LATEST NEWS FROM THE WEST COAST.

Southland Times, Issue 716, 28 August 1867, Page 2

LATEST NEWS FROM THE WEST COAST.

By the arrival of the "William Miskin, we are in receipt of files to the 22nd: "We extract the following from the latest papers : — "From" the northern gold fields journals" we Jlearn that good news has been received from the Mokihinui, but nothing ' Sufficient to" justify a rush. Some coarse gold has been brought down by Dufty and-parfcy, who state that-their prospects areL"go6d. Nothing new is reported of the Caledonian Lead, but gold is. being got in many claims, and all are hopeful that are at work. A prospecting party has set out to examine the-ranges, behind which have not yet been prospected. Good accounts continue to be received from the Karamea, though the population has dwindled down to about fifty people. From Waitnangaroa the accounts are cheerful, although no definite information is to, hand. The. crushing plant has not yet been placed On the reef, and the Company that was formed to work it has been reorganised. A rumor has been prevalent that gold has heen got to the southward, in the neighborhood of the Eive-mile, but it wants confirmation. The "abandoned ground"- on>, the South Beach still affords rich returns to those who are able to bring- the. necessary appliances to bear upon it. We .learn that Barker and Co., the proprietors .of the " Golden Empire Claim," have recently washed up 279 ounces of amalgam. They have lots of ground,, and having brought in a race from Jackson's Creek, four miles long ; they have an abundant supply of water for ground sluicing. Their average earnings are stated to be from a£l2 to £15 per week. — We have received information" of the discovery of another rich quartz reef up a branch of Moonlight Gully: The discoverers arrived at the Twelve-mile Township on Sunday lor the purpose of applying for protection. They describe the reef to surpass in richness that first discovered, and to be of greater extent. We shall have further particulars before our next issue. ''-', We ("West Coast Times") are informed by a miner, who arrived' in town yesterday from the Taipo, that when he left on Wednesday the snow was lying one foot deep upon the; ground, and upon the higher land piled up in the form of avalanches. The party of miners, who have for so many months been working On a tributary of the Taipo are reported asdoing.yery well, the ground being rich enough to give from £10 to £12 per w..1.<>.01. olioao. TlitJ gold is both heavy and water- worn ; loz and 2oz nuggets being occasionally found. This is the first scrap of definite intelligence we have received from the Taipo diggings for many weeks, and leads us to again hope that a payable extensive field will yet be discovered in the locality. The construction of a road from Charleston to Waite's Pakihi is strongly urged by the local paper, which says : — "It is known, and we are but echoing the opinion of Dr Hactor, that the: whole district between here and Waifce's is auriferous in a more or less degree, and no efforts should be spared to direct the trade of that place into this neighbor- ' hood. We are informed that the whole distance through the Pioneer Ferry track is only eight miles and a_ _half^_and .. as the new carriage-road along the, .beach, is now open," the' only portion requiring to be made is that which" lies between the ferry and Addinson's, a distance of five miles, with a stone and gravelly bottom at the depth of 18 inches, over, a level country. ..^J '""" We mentioned a few days ago that the late gale had caused great havoc in the Buller district. The following account of the gale is from a local paper : — A gale of wind that has never been equalled in severity on the Buller occured on the afternoon and night of Tuesday last, and lamentable proofs of its violence are visible in every direction. During the afternoon the . wind began to blow from the north-ea^t, but not sufficient to cause any alarm. Gradually it increased in violence, and about five o'clock the destruction commenced. Several tents about; this time were levelled, and the occupiers rendered houseless. After this ; the gale increased, and sheets of iron , were whisked away asthough they had been feathers, though fortunately no* accident ■ occured. The first house to succumb was ( that erected by Langford and Co- on the flat. The verandah fell first, and the ' building took a slew directly after, causing some of the flooring to take a perpen- ] dicular direction by no means pleasant or ( assuring to 1h 3 . inmates. No furth< r accident occured however, and the dama Q was confined to what is above stated. Mr 1 Grey, the saddler, in Gladstone street, * had worse fortune, for his building * was blown absolutely down, leaving s nothing whatever standing. An old * bailding near the Golcteu Hope r Hotel was also destroyed, , and . the } occupiers had to fly for their lives about 1: seven o'clock. A new building belonging j to Mr Grey was served in the Bam© way, c

and Mrs Dawson's house was completely unroofed. The windows of the National^ the Imperial, and; several other hotels were blown in. Messrs J?lemmingj-Parry, and Co., and several othersliad to repair similar damage, 'and' the number- of-the sufferers altogether may be sei ddwn^as legion. As might be expected, unfinished buildings, where -the wind had greater power, suffered most seriously, but a large quantity of antiquated tenements alsocame Jbo grief, possibly to the improvement of the town. : During the night t^®-_wijid -Mj^lJm^^ll A?l4 S a Y® *^ c final touch , -to anything was previously necessary in the shape of destruction, but towards morning it abated, and no renewal has since taken place. During the gale the sand was flying in blinding showers, and the next morning the streets presented the appearance of having had an army of sweepers, so clean were they. To recount all/ the damage that was done would occupy more space than we can afford, for scarcely any house or building in the place escaped altogether scatheless. The vessels in the liver had to hold on with all the mooring gear at their command, as the wind blew right down, and the fresh ran" very swiftly, but we are happy to say that no accident occurred. Taken altogether, the like has not been done "since the first building was erected. All hands since the disaster have been busy repairing damage, and we trust that we shall riot again have to chronicle such an" "unfortunate combination of ~ the elements. - ' '- : : - ■ ' -• ■' - ■ - " •" A ; ; gentleman just arrived fro in : the Buller informs us that a new rush has takeri^ place south _of Waite's Pakihi, and that: the ground has been pegged off for fully a .mile and a half. The nature of the ground is said to resemble that of Waite's .Pakihi.' „ From the same authority we learn that the road frbm the Buller up to the junction, of the Inangahua is approaching completion, and is expected to be the means of causing, a large extent of country -to be prospected. The contract for the new wharf, at the Biiiler has. been let,. /to Mr Thos. Miles for £1330, and Messrs Bull and Bond obtained the contract for building the new Court-house and gaol. There appears to have been another serious defection from . the Westland Separation League. The following better to the President qfTTiHe League is ..published in the Hokitika papers :—" Hokitika, 17th : Aug:, "1867.. To the President of the -Westlarid- Separation League. Sir — We, the undersigned, being members of the Westlahd Separation League, have the honor to request that our names may be taken * from* the list of the members of the League. Our reasons are few and-simple. — We do not endorse many- of the sentiments expressed in the petition so lately sent forth by the sub-committee of the Council of the League. We do not approve of the haste with which a matter of so much importance was pushed to its completion, and are of opinion that a document professing to utter the wishes andofeelings of - the thirty or forty thousand inhabitants of this district should have been submitted to the closest scrutiny and deepest consideration of all portions of the community, before it was published as the petition of the people of Westland. We do not sympathise with the prayer of the petition, which requests that a separate , Province, with its cumbrous arid costly machinery, may be erected- iv -this ; district. We consider that the prosperity of this district will be | achieved more quickly and more surely by a course of proceeding ..after Separation shalljiave beenjobtained, widely different from that'pTOppsed by the "(JduriciTo'f Tfche League/ E. Prosser, £' P: ! Klein, James ft. Anderson, Thos. R. Proctor, James Browne, James. TiMißeth, . W.< A. Eees, Jno, Higgin, William._Henderson, Eerdinand tTpham.'-' ; ; .