Untitled

Grey River Argus, Issue 124, 27 October 1866, Page 2

There is> a new discovery reported between the Teremakau and the^Ahaura. Two men arrived"in town on .Thursday, and made application for a prospecting claim. The Warden, however, withheld assent to the application until they could supply further and more particular information, bnt he granted them protection for seven days, to enable them to furnish the necessary particulars. We learn that the sinking is about 50 feet and the prospects exceedingly good. The men brought down 90 ozs. of gold with them. * We believe the locality is not far from the Brainier Lake. A rush has taken place up the Grey to a terrace which borders the Totara Flat. The prospects are encouraging, audit is confidently anticipated that the.gold will bo traced down on to the flat itself. Intelligence of a conflicting character continues to be received concerning the Pakihi diggings. We were yesterday shown a parcel of 12 ozs. of rough scaly gold, brought down by two men, who report very favorably cf the rush, and state that a rumor was prevalent when they left on Thursday, to the effect that gold had been struck in payable quantities eight miles to the southward of the Pakihi rush. Supplies at the Pakihi were becoming scarce, particularly tools, which were barely obtainable. __ We are glad to be able to state that it amounts almost to a certiiinty that within three weeks we shall have' permanently stationed here one of tho finest steam tugs at i present in the colonies. Messrs Maclean, Fisher, and Co., we believe, have receiyejd information that the Despatch— a description of which was given in our last issue— is for sale, at a price that does not exceed the limits fixed by the Steam Tug Company j and that the offer of her would remain open till a reply was received. • As Mr Kennedy is on his way to Melbourne, with authority to negotiate the purchase, no time" will be lost in having her here and at work. / We learn from the West Coast Times iniab Mr Commissioner Sale was waited upon by a deputation respepting despatching a steainei in seai-cb. of the William Miskiiij and that he promptly telegraphed to the Bluff to ascetv tain if the steamer Southland could be chartered for the purpose. Happily her sen ices were shortly afterwards believed to be unnecessary, but great praise is due to. Mr Sale for his proinptitute in the matter, A terrible and fatal accident occurred at Nelson's Creek on Thursday, resulting in the death of two well-known miners, named Charles Vincent Hamilton and David Far-: 'quhar M'Leod. The particulars of the occurrence are as ' follows. The deceased were partners in a- large race in coxirse of constraction. The race is carried along a perpendicular cliff of rock, about 40 feet above the creek, and necessitated some very heavy cutting, At. noon on the day in question, Hamilton and M'Leod were on the race coiir suiting as to the best means of removing a large mass of overhanging rock, whether to

blast it or lever it down. Whilst standing considering, a large piece of the rock, weighing about 100 tons, suddenly tumbled down, and knocked the men over the terrace. Hamilton was buried in the debm, but M'Leod was precipitated on the surface, fall, ing on some stumps, Alarm was at onoq given, and a number of men promptly reached the spot aud commenced to dig Hamilton out, but on the superincumbent mass beii»\ removed he wag found to be quite dcrcP M'Leod, though alive, had sustained fright, ful injuries, and suffered great agony. He was conveyed to the township, but he died iv •about an hour. He was sensible to the lagt. The bodies are expected to arrive in town this morning, "and they will be interred on Sunday afternoon. The funeral will leave Johnston's Melbourne Hotel at. two o'clock, Both the deceased were well known and respected in Greymouth. They were for? mcrly shareholders in a claim on the Darkies terrace, aud one of them, Hamilton, was proprietor of the Empire Hotel. We notice thai Mr Lazaar, the late-Town Clerk of Duneditr, has been "elected' to the. office of Town Clerk of Hokitika. There were seventeen candidates, of "whom, three were b elected by the Committee, and balloted for, the result being a majority of 4 for Mr Lazaar. The salary of the town clerk has been fixed at L 450 per annum, The munificent offer made by the Okarita prospecting association has already had the effect of calling forth several claimants for the reward. The Westland Qbsen-er of the 20th says— A decided stimulus has been given to prospecting in this district by the recent offer of a reward of LSOO for the dis^ cover}' of an inland gold field. Various rumors have, of course, been afloat as to parties from different directions inland being about to apply for a prospecting claim, but the "coming man" has not yet been seen, and the reward remains free to be claimed, Some parties have this week been selling small parcels of rough gold, and. there is a hint that one of these, as soon as they are satisfied of the extent of the auriferous ground in their neighbourhood, will probably prove to be claimants for the prize. . The Waimea district continues to yield splendidly. The last escort to Hokitika conveyed 4900 ounces of gold. • A boat accident, which resulted fatally to one man, ocenrred on the Buller River on Friday, the 19th inst. The boat was coming down from the Inangahua, and capsized in one of the rapids-, Alrthc men in. her but one managed to save themselves, the other, a miner named Charles Bodle, formerly a storekeeper on the Otagodiggiugs, being drowner 1 , His body had not been recovered when the . information left. ■ . ... At a meeting of the Hokitika. and Grey» mouth Tramway Company, held at Hokitika the, other day, it was decided to make application to the Government for a guarantee on the capital. It was also resolved to inaugurate the commencement of the works o£ the con.- ; pany by a public ceremony to-day, 3 o'clock p.m., near the Old Hospital Reserve. It was announced that Mr Sale had expressed his willingness to attend, and a considerable number of invitations were issued to gentle-" men in official and commercial circles. jV^L^ .- C. Williams was unanimously chosen caterer, and Messrs Shaw, M 'Beth, ai\d Klien, a committee to conduct the inauguration ceremony, A recent telegram from Wellington states that there has been a serious boat accident at the Chatham Islands, by which five men, Hay, Williams, Thorno, and two natives were drowned. — The whares of the Hau-hau prisoners have been burned. The prisoners have since been entertained by the resident ; : Europeans at a great feast, and have expressed a desire to live amicably with their neighbors. ... Tho means of education are so limited in Greymouth that we are glad to notice thab the Misses Heaphy will open a school on Monday next. We understand that these ladies formerly conducted a seminary in In^ vercargill. By the steamer Beautiful Star news has been received by the West Coast Times to the 17th inst : — The intelligence from New South Wales generally is so far favorable, the up--country districts having been visited by copious showers, which acted most beneficially upon the young crops, and giving promise of abundance of fruit in the season. News from J the different gold fields is of an unexciting Ji character. The Lachlan diggings are looking J|| up again, biyt the sinking is deep, and, aa- t J though many of the claims, pay well, capital M is required to test the ground. It is reporte(l£ J^ that a valuable quartz reef has been discovereji^jpt in the Weddin mountains, and that very "<|||p. specimens from it were exhibited by 'jjjffll finders at Forbes. The outcrop of the "jJJfIP described as a mile in length, and that iSamrparts of it gold is easily discernible. is dull in Sydney, and, in consequence, nfflßg bers of men are out of employment; momnff^ meetings were h.eld in Hyde Park, an sHE solutions passed condemning the GovernjME for supineness in not initiating public ' v^Hg| and deputations were appointed, one °f jH&< waited on the Minister of Works, an d|Wp ( upon him tho necessity of pushing on'tffe public works of the Colony, so that emttgyment mlglit be provided for at least a ™fflK>& "" of those who were then absolutely in a sffe bordering xtpon destitution. The us^Jj>romises were made by the minister, whojEowever, declined to take any decided ig&ion without first consulting his colleagues, rahging is somewhat declining, althougß»mtT rages are stUl of frequent occurrence ijrthe more unsettled districts. It is rumored that the notorious outlaw Clarke was shot in t^e Jingerra Ranges during an encounter with a 1 party of police. •> \ We learn from the Daily Times, of the ' 15th instant, that the Manuherikia district - j was visited by a heavy food on the 11th j instant, All communication was interrupted t for forty hours. The crossing places at Beck/a s and Black's were impassable, and at both places much damage was done. Farms o^ * the Manuherikia Flat were totally swepfl^ away, and houses, huts, and tents ' de»%® niolished. The occupants had to flee forffljjg; their lives,. Several had very narrow e&capes,

The fluming of the Golden Gate Company, at the Gorge, and the Golden Sunshine Company's dam, were carried away, and the flood and tail races flooded up. The water >vas within two and a half feet of being on a level with Black's Township. At Lower Manuherikia, the flood was equally destructive. The river rose 80 fee!;, and several occupants of premises .were clinging all right ■ >/j&) 10 roofs. Simmon's Bridge, and Glass aim Co.'s fluming, were all washed away. Lester's, punt broke adrift, but fouling the cable of the Alabama Company's dredging machine, was caught. The escort with difficulty crossed the Manuherikia at Low's on Saturday night. The road between Clyde and Cromwell has been much damaged. It rained heavily, without intermission, from 4 a.m. till 6 p.m. the same day. Mining operations generally were suspended. The total damage done was euoruious. A number of persons will be totally mined," Our readers will remember that the last Panama mail brought the news of an attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament by gunpowder, quantities of which were stated to have been found under the Chancellor's room in the House of Lords, The only particulars we can glean from our files of papers by the last mail are as follows : — At. three o'clock on the morning of the Gth August v last, the police offices on duty at the entrance gate leading to the toxl chamberlain's office, House of Lords, and adjoining the Victoria Tower, discovered nine packages of gunpowder, carelessly tin own on the grass inside the gateway, and a tenth one, evidently broken and strewn ovgr the others, with a fuse attached, partially burned, but quenched. What the object of the miscreant who deposited the gunpowder could be, remains as yet a profound mystery, but it is to be hoped the active exertions of the police inspector at the House of Lords (Mr Moran) will be attended witli tbe desired effect, and the offender brought to speedy justice. Very naturally, the officials, resident .in both houses of parliament, have been much alarmed by the daring visit of a second Guy Fawkes. We learn from the Weil Coast Times of yesterday that a heavy rush set in to a terrace on the right hand aide of tho Waitnea track on Thursday, directly in a line with the Scandanavian and Ballaarat Hills* The prospects obtained were half-an-ounce to the dish, The following remarks on the West Coast Gold Fields are t?ike:i from an article in the Otago .Da i/y Times, of the 19th inst. :— "When all the circumstances are considered) the West Coast Gold Fields seem entitled to prominence over all modern discoveries. True, no Victoria or California has risen out of -them ; but thsy were as much deficient in natural advantages and facilities as Victoria and California were glfteil. It is marvellous and almost incomprehensible how a foothold was maintained at Kokitika. -With no settlement, -Lower small, to serve as a nucleus for a larger concentration of population ; a dangerous, almost inapproachable lauding in front ; behind, an untrodden and presumed impas&ible wilderness ; with no " resources other 'than this same golden store, .rj^eiis of thousands of people have settled the ""country, and, wonderful to relate, with hardly any detajlablc difficulty. With the exception of one trifling emmte — we cannot find a word mild enough for it— events have flowed on with a tranquil matter.of«course peacefulness, that has left hardly a salient point for the chronicler to seize upon. Of the richness of the West Coast Gold Fields, the convincing proof is to bo found in the fact, that they, have been able to maintain in contentment a large population, isolated from other districts and from other pursuits. Given a wild desolate strip of country covered with thick tangled scrub and bush, exposed to constant inclemency of weather, enabled to draw supplies only with groat difficulty— given such a piece of country, and add fliat for 12 months it has been enabled to support tens of thousands of people in prosperity, and that tons of thousands more are likely to be added to the populaj/ium, and surely, enough has been sr.id to ,0. establish the West Coast Gold Fields as one S .of the richest auriferous recoveries ever made. It would be unfair not to concede something of the merit of the result to the. v.ise Bysteni of Government pursued, We do not know enough of the details to describe, much more to judge them separately ; but, looking on the result as a whole, the neighboring Pro\ince of Canterbury has reason to be proud of its administrative powers. It seems to have neither governed too littlenor too much. Perhaps there is no marvel connected with the West Coast so great as that its population is so contented as not even to have asked, during the last session, for Separation from Canterbury, for corstituHon into a separate province."