ALEXANDRA.

Dunstan Times, Issue 444, 21 October 1870, Page 3

ALEXANDRA.

(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.) 11l mining matters 1 have nothing new to repeat further tlian that the Manuherikia ■Company art' flooded tut of (heir paddock, ■owing tti their pumping gear not being sufficient tn keep the water under, they intend starting again this day, having hail the axle of their wheel length' le'd, so as to woik two pumps. It is the general opinion that the principal part of the watir they have to contend with, conns from some large reservoirs imme iately behind th ir pad ock. These reservoirs are vry large sheets of water, anti from the porous nature ■of the ground I fear they will experience great difficulty in reaching the bottom, it "will be a great pily if i hey o not succeed not only to themselves, but to the public generally, as'everyone is 'anxious to know the result. The Ovens Water R toe C nn■pany are in‘full work with plenty of water, the intention of the company istncommence sinking for 'the main bottom at an early 'date, but I would suggest they would keep ns far away from the r. servoirs as possible. In my last I inforned you there was a c se peinlin. in the Wardens Court between two of the owners of the Galatea Dr«lge, and their wag-s men. It came on f> r hearing on Monday ast.lt appears that Halladay holds two one- sixth shares in the dredge, ■Gordon a one-sixth sh tre, a id that previous ‘to the Ist. OetoberliTO, Watson, Armour •and Melville, ha 1 been w irking these three shares as wages men, hut on the ’ st. October, Holliday told-bis two men that he di I n it intend tn pay wa'es any onger, but would let them his shares on terms. After several offers being offered and refused, it avas agreed that Anno ramlMelville should have Halladay’stwo shares on the following terms—The first £3 10s pet week obtained from each share to he retained by working men, lut in the event of the produce for -each Week exc ediug 1 3 10s. per weak, then Tlall aay to receive tweutyfive per cent on the gross yield. Armour and Melville to ‘.pay all si orking expenses, and to keep the dredge in repair. On Monday the 3rd. of 'October they started to avovk on these terms, and prospected until Wednesday when they found a payable prospect half a 'mile further down the riv r than where the < redge was laying on the Ist, of October, 'Up to Saturday the Bth. they nit fined ■about fourteen -ounces of gold, and inline i--ately a squaring of accounts was proposed, •a dispute arose about who this new claim was to belong to after the en i of the term ‘agreed on Ist. January 1871. Halli ay in-'si-rted thit th) grmn l war his and Armour and Melville that the ground was theirs, they having prospected and found it. Heoco the law-suit. Halliday, in giving ■his evidence, denie I that there was ever any agreement entered into, but admitted that an agreement had been talked about) but failed to make t!he Bench see it.in that light. The prayer of the co nplainant was to the effect that .the defen lant had no 'right to the ground or an interest in the •dre ge until the Ist of -January, 1871. The verdict given by Mr. Warden Pyke was to 'tin effort that Armour and Melville be •recognised as tenants of the said two shares until the Ist of January, 1870, anti to re■C' ive the first £3 IDs. each, and if ea li •sh ire pr i luce over that a n mat Halliday to receive 25 per cent, out of the gross pro■ceeds. Melville and Armour io pay working expenses and ‘-to deliver up the dredge in good or er on the Ist of January to Halliday, together with the claim. The •case Gordon versus Watson was similarly decided. It is certainly hard that, when a man becomes the lessee of a chattle and makes a discovery, that discovery is to revert to the lessor, who ne\er expende a single farthing in making the said dis•cvery ; am it is very possible that the claim may not be workable a single week between this and the Ist of Jaenary. If such be the case, it will be a one-sided arrangement altogether. The case W. A. Low v. Bridget Corcoran, in th) Resident Magistrate’s Court, was called up m The C mrt looko I very like a sec md hand draper’s shop. Mrs. Low was sworn, and said, after glancing over the articles on the table, “ All those things are mine, an I beli v i the accused took them with a felonious intent.” On cross■examina'ton Mrs. Low admitted that she hj- d i.o private mat ks en any of the articles ut knew lien from emrd appair.ino). r lhi Buch, afUra ihort deliberation, sai •that’the case before them was of so trivial anaturethat it should not have been brought into Court, buteniisidure at the same time ■a sort of a case had been male out, lint that the Bench intended to deal with it under the 82nd clause of the Justices of the Peace Act, which gave the Bench the option of discharging an accused, although a case may have been made out, if the sai •ca e was of so trivial a nature as to be un--flt for prosecution, which c ass the Bench said this case belongs to.