BLACK'S No. 1.

Dunstan Times, Issue 230, 21 September 1866, Page 3

BLACK'S No. 1.

1-2 Sept. On Friday evening last, about eleven o'clock, a fire broke out in a most unaccountable in a Butcher's shop, next door to the General Store and billiard room of Messrs Pitches Bros. The doors of the shop were safely closed at an early hotfr > at eleven o'clock the building was observed to be on fire, and it immediately became evident that nothing in 'or on the building could be saved; all attention was, without delay, directed towards saving the adjoining premises, and their valuable contents. The whole of the evening, up to. within ten or fifteen minutes of the fire being discovered, had been unusually stormy, and had the wind abated not considerably at the time it did, no exertion on the part of the miners, and others present, could have been but ol small avail, in saving the neighbouring store. Bore, like all other unsettled goldfields' towns, no provision his been made to suppress fire. The burning building, however, was pulled down, and the flames being deprived of their fury, ceased to threaten the next property. An Improvement Committee will be brought into existence at an early date; and, no doubt, one of its first acts will be to provide means for extinguishing £ re in thespeediest manner possible should one at any future time break out. The towns of Clyde and Cromwell have had their Improvement Committees, but neither ever possessed a systematic scheme, or plan of dealing with fires; no supply of water has been secured and the only show of preparation 'for a destructive fire, has been the provision of a few stable buckets, and a few long handled hooks. The men of prominence here say that they will profit by the first fire in tlie district, and make immediate arrangements to have every facility to extinguish the next, and it is to be hoped that they will not wax careless on the urgent subject. The union of labour in constructing a large tail-race, to reach valuable ground far into the flat, and to which I alluded in my last, correspondence, is now certain to prove exceedingly profitable to the amalgamated parties. The race is not yet completed, but it already drains the claims to a most sotisf dory extent. There are five Companies now uniting their labours in the construction of this drain, which when complete, the produce of the five auriferous claims will increase greatly the weekly yield of the district. This is the first attempt to reach ground any great distance from the skirts of the terraces, and its success cannot fail to be an incentive to others to fol'ow the same steps. The first Warden's Court was held here by Mr Warden Simpson, on Friday last, and the importance of one case demands some few cursory remarks. On the Deep Lead, Blacks No. 3, a -company known as the ' Rough and Ready ' have been at work for many months past, and before they bottomed their shaft an incredible amount of difficulty had to be overcome Several of the shareholders left the "claim in despair, but the remaining few exercised indomitable perseverance and -eventually dropped upon ground considered payable. A Mr Spane bought out the shares of one or two of the faint hearted shareholders, and went to work in the Ordinary way. After the lipse of several weeks, he, like his predecessors, grew tired of working for what he considered less than fair remunerative weekly earnings, and told the head of the party that he would have no more to do with the claim, and left to work elsewhere. Some weeks subsequently the party dropped upon very valuable ground; Spane however, came back and claimed interest in the ground, stating that he never finally left the claim. The action was brought by Spane, evidence pro and con was adduced on Friday before the Warden, who reserved his judgment until he had time to consult the law of partnership. If the evidence, as to the existence of partnership between the parties should prove stronger, in the eye of the law, than the evidence of Spane having abandoned the claim, the Warden, I presume, will be inclined lo decide in favour of the plaintiff. The case is one of universal interest to the miners and I will not fail in forwarding to your columns a verbatim copy of the verdict when delivered. If men can leave claims at will and return to them at will, to suit their own purposes, the law affecting mining must be reprehensibly loose. 18 Sept. The second Warden's Court was held here before Mr Warden Simpson, on Friday last, and the case of Spane v Campbell and party, the 'Rough and Ready' Company, at Black's No. 3 was disposed of. As the particulars of this case were given in my last correspondence I need not enter into particulars in this communication, as both letters will, probably, appear together in your next issue. Mr Lynch, of Dunstan Creek appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr Robert Clarke, of Black's No. 1 for the defendants. The plaintiff, it appeared, rested his claim to a share under the privileges of partnership, and stated that he left the claim on account of ill health, and therefore could not have forfeited his interest in any way whatever. Mr Clarke, for defendants, successfully Argued that in ordinary claims a man neglecting to attend to his duties for twenty-four hours, without just cause, forfeited to all intent and purposes all his interest in such claim, andthat absenteeism only stood warranted in cases where the claim was registered. He further urged the invalidity of the plaintiff's right by proving that he (the plaintiff) if he did leave the claim through ill-health, had gone to work at Drybread, and for seven

weeks had not been interested in the claim in question. When he left the Company, he left them responsible'for All the debts standing 'over the claim, therefore it was only exercising common-sense in holding that-he had handed over the prospects of the claim to the Company at the same time. The Warden said, in delivering judgment, that he had consulted the law of partnership, and could find no clause in it calculated to give a colour of right to the plainti'fFs claim. Since the ground was taken up by the Company no less than nineteen shareholders, at various periods, had left the claim, through being -disinclined to persevere against the many difficulties attendant "Upon reaching the wash-dirt, and even after the shaft had been bottomed, the wash-dirt was not sufficiently payable to encourage some of them to continue shareholders. The ground lately reached by those who persevered of the Company, being sufficiently good to make others who had abandoned the claim regret having done so, he could not recognise the plaintiffs demands without at the same time render himself liable to admit the right of tiny of the others who had left the claim, precisely from the "same cause, namely, want of faith in the ultimate returns of the ground, and therefore gave a verdict for the defendant?. Such was the substance of the decision, and the result has given univer sal satisfaction in the district; as nothing could possibly be more preposterous, than to suppose men can leave claims when the prospects are gloomy and return to them at will in sunny hours. The capacious tail-race constructed by the joint-labour of the five companies referred to in my last correspondence, is now completed, and the companies are stripping their first paddocks with the most hopeful hearts and energetic arms. Mr Warden Simpson', in order to encourage enterprising men, has granted to each company a largely increased area of ground; or, more properly speaking, the measurement of five-and-a-half claims to four men. The extra ground is not sufficient to satisfy the companies, but on the whole, perhaps, the Warden discreetly in not being over lavish at the onset, this being his first act of the kind in the district. It is gratifying to find that he recognises the policy of giving every encouragement to the miners to contend against the difficulties of working the extensive auriferous flat at this place, and make Black's at once to rank amongst the foremost of our goldfields. About a quarter of a mile higher up the flat than the upper-end of the tail-race referred to, a rush of much interest has been taking place during the last few days, and the claim-holders are in treaty to continue the race belonging to the five companies, and have applied for extended claims with that view, but as yet, nothing definite has been done, as the ' Rreak-o'-day Company's' race will have enough to do in draining the claims to which it belongs. The great water-race of Welsh and party will be at work in three days hence, and vitality in sluicing operations will be great'y increased thereby. The party are at present cutting a tail-race across the main street at Blacktown, to convey the tail water from their claim to the Manuherikia river, and nothing stands in the way of the company reaping the first fruits of their irksome labour during the last eighteen or twenty months. The ITanuherikia river, near the crossing place to Macks, will be turned from its course in a very short space of time. A large company has set to work cutting a new channel for it, at the lower side of Lee's arable land, and the dam will not require more than a fortnight or three weeks to construct. The river-bed is known to be auriferous, and the undertaking is likely to be of considerable profit to all concerned.