UP-RIVER DIGGINGS.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 715, 18 August 1870, Page 2

UP-RIVER DIGGINGS.

[from our own correspondent. ] Ahaura, Aug. 15; . The Government buildings, the new main road, the erection of the hospital, • the bridge across the river, the punt at Moonlight, the sale of land in the township, the laying on of branch lines of telegraphj'&ci, are all "going to be cdm? menced at once." Such are the delusions we have been laboring under - for ever so long, and now we have been suddenly brought to our senses by the announcement that all Government works and improvements iv* the Grey Valley are stopped. The Provincial Engineer's "department" in this part of the country is hbw represented by a solitary individual, who "improves the means of communica- > tion and thereby opens up the country," — vide Mr Greenfield's speech at Napoleon' — by carrying gravel in a tin bucket to fill up the ruts in Smith's contract on the road to Napoleon. There is something' dismally suggestive in the idea of thinking what will become of the country when this man, "the last of his race and kin," is also knocked off. ' The track which is being made to Callagban's Creek, by private enterprise, .w^th promised assistance of the Government, is at a standstill at present. The survey has been made by Mr Coe,' but the : work cannot be gone on with nniil the. plats are approved of— it is a bridle track three and a half miles long — or until some other equally important piece of red- < tapeism is gone through. j The fordat the crossing of the Ahaura River is becoming alarmingly dangerous. There is a snag; in; the fairway of the usual, crossing place, arid; 'accidents' are continually occurring through riders, Unacquainted with the ford, getting foul of it with their horses. A young lady was nearly drowned at this place one day last week. She attempted to cross in company, with several male companions, who should have known the ford better than attempt

to cross it in the state it was in ; her horse got on the snag, she became unseated, and fell into the current. She,, was 3aved with some difficulty by*thos'e who were along with her. Another accident did :iiot occur at the same place on Friday evening, although it was a close shave. A well-known up-country storekeeper came to the river on his way home, and, aB is usual with him, rushed into the stream at the first place he met it." His horse also got foul of the snag, but he luckily stumbled over if with* his nose under water, and his rider seated on his neck jriat behiud his eara. I draw attention to . these accidenta_ for the ' purpose of exposing a piece of the most outrageous villany, and at the same time censuring the authorities for their .unpardonable negligence in- the matter and its consequences. ; The snag, through which these accidents .are constantly occurring, is a trunk of a: tree about forty feet long, lying p'arallell with, the stream, and; in the svyifte,st part of the current. One of its dead branches at the lower end terminating iii ' a small fork used, to stand above water. ' This small fork used to be as certain an indicator of the state . of the ford,, as a barometer is of the state of .the' weather, besides iudicating the position of the snag, \ If the fork could.be well seen above water the ford was perfectly safe, but if it was covered it was .dangerous to attempt to crossy and if it was just visible those who knew the ford well might make the attempt with a knowledge of ; the risk they ran. Some scoundrel, for whom hanging would be too gooda punishment, has sawn the top of the snag off below the water, so that its position cannot be determined duriug the slightest fresh, thus increasing the danger of crossing the river a hundredfold, \ No attempt has been made, as far as is lfnown by the public, to discover arid punish, the perpetrator of this piece of rascality, although it is openly said that he ia -well known; • : ,' ; Although it is not good policy to encourage people to ford a dangerous river like this— especially when the great object to travellers in fording rivers, namely, the saving of time and distance^ is not effected, because in this case there is a safe and efficient ferry, which is at all tiiries available, a few hundred yards lower down "the rive* — still it was the duty of the authorities, as soon as the Outrage had been committed, tb place a. buoy over the snag, or adopt other means, •sujch as the placing in.it an iron rod with a Ismail flag attached, so that travellers boing thus warned could avoid the danger. ... It would be better still to remove' ttie cause of the clanger, . and this could be done by employing one of the cargoboat owners, who would yoke one of his powerful horses to it- and remove it for a few pounds, in fact, I heard one of them say he would " haul it out for ( ariote.'" The new road to Napoleon is now open, and it is not giving the satisfaction it was expected it would do ; its construction has been a loss to the contractors, and it is not likely to be of much benefitto the public. Of the principle on which these contracts are let -generally I will have something to say in my next letter.