The Express.
London, England, 1849-03-27 00:00:00

SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

STRIKES OF MINERS—EARTHQUAKES.—We have
received fi es of Adelaide papers from the middle of
September to tte Bth of October. We some time ago
published adv:ces of more recent date from that el-
bony, but the jourtals now come to hand enable us to
present our rt odes with more full details of the ctr.kes
of mint re at the Dorm Burrs mines.

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Tie first strike occurred on Fs iday, the 15th or
September : the proceedings at the mines on that d 47
and Saturday aro thus &tailed in the South Australian
tithe 19th:—

About tea days ago the directors of tie association resolved
to dispense with the further services of Thomas Burr. Esq ,
their superintendent at the mines. The resolutio I was com-
municated to him in wiring, and Messes. B ck (chairman),
Ellis, and Kingston, members of the booed of directors, and
Mr. Ayer, secretary of the &nth Australian Mining Ass.-
elation, proceeded to the mines to carry out the resolution of
the board. They arrived on Thursday, and on Friday they
relieved Mr. Barr (who declined to red in) of hie duties.
Mr. Burr then left for town ; when he left all was quiet. In
the mean time, the miners, hearing of the scrotal of the Ci-
nders, determined to apply for redeem of alleged
gel, thaws, and despatched a depatat:on to represent the
use, They applied to be admitted to the director', but
were refused an interview, and were told, more-
over, that the works would be stop-ed. • • •
Upon hearing this threat of stoppage the tributovs, who, we
understand, !OM the great body of the miners, bemuse
greatly alarmed, as there was work to the em .unt of several
thousands of pomade dose by them to payment or which they
would not be entitled till the completion of their sets. They,
therefore, rushed to take poriession of the mine, and mix
the ores, so that no ens of the misers could be paid, as we
understsr.d, and all woubi be interested in enforcing • settle-
meat from the association. The system of levity is. that each
miner's ore when cleaned &addressed, is divided into three
pate. A specimen from one part is taken by the miner.
and specimens from the other two parts are taken, one for
the captain or superintendent, who gets it tested on the spot,
and one for the directors in town. The assay at the mine
till lastly was agreed to by both parties, but the directors
having boom* dissatisfied, they got a variety of analysis
made by various parties in town in order to test its CJI11141•
nets, and they made the discovery that Mr. Elphick, chemist,
Rundle-street, made the most correct analysis. Ile, accord-
ingly, has been appointed analyser to the mime'. The miners,
ho saver, have been as much dissatisfied with the Adelaide
analysis, as the directors were with theft at the Burn
Burrs, especially as analysis, latterly, have not been (as they
state) exhibited at the mines in en authenticated form, but
only communicated by letter from the secretary. The &le-
gation against Mr. Burr is, that he was directed not to raise
ore unless it contains 1 at the lust twenty-five per cent. of
metal, and that from neglect, cr deficient analysis, he
allowed mach poorer ores to be raised, which have been paid
for at the higher rates. Mr. ;Burr alleges that the captains
alone are responsible for the duties which he is charged with
neglecting, and utterly denies the correctness of the charges
against himself. • • • Mr. Doran, of the Royal
Admiral, who left the mine at half-past one on Sandal, ie.'
forms us that all was then quiet. We learn, also, that the
miners on Saturday, having tied those who refused to strike
work hack to back, carried them through Koorioga ; the
di'ertors ordered the police to seize the ringleaders; the cor-
poral male the attempt, but was immediately stoned, and
was forced to retreat. The miners bed made a disturbance
at Mr. Wren's hotel, and assaulted Mr. Ayers or one of the
dir.ctors. Nearly 400 miners have struck. They boast of
having as much powder as the association, and say they are
determined to havotheir rights.
Oa the Tuesday the following intelligence reached
Adelaide :

BURR& SORRA, MONDAY, HALF-PART FOUR, All.—
The polite magistrate arrived yesterday, and there are in
a 1126 armed policemen, partly from Adelaide, and partly
from various out-stations. Everything is perfectly quiet at
present ; and there is less, I understand, of drunkenness
than usual—The directors (Messrs. Beck, Kingston, and
Paxton), were for a long time list night with the police corn •
missioner, Mr. Tolmer, and Mr. Ayers; and I understand
the bell is to be rung for work at 7 o'ckitk this morning.—
Elkoald the miners resist the police, the latter are prepared
to pranged to any extremity ; and the miners, numbering
from SOO to GOO, seem equally determined.
On Monday everything became quiet. An expla-
nation toga place betecen the din ears and the work-
men, so much to the satisfaction of the latter that
they gave a concert in the evening to the director..
On Wednesday every men was at work, and the
police force le't Icr Adelaide.
Matters continued in this satisfactoty position till
the 30.1 s of Sep'ember, when the miner.. again struck.
The papers we hive received contain no account of
ho measures taken by the directors or their results.
The following is the substance of the manifesto of the
miners :
To the Chairman of the *on. the Baud of Directors of the

South Alainllia Iltrqaor#ssocdivioa.

Barra Burra Mines, Sept. 30, 180.—Sir,—It is with
great regret we have notiesitthe rate of wages, as sent by the
breed for the future working of these mines. We are sorry to
refer you to tie storike.pere books; but, sir, were you to
take even a cursory glance at them, we feel assured you
would at ones be convinced of the absolute necessity of raising
instead of lowering our wages, lit order that we may still
claim the title of honest me.,. Permit a, air, for a moment

to refer you to the present didactical:-Ist. There is 3..
per week for house-rent 2ndly. Club and doctor, le. more.
3rdly. Candlelight and Bring, lay at least 3e. per week.
Here an already 7s. par week deducted, before we
can take top a play for the requiring. of our families.
la the nest place, sir, cookier the enormous price we have
to pay for onr own and families' living ? And we have no
ground of hops to procure that at • cheaper rote, when we
I consider the distance from Adelaide, and the very high price
of cartage. We submit the fact to the board, that we have
for some time past been weekly running into debt, and there-
fore feel 'tistifled in refusing to take at the specified rate of
wages. We have, upon mild consideration, arrived at the
conclusion to turn in ail hands, tributes and tutwork men,
to them all our ores, that we may thus come to • speedy
settlement, and then leave the mine for some more suitable
place, unless the board shall NMI meet to allow us the um*
wages as formerly, via.' as regards the miners, labourers,
carters on the mine, whim boys, and ore-picking boys. In
conclusion, sir, permit us to assure the board, through your-
se!f as their available organ, that we remain, very truly
yours.
This was signed by a great number "on behalf of
the whole body."
The only other intelligence of interest in these
Papers is the account of some shocks of earthquake
felt at Adelaide and Burnt Burro. The Adelaide
shock occurred about 4 a.m., Thursday, the 15th of
September, and was very slight. The Burrs Burra
one took place at the same hour of Friday the 16th.
The latter is thus described :
On Friday last, at about four o'clock In the morning, a
shock of rn lard quake was felt at the Bum Bum, the
village of Clare, and as far to the north as the neighbourboad
of Mount Bryan. Its direction was from south to north. It
was cot only heard and felt by many at Kooringa, but the
glasses end bottles, the jars and ponnakiss, were rattled
and shaken. It was attended by • distinct rolling
soupy resembling the rusk of carriages, which lasted
for about half a minute, and in some houses even fur-
niture was seen to move, the light of the moon being clear,
by persona who chanced to be lying awake. Many who
were asleep were awakened in fright. There is no doubt of
the pselity of the shock, as testimony from all sides is concur-
rent, varying only from the eirenastancre of the early hour
having found some sleepers who started in affeght, some who
dept through it, and a few who " on earnest nuantoi bent"
were awake, and suddenly surprised by a jig among the
moveables to the music of • mime peal of thunder, which, a
little contrary to the ordinary rules of etiquette, was followed
by &mimic flash of lightning, so brilliant es to illuminate the
semidry far and near.
The southern hemisphere appears to have baen in a
slating condition towards the latter part of last year.
The New Zealand earthquakes took place exactly a
month after those of South Australia.