THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 1899.

Grey River Argus, Volume 57, Issue 10274, 3 May 1899, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 1899.

Matter of various kinds is crowded out of this issue. The usual Aveekly meeting of St John's Society was held last evening. There was a very fair attendance, the evening being devoted to Impromptu speaking. A capital evening was spent. Jehn Barker died in the Hokitika Asylum on Sunday last. He was wellknown in town, and was employed for a uumber of years on the tug Westland. | Messrs Gleeson and Rogers' replace | advertisement appears elsewhere. It is worthy of perusal. Nancarrow and Co sell by auction a freehold section and cottage to-day. See advertisement elsowhere. The Trinity Church Debating Society meets this evening. The Wesleyan Debating Society's annual meeting takes place to-night. The Progress people deny having allowed any deleterious matter to escape from the battery. An advertisement notifying the. annual Conversazione in connection with the Wesleyan Church appears elsowhere. The programme will be issued in a few days and will no doubt bo an excellent one. This event is always patronised well and this year's gathering should be even larger than on former occasions^ <\ , Mr Andrew M'Kay, who has bach on a visit to Australia on business, returned to town by the Haupiri. He informs us that Mr T W Hungerford is the successful tenderer for the Macquarrie Harbor Works in Tasmania. It is a LBO,OOO job. Mr J Evison, formerly editor of the Catholic Times,' and afterwards of Truth, (Ohristohurch), has returned from Sydney with a view to taking charge of Critic, a weekly pap«? to ba started In Wsllkigbofli

The New Zealand Mines Record for April iB to hand. As usual it is replete with articles on mining of value aud interest ; but singular to say, it is the first number for a long time that is without an illustration. Nor does it contain any mining news from the West Coast. An advertisement appears in another column in reference to the sale of a well known Christchurch hostelry, viz — the Cafe de Paris, which is in the market fcir disposal by tender for a term of 22 years. This hotel is' situated in the centre of the , city of the Plains and has always commanded a splendid business. The hotel is commodious, and is jrailt in the most substantial itianher of -brick and cement. Every modern convenience is provided for, including electric light installation. The reason tiiab the owner is relinquishing business is on account of ill-health, and he is prepared to give hona fide purchasers overy satisfactory proof of the large and increasing trade done during hia occupancy. It was- previously -reported ' that the Ajax reef had been picked up in the Black's Point long drive, but the report turned out to be premature, the stone met with proving to be a detached boulder only. On Friday night stone carrying gold- freely was met with and its character conforming in all respects ; with Ajax stone and. other indications justify the belief that they have now got the true reef.— Herald. A report is current, which we are unable officially to confirm, that the homo directors of the Inkerman property have decided to erect a new crushing plant, and operate on the large mass of low grade .sjjone running ' through their extensive areas. Mr M 'Gregorys name, of Dunedin, is mentioned as the engineer to whom will be entrusted the superintendence of the plant.— Herald.. ... - The three red deer ;which were brought to Reeffcbn last week have been liberated at Mi? Ross's farm in Upper Inangahua, and have sp. far evinced, no disposition to lea* ; e the 'cattle '■■with, whom they have associated, -apparently on the best pos- ; sible terms. It is expected, however, that in a little while they will make "for the adjacent hills. In the meantime Mr Ross has undertaken $6 look after them. Mr O'llegan is negotiating : for three more, which he hopes to obtain shortly." — Times. According to the chief evidence regarding; the death,^f;OiKaslem*a^ Reefton death was due" to heart disease. A post mortem .- examination showed that deceased had been suffering for years from* aneurism.Qf.the heart, the aorta, in, stead of being composed of elastic tissue, = had degenerated into a hard calcareous 1 substance. Under these circumstances it was remarkable that , death had .not ensued before. The aorta had. been ' ruptured while deceased was. climjmig i the ladder, death, of course, being in- ; staneous. Tl ere were several wounds on ; the. headj but these had been received j through the body falling. Deceased was' a widower, and leaves three young, children. . ' ■ Since the commencement of the cyanide work in connection, with' the Keep-it-Dark last week the trout in the Inangahua river have been dying wholesale/ and hundreds have been observed floating ' the surface. Several eels, some very large, have also been found dead. This means of course that, at least in the upper reaches of the river, all fish will entirely | ■ disappear, There is satisfaction, however, in the fact that there are . numerous streams wherein mining operations can not possibly affect the .fish. — Times. The Matakitaki Dredge return for the past week was 20oz 12dwts gold for 110 hours' dredging. . ■ The Civil Service Commissioners have made the announcement that they have no preference for any particular style of handwriting. They lay stress chiefly on legibility. According to the Kaikoura Star, a strange atmospheric phenomenon was noticed recently. One of the Union Company's boats was steaming northward, accompanied, it appeared, by a phantom vessel of exactly the same build. apparition was cteariy discernible with the aid of a. telescope, A writer in the Dundee Advertiser suggests that some of the Home trawlers r should try their fortune on the Australian or New Zealand coasts, as there is probably , no! industry so neglected •in the Australasian colonies. In reference to the speech recently delivered at Riccarton by the Hon Mr Rolleston, in which he said thit never: during the whole of his political career had there been fewer unemployed, and; that there seemed to be more real enterprise in the country now than ever. Mr Allan Orr, at the meeting of the Workevs' Union last night nioved to the following effect : — "That this Union congratulates the Hon Mr Rolleston in that he can rise abGye party feeling, and give credit: where ''credit is due." The motion met with a large amount of support, but was lost on the voices. There is some encouragement for the working of low-grade reefs in New Zealand to be found in Hie fact that the Thomas United Company, at Ellesmere, in the Bendigo district, Victoria, paid a dividend in February of 3d per, share from quartz averaging barely 2 dwt to the ton. During the quarter ended the 31st December, 1898, this company crushed 2,487 tons, for a return of 2420z 18dwt of gold. The-, quartz was obtained from a reef 12ft wide at a depth of soft; ; ;■■ ■■.".'...":■ •" ■;■■. ;;..;. ' „.'.The Miners' Association afc : Blackball, who complained to the department of the action of the.' .-.-.Blackball Coal Company in closing a small track used by miners, and including in the area now being surveyed for so le 5 acres of mining claims, have been informed that the Blackball coal leases were granted to the Midland Railway Company in terms of section 16 of the contract, ami are accordingly private property. Till the New Zealand Agent-General attends more, to our commercial businessand less to his political fads> we shall never feel . that justice is being done to the advancement of the affairs of the colony.— Truth. "Is it not right," remarked Judge Conolly in the New Plymouth Supreme Court the other day, "that prisoners in custody should be cross-examined by the police, Let them tell their I

Btory, and take the chances of it being used against them, but they should not be closely questioned." The revenue returns for the year so far as received, are expected to realise, if not slightly exceed, the Premier's estimated surplus by half a million. A new morning paper in the Liberal interests, with a capital of L 25,000, will shortly be started in Dunedin. . The British warships now at Samoa have a total complement of 660 men and carry 32 large guns. : Between''''three" and.-'four'hundred bales of hops for New 'Zealand., ports and Australia were shipped by the Rotorua the other., day. A movement is on foot to establish a woollen mill at Hawera (Tarapaki). A canvass is now taking place in the district for the necessary capital. . The Wanganui ''Herald" states that the jewellery presented to- Mrs M'Kenzie, wife of the Minister for Lands; at Palmerston South recently, y was worth between LBOO and L9OO. A fair indication of the improyed condition of the trade in Palmerston is claimed to be shown by the fact that the interest in one of the hotels; sold a little over a year ago for LI 300, has recently been purchased for Ii20OO; The Wellington correspondent of the "Dtag6 Daily Times" says: —lt is said: that the Premier's visit to New Plymouth is intended as a counterblast to Mr T E Taylors's. enthusiastic reception in the "capital of Taranaki" a week or two back. Mr E M Smith is again to be the Government candidate for the Taranaki seat at the next election. - The estate (comprising 913 acres) arid mansion of the late Hon Mr Larnach, known as "The Camp,'' on the: Peninsula, was offered for: sale by auction at Dunedin last weekr One bid of LIO.OOC was made, but the prope t ty was; passed in, and will be treated for privately. '-'"' " r The dredgingiudustry seems to have greatly caught on in Victoria,; as may be gathered from the items on the matter going through'the jprossi The j Campbell's r Cree& Dredging Company has Qbtained'4ls'6z.'pf'gVl.d'' i:irom one acre of ground.' It is claimed that in the future an acre of ground per month j will be sluiced, and that the expenses for that period will belitt c over LIOO. A dredging lease at Heathcote for 300 acres was very recently applied for. j In various other places where there I are apparently worked- out creeks dredging, ground has been applied for. The'NW Zeatlaad'Times, comuie iting on-Mr C Wilson's criticism of the Ministry, says :—"The Premier will be left practically single-banded to lead the House and defend Ministerial measures. Should he survive the session, it would be courting defeat to go to the country with a Ministry some members of which don't, command public'confidence. If the Government are to survive, they must have an infusion of fresh blood;" ; : , • There are now seventy-three work" ing dredges in Ofcago and Southland' „£ pur are under removal, and nine are standing ; and fully thirty are building or projected—making a total of about 116. On the West Coasfc there.'are, so far, only : a few dredges: at work, but tenders are called for several; and many other dredge 3 are talked of, while companies are in course of formation for working areas in the Biiller, Inangahua, and Grrey Yaljeys ly dredging, —Mines Record. Captain Martin, a retired shipmaster resident at Kaiwarra (says the New .Zealand Times)', has imported from Norway a patent lighthouse on asmall scale, such as in yoguo in Scandinavia, for showing the entrance to the numerous fiords and harbours that"'- abound aronudthe coa t^. The light ia obtained from a reservoir of kerosene, and will burn for a week, night and day, without attention. A disc,of red glass revolves round the lamp, throwing a correspondingly red light once in every ten seconds, estimated to be visible in fair weather at a distance of six miles. , The iamp consumes only a quart of kerosene in twentyfour hours, and as the attendance needed is next to nothing, the cost of maintenance is as cheap as the most economical could desire.