Late Mining Disaster.

Colonist, Volume XLI, Issue 9291, 1 October 1898, Page 4

Late Mining Disaster.

Auckland, September 29. The dead body of Graham, recovered from the burning Jubilee mine at Waits kauri on Saturday evening, was found hang ing over a slab three feet from the bottom of the man-hole leading from Christie's drive into the Queen's drive. The unfortunate man had evidently known ths means of exit, but was suffocated before reaching the pure air in the Queen levels. Wallace's body could not be recovered, and it is thought he must have endeavored to escape by the same level as he entered — namely, Christie's — and was overcome by the smoke. Messrs Coutts and Byan, Mining Inspectors, were on the scene all Saturday afternoon and night, and everything possible was done to discover Wallace, but without avail. Search parties got up to the second rise and into the level where the men had been working, but found it impossible to get along Christie's level towards the fire. In any case it is probable that both men discovered the smoke long before it was felt by the engineer below, and endeavored to escape before the alarm was given below. Wallace's true name was Stevens. He was about 36 years of age, and bailed from Tasmania. He had no relations here. Graham was a single man, 21 years of age. A brother resides in Waihi, and his parents are in Otago. Graham had been working in the district for two years and at the Jubilee mine for a month.

United States! Hia object is to de- ' / monstrate what a man can do who ''hris riever tastefl liquor, nejer smoked a cigar, wlio hasn't toudliea animal food for twenty-five years, and who ha 3no sickness and never had 1 ' and incidentally to make money which is the most startling thing he has ever determined to do. Tnfi latest information regarding cdral tang operation^ at Funafuti states that the hydraulic boririg donducted from H.M.S. Porpoise bad po be abandoned when a depth of 280 ft was reached, owing to the boring rod buckling. The party on shore had gone down to a distance of 800 ft. Air American war correspondent thus described the position after the hill at Santiago had been rushed by the U.S. troops : — From our own line could be seen a long grey, Spanish entrenchment, from 400 to 1,000 yards away, according to what part of oar line one measured from. From it floated no smoke (the Spaniards used smokeless powder, and the Americans the old black material) and no men appeared there, but it was making a noise like a million champagne corks. The army was Ix is reported (says the Observer) in the South that the Rothschilds have withdrawn from the Consolidated Goldfields Company, which bought up the greater part of the Reefton goldfield two or tlrfee years ago, and behind which they were the principal financiers. Mr David Ziman, the promoter of the venture^ is stated to have lost heavily, dusty, dishevelled, its hair matted to its forehead with sweat, its shirts glued to its back with the same, and indescribably dirty, thirsty, hungry, and aweary from its bundles and its marches and its fights, it sat down on the conquered crest and felt satisfied. The Quakers are the most largely represented community in Parliament. There are only 18,000 members of that sect, and they have eight M. P's. There is a scarcity of feed in the Bruce district, and the other day one farmer sent two thousand hoggets to Oamaru by road. Fbost has been very severe at Botorua lately, so much so, in tact, that the water in the supply tap became frozen, and had to be thawed before water could be obtained. " The majority of New Zealand seamen are married men, and only receive £78 per year to keep their wives and families on," — said Mr Miller in the House the other night. A v%ey 'peculiar and interesting discovery was made the other day at i New Brighton (Christchurch), when Mr Sydney Day came across a totara log, or portion of a tree, 10ft by 2£ft, aboat 10 chains from high water mark, away in the sandhills. On consultation with experts the latter stated that probably 100 years or more had elapsed since the timber had been placed there by the sea, which had since receded.