AUCKLAND.

Waikato Times, Volume I, Issue 30, 9 July 1872, Page 2

AUCKLAND.

[From our own Ooiirespqjn'i/bnt.] j July 8. ! The prevailing topic of conversation for the past day or two has been the ''Green Harp" swindle, as it is called; that is, the -reported j and exasperated richness of the mine has not I been realised. What was to have rivalled i the Caledonian in its yield seems likely to prove an Alburnia or Otago, both as regards j the " fancy price 1, paid foj? the scrip and the j results likely to be obtained; but why this particular claim should be held up to public j execration, and the " lucky" shareholders I threatened to be tarred and feathered I fail to sec, I If a swindle has been worked by the original j holders of the Green Harp, aided by the o'ullibility of the public, their conduct is not one jot worse thau that of those who i '■' managed" the two I have mentioned out of ; a hundred others. Nor did the shareholders of the Green Harp resort to the illegal dodge ' of closing the register of the company against : public inspection, and forbid access to the ; mine to attain their ends, as was done on, one 1 occasion ; they sirupl} 7 threw an air of mystery i about the mine, and sold their shares when , opportunity offered at what they "knew" to be a fair price. If there is any odium to be \ thrown upon any one in the affair it is upon j those brokers who lent themselves and their i names, for the sake of the commission, to palm ; off the shares on their friends and others... It ; is a known- fact that the bulk of the scrip was : sold either in the name oi a broker or that of! same friend procured by him, the consequence j is. that speculators find thmselves pretty con- ; sidersjbly sold in discovering by what a ruse j the apparent buyers (the original holders) ' worked the market. Shares which were sold ; as high as £10, and readily at £6, are now j selling at los and £1. The crushing which : was to have yielded twelve ounces to the ton ; is not expected to reach two ounces; the con- \ sequence is that a panic has set in, the effect ; of which is that every kind of mining stock in \ Coromandel is unsaleable,, and those who,

flattered themselves on realising a few thousands see the liquidation of their affairs ; by the Official Agent looming , in the distance. \ One thing , is very certain that the failure of the Green Harp mine has given a blow to the j progress of Coromnndel, the reaction of which it is difficult to forsee. Iteports of praall-pox arc still rife. A patient in the hospital is reported to have ; caught ihe infection. The man Seymour is | said to be convalescent. Stifct quarantine | is kept by the police. j The Judge's charge at the Supreme Court, j in the case of MeCaskill, lasted over tin hour, [le reviewed the evidence in the clearest, manner. The jury retired, and after an absence of fen minutes, returned a verdict of- " not guilty." j Dr. Can , is giving , an entertainment at the Prince of A\fales Theatre. It consists of a lecture on phrenology, an illustration on ; mesmerism, and the eifects of the inhalation • of " laughing gas," which lasts about a ; minute, and produces a disposition on the ' part of the patient to do a i( double shuffle." j Llis mesmeric subjects are very apt, a,nd do credit to their instructor. The descriptive lecture oil phrenology contains much in for- j raation, and may be listened to with pleasure; , but in the practical portion, in which he treats j of ihe idiosyncracica of those who sub- ' init to his manipulation, much is said that is > in bad taste. However, if people will place i themselves in a position to hear unpleasant i truths (if truths they be,) perhaps the j lecturer is not so much to blame as the man \ who thus seeks to gratify his vanity. !