THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1885.

Grey River Argus, Volume XXXI, Issue 5297, 18 September 1885, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1885.

An advance copy of the Hospitals and Charitable Institutions Bill, as it emerged j from the Legislative Council, has reached us, and although we have only had time to take a hurried glance through it, a few of its leading features will be acceptable to a community which has been conspicuous amongst all places in the colony for the generous and disinterested way they subscribed towards the maintenance of our hospital. The Act is to come into operation on the Ist October next. Jt should be remembered that the term charitable institutions does not include lunatic asylumns or industrial schools. Certain Native districts are exempted from the operations of the Act. Any by-laws made under the Act will be included in it and possess just as much force. All boroughs are to be included in the counties in which they are situated ; and if the borough should happen to be on the confines of two or more counties, +he Governor is to decide the particular county with which it shall be included. The districts in which the Act will have force are called hospital districts ; and if the boundaries are at any time altered, the alteration will operate with respect to the hospital district. If a new county should be formed, and the limits of it run into more hospital districts than one, the Governor has power to appoint the hospital district along with which the new county shall be included. The administration of the district boards is entrusted to the following members — one member for every borough and county respectively in the district having less than 8000 inhabitants, and two members for every borough and county having more than 8000 inhabitants. According to the constitution of boards, we find that within the district of Grey, the Council of the County of Grey and the Bnrough of Grey mouth constitute the District Board. There are a number of amalgamated districts, but the Grey is not one of them. The Inangahiua, Buller, and Nelson districts are amal<iam;ite<l, North Auckland with one part of tho Thames, and the Coromandel district with the Thames district. Every Board is to be incorporated and have a seal, and it has the control of all institutions in the district coming within the category of charitable institutions. It is the duty of the Board to see that charitable aid is distributed as it should be. Tho elections are to tak« 'placo on the fourth Wednesday in November in each year, and the members shall come into office on the first Wednesday in December after the election. Office is held for only one year. Boards are to have control of all charitable institutions in their districts. Boards are to distribute charitable aid, and they may apply for funds for the purpose. The ir-mies constituting Hospital and Charitable Aid Funds are to be derived from the following sources : — (]) Rents and profits from lands and endowments vested in the board ; (2) rents and profits of lands and endowments set apart for the benefit of particular institutions, which have not become separately incorporated under the Act ; (3) voluntary contributions, including donations ; (4) grants from contributory local authorities ; (5) subsidies from the Consolidated Fund ; and (6) all other monies which may be received by or become the property of the Board under this or any other Act. The Board shall receive subsidies from, the Consolidated Fund for five years from April 1885— (1) ten shillings for every pound of bequests, but in no case exceeding £500 in respect of any one bequest ; (2) one pound for every pound of voluntary contributions received from any person ; and (3) one pound for every pound of contributions received from any local authority, whether voluntary or raised""* J by a general or a special rate. Any surplus proceeds are to be invested in Government securities. A "contractors' book," is to be kept, and all moneys are to be paid through the bank, deposited in the ordinary way, and drawn out by cheques. Contributors are to be in proportion to the rateable value of the property. The local bodies will determine the amount of contributions necessary. Power to appeal is given, and contributions in arrear may be received by the Board as a a debt or deducted from subsidies. The Board 13 also empowered to borrow money for the erection and maintenance of institutions and in providing i charitable aids, or may close any institution when they deem it not required. There is a good deal more in the Act that may call for special notice ; but we have given it more salient points of the Act, which w:ll be sufficient for the present.

Late telegrams : — Government were going to remove Warden Kenrick from the Thames, but~the people of the d strict have rebelled, and stated that they consider his removal would be an in j ustice to the district. The.^ session is expected to be wound up'&jjpn Saturday. There was something-^ very like a breeze between some of the mining members and Government in regard to mining interests last night.— Bryce is going Home to prosecute ; the. acoh-liar Rusrlen. — Atkinson is working to get some substantial recognition for Sir William Fox for his valuable services on the West Coast Commission. It is found that he is now a comparatively poor man. I At length, and only after a great deal of I persuasion* Government have deigned to

consider the necessities of Brunnerton in the matter of police accommodation, and called for tenders for the erection of t lock-up there. It is to be erected on Wallsend side, and, as we are informed, about 300 yards from the private residence of Constable Scully. This is a matter of little consequence if the building will include constable's quarters ; but if not, it would seem desirable that he should reside a little closer to the cells than 300 yards off. The fact is another constable is required for night duty. Being about to receive a lock-up after so much difficulty, Government will probably think Brunner people ought to be satisfied. They no doubt will be for the present, but *that does not alter the fact that the size of the place and number of the population callfor another constable. James Beck, who has a wife and ten children at Milton, Otag ( >, has, been committed to the Mount View Asylum,, two doctors having.declared him insane. The Reform Gold-mining company (late Imperial) obtained 107ozs 16dwis retorted gold from 109 tons quartz. The lower level will be extended forthwith under the large body of stone existing underfoot in the upper level. It is reported that Mr Menteath, M.H.E,., will leave for Sydney at the end of this week. A writ for £200 damages for false imprisonment has been served by Messrs Jones and Menteath on Sergeant Slattery, for the alleged false imprisonment of a Pole named Knopp who was charged with evading the customs- by smuggling jewellery into New Knopp — or Kenopp, as he 'calls himself — is not entirely unknown here. We dont%pprehend any danger to the Sergeant. The Parliamentary correspondent of the Hokitika morning paper says: — "It is evident that the saving effected in the Public Works Estimates will be applied to the purchasing of these private railways, which are acknowledged to be most unprofitable lines ; it is regarded by the Opposition as a huge job, but so many are interested directly and indirectly that the colony is sure to be saddled with this fresh burden." A Mana^atu paper says that*; if the information gf yen us is correct there are strong grounds to believe that a payable goldfield has been discovered in the Pohangina, about 25 miles from Palmerston. The Taranahl Herald is responsible for the following : — Some of the Pungarehu people were treated to rather an uncommon sight last week in the shape of a shower of shrimps, which fell on a considerable part of Mi Mills's property during the recent wet weather. The shrimps were to be seen lying about the ground for days. After this there will be some cause to say it rains cats and dogs. It is notified elsewhere that the sale of fancy goods whi-h Courtenay Smith and Co. have conducted with such vigor and success during the last two days will be continued and concluded to-day. The English-speaking New York bakers work 14 hours on five days a-week and 16 or 17 <>n Friday and Saturday morning, when a double batch of bread is baked. The German bakers work 17 hours tfve days a-week, and 20 hours to make the double batch. The pay of a foreman is from 18dols to 20dols a- eek, a second hand from lOdols to 12dols, and of a third hand from Bdols to lOdols. Cracks in floors, around the mould board, or other parts of a room, may be neatly and permanently filled by thornugly soaking newspapers in pa*te marie of one pound of flour, three qinrts of wnter, mik! ;i t-ibhispoouful of alum, thoroughly boiled iiii'l mixed The mixture will be about as thick as putty, and may he forced into the cracks with a case knife. It will harden l^e papier mache. The present high duty on spirits, together with the facilities -th;it exist in various parts of the country for running illicit stills (remarks the Eneniiig Post), hold out strong temptations ho many persons to embark in the alluring enterprise of producing illicit whisky, and the authorities are therefore constrained, in the interests of the revenue, to offer substantial rewards for information that will lead to the suppression of this pursuit It will be seen by a recent notification in the New Zealand Gazette, that a reward not exceeding £50 and not less than £5 will be paid to anypne who gives such information as will lead to the discovery of illicit distillation, and to the detection and conviction of persons engaged therein or in buying or selling spirits illicitly distilled, or supplying to illicit distillers materials for making spirits. This reward will be paid on conviction being obtained, and it will be- independent of and in addition to one-third of the net proceeds of any seizure, and of the penalty to which by law the person giving information is entitled. The amount of the reward will be in proportion to the importance of each case. It is -a no less fatal error to despise labor, when regulated, by intellect, than to value it for its own sake. We are always in these days trying to separate the two ; we want one man to be always thinking and another to be always working, and we call one* a gentleman and the other an operative ; whereas the workman ought often to be thinking and the thinker often to be working, and both should be gentlemen in the best sense. As it is we make both ungentle, the one envying, the other despising his brother, and the mass of society is made up of morbid thinkers and miserable workers. Now, it is only by labor that thought can be made happy ; and the professions should be liberal, and there should be less pride felt in peculiarity of employment and more in excellence of achievement. According to late San Francisco papers the raising of the sunken English ship Earl Dalhousie in the San Francisco harbor appears to be somewhat of a puzzle to our cute American cousins. It will be remembered that the ship named, a vessel of 1046 tons gross measurement, and 932 tons net, while being moored in the harbor named, capsized and sunk, the cause being attributed to insufficient stiffening being in the ship. This occurred in May last. Since then all manner of plans have been devised and tried to raise the vessel, whose main deck is but a few feet below watermark, without success. Latest advices state that it was intended to close up all the hatches and other entrances into the vessel, and it was thought after that was done that by pumping the water out and air into the vessel she would lift herself. Thire are 960 post offices in New Zealand.