Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1127, 8 March 1872, Page 2

We have to acknowledge the receipt from the County Chairman of copies of all the Wardens' reports in Westland, for the six months ending the 31st December last. Today we publish the reports from the Wardens in the Grey, Greenstone, Stafford, and Waimea Districts, and we may give the others should they, on perusal, prove sufficiently interesting. At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, before W. H. Reyell, Esq. R.M., James Glenden, charged with drunkenness, was discharged with a caution.— James Hotto, charged with lunacy, was remanded for a week for medical treatment;. — Thomas Fallam, on a similar charge, was sent to the Nelson Lunatic Asylum. — Donald M 'Lean, for an offence against the Municipal byelaws, by allowing a number of hides and skins to remain in a store in Waite street, was fined £5 and costs. The only civil case — Curator of Intestate Estates v. Jane Anderson—was adjourned for a week. An offer was made by Mr John Molioy, storekeeper, at Paddy'sK-killy, No Town, to Mr Warden Whitefoofd, at Camptown, on Wednesday, 7th instant, to cut a horse-track 15ft wide, from the junction of No Town and Paddy's Creeks to the Lake Brunner diggings. Mr Molioy offers to pay one-third of the cost of making the track if the Nelson Government would pay the other two-thirds. The Warden requested Mr Molioy to make a formal application in writing, and it would be forwarded to the proper quarter for consideration. The want of a track is badly felt in that district, and itus to be hoped that (the Nelson Government will at once take advantage of Mr Molloy's offer. Some days ago we mentioned that a new. quartz discovery had been made near Larry's Creek, lnangahua. Since then two prospecting claims have been applied for at Larry's Creek, distant, by the only present available route, about nineteen miles from Reefton. Both applications are for the same line of reef, At noon on Thursday, Joseph Potter, Thomas Bateman, Robert Oxley, Richard Sloan, and Donald Ross made application for a prospecting claim of six men's ground, and a few hours later a similar application for three men's ground, was made by Fred. Jennings, W. Kennedy, and Samuel Smith. The rival claims of the various applicants will be decided at an early sitting of the Warden's Court. The locality of this newly discovered reef is described as being eight miles up Larry's Creek, and on the south side of the stream. The reef as at present laid bare is nearly three feet in thickness, and of a brown, blueish tinge. The gold is coarser than the general average of the reefs ill the dissric£, and the stone is, without exaggeration, wonderfuijy rich. 3 The sum of -£100 has been offered for a half share in No 1 south, Larry's Creek. At the recent rush to Painkiller Crepk, lnangahua, but few men remain on the ground, owing to nearly all the ground being m dispute. There are fifty-one claimants for Claims No 1 north and No 1 south. Mr Walker, of Auckland, has accepted Mr Christie's challenge to fire" in Otago for £1000. " . "... , ---_-■-. Eighw hundred and forty-two tons of tailings from . the Caledonian mine were recently sold at auction at ft om 19s to 30s per ton. Under the head " the Lytteiton Times says :— " A navvy on the Southern Railway extension has declined to work there any longer, on the ground that the scenety is so very uninteresting." The Nevada sailed from Auckland with 80 passengers, and a full cargo, shutting out a quantity of flax. Mr Frederick Heskett, surveyor, of Auckland, was found drowned in a small waterho.le. Ho was subject to fits, and it is supposed that when seized by one he fell in. The Dunedin Star of the 2Jth ult says :~ " The Government has paid tocday the first claim made in Otago on a life policy. There was little or no trouble t in, the matter, and no delay. The documents necessary to establish the claim were handed in two or three days ago, and the money was paid to the trustees of the deceased|this morning." The Wanrjanui Herald, referring to Mr Fox's tour, says he is engaged in " making any number of promises which he will never fulfil." A public meeting, convened by the Mayor of Hokitika in compliance with a requisition, was to be held last evening, "to take into consideration the best. means of carrying out the annual Easter sports." At Ross, on Tuesday afternoon, a child toddling in Aylmer street got between the logs of the leading horse of Mr Murphy's dray, and was knocked down by the shaft horse, when the driver was able to stop his team, and the child escaped, veiy little hurt. At the annual meeting of the Ross Fire Brigade on Tuesday evening, the following officers were appointed : — Vivian, captain ; Malf roy, lieutenant ; Morton, hose officer ; Falvey, apparatus officer : Parkes, King, and Bradshaw; executive committee ; Kater, treasurer ; Ridings, . secretary. Lieutenant Falvey retired, as he., feared his duties as a riflft volunteer might prevent his appearing with the brigade on show occasions. Litigation must be rampant at Tnangahua, aud the Warden will have his hands full for some time to come. On this subject the Herald says : — " The crop of litigation which the old and almost daily developing new reefs is causing, suggest the absolute necessity of providing at once a Court of Appeal. Now, with every possible respect for the wisdom and discretion of our Wardens, we do think that an authoritative ruling upon many points would be most desirable. The interests at stake are yery large, and very much depends upon .certainty and uniformity of decision ya. almost every point which arises. Under present conditions it were absurd to expect any party to incur the .costs of an appeal to Westport— the nearest sitting of the District Court. To say nothing of the loss of time, the mere cost of travelling would be a bar to the prosecution of an appeal, no matter how convinced parties might be of the correctness of their contention. We believe his Honor Judge Harvey is quite prepared to. hold sittings here if the necessary proclamation by the Governor is made. " An attempt is being made to w.ojrk a seam of coal discovered at, Whangarei. The coaj seems to be of excellent quality, and the trials have most satisfactory. The existence of this seam has been known now for some few years, but the owners of the property have not been able to work it, as the road is a bad one from the water side to the seam Where firßt struck it was about 24ft wide' but, as followed in a short distance, it ha' increased to 4ft, and is still widening. Th* road, is about -fly? milejj Jogg from wher fi

there is 18ft of water for vessels' to come up alongside. Unfortunately, there is a ridge of hills between the find and the sea, over which the coal would have to be brought. A gentleman (Mr Bedding ton) has been engaged for the past few months boring for the seam on the seaward side of the ridge mentioned, but hitherto without success. The Town Clerk of Queenston, Otago, laid an information against Mr T. L. Shepherd, for using in Eichardt's reading room abusive language, calculated to provoke a breach of. the peace. The information was dismissed after a lengthened hearing. The cause was a correspondent's letter in the Cromwell Argus. We very much regret having to record the death of Mr Alexander Buchanan, foreman carpenter on the Canterbury Railways. It was only last week that Mr Buchanan followed his wife to the grave, and we hear that four orphans are left to mourn the loss of their parents. There has been an edifying squabble in Marlborough over the recent election. The Express, tne organ of the successful candidate, thus falls foul of its contemporary :— "The Neios of Thursday last has taken another step in journalistic degradation, and not only pollutes its pages with the most unblushing falsehoods, but seeks in the meanest and most cowardly manner to insult and annoy members of our staff by low and scurrilous ridicule; the last resource of a weak mind, envious of the talent and outspoken manliness it has not the power to emulate. The falsehoods contained in the News are so mixed up with self laudation and ignorant egotism, that we scarcely know whether to despise him as a base perverter of the truth, or to pity him as an imbecile." A petition, is being prepared by the.sawyers in the neighborhood of Reefton, for presentation to Mr Warden Broad, setting forth their objections to the grant of two agricul-. tural leases of ,200 acres each to Mr Graham and MrM'Leod, who are about erecting saw mills, and praying that tie leases may not be recommended. They set forth that the leases in question would embrace all the timber suitable for building purposes within a mile of the township, and that they would dispossess no fewer than ten holders of sawpits, who are now working within the boundaries of the leases. The chief objection, we think, to the application referred to consists in the fact of the areas being too near the site of the township, But this difficulty might be got over by the issue of bush licenses, as in the County of Westland, enabling the holders to cut timber on any unoccupied Crown lands, outside the township. So far as the sawyers signing the petition are concerned, we question whether their view of the case will meet with general appreciation. The immediate result of sawmills being established will be to reduce the price of sawn timber to nearly half the current rate, and a saving of such importance to the public is something more essential than the inconvenience of a small class oJ the community. Whether this saving car be equally well brought about by refusing the lease is another question. A writer on "experience in quartz-reef ing," in an Otago paper says :— " With the exception of beggars in Dublin, I know no class of men, as a rule, possessed, of so muct 'cheek ' as the mining population generally. From having turned their attention during their stay in the Colony to so many pursuits — from gold-washing to sheep-washing, wood-cutting and corn-cutting, cooking and bullock-driving — every man you meet will be impressed with the idea of the extent oi his kno\vledge ? and stating his ability to open in a. legitimate manner a quartg claim, and superintend the manipulation of the ore from its exodus from the stone to its delivery ai the assay office. There is a great safety ir this common vaunt, you will remember, as not one man in ten thousand is qualified tc be a judge of the value of the performancce, TVlieu c* mail- olcrbco— Mint— lao-ocra--write~tlK Queen's English, understand the multiplication table, can eat three pounds of beefsteak for breakfast, and drink two quarts oi whiskey without getting • tight,' he gives you a simple test whereby to ensure his ability to perform his boast; but when ht tells you he knows anything about quartz, regard his statements with grave suspicion, Our most highly-cultured quartz-reefers and mining engineers are very doubtful on reefing matters, and only the obtuse, ignorant, and pig-headed of our species ever offer anything like positive opinions. This hesitancy among the cultured arises from two causes : the limited nature of our reefing experiencej and the different conditions under which ore is found in different localities Were uniformity a condition of auriferous deposits, South America would help us with several centuries' "experience : but what is taken as an axiom in one country "has to bg "unlearned and modified, or often' ignored, in another. Perhaps twenty men in this locality havt some slight experience in reefing inatterSj and as such are the least heard of, the leasf obtrusive, and the least known on the hill An ass is always heard a long distance by his bray." The following is from the Dunedin Evening Star of February 24 :— " The Jessie Readman, now in port, from London, has on board, addressed to the Colonial Secretary, foi the Clutha Railway, 250 tons of rails, 5 tons of spikes, 6 tons of bolts, 50 packages signals, in all about 270 tons. On board the Margaret Galbraitb, from Glasgow, 152 tons of rails, and 7 tons of spikes and bolts were shipped. By the Warwick, the next vessel on the berth for Otago, 156 tons rails, and 52 tons of bolts, switches, and crossings have been shipped. This will complete the qrders given for the permanent way. The rolling stock, for which contracts have been entered into, are two locomotives, four passenger carriages, two break vans, and two waggons, with cranes, turn-tables, and other necessary stationary plant. The "engines were agreed for with Messrs Neilson and Co., of Glasgow, and the carriages with the Ashbury Railway Carriage Company. The rails were contracted for witli tile Darlington Iron Company, and most of the stationary plant with Messrs Cowan, Sheldon, and Co. The first order was for eleven miles of rails, and the second for seven miles. The whole of the work tendered for is, expected by this time to be completed.?' A complimentary dinner was given at Lytteiton, at the Colonists Hall, to the winning crew in the late interprovincial boat race. Shortly after the toast of the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Royal Family had been given, an accident occurred which at one time threatened to end in a very serious manner. One of the large kerosene lamps on one of the tables by some means was upset, and fell on the floor, the lamp bursting in the faU. and the kerosene catphing fire, the flames ascending 'to a great height, threatening to catch the building. Mr Richardson, wl^o was sitting at the table, together with others, immediately took means to prevent the cloths,' &c, from catching iire, and ultimately a fire extinguishing apparatus, in the shape of a machiuo known as "L'Extincteur," which gcner.itcg a kind of gas, was brought into play and soon put the flames out. This machine, whioh arrived only recently by the Harvest iiome, was procured by the, uolq. nists' Society, mainly o,wmg to the recommendation of Dr. Campbell, who foresaw that in a town like Lytteiton, with a scarcity of water, it would be most useful, and the committee therefore determined to send for it, and its use on this evening undoubtedly saved the whole building from being deI'stroyed, as had it. not been for the machine the flames would soon, have obtained com-

plete mastery over the;. efforts of thpse present, as there was no :^ water within their reach. After a . few moments of confusion, however, tbe flames were got under, aud the company returned to'their seats. '■'. The . Luna is to bring to Wellington 150 Maori prisoners at present in gaol at Dunedin. Captain Edwin, of the. Marine Department, ' goes in her for the purpose of surveying and ■ buoying the rock upon which the Ahuriri struck. " ]. ' The following series of accidents is reported bj the Lytteiton Times, oi the 4th inst :— " A serious accident occurred on Saturday morning to a man named Richard Walker, who is a recent arrival in the province." He was employed as smith at the works of Messrs Duncan and Co, Cashel at-eet, and whilst shoeing a hoi se it kicked him in the face,' inflicting a frightful wound. The nose was broken, the mouth frightfully cut, and . it is feared that the unfortunate man will lose the sight of one eye. Dr Patrick was called in, and is now attending upon Walker at his lodgings. How the accident happened cannot exactly be ascertained, but it is believed, that the horse fell on Walker, and when struck to make it rise, kicked him as stated. —A singular accident occurred to Mr John Taylor, of Lincoln, also on Saturday morning. .He was driving into town at a smart pace— his jobject being to reach Preece and Ick's yards with some pigs before the. sale commenced and on turning sharp into Montreal street from Tuam street his horse suddenly fell on to, its head. The= shock broke both shafts and. pitched Mr Taylor and his son violently to the ground. Fortunately they did not receive any injuries beyond a Jew; slight flesh wounds, and a number of peopla running quickly to the spot the horse was secured before it could recover from the fall sufficiently to make a bolt. It was difficult at first to account for the sudden fall of the horse, but those who ..witnessed the: occurrence stated that in the sharp, turn made by Mr Taylor the animal crossed its forelegs, and this caused - it; to pitch forward on its knees and head. The latter were not, how- • ever, | cut, and no • material injury was sustained by the horse. The broken shafts were therefore the only results of what might have been a very serious occurrence.