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Westport Times, Volume IV, Issue 645, 14 April 1870, Page 2

Extended claims were granted on Tuesday last to Matthew Connor and party and Michael O'Conor and party, In the case of the first named applicants, the ground is situated at Waite's Pakihi, while O'Connor's area is in the vicinity of the Catholic Chapel, Westport.

The continuous rains and flooded state of the creeks, made it impossible for the Miners League Committee to meet according to advertisement on Saturday. But they will most likely meet before Saturday next, the day appointed for the meeting of delegates from other districts.

Some immediate steps should be taken by the Government to erect a landing stage for the accommodation of the cargo boats plying between the Upper Bullor and Westport. The boats at present take in their loading at that point of the river adjoining the end of Kennedy-street, and owing to the unprotected state of the bank large masses of earth are being continually carried away by the passage of heavy packages. Already several feet of the metalled roadway have been thus broken down, and unless a stage is erected a larger outlay will very shortly be necessary to repair the thoroughfare.

An injunction has been applied for and granted by the District Judge on behalf of the Bank of New Zealand, staying operations in the claim of the Southern Cross Gold Mining Company, Charleston, pending the decision of an appeal to be heard on June 14th.

In the Resident Magistrate's Court, yesterday, before R. C. Reid Esq., J.P.. Samuel Hughston, charged with drunkenness, was fined 20s. Waite v. Waite, an assault case, was remanded upon the application of Sergeant Keily to this day. From correspondence received by the Superintendent by the last mail, it appears Colonel Maude has withdrawn from the negotiations for the construction of the Nelson and Cobden railway, assigning as a reason that Mr Morrison has entertained proposals from another party.

We learn from our Charleston contemporary that the rainfall of Saturday night last inflicted serious damage in that district. The Maori Chief Company, who had recently completed a magnificent plant on Back Lead, alone suffered damage estimated at .£4OO. The dams belonging to Mitchell and party, Parsons, Scanlan, Harle, Anderson, and the Queen's Own Company, broke away, inflicting very serious damage to the owners of mining plants on the lower ground, and parties working tailings in the creeks. Nearly all the races in the district have met with some mishap. The largo race belonging to the Nile Company has broken away, and will entail a week's work to repair, as also the race of the Cosmopolitan Company. Both claims are idle in consequence, besides the Excelsior and Enterprise Companies, who were supplied by the races mentioned. A number of gentlemen who, it is stated, guaged the rainfall with tolerable accuracy, give as the result seven to nine inches during an interval of four hours. By reference to advertisement, it will be seen that, as an inducement to intending visitors to Nelson at the ensuing race meeting, return tickets, available for a fortnight, will be issued at a single fare per steamer Kennedy. Mr and Mrs Woodroffe proceeded to Charleston, on Tuesday, where they purpose giving a few exhibitions of their pleasing and instructive art. The first exhibition was to be given yesterday evening, when they could scarcely fail to attract a large attendance. The Wangapeka correspondent of the Nelson Examiner writes under date April 7 : —The future of this place does not look very bright. The miners are finding out that they must be assisted by capitalists in developing the reefs, as very few of them are possessed of money; and capitalists seem chary of coming forward. Why this should be so I am at a loss to understand. Here seems to be a mine of wealth, and yet those in a position to do so will not put out their hands to grasp it. Marshall's party have got a large quantity of stone and gold can easily be found in it, bnt it is very fine, and O'Brien's have abandoned their original claim opposite Batchelor's, and taken up one on the same side of the creek opposite Marshall's, and I am told to-day that they have found the reef in the new claim. I believe that no good result will be achieved until a battery is erected here, the men seem to think it useless sending small parcels of stone to town to be crushed, as it would not be a fair test, and if it turned out very good people would say it was either picked stone or salted.

The Customs authorities in Auckland hare made a large seizure of glassware. The export of gold from Auckland for the month of March amounted to 12,674 ounces. Hitherto it has been supposed that Tasman was the first discoverer of New Zealand, but lately a claim has been put forward that Arabic geographers were acquainted with the existence of New Zealand. The editor of the English Mechanic, for December 3, 1860, p. 279, states, in answer to a correspondent, "Urban," that various Arabic geographical works of the 13th and 14th centuries, many of which havo been translated, as "El Ideesee," byM. Jaubert, are to be found in the fine libraries of

Vienna and Paris, as well as in the various Asiatic Ethonologieal Societies, both English and foreign, describe New Zealand as a large and very mountainous island in the farthest Southern Ocean, beyond and farsouth east of both Ray (Borneo) and Bartailie (New Guinea), and as being uninhabitod by man, and containing nothing but gigantic birds known as the " Seemoah."

The sites for the erection of booths at the ensuing raoe-meeting at Nelson realised very poor prices, the highest amount paid being only ,£3 10s. Mr George Eoberts, of Rangitiki, is going to commence immediately the planting of forty acres of land with flax.

The Lyttelton Tinus gives the following raturn3 of the quantity and value of flour, grain, and mault exported from the Province of Canterbury for the month of March:—Flour, 171 tons, valued at £1539; wheat, 77,100 bushels, valued at £ 13,492; oa.ts, 51,308 bushels, valued at .£5130; barley, 14,133 bushels, valued at £2829; malt, 293 bushels, valued at .£146

The settlers of the Wairoa are, it is said, about organising a corps of volunteer cavalry, and have been promised the encouragement and assistance of the Commander of the district.

A man, named Ealph Cullinan, attempted suicide at Okehu, on the 31st ult., by cutting liis throat. Another instance of the many victims of indulgence in strong drink in this Colony.

The total number of births registered in Dunedin during the month of March was 84, and of deaths 36, the excess of births over deaths thus being 45, or at the rate of 107.G9 per cent. The number of marriages registered during the same period was 22. The Post Office in England have prepared for the use of the public, forms for telegraphic messages to be used when the whole system of inland telegraphs is acquired by the Government. A separate space in lines is allotted to each word, and the corresponding charge is printed clearly on the margin, so that the sender can see at a glance how much he has to pay, and the receiving clerk need be at no trouble in calculating how much he has to charge. Amongst the applicants for entering the Inebriate Asylum, New York, were 28 clergymen, 30 physicians, 42 lawyers, 3 judges, 12 editors, 4 army, and three naval officers, 179 merchants, 55 farmers, 515 mechanics, and 410 women, most of them ladies.