Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1875), Tuesday 12 August 1873, page 4


' "... ". GUNDAGAI. : J JJ' 'SJ.-' i:

I ''- ' . ? - . .'Aujraat6.

The crowning ellmax of misfortune has befallou tue Great Southern O. M: Co., In the complete wreck of their splendid crushing maohlnerj »>d plant. On Saturday night wo were visited hy a heavy sunn of rain, which was Incessant for the greater part of the ul ¿ut, and during the night the lamentable ossualty happened to. tho company's ,iworks. Tu» dam Sl'ed and bur-t, carrying everything before it. under-mining the foundations of the maohlnerv, and completely overthrowing the result of so many months labour and expeudlt jre. Tho cost of the maohiñery .was L1S00, and'the oompany have expended in wages 4c, about X2600. Opera-tions hud been suspended fur. some - few weeks, .but lt was expected' that they would soon commence work ngaiu, I suppose lt ls- doubtful now if thty wllP resume. Tho destruction of this plant ls a serious lou'to all the miners in the- neighbourhood, ns numbers were awaiting thelrcommenclng to crush for the pabilo. The plant was considered the most perfect In the colony. . It was muon wantod just where it was.ereoted, aud would have had all the crushing from tbe mani-extensiva workings around Johnston's HUI and Bongongolong' Creek. It will be pos-sible to recover tbe greater part of the machinery, but lt will doubtless be mnoji damaged, and tho labour expenden on Its' erection is utterly JOBI. The shareholders of'the Great Southern have bad their full «hare of nope deferred.

' Jessop's machine will be ready to start this week, if nothing

as yet.unfdrseea provento.

Ssreral instances have occurred hcrVof stone crúshéd'át some machines disappointing expectations,'and portions of the sime stone (not picked) seat as a Mst to Wilson's ma-chine, 'Adelong, giving a:much better rate. 'In one case a quantity of etone gave a return of about SJ dwi« tn the ton; .tx tons of the same sent to Wilson's realised at the rate of 10 dwts. Another case where the result here was (J dwts, two tons at Wilson's gave a'rat« of 15 dwts. The Chullan mill is.used at Wilson's,-and no doubt has'something to do with it. ... - ?-.< ...- ',> . .... j ..<....-»

Dr. Laulgan, thc Boman Catholic Bishop of thia diocese, hos.made a pastoral visit to Gundagai, and:.was.met by a hirge escort of horsemeu on his way. here from Tumut on Thursday last. He was entertained at a dinner on Thursday evening at B-ngarralonc, the residence of J. Sf'Bray, Esq., where lila lordship resided during bis stay in this quarter. Aa address was presented. md: I om told thit In reply his lordship was moat empbatlb in lil* remarks ou the: want of religious earnestnesa.on the. part of the : members of the Catholic body-here more especially-with reference to the closing, of the Catholic school. A confirmation service waa held on Sunday in the Catholic Church. The Illshop admin-istered tils pledge to abstain from intoxicating liquors till' the age of twenty-one, to the younger communicants. Borne others considerably over that »ge manifested a willingness to tak* th« pledge for the same period, to-

other places'may boast of sensations, but Gundrgal has started a sensation on its own account which must make even the bunyip hide Its diminished head. Our sensation ls nothing less than that most venerable and ctei aristocrats of all old curiosities, a veritable ahnst: Our chosi. for wa isv onr.

with an uir of proprietorship ha«-established tho evidence ut' itsexlstenco by appearing to two distinct persons. Corrobo-rative evidencn ls necessary in ghost, cases, and in this case it ls forthcoming. A Mrs. Moroney at Jones's Creek is most favoured by his ghostship's company. He appeared nearly every night to her till she left and he also unceremoniously visited a man named Carey living near. Mrs. Moroney de-clines conversation with her visitor, but cannot forbear gazing upon him. She has left the house she was living in from sheer fear, and it was materially telling upon her health. The rest of the family have also cleared out. The lady has seen ber clergyman, and also the Bishop, with reference to it, but nothing will shake her assertion. His ghostship was most inhospitably treated on his only visit to Mr. Carey, and he would be a very thickskinned ghost to repeat the visit, for Carey struck him with a shovel, which, he states, bounced off as though it struck india-rubber. However he was not a ghost of dull apprehension, for he took the hint and retreated through the doorway, whereupon Carey was churlish enough to set the dogs on him, which insult added to attempted injury, seems to have affected the ghost more than being personally assaulted with the shovel. He is said to be a ghost about 4 feet high, dressed in a grey tweed suit, when he condescends to appear all in one piece, which is quite a superfluous matter with him, as some-times only the upper part of his body, or whatever you call tr, is to be seen. He has a red beard, and anyone who has missed a stray ghost may know him from this description. As the place he appears in is situated among the reefs, it has been suggested that if properly-treated mid skilfully drawn out, he might vouchsafe some information which would wave a good deal of prospecting. Possibly some of the deep shafts are invading his domain, or interfering with his comfort in some way. Whatever explanation may be given, there is no doubt the affair is creating a sensation here, and is pro-foundly believed in by many. Those who state that they have seen him are apparently sane, and are looked upon as

ensible people.