GREY VALLEY DIGGINGS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1114, 22 February 1872, Page 2

GREY VALLEY DIGGINGS.

-♦ (fhom -oum own oobkespoitoest..) ..'.;. Ahaura, Feb. 21. The Premier seems to like the Ahaura, and it is stated, on good authority, that it was by a great effort of self-control that he managed to tear himself away from it. And yet the people of this model town think they are going to the bad ; but this morbid feeling, which appears to begetting chronic, can only be attributed to Arcadian simplicity and a want of knowledge of what is passing in the outer world. Misery or happiness is altogether relative with regard to the causes and effects of these feelings. The inhabitants of this town cannot understand why they should have cause for congratulation that their hamlet stands uninjured by the recent calamitous floods, although every other town on the coast has. been more or less damaged. They cannot realise the goodness of that mercy which allows them to stalk about in " purple and fine liven," while women and children, who are worse than fatherless, are only a few miles away left in numbers without a rag to cover them. And lastly, they cannot recognise the hand of= any speciaL providence in sending a real live. Premier among them just in the nick of time, before his Honor the Superintendent paid his annual visit. If it hadn't been for Mr Fox's coming here before hi 3 Honor, there is no knowing what might have happened. Now we are prepared. Mr Curtis may attempt to mesmerise us with another of his brilliant displays of eloquence and blue-book-keep-ing, in which the future arithmetical' figures are so well "wrapped up," and interwoven with the figures of " Curthusian" oratory, that the inevitable Brunner Coal Mine, with its clear loss of nearly LI 00 for the quarter ending December 31, 1871, would be likely to slip in unnoticed. , Mr Curtis gave a lecture on electrobiologj', in its relation to the system of Provincial Government, at Reefton, on Monday night, and for several hours he kept lm hearers spellbound, until at last he hart tlmm in such a state of " glamour" that they imagined they were the best and most cheaply governed, „ and' ought to be the happiest people on the face of the earth ; so you see happiness and misery, are altogether, relative. : The Premier's visit, no doubt, wilj. do a deal of good to this part of the West Coast, but he is too knowing a Fox to be caught, in anything having the slightest suspicion of a trap. We tried, in the address with which we presented him here, to get hini to express an opinion on the "misrule" of the Nelson Government in these parts. We put the matter as pointedly as we could without perpetrating a " Druryism" in descending to the use of scurrilous pergonal abuse of the Nelson Executive, but it was no use. The astute Minister saw the pitfall, and "srlode" gracefully over it.. There might, of course, "be something rotten in the state of Denmark," but from the. manner in which the wily v politician and practised speaker alluded to the cariosity, it| might refer to Dr Featherston's Scandinavian scheme, or to any other unsound* or visionary undertaking, as well as? to the rottenness of the Nelson Government..; Mr Curtis would be here in a few "days,;and he would : make everything all right* ■ . The fords and crossings in the streams; up-country are greatly altered from the : effects of the recent flood, and travellers require to exercise great caution in attempting to cross them. Several accidents and .narrow escapes took place

during last week. On Wednesday Messrs Percy Wakefield and W. S; Staite, of Ahaura, arrived at tlie lower ferry oh; that riydr, on their way from Greymouth, some time after dark. The ferryman refused to take over their horses, giving as a reason that he did not possess a safe or suitable pair of oars for the strong cur-' rent then, in .the river. It was decided that Mr 1 Wakefield ; and the ferryman should take the horses across by M'JKefiria's ford higher up, and thajrMr Staite should cross in th~e : boat ? to 'meet them. On-the way up to the ford the horses atid riders became • entangled ;iu one of the numerous beds of quicksand formed by the late flood. It was with the greatest difficulty the lives of the horses were saved, and, as it is, their safety' may" be entirely attributed to the good local knowledge of the ferryman. la -the v 'meantime,. Mr Staite had a miraculous escape at the ferry. There was some trouble in making a landing, and the boat was- carried down to near the junction of the two rivers. Thinking in the darkness that the boat j was sufficiently, near the, shore, Mr Staite jumped out, and found himself up to the armpits in the; rapid stream. Putting on a " magnificent spurtj" as the pedestrians say, Mr Staite plunged ashore at the nearest pbint, : which to his dismay turned out to be the narrow spit between the two rivers, with only a few feet of moving sand between him and the full current of the Grey. Had the boat gone her own length further, there would not have been any chance of savin" her, under the circumstances. On. Friday morning, the drayman from M'Kenna's Brewery attempted to -take the dray across at the usual place, but the water being deeper than was expected, horse, 'dray, and driver were carried away. /The horse rolled over and over in the stream during his struggles to free himself from the harness. The driver held on, sometimes to the dray and sometimes to the beer casks which were floating about, but he was in imminent danger of being; struck by the horse in his. attempts to get loose. The man was nearly exhausted by the time the ferry boat reached him, although the ferryman acted with the greatest promptitude the moment he became aware of the accident, and lost no time in getting his boat up. The horse and dray were washed ashore lower down, but the valuable cargo was lost. In the evening of the same day, Mr James Byrne, of Granville, was returning from Antonio's Flat, and while crossing at the upper ford at the Little Grey Junction, he mistook, in the imperfect light, one of these quicksands fop the solid bottom of the river. The Jhorse sank to the saddle skirts, and the rider was thrown off into the Giirrent: On Mr Byrne regaining his feet, he found that the horse, on being freed from the weight of its rider, had extricated itself and found its way ashore. On the same day, Mr Alex. Constantino lost pne of the best cargo boat horses on the river. Jn this ca3e the animal lost its footing, also in- a quicksand, an/1 .fell, . -dragging another horse.along with it. One was drowned, and the other was, saved with difficulty. This accident occurred about two . miles below the Old Ahaura.: It is one peculiarity of ;the last great flood, that the number of Bandbanlfß formed- by it is greater than was ever before noticed. ; The most important items of mining news are the astonishing rich' yields from recent washings from some of the claims at Half-Ounce. In one claim the weekly average has" come up to 90oz for eight men, arid in. another to over 40oz to ; six men. These claims are situated just above Mabille's leasehold, and the existence of rich dirt like this so far from the source of the lead, and close by where it is supposed to have run out, ought to be a sufficient answer to those croakers who imagine the lead is lost. A new run of gold is said to have been discovered ' at Napoleon. A r market "gardener from that pjape applied for an agricultural, lease at the last sitting qf tfte Warden's Court here, and .the opposition to the application was based upon the fact that the ground was auriferous. On inquiry it' turned out that , Kirkman and party, in driving for the supposed second lead at. Napoleon, came on a deposit of payable wash-dirt on a shallow bench about 30ft nearer .the- surface than the level of the old lead. This new discovery is about, under the ground applied for on lease, but growing vegetables on the surface could hardly affect the richness or otherwise of the wash-dirt below. It is £he old story of the dog in the manger repeated, . It is said that the batteiy on Shiel's reef at Murray Creek will be started crush* ing on Ist March: The real value of the Inangahua quartz.reefs.wUl thenjbegin tp be known. LlOpO were refused for a quarter (l-32nd) share in the prospecting claim on this line this week. MrR.L. ShieJ, the celebrated quartz prospector," is reported to have discovered something good again. Mr Shiel . has just returned from a visit to Victoria. He made a personal inspection of the most famous claims at Inglewood and Bendigo, and he can speak from experience of the latest improvements in the practical workings of mines in these important districts. The newest scientific appplications in the processes of treating* and amalgamating the ore have been specially noted by Mr Shiel, and no doubt the experience he gained during his trip will be useful to lum.in this new discovery of his. The report of Mr Johnston, the Town Surveyor, of Greymouth, with reference to his difj«?overy of ■uewer and_ shorter track than O'Malleys, from the Junction to Reefton, has excited some attention here. It is asserted by certain peoplej arid amongst them, by some of the officers i of the Nelson Provincial Government, that Mr Johnson has not discovered a ; new ; route, and that, on. the; contrary); lje has : attempted ■ to., appropriate rto, himself all i the honor, and which of. right belongs to : O'Malley, and Jenkins as discoverers of the short track to the reefs. It is even ; said that, on Tuesday, when Mr Fox and ; those who accompanied, him ca#6ito 'the place where Mr Johnston's track leaves the present one, Mr Fox, on examination of the" -plan -.furnished him of Johnston's ■ track, asked where O'Malley's track was, and he was told that v both"tracks were one and the same. IQn'til* a professional man. goes over the ground and disprpyes thei accuracy of Mr Johnston's report, i it is! unfair to attempt to impugn the faithful } ness of that gentleman's survey, but if the) facts be as they are openly stated, to be] by ; persons whp pretend to know, aiid; who from their position ought to know, j then an impudent attempt has been made; to misappropriate the. credit- due to the" exertions of other individuals.