MELBOURNE.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3566, 13 December 1882, Page 3

MELBOURNE.

December 12

New baa been received from Creswick that the Australasian gold mine has been flooded. Forty men were at work when ihe outburst of water occurred, and of these fourteen escaped and twenty-six are still under ground. There is now forty

feet of water in the main shaft, and the pumps available are quite inadequate to cope with the task of pumping out the mine. Arrangements are being made for additional pumps and engine power. Faint hopes are entertained, however, that those in the mine will succeed in escaping. The scene at the mouth of the mine when the disaster was made known was most distressing. Later. Great efforts are being made at Creswick to clear the Australasian mine of water, and by tbe aid of additional pumps which have been obtained the depth has already been reduced by six feet. All hope, however, of rescuing the men alive who are under ground has been abandoned. The Legislative Assembly met to-day after the adjournment for the purpose of considering the Munro vote of want of confidence, Before proceeding to the discussion of Mr Munro's motion, Mr Wood, the member for Stawell, moved that the proprietor of the Age be summoned to the bar of the House for publishing in that paper an article reflecting upon the efficiency of Wood's railway brake in connection with the recent railway accident on tbe Hawthorn line, the publication of the article being alleged by Mr Wood to be a breach of privilege. The motion was supported by tbe Premier, but, after an animated discussion of some length, it was ultimately withdrawn, and the debate on Mr Munro's motion for the appointment of a committee of seven to investigate the railway administration of the colony was then resumed. The debate proceeded with vigor, and at 10 o'clock Sir Bryan O'Loughlan was replying in a lengthy speech. December 13. The accident at the Australasian mine at Creswick was caused by the miners breaking into old workings. According to latest reports the water at midoigbt was rapidly diminishing, fifty thousand gallons an hour being brought up by the pumps. It is expected that the men still in the mine will be reached this morning, but it is feared that, if they have not been drowned, they will have been suffocated. The debate in the Legislative Assembly on Mr Munro's motion was continued to a late hour last night, but was at length adjourned to to-day. Later. A telegram from Creswick, timed 11 a.m. to-day, reports that the water had not been sufficiently reduced at that time to allow of a descent into the mine, but it is hoped that this may be possible during this afternoon.