Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1106, 13 February 1872, Page 2

The hon. Mr Fox, the Premier, is expected here, early to-day. A telegram was received yesterday by the County Chairman stating that, in consequence of the calamity which had befallen Greymouth, he (Mr Fox) would proceed by the coast road, would stay at Brighton last night, and come on early to-day. A mounted trooper from both the Nelson and Westland sides, were sent on yesterday afternoon to escort the Premier, | from Razorback to ton j. During the late flood the powder magazine was washed to sea, and great inconvenience is now experienced for want of a safe, and proper place in which to store the large quantities of blasting powder which must pass through this port to the reefs, and for the harbor works within the next few months. One hundred casks of powder arrived yesterday by the Crest of the Wave, and had to be stored in the dangerous goods shed. It isto.be hoped the Collector of Customs will sec to this matter and endeavor to obtain authority to erect a _ magazine at a srfe distance from the tow a without delay, The first batch of Chinamen, who went up the Grey River' returned to town yesterday, after having been hunted from No Town, and being nearly drowned in the recent; flood. From the quantity of swag underneath which they staggered, suspended from the ends of their long-handled shovels,, they could not have lost much. They were slowly wending their way to the beach, where they will perhaps be avowed to fossick in peace. It will be remembered that during the recent Christmas sports a dispute arose as to the quarter-mile handicap hurdle race. There were four entries; but after the handicap was declared, two -withdrew, and it was held by some that as the published condibiuuo mere " xurut) CDtnyeCTbura Jul* eSCIT event or no prize, " there was no race. The question was referred to tho Australasian, and the reply is as follows: — "The word competitor means runner,' and if only two runners start the prize must be withheld, If you make Buch rules, you must abide by them." We notice that four of. the p.'ncipal hotels in town, namely, Gilmer's, Tonka and Hughes', Flannery's, and Ancher's Commercial have reduced the price of billiards to one shilling a game. No doubt the other hotels will follow suit. . . The Inangahua Herald regrets to learn that since the: flood Mr Patrick Hunt, of Murray Creek, is missing. It was ascertained yesterday morning that a hut and garden belonging to Mr Hunt had been swept away, and no traces of the owner could be fonnd. A search party was organised on Friday afternoon, to see if any traces of him could be found. Ifc is to be sincerely hoped that nothing serious has occurred to him. We regret to state that a portion of Mr William M 'Lean's machinery at Murray Creek has been washed 1 away by the late exceptionally high flood. The Inangahua Herald says !— lt was lying at least twentyfive feet from the usual water-mark, and any one would have imagined in a place of perfect safety. Bui; as it was raining very heavily at daybreak, Mr W. M 'Lean felt anxious, and immediately started down the hill. . On ar. riving at Murray Creek he found it much swollen, but, thinking that the machinery might be in danger, he at once jumped in. The water was nearly four feet deep. He was cautioned by the bystanders against the attempt, and was recommended to permit the machiuery to go to a v«ry warm place. This advice, however, he refused to take, and persevered in his attempt. For a short time all went well, but on coming into contact with a strong undercurrent caused by some snags, he was twice washed off his feet under the snags. He was then compelled to take to the terrace. On arriving at the township at 8 a.m. he was just in time to save two stamper guides, which, being half wood. and half iron, were bobbing up and down on the edge of the bank. The above is an instance of the many and almost insuperable difficulties' that have to be overcome before machinery can be erected in this portion of the Inangahua district, A correspondent 4it^Callaghan's Creek sends us the following acbourit of the recent flood there :— For some time past the cry- in this distriot has been for rain. Water was wanted by the ground sluicers, so that the immense heaps of tailings, which had accumulated might be washed away from their tail-boxes. It was still more needed by those miners in the small gullies who have to depend entirely on showers of rain to wash their dirt, the ground in the vicinity not admitting the possibility of making reservoirs for the storage of wator. When sufficient is to be had .ior washing purposes very good wages can be 1 made, say as high as two pounds a day in the hills about Sullivan's ; but when such rain falls as did last week it occasions great damage, and' the water does not ran for a sufficient length of time thereafter that would enable the minors to clear away the wreck. Wednesday last about noon the rain began falling, to the infinite delight of all,. as night drew on it increased greatly, and ipn Thursday morning Callaghan's Creek was a roaring torrent,', running higher than it had ever been known by. people who have lived here fprl tire .last' five years. Trees, roots <; ldgs r poles, 'sluice- ' boxes i and such matters weje^eihgswept^ down, rather plain evidence that extensive damage to mining property 1 had taken place. The first to be- noticed travelling ud the creek was the flume o&Hawk: and Williams, near Aiken and Magill!s store, the stringers, braces, boxes, : and posts! haying disappeared." Besides this thero was .the minor. affairs of

land slips eveijy here and thereV'fillirig in pr ; carrying away the head-race. A hugebirfih tree fell near to Thompson and Br>dley's\ hut; Bradley at the "time' 'being close 'to ifcj? ; escaped being crushed to a mummy by jumping 'into. a, ditch when he heard the first crack. No^ further harm was done than the splintering of about five lengths of boxes along their flume. Burrell's flume came in for its share of damage, the posts giving way down came the boxes, and it will take several days to repair. But the most serious loss of all was to Gorman and. party, who owned the large dam above Stanley's store. It was built about four years ago, ha\ Ing a breast depth of near fifteen -feet, with a base twenty-five. This last ffloord r * N ma|[(|«shdrt work of it, nothing is now left but a log or two, and a clear shingle bed of the creek, that used previously to be. backed up and covered with water for nearly half a mue up. The proprietors of it, however, are men of the right svrt;,. they. have, already ,niade- a start to repair the damage, arid it is to be hoped they wl 11 be in full working order again in about a month . Their greatest trouble win be to get at a foundation .owing to water. Mr Gorman had but recently bought in at a rather high figure. To sum up the chapter, it is reported that the owners of one or two ground-races had the flood water break into their boxes, arid whatever gold after a three weeks'' washing, might have been therein is entirely lost. Fourteen sharebrokers .have .taken out licenses at Auckland under the Sharebrokers' Act. The licenses amounted to L 350. Three enterprising Auckland farmers- 1 — namely, Messrs J. Bainbiidge, H. Vercoe, arid Robert Bradley; have suffered severe losses by having haystacks (valued from LSO to LIO.O each) burned down. ..;.;.-." : \ During last year the Bank of New Zealand at Auckland refined 300,0000z of gold, from which they obtained 100, OOOoz silver, thereby saving the duty of 2s 6d per ounce on the latter amount— a very considerable saving. • , A new church (St George's) was opened by the Bishop of Auckland at Grahamstown, on Jan. 28. -; A correspondent writ is that no fewer than 63 deaths of children, under two years of age, took place in the City of Auckland, during the month of January. The increase is attributed to the long drought, and the want of a supply of water. I On February sth, an inquest was held at Parnell, Auckland, on the body of John William Harris, who had died from th< effects of morphia. After a deliberation of a few minutes, a verdict Was returned that the deceased had died by taking poison; but whether. with intent to kill himself the juij could not say. The vertlict was virtually ai open one. Deceased was 64 years of age, and was an old and respected settler. An Auckland letter in a Southern papei says :— A house was burnt in. Wakefiel( street last night, the fire being attendee with singular circumstances which are likel; to form the subject' of a lawsuit. The housi was claimed by the Recabites, whose clam was resisted by one of their missionariei 'occupying the house. The Court decidq( in favor of the Beohabites, and the mis sionary threatened to burn the house, whicl was uninsured, He was, the oply occupan at the time pf the fire, and ail the furnitUF had beeri removed. He was arrested, bu c is out on bail. The wind was foifcunateiy ii a safe direction, otherwise the whole sfcreei would have been destroyed. The demand for labor is so great in Can terbury that nearly the whole of the immi grants by the 'Charlotte Gladstone whicl arrived a few days ago were engaged •wlthii o. short time of their arrival. All the s. ; ngl men, single women, and_jnaw«^ nnnpL* "wittiou'c cnirareii, were soon' engaged, an( out of about 150 immigrants landed si: 'families remaining for engagement. Thi following rates of wages were given:— Married couples, L6O per annum and found single men, farm laborers, L4O to I i-5 .ordinary laborers, L 35 to L4O; singl women, domestip, servants, qooks, L3O pei annum ; general servants, L2O to L3O nurses, L 25 ; housemaids, L§Oj nurge girls, Ll3 to Lls, Mr E. ff. Ward, the Registrar of th< Supreme Court at Dunedin, had an almosi miraculous escape from drowning on Satur day afternoon, says' the Daily Tbne'a. H< was riding along the railway embankmen across Pelichet Bay, afc high tide, aad whil< crossing one of the partially planked bridges his horse took fright, jumped clear off th< uarrow roadway, and precipitated itself am its rider headlong into the deep channe beneath. Most fortunately Mr Ward got clear a^yay from the horse without beinc either kicked or bruised, and swam to one o the piles of the bridge, which he climbed uj safe end sound.