LAWRENCE.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 11, 17 September 1874, Page 3

LAWRENCE.

(From our own correspondent.)

t A public meeting: was held ou Monday eveni' g last " To con-ider whether it would be for the benefit of this district to have the land described as the Tuapeka Hundred thrown open as a hundred. or under tbe agricultural leasing system:" W. Hay, Esq., Mayor, occupied the chair. Tbe meeting was not so well attended as the , importance of the subject to be discussed ; but what it lacked in numbers was amply compensated for by the speeches delivered by tbe several speakers. The meeting was uoanimous in favor of the ground being . declared open for selection under the agricultural lease regulations. The whole of the block is nearly all pn Mr Smith's (of Greenfield") run, a fractional part being on Br.lfamy run. Settlers well acquainted with the proposed hundred declare it to be equal to that from which Mr Smith reaped between fifty and sixty bushels of wheat and barley last season, equal, it is said, to Oamaru what. One thing is certain, at any rate, that it, is the most valuable piece of ground ot the same extent in the Tua-r i peka district, aud we cannot afford to let it quietly slip into the hands of one man. If the Hundred is proclaimed there is a probability of the wh< le of it being bought up by one man, as in the case of Mr Clarke at Moa Flat, M'l£e_te and Logan in the Tapanui dsricts It is the opiuion of a eood many people here that the system of hundreds, like provincialism, is not suited to the prest-nt advanced state of the Province, or proper settlement of rhe country. No doubt the sxstem has done good service in its day, but wben we consider the present grca- wealth of the country, as compared with a few years ago, and the enhanced value of land even in remote districts consequent upon the railways at present being made, the risk of a whole hundrtd (ailing into the hands of one man is too gre it for the system to obtain much favor with the colonists. Again, it is a system in which a poor man has.no chance <*f procuring a home for himself. When a ri;h man is deter raint.d to have the land a poor man cannot hid against him. In view of tbe present preat public works scheme and co'oniing poli y of the G vvei nment, it is a most cm-- throat policy to dispose of ■he Crown lands at Ll per acre, or even L 2 per sere, to capitalists to prow wool upon. I hold tbe Government make a bad bargain if they «ell a block of 20.000 acres to one man to feed sheep upon at L5 an acre. It woult pay the coontry .better, and tend to make the public works scheme a succe-s, wtre the Government to make a sift of a similar extent of country to 200 families, with conditions of settlement and improvement. I believe that the opinions of such eminent political economists as Mdl. Spence, and lioder are be- inning to exercise some iuducwe among onr political economists, and if they have the effect of preventing the further alienaiion from the Crown to one man of such immense tracts of country as T have already mentioned, thfir writings will not have been in vain. The Gabriel's Gully Q larrz Mininsr Co. last we»k sold to Me<-sr* White, and Co. of Blue Spur the whole of their quartz crushing machine and pl>mt. Although the manager of the Gabriel's Co. states that the company have by bo means abandoned the mine, that their f »i'h in it is m t shaken, but that the shareholders are not at present prepared to further prospect the mine; still the public think it a virtual abandonment, as th>y would scucely sacrifice tbeir vtr3' complete rl*r t for about half what it cost if they seriously intended working it any future time. The party who have ' ought the machinery is Messrs White md Co. of t^e North of Inland cla : m, Blue Sfur, w*:o intend using it fo»* crushing the cement in their claim. This is a new feature in mining on the Spur, and tbe result i* anxiously lnoktd for by those interested. By the prespnt system of exfcractir g the gold from the c-. ment there is a gr< at quantity cf it ?osf, and if the result cf the trial crushing is maintained throughout their claim, it wW pay handsomely. Messrs Campbell and Co. of the Blue Spur are also erecting a machire f< r crushing, and it is <xppeted that several other parties will shortly fo low suit People are naturally very sorry that the Gabriel's Gully mine has so far not proved a success, a'rhoigh at one time the hopes of sha'eholders ran high and s> ares were at a premium. Had [ this mine been a success a large number of ' other mines would have been prospected, and the rrobablity of the quart? in this Strict wou ! d have been troroonhly te-ttd. Tn time to come when the bi-^ory of T'ia- ' peka is written, not the least interesting chapter in it. will be that devoted to the history of Gabriel's quartz mines. The Lovil Tuapeka Piomer Lodge, M.1..1 0.0 F., celebrated their ninth anniversary by a dinner at tbe Commercial •Asspmbly Rooms. It was not such a successful affair 89 its promoters would have liked to see it. From the remarks which the chairman made it appears that the Lodffp numbfTP 87 financial m mbere, and has money and property to the extent of LSOO. This is a large membership for such a small township, considering that there is also a Forester's Lodge, with a membership of some 50. * Dr Carr, mesmerist, talkrst, and several other " ists," has been amusing very fair audiences for two or three nights. It is evident tbe Doctor's popularity is unim"paired. He delivered a lecure on Sunday ! n'ghf in tbe Assembly Room, which was crowded. The subject of the lecture was " Tbe Grave and After." Your columns are not the place for a religi'-us discussion, and it is in order to save you from that infliction tint I refrain from giving you any ideas of his lecture; suffice it to say that he did not treat the subject in an orthodox manner Human mture is the same all the world* over, and its weaknesses the Doctor can <esc«rn in a " subject " with considerable truth. On Saturday evening he had several good subjects on the stage with hkii, who^e little weaknesses he exposed to an admiring publ'c. Mr M'Coombe'a house, situated above the Blue Spur, was totally destroyed by fire on Wednesday last. It is supposed that the fire originated through a spark from some asbe9 that had been removed by , a chid from the house. This should act as warning to parents. A tramway has now been laid down from Mr. Stratford's saw mill, Catlin's River, for a distance of one mile and a half into the bush. Several new houses for the workmen connected with this mill j^aye also been erected,