Interprovincial News.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 15, 23 February 1870, Page 3

Interprovincial News.

The .-yield of the Long Drive claim for the mouth of January was 1761 ounces. j At Napier a Mr H. Tapper has been’ committed .for trial for kissing a Mrs' ! Baker, 1 Sixty pounds of stqno taken at random. : from a reef near the prospectors’ reef at , Wangapoka have been crushed, and yielded at the rate of soz. 9dwt. 17grs. per ton of 2000lbs. The stone does not show gold to the naked eye. The reef is eight feet wide. A southern farmer who lately visited the Oarnaru district informs us (Brace Herald) that the rust in wheat is so destructive Hut at Totara Farm alone, which we saw early in the season, when it looked splendid, several hundred acres will not pay for reaping, and it is intended to leave such standing, and afterwards burn it. The grub worm has also proved very destructive to the cereal crops in the district this seasou. A telegram received from Hokitika states that a rush has set in to the Mackenzie country, gold having been struck on the Pigeon Ranges.— Canterbury Times. Quite a sensation has occurred in Hokitika (says the correspondent of the Greymouth Star.) A cab was imported to be run in the streets. It was brought over by an enterprising Melbourne cabman. Ho took a look at the town, had a pint of ale, the greater part of which he threw on the floor, and then ordered his cab to be re-shipped without being unpacked, and wont on boai’d the steamer again. Mr John Robinson, the discoverer of the quartz-reef at Maerewhenua, writes to the Oxinxru Times as follows:—“ I wish to inform you that the reef has been found in No. 1 north, which makes our claim look much better, as our prospect shaft is within 100 feet of our south boundary. The reef is now proved to be on the surface, throughout the whole length of the claim.” It is usual when a regiment is leaving a Colony in which it has been stationed for some time, to give to all the men whose time of service is within a year or so of completion, the option of discharge. This, it is stated, has been done in the case of the Royal Irish, and that, in all, nearly two hundred men have determined to stay in the colony. These two hundred men are scattered over Wellington, Taranaki, Napier, and Auckland. It is also said that a good many men who had no chance of getting discharged, have discharged themselves—by deserting. Exeter Hall will rejoice at the progress the Maoris are making in civilization. It was only the other day that the loyal chief named Taipar v .entertained the Governor and the Superintendent of Auckland at dinner (we wonder if Sydney Smith’s “cold missionary’’ was on the sideboard ?) ; and the list instance of the Maori copying Ida betters, is Wi Mahupuku, of the Wairarapa, referring his dunning creditors to “mv lawyer in Wellington.” • The crops in many parts of Hawke’s Bay are reported to have been attacked by rust. This unfortunate state of matters is attributed to the unusually wet weather which has prevailed in that Province this season. The encroachments by the sea at Westport are now as regular as the .rise and fall of tides. With every tide portions of the beach are washed away, the extent of the destruction, of course, depending upon the direction or strength of the surf and wind. Where seven houses lately stood at right angles to the beach, the sea now prevails, anda s it is almost a dead level from that point to the centre of the town, the approach of the sea to the centre seems only d. question of time. Numerous sections, for which hard cash was paid by the speculative buyers and received by the Government, could cu!y now be traced by a system of buoys and beacons, and the same alternative evidently awaits others, A proposal has been made lately by a Mr Stovin, on behalf of English capitalists, to the miners at Coromandel, to erect crushing machinery there, and crush quartz at charges proportioned to the yield of gold obtained, and has been gladly accepted by the miners. What Mr Stovin’s proposal is will be learned by the following extract from his speech ; —“ From quartz yielding under 2 ounces to the ton, one-half; from 2 ounces to I ounces to the ton, one-third; and from I ounces to 10 ounces, one-fourth. For quartz yielding anything over lOozs. to the ton, no matter whether 100 or 1000 ounces, they would take no more than for the lOoz. quartz. With regard to crushing, all he would say was that so long as it paid the claims to send it, so long would it pay the machine to crush. But, in adi dition to the erection of machinery, he prol posed to erect for them two miles of wire “ tramway, which would cost upwards of 1 £IOO3. But to do this, he must have the - assistance of the miners. After it was 1 once put up, the company would work it, ' and the col of bringing the quartz to the ’ machine wou’d not exceed one shilling per f ton. To all those who accepted his proposal, and gave in their adhesion at once, 0 would be a-vard d the priority of crushing. 1 Chose aho did not join in at first would e have to take their chance of getting the :- machine idle to have their quartz crushed, but still on the sume therms.