FATAL MINING ACCIDENT.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 34, 18 August 1864, Page 3

FATAL MINING ACCIDENT.

An inquest was held on Saturday, the 6th inst., on the body of Uriah James, a miner, at Arthur's Point, The foßowing jury were assembled: — Messrs. Martin, (foreman) M'Guire, Burns Marytin, Dobson, M'Donald, Williams, Bonar, Ken, Rogan, House, and Suffern. F. Smith deposed that the deceased was a mate of his, and that they were engaged on 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 flake bury him up. I 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 entering 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 — I knew the deceased ; he was not a mate of minr when he met with his death. On Thursday last heard Smith calling out, and went to the shaft, throwing the sand 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 came from the borders of Devon and Cornwall, in England. Previous to the body being recovered, Dr. Evison was sent for from Queenstown, and was on the ground when the body was recovered. Dr. Evison deposed. — I examined the body of the deceased as soon as recovered, and found no external injuries upon it. He was quite dead, and the cause of death was suffocation. Tlie Jury returned a verdict of "Accidental i Death." — Walcatip Mail.

The ■ Wakatip Mail, of the 10th inst., contains the 'prospectus of t yT^'''J^(m'''<^w^''N!SxanQ' and Crushing Company." i 7 Froin' 'the columns of our contemporary, -and. also fjom private sources, welearh that the uudertSking bids fair to prove a success. The capital of the company is' £500,000 ' in 1,000 shares of five pounds each; . Deposit -—10s. on apphcation, and 10s. upbh J,allocation and issue of scrip. The remaining -£4 in calls - not exceeding £1, at 1 ; periods to be fixed by the permanent committee. '' v f The list 7of prompters contains the names.: of gentlemen well known both ; for jrudehce -.and energy. The reef which it is proposed tb'.wprk 4s on. the south side of the Arrow Riyaiyand the trial of the quartz by Mr. Wright, the ''Mining Surveyor, yielded at the rate of nine oUiices tothe ton;, the prospectors also /obtained, with', very primitive machinery, a retimipf from -five to; six ounces to the'ipii. ; . It is impossible at>preseht to form an accurate judgment of the size' of the reef, but the crown "has 'already been laid bare to a width of: more- tha,n:four feet, and; a: quantity of good stone raised. , ready for crushing. The close proximity of a running stream will enable the company to dispense with steain'-maehmery, the onOrmous expense' of .procuring which,": and its subsequent cost of Working, devours such a large share of the' returns. As soon as a" sufficient sum is subscribed,. a .first-class battery of stamjps, to be worked by a water-wheel, will be erected. It is to be hoped that this company will meet with good fortune. A. great impetus would be given to this class of mining, which has hitherto not attracted as much attention as its importance unquestionably deserves. There are, without , doubt, many other reefs in the Lake district which would amply repay the working ; and the permanence of quartz, as opposed to ahhivial mining,, should render their discovery an object i well worthy of attainment. We extract the .following from the Walcatip Mail, of the 6th inst. :— " After a fine long frosty spell of weather, a change took place on Wednesday night ■; and Thursday afternoon ushered in rain, which continued aU night and a great part of Friday mOrning, during a portion of which time it thundered very heavy, accompanied by vivid flashes of lightning. The effect has been a sudden flood, causing considerable damage throughout the district far and wide. On the Shotover, the river rose nine feet, sweeping away waterwheels, sluice-boxes, tools, &c. From up the Lake accounts of damage done are rife, though in this quarter not so easily ascertained. No accounts have reached us from the Arrow. .The greatest loss is on the Shotover. The terrace men are jubilant, and look to the change in the weather as the best advocate .they, could have secured in the great trial question of Terrace v. River. The effects of the flood to the claimholders on this river are really disastrous, and valuable waterwheels, costing from £60 to £100, have been tossed about upon the angry roll of this tempestuous river as wooden toys of little value. Races have been destroyed, and in several places valuable heaps of wash-dirt that would gladden the eyes of a Molyneux miner are uuder tho water. The river rose suddenly and rapidly, and swept all away before it. As first accounts are generally extravagant in regard to damage done ; we hope our next issue will dispel some of these gloomy tidings. Up the Lake, they manage now-a-days to secure themselves from the effects of a sudden flood, by forming covered-in tail-races ; and this is one of the means by which the Shotover must eventually be worked. We shall be able to give further particulars ih our next. The weather has again taken up, and it is to be hoped that it will continue fair for a few weeks longer, so as to give those miners who have expended so much labor and capital in the river -workings an opportunity of reaping their due reward." There is a rumor of a rush to the Mataura Bend. Our informant had visited the ground, but does not report favorably. ,The Wakatip Mail alludes to the same rush, but contain* no definite information. The gold is said to be flue and scaley. Prospects of half a pennyweigh to the pan has been obtained. The Walcatip Mail also speaks in very favorable terms of the Moke Creek. The report is as foUows :— The latest aocounts from Moke Creek are, we are happy to say, most satisfactory. The whole body of miners are doing well; and, notwithstaixling the severity of the weather, are in good , sjiirits. Lang and party 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 junction of Moke and Moonlight ; and there is little doubt that the enterprise of any parties taking up claims would be well rewarded, as water may be brought to the spot without any great difficulty. The last fortnightly escort which reached Dunedin on the 9th inst., took down from the various goldfields 14,915 ozs. 15 dwts. This amount was contributed as follows : — By Queenstown, 3638 ozs. 15 dwts. ; Arrow, 961 ozs. ; Dunstan, 3,359 ozs. ; Manuherikia, 2,489 ozs. ; Mount Benger, 937 ozs. 15 dwts. ; Hamilton's 1,309 ozs.; Mount Ida, 907 ozs. 10 dwts.; Tuapeka, 1,832 ozb. ; Waitahuna, 428 ozs. ; Woolshed, 155 ozs. 15 dwts. A very large and influential meeting took place at Queenstown, on Wednesday, 27th July, at the Commercial Hall. The meeting was an adjourned one, and was called together for the purpose of receiving Mr. Barrington, and hearing any statement that gentleman might like to make in regard to his recent West Coast exploring expedition. Mr. Barrington accordingly addressed the meeting at great length, and gave a most interesting description of the newly prospected territory. At the conclusion, Mr. Manders proposed the following resolution, which was unanimously applauded, viz. : — " That this meeting cordially recognises the services rendered by Mr. Barrington and his party in prospecting a difficult and unknown portion of this Province, and that of Canterbury, and in doing so desires to express its heartfelt wishes for the future success of Mr. Barrington in developing a goldlield in this district." A monster meeting of the miners at Maori Point took place lately, to take into consideration a memorial which had been forwarded to Dunedin to the Gold-fields' Secretary. The memorial had been remitted to Mr. Warden Williamson, for his opinion, and those of the miners in the district, and set forth that the sluicing operations acted injuriously on those parties who possessed riverbed claims, and requested that sluicing parties should be prohibited running their tailings into the river. The meeting passed the following resolution on the subject, viz : — " That the memorial is totally uijcalled-for, and felt as an insult by the miners in the district generally."