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Grey River Argus, Volume V, Issue 322, 6 February 1868, Page 2

The Westport Times sayß ; — Rumors are pievalent that one of the parties at Mohikinui having sunk through the false bottom, have struck upon a lead pf gold richer than anytlung that has yet becu discovered on tho West Coast.

On Tuesday evening, the Town Protection Committee met for the purpose of receiving the tenders for the continuance of j;he piling of the river bauk ; but it was found that no tenders had been sent in. It was therefore determined for the present to.cpntinue the work by day lab,pr ? as necessary funds wore in hand. The formation of tip dam or, embankment across Boundary street is bejng proceeded wijjh, and in a day or two will be completed so as to stay any further pverflow of tjje river there. A man named John Trafford was arrested a days ago at the Boatman's Arms Hotel, Westpqrt, where, his wife acts as barmaid. He called for a glass of ale, and while she was drawing it he pulled out a revolver, and would have fired it at his wife, had he not been prevented by another person who was standing by. Pne day last week, a little boy, spn pf Mr Johnson, one of the pilotinea at the port pf Nelson, whilst playing on the jetty opposite hjs home, fell into the sea. This having been perceived by his mother, she immediately rushed to the spot, threw herself into the sea, and swam to him, and thus succeeded in saving him. In our last we mentioned that Hpkitika had been visited by a seyere stppm on Monday last. We now take the following details from the W. C. Times of Tuesday :— One of the heaviest wind storms that ever visited Hokitika swept down from the mountains yesterday, and raged furiously until sun-set, filling the streets with clouds of dust and fine gravel, to, the intense discomfort and misery of those whose business compelled them to be abroad, and causing not a little damage to the frail built edifices which abound in the town. Several houses were partially unroofed, sign : bpards and chimneys were laid low, whilst the suburban residents were exposed to imminent danger by falling timber, jj,s many large trees were torn up by the roots and thrown in perilous proximity tp tents and cottages. Only one accident within the boundaries of the township has come to our knowledge, and that occurred \n the vicinity of the Hau Hau Tramway, at a 3hort distance only from the Round Tower of Ireland Hotel,' and all but resulted in the death of Mrs Kearns and her child. Their escape was truly providential, as a large tree fell upon and completely destroyed the cottage in which they resided, but most fortunately missed the woman and child, both of whom escaped with a few slight contusions inflicted by the falling rafters. We fear that the effects of the gale were severely felt in the country districts, as already an account of a dreadful accident has reached town, and it is probable it will be followed by many others. It appears that Mr and Mrs Furness, their six children, and a miner named Lear, were in the Victoria Hotel on Monday morning, when the two trees blew down, and it is therefore wonderful that only two of the party should have suffered. One of the trees stood close to, and immediately in front' of the hotel, the .other about eighty feet distant. Apprehending danger, the inmates were watching the nearest tree, when a tremendous gust of wind tore the second up by the roots, and as it fell it struck the other, which, unable to sustain the shock, gave way also, and both came down together. Seeiug their peril, Furness and his wife rushed from the hotel, followed by Lear, who, we understand, first threw one of the children through the window, the remaining live being left inside. The nearest tree fell across a corner of the house, the other cleared the building, but struck down the unfortunate couple and narrowly missed Leor, who was a little way behind them.' Furness was frightfully crushed, nearly every bone of his body being broken, and death must have been instantaneous Mrs Furness was dreadfully injured, her colJarbone being broken, and a gastly scalp wound inflicted. The unfortunate creature's life is despaired of. By order of Dr Bssw iek, the coroner, who held an inquest. upon her hushand's body yesterday, she was brought into town and conveyed to the Hospital: The condition of the poor children, who are left entirely destitute by this shocking calamity, is sad indeed, and imperatively demands immediate measures for their relief. We are glad to be able to state that the necessary steps have been taken for the for. mation of a Masonic Lodge in Greymouth. Last week the preliminary meetings were held, and after an earnest discussion it was resolved that the proposed new lodge should be founded on the English Constitution, and it was decided at once to forward the application for a dispensation to the Provincial Grand Lodge of Canterbury. The brethren elected the following office-bearers :— W.M., Bro. Guinness ; S.W., Bro. De Costa ; J. W., Bro. Ancher. The name of the Lodge will be the " Greymouth Lodge. " A meeting of the brethren takes place this evening at the Club Hotel. , The IK. C. Times of yesterday reports the occurrance of a very serious accident, happily however, not attended with fatal results, on Blake's Terrace, on Tuesday. It appears that a miner, named William Gordon, was employed in drawing timber from an old worked-out Bhaft, when the earth suddenly fell in on him and buried him up to his neck. The unfortunate man was in this situation for twelve hours — from eleven in the morning until eleven at night— before his mates, whose names are John Allen, George Sewell, Wm. Brown, and J. Jackson, succeeded in extricating him. In order to do so they had to paddock the shaft. Immediately after the accident occurred, Mr Keats, storekeeper, rode into town, and obtained the services of Drßrunetti, who reached the scene of the accident some two hours before Gordon was extricated. We are glad to learn that the latter was found to have sustained no severer injuries than bruises on the chest. The Westport Star publishes some particulars of the census recently taken in the Nelson Gold Fields. The returns show the population to be as follows :— Karamea, 29 ; Wanganui, 20 ; Mohikinui, 608 ; Waimangaroa, 465 ; town of Westport, 1455 j Waite's, 1741 ; Charleston, 2225 ; Brighton, 1284 ; Inaiigahua and Lyell, 155— grand total, 7&52. To this may be added about

2500 persons on the Nelson side of the Grey District, making the total of the Nelspn Southwest Gold Fields JO, $82. A correspondent p,f the Nelson Eceninq Mail, writing fppm the Baton River on the, 26th January, gives the following acpount pf the progress, of gpld mining at the Karamea : — Scarcely a day now passes without fresh arrivals of men, who are bent upon tryingtheir luck in the neighborhood of the Baton' for the present, and ultimately pushing into the Karamea when the track to the saddle is' finjstyed. In fact, I may safely say that there are upwards of 80 men employed in gold mining, &c, on the Baton and the different gullies in the vicinity at the present time. Several parties who h.?-Ye been here for the past few weeks and have got fairly to work, have, during the late fine weather, succeeded beyond their expectations,, and are now going to work right merrily. Several really n|ce little nuggets, weighing on the average two and a-half pennyweights each, have been fpund quite near to, where the 16 oz. nugget was got. The Baton is now being pretty well prospected, and new ground daily taken up by. the Jate. airJFqJs, but I am inclined to think that as soon as the track to the. saddle is .completed, and stores can be taken to the Karamea without the present great difficulties, the bulk of the men now at work in the neighborhood of the Baton will lose no time in pioceeding to the new ground,. Several parties of 4igg e FS have come in from the Karamea within the past few days. They repor.t that the weather during the time (a month) they we.r.e last put, was yery wet, and that they had only two days' fine weather in which they were able to work. In a severe storm they had twft canoes carried away, and totally lost, " the river, having risen in one night a.t lesst 3Q feet. One party in two, days work made 2 oz. 16 dwts. lam happy to be able to say that the men are aga,in ggne, back without any loss of time, and as the weather appears to be settled for fine, they entertain great hopes of doing something worth while in the next trip. Another thing that causes, innch satisfaction is, that our enterprising storekeepers, Messis Sutcliffe and Son, have promised to put up a store at the Saddle with the least possible delay in order to meet their wants. The last issue to hand qf the Westport Evening Star says : — We have encouraging intelligence from the Caledonian Lead to:day . The fine weather of the past fortnight has. given an impetus to mining operations, which is already productive of handsome results. On the new rush a number of parties bottomed during the past week, and obtained good prospects, whilst others who had previously bottomed have been engaged washing up. Several parties came into town this morning with parcels of gold for sale. Ore parcel of lOOozs., the result of a fortnight's washing, is reported as having been sold at the Union Bank. At the Caledonian a township is being rapidly forme.ij • a street has been marked out, and houses are being rapidly erected. The wet weather somewhat interfered with the attendance at the Theatre on Tuesday eveninj , although the house was moderately well filled. Owing to the indisposition of Mrs Nathan, who ha 4 b<»en announced to appear in two of the pieces set down in the programme, rhe biil had to be departed from aud another programme substituted. The audience, however, lost nothing by the change, as the performance throughout could not have been more amusing or attractive. To say that the young Nathans are the most clever juvenile performers we ever saw, does not convey an adequate idea of their talent. They are not only wonderful, as that term might be applied to children,, but their performances would put many actors of experience to the blush. The comic drama in which little Marion appears as Dr O'Toole, could not be better played than it was on on Tuesday. There is something positively astounding in the acting of this child. She is not like most other precocious children, who are simply able to utter certain words, aud assume certain gesticulatory attitudes, without having the slightest conception of the part they are playing ; little Marion Nathan evidently enters thoroughly into the character she represents. Her drollflcss is natural, and she delivers the language of her part with a full knowledge of its nature and meaning— indeed we can safely say that but fbi her diminutive appearance, one would fancy he was witnessing and listening to an experienced talented actor. Her brogue is inimitable ; her action quite :'n accordance" with the language, and she makes her "points" with as much skill as if she had been on the boards as many years as her age numbers . Miss Julia Nathan, who takes the more sedate business is a clever actress, and exemplifies in a striking degree what careful training; aided by natural genius, can accomplish. Miss Selina Nathan is a very piquant little performer, and in the part of "Nan the Good for Nothing," played splendidly—indeed we may say that this character is peculiarly adapted to her. A young child, as she is, is far more reconcilable to one's ideas of the part than an up-grown woman, and it certainly could not have been better played than it was. The two boys are not only clever actors, but excellent musicians— their cometplaying being a high order of merit. They were very deservedly encored. Mr Chambers, who we believe has greatly aided in the stage education of the young Nathans, very considerably contributed to the success of the performances; his dancing is cleverand graceful—his sailor's 1 hornpipe would assuredly create & furore amongst the blue-jackets;' Mr Small's comic singing is unique in its way, but his abilities as an actor are too well known to require further commendation from us. Last evening the performances were equally successful. • To-night Little Marion appears as Andy Blake.