. One large house, that of W. Saunders, has failed. The total liability is estimated at L 125.000, but whether this is beyond the mark lam not able to say. Mr Saunders' failure is duo immediately to a destructive fire which, occurred some six weeks ago, in which he losb the whole of his stock and his large premises in Lichfield street. It is said that his bank impounded the amount of hi 3 iusu-anco money— some L2o.ooo— ami then stopped his credit ; the result i 3 Mr Saunders' insolvency. It is feared that this failure will bring down others who are involved with tho iasolveat. Several persons in business are known to be largely involved in this way. It is whispered

ibout that a leading professional man is ibout to call a me ting of his creditors, but bhe intending insolvent's name is kept secret ; omy it is said that when the crash comes people will be surprised. My own opinion is tbat many people will take, and that some are already taking, advantage of the insecurity which prevails." Needlework does not appear to be a very popular branch of tuition in our State schools. The Inspector of the Westland district, in his annual report, says, referring to this subject : — Needlework, which is taught at all our schools having one or more female assistants, is not looked upon with favor gby a few teachers, who regard the time so spent as, if not wasted, at least filched from subjects which they consider more important, and by which the passing or failing of a pupil is estimated, Under the new regulations, however, all girls who are systematically and efficiently instructed in this branch will be allowed a reduction of 10 per cent of the marks necessary to pass the standards. This concession should go far to remove the disfavor with this subject has been, in some cases, regarded. Great complaints are made by the teachers of girls absenting themselves by the desire of their parents on those afternoons whan sewing is taught. I havo, in several instances, suggested a remedy for this evil." A telegram from Wellington, March 3rd, says:— Mr R. J. Seddon, who has just returned from a visit to the "Waimate Plains, Informs the Chronicle that when he came down on Friday there was no particular excitement felt, cither by the natives or the settlers. Mr Seddon states that when he went over the Plains to inspect the land, the resident natives whom he met treated him courteously, and even showed him the pegs of some of the sections. Mr Seddon declares thai the natives actually resident on the Plains had nothing to do with the removal of the surveyors ; that it was a party of ralives from Parihaka, some forty in number, who effected the removal, Mr Seddon inclines to the opinion that there will be no disturbance, and that should the surveyors once more be placed upon the Plains, the survey will be allowed to proceed without further interruption. A telegram from kew Plymouth, dated 31st ult, is to the following effect:— Mr Anderson, one of the surveyors on the Waimate Plains, and the last one removed from them, has come to town. There were five surveying parties on the Plains, and all have been removed. The survey parties were situated as follows: — Messrs Finnesty, Clime, Oheal, Skeet, and Anderson, the latter being farthest off. It was originally intended by the natives to remove the surveyors the same day, but beginning too soon they only managed to get four parties off on the Monday. Anderson's party was in the bush, about a mile from Omuturangi. He heard on Monday night an unusual noise at the village, which was caused by the arrival of the natives. Next morning about seven o'clock a party of natives came to the camp, bringing with them a bottle of brandy, and asked the surveyors to have a drink. They then had breakfast at the camp, and after wards said they had come from Te Whiti to remove them. The natives commenced to strike the camp, and the surveyors had nothing but to follow them out of the bush. The natives were very anxious to secure lead from the tea che3t3 and buy guns from our young men, but the survey party would part with nothing. Everything was done good humoredly. It ia stated that about a fortnight ago an attempt was made to get possession of a. redoubt; n^ar Oeo. lb is understood that the surveyors have to send reports of what transpired on their removal by the natives." The following amusing incident is related by a traveller in the Central States : — When we made an excursion in Southern Utah not lon^ ago, we were hospitably entertained by the Mormon Bishop at Richfield. He was a Scotchman, and had been brought up a rigid Presbyterian "Ah, wo'l," said he, "they think ill of me at home for changing my religion ; but there was my poor brother Alec who took it most to heart. He was on his way last year to California, and turned off the road a bit to see me, and try to bring me back into the fold. vVhen he got here he spent the whole evening in lecturing me, and then went to bed. In the morning I gave him the best bieakfast the country could afford— coffee and rolls, trout, beef, and venison steak, and Buch like. Poor Alec ! he looked all over the table, and then turned upon me hi? sorrowful face, blurting out — ' Oh, Jamie, mon ! Jamie, mon ! did I ever think it would come to this ? I could hae forgien ye a' yer poleegamy, but hae ye gien up yer parritch V "