CROMWELL.

Dunstan Times, Issue 299, 17 January 1868, Page 3

CROMWELL.

(FfwHf 0"H O'.v.: Couiu'srrxoy.'xt.) 15tli .T muary Igll.S. O-i Fri lav e’.’ii'ii it but ab mt 5 o’clock, a 1 most melancholy aceidPut occurroil at the i RluieitiT claim of M Thomas and Tippet i •owners of the Irresistible Water Race. The i ■claim is on the point facing the eonlT.iePeo i of tbs Chit ha and Kawaran Rivers. At the ] hour mentioned, Xicolas Thomas brother of one of the nronrietors was at work taking out wvsh-Hrt from undora large slate boulder which projected Out considerably from the face of the claim. Sudlenlya vein in ’the stone gave way, and a portion weighing about two tons dropped on Thomas and instantly crushed him to death. The stone was too large to bs removed, and it had to be broken up before the body could be taken from nn ler it. Dr. Corse was immediately on the spot, but his services wore of no avail whatever, and he gave it as his opinion that death was instantaneous. The spine was broken, the head much crushed, together with other injuries of a very serious nature. The deceased was in the prime of life, being only twenty-six years of age, and he has left a wife with two young children to deplore his loss. On Saturday last the remains of the unfortunate d ceased were conveyed to the Cromwell Cemetery, and the funeral cortege was no doubt, the largest ever witnessed in the up country districts. The burial service was read in a very impressive manner by Mr. M’Kellar the Schoolmaster, indeed, On the whole, the funeral obsequies were everyway befitting so melancholy an occasion. In your last issue a report appeared of the disappearance of a miner from Bendigo Gulley, named Anthony on Christmas day lastand had never been seen since ; up to the present time, no clue to the mysterious disappearance has been found. On Monday all the miners of the. Gulley left to make further researches, the * boat belonging to the Rocky Point Ferry was taken possession Of, by permission of Mr. Bateman, the owner, and being well manned was floated down the Clutha to within a short distance of Cromwell, and the banks of the stream were carefully examine 1 in search of the body of the missing man, but no success attended the undertaking, Sergeant Cassels rode along the river side in sight of the boat, but the mystery is still rot cleared up. One affair bad created many strange surmises in the locality, and very naturally too. The missing man had a favorite dog, a terrier, and the animal was also a favorite amongst the miners generally, and since Anthony has been missing the dog has been fed by several of the residents in the Galley. However at the beginning of last week, the animal was fpund strangled on a terrace about two hundred j-pitls from the Gulley, the strangling evi-

dently was not perpertated where the carcase of the animal was found,, from distinctive proofs that the dog, after being strangled had been trailed along the ground. Some surmise that a murder has been com mitted, and that the dog was strangled, lest he should scent out the body of his mas ter. However, all such surmises are wild, and time only can explain the nonappearance of poor Anthony. His Honor the Superintendent, and Mr. Duncan, the Secretary for Land and Works, arrived here on Monday evening, and remained all night. On Tuesday, on his way to the Lakes, he visited the Kawarau Gorge and inspected most of the extensive sluicing claims in the locality. He addressed an as' seniblage of the miners, and promised to do everything in his power to further their interest. As for prospecting, the Government would find plant to any extent, if the miners would find the labour. His Honor's visit has given much satisfaction in the district, and the miners are only sorry that they had no notice of his coming, so as to give him a suitable reception.