The Grey River Argus and Blackball news. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, JUNE 22nd, 1906.

Grey River Argus, 22 June 1906, Page 2

The Grey River Argus and Blackball news. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, JUNE 22nd, 1906.

"The rest is silence." The last sad ■ rite:- are over and the mortal remains of Richard John "Seddon have beeri j( i consigned to their last resting place.^ • The whole colony mourned yesterday 1 , [ and to-day all must take, up their wont} ; ed tasks and life must resume its, cus-; . tdmary channels. Yet for a longtime' we must feel . ■ . ■ ■ . A' I "That there has passed away a : glory from the earth." Our late Prime Minister entered so largely into the every day life of the colony that his departure hence, never to return, will leave a gap which it is* difficult to imagine will be easily filled. While he lived he might have said — "New Zealand, it is I" — so large did he loom in our affairs, so intimately was he connected with all' our doings. It seems inevitable that a period approximating to political chaos must ensue — the seven' fat years must be followed By seven lean years — and yet all true lovers of theif~cb'uhtry must hope that the tinges will produce the man that they demand and require. This, however, is apparent: that the future is difficult to foretelh, Whatever political surprises may be in store for New Zealand it can be' safely assumed that.it will be a, long time -before such a commanding figure" as that of the Jate Mr Seddon is seen in our Parliament. He has left behind him a record of strenuous effort for the good of the colony- that it will be difficult to surpass — a- record of " single-hearted devotion to the interests of the people and the land he loved so well that may well be an example for present and future legislators. >' • 1 • j-« „ At the Magistrate's Court yesterday, before Mr C.F.A. Broad J.P., William Harvey, who was arrested on Wednesday by Detective Campbell, was charged Avith having stolen 300 Z. i6dwt.'of geld the property of the Consolidated Goldfields Company of New Zealand in whose employ the accused was. Accused was arrested in the Bank of New South Wales on Wednesday when it is alleged he was attempting to dispose of the gold said to have been stolen. Inspector Wilson asked for a remand to th"s morning. Accused asked for bail. Inspector Wilson objected and stated that all the gold had not yet .been' recovered and investigations were still proceeding. The matter of bail was left over till this morning.' A first offender charged with having been found [ drink was convicted and discharged. ► - Mr J. McGhie, who handed in £20 I a - a subscription towards the erection , c f a memorial to the late Mr Seddon at ► Westport, has informed the Westport | News that the sum was' subscribed not , i.i toto by himself or the firm he repre- ► sents but also by a number of residents ► and visitors with whom he had preyiously. conversed on the matter. They t specially requested, however, that their ► names' and the amounts of their sub- ' scriptions should not be mentioned in y the subscription list. Mr McGhie did t n^; anticipate that his name would be ► specially mentioned in connection with y the contribution. Possibly, adds the News, Messrs Speight and Co, who do ► a very large business on the West £ Coast, wilL^see their way to contribute a substantial sum to tile proposed me- ► morial. , - k The Druid's "fancy dress ball at ► Ahaura takes place to-night when the r- winner of the handsome gold bangle y;t with rubies and pearls will be de- ► jcided. The committee have left.no £ ,'stcne unturned to transform ah' otherf wise small hall into a respectable sized f; building so that their many patrons ► : will not be overcrowded as is usually ► th<» case in the different gatherings orf ganised by the brethern. ThejinstalL lation of the various officers will take ► place at 7 o'clock and the public are to r be 'admitted. Everything is in readi- £ ness for a first-class night's amusement t thi floor is in excellent order and the ► catering is in capable hands. Hotel I accommodation is being severely taxed k> which shows that a great number in- £ tend to be present. t The survey work preparatory to the ► laying the tramway- in connection with * the Paparoa Coal company's property is now well in hand, and immediately on its completion- the actual forma-. , ion of the tramway will be proceeded 'with. TSe reports of the present sur veyors as to cost of tramway and.incline fully bear out those of the orj iginal surveyors. This is estimated, . 'approxmately, to run into £39,000. From 18 months to two years^should ( see everythng in readiness for develop ing this huge area of coal. Wm Holder and Son, The Busy , Grocers, and seedmen are'booking orders for all kinds of Fruit Trees and . shrubs. -r-Advt.

A correspondent telegraphing from Wellington states that a meeting is to be held this evening to form a West Coaster's Association in Wellington. The West Coast representatives at Mr Seddon's funeral return from Wellington by the Arahura leaving to-morrow. "We must class a potato now as a luxury," remarked a witness' v solemnly at the Arbitration Court at Auckland last week. The response was elicited in reply to a question as to the cost of living for a working man. Living in Auckland, as compared with six years ago, had in many cases doubled and in a few cases trebled,, or a geneial average of 30 per cent increase. It was suggested that a working man di.l riot require what were called luxuries, but this caused Mr Slater; (the workers' representaive on the Board) to remark:—"A working man requires the best dinner, seeing that he has to work hard.' The witness (a res-taurant-keeper) replied :— "The working man does hot get the best class of food.- The man who pays the most gets the best food. Previously I used to give my customers half a dozen oysters with their is meal. as a sort of appetiser,- but I cannot do that now. ' ' The idea that a restaurant-keeper gave his customers an appetiser evidently tickled the" Court's fancy, for it raised a • general laugh. Among other things the^price of meat was declared to have advanced most, and was now about the most expensive item. : -. . A-.A:-

j A -'full-dress parade'tof Asiatics and other . s^ens was held at the Victoria wharf, Dunedin, on June 14th, says the Star. The occasion was the departure of the steamer Tsleworth. According to the Act the ship is' under . a bond of £100 that no citizen ..of ' Canton or native of Nankin gets loose unawares in this fair country. So they were all there, from Sing Sing r Ling, the serang,. to Ngoh Chung La, the ship's boy, and they stood in a yellow line and grinned at ; the Customs' official as he ticked them off. , In a general way usage on ■< these steamers does not appear to be in accordance with accepted British customs In the morning one of the crew appar ently did not wish to go ashore on some necessary errand. He stood on the rail and said "I go not," but he went ; his superior found a way of making him — he kicked him down the gangway. The Chinaman picked himself up with a smile, and. set sail on the path of duty. The little ceremony on the gangway he appeared to take as a matter. ' of ■ course!-;'- — "Petrifite' v is the name of a white, finely-ground magnesia cement having extraordinary properties possessed by no other cement, and is. a product that New; Zealand will hear a good deal of in .the future. It is (says the New Zealand Times) absolutely refractory and fireproof, and will bind almost any material. Clay, earth, loam, unwashed sea and other sand, destructor refuse, stone and quarry waste, sawdust jute and fibre waste, and even choped straw and shavings, when mixed , with "petrifite," can be- moulded with > l' out pressure into bricks, briquettes, or ' tiles suitable for flooring, buildings," • side- walks, partitions, and numberless^ other purposes. If a brick composed , of common- sawdust and "petrifite" be placed in a furnace, the sawdust becomes slowly calcined, but the, reI maihing ash, with the addition of a little water, binds into a hard stone. (which is fire-prof and vermin-proof. A series of tests have been made, with •briquettes made of "petrifite" and the sawdust of totara, kauri, matai, rimu, and- white pine timber; and in every case the result was practically the same. The briquettes suffered in no way, except being slightly blackened, iwhen submitted to the 'furnace - test/ ,'and an especially shaped one with an linch- neck, stood a pull of "over soolb )pressure before breaking. The briIquettes have been submitted to the inspection of several engineers in Wei' 'lington,— and the , unanimous opinion 'is that there is >a , wide field in this colony for the utilisation in this way for many waste products. ' That Government Department known familiarly as -the Public "Trust," does 'not (says the New Zealand Times, trust its staff in the matter of punctuality. It has been the custom foi - some years for the officers of the De- , Apartment to enter their names in a [book as they arrived at the office in Khe morning and after lunch, the book hot being available -for signature by those who come late — after a few minutes' latitude had been given-^-and so the unpunctual were discovered arid .dealt withY. The onward march of. *the automatic machine has reached.-. |the "Public TiusV in the. form of ' a clock, that on the pressure of ;a lever, exhibits a- small paper -tablet ; (which bears the exact time shown oh the clock dial), on which the Civil ser .yant must inscribe his or her name on reaching the office. The tablet <being signed, the lever is pressed, and 'fa. metal slide fills the aperture until it is; operated upon by the next to L arrive. By this means no public ser[vant knows who has arrived and who |has hot,, and there is no way in which [they can refrain from registering" the time they reach the office. It ;mus be understod that this is no reflecion on the staff of the Department hientionedj but is simply a system perfected by the aid of a "clever machine. ; To show how the export of poultry to England is progressing the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agehcj Co. (Ltd.) was approached some time ago by a poultry expert, and agreed to take a. shipment of poultry tp England. This company has recently received from London the returhs_for the first shipment of 447" ' ducklings and 26 chickens. The cheques for the net proceeds have been sen'K to the , shippers. Ducklings realised in London 3s 2d to 4s per bird, and after .deducting all charges at Auckland and London, on an average they :. bring tg the shippers 25 6d perbird; .The par- ; eel of chickens shipped, though very • small, and not in; the best of condition, realised 2S4id 'oh- the London -market, arid after taking off London ■ and Auckland charges left to theship--1 -pers is 6d per/bird. The returns are 1 very satisfactory, as birds from Auck-: . land are new '* on the London market, 1 and have yet to, get their reputation. i They are apparently succeeding iv > this, as reports received from Lon^ t don speak very : highly of them! „;

Men's pure wool underwear — very special value in singlets and. drawers— 3/ 6 > 4/6, 5/-, 5/6/ to 9/6; also splendid working shirts, 2/6, 2/1 1, 3/6/4/6, to 8 S 6d each.— McKay and Son, Drap eis.— Advt.