THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1885.

Grey River Argus, Volume XXXI, Issue 5302, 24 September 1885, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1885.

As there are a good many miners and others on this coast who knew and respected Sam Hafford, who by the way has not been heard of for a very long time, they will be glad to hear that he is still in the flesh. He ivent away some years ago to the rush to Teinora, or Wilcannia, or somewhere in that neighborhood, and of which he drew some graphic pictures in these columns, showing what little difference there was between it and a desert, and how men dropped off from thirst and disease as fas' as flies in a frosty night. A great many New Zealand miners who were beguiled over there then have never returned to this land where droughts are unknown, and amongst them Sam Hafford, who appears to have had anything but a pleasant time of it since he left. He has oscillated between New South Wales and. Queensland for the last couple of years, his field of operations being pretty wnll deversified between mining, station-life, saw- milling, and anything else affording remunerative employment. At a saw pit one day, while rolling a log on the skids, he got rolled out himself, and was for some time unfit for "active service." He afterwards started for Western Australia which seems lately to be engaging the attention of that large but hopeful class who, Micawber like, are always on the look out for something to tarn U p — a sure sign that that long disregarded colony is coming to the front. On his way thither a. kindly soul gave him a lift in his waggonette. The road was long and lonesome, and a companio was a pleasure. Unhappily the horses were little better than unbroken colts. There was a bolt, a mad tear for a while, and poor Sam was thrown against a tree. When he regained consciousness after being conveyed to the nearest place — and the distances between stopping places there are measured with a liberal hand — he found himself with four or five ribs broken, and bruises enough to start a ! doctor in good practice. For a wonder, Sam was found to have money on him, and the medico and other claimants had j occasion to rejoice chat the patient was a payable subject, not like the ordinary tramp. But the collision between Sam and the gum tree was attended with one advantage, which perhaps ought to counterbalance the other ills he fell heir to ; it cured him of chronic rheumatism. He draws a woful picture of the state of the country generally over there, alike in New South Wales and Queensland. Stagnation reigns supreme inland. The squatters are afraid to do anything. Their tenure is uncertain, and they won't launch out. No improvements are being made, and there is no work. Consequently the army of swaggers, men who "hump their drum," and to all intents and purposes live on the roads from one year's end to another, has been and is being reinforced to a most alarming extent, so much so that they are becoming a burden to stations. As regular as nightfall comes it brings the inevitable "sundowner," who at the least hospitable of stations may count upon his pannikin of flour. With the more generous tea and sugar, and perhaps a piece of meat, is thrown in. That is supposed to tide him over till the next night, The old stamp of digger very seldom drops down to a seeker of alms in that fashion ; but the roads in New South Wales and Queensland are infested with woebegone, spiritless creatures who drag out a miserable existence in this hand to mouth fashion, their only harvest being shearing time, when they are able to pick up a few pounds. As a rule, the land cut up into small holdings, as a good deal of it has been cut up lately, affords no field for the | unemployed. Every man works his own I section. His means are small, and he J cannot afford to employ anyone else ; and 1 the swarm of swaggers must go farther a-field. At last accounts Sam had his head still turned towards Western Australia, but his progress was decidedly slow, as it appeared to be a case of working his passage, earning enough at one station to carry him on a few stages further. An entertainment that is somewhat of a novelty in Greymouth is advertised for Saturday and Monday evenings. It ls^of a class of amusement that usually possesses attractions for young men, who are ever ready to admire feats of strength and activity. The PeHingell-Hunt Combination, as it is called, will give an exhibition at the Public Hall on Saturday evening of science, skill, and strength, which will include boxing, Indian club swinging, single-stick exercise, and other diversions of that class. Pettingell is a general athlete, but is best known as an able exponent of the "noble art." He faced Matthews on a Wellington stage, and , although lighter and shorter than the . American had all the best of it until Matthews got one of his tremendous righthanders in. He is considered a much more scientific boxer than the Bernardino • man. Both the Hunts can perform very well in the same line, though they do not profess to make it a speciality. The exhibition ought to prove an attractive novelty in these dull days, when shows of any kiud are even more rare than eclipses. Messrs Hungerford and M'Kay have made a commencement with their contract on the north bank of the river, and have most of the plant necessary for carrying out the contract in readiness. Of course next to nothing can be done until such time as the bridge is erected. . But by the time that is out of hand there will be no further delay, .and the work will be pushed ahead with the utmost vigor. The dredge has nearly completed the channel she has been engaged for the last few months in dredging. Messrs Chapman and Denniston arrived yesterday by the tram, having come overland from Christchurch. They put up at the Albion Hotel, and lost no time in proceedi g with the work of their commission, having held a sitting last night at the hotel,

The regular meeting of the Hospital Committee was held at Gilmer's Hotel < last evening, there being present — Messrs Thomas (chair), Cameron, Yarrall, Lahman, Arnott, Lord, Tonics, Dupre, Hogg, Matheson, Blackmore, Petrie, Father Carew, and Lalor, delegate. The minutes of the previous meeting having been read and confirmed, and the correspondence read and approved of, the Visiting Committee reported that there were 39 patients in the Hospital — 32 males and 7 females. Everything was satisfactory except the relations between the Superintendent and matron, which were very unsatisfactory. The complaint book of the hospital was read, and after a long discussion, and several amendments having been made, the following resolution Avas carried by 10 to 3: — That the matron's services be dispensed with, and that she receive a month's notice ; also, that she receive the sum of £20 as compensation for long services. Mr Lahman explained the working of the new Hospital and Charitable Aid Bill, and pointed out how it would effect the hospital. It was resolved, that this Committee decide to petition the Governor to be created a separate institution, and Messrs Thomas, Lahman, and Arnott were appointed to carry the same into effect. The other business was of a routine nature. Since 1882 there has been a marked decrease in the number of messages transmitted between Victoria and New Zealand, and vice versa. A Portsmouth correspondent says : — "The village of Emsworth has been visited by a remarkable plague of flies, which simultaneously covered an area of one mile. At some places it was impossible to move without closing the eyes and mouth. Around every lamp in the town the spectacle was most curious. Attracted by the light, thick swarms abounded, and their buzz resembled that of a hive of bees. At the post office, where the upper portion of the door is open for ventilation, and where necessarily the light is kept burning till the early mornin , the insects covered the sorting boards, letters, and | bags, and had to be continually swept off with brushes. At one lamp they simply hung down in clusters. Bicyclists coming from Havant were in several instances compelled to alight, so thick was the swarm ; and at the action mart at the bottom of the town, the tray in which the money was taken was covered an inch thick." Extensive extracts from the recent numbers of the Pall Mall Gazette were sent to America in a cable despatch of some G,OOO words. It was sent to a " syndicate" of daily papers, one m New York, one in Pniladelphia, and several in the West. Two of the Western journals published it in full ; the Philadelphia paper began it, and then stopped it ; the New York Sun published all of it in three instalments ; one Western paper announced its receipt and said it was too foul for its readers ; it was offered to all the New York papers, but only the Sun used it. At the Aberdeen Sheriff Court, the other day, a shepherd was fined £5 with the alternative of 30 days' imprisonment, for the theft of \ receipt for £17 which it was alleged he had swallowed. A few of the new colors are: — Gabier, a grey tinge of sky blue ; barberine, blue violet ; eglantine, pale rose pink ; genet, the yellow of the bloom blossom ; Tomkin, bro<vn chandron ; nebulea, the grey of a cloudy sky ; Carmelite, mid-brown ; anemome, a red purple ; pepite, orange gold ; Labrador, grey blue ; mousse d'eau, like scum on a stagnant pond. Emigration is decreasing in England as well as Germany, the May returns showing that 3(5,957 persons left the former country, against 48,254 in May, 1884, while the total for the first five months of this year was 111,381, against 137,128 in the corresponding period of 1884. On July 1 and 2, 400 workmen, who had been discharged for want of work from the Lozoff-Sebastopol Railway, at Alexandrovsk, Russia, barred the line and stopped two passenger trains, because employment was not given them. Troops were sent for, but the Director of the line succeeded in dispersing the workmen by persuasion. Improved cabs in England are now provided with electric bells to signal the driver. A new hansom has a receptacle for an umbrella (presumably a wet one) outside the door ; the owner, moreover, will not forget it, because he must raise the umbrella in order to open the door to get out. Giving ten acres per head, we find that the earth is capable of sustaining a human population of roundly 3,200,000,000. It therefore appears that the earth is now populated to the extent of nearly one-half its full capacity. A hazardous experiment was made some time ago by an association of EnglisbtfhUanthropists, who advanced money tcdtßStL a colony of East Londoners into th^Hnadian North-west. Not one of the* colonists had the slightest experience in agriculture, yet the settlement is reported to have prospered, and only one man has deserted. It is said that 955 farms in lowa, U.S., are owned by women, and that 20 dairy farms are managed by women. There are 125 women physicians, and five women attorneys-at law in the State. It is claimed by La Nature bkat the highest railroad viaduct- in the world is that of the Garabit bridge, France. That remarkable structure is 1800 ft long, and near the middle of the great central arch the distance from the bed of the river to til* rail is 413 ft. At the present moment there are in London from 8,000 to 10,000 miles of telegraph lines under the roadwaj r 3, whereas 10 or fifteen years ago there were only some few hundreds of miles. During a sitting of the House of Commons last month Mr Healy, one of the Irish members, gave a capital example of that ready wit for which natives of the Emerald Isle aio famous. Mr M'Farlane pointed out that the area of the House of Commons being insufficient to accommodate the members, he would move that it be enlarged. Bef.ire the hon. gentlemen resumed his seat Mr Healey rose to announce that when the motion came on he would move as an amendment, " That the best way to provide sufficient accommodation in the present House would be to establish an Irish Parliament on College Green." Loud and continuous was "lie cheering of the Irish parly it this repartee, and that night Mr Healy was overwhelmed with compli- ' merits on Wb ready wit.

Terribly damaging to the system are\ those fiery compounds of cheap, unrectiliiji.l spirits, surcharged with high wines and fusel oil, which their nefarious vendors and importers either insinuate or openly declare to be equal to Udolpho Wolfe's Aromatic Schiedam Schnapps. As to the counterfeit of that supreme inyigorant they are even worse. Ask for the true article, and if any other is recommended reject it.— Advt. Wise Folly.— "For ten years my wife was confined to her bed with such a complication of ailments had no doctor eou'd tell what was the matter or cure her, and I used up a small fortune in humbug stuff. Six months ago I saw an American flag with Hop Bitters on it, and I thought I wonld be a fool once more. I tried it, but my folly proved to be wisdom. Two bottles cured her ; she is now as well and strong as any man's wife, and it cost me only two dollars." — H. W., Detroit, Mich. Read. Can't Preach Good. —No man can do a good job of work, preach a good sermon, cry a lawsuit well, doctor a patient, or write a good article, when he feels miserable and dull, with sluggish brain and unstrung nerves, and none should make the attempt in such a condition when it can be so easily and cheaply removed by a little Hop Bitters. Look for. — Advt.