THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 1885.

Grey River Argus, Volume XXXI, Issue 5249, 22 July 1885, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 1885.

It is understood that the contractor for the Cobden bridge, has received definite instructions as to the depth he is to sink | the new piles and the last set now standing anything but erect. It was about time the Public "Works Department woke up to the fact that the preliminary work is all but completed, and that the bridge might be brought to a standstill any day for tho want of a final answer. Mrs Etheridge and family, who arrived from Hokitika on Monday, will leave for Onehunga by the Herald at the end of the week. Carpenters may be interested to learn that tenders for the erection of Mr Pearn's hotel at Taylorville, close on Friday next j at the Buck's Head Hotel, Kumara. j The Faust Family open on Friday : evening. A late train will run on Satur- ; day, leaving here for Brunnerton at 10.30 p. m. The attendance for the last quarter at the schools in the Grey district was 1065, which is treading closely upon the previous March quarter, which usually shows the highest attendance out of the four. The number for the previous quarter was 1070. It would appear from tlvs that either the population or the number of children attending school is increasing. The library committee of the Literary Society met on Monday evenins; at the Education Office, at 8 o'clock. Present — Messrs Matheson (president), Thornton (secretary), Funston (treasurer), W. R. Kettle, J. Barkley, Brown, and Robinson. The minutes of the previous meeting were read ?nd approved of. The sub-committee reported that they had sent home L 25 for books according to instructions. The newspaper list of the reading room was revised, and several journals now on the list were struck off. It was decided to take Tlie Queen, an illustrated paper, and especially valuable and interesting to the ladies. Another journal of a special character; Tlie Gardeners' Chronicle, was also ordered to be put upon the list, for circulation amongst members in the first

place, and to be put on the table afterwards, the time allowed for perusal to be three days. It was also decided to take the Contemporary Review as a complement to the Nineteenth Century, which is now taken. A letter was read from the secretary of the Hokitika Society acknowledging the receipt of a list of books for exchange, and stating that the matter was referred to a sub-committee, who would act in the matter. A sub-committee consisting of the president, secretary, and Mr Robinson were appointed a committee to arrange for getting up an entertainment of some kind for the benefit of the .Society! The treasurer reported that they had received LSO from the Borough Council and LlO 10s from the Harbor Board. It is currently reported that the Hokitika Evening Star has been purchased by the firm of Wade and Spence, auctioneers, who intend to turn it into a daily morning paper. The following additional parcel of gold was shipped per Mahinapua yesterday : — Union Bank of Australia, 16450z5. lOdwts. The dredge was taken across the river on Monday, and commenced dredging the caual to connect the lagoon and river. Everything worked most satisfactorily, the barges going and coming with the greatest ease. A Reefton paper says of the Venus that on Saturday night the reef waa reached in the; low level, and is now being stripped previous to ascertaining its thickness. It has every appearance of solidity. Dr Morice has gone to Reef ton for the purpose of consulting with Dr Whitton regarding the state of health of Mr Chas. Fraser, who is in a most critical condition. After less preliminary talk than usual in such affairs (says the West Coast Times), Mathews, the champion boxer of New Zealand, and O'Neil, of Ross, who bears the reputation of being our best local man, have arranged to box in the Theatre on Saturday, for £20 a side and the championship. The terms are--Marquis of Queensoerry rules, and to finish. A spelling-bee in connection with the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Society was held in the vestry of the Wesleyan Church last evening. The prizes, presented by^the president (Rev. J. Law), were two handsome pictures, and it was decided that 60 words were to be written down, and the two with the least number of mistakes would be the recipients of the prizes. After an interesting struggle, Bros. C. Williams and William Arnott were declared the winners. Rents still continue to fall at a rate whic^i must be eminently alarming to the landlord, and which is not particulary encouraging to the company that is about to be launched by Lord Carnarvon and his noble friends. The Duke of Richmond has reduced his rents 10 per cent, all round for five years ; Lord Roseberry again makes a remission of 15per cent tohis Buckinghamshire tenants ; Mr "Forbes, of Callender, remits 15 per cent. ; Mr Anderson, of Shaws, Selkirk, 30 per cent. ; and Lord Lovat intimates to some tenants a reduction of 10 per cent., and to others one of 20 per cent. "The Wellington Price Current" thus notices a profitable investment : — " Wellington possesses a short railway line, the whole history of which is rema'kable and ' possibly unique in the annals of railways. 1 The company by which this line was constructed and to whom it belongs, was floated and all the shares taken up in the space of one hour and fifteen minutes. The line which is 2\ miles in length, was commenced and completed in 37 working days and at a cost of only L 4,000, yet it was passed by the Government Engineer as being constructed in first -class style. It possesses no rolling stock. It was finished in February last, and out of its first three months earnings it has just paid a dividend of 10 per cent, oil the capital, with a balance to carry forward. The fortunate owners of this line are the Hutt Park Railway Company, Limited. It must be confessed that it was only be a very remarkable concatenation of extra ordinary circumstances that the line was made at so low a cost and in so short a time." The annual return- of the Volunteer Corps of Great Britain for 1884 has been published. This shows that the force on the authorised establishment has grown from 160,331 in 1880, to 204,419 in 1884. The number of efficients in 1884 was 208,365 ; non-efficients, 6650, number actually enrolled, 215,015. Of these, IS, 147 had qualified for the special grant of 50. There were actually present at inspection 184,282. The percentages of efficients to those enrolled was 96 "91. rue Chinese crovernment pays the Ger- | man gunners in its service £50 a month, I and guarantees their families £1500 in case they are killed by the French. I The canal which Germany intends to construct to unite the North and Baltic Seas is to be large enough to admit the largest war vessel through it. It is estimated the work will be completed in five years. Interesting Statistics — Of 612 young ladies who fainted last year more than one half of them fell into the arms of gentlemen. Only three had the misfortune to fall on the floor. Why poison the sick with the liquors of commerce when a, pure stimulant containing vegetable agents, which endow it with extraordinary alterative and strengthening | properties, which never excites and invariably affords relief, is just as e ( asily procured. If the patient is weak or nervous, his kidneys, stomach, or bowels out of order, let him have recourse to that ' safest, surest, and pleasantest of regulating tonics, Udolpho Wolfe's Schiedam Aromatic Schnapps. A Rattlesnake's Bite. — The quick venom of the rattlesnake has not killed so many people as the more insidious but deadly poisons found in the air of foul rooms. Tho aeration of the blood by the lungs becomes impossible sometimes, and the failing health, growing weakness, and loss of appetite are harbingers of approaching death. Fr>r such cases Hop Bitters are the potent and all-powerful remedy to drive all fevers out of the system, purifying the blood, and giving a new and happy lease of life. Notice. £100 Reward.— They cure all diseases of the stomach, bowels, blood, liver, nerves, and kidneys, and ,£IOO will be paid for a case they will not cure or help, or for anything impure or injurious found in them — Hop Bitters. Test it. Read.— < Advt.