Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume VI, Issue 389, 11 July 1868, Page 2

The terms upon which the Brunner Coal Mine will be leased are published in the Nelson papers. They are as follows .-—That the lesßfie shall construct a line of railway from the mine to Cobdeu within two years from the date of lease ; such railway to be of a guage of four feet eight inches and a half. The line of railway to be laid subject to the right of tho Government, or any company with the sanction of the Government, to use the line and connect other railways therewith. That not less than LIOOO shall bo expended during each and every month on tho construction of such railway till it be completed, such expenditure to common uo with tho second month of the term of lease, and to bo certified to the; satisfaction of the

Board. The lease of the land for the line to be co-tenninous with tlio luase of the mine, and therefore entirely dependent upon the fulfilment by thfl lessees of the conditions of the lease of the latter. Lessees to bring to the port at Cobden, during each of the first two years of lease, ten thousand tons of coal ; i tluring the third year, twenty-live thousand tons of c>al ; anil during the fourth and succeeding years, fifty thousand tons of coal. The dead rent to he four shillings an acre, ami the royalty to be one-fiftieth of tho coals raised ; such (iv money value) to be deducted from tho rent of each year ; or if the amount of royalty for any year shall equal or exceed the rent for such year, no rent shall be paid for that year. The lease to be for twenty-one years, and in ease the conditions thereof have been duly fulfilled, the lessees shall be entitled to a renewal thereof for the same term, at double the rents and royalties. Lessees to repay the Government the amount iv full paid to the late company for the iniuing plant, and any additions thereto. The lease to contain all the usual conditions inserted in leases of coal mines. Applicants for a lease of the Brunner Coal Mine shall satisfy tho Wasto LiviJa Board that they have the means to carry out tho conditions thereof. Nothing further was done yesterday by the Road Board with regard to the extension of the Tramway up Mawhera Quay, beyond the reading of. letters and telegrams which had passed between the County Chairman and the Boar.l on the subject. The petitions of the inhabitants for and against the extension have been transmitted to the Government, and the Board await the reply of the Hon. J. A. Bouar to their last resolution, requesting linn to ad vine them as to $ho proper steps to be taken f;>p th« removal of the Tramway Terminus to Boundary street. Meantime the Tramway works are being proceeded with, the rails being now down for some distance. We observe that the permission granted by the Board to Messrs Gird wood and Co. to lay down a staging opposite their premises on the Quay upon which to stack coal, has been acted upon, and the staging laid, but it appears to be right on the track iv which the Tramway will come. How the matter will on:}, seeing that the roadway has been declared private property, and a part of the Kative Reserve, it is cot easy to predict. Mr F. De Carteret Mallet, who for the past three yea's has so ably filled the. post of Clerk of the Bench at the Resident Magistrate's Court, ll>kitika, will shortly remove to Christchurch, having been appointed Clerk I to the Bench in that city, in the room of Mr T. Bain. We are reliably informed that a small rush j has taken place to Borne new ground opened ! up tho Ahaura iiiyer, but the precise locality is not defined. The prospects are said to be good, and a number of men were yesterday on their way from Nel<ion Creek to the new workings. The letter of our Arnould Correspondent, published in another column, gives a very flourishing account of the dig- ] ginga up the New River, aud gives it as his j opinion that the recently-opened Pile Creek contains a defined lead. Eight claims are a 7 ready on payable gold, and a number of ! parties are sinking and driving for the lead". A horse-track is about to be cut to this Creek from the main branch of the New Itiver by those enterprising storekeepers Messrs Card Bros., who yesterday obtained the promise of the Road Board to recommend the Government to grant them protection. Messrs Hohueß and Co. have unexpectedly and without any notice closed the Lyttelton and Christchurch Railway. This summary proces<ling has, at these places, caused great consternation. The mails have been delayed, and if the obstruction continues, export trade will be altogether stopped. The effect will be completely to paralyse all commercial transastioue. At the sitting of the District Court, Hokitika, a juryman named William Costello objected to be sworn, stating that his reason for doing so was th.it he had "no belief." He was immediately challenged on the part of the Crown, and told to stand aside-. The non-believer then applied to the Cuurt to be discharged from attendance, and his Honor replied, " Well, if you have no belief in any- I thing, you are very littlo use here; you can go." Tho disciple of unbelief then left the Court. During tho past week the County Engineer, Mr Rochfort, has been engaged examining the proposed line of road to be constructed by the lload Board to the Arnold Junction, and it is understood that he has reported favorably upon it. Consequently, the tenders for the formation of the road, whii& have bceu delayed until the route was gone over by Mr Rochfort, were opened yesterday, and considered by the Road Board. They were very numerous, and the lowest six were selected aud given over to the District Engineer, with power to choose the tenderer whose terms he should consider the most favorable. There is every probability of the work being speedily proceeded with. The Went Coast Times, of Wednesday, relates the following: — "A sad reminder of the perils which, even when the greatest care is taken, are inseparably connected with the gold digger's occupation, was furnished yesterday morning by two shocking accidents, which occurred almost simultaneously in Jones' Plat (Ross). Tho first sufferer was a man named Theodore Horn, a shareholder in the German Totara Claim. It appears that he was blocking out between two drives, where the ground was full of large boulders, one of which suddenly fell and caught the unfortunate fellow's right leg, breaking both the bones. He was quickly removed to the surfaco and taken to the Hospital, where Dr Zurhorst placed him under tho influence of chloroform, and set tho leg. In this case no danger is apprehended. Hardly had the excitement, occasioned by tluß event, subsided, when the quiet of the Flat was again disturbed by a shout of alarm, that proceeded from another claim known under the name of ' Evcring-

ham's.' A crowd of miners soon assembled on and about the platform of tho shaft, and then it wan ascertained that one of the drives on the hundred foot level had given way, and buried a digger named ' Cornish Tom. The demand for assistance was nobly responded to, and soon seore3* ! *Bf A willing arms were at work to effect his release. A few men went down the shaft to assist those. j below, whilst others prepared timber on the top, word having been passed up that several seta had broken down, and that hours would elapse ere the poor fellow could be dug out. j He was, however, alive, and cmld make I himself understood, his head being just visible above the mass of tiaiber aud mullock that almost filled up the drive, aud but very faint hopes of saving him were entertained, as he complained of being frightfully crushed, aud now and then gave utterance to screams, wrung from him by intense pain. The poor fellow wae not extricated until seven o'clock on the following morning, having been subjected to excruciating agony for nineteen hours, during which relays of diggers worked unceasingly to effect his release. He was immediately removed to the Hospital, where he lingered until noon, and then expired." The "Game Laws" of New Zealand, otherwise called " an Act for the Protection of Certain Animala," contains a clauae to which we direct the attention of our readeru : : — Clause 28 enacts that " any person found trespassing with a gun, or with a dog and gun, shall be deemed to be in pursuit of game, anil subject to the provisions of this Act ;" which means (by clause 27), that any person trespassing on another man's ground, "with a gun" iv pursuit of "game" or "native game" (wood pigeons to wit, or perhaps the simple Kaka, which is neither "game" nor " native game"), shall be liable, on conviction, to a penalty of L2O! what renders this worse is that another clause in the Act (34) offers a premium to informers, who are declared entitled tv onehalf the peualty. Conviction is competent before only one Justice of tho Peace. Mr John Stuart Johnston, barrister, Charleston, who is well known to residents of Dunedin aud other towns in New Zealand, .was arrested t>u Sunday last on a charge of insanity. The unfortunate gentleman, it appears, has bssn behaving himself very strangely of late, and henco his arrest. Within the last few days, Mr Johnston has received intelligence of the death of his father, Mr William Johnston, ex-provost of Dundee, and of his uncle J. S. Johnston, writer to the signet, Edinburgh, and this, combined with other causes, is supposed to have had a prejudicial effect upon his mind.