Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 581, 7 October 1869, Page 2

We are authorised to contradict a statement contained in a leading article hi the W. G. Times of yesterday, that Mr Lahman drew about Ll2O as honorarium for services in the County Council, " aud any number o pounds per day for committee work. " What Mr Lahman did receive "was LlO3 10s for 69 days' attendance at the Council, and nothiny for committee work or for the month he acted in the Treasury. We shall have to refer to this subject again. On Tuesday afternoon, as Mrs Marshall, ■wife of an up-country storekeeper, was riding to town, her horse stumbled and threw her, breaking her leg. She was placed in a boat and brought to town the same evening. At the close of the sitting of the District Court on Tuesday, Mr Perkins, on behaTf of the legal profession, called attention to the miserable accommodation afforded. There is no Jury Room, or any place in Court for the jury to sit, and the reporters had to give up their corner and mingle with the barristers. A sum of money was voted for additions, but there is yet no appearance of its bi.i.ig expended, and Mr Perkins asked that the Judge would make a recommendation on the subject. His Honor said he could see the want, and would make a recommendation on the subject, although he was afraid it would be like getting blood from a stone. Still, if the criminal sessions were to be held here, the alterations must be made. We hope his Honor will not overlook the matter. There was a curious* scene when the moment for prorogation of the County Council arrived on Friday last. Mr Hoos got up and said he hoped the Council would rescind a resolution it had passed at an early part of the session taking the power of prorogation out of his hands. He said that he had no intention at any time of proroguing against the wishes of the Council, and he considered the resolution imposed an undue and uunecessary restriction upon him which he had not deserved. One effect of it was, continued Mr Hoos, that it prevented his thanking the Council for their services, as was always customary when a Superintendent dismissed his Council. The request of Mr Hoos was' not at all relished by the Council, all but one being opposed to it. Mr Lahman, who had on a previous occasion openly told the Chair-

man that ho hail no confidence in him, again expressed similar views. Mr Harrison objected to the rescinding of the resolution, although any improper use by the Chairman of the power to prorogue at any time could be effectually met by an immediate call of the Council by two thirds of its members. Still he thought it advisable that they should endeavor to divest their proceedings as much as possible of any attempt at aping Parliament. He. could, however, see no objection to the Chairman thanking the members of the Council for their services if he choose to do so, and the bye-law Mr Hops complained of did not in any degree prevent that act of courtesy. When the motion was lost Mr Hoos put the question "that this Council do prorogue," but before it had been carried at once put on his hat and left the chair, but had to come back again, it being remembered that the minutes of the meeting just concluded had not been confirmed. This necessary business having been accomplished, the Chairman prorogued the Council urtil the 10th of January next. We learn from the Lyttelton Times of Sept. 29 that the members of the St. Augustine Lodge of Instruction, presented P.M. Brother C. W. Bishop, with a P.M. jewel last evening, in acknowledgement of past services. The jewel is the workmanship of Messrs Coates and Co., and reflects every credit on that establishment. The presentation was made by Brother Smith, J.W., ami Mr Bishop replied in feeling terms A fatal accident occurred in the Brnnner Coal Mine to a miner named Clarke, on Tuesday night. That afternoon he was in town, and left to take his night shift in the mine. While at work a quantity of coal fell in and buried him. His fellow-workmen set to work and dug him out, but when found he was dead, crushed to death. An inquest was held by Mr Warden Lowe, at Brunnertown yesterday, when a verdict of '-accidental death" was returned. The deceased leaves a wife and five children. During the hearing of a case at the Resi dent Magistrate's Court on Thnwday, at the Ahaura, one of the advocates engaged, flatly accused one of the witnesses of having committed perjury. His Worship dissented in this particular case, but at the saoae time he took occasion to remark that he was satisfied in his own mind that the practice of hard and reckless swearing, to say tne least of it, prevailed to a frightful extent in that Court. Perjury, he said, was aorime which was difficult to bring home to persons accused of it ; and he then gave warning that the first case brought under his notice in which he saw the slightest legal probability of fixing the guilt, he would set the law in motion for the purpose of bringing the offender to justice. Another case, of some importance to travellers, was also partly heard. Mr Black, the owner of the ferry at the Little Grey Junction, charged one of his men with assault and wilful destruction of property. Thedestruction of property consisted in the man chopping the ferryboat into pieces with an axe, or, as counsel in the case described the operation, redu^m" '+■ +" "'"- Hnitestmal " atoiiis7' As there was a coun-ter-charge against Black for assault, both cases were remanded to Cobden . In consequence of this squabble, traffic for footpassengers at the junction is virtually suspended. From the Thames Advertiser of Sept. 2P, we learn that another of those mining accidents -which are becoming so painfully fre" quent on the gold field occurred yesterday to two men who were working in theDeeside Claim, in the neighboroood of Nolan's Claim. The two men— Daniel Morrin and William Paul — who were victims to the accident, were working in a drive in which blasting was necessary. It appears they put in a shot which did not explode, and, after waiting until all danger was supposed to be past, they proceeded to re-drill the hole, Mori in holding the drill and Paul striking. They had not proceeded far, however, with the work until the shot exploded, upsetting Morrin on top of Paul, who by this means almost eccaped uninjured, while Morrin's face, body, arms, and legs were frightfully injured. The poor fellow was at once conveyed to the hospital by his mates, and all the remedies available were applied to relieve his sufferings, notwithstanding which he has been suffering great pain. It is feared Morrin will lose one or both of his eyes, besides which his arms and legs are much mutilated. We are glad to be able to state that a good walking track now exists from Greymouth to the Greenstone via Marsden (Card's Lower Store), on the New River, and as it passes through a country hitherto but little explored, but to which it is probable the attention of miners will be increasingly directed, we think it is worth while to give some description of the route. From Gr< ymouth to Paroa, Kilgour's tramway is : of course, available, and thence to Marsden, Hamilton's tramway, which is now all but completed, affords at present good walking accommodation. By-the-bye, when this very plucky undertaking is completed, no doubt passenger carriages will be put on to run in connection with Kilgonr's. Between Marsden and Pounamu a sft. track was cut for a portion of the way by Mr Rochfort six months ago, and for another portion by the Paroa Road Board more recently. The route adopted was, however somewhat circuitous, and had the further disadvantage of involving about five miles of creek travelling, a pirt of it down the Blackwater being at times dangerous. Mr Cooper, the District Surveyor, has lately, in running a traverse line for survey purposes, cut off the large de'touts, and thus reduced the distance from > ten miles to six and a half miles, making the whole distance from Greymouth to Pounamu seventeen miles. Although this part of the country is of a kind difficult to road, owing to its being scored and furrowed with those : steep ridges and deep gorges so pathetically lamented by Mr Carreras in our columns i some, time ago, yet the line adopted is nearly i level all the way, the only exceptions being s five terraces with heights varying from 80ft. . to 190 ft., and is moreover, in its general * direction, almost a straight line from end to

end. If metalled and benched at the steep pinches, it would make an excellent packtrack, and would afford good facilities for the thorough prospecting of this hitherto neglected piece of country. This, we have no doubt, would not be lost sight of by the Road Board if the state of their finances allowed of their undertaking any new works for some time to come. To give a general description of the route taken, we may remark that one mile from Marsden brings us to No Name Greek, where there was a considerable amount of digging three years ago, though the place has long been deserted till the other day, when a rush took place to the terrace on the south side, extending between No Name and Cement Creeks, from both faces of which tunnels are now being energetically pushed forward. Two miles further the track passes through a pakihi half-a-mile in length, from which, on a clear day, a very fine view is obtained of the Hohonu range, at present sprinkled with snow, and showing three principal peaks, Castle Hill on the left, Mount French in the centre, and Mount Smart on the right . farther to the right is Turiwhati, the abrupt isolated mountain across the Teremakau. This pakihi is like others on the West Coast, covered with spongy peat,, which is always saturated with moisture, although there is a good fall in several directions, and appears in places to rest on the solid reef of hard sandstone. Afterwards the route lies for a mile and a-half from the valley of the left branch of the Blackwater to its junction with the main Blackwater Creek, after crossing which it 'proceeds direct to the Duke of Edinburgh Terrace, one mile further on. The whole journey from Greymouth can be performed by a good walker in five hours comfortably — there can be no difficulty in finding the way, as it has been traversed and pegged. The only possible obstacle would oe the Blackwater, when in high flood there is no means of crossing it save by fording ; but it is not impracticable, except after an unusually heavy rain, and dots not take long to run down The new river at Marsden is spanned by a large tree, by which it can be crossed in all weathers.