OUR WEST COAST LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2299, 24 March 1898, Page 21

OUR WEST COAST LETTER.

(From Our Own Coiuiespondent.l Westland, March 10. GENEHAL SATISFACTION. I At the jjint request of the Ross Borough j Council and the Totara Minen.' Association, the I , Government have resumed all the lands, less 40 , ! acres, held by the Ross United Gold-mining '_ ] Company for the last 18 years, and proclaimed j them as a mining reserve for gold-mining purposes, whereat there is general satisfaction all . over the West Coasfc. Of course the defendant company fought all they knew in the hope of beating the mining inspector, but the evidence for forfeiture was too strong against them, Captain Richards showing that no rent had , been paid for over five years and that no work ' had bsen done in tbe areas for a much longer period. As matters now stand the whole of the auriferous lands -between Ross town and the subuibau village are open to the public, j and, if we are correctly informed, will | now be worked on t, gigantic scale by a subsij dised syndicate. It is estimated there will be ! over 400 men at work on these flats ere th? I speeding year be gathered to his fathers. i KTJMATtA SLUDGE CHANNEL. } The No. 5 fcludge cnannel, Kumara, being ■ driven on a eubeidy of 15s in the pound by 10 parties of minera, is making capital headway, and should be into the golden ground in a month or two. The system in vogue is : . Government find 75 per cent, of the capital, j and 25 men oat of the 10 parties of 40 find the [ balance in labour. The ground sought to bb r *. | drained by this adit lies underneath .Larrikins' I Terrace, where there is said to be very rich • golden ground. j AN EMINENT HECTOR. j f Mr A. A. Adams, rector ot the Greymoufch > High School, again leads the van amongst the •' scholastic victories of the year. (Sending up three pupils for the m&triculaiion and sevan fov the civil eerTice, they all passed, the former qualifying for the solicitors' general knowledge examination and one ot tha latter securing a. high place among' the 700 candidates presented this year. Of course Mr Adams — who, by the way, is besides very popular — is gatbing highest ' eulogy from the coastal press, as indeed he well ! deserves. ] S TRUCK. j The contractors for driving the tunnel for the I Waiho Gold-mining Company at Okarik* have J struck for bigger prices, but; as the company j refuse to accede to the demand the meu have returned home to Keefr,on. TWO LABS IIND 1000OZ OF GOLD ! Just as I writs news comes from an old West Coaster in Coolgardie to say there is great ! exssitemenb there just now over the fact that two ' lad 3, supposed to tie woiking some three miles out of. town, cauie in aud sold lOOOoz of gold to the bank, and sir Ci then hundreds are narrowly watchirg the lads in the endeavour to discover ! the locality. A BATTLE ABOUT DREYFUS. Whilst that apparently unfortunate ex-officer of the Freney army— Dreyfus— languishes in the iron «sge of Devil Island the Coast papsrs, "who , champion his oanse and als-j thafc of Zola, the heroic novelist, en them, the Grey Star has drawn down upca hia devoted head the wrath of some fire-eating Frenchman, who has taken to fire eft' whole columns of diatribe in tae defence ot France and French justice. Besides this the perdu Johnny Crap iud screams out : " 1 am proud of being a Frenchman ; am glad Zola has got 12 xncnths, and that the traitor Dreyfus rola iti Deyil Island. J get the French newspapers, and they tell me the sentence is ; just, and that Zola, a las! is vile," &a. Just ■ tancy any French newspapsr daring to fay aught else ! Those who did are fined aud imprisoned, aod all of the witaesses in favour of , Zola have bean punished. Perhaps that is French justice too ! 1 MONT DOR COMPANY. ] The Mont dOr Gold mining Company, con- > ducting business ab Ross for the last 20 years, ! has just paid its 42nd dividend of 1^ per share, thus recouping the original lucky shareholders t 200 per cent, on their outlay. The total ! number of sbaris are 12,000. | IMPORTANT DECIS T ON. j In respect to the recent case, Receiver of Gold j Revenue against the Rosa United Gold-mining ' Company, particulars of which I have already j given you, Mr Warden Macfarlane gave the following judgment afc Ross last Monday. I give j it to you verbatim et literatim: — "I find that i Special Claim No. T722 was granted by the j Governor under provision 93 of the ' Mining j Act of 1877,' but there is no evidence to show J thai this claim wa? registered, under the act. i That the Governor having mide the grant and . imposed conditions not found in the act nor | the regulations thereto the grant can only be j dealt with by the Governor or some one duly | authorised by him, hereby taking it out of > the jurisdiction of the Warden. 2. That the , Receiver of Goldfielda Revenue is now suing in this court for rent due, whereaa the conditions of the grant set out that if the rents due shall be in arrears for the spaca of 21 days next after any of the da}S fixed for the payment thereof, '■ it shall be lawful for the Governor for the time being, of the colony of New Zealand, or any • person authorised in that behalf, to enter upon the said special claim, and to distrain, etc. There is no provision made for suing, and further, it is nob a condition that the rent ; should be paid in advance as set out in the j plaint. 3. That the grant is bad, being unilateral, the parties to be charged never having s ; gaed the grant. Complaint dismissed."