BLACKS

Dunstan Times, Issue 1030, 13 January 1882, Page 3

BLACKS

Major'Keddoll and his courts here last Tuesday were the centre of attraction. The >first case on the list was one of sly-grog selling against Mary Ann Field, the wife ■of Geore Field, storekeeper, Ida Valley. According to the evidence, one Chanceldor on a day named called at defendant’s store and purchased a pound of tobacco, and at the'invitaticn of Mrs Field partook •of a glass of spirits. As payment for the tobacco Chancellor tendered a small cheque drawn on:6®unedir. Bank to Mrs Field, who kept 8s and returned the change, the ■Ss being 7s-for the tobacco and Is exchange A number of witnesses were examined, • all of whom agreed that 7s was the price paid for tobacco at Field’s store, though the police, ivho was prosecuting, tried to shake this evidence. The whole contention •rested simply on the price of tobacco. His Worship, in summing up, said them ■was but very little moral doubt but Mr Field was in the habit of breaking the law by selling spirits, but that phase of the < question, or anything else but the evidence just adduced, ho had nothing whatever to do with So far as the evidence went, and he had no reason to doubt it, as many of the •witnesses were 'disinterested, respectable men, seven shillings was the everyday ■ charge for tobacco, and a charge of Is as exchange on a Dunedin cheque was quite reasonable, therefore he concluded that, ■while there was no doubt about Chancellor ihaving had a glass of spirits, there was no ■ evidence of payment. He must accordingly dismiss the information without costs. The next case was J. C. Chappie v. T. Nicholls. 'Thin was a peculiar action, being ■ a claim for LlO for retention of a document -purporting to be a receipt for L 5 lls The evidence adduced was as follows: That Nicholls owed Chappie the sum of 1.5 11s for which a summons was taken out -and was to have been heard on the 10th of November last. On the 9th Nicholls saw Mr Chappie’s son, .and after some talk agreed to and did give the lad the sura of X 5 (five one-pound notes) in settlement of the claim, and took from him a receipt for the amount. He accordingly did not attend the Court and answer to the summons, and the first time he heard it said that he had not paid Chappie’s son was on the following Sunday, and again when the bailiff seized and sold an Entire horse of his to •cover the judgment arising from the summons This was the evidence of defendant, Nicholls. V/. A. Chappie, jun, swore that Nicolls did not pay him the money on the •excuse that he could not obtain change fora cheque, and that in the course of an hour -or so he would pay. At the same time Nicholls picked up the receipt and pocketed dt Mr Eowlatt.who conducted the case for Nicholls, agreed with the Bench that the evidence was .most contradictory, and asked for a nonsuit, as plaintiff had neither showed, or attempted to show, damage sustained. His Worship said he had taken voluf -minous long hand notes in the case, as the matter might be carried into another court The plaintiff would be nonsuited with costs, P. Harrington v Wilson and Johnson, Executors of the late Gilbert Sinclair (deceased); claim, LlO5 6s 2Jd for meat and other goods supplied, and L 146 for carriage of stores weekly from Blacks to German JHill at ton shillings per week •Mr F. J. Wilson, who answered for the defendants, said both parties had consented that His Worship should hear the cases for the full amount. Several items in the meat, etc, account having been challenged, a good deal of haggling and cross-questioning occurred over the carriage account Plaintiff however proved to the satisfaction of the Bench Mhat he had entered into an agreement Bvith the deceased in 1875, and that as he had only received L3O on account, the 'balance was still due.

A verdict was recorded for plaintiff for amounts claimed with costs.

la tho Warden’s Court several applications were dealt with.

After Warden’s Courts mining will lit in nicely I think, so I will start with tho deep lead at Blacks No. 3. Templeton, Campbell and party have bottomed them first shaft at a depth or between CO and GO feet. As a matter of course at that depth they bottomed on the reef, but they opened out towards the deep ground, and after driving about 20ft came on to a good wash about ISins deep, which panned out on an average of 18 grains to the dish. This must be understood to be a remarkably good prospect and equal to 2oz to the load. The company intend sinking right in the gutter and they have started their second shaft. The bottoming of this second shaft will, for good or for bad, settle the question of the value of the deep lead, Blacks No. 3, and should it strike “ile,” Hook upon it this day 12 months we shall see a largo and prosperous population settled at No, 3. The quartz reefs at the Sepentinc are creating a gieat deal of attention just now, and if they but turn out hut a tithe as well as they promise, the Serpentine and the Dismal Swamp, a perfect terra incognita to most people, will soon he as well known and nearly as populous as Prinoes-street or the Octagon. lam really afraid to jot down the fabulous richness of some of the stone discovered, nor will I. In the course of a few weeks I purpose visiting the locality when I will give my own experiences. Shares are constantly changing hands, an invariably good sign. At Tinkers and Drybread things are moving on in the even tenor of their way. A very fair share of water is obtainable, and accordingly a fair share of gold is getting.

Mr Shannon, I hear, has resigned the ■managership of the Mountain Water-race Company’s claim, and Mr W Greenbank has been appointed in his stead. This company has had a wonderful run of luck for some years past, but from what I can see there is now a lot of dead work to get through, and it will be some time before big dividends become the order of the day as of yore,if ever they do again, not that the ground is loss rich in the precious metal, but it is getting much deeper, accordingly the same amount of ground cannot be got over in a given time as was formerly. The adjoining claim, Murphy and Go’s, is a wonderful block of ground. From what I can learn this company will not wash up this season, leaving it ti'l next year, when they will have a double distilled pleasure.

M Sammon, Mellor and Martin, Symes, Read, and all the other parties are hard at work now the holidays are past, and by all the signs and tokens they are all well satisfied with the results of their labor.

At Devonshire things are moving along, but not at such a rate as to set the world on fire.

. At Dryhread, Greenbank, McLean and Co are running away a tremendous quantity of stuff daily, they fortunately being possessed of an almost incessant and unlimited supply of water. The returns are not known, but as there is no grumbling and apparent content, the inference is that all are being paid for their labor.

I will now refer to farming, which branch is in a most satisfactory state. On account of the extremely dry spring,it was thought, and with some show of reason, that the crops would have been a complete and utter failure, but the timely rains that fell entirely altered the appearance of things. The autumn-sown wheat without exception is looking first class, while the spring wheat and oats are immeasurably better than was to have been anticipated; in fact, the grain crops are fair, and if the prices are up to what they promised to be some few months since, the farmers will have no cause for complaint. Throughout the district a good deal of land is being put under English grasses and rape for stock feeding, and by the appearance of many of the meadows, possessing a beautiful green sward, the district is adapted to it. One great drawback however to this kind of farming is the great coat of seed, it costing from 20s to 25s per acre for seed alone ; but this evil, like others that have come before, will in due course cure itself.

I have just heard of a great discovery in this neighborhood, and one, that if it but turns out as everyone would desire, it will prove one of the greatest possible blessings that could have been conferred on the district. The discoverer is Mr J. Shannon ; the discovery is coal, within a foot or so of the surface and the locality three miles from the township of Ophir. Application for a lease is to be made, and I suppose in a day or two the public aware of the exact locality will he able to form their own opinions of its value.