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Grey River Argus, Issue 131, 13 November 1866, Page 2

We 'ar<jffir to say that the last accounts from tlwkihi are .anything but encouraging far as they relate to any probabi'Jr. the diggings finding PmployploymeiaF the large population assembled there. Jffew fresh 'patches have been , struck, fwe are told on good authority thatinigspiuetliiug important is soon dis covereffi bu}k of jibe population -will be. compe®o leave. - Welters taild that D. Johnson, Esq.,'-. J.P.,jffliot leave town for sometime, so that Ilervicss 'will be available in bis capa<Jgf Justice of the Peace during Mr Revc@bsence._ WStiee that the Contractor for construfg the fir3t section of the Greymouth andy&vator Creek Tramway Co. has commoJlf orming the roadway just beyond the ArJstreet bridge. We don't profess to be#cicnt in the science of civil engineerin.ift it struck our miskilled-rininds that tftinch which has been opened on each sis the bank, for' the purpose of get! iig tli teessary material for its construction, is jh too near, and that the first heavy I- rould wash tha stuff back again, to say i] ng of the pressure which any traffic < n (j >auk will cause. We are not the only j ns who have noticed this ch'cuinstauce, lit would perhaps be well that the Jheer should direct iis attention to it. fare glad to see that a large number of fpers have already been delivered, and we Jst do the ■XyOtnpany the justice of saying my are substantial enough to carry a loeojptive railway. |The W. C. Times says that new ground kis been opened up the^left-hand branch of ihe Waimea Creek towards Callaghan's. On, Thursday a heavy rush set in to it. We? uidei stand that the sinking is 72 feet deep ;o the main bottom, on which rests three" :eet of auriferous drift that will prospoct from tour to eight grains to the dish. The ground j is wet, but stands well, slabbing, so far, not >cinq required. .., At the public 'meeting, held on Saturday svening, it was incidentally mentioned by Mr R. P. Bain, the District Surveyor, that lie had received instructions to cut tracks every two miles from the beach to the hills. The tracks are to be cleared four feet wide. There can be no doubt that this will be the means of encouraging prospecting, as miners will be able to penetiate the bush without much, risk of being lost. # , We are given to understand that, owing to the accident which befel the small cutter Alhambra, it is extremejy probable that the small community of miners, at Jackson's Bay is now in a state of starvation. For some time this cutter^ has been the only regular means of supply to the ; miners on that-por-tion of the coast, and when she last left there was only a very small quantity of flour, remaining. ■.< When the cutter was wrecked she was bound to Jackson's Bay with provisions — those have beeu^lost, ana as the cutter has been condemned, the position of the unfortunate' miners at Jackson's Bay must, be pitiable in the extreme. This appears to be a case calling peculiarly for the action of the authorities, and we would respectfully urge .that some step be taken for the relief of the. sufferers. -.Our authority for our statement is Mr Bentley, 'who ' has resided] at Jackson's Bay for some time, and is intimately acquainted with the position! of matters there. . • We notice that in the Provincial Council, Mr Barff has obtained leave to bring in a bill to establish a Board of Education for West- ' land, and he also placed a notice on the piifjer of his intention to bring in a bill "to regulate the qualifications of medical practitioners of medicine and surgery. " i observe that the last Government* Gazette contains, a notice to the effect that Mr C. L. Morice, the surgeon of the Grey River Hospital, is a duly qualified^incdical ! practitioner. * , ' ' v "r . On Saturday the police apprehended two young men named Quinn, one of whom Avas suspected of- being concerned in. the late robbery at Messrs Pauls' store and the other of having stolen goods in his possession. Yesterday the prisoners were brought Aip before D. Johnson, Esq , J.P., and remanded, bail being taken for their reappearance. The prisoner Jas. Quinn had formerly been in the employ of Messrs Paul, and: the police found at his residence a quantity of articles there is strong reason for believing hadifeen stolen from Messrs Paiiis' store. They also found some articles in the possesnion of a brother of the former prisoner supposed to have been stolen from the shop of Messrs W. J. Watts and Co., hi whose employ the younger brother had lately been. .We are informed by the If.- C. Times that' the perfect, skeleton of aSmaijtwas found in the bush a short distance f?om Ross^ .on Thursday Last; by Messr^s Ooleson and Shepherd, whoi we^-e o.u.t s^el^ng for stray cattle. On their return Ross they made known the circumstance to' the police, who yesterday proceeded. . to the spot and removed- the remains to town, where they \now lie awaiting an iuqiiest. Two silver watches, a gold ring, ,; some nuggets, and; yuartz specimens, were

found close to +.lia^—^- ..' supposed are those oWics, which ifc i many months ago kepVw Donald, who ■ at the old Totara Diare for Mr Jolli c March last he suddenr\ On the 26th "^ the same time was suppoa\ared, and at with 30 ozs of gold and sokabscoj^ books showed' were m jssmxvhich the Q was placed in the hands o\ m a tt c ' " sought long and unsuccessf j\ e> ,jM pos^d defaulter, who it was\,' sup _ ' , jfl succeeded in effecting his escaili j, at j ' .^^H amongst the articles missed by 3ab' vu + .' j^^^| a silver lever watch, which faccJLj/ y<|^^^| with tl^e finding of the two above mi /' J^^^^| leads to the inference that the b. * J^^B those of Donald; who must haye'4; "^ vl in the bjjsh, and perished miseraßK ments of clothes wore found on the sk«. consisting of a brown plush hat, witlrhx % cut in each si<le of the brim,* part of a islnK * and trousers, and a pair of lace-up boottyS^ very little worn. " • .'*"'' Our readers will remember the robbery of gold on board the 6.8. Barwon, and that severe comments Avere made on the careless manner in which the gold was Allowed to remain on board the vessel. It would appear that this careless custody of gold on board steamers is far from being uncommon, as v { 'c are assured by one of the passengers by the Omeo, on her |as{; trjp from Hokitika to Melbourne, that the boxes of gold she carried were allowed to remain carelessly on the floor of the cabin — in fact, they were used as footstools by the passengers. It appears the gold was in ,|he first instance placed in the ladies 1 cabin,- lint the boxes broke adrift, and were afterwards put on the cabin flo?r. If this is not the very acme of culpable carelessness iye don't knpw what is, and we are only surprised that robbery under such circumstances js not of more frequent occurrence. . We hay.c heard many complaints of tho highly dangerous condition of the ladder placed at the Mjkq CKffs by the Nelson Gc- ."" vermnent. Spine months, ago the authorities " replaced the frail rope and supple jack ladder by a chain ladder with wooden rungs. The rungs have been destroyed by the traffic, and now nothing remains but the chains, up._or 'dow.n whicl} trayeller.3 have, to climb. Very frequently the plains are so covered with mud as to afford little or no holding, and cause their use to be particularly dangerous to life. Not many days ago a man was killed through missing his hold, and it is only surprising that inoi:e, accidents have not occurred. We believe a track has been cut round the inside of the cliffs, but as -it is in an almost impassable state, and necessitates a jchtour.^oi two or three miles, the diggers travelling along the beach, prefer. the ladder with all its r}sk§. Wq are"giy.en to understand that only a few rungs are needed to make the ladder serviceable, and we, trust ■ that the attention of the proper authorities will be directed to the metier 'at once. ' ' A C()rregpandent at Nelson's Creek sends us the following items of news from that locality :— I am sorry to have to relate tliat the party known $$ Nf). 1, in the main creek opposite the township, have been obliged to abandon their claim. They had, after repeated accidents, gcjt everything in first-rate working order, and proceeded with thenusual energy to try" -and bottom ; and it was- jk a fine sight to a miner to look at the perfect workmanlike manner in which cvcrythiii" was carried on. Their water-wheel and pumps worked splendidly, and they managed to get to the depth of eighteen feet, but the subsequent n^ght after they had attained that depth their paddock gave way at the side and fell in, smashing the pumps and filling the paddock. They have in cons--quence a' andoned f the ciaim, after having kept at it for the past six months. Fa.rr.ell and Co. 's water-race is in at Lisfc, and has just started to work. It is'six months since this party started their race, and they have had usual difficulties to contend with ; but with perseverance and good spirit they havo it now on the ground, and I hope it will pay them well. The All Nations Water Eace Co consisting of twelve shareholders, have nea?ly completed their large water-race, which is to be brought'on to the highly auriferous tciraces on the main creek below the township. The race belonging to this compauyis a- fine piece^of work, and; wjll carry 'ten heads of water.' The prospects -in "the company's claim range from 6 grs. to H dwts. fp. dish, through t.vo fee^ of gravel with shallow stripping." One of the^jfarty told me|e would not take L3OO for his share in the race and claim. Very few miners haye left this part for thd Pakihi rush ; in fact, I believe they know better now than to rush about on merp idle rumors. Those who are here, so far as I can learn, are all doing a little. The want of water is greatly felt, but 1 hope that it will be relieved now that Farrell and Co. and t the All Nations Water liaces are in. 1