THE The Drey River Argus. TUESDAY, JULY 12, 1870.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 699, 12 July 1870, Page 2

THE The Drey River Argus. TUESDAY, JULY 12, 1870.

An important rush took place during 'Sunday night to a leading spur between Callaghan's and Sullivan's Creeks on the Ahaura. The prospectors, Messrs Lemuel M'Nair and party, have been trying the ground in the vicinity for some time. Gold has been struck in a tunnel 14 feet from the face of the terrace, and it is visible in the washdirt all over the face of the drive. It will average half-a-pennyweight to the dish, but better prospects can be obtained near the bottom. The gold has always been patchy in the terraces in this locality, but the bed of the creek was 'very rich formerly. The scene of the creek is about 1A miles from Dr Crooke's crossing on the Ahaura river, and about four miles from the Ahaura township. It can be reached from Hatter's Terrace, Nelson Creek, in fibout four miles, by going over the ranges, but the track is very bad. There are about 40 claims marked off, principally by parties from the Napoleon district, to which place the prospectors' > belong.

Mr Whitefoord, R. M., held an inquest at Old Noble's, on Saturday, 9th inst., on the remains of Mr Charles Mori's little girl, who w&s drowned in the creek near the parents store on the previous Saturday. The body had been buried, but it was exhumed at the request of the Coroner, The jiny, after viewing the body and hearing the evidence, returned a verdict of accidental death by drowning. The remains were re-interred in the presence of the Coroner and a Jarge number of the friends and sympathisers of the bereaved parents.

We have to record another melancholy case of drowning in the Grey River. The victim in this cafe is Joseph Brown, a boatman; He v as rifling the horse towing Mr H. Wick's cargo-boat, i on Sunday last, and about 1 p.m., when the boat was leaving Langdon's, near the ferry, the deceased pushed ahead at the junction where a creek joins the main stream of the Grey River, and was in the act of crossing near a snag, when, through some unexplained cause, the horse was carried off his feet, and the man swept down the river. The two-rope was slack at the time, but it wasat once cut adrift, and the men took to their oars and followed. Brown, who was swimming strong at the time, down the river.

The deceased cried out io Mr Langdor.'s ferrymen "to come on," and they at once launched their dingy, and pushed off with some boards for oars ; but neither of the boats were able to come up with the drowning man before he sank. He was seen to throw up his arms and then disappear. Every possible expedition was made by the crew of the cargo-boat, and also by Mr Langdon's boat, but without avail. Search has since been made, but the body of the deceased has not yet been found. The horse was also drowned, and, as it was one of the most valuable animals employed towing on the river, the loss falls heavily upon Mr Wick ; but the loss of another life is far more to be regretted. The Otago Daily Times regrets to learn that the Shotover dredge was carried away and totally lost during the late high floods in that river. The loss of the projectors is estimated at about L6OO. We learn that Mr Francis Harris, SubTreasurer at Westport, has been appointed Secretary to the Commission for enquiring into the advisability of annexing the Grey District to the Province of Nelson, and will arrive here to-day by the Kennedy. Mr Hodgson and Dr Giles, the members of the Commission, are expected by the same steamer. The 3d "nobbier" experiment at Waipori, Otago, has apparently proved a failure, the publicans having returned to their old charge of 6d. The arrival of two coal laden vessels at Oamaru from Newcastle, has freed the inhabitants of the former town from an awkward predicament, as the majority of them were previously "without a lump of coal' or a stick of firewood." There are rumors of a rush being about to take place in the vicinity of the Ahaura, during this or the ensuing week. Some of men Avho have been working on the Napoleon road have been out prospecting, and, it is said, two different parties have struck good gold in the ranges between the Ahaura and Napoleon. This information must be received with caution, for reports of alleged rushes in the neighborhood of the Ahaura have been rife lately. Some of these reports were without the slightest foundation. Intelligence has reached us of the discuvery of a new reef, situate between Christmas Terrace and the Waimangaroa. Specimens have been lodged at one of the banks in Westport. On the 17ch of last month one of a party of prospectors, named Charles Musselbrook, while crossing a lagoon on the Waikupuka slipped in a hole and was drowned, his two mates being unable to save him. Some exceedingly rich specimens of quartz were brought to Westport last week from the old Waimangaroa reef, now being worked by the Enterprise Quartz Mining Company. Limited. The working shareholders have gone to work with a will, and are in great hopes of having a . crushing withiu three or four months.

Mr E. A. Drury met with a serious accident on Saturday last. He was returning to the Ahaura from Napoleon after attending the Courts there, and when riding across the plain at the back of Mulvay's farm, his horse's hoof struck against one of the large boulders, with which the ground is studded. The animal fell on its knees, causing the rider^to take an involuntary somersault over its head. Mr Drury fell heavily, but he fortunately escaped with a severe shaking and a slight cut in the head. The installation of the officers of the Greymouth Lodge of Freemasons takes place to-day at 3 p.m. In the evening there will be a banquet at Gilmer's Hall. John White, a miner, has been arrested at Nelson, charged with perjury at Westport. A testimonial 19 being got up iv Westport by some friends of Reuben Waite, the wellknown pioneer of the Nelson Gold Fields.

The Masonic brethren in Westport are having a neat head-stone erected, and a fence placed round the grave of the late W. H. Ratcliffe.

Good reports continue to come in from the new quartz discovery at Murray Creek, over the Saddle. Cooney and party, who obtained a prospecting claim on this reef, had their certificate cancelled by the Warden at the Court at the Ahaura on the 7th inst. It was alleged that the certificate had been obtained by misrepresentation, and that Cooney's party, instead of marking out a claim in entirely new and unoccupied around, had, when they marked off the prospecting area for which they obtained the certificate, jumped a portion of an adjoining claim. Specimens of stone from the reef have been shown at the Ahaura during last week. The stone is solid and hard, of a whitish blue color, and very fine brightened gold can be seen all through it. At present the fords in the Upper Inangahua river are very dangerous, as they change during every flood, but it is the intention of our mining reporter to visit the reef as soon as the rivers and creeks permit travelling with any kind of safety.

The following are the telegraph extensions which the Government propose making out of the LOO, 000, which is proposed to be devoted for that purpose out of the loan : — Invercargill to Riverton, 20 miles.; Naseby line, 40 miles ; Port Chalmers to Otago heads, 10 miles ; third wire from Dunedin to Christchurch, 250 miles; second wire from Christchurch to Hokitika, 180 miles ; Lyttelton to Godley head, 6 miles ; Akaroa line, 40 miles; branch line to Wairaii, 40 miles; town of Nelson to port, 1£ miles; Wellington to Pencarrow via Hutt, 20 miles ; Patea to Taranaki, 100 miles ; Tauranga to Thames, 100 miles ; second wire to Thames via Tauranga, 300 miles ; Gnebunga to Manukau, 20 miles ; Auckland to Kaiapara, Wangarei, and Bay of Islands, 200 miles. It is also proposed to purchase the Otago Provincial line. The majority of the back streets ate about to be formed, with metalled roadways and footpaths, by the liberality of the Mayor, who has volunteered to take the Borough Council's bill at a long date, and advance the cash to the contractors in the meantime. This practical manner of showing public spirit should not be forgotten when next election times comes round. A man named John Gribble was drowned in an old paddock at the Big Beach, Shotover, Otago, on the 25th ult. The river was flooded at the time, and it appears that he and Lorenzo Home, a mate of his, were going to secure a boat belonging to their party, and on their way they stepped into the paddock, which was about twenty feet deep, and full of water. Gribble disappeared, but Home, after some time, was resoued by some Chinese, who, by means of a long pole, drew him to the bank. The following very good story is told by I the man "Under the Verandah," in the Melbourne Leader :'— " The good nature and easiness of bank managers is so universally believed in, that anything derogating from ' these imputed qualifications might reasonably enough be regarded with mild incredulity. Sometimes, however, the applicant for a temporary accommodation—five hundred or so for a couple of months— finds there are limits even to managerial complaisance. The manager of a mining company lately applied to a bank manager for an advance to carry on the woVks of his company to the profityielding stage. In evidence of the security of the transaction, a sample bottle containing some ounces of course gold was displayed, and the collateral circumstances being satisfactory, the, loan was made. A few days

Later another mining manager went to the . same banker and preferred a request for an i advance in his company. Negotiations -pro- ' ceeded until at a critical stage mining mana- J : ger No. 2 produced a bottle of course gold. i. < Eyeing it curiously, recognition flashed across the banker's brain. "1 think, Mr , I have seen that sample of gold before, as having come from the claim of the company," naming the concern to which he had already made an advance. Nothing abashed (as indeed a mining man never ought to be), manager No. 2 accepted the position and made the most of it. "Oh, yes; the gold did co.ne from such-and-such a claim, and not from ours, but when we are on the course of the same, and expect to be in washdirt in a few months !" The banker didn't see his way to that advance. There was a big block of golden quartz in a former ban- . ker's office which did service so long that it had at length to be exported to the Thames gold field. " Mon Dieu ! Monsieur Tonson again," exclaimed an intending applicant the last time this useful sample did duty in town. The portion of the road to Napoleon from the Ahaura, for which Mr Smith had the contract, was passed by the road overseer last week. Up to Saturday evening, in consequence of the non-arrival of the necessary authority from Nelson, the contractor was unable to obtain the Government subsidy, and therefore unable to settle up with his workmen. Much inconvenience has been caused by this, and in consequence of the recent bad weather the men were only able to work occasionally, they were therefore "living from hand to mouth," and if they have to hang about waiting for the balance of their wages, whatever money is due to them will be eaten up in forced idleness. This may seem a trivial matter to the authorities at Nelson " Avho sit at home at ease," but it bears a different aspect to poor men waiting for hard earned money. What are the telegraph and banks for ? Could not the Government make use of both to meet an emergency of this sort ? The Taranaki Herald says : — " Tattooing is all the rage here. All the Maori ladies who wish to please their lords are getting their lips and chins disfigured, and the artist is doing a roaring trade. The price is 30s, complete in three operations at 10s each, so if any of yonr readers wish to be operated upon, the artist is at home at Te Namu from six to six daily, Sundays not excepted. ' We have to acknowledge receipt of the first number of "the Lantern," a weekly critical journal, published in Hokitika, as a successor to "the TomaMwk" We wish the new aspiriant to liter vry honours long life and prosperity. A miner named Morgan has been seriously hurt by a fall of earth in a claim at Candlelight, near Charleston. On Saturday about a chain of the landing stage of the wharf gave way and and slid down the bank into the river. The accident was caused by the weight of the ballast for the barque Kate Conley, which was lying ready to be shipped, and also by the careless manner in which the wharf was originally built. The break will have to be made good by the Corporation, but, we think, the best thing they can do is, to carry the breastwork right through, and deck it over for a wharf ; and thereby remove any obstruction which may now exist to the natural course of the river. No doubt, the subject will again be discussed in the Borough Council on Friday evening. The settlers in the Tuakitoto and Kaitangata districts, Otago, having long suffered from the overflowing of the lakes of those names, are about to hold a public meeting to consider what steps should be taken to put a stop to this evils. The Kaitangata lake, in particular, has been very high of late, and has overflowed a large extent of land. Old settlers in the district state that the quantity of rain which has fallen in the district this winter within their experience. As a natural consequence the roads, both on Inch Clutha and the mainland, are said to be "in an awful state," their condition being "truly deplorable. " The hut of a man "named Duncan M 'Farlane, situated on Manuka Island, about six miles from Balclutha, Otago, was recently burned down. It is in contemplation to hold a public meeting next week, in Dunedin, to consider the propriety of establishing a co-operative store there. During the month pf June, two boys were admitted into the Otago Benevolent Institution, and one boy and one girl were discharged. Out-door relief was afforded during the same period to 10 old or sickly men, 55 women, and 141 children, making a total of 206 persons. Last night, there was a good turn-out of the members of the Volunteer Fire Brigade. There was a muster of twenty-seven members on parade, and an excellent practice on three different systems. The inhabitants of Callaghan's Creek on the Ahaura have set an example which the people residing in similarly situated localities would do well to follow. Finding that the Government were not likely to make a track to reach this important place, the people have subscribed L3l among themselves for the purpose of having a track constructed from the Ahaura to the Old Township on the Creek. The subscription list was brought tothe .Ahaura, when it wa3 supplemented by an additional LSO by the business people of the Ahaura township. If the Government further supplement this by giving anaddi-, tional L 2 for every LI already subscribed, a good track can be made for the amount available.

A boy named James Scott, son of Mr Scott, baker, Crdmwell, Otago, was drowned at about five o'clock on the evening of the 25th ultimo, in the Molyneux, near the Cromwell Bridge. It seems that the deceased, in company with three other boys, while catching the drift wood swept down the river, which was then in a state of flood, fell into the water, and was almost immediately caught in an eddy and disappeared.

Situations appear to be very scarce in Tasmania. The Launceston and Western Railway Company, who have just been making their appointments of clerks, &c, received about three hundred applications for eighteen vacancies ; while for the Public Librarianship of Hobart Town, to which a salary; of LIOO is attached, thirty-six applications were sent in. ;■■. At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, before W. H. Revell, Esq., R.M., John M'Ginty, of Maori Creek, Eight-mile, was charged on the information of Sergt. H. Boyle, with selling, or permitting spirituous liquors to be sold, on his premises, on .the 27th June. (The defendant was apparently under the influence of liquor, and when crossexamining the' witnesses familiarly sat on barrister's table.) The sergeant stated that he saw two ; men in the defendant's house. Defendant was not present, and wituess saw no liquor served or money pass. John Perron stated that on the date mentioned he had 'two glasses of liquor in the defendant's house. The defendant was not present, his wife served the liquor. Alexander Paton was also present on the occasion. He said that there was a birth in the house, and the' defendant's wife put down a bottle on the table and asked : them to help themselves. In answer to the defendant the witness: said he had' known him for five years, and never knew him to take a shilling for grog from any man. The place was formerly a store and public-house, but 'was now ,the defendant's private house.--..

Alex. M 'Fa dyn and George Beswick, miners, admitted having one glass of grog in the house referred tc, but they paid no money ; it was a shout for the birth of a child. They could not say whether "the missus," who served the liquor, was the defendant's wife or not. The defendant now denied ever having taken a shilling from a digger for grog. The Magistrate considered the case proved, and fined the defendant L 5, with costs of Court, and L 6 12s expenses of witnesses. — There was a charge against Ellen Kennedy of keeping and exposing liquor for sale without a license; but, on the application of the police, it was adjourned to Thursday next. Mr D. S. Melville, late manager of the Union Bank at Invercargill, has been appointed manager of the branch at Napier, and Mr Jamieson, of Auckland, will succeed him. Fort Britomart, Auckland harbor, is being rapidly cleared of the wooden buildings which formerly covered it in every direction. What is now to be done with the barracks is a question for the authorities to decide. The Otago St. Patrick's Society purpose giving a concert and ball in Sb. Georgs Hall, Dunedin, iv aid of the Society's Band Fund. As an instance of the large interests entrusted to some mining managers, we may state that we have it on reliable authority that one mining manager in Auckland has collected calls and distributed dividends' since the discovery of the Thames gold field, to the amount of LIOO.OOO. He is, of course, manager of several good dividend-paying claims. A man named Peter Brady died somewhat suddenly in Chancery street, Auckland, on Sunday morning week. As the deceased, however, had been ailing, on and off, for some little time past, an inquest was not held upon the remains. The Otago Daily Times states that about four p.m. on Saturday a man rode a draught horse into the Bay at the foot of Water street, in order to divest it of the mud with which it was covered. The horse had just been unyoked, but the harness was left upon it. The tide wa3 pretty high at the time, and when about twenty yards from the beach, and in about four feet of water, its legs became entangled in the harnes, and after some ineffectual struggles to free itself, both horse and rider disappeared. They again rose and sank several times, the horse rolling over its rider while under water. The man at last managed to get clear of the horse, which was floating motionless on the water, and with the help of thoae who rushed to the beach, succeeded in pulling, the animal to land, where it quickly recovered itself. Had the man not been able to free himself as he did, it is very probable that both he and the horse would have been drowned. From a Wellington correspondent we learn that the farce of trying the Maori prisoners for high treason was going on day after day at enormous expense. Despite all the tronble taken during the last few months to make them presentable, more than half of. them are decrepit old cripples ; many are unable to hobble Into court by themselves, and against some the Attorney-General has withdrawn the indictments, they are so manifestly in their dotage, and on the threshold of the grave. Some are so old and infirm that the Judge is puzzled what to do with them. When they see othprs say yes to the question whether they are guilty, they, after nudging and prompting, do the same ; but they evidently don't know what is meant, and so the Judge has had to order pleas of not guilty to be entered for them, and long trials gone on with, some two days long, while the wretched prisoners themselves have not the remotest idea what it is all about. Despite Mr Fox's and Mr Gisborne's assertions that the prisoners are fine strapping warriors, you will see that the Independent, Government organ though it be, has had to tell a little of the trath about the appearance of these prisoners. A few days ago, at Waimera, Auckland, four boys started from Mr Meal's for a day's amusement into the bush, having one gun with them. On their way home, and within a quarter of a mile of Mr Meal's house, they commenced amusing themselves by jumping over a large rata log. Young Meal, to whom the gun belonged, leaving this weapon resting against the log with the hammer down, and continued occupying himself aloug with ihe other three, until apparently it was time to think about going home. Then he stood upon the top of the log, and, reaching over, seized., the gun by the barrel, and, in drawing it towards him, the hammer must have caughtin something, or might have struck against the tree. However it went off, and the of shot entering his light side, caused almost instantaneous death, for the poor fellow only spoke twice, saying— "Bob, I'm shot," each time, and, staggering from the log, expiring within four or five paces from where he received his fatal wound. On the principle that a joke well told cannot be told too often, we ( Wellington Advertiser) recite a few made by some honorable members when the House was in Committee, on the Regulation of Elections Bill. As an objection 4 to hustings nominations, Mr Graham, of Oamaru, stated that it often happened that a young politician got flurried by questipns put on the Bpur of the moment at nominations, and he instanced a case in point where an elector insisted that a qnestion,he was.about to put should be answered direct by the candidate, yes or no. Thinking it was one of great importance as affecting the welfare of the country, perhaps, he reluctantly .consented, when the elector asked, " What did you do to your washerwoman?" The first feelings of agitation-^---mixed with those of indignation— coupled with the success of the joke, so fairly bewildered the candidate that he had to beat a hasty retreat, and resigned the contest. As an exemplification of the fact that persons who are unable to read were liable to vote diametrically opposite to their intention, Mr Haughton remembered a case in Victoria where three hundred Mongolians, having been brought to the polling-booth for the purpose of returning a particular individual, the head man got hold of a ballotticket the wrong way up, and instructed his fellow-countrymen to strike off the two top \ names, consequently they succeeded _in returning the wrong man. A clause in the Bill proposed the use of pencils for striking out the names of candidates, and on a member proposing the use of colored pencils on the score of increased legibility, Mr Haughr ton interposed an objection that the electors, I in a conscientious discharge of their patriotic duties, might walk them off. Mr Haughton, on being asked if he had read the Bill,'"' laconically replied that he never read Bilk. Thi3; is quite opposite, to the practice of a late member, Mr BarfF, who never considered he had done his duty to his country until he had read every Act in the statute book froni the "Dieu et mon Droit " in the coat of arms on the front page to the imprint on the last. Another clause made provision for the appointment of returning officers by Superintendents for- their own election. Mr Haughton said if he ever managed to get in on those terms, he would promise them faithfully they would never get him out again. Mr Hall said it would be dangerous to leave electois with the ballot-box in a private room by themselves, because they could fish out the papers by the use of bird, lime. Mr Haughton pointed out that if a candidate objected to a shower of dead cats at an : :open nomination, he might, even under the present system, abstract himself from "the civilities of the election."