THE INANGAHUA DISTRICT.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1371, 20 December 1872, Page 2

THE INANGAHUA DISTRICT.

: [PROMOUB OWN COKKESPONDEWT.] / ' Reefton, Dec. 16. The example set by the local Roman Catholic congregation, in the matter of 'building a--cltaper~arid pro~vldiffjj£ftfr'the regular celebration of divine services by a resident priest, is about to be followed by the members of the -Episcopalian .Church and of the Wesleyan Chapel, both of which denominations have organised an entertainment for this evening, at the conclusion of which they respectively trust to find their funds considerably augmented. There is, however, reason to beUeye^that this desirable ... result would : have, -been attained in a more marked degree, had they contrived to have held themondiffferent nights.. The one for the benefit of the church is announced as a concert, in which several now well.k nown amateurs are to take part. The Rev MrFlavell, of Charleston, has at the unanimous request of the Bishop of the diocese and ofithe members of the congregation consented to take charge of 'the district} and .he'will, if all goes well, arrive, here about ;tjie commencement, of the New Y^ar,',' A; Valuable harmonium has been obtained, a choir, : which contains several ,first-,class, voices, is in active training, and divine service is conductedlby a, lay reader every -Sunday evening. The entertainment, c for'/rthe chapel is to take the outward and visible •shape :of'< a; tea • meeting, to be = presided over by thie Rev Mr of Greymouth; 'assisted 'by "the ~|Reys "Maclean and >; Peridry. On this occasion the meeting will be heldih thiaf' new chapel, which owes it .being to the untiring, zeal, and -energy of their local Mr. Robert M'Lean, who .for the last ten months has, entirely* withput remuneration, been laboring 'hardV. in .the cause he has so much at heart. The chapel that he has erected will, as long as the district lasts, ]bear evidence of his'selfabnegation and hbriestry-.of purpose, i ; ; /The Government have infimateOhat t^erne^ Post and TeilegrapK Offices will not be proceeded with for twelve months, :.a3 no: eligible, tender l was s sent?, in, The wretched, tumble-down skilli'on"nbw used as ,. Post Office is an absolute disgrace to the department, and yet for it &ud the , Telegraph . Office rent has to be paid at i the rate of Ll5O per annum. :So that on -economical grounds, if on rio. others— - such as 'convenience to the* public and to the officers, safe. custody of public money, ;^c^the new buildrags should be commenced 'fo^hwitK ' The Gbyernment cannot plead' ignorance ais , to; /why no tender's were forthcoming, &^ I have * : already, informed,, ypii ; the matter ; was formally broughWunder the notice of the Colonial Secretary by the building trade, who expressly stated that no tenders could be'serit : ini?nnlees the conditions, attached to the specificationa by the Colonial Architect, were altered. These, as Lhave already stated^wereiabsntd to a degiee\ ; atid could r ridt possible be car.ried put by..the; contractor.. : No blame, however,; ;is jthereby j,attached to* the ; Architect, as he, cannot be, supposed to knpw,muchof tlie ! peculiar:,)ixigencies of Reefton. The rules would, rioj, doubt, be very well adapted for one of the large towns in the settledTpprtions of the country. It is. to.be Jitfped that the Colonial Secretary will alter ius decision and accede to. the wishes of the"; trade, which every resident "knows -to be hoi only reasonable, but absolutely essential: Quite a tpjyvnshtp is springiiigvup on the .south i; :Side'*or.,tj&e''riye.t R ...Mr Robs has built]spme. very ipretty. Residences' there, one o| Jvhich has' been )aten by Mr Warden Broad) whose family' has lately arrived here. - v . : ~ ~'"';' i ~'^'J. 7 The Dramatic Company arrived safely at the Lyell, and I am informed opened to a very; fair house; ; Miss Stephenson met. with; a great loss beforffleaying Reefton^ As they, were .crosiimg;tb!e Ijittle Grey thepackhprse. tumbled; into, a very rdangerpus..hV!e v^p^^ In factthe hole ih.questipn jßitends partly across; the- road. v The; : accident nearly ■proved fatal to the violinist^ who was : Vith difficulty saved. On opening the packages Miss, Stephensoh ? s valuabla-^ wardrobe was found to be'Slmbst entirely destroyed. ! -The commercial success of her trip cannot but- fail to be seriously affected thereby. As stated; in my last, the company will perform in- Greymouth on the 23rd and 24th inst. ' ; Th'e -Resident r Magistratei r Charles Broad, ;^3q.,;. presided- af the periodical meeting of tlie Licensing Bench held in the-Court ; House, Reefton, on ;Saturday last; Twenty appUcationswere;dealt%ith, , seventeen of, them. wei e granted^and the pthiet three \(r&re granted conditionally on ;the ijttoAisfes bemg finished in accordance withthe fequlremeri^^fTihe^iSrcit^f 1872 by the 31st insti- •. '; :/...■- A case involving a question of consider-: .able* importance was. heard at the: War* den's Oourt^bef6re v Mr Wardeiißroad, on Friday Jaat. , Mr Frank Mathiac, a* secretary to .the Hit or Miss Com'pany,Gaffney's Line, sued four shareholders, among whom were "some well-known Greymouth . gentlemen, for certain calls due. Mr Pitt, appeared f or; ;the . defence, ;andf urged, among other reasons-^ " ; aV *a caiJse wfiy the plaintiffs should be nonsuited, "that the defendants were' not liable," as' a' cotppany had not been registered under 'tfie A^ot, and no. deed of association, had been signed. His Worship Very properly'overruled the objections, and ultimately gave a verdict. for:the plaintiffs; -with costs, remarking that he could not ipr a moment entertain the plea of non-indebtedness, ■as, -were such a plea allowed, very few of the claims in the district could be worked. Their shares were protectedby^he certificate of registratibn^ 'a.nct' such being the •case;' -It :cgii^.not\' :i be' I: nght^^i»i^ they should be able to deny liabUi^oV p'ossesT "sioti^^ whenever "it "pleased"them fo do so. Nothing was calculated to do more harm to the district than to have- difficulties .thrown in jthe wiy= of the^niiffers obtaining contributions from defaulting shareholders: ; "^ ■ r* : r : .'' ; j ' ! '- i - • ■;;:;;; , Mr. Broad has received official intimation of his appointtneht as Returning ' Officer) and the Geiierdlijfotoeniihmt Gazette contains a notification of the different . polling booths.. The writ has not yet arrived; it wffl probably arrive by next mail, as the 1 Superintendent has^longer . any, excuse for holding , it , bacK.f^There is, however, a, rumor to the" effect ihat » Nelson barrister is^anxipus. to^have the election postponed lintii thV 'inonth of. February^ #henihe will have time enough ;on.his hands to try' hia chanoe -against the. .10ca1.men,. ;..•.-,{,-;.,.;■;;..,-■.' ;, ; !j-, ; - v jr-'- ■ ; ; ; '". , : jilr iPitt received a .telegr«m ftom Chriatelmrcli laat Friday stating that the

specimens forwarded from this district ' had arrived safely, and were well placed in the Exhibition. Messrs D. Isaacs and Co. sold by auction a property situated in Upper Broadway, which realised L 125. Another considerably smaller, at the opposite end of the street, realised only 1425. The sites for booths, on the ground where the Christmas sports are to be held, were Bold by Messrs Beeves and Co., as follows:— No. 1 (Stewards' booth), L2O, Mr Barker; No. 2, LlB, Messrs Slattery and Sutherland; No. 3, confectionery fruit, &c, L 2 15s, CavUl. MINING. Adam Smith's Line.— The Wealth of Nations recommenced crushing on Wednesday last, the rain of the previous day having temporarily filled their race. v On Friday morning they were compelled to again suspend operations. A party of men are out surveying the extension of the race, which is to be commenced forthwith. In the tunnels they are driving on the reef. The Hercules, next claim to Golden Ledge, struck the reef in their tunnel, the early part of last week. They have been showing stone quite up to the average.. In the tunnel of the Energetic, men are employed putting up a rise, preparatory to sloping out. They have already a quantity of stone at the mouth of the tunnel, a portion of which, at their trial crushing, produced 4oz to tbe ton. All the outside work is being rapidly proceeded with. Their paddocks and tramways are completed ; the machinery is in its place; and the tables are laid in readings*, for the plates. All the carpenter*' work connected with this machine is finished, and consequently the carpenters will be discharged. They will probably commence crushing by the beginning of the new year. The race is not yet completed, a portion, of the flaming yet remaining to be done. Shier* Line.— The Band of Hope are now engaged in the middle tunnel getting out stone, and making ready for a jumpup. They have a very fair sprinkling of gold in the face of the reef, a quantity of which is to grass. The machine is being pushed ahead, the stampers are in position, and the rods for the tables are; laid. The catting and the bridge from the hill io the machine, over which the tramway is being conveyed, are finished. The rails are now being laid over the bridge, which is the most difficult part. The mining manager of this claim has resigned, and one of the shareholders has taken his place for the time being. The Ajax is crushing for the Golden Fleece. On Saturday the plates looked remarkably well. The machine was stopped for a few visitors, to inspect the plates. In the Afax claim, the principal part of the work will in future be let by contract. Such 1 wagesmen as have to be employed will have their wages reduced to L 3 10s per ;weekv . : , Kelly's Line. — The Westland machine contrived to screw out enough water to j keep them going until last week's rain so opportunely fell. They are still crushing for the Victoria Company; They believe they have now sufficient water to last hritil Christmas. The Machine Company commenced building a dam in Sawyers Creek, but this work has since been discontinued. The claim is advertised for sale under a winding up order. At the . North Star, Inglewpod, and Phoenix Com- { panics work is being steadily proceeded with.

.Anderson's 'Line. —'The machine at the prospecting claim wais stopped to washup ; the result . has been announced 4a 600. « ounces from 500 tons of atone. The plates have been only thoroughly cleaned, and the blanket* have not been touched. A large portion of their tramway has been pulled up for the purpose of relaying it with a greater dope near the machine site, the full truck hitherto not having been able to drag ilp the empty one unless sent down ''to the machine at too great speed. The race is also! to be enlarged . The middle tunnel, of the, lnvincible,, where all the work; has been lately carried ori,*is in ;150ft. It runs at right angles to the reef "for. a distance of 80ft from, the mouth, where the reef has been cut. It was here found to be 3ft Gin thick. The tunnel .then takes a turn to the right, and runs .along the reef for about 70ft north to-. ; wards the prospectors' shaft. They are putting up a rise overhead, as jjQOU as which is finished the.y intend " itoping-put. This is where they have the largest body of stone. It shows very well, apparently having most gold in the middle. A large sum of money has been /expended in driving the lowest level /tunnel which is in 600 ft. The course is JX. by E., running nearly parallel with ■i the reef, which is no doubt the reason that it was never struck. As soon as possible they intend putting in crossdrives to prospect for the reef at this level, which is by far the lowest in that locality, being 3Uft below the prospectors ■haft. They ,haye a lot, of very good- . looking stove to grass, and will either crush at. Anderson's or erect a machine of ;^ their Own. Should they be unable to ' arrange with the Royal Standard Company they intend fetching in their own water from the river. They have a line of race already surveyed, Vhich will raise the water a short distance above Anderson's race. . This will be a very expensive undertaking. Unless the terms demanded 3* V other companies should prove to be ' together unacceptable, they would be ' wise in. closing the bargain. The Larry s Creek prospecting claim, ( known as the Caledonian Company, by Jast mail sent an order to Messrs Lang" don, of Melbourne, for machinery, con- ] suting of two batteries of five head of • stampers, weighing 600 pounds each. It is to be driven by a waterwheel, 45ft in . diameter by 4ft across. the breast. During | the late drought they took the precaution .to measure the water running in a creek . , Yin their vicinity, and they never found it ; to contain less than six Government heads, which will be amply sufficient for jsuch a small machine. „I t is much to be regretted that several of the adjoining .claims have not amalgamated for the purpose of erecting a really efficient 1 machine, r ALLUVIAL CLAIMS! During the past few weeks several men , have, been fossicking, as it is called, in Murray, Creek. Cornish and party, who fonnd the' large nugget the other day, have started to bring in a tail race to . enable them to wash away a spur. , „.„, ,IJew*,has just reached.town of a small . rnsh to a creek called £few Creek, near Redman's. A man who has just returned r states that there are already nearly thirty men oh the ground, who all, stand good, snows. Johnny Torrens intends moting \ hU itow to.thftt.noigh.bpr^od. ;