Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 621, 11 January 1870, Page 2

Cobb and Co.'s coach started for Hokitika yesterday as usual, and reached the Teremakau river, where it waited for two hours and a-half for the Hokitika coach to join, but as that conveyance did not then arrive the passengers had to be brought back to town, We suppose the usual reason is to be given, that the rain had swollen the Kapitea Creek so as to make it impassable. The telegraph line between here and Hokitika was down yesterday, but was repaired in the afternoon, and our messages from the Bluff and Wellington sent through. • A three-mile walking match, for £10 a-side, will take place to-morrow. The competitors are The Ranger and Mr Boden, and the locale is supposed to be Tivoli Gardens. In the Town Hall yesterday, the Magistrate's Court was held, at which Thomas Nelan, charged with having been drunk and incapable, was dismissed with a caution. He was then charged with the wilful destruction of private property of the value of 15s, belonging to Harry Hope, and was fined 5s and ordered to pay the amount of the damage. Henry Morris was charged, on the information of his wife, with making use of threatening langu age. He was bound over to k eep the peace for twelve months, himself in £20, and two sureties of £10 each. Alexander F.tewart supposed to be of unsound mind, was remanded for eight days for medical examination. We hear from Moonlight Creek that the only reefing claims on which work is being done at present are Moonlight, Golden Hill, 1 Early Grey Dawn, and Starlight. In the former of these a large quantity of stone is out, ready to be put through the machine , when crushing is again resumed. Fine gold , is easily seen in the stone, and those at work . on the claim aie confident that it will pay well. It is reported all through the creek . tl^at a large quantity of gold w,as lost during the last crushing, as it was seen by the miners floating down tho stream with, the amalgam. This. i», almost invariably the case with the first starting of new quartz crushing machinery,. In the next claim, the Golden Hill, the men at work have commenced tunnelling in.to, a well-defined reef, running right 1 through the upper portion cf the ground. The ■ tunnel is now in about 10 feet ; at present the men are going through spine yery hajrd

rock. The overseer expects to be well on to the reef, at a depth of 40f fc, in the course of three or four weeks. Some very good specimens from the casing, showing gold plainly, wore brought to town. The stone is prcci <ely similar to that taken from Taff 's reef in the MoonHghtj olaim. Another reef has been struck in the uppqc portion of the Golden Hill ground, and it is believed, on the spot, that every reef in the Moonlight claioi runs into the Golden Hill ground, The company think so muoh of their ground that they have, within the la^few d.ays, put on an extra m.ap (jo thoroughly prospect the claim. The main reef from the. Golden Hijl claim runs into the Sunrise Company's ground, The tunnel in the. Early Grey Dawn claim is, now in about 50ft, They are on a well-.defined reef, and are getting o.i\t plenty c\f stone, but a,s yet gold has not been seen in it ; however, the Manager seems con.fiden.t that it will turn out right yet, We have to acknowledge receipt of a specimen sample of gooseberries from Mr M'Donogh, Saltwater, grown in his garden. They are the best of the kind we have yet seen grown, on. the. West Coajs.t, an.d show what the soil can produce when, properly cultivated, The body of Mr Smallwoqd, who was drowned by the upsetting of a boat a.% Tinjaru, was found on the Bth inst., near the mouth of the Opihij and has been identified.. The overland majl was brought from Hokitika yesterday by the p.s.. Charles Edward, after Cobb's co.acji had made an ineffectual attempt to get through with it. "The glorious uncertainty of the law' (with regard to costs and expenses) was exemplified at the Resident Magistrate's Court, at the Ahaura, on Thu.rs.day last. In the case of the Police v, Fitzgerald, the charge was dismissed without the defendant being called on to make any defence. Detective Lambert then came forward and told the bench that he had been summoned by Mr Fitzgerald to give evidence in his favor, although he told that gentleman that his evidence would be of no use to him, and that he had been detained solely on account of this case, when he had important business elsewhere. He applied for his expenses. The Court ordered the defendant to pay 325. On the other hand, Mr John Watkins, a storekeeper at the Twelve-mile Landing, who was summoned as a witness for the proaucution in the same case, and who gave his evidence, on making a similar application, was allowed only 10s. In the course of the day Mr Lambert gave important evidence in the case Police v. Doolan, besides acting as Clerk to the Bench, in taking the depositions of the witnesses during the hearing of that case, so that it appeal's he had other business at the Ahaura besides giving evidence in Fitzgerald's case. Ten thousand ounces of gold were shipped from Westport during last week. It is reported in Nelson that another rich quartz reef has been found about three miles nearer to Nelson that Nuggetty Creek, in the Wangapeka district. The sugar which we recently mentioned as having been sent to Mr Skey, at Welliugton, for analysis, has been tested and found to contain a considerable quantity of arsenic. The parcel, which was imported from Melbourne by Mr Yates, consisted of 13 large hags (which he retained), aud half a ton (which he sold to Mr Ceinino. ) It is described as No. 2 pieces Victorian Company's sugar, and was procured from David Masterton aud Co., 75, William street, Melbourne. Mr Cemino sold five bags to the Convent, but, as nearly every one who partook of it having become ill, it was returned. February Ist will be the twenty-eighth anuiversary of the settlement of the Province of Nelson. At Napier, a Mr H. Tupper has been committed for trial for making improper overtures to, and kissing, a Mrs Baker. Something new has been introduced into our midst in the shape of two hives of bees, which seem to enjoy their transition from Nelson to the West Coast. They were imported by our enterprising Mayor, and are at present placed iv his garden. They look strong and healthy, and we do not doubt the introduction and reariug of these and similar hives being a perfect success. The last of a row of six good houses which stood at the seaward end of Molesworth street, Westport, has now been removed. Mr Anslow's house has been purchased by Capt. Leech, and taken away ptece-meal. The sea still continues to eiieroach, but it must now go some distance before any more habitations of the living are interfered with. The houses of the dead are not so secure. The body of John Byrne, storekeeper a Duffer's Gully, who was drowned at Lang don's Ferry on Thursday, 30th December, was found on Sunday morn'ng caught on a snag near Stillwater Creek, and brought to town. Yesterday au inquest was held at Gilmer's Hotel, by Mr W. H. Revell, R.M., when the following evidence was given : — Alfred Wagstaff, a musician : Last Thursday week I was returning from the Ahaura races, and when at Langdon's Ferry I saw the deceased John Byrne on horseback. There was a good bit of a fresh in the river, and there were two channels. The boatman called — there were three of us together— to us to ford the first channel to a point where the boat would take us over the second. The deceased appeared to pay no attention to the j boatman, going his own road and in a different direction from where the boat was. We all went into the water together. The other man got across to the point the boatman pointed out, but the deceased's horse was away to the left of where he should have gone, and my horse turned to follow him. Before I got to him the current carried the horse off his feet and down into the main stream, when the horse appeared to roll over, and both horse and man disappeared. Isaw Byrne rise three times, holding on to the bridle, and the stream carrying him down fast. The boat had put off to his assistance then, and as there was a bend in the river that they all went round I could see no more. Next day, when I crossed, they told me they had not got the man, but had got the horse just bjoforc he wa.s drowned, aud^ had cut

the saddle off. I could not identity the deceased. It was between four and five o'clock when the accident occurred. I had not i^dden far with, or spoken to the deceased. He appeared to sit perfectly steady on his horse. — John Devery, a boatman on the Grey River : I knew the deceased John Byrne, hut I cannot identify the body, except by the clothes, as it is too far decomposed. I was speaking to him the day before he was drowqe.il. Coming down the river yesterday morning in our boat, "we kept a lookrou.t for the body, and saw it caught on % snag about 100 yards below the Stillwater Creek, and about half-a-mile or threerquarters from where the accident took place, The body was out of water, except the feet, All his clothes were on except his haj; j his coat was over his head, I identify the body as that of John Byrne by the .clothes,. I took the body into the boat, and brought it to town. I think he was 32 years of age, and a North of Ireland man, — Jamejs Barton, accountant, Bank of New South Wales, : I knew the deceased John Byrne, a storekeeper at Duffer's Gully, Grey River. He was purchasing gold for our Bank, on this occasion with his own money, Since, his death I have received from Sergeant Neville, of the Nelson Police Force, 740z Idwt 6gr of gold, as the property of John Byrne. The value of the gold was L 279 Us 9d, and there is lying to his credit at the Bank L 37 12s sd. I expected deceased down, about th° time of the, accident* 1 think the deceased has a brother on the coast. — Davjd Be>attie, storekeeper to the deceased John Byrne : I have seen the body, but cannot identify it. I can identify the clothes. He left Duffer's on. Thursday, the 30th December, going to Greymouth. He had a parcel of gold with him. I gave him my horse to go to town, and that was the last,,! saw of him.. Next day 1 heard that he had been drowned at Langdou's Ferry. I gave him the watch and chain (now produced) the same morning, and he had a pocket-book similar to the one shown me. I can identify the writing in the pocket-book as that of the deceased. The jury returned a verdict of "accidentally drowned." — Yesterday afternoon, the mortal remains of the deceased were conveyed to the cemetery, and the respect in which he was held was evidenced by the large attendauce at the funeral of all classes of the community. The Westport Times states that the damage caused on the Northern Terraces by Ihe heavy rain of the 29th ult. proves to have been most serious. In Ballarat, Walker's, and German Creek, dams, boxes, and other appliances were smashed and carried away, or dams were filled up with boulders, trees, and debris. In the Orawaiti several large and expensive boxes were carried away. A great amount of injury has also been done to water-races, tramways, and washing sites, both north and south of the Orawaiti. The damage altogether, including wash-dirt, labor, &c, may be estimated at L3OOO, the washdirt lost being probably equal to half the amount. The other day, at the Thames, three or four drunken men, without any provocation, attacked, beat, and kicked an old man, known as " Dusty," so severely that he died shortly after. Stackpole, a publican, has been arrested by Mr Mackay a3 being concerned in the brutal assault. A large sperm whale was driven ashore on the beach last week, between the Little Wanganui river and the Karamea river. It measures in length 48ft, and had the appliances been on the spol early it might have proved a remunerative speculation to have had the oil extracted. Some persons from Westport visited the locality, but they found the monster so far advanced in decomposition as to be comparatively worthless. It is estimated by the initiated as an eight tun whale. A Government Gazette contains the arnouncement that James Wilson, the boy who brought assistance to his mother, mortally wounded at the Matuwhero massacre — the sad story of which is too well known to require repetition — has been awarded an annuity of LSO a year, under the Walsh and others Pension Act, 1869, and leave to select 100 acres of Crown land in the Province of Hawke's Bay, Messrs Robert Wilson, of Turakina, and Nathaniel E. Beamish, of Rangitikei, being appointed trustees to whom the money shall be paid, and who shaH select the land. The attempted bolstering-up of the Thames Gold Field at the expense of the West Coast is thus spoken of by a correspondent of the Otago Daily Times: — Certain influential men, largely iuterested in the Thames gold fields, observing the deductions drawn from the fact of the small quantities of gold exported in proportion to the number of men and amount of capital employed, have hit upon the happy expedient of improving appearances by importing the gold purchased by the Banks on the West Coast (Westlaud), and then exportiug the same to Sydney, the event being chronicled in the daily papers thus : — " s.s. Hero, from Auckland for Sydney, 10,000oz of gold," not revealing the fact that oOOOoz of such shipment have been received from Westland . When it is remembered that this procedure costs the Banks two freights and insurances instead of one, I cannot but conclude that the object sought is to create a false impression of the yield of gold at the Thames. Henceforth the only reliable means of information to the public of the export of gold from this Province will be the Customs returns, as the duty upon all gold shipped from the West Coast must be paid there, before its shipment to Auckland. We state,- on the authority of the Nelson Colonist, " that the vacancy in the Wardenship at Cobden, caused by the resignation of Mr Lowe, is not to be filled up by the appointment of another Warden, but that Mr Broad will fulfil the duties of Warden for the Cobden and Brighton districts, while Dr Giles will do the same for the Buller district and for Cb.irlrston, which, as there is a good road .all thj way between Westport and Charleston, and Cobb's coach runs regularly, will not be a difficult duty. There are not a few who think the head office of the Warden for Grey District and Brighton should be at the Ahaura, which is more central and nearer

to the larger collection of population. The falling off in the revenue of the West Coast, whiph is also accompanied with a reduction in the work, has, we believe, Jed the Go* vernment to take this necessary economical step. " [We very much question whether this will prove tQ be s.O economical a step as our contemporary supposes. It is certainly not a wise one, for the time has fully come whtn a Warden must be appointed for the Upper/ Grey District, paving his b,ead-quarlers at the New Ahaura, and visiting all the mining centres, frequently. It is quite impossible for Mr Broad to take over the whole of Mr Lowe's work and add the Brighton district to it, for at present Mr Lowe's district is too large and his work too. heavy for any man properly %o undertake.}