MINING NEWS. THE THAMES.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1138, 21 March 1872, Page 2

MINING NEWS. THE THAMES.

A MOONIIGHT KUSH.

. .The, ground leased ..by ; thevPukehinau Gold Mining Company having been declared^bpen: for occupation on and after the Ist of March, led to a rather curious scene, at midnights - It might; have led to serious andy dangerous consequences, but fortunately it did not; ' At about 5 llVclock •ther ( e wer,e at least : 80: people on the ground, which is only approachableiby a difficult route over the Kuranui ranges. Having ascertained that there was likely to be some excitement over this affair, the Advertiser despatched a reporter to the spot to watch events. He states : Having made' the -best' of iriy way to the Puke-hinau'claimf-I found a group of- 17sitting down around sthe ;i first t corner peg, while similar or greater numbers were, either walking, or sitting around the other three. I arrived shortly .after .11 o'clock^.. and others, got, there . after, me,- > /Puring..the intetvenin'g time, before 12 o'clock, I could notice that preparations had already been made for pegging out the' ground by at least five parties,- who were accompanied -by crowds bf their associates. : I must confess I was ; astbh'ished" at' tlie good huirior . which prevailed. ." Chaff " and ' ' ' gas" ' were freely- banded : amongst^ the ■, I various nationalities j but although all. present were 'eager to take advantage of the slightest chance in /their favor,, it was at once evident that there was no intention to make any appeal to brute strength. As the tine approached more nearly, parties could ,be ..seen -in* the moonlight consulting and comparing watches ; while' others, with pegs, prepared .and marked, were' busy making holes in which W stick -them when; theexact, time was; come. . / At ' about midnight a pistol. was fire.d, and. theri a rush was made to drive tKe pegs by some, .but , others refrained , from . acting, > alleging * that . it still " wanted several minutes of twelve ( o'clock. The whole .wprk.-wa^.Bqpn^comple^ed. crowd then r|turned towards Grahamstown/ without^ single angry word.' lritis quite evident that there will be- iood for the lawyers pver this affajr.; and how the Warden is to decide which party is actually entitled c tp. the .ground, : wUl, I think, be puzzling! ; If tins is a criterion 1 of the working of the new. Act,, then it says but little 7 in its T favor ; for I must say that it was ' entirely" 1 owing to ' the'good temper of those present that no row occurrrd.