WAIKAKA.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 37, 25 March 1875, Page 6

WAIKAKA.

Postal Mismanagement— Continued complaints reach us as to the gross mismanagement of postal arrangements. One correspondent writes about the non- delivery cf newspapers, another says, his papers do as a rale get. into his hands, but not until they become so old and stale as to be utterly useless as vehicles for communicating news. We have other complaints of a still graver nature which we refrain at present from giving publicity in the hope that the matter will be taken cognizance of by the proper authorities, with a view to some speedy change being brought about.

Harvesting. — A correspondent writes : — We have now got our little harvesting operations over. I call it little, as there was not much over twenty acres under crop, It was a good average yield. Mr Pearce had twelve acres, with ah average of fifty bushels per acre. Messrs Hunter and Co. had a paddock of nine acres, which gave an average of two-and-a-half tons of hay. The last was the third crop taken off the land. I should think these facts. and figures speak well for the agricultural resources of the district. I will go a step further, and say that it shows how very reasonable the demand is for more blocks of land being thrown open in the neighborhood on the deferred payment system. They would, I am quite sure, be readily taken up for bona fide settlement. Although not, perhaps a very lively pursuit at present, mining is nevertheless a settled interest, and to doit justice, reasonable facilities should be afforded: for rooting its. votaries upon the soil.

Say Crop.— ln some instances the hay crop grown at this place, has been exceptionally good. For example, upop something less than an acre of ground, Mr D. M'Eenzie reared six. full Btooke. The party to whom we are indebted for this ! item of news adds--" You ask will farming pay at Waikaka." I answer it will, : At all events, I am prepared to join; issues with yon when I say it will take the; fertile bank of yonr Molyneux, aye, and your Inch Clutha itself to equal, far less beat it.

Port Chalmers.— Mr George Dodson, of Port Chalmers, is about to have erected •■ a first rate hotel at the Port; the cellars are of concrete, in four compartments. , , The ground floor has a hall ten feet wide, w >th; a staircase to the first flat of four feet broad. It contains, the. commercial room, and five; parlours, i besides a , lumpers' ; room!, a refreshment room and ' bar;: i : The; : first flat has a dining-room Of 20 x 98, five parlours, a private sitting room, and/two > bedrooms,' Access, : to „ the; . eecond - flat; ; is ,-, attained by means of another staircase four.' feet wide, from the first flat. .-.' It^contains teri bed-, rooms, one gfttiag- room, the kitchen and pahtiy, ; .'Trottr" f thence ! : another staircase conducts to » f the roof , ■ where there is « promenade ,46 xll feet. The front elevation; f 0 feet by 40 baqk. . : The ; front architecture; is on the Itah>a sty^e, being: neatly dressea and having a balcony verandah hi fjront; of the ! pm floor; the whole is the design of Mi Sanders to whose courtesy' we art 1 mdebted^fcV i this descrip- ; tion of hotel architecture; : ■ •■> ;;\: >iiJ *;.**

1 Odmarti.-^Tht largest: fire which! etrer occurred at: Oamaru 'broke lout ■■ at! about twenty! minutes! < after midnight on Satur?; day,, on the premises f of ? Har pisppi grocer, ' in Thames- street, ., It raged for about two hours,' burning to'the ground all b.V^ldinga, < on the east t side of Thamefi-streer, 'mim] Kite's carriage fictory' to! John MilUgan'fl clothin^jestabh^bjnenr^ whewithe pfdgress T ofi the 3re was stayed -by the j f jgne^buMdj.:? hags. The block destroyed was entirely i^f wood, , « Th e ., buildings , totally destroyed were, as follows :— Kite's carriage r factory ; Jones, photographer'; 'James Marri

watchmaker's; Goldainmer, furalture warehouse ; Farr, butcher ; Hanning's, Alliance Hotel; Harbison's, grocer; Lippert, grocer; Falconer, seedsman; and Wansbrough, oil and color merchant. The following premises were more or less damaged :— J. Milligan, clothier ; Mrs. ; Smith, fancy bazaar ; G. Anderson, bootmaker; N. Lane, butcher. The total estimated loss is from L 7,775 to L 8 095. of which L 4 650 is covered by insurance. The insurance offices interested are— New Zealand, L 3.25 0; South British, L 50 0; Royal, L 800; National, LlOO; and Norwich Union, L 250. Orepnki. — The correspondent of a contemporary writes— l hear encouraging accounts from the Round Hill workings. Since the New Year two stores have been started there. We experienced some bitter cold weather lately, squalls of rain, hail, and wind being frequent and heavy, but it freshened the water supply for a time only. The fine weather we have had more recently has banished all trace of it, and most of the races are at a very low ebb now.

Mount Ida.— The following is a return of the judicial work transacted by the District Courts during last year— At Naseby civilly L1161 19s 3d was sued for, and L 544 re- I covered. At Hyde Lll4 7s 91. was sued for, and Ll2 13s 2d. recovered. At St. Bathans Lll4 lßa 7d was sued for, and L 47 10* 3d. recovered. At Macraes L 12 215 8d was sued for, and L4l 3a recovered. At Hamilton there were no cases at all. At Naseby 92 males and 11 females were tried criminally, 5 were discharged, 28 males and 2 females were dismissed, and 2 males committed for trial— leaving 62 males and 9 females summsrily convicted. At Macraes 16 males and 4> females were tried, 1 male and 1 female were discharged, 2 males and vLfeuiaTe dismissed— leaving 13 males and 2 females summarily convicted. At St Bathans 7 males were tried, 1 was discharged, 1 dismissed, and 5 summarily convicted. At Hyde 5 were tried, 1 discharged, and 4 summarily convicted.

Dunstan.— The acclimatization of Victorian birds has made considerable progress at Clyde. Within the last few days writes the local' paper, two very interesting magpies have made their appearance at the establishment of Messrs Attfield and Wels ford. The one is a most loquacious fellow, and whistles " There is nae' luck about the house,'' and "St Patrick's Day in the Morning." to the evident delight of the passers bye. The other has not spoken yetArrow River.— The following report of an alleged quarts: reef discovery is extracted from a contemporary— M'Nulty says he found two reefs, one six feet in body from both of which he took parcels of stone — in one case, 19 ounces, in the other 11 ounces. This stone he brought to Cromwell, crashed it in a mortar, and submitted the result to tbe local manager of the: Bank of New South Wales. The eleven ounce parcel of stone yielded over one grain of gold, while the larger piece^ of stone gave little short of that^ quantity. These results Mr M'Nulty considers most satisfactory, as he feels confident the whole body of stone will yield up to the test average. It is therefore probable he and his mates will secure a right to the ground, and give it a thorough trial. The Twelvemile has long been looked upon as a *« likel* " country for good reefs, and residents in, tbe Arrow district were much annoyed because opportunity was not afforded Mr Ulrich to visit the locality while in the Lakes district.

Marewhenua.— The Marewhenua correspondent of the ' Mount Ida Chronicle f writes:— "The crops down the Waiareka are magnificent. - Prom forty to ninety bushels are spoken of as pretty general in oats. At Papakaio as much as ninety bushels is reported to the acre. The coun • try is overrun with thistles. Ten thousand acres must be completely covered with this scourge to farmers. Tbe Waiarekaxailway is making slow progress. An ; engine has been placed on the. main line to lay the ballast on the Marewhenua branch. In six weeks a railway will be brought to the Marewhenua River. A large wool is to be erected at the junction by private enterprise." . Tapanui.— Dr Menzies, M.P.C. for the district, made a flying visit to Tapanui lately. As might be imagined, the expectations of the inhabitants were raised considerably, and a grand address was naturally; anticipated from their member. . But to the consternation of ; all, no meeting was called. The hon. gentleman met one or two of the members of the Progress . Committee and 'was heard no more of until he was noticed to take his departure next morning. The Tapanui electors says the Correspondent of the Tuapeka paper vow that they will not 'forget this slight which has been cast upon them by their member. .- Had he. .deigned to address them, thereare, many things the electors wished to bring^ before his.notice, especially J the , necessity of ' having more land thrown Open foK settlement. a radius of twenty miles of Waikaka, tbfire is a fine lot of agricultural land, and some steps should ;be taken to get it thrown open The way in which the lan^xeceptly thrown open was. . taken. : up, .. should induce, ,',tbe .Government' to 'throw open ;much larger b10ck5...., . ..-'•; ';'-. TjV " ; -•?*:":•• ./