FATAL MINING ACCIDENT.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 134, 10 August 1864, Page 3

FATAL MINING ACCIDENT.

An inquest was held on Saturday, the Gtl inst M on the body of Uriah James, a miner at Arthur's Point. The following jur\ were assembled:—Messrs. Martin, (foreman' M'Guire, Bnrns, Marytin, Dol son, M'Donak] Williams, Bonar, Ken, Hogan, House, and Suffem. F. Smith deposed that the deceased was a mate of his, and that tliey were engaged 0:1 the afternoon of Thursday last in working a drive at Arthur's Point. I was throwing out some dirt at the top of the drive when a large flake of sand fell on me. I then called out to the deceased saying that the drive was falling in. The deceased was about six feet from me. Immediately after that another piece of earth fell. I turned round to see where he was, and saw a large Hake bury him up. 1 took a shovel and tried to uncover him ; but as fast as I dug the earth fell on him. After that I came out of the drive. Subsequently assisted to dig the deceased out. When recovered he was in the same position as when I first saw the dirt fall on him. To the Jury—When I called to him he did not speak, except a groan. He did not speak to me about slabbing; we placed two slabs after dinner before he entered the drive. There was another man in the drive leading from the shaft; he came out and helped me to dig the deceased out. The claim is not a valuable one. It is not worth above a pound or thirty shillings per man a week. Bartholemew Dowell said—l knew the deceased ; he was not a mate of mine when he met with his death. On Thursday last heard Smith calling out, and went to the shaft, throwing the back. Afterwards went and relieved one of them. We thought it best to sink a paddock. We broke through at eight or nine feet. About three quarters of an hour afterwards, I came upon the deceased. He was quite dead. To the Jury—Do not know if the deceased had any relatives. He was lying on his knees and elbows. He come from the borders of Devon and Cornwall, in England. Previous to the body being recovered, Dr Ij\ ison was sent for from Quenstown, and was 011 the ground when the body was recovered. Do Evison deposed—l examined the body of the deceased as soon as recovered, and found no external injuries upon it. He was j quite dead, and the cause of death was 1 suffocation. The Jury returned a verdict of "Accidcntal Death."

♦ R. M. COURT, QUEENSTOWN. (Before Richmond Beetham, Esq., li.M.) Monday, Bth August. Furious Riding.—James O'Brien nml Mar garet Mills were charged by Constable Wheelan with this offence in the streets of Queensfown The defendants pleaded guilty, and that tin furious riding had been caused through ;t bet f r a bottle of champagne, in which the lady <-ques trian was the winner. The Bench, however, fined both parties 20s each. Fletcher v. Jones.—lllegal possession of a pair of spring-cart winkers. Case dismissed. Drunk.—Alexander Gray paid the usual penilty of 10s. and was released. Abusive Language.—James Nichols charged with using abusive language, and also with attempting to do grievous bodily harm to H. XV. Bracken in his licensed house, was fined 405., or 48 hours iniprisoruint for the first offence. MiBracken pleaded for the withdrawl of the second charge. The Bench administered a severe reprimand to the prisoner, who had been locked up since the sth inst. Drunk and Disorderly.—Patrick Flinn, for this offence, was fined in the sum of £3, or seven days' imprisonment. CIVIL CASES. Bletcher v. Harley.—£l 10$. Settled out of Court. Cochrane v. Milford.—£ls. Settled out of Court. Jones v. Herrin.—£2. The defendant paid 10s. into Court. Plaintiff non suited. M'Bcath v. Campbell O'Xeil.—£2o. Judgment by default. + A rumour reached the town last evening that a genuine rush had taken place at the Mataura Bend, and that the inhabitants of Kingston had left en masse. In the absence of further information, we refer our readers to the letter of Mr Caples, published in our correspondents column . and we add a word of warning to the restless spirits of the district to " bide a wee" before starting upon what will most likely tuin out like other rushes in the same locality, that is, to use Saxon language " a wild goose chaseor more classically, an ignis fatuus. We areable to announce from reliable authority that antimony has been discovered on the Upper Shotoyer. We hope to be able to give full particulars in our next. We ore glad to see that Mr Beetham, R.M., ! has resumed his seat on the Bench. This gentle- I I man has been suffering from a severe attack of i ° i illness for the past week or so. j The latest accounts from Moke Creek arc, we j are happy to say, most satisfactory. The wholo body©f miners are doing well, and notwithstanding the seventy of the weather, are in good j spirits. Lang and pirty have taken up a large extended claim for sluicing, and will soon be carrying on operations on a large scale. A vast area of available ground for sluicing exists at the j junction of Moke and Moonlight, and there is 1 little doubt that the enterprise of any parties i taking up claims would be well rewarded, as ! water may be brought to the spot without any ' great difficulty.

LATEST EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN INTELLIGENCE, i The Aw/us of the 22nd inst. contains later i news, translated for the Sydney Morning Herald from the Semaphore de Marseille. 'I he following are the most important hems : o * Paris, Friday evening, 27th May. j The / 'atrie publishes a despatch from Hamburg, dated the 27th May, announcing, as authentic, the intelligence that a second I Ministerial Council, held at Copenhagen, has j resolved not to consent to the partition of j Schleswig. The Danish plenipotentiaries j would quit London first. I New York, 18th May. —The reinforccI ments sent to Grant are estimated at 50.000 | men. It is rumored that Lee has received reS inforcements from South Carolina. The Federals are in possession of the rail - ; way between Petersburg and Richmond. It |is afiilined that the Federal cavalry, under | the command of Sheridan, advanced until ' thev were between the first and second lines of Richmond. Finding them, however, too I strong, the cavalry were compelled to retire. A correspondent of the Times states that Sheridan has lost 1,000 men. Another engagement had taken place before Charleston between the Federal monitors ; and the Confederate batteries. , News from the Pacific announces that the j Spanish admiral has commenced operations I against Peru. 1 O It is reported that General Beauregard lias j rejoined General Lee. j Baldy and Smith, surprised by the Con- ; federates, have undergone great losses. London, 27th May. j Lord Palmerston, in answer to a question j from Mr Hennessy, said he admitted it was a | logical conclusion that there had been a for- ; feiture, resulting from a violated treaty; still j the hon. the Prime Minister demands that Her Majesty's government alone shall decide upon the case. Mr Layard (answering in his turn the observations of Mr Hennessy) said that the country has approved of the policy of the Government—a policy not tending towards war. The motion of Mr Hennessy has been withdrawn Earl Russell has answered Lord Ellenborough that Denmark was preparing a statement of what had been done by the Austroin Jutland, with a view to submitting those facts to the consideration of the Conference. He denies that recourse to open force against Prussia and Austria can have any good result. Earl Russell adds that a war on the part of England for Poland would have been the most extravagant that the country could engage in. The noble lord concludes bv declaring that all the necessary steps have been taken by the Government in in regard to Poland and Denmark.

The Ga:dt,; Xatiumilc publishes a correspondence received from Vienna, iu which it is asserted that a decided change of policy has taken place ia the Vienna Cabinet; and that M. Bechberg openly declares himself favorable to the views of the Diet, in the sense of the statement of the question as a matter of law as laid down by M. de Pl'torden.

Austria is about, in this affair to tnlce up j a position conformable to her interests and j her traditiocal sympathies with the secondary i states. i

On the arrival of the commissary of the ' Danish Government at Horsens, the Prussian head quarters were removed out of Jutland, not a person being left behind with whom the commissary could negotiate. The Prussians have arrested many of the Danish employes, The Gazette de Spend' says that Prussia is revived to support the Duke of Augusteuburg," and complete separation of the Duchies

ANOTHER KAFFIR WAR APPREHENDED IN THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE

The An/us of the 26th July contains the following intelligence, telegraphed from Sydney :

The Wallibi brings Cape papers to the Ist June. Parliament had passed the new tarriff, increasing duties to twenty-five per cent. The merchants intend trying the question in the Supreme Court, on the ground of informality in summoning Parliament. Dr Waghorn and the remainder of the ltambesi Church Mission had arrived at the Cape.

The Ariel captured a large slaver of 800 tons, in the Mozambique Channel. The Cape Argus of 28th May says most alarming intelligence has been received by telegraph. Krell -vitli 7000 Kaffirs crossed the Bashec, and met a party of mouted police, whom they compelled to retire. They attacked and cut up a detachment of the 10th Regiment. This, however, is only given on the authority of rumor. The Government have received important despatches. Sir Walter Currie, Colonel- Bisset, and troops at Fort Beaufort move to front immediately. Sir Percy Douglas, with the 11 th Regiment and a body of Royal Artillery, were to leave Cape Town next day for the frontier. .

Government is fearing another Kaffir war, j and intend to take immediate steps to stop it. j The supposed cause of the outbreak is instructions from the Home Government j to annex the Frankeiaii territory to British j Caffraria. j

f An Awkward Mistake. —At Worship-street, James Crossley, 40, well-dressed, a gardener, at Hackney road, was charged l>y Mr Dove, who said his daughter awoke him at two o'clock that / morning saying tiiat some one was down stairs. 3 His wit'/, Mrs Dove, thereupon !<ot a light, went j down in her night dre.>s and lvtus ned, exclaiming, I " Oh, there is a nun a-leep in your arm-chair.' I Witness p >p;)ed on his troupers, his wife put 0:1 ! her frock, and down they went. His wife went ] for a policeman, and witness found the prison >r 1 i asleep in the chair in the kitchen, having Mrs ' j Dove's s-liawl wrapped round his knees, and his t j hoots and trousers were lying under the table. ( I When he was a\v<iko lie did not seem to know j where he was. Mrs Doye returned with a con- , | stable What alarmed witness was the myst.-ry i j as to how he got in, the doors of the house havi ing been securely fastened. The prisoner slid ,he did not know how he got in. It was all a ! mistake. He had taken several glasses of stout | with ;> friend, and after he left he thought he - | went home, hut he did not know his mistake till ■j he was awoke, lie very muchiegretted his mis- . j take. Mrs Dove: And so do I. But how did j you get in I The prisoner repeated that he did ! not know. lie had twenty-five shillings in his pocket lu>t night, and he had not a halfpenny j now. Policeman 422 X. said lie believed prisoner !tobe a respectable man Magistrate :I do not I think a man would take off his trousers if heinI tended to rob Ihe house. Fined os. for being : drunk.—London paper. Putting your Foot into it. —The legitimate I origin of this term we have seen : ous explained. Perhaps it may pass as correct un'il a better is , found:— '■ According to the Asiatic Researches, a very curious mode of trying the iitle to land is I practised in Hindostan. Two holes are dug in the disputed spot, in each of which the lawyers ; on either side put one of their legs, and remain i there until one of them is tired, or complains of I being stung by insects, in which case his client jis defeated. An American writer has remarked I that, in the United States, it is generally the j' client, and not the lawyer, who "puts his foot j in it." j When is a woman like a watch ? —When she : is capped and jewelled. I i j An old gentleman of great exp rience says he ' is never satisfied tiiat a lady understands a kiss unless he has it from her own mouth. Where will you find the sacred tree of the : Druids, and the coronal leaves of the Romans ' combined ! J In a biiliard-bo.ud, lined with yreen i baize and made of ouk. Mystery magnifies danger, as the fog the sun ; | the hand that unnerved lialshazzar derived its most horryfving influence from the want of a body ; and death itself is not formidable in what we know of it, but in what we do not.