Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 605, 4 December 1869, Page 2

An extensive rush has been going on up the Ahaura river during this week. There is no foundation for it, beyond the fact of a party of miners (foreigners) having commenced to take up a 'tail-race to some paddocks which they sunk on a ten ace about three miles above Cook and Owen's ferry, and about 10 miles from the junction of the Ah aura and Grey rivers. It is the general opinion that they have obtained payable gold, as tlie party are known to have a knowledge of the ground for some tin.c ; i.i fact, some of them have returned from Vicloria for tho purpose of further prospecting it. • A social gathering iv connection with the Greymouth Pion-er Tent 1.0. R., took place in the Fire. Brigade Hall on Wednesday evening, in connection with the approaching departure of Mr J. Morris, P.C.H., and Mr Christopher Brain lis, a membar. Over, forty members of the Tent and other fri-nds sat down to tea, which was provided by Mr r". Williams, C.B. ; J. Simpson was in the chair. By the aid of short speeches, recitations, and amusements a very pleasant evening was s; ent. Yesterday was Court day at the Greenstone, but Mr Wiirden Keogh was not present, and much inconvenience and loss of both time and money was caused to over twenty .miners and others. Those interested ; in the proceedings waited until 4 p.m., when : the Court was adjourned for a w.uek. : We desire to correct an error appearing in our frout page, iii Mr Hamilton's fare for horses from Ahaura to Cobden. It should be 10s instead of Ll, or 3Us up and down. We should think that Mr Thatcher must have felt, when, he saw the crowded audience he had last night, that he had made a mis. take in having ignored Greymouth until now : — hi*. Volunteer Hall was crowded. The programme owed its chief, attraction of course to the parts set; down for " the inimitable" himself, but the entertainment was. enhanced 1 considerably by the singing of our old friend ithe " Unfortunate Man," and Mr Daniels, a, bass vocalist of good merit. Mr Thatcher, amiibod his audience with several ditties de-; picting the social eccentricities of other; parts of New Zealand, and afforded great gratificacation to his digger listners by ; amusing songs about gold miners and mining, But of course his great hits wore his improvised local songs, of which there were three, and in all ot which he exemplified his pecu-

liar facilities for stringing together in amusing rhyme the many incidents which occur in a small community. He had a "shy" at the Borough Council, criticised the late cricket match, and took liberties with the local authorities. Perhaps his most amusing "local" was that relating to the late case Kent v. Johnstcn. Mr Small was in good vein, and enlisted the sympathies and excited the laughter of his Irish and other friends by his national ditties and comic songs. The " Unfortunate Man" is as irresistible a.a ever, and increasing years seem only to add to his woes. Mr Daniels delivered some sceni : and sentimental songs with great taste and skill. Mr Sala.mpn accompanied in his best style, which is at all times excellent. To-ni^ht there will be an entire change of programme, and new "locals" are announced. An accident occurred an the Ahaura river on Tuesday morning, about 1 0 o'clock, which was near terminating fatally with one of the parties concerned. Messrs Cook and Owens, who had just flushed loading their large canoe at the .Ahaura, were proceeding up the river to their store, and when about halfway the canoe fouled a snag and capsized. The canoe floated down to one of the beaches with one of the men — Dan Wilsher— clinging tn it. When, he reached the shallow water, 1)> some means he got jammed under the bottom of the canoe, and besides being nearly drowned, ha sustained serious and dangerous injuries. The lower pai't of bis abdomen was completely torn to pieces, so that his intestines protruded. Every attention is being paid to the sufferer by Dr Cooke. Besides losing the whole of the valuable cargo, Messrs Cooke and Owens sustained a severe money loss. One of the partners, who was in the canoe, took off his coat so that he could use a paddle. The coat was lost and a pooketbook, which was in one of the pockets, contained cash and cheques to the amount of L 179. We have to acknowledge receipt of a copy of Crerar'a West Coast Almanac and Year Book for 1870. It is a very creditable publication, carefully got up, and contains a mass of valuable information, which will, no doubt, make it a familiar book of reference. r lhe following liat of civil jases was disposed of by the Resident Magistrate on Thursday : — Judgments by default : Hildebrund and Weber v. Sabitie, L 3 7s 6d ; Same v. Morrison, Mitchell, M'Guire, and Caldwell, L 9 16s 4d ; Same v. Faulkner, LlO. Judgments for plaintiff: G. Simmons v. S. A. Winters, L 3 12s ; Sarah Munro v. J. Moffatt, L 2 2s ; Kerr, Keogh, and Co. v. C. Kennedy, L 7 2s (id, judgment confessed ; T. Joyce v. J. Koff— claim of IA 2s Gd ; the defendant did, not appear, and a warrant was ordored to issue for his apprehension. John Hossick v. liyan Bros. — claim of L 5 ; judgment for LI 10s and costs. T. Dennis v. F. Simpson— claim of 100 ; case dismissed, with costs. A serious accident occurred in the Ahaura township on Wcdueslay. Mr L'honias Terry was riding down to the landing, when hi s horse became restive and threw him at the foot of the hill, near Allan's brewery. He was picked up insensible, and carried to Samuel's receiving store. Dr Cooke was sent for, and when he arrived iv about tw.o hours he found that Mr Terry had sustained a fracture of the skull,; immediately above the temple, with an ugly scalp wound across the forehead, together with receiving a severe shaking. Mr Drury rendered valuable assistance to the sufferer previous to. Dr. Cooke's. arriva?. The patient was taken into towu in the evening. An important civil case has been heard in the Supreme Court, Nelson . It is an action for LSOOO damages for slander . The plaintiff was Levin, merchant, Wellington. ; the defendant wa3 Beaumont, shee,i-farmer, formerly in partnership with Mr Tetley. The jury could not agree, and were discharged without a yerdicb. A correspondent at the Hungarian Lead, near Liverpool's*, sends us the following particulars regarding the two principal claitnt there :— The Independent Co. is now in 650 feet, and expect to reach the wash in about three days, with every prospect of payable gold, as the adjoining claim, Messrs O'Brien and Co's, is paying well. The Argus Co.'s t luuell is now in 400 feet, and it is estimated will take three months to reach the wash, having much farther to drive than the adjoining claim, the Independent. Both claims are working night and day, and have been since the tunnella were started. We ai c gla I to learn that a company has been formed for the purpose of bringing in a v ater-race, to supply tha Ahaura township with water and to sluice the banks of the river, which have been proved to contain sufficient gold to pay at least small wages. It is proposed to raise the water, twenty sluice heals, from Orwell Creek, and bring it to a point about 150 feet above the level of the township, This will be ai^expeusi ye and difficult operation, but the uunpauy appear to be determineed to lose no time, for Mr Beaxicharap, C.E., and his assistants are already out taking the levels. The supply of water will be permanent and practically unlimited. In the Ilesi lent Magistrate's Court yesterday, before W. K. ReveJl, Esq., R.M., Mrs Swords was charged with making use of obscene language within hearing of passersby in Gresson street. She denied the charge, but it was fully proved, and she was fined Ll, or one month's imprisonment. We regret to have to add another to the long list of cases of drowning in the Grey viver. This lime the victim is Peter Stewart, a boatman, who has been resident here for over three years; On Thursday he was on hoisebavk tracking a cargo boat over a fall near the Twelve-mile, at a place he had crossed fifty times before in safety ; but the last fresh iv the river must have caused a scour and deepened the crossing place. From the boat it was seen that the water was deep* and the, owner called on the. deceased to stop and get into the boat, but he apparently did not hear, in consequence of the noise caused by the rush of watet over the fall, and continued tracking. Horse and man were seen to be out of their depth, and to he carried

down by the stream. The deceased rose some yards away from the horse, but he got into a sort of whirlpool and sank. The horse swain ashor?, and it wag at first thought that the deceased would also have succeeded in reaching the shore. The boat, although in considerable danger, was brought over tha spot where he was last seen within a few seconds of his sinking, and efforts made to. find the body but in vain. The water was very muddy, so that it could nqt be seen, and poles were usod but without effect. It is probable the body will next b,J heard of on the North Beach. • A whirlwind lately 'passed ove,r Addisou's Flat, uprooting huts, blowing down tents, and smashing everything that came in its way. We are hap.p3 r to, say that there is every prospect of the bi-weekly overland mail service between Hokitika and Christchurch being continued, the General Government having consented to negotiations on the subject being re-.opened, supposing the total cost q£ the service does not exceed the amount voted by the General Assembly. Auckland is apparently to be made the regular destination of the West Goast gold purchased by the Bank of New Zealand. On S.ituiday IGoQo/s were shipped at Westport for Onehunga by the steamer Johu Perm. Mr Walter Montgomery, the tragedian, is now giving a series of readings iv Auckland. Two now mining companies — the Persdvurrnce aud the Masonic — have been starte.l iv jNelsun to work reefs at Collingwood. We notice by the Westport Times that Mr Wylde has been mspectiuy the Waimangaroa quartz reef, and has made an offer to the original shareholders to find the capital to work it on tribute. A miner named ALx. Bell wai brought from Hatter's Terrace, Nelson Greek, by his mate on Thursday night, and given over to the police, supposed to be of unsound mind. He was yesterday morning brought up before the llesident Magistrate. Drs Morice! and Smith stated that they had examined the defendant and found him laboring under delusions They considered that ha was not safe to be at large, but if treated for a few days he might improve. He was remanded for a I week for medical treatment.