ADDISON'S FLAT.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 343, 5 September 1868, Page 6

ADDISON'S FLAT.

(from our own correspondent.) On Thursday last, Dr Giles held a Court here, which was densely crowded on account of the interest taken in some mining cases that were disposed oft The first case tried, was for selling spirits without license, in which the late holder of the license who was non est inventus was fined £2O, as the Dr considered it a hardship to impose the penalty on the female now in occupancy, who had no effects on which to levy a distress. Another was fined £1 for using abusive language in the presence of the police, which with costs, was promptly paid. An inebriate was fined in the usual penalty when the Warden's Court opened, and the case of William Nicholis against Hunter for an encroachment came on before assessors and oceupied over two hours. Mr Coe, Mining Surveyor, • proved to an encroachment of 175 feet by Hunter on Nicholss, the former employed Mr Sale as their Surveyor, who made the encroachment a trifle less. Damages were laid at £2OO, as the ground, though far from being the richest on the Shamrock lead, was proved highly remunerative, After much conflicting testimony on both sides, the assessors awarded damages for 'l7O feet of an •encroachment, which after deducting the cost of raising timber and washing, &e., that was allowed defendants, came to £4O and costs, which plaintiffs were paid. Out of Court the assessors slated that if they had .known that the washdirt had been wilfully removed, they would not have allowed the above expenses to defendants. The case was very badly managed, ana it would have paid Mr Nicholis well to. have employed a gentleman of the long robe to have advocated his cause. Another mining case of but little importance came on and was speedily disposed of, when the Court broke up. On the Shamrock, three of the first claimholdcrs have been swamped out, and, not thiuking the remaining washdirt worth the expense of again unwatering their claims, they left for Nelson Creek, on the Grey. The remaining claims on- the Shamrock continue to keep up their usual richness, no diminution l.eing yet apparent. On the Old Cement Lead, M'Carthy's extended claim, plant, &c, &c, for crushing, and some gold has been seized for debt; on the bailiff appropriating the latter, he was near coming to grief, the defendants not thinking he was acting legally in seizing the precious metal the whole is co be submitted to public auction. The mining surveyor, Mr E. H. Coe has been retained to survey another case of encroachment to-day, and as many of the claims are now working close to each other, it is expected that that gentleman will be kept pretty busy for some time. A good deal of the ground is coming in as excavating underneath goes on. It is sincerely toabe hoped that no serious accidents will occur, but it will be almost a miracle if otherwise, the wet nature of the ground at Addison's making it so very liable to give wayComing towards the last of the claims, the miners are not as careful about timbering as at first, or as they should be ; indeed it is remarkable how careless many are in this respect, considering that lives may and do, depend on it.

Courtney having failed to come up to time on his road contract, Mr Pell the road overseer, gave the work to the next lowest tenderer, who has now almost completed his work in a very creditable manner. However at the crossing of the creek to the Shamrock abridge now becomes indispensable, which I hear Mr Lowe, the district engineer is fully alive to, and it is sincerely to he hoped that he may soon take measures for having it done, as the Shamrock Lead is the richest, and will be the most permanent part of Addison's. A stirvey was made on Friday of an extended claim of one acre and a quarter for Younghusband and party, of the i long tunnel, the draining power of 1 which gives them full command of all the Flat in their neighborhood, and will enable them to work for years if the ground proves sufficiently remune. rative; well indeed does their enterprise and hard work, in the face of almost unsurmountable difficulties, deserve to be rewarded. . Some of the most respectable hotel keepers are demurring about taking out licenses for the coming half year; two causes may be assigned for this, the first is the decrease in the population, as-daily some are dropping off" for either Auckland or Queensland; and secondly, while there are very few license-holders, almost every house «ells grog. Surely the police ought to 3)eable to prevent this latter cause,

which so seriously affects the revenue. No attempts have lately been made to discover the connexion between the diverted or broken off lead at the Shamrock, andthat at Brown's Terrace, on the south side of the Nile, which must exist, as there is a regular plateau all the way through ; one cause of this is the want of a road, which I understand, has been laid out by Mr Pell, the road overseer, but on account of the transition state of the Public AVorks Department) some stop appears to hinder its going on ; tvve hope the new district engineer will soon remedy it, as this lead, if discovered, will maintain a large population for a long time.