Untitled

Westport Times, Volume VI, Issue 979, 14 June 1872, Page 2

The number of signatures affixed to the petition for the proclamation of Westport as a Municipality, now exceeds the stipulated number of one hundred, and the document, after being attested by statutory declaration, will be forwarded, with the necessary plan shewing boundaries of proposed borough, to His Excellency the Governor. The Revision Court for hearing appeals against objections to the names of electors on the Electoral Roll for the Buller Disti-ict, was held on Monday last by Dr Giles, R.M., in the absenco of Mr Lee the Revising officer. We call attention to the Postal Notioe published in this issue; as svpplied from the Westport Post-office. Alterations therein, and tho projected departures of all Home Mails will be duly notified. King Winter has very forcibly asserted his dominion during tho present week. Cold blasts of wind and sudden squalls with heavy falls of rain, hail, and sleet have prevailed, with occasional vivid lightning and peals of thunder, and the cold has been unpleasantly severe. The thermometer marked only 20-29 on Tuesday last, and at mid-day it has barely reached 40 degrees. The arrival of tho Kennedy from Nelson has been delayed by the stormy weather, and the telegraph line not being in good working order, communication northward has been only intermittent. Mr Christopher Brown of the Sydney House, Gladstone Street, has been compelled to succumb to the inevitable, and retreat before too late, from the onward march of the encroaching waves. He is about to shift his stock of drapery and clothing to rooms in the Clarendon Hotel next the Union Bank, pending the erection of premises at the corner of Molesworth and Wallabi streets.

Quite a lively interest wa3 evinced throughout yesterday, by people gathered on the banks of the river, at the end of Bright street, watching the progress ot the search for the sunken machinery, belonging to the Band of Hope, and Wealth of Nations Quartz Mining Companies. The diver, T. Watson, from Lyttleton, who has been waiting for some days past until the state of tide and flow of current would permit of his commencing operations, went down yesterday, and, after some patient search, found one of the centre pieces, belonging to the Wealth of Nations, which he made fast to chains, and during the afternoon, it was dragged well on to the river bank. After working some hours a slight breakage in one of the straps or lines of the diving dress necessitated a temporary cessation of work, but the diver had previously made fast a line to one of the stamper boxes, and discovered the whereabouts of the other pieces, which are buried in the shingly bed of the rivb*'. It is very probable that by sundown this day the whole of the sunken machinery will be recovered. In consequence of the compulsory removal of Mr Fraser's School-house in Molesworth street, to save it from destruction by the encroaching sea; school duties are now carried on temporarily in the premises lately occupied by Mr Sheldon in Kennedy street. A Northern paper says that when Captain Hutton, the assistant geologist, visited the Kawa Kawa coal mines recently, he directed the miners to sink for a seam of coal, which he told them would be found at a depth of 170 feet Tho seam was reached at a depth of 168 feet; and we are told the miners expressed great admiration at the accuracy of Captain Hutton. A full share in M'Laren and party's claim, Shamrock Lead, Addisons, has recently changed hands at .£100; the exact price the seller gave for it four years since. In the interval tha share has realised to the extent of £2O per week, at certain times of the year, and the average yield has given from .£4 to £6 per week steadily. The good ground is not yet worked out. The washing up in Mace's claim, Reefton, has given very satisfactory results. A great deal of mystery has been observed

regarding the exact particulars, and, as usual, many conflicting reports, are in circulation. Porhaps as a matter of policy it has been deemed wise to observe a mysterous reticence in the matter, but it can scarcely be considered as tending to increase public confidence in reefing matters. However, the figures as we have them, speak for themselves, and we can vouch for thenbeing very nearly correct. The cake of retorted gold weighs about 841bs, avoirdupois, resulting from GOO or GO3 tons of stone, giving an average yield of about loz 17dwts 14grs to the ton. The cako will bo sent to Grey mouth as soon ps practicable. The prospectus of a company to work the claim, i 3 already before the public. In its present aspect, Gladstone street is evidently on tiie loose, not as regards individuals so much as properties. White's chemist shop has displayed an erratic tendency to break line, and now stands gingerly in the middle of the thoroughfare, as if preparing for a trip to parts unknown. Close following in the rear, is the Bank of New South Wales, mounted on wheels, but slightly ' down at the nose'; looking with its glazed front and chimney standing, likea peripatetic pie shop, or itinerant peep show, travelling to a village fair. M'Farlane's Hotel is like 'a house divided against itself, that cannot stand.' The billiard room and buildings to rearward have disappeared, leaving but the narrow strip of bar room fronting the roadway. Mnnson's cottage, too, has slowly, inch by inch, forged its way until it has reached Molesworth street, where it now seem.3 to await the falling of the waters, in front of Vorley's photographic studio, now only approachable by deep wading on stilts. Frasers' school house has been shifted away, not a day too soon, as the surf now rolls at high tide over what was his allotment. At the rear of Mr C. Brown's drapery store and adjoining buildings, the surf corc.es up with angry and ominous swish, carrying away, bit by bit, the few remaining feet of solid ground. Altogether Gladstone street and its environs, presents a melancholy aspect of waning glories. Fourteen more applications for Gold Mining Leases at Reef ton, were recommended by Mr Warden Broad, on the 3rd inst., and eighteen other applications were adjourned or recommendations refused. The Shareholders of the Prospectors Claim, Rainy Creek, have decided to erect machinery, consisting of a powerful engine and forty head of stampers. A Brighton correspondent of the 'Charleston Herald ' says he contemplates a Tent of Rechabities being formed there on the Premier's next visit, as by that time the stock of whiskey will be exhausted. Starvation or something akin will soon overtake the Brightonites, if some of the Charleston " knights of the cleaver " don't take pity, and send them down a bullock. It is now over a week since the writer tasted meat, and according to present appearances another week will elapse ere any is obtainable.

Alluding to the very free and easy system prevailing in the appointment of individuals as Justices of the Peace, the ' Auckland Herald' asks :—" Would it not save trouble, as well as expense of printing, if the Government were to gazette every man of twenty-one years of age a J.P." At Westport we might ask why, amongst the multitude of dispensers of justice, good, bad, and indifferent, scattered throughout the colony, only one solitary individual, besides the Resident Magistrate, holds office here. On the occasion of the recent inquest at the Orawaiti, had Dr Giles, by any mischance, been prevented from returning from Charleston, Dr Thorpe would have been compelled to assume the dual capacity of Coroner and medical witness. The official return of land in cultivation and the agricultural produce thereof, in New Zealand, February, 1872 has been issued from the Registrar-General's office. We glean therefrom the following principal items of informations:—Total number of acres in crop, including sown grasses: Auckland, 196,082; Taranaki, 23,187 ; Wellington, 200,103; Hawke's Bay, 72,32-1; Nelson, 51,078; Marlborough, 28,313; Canterbury, 282,268; County of Westland, 1838; Otago, 274,517. Total for the colony, 1,129,812. The estimated gross produce of wheat i 3 stated at 2,448,203 bushels, showing an increase of 614,655 bushels over the yield for 1871, while oats and barley have yielded 3,726,810 bushels and 30,717 bushels; showing a decrease of 75,919 and 290,020 bushels respectively as compared with the yield for 1871. Another serious accident has occurred in the Charleston district, causing the instant death of one man and severe injuries to another ; resulting in his death a few hours afterwards. On Tuesday morning about 10 o'clock, Jeremiah O'Callaghan and Thomas Ellis were working at the facing-in the Nile claim, and were in the act of cutting under to bring down a quantity of stuff, when, unexpectedly, the whole mass fell upon the two of them, burying them completely. The accident being observed, however, the alarm was given and a number of men set to work to bring them out. Poor O'Callaghan was quite dead when unearthed, and Ellis's injuries were so severe as to necessitate his immediate removal to the hospital. He was very much bruised, and sustained a fearful crushing in the abdomen. His thigh and several ribs were also broken, and no chance remained of his recovery. The men were both respected by all acquaintances ; and O'Callaghan, who was a widower, has left as orphans a lad in the district, attending St Patrick's School, and also a daughter at Bendigo. An inquest was held on Wednesday, and a verdict of "Accidental death" recorded. The construction of the road to Reefton, is being proceeded with as speedily as the nature of the work and the contingincies of wintry weather and short days will permit. Prom the new crossing, about sixty or eighty chains have been finished, up to" the cutting in the hill where a bit of stiff blasting is going on. Further on, at the terrace falls, the bridge is completed, all but the planking, which is now being laid down, and the sawyers are busy getting out planks for the culverts further on. In the swamps nearly all the necessary fascines have been laid, and are ready for the top coating of ballast, The road from thence through the Landing Creek to Larry's Creek, is completed, or nearly so in some places, while in others the bush is only partly cleared. Over Larry's Creek a foot bridge has been thrown for the accommodation of travellers. Passing Larry's, the traveller finds sundry disconnected lengths of road, in the whole about two[anda-half miles.finished.and about a mile or so requiring, gravelling From thence to Reefton the work does not show much sign of progress. Some difficulty is found in getting a steady supply of labor, as work on the Greymouth road is not so laborious, an! the current rate of store prices lower, although the wages on the Reefton road are higher than on the other line. Horse and cattle keepers, and the owners of live stock in general, will be interested in that a duly qualified veterinary practitioner has commenced practice in Westport. Mr A. Appel, member of the Royal Veterinary College of Surgeons, may be consulted at Mr Hughes's (Williams's

Medical Hall), Moles worth street. Mr Appel ia a skilled practitioner, of no moan repute on tho West Coast and elsewhere, and his presence in YVestport will fill a very obvious void in arrangements for public requirements.

The ' Thames Advertiser' dees not entertain a very bright view of this colony as a field for skilled labor. In a leader on the European news, our contemporary says:—" Tho working men of Britain never earned such high wages as they do now, while the hours of labor are materially shortened. With these advantages, it is no wonder that our immigration agents aro obliged to address themselves to Scandinavians and Germans. We hiirn no doubt that there are many in these Colonies, especially of the class of skilled artiziins, who would materially improve their position by going back to England."