Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser (NSW : 1843 - 1893), Wednesday 1 September 1852, page 2


THE BINGARA GOLD FIELDS.

(From the S. M. Herald, Aug. 27.)

Official intelligence was on Thursday received in Sydney with reference to the progress of dis-covery in this golden locale. Hundreds of per-sons were daily arriving, and about forty drays were already on the ground. The difficulty of obtaining the means of carriage had caused pro-visions to be scarce, with the exception of beef and mutton, which were plentiful, and formed almost the only kind of food at present at the command of the gold seekers. Gold continued to be found in large quantities, it was generally heavy, and consisted chiefly of nuggets, not waterworn. Those seen by the Assistant Com-missioner weighed 1, 3, 4, 7, and 14 ounces. A party of five had sold $750 worth, and then held upwards of 30 ounces, and others were reported to have been nearly as successful. The diggings are at present confined to the table land at the head of the Bingara and Courangoura Creeks, and the researches of ths diggers have not as yet proceeded to a greater depth than two feet. The locality presents great facility for the construc-tion of dams. As many persons have been mis-led by interested parties in the vicinity of the route to Bingara, as to the most eligible line of transit, we publish on authority the following directions for the guidance of those who may make Maitland their starting point -

Miles

From Maitland to Black Creek 15

Thence to Singleton 15

" Glennie's Creek 7 " Waterford's Inn 7 " Muswell Brook 14 " Aberdeen 7 " Scone 7 " Murrurundi 11 " Cary's Inn 12

At this point the road turns off towards the

Hanging Rock, and you make towards

Nelson's Inn 12 1/2 rhenceto Went«or th'sCreek, Paddy Davis'

Creek, or Currabubla 25 Here turn by Pirillie ot Wentworths sta-

tion, Rtdout's eatng-house, or Otto Baldwin's station, and you then come to

Dan Capel's, D'Urban, or Bingara ... 79

202½.

Say 202½ miles fiom Maitland, saving, bv taking this route in place ot that of Tamworth,

a distance of 10 miles

The utmost good order prevailed, licenses were daily applied for, and at the close of this month, by which time the prospecting parties will have chosen their claims, it may be calcu-lated that nearly a thousand licenses will be taken out for September. We are further ena-bled to add that at New England prospecting has been going on for some time past with suc-cess, and Mr Commissioner Massie has ex-pressed his belief that he will shortly be in pos-session of sufficient proof to justify him in decluing- this import nit and highly favoured region of New South Wales to be an extensive gold field In consequence of some unexplarned delays, the letters whence these memorand i have hem taken wera only delivered in Sydney on thursday, whereas their date is the 6th ot this

month.

THE NORTHERN DIGGINGS

The probkm is positivelv solved that the Bingara diggings will become "metal exceed-ingly attnctive " lhere is gold from the roots of the glasses downwards as far as men had dug, n rmely seven feet, at the time when the present writer lett the spot, being on the 28th July

With the little geological knowledge the writer possesses, he entertains no doubt but that the gold rriatrix will be yet found in one continuous range from the Bathurst country along as far as Bingara : how far beyond let time test. Nay he ventures to prognosticate that as gold undoubtely has been found on the Rocky River, about 20 miles from Armidale,so this ensuing season it will be disc on the Bundara proper, about 25 miles from Armidale, as the indications there fully warrant this conclusion.

The road by Armidale to Bingara partakes not of that difficult nature some have represented

As. Armidale is the nearest township of any importance, it must become a place of con siderable trade, when the diggings in its vicinity come into lull operation. Flour could be obtained

in any quanity from the fertile soil and favourable climate of New England destined, in years to come, for the granary of Eastern Aus

tralia. At present, however, this abundant, niy,thevuy best s mi ce of aciuntry's weilth, is loci ed up hy one of the Squatting Vet's re

stiKtions, which adm ts the stttlirs to grow as nindi w he it as tin v pie ise, but f u bl Is tho sale, uuleas the pro Inters sh ill buv from the Oovein

m nt at least ICO icn s, at the fixed price of one pound pu acte Here is a text to lui nish a

commentary.

The Peel diggings have been more productive than the publc generally are awiare of, when the few hands employed are taken into account. All the forks Is the Peel, the branches of Neimenga Creek, and the head waters of the Macdonald, are auriferous. The mountains about Payallaway and vicinity of Currabubla present strong indications, and specimens have been picked up on the granitic Monbui ranges

which would warrant a caretul examination in that quarter is a hopeful speculation. This ensuing summer will disclose many hidden treasures in these localities scarcely as yet thought of. Might not the Colonial Secretary send to the northward the Government Geologist to investigate and report on these and other souices of mineral weaith. Turn about is only fair play. In Eästern Australia we certainly have not become such Munchausen truinpeters as our Victorian neighbours, nor blown our horns so loudly, but (please print the concluding sentence m italics) it is here modestly, therefore confidently, affirmed, "That, with an equal number of diggers, at least as much gold would be obtained from the Northern gold fields as from the Southern '

Exports from mt District during the

Wem-Hie following is nu ihstract, compiled from the Shipping Gazette, of thepiincipal pio tluce (exclusive of wool and tallow) received coastwise, in Svdrrev, from the Hnntei Ilivei District duimg the week ending Au0ust 27 -

Wheat-bush

Ul"S Miine-busli

li l(,S

Birk}-I ush

linn-bigs . .

,, torr . Flour-ba_'s

" tims

Hiiy-tru».«-« . Pumpkin*

TobiiCLO-keg«...

» b iga ..

FLOOD ON THE PEEL.—We have seen some letters which came down by the last mail from Tamworth, which state that on Wednesday, the 25th, or Thursday, the 26th (there is some con-dusion in the dates), the Peel overflowed its banks from the continued rains, and inundated the adjacent country, forcing many persons to abandon their houses, and take refuge on the higher grounds One unfortunate man, Charles Berenger, a brickmaker, lost his life, being car-ried away by the torrent, and drowned, in the attempt to swim one of the gullies. Prepara-tions appear to have been made on the 26th to swim over the mails and the escort boxes, but the men refused to venture with the latter, although the former appears to have been crossed over. So much rain had not fallen in that quarter since the year 1846. Another letter states that the water at the highest was six inches deep in the kitchen of Mr. Levy's

inn.

RUNAWAY SAILORS.—On Sunday five men were apprehended near Morpeth by chief con-stable Wood and others of the police, on suspi

cion of being hie runaway sailors from the buque Woodlark, lying at Port Stephens. On Monday they were brought before the bench, and ,rave their names as John Thompson, Joseph Woodford, Charles Parsons, William Murgoyne, and Robert Smith. The men ad mitted that thev had left the Woodlark, mid were onWed to bo torwarded to Newcastle to be dealt with.

SWEARING WITNESSES WITH GLOVES ON.— Yesterday, in the course of swearing a witness, a little girl, m one of the trials m the Circuit Court, the officer who was administering the oath asked the witness to take off her glove befoie being sworn. His Honor Mr Justice Dickinson called the attention of the Attorney General to the matter, remirking tint some time since he noticed in a Sydney uewspaper a report of proceedings in some court of justice, he did not remember what one, in which it appeared that it was held or allowed that the piactice of requiring witnesses to take off their glove was not justifiable Now he (Mr Justice Dickinson) could only say th it in the course of his expenerrce ni England, he had always seen it the invariable piactice in the Court of King's Bench, and other courts, thit the officer of the court, acting under the eye of the Judge, re-quited the witness to take olF his 01 her glove before being sworn, if they wore one, and he (Mr Justice Dickinson) presumed th it what was the invariable practice allowed by the Judges in the courts of London must have a good founda-tion in law, and he therefore held that the othcer had now acted conectly in following that pnictue. He piesumed the custom had its origin in a deslíe to secure the binding sacied neas of the oath over all minds, inasmuch as it waa tiurte possrble some persons might suppose their making false statements was allowable rt they had not ictually taken the book into their unovered hand-The Vttoiney General, in reply, said that he had ulwiys seen that pi ict ce followed, dunn«, his experience

ATTEMPTS AT SELFF DESTRUCTION.—On Sunday the unfortunate woman Elzabeth Johnson, com-mitted for trial, on the verdict of the coroner's jury, on the charge of the manslaughter of James Fish, attempted twice to destroy herself. She first threw herself into the river, but was saved by the humane efforts of the spectators, is she still threatened to make away with her-self, constables were directed to he on the look-out, but she m maged to elude their vigilance, ind got ronrrd by the paddocks to a house at the other end of West Maitland, whete she took a strong dose ot oxalic acid An alai m was soon given, and meJical iid sent tor, when the liberal uae of the stomach pump and other measures s iv ed her life She w is apprehended for piotection (being out on bail), and lodged in the lockup, and on Mondiy appealed little the

wot se

Building Stone -We are informed thit a quarry ot excellent building stone (sandatone) b is been lound about foui miles and a h rlf fiom \ewcastle, and the same d>stancefiom the rim It has been known tor some time that an iv niable quart y of fair stone existed about a mile and a half ti oin the inver in the same direction but the present qu irry wus known to few persons Blocks of stone of any required dimensions can be quarried from the new quarry, we are told.

POLICE -The Inspector General of Police has given notice, in last Friday's Government Gazette, that the constabulary force for all that portion of the Sydney poliee district not in-cluded in the notification of the 17th June, 1851 , and the police district of Grafton, in the squatting district of Clarence, and embracing the county of Clarence, and parts of the counties of Raleigh and Richmond, are duly organised.

A DANGEROUS CHINAMAN.—On Saturday, Lin Sam, a Chinaman in the employment of Mr C M Doyle, of Midlorn, was brought before the bench, charged with assaulting him, and with stealing. From the eyidence given on that day and Monday by Mr Doyle, and by two ser-vants who were present, William Purcell, a half-caste, and Sebastian Karl, a German, it appeared that Lin Sam, who was employed by Mr Doyle as general servant, had shown great violence of temper on one or two occasions when refused payment of wages before his regular days, the last of these occasions being on Thursday evening last ; Lin was told then by Mr Doyle that he was very busy, and that he would pay hime next morning, and let him go to the races. Next morning Mr. Doyle gave Lin one or two small tasks to do, and at eleven o'clock went to him to pay him, when he found that Lin had not done what he had told him ; on being remonstrated with, Lin became very insolent, saying he had been there long enough,, and at last he threw down his hoe, and said he would do no more work ; Mr Doyle said he would see that he did, and would make him ; Lin then became still more violent, and ran off into the room he occupied, and Mr. Doyle heard him tearing and breaking up his (Lin's) things ;

Mr. Doyle went in and remonstrated with him on his violence, when Lin ordered him out, and on Mr Doyle taking hold of his wrist to rcstrain him from breaking more, Lin struggled to get away, and then struck Mr. Doyle on the face with his fist, after some further struggling Mr. Doyle got him out, but Lin ran back to get his box out, still gesticulating and shouting in a violent manner ; by this time Purcell had come up, and Mr Doyle sent him for the German to help him to put Lin's box in to the store, Mr Doyle intending to send tor the police, and being desirous to prevent Lin from destroying more things, and suspecting also that Lin had stolen articles concealed in the box. The Ger-

man and Purcell came up, but Lin got hold of a baker's peel, and ran at them so viciously, ordering them to leave his box, that they re-treated ; Mr. Doyle sat down on the box, but Lin came up to him, and struck or pushed him off on to the ground ; Mr. Doyle then knocked Lin down, and kept guard over him while Karl and Purcell got the box partly into the store, but Lin got at them, and frightened them away again ; Mr. Doyle again interfered, when Lin ran and got a butcher's knife, and came back at him ; Mr, Doyle quickly retreated into the house to arm himself, but was closely followed by Lin as far as a wicket-gate, where he made a stab at Mr. Doyle's shoulder, the blade of the knife going within an inch or two of him. Mr. Doyle armed himself with a blunderbuss in the house, and came out, on which Lin, who had laid down the knife, tore open his clothes, inviting him to shoot him, and coming close up tried to seize hold of the weapon from Mr. Doyle. The police were now sent for, and on their arrival Lin was secured, after a struggle, and his box was opened, and in it was found a blanket, and two bottles ot wine, belonging to Mr. Doyle, a neck tie, and some smaller articles, and a gold ring, belonging to one of Mr. Doyle's sons, and which had been missed by him. Lin had nothing to say in defence, and was committed by the bench for trial on two charges, one of larceny, and one of assault with intent to do bodily harm.

A MAN FOUND DROWNED -On Monday a gentleman was walking along the river bank, between East View and Mr. Doyle's, Midlorn, when he observed the body of a man floating in the river among the weeds. He immediately gave information of the matter, and the police went to the spot, and got the body out. It proved to be the body of a carpenter named Henderson, who had been missing from Friday week, and who had been previously in the em-ploy of Mr Wm. Nicholson, at his mill. On the evening of the Friday on which deceased was missed he had been drinking, and was tipsy. There was reason to believe that he fell into the river in going to a privy near the mill, and which is on the bank of the river. An inquest was held on the body yesterday, when a verdict was returned that deceased was found drowned, but how he got into the river there was no evidence to show, but there was evi-dence to show that deceased was much in-toxicated on the Friday night he was last seen

alive.

DRUNKENNESS. —Yesterday Daniel English appeared before the bench, charged with drunkenness, and was convicted, and fined 10s or 24 hours in the cells.

TOWNS POLICE ACT.—Yesterday Edward Bryant appeared before the bench, charged with a breach of the Towns Police Vet, bv driving on the wiong sitie of the road, on the 23rd August It apr eared that Mr Kelly's cart was stopping at a door when Bryant drove his cart inside it, but that Bryant as well as Kelly stopped at that

house. The bench dismissed the case.

MISCONDUCT OF CONSTABLES.—Yesterday constable Martin Long, of the Maitland police, pleaded guilty to the chaige of drunkenness,

and was fined 10s. — Charles Pool was also con-victed of a breach of discij line, by leaving the race-cotitse on Thursday «ft moon last without reporting himself, he having been stationed there, he was fined 10s.

ASSAULT CASES.—Yesterday several assault

cases came before the bench. The first was

Charles Kent v. George Geddes. Some of Geddes's goods were recently sold under an execution from the Small Debts Court; Kent attended the sale, and bought a boiler, then set in brickwork ; on the 24th August he went to the place with an axe to loosen the brickwork, intending to remove the boiler ; Geddes inter-fered and told him to desist, but Kent began to use the axe in loosening the bricks, on which Geddes seized it from him and threw it into the creek, at the same time pushing and threatening Kent. The bench, after some discussion, held that the boiler being a fixture Geddes might have doubts as to the legality of its sale, and they dismissed the case. — The second case was George McFarlane against John Edwards for allowing his children to assault him, and the third Sophia Edwards against Robert Pigou for assaulting her children. Mr. Edwards and Mr. Pigou occupy adjoining houses, and on the 24th August the children of each establishment were amusing themselves with throwing stones at each other, or at least so it was stated ; Mr. McFarlane, who was in Mr. Pigou's yard, was struck by some stones thrown by Mr. Edwards's children, while Mr. Pigou, to end the disturb-ance, threw some missile at one of these chil-dren, and, as Mrs. Edwards deposed, threatened to throw one at her on her coming out to re-monstrate with him. Mr. Edwards was not at home at the time. The bench dismissed the first case, and convicted the defendant in the second, fining him 1s. and costs.- — In the fourth case, Joseph Geary was convicted of assaulting his wife, Kezia Geary, in the course of some dispute as to who should have charge of the children ; he was fined 5s. and costs.

MASTERS AND SERVANTS ACT.—Yesterday one case under this act, Robert Young v. William Allison, was brought before the bench, Mr. Green and Mr. Russell. Young claimed £8 wages from Mr. Allison for driving sheep from the Cassilis district to Jerry's Plains. The bargain was not disputed by Mr, Allison, but he disputed the claim on the ground that the sheep had been so badly driven that when he overtook them at Jerry's Plains he found them in such poor condition that instead of being able to send them on to market, as he intended, he was obliged to send them back again to his station. Young maintained, on the contrary, that he hud driven the sheep in a proper rnun ner. Both parties having deposed to these opposite statements, the bench were unable to decide in the absence of other evidence, and dis-

missed the case.

INSULTING LANGUAGE.—Yesterday Henry Gooch appeared before the bench, charged with using insulting language to John Kelly, on the 23rd August. Mr. Kelly having deposed to the language used, the bench convicted the de-fendant, fining him 5s. and costs.