BENDIGO.

Cromwell Argus, Volume II, Issue 97, 19 September 1871, Page 5

BENDIGO.

( Front uur omit (JorrespoihleiU. ) September li>. Some timo ago, I fondly hoped that Bendigo had, like the immortal Micawher, | “fallen back for a.spring.” Well, this is the I Spring season (excuse tlio pun) ; but, on | looking found, I confess I fail to discover any | evidence of the performance being likely to i come off. All is “dull, Hat, stale, ;L>id uni profitable.” Most people seem to partake of the philosophy of the above-named gentleman, and are “ waiting for something to turn up” : when or how their expectations arc to be met, I, not possessing Zadkiel’s art, am unable to predict. Witli the exception of the Cromwell and Alta Companies, and a few parties of industrious sinkers, all is quiet ; and this state of things exists in a district teeming with quartz-reefs, alluvial deposits, and the miners’ auxiliary, water. On whom the onus rests, I will not pretend to say; but perhaps Mr Macandrew’s pet scheme of immigration may cure the evil ; and those dissatisfied spirits who are leaving in search of “ pastures new,” may some day return to find i the poor ground they knew of occupied by j the Norseman, the Teuton, or haply braw I John Highlandinan, newly imported from I over the sea. Mining now-a-days, to be sucj cessful, must be conducted on a different scale to that which was sufficient a few years ago. | There is no scarcity of gold itself ; it is only i a little more difficult to obtain than formerly, | Capital, and months—perhaps years—of laI hour, have to be expended before any permanent return can be calculated upon ; but that such returns can bo made permanent lias been satisfactorily demonstrated in all ; gold-producing countries, Ocago included. I therefore still hope to see this district, which I possesses all the unmistakable ingredients of ! permanent prosperity, flourishing under the j hands of a large mining and agricultural po- | pulation, whether new chums or old chums : matters not. lam fully aware that my views ; on this matter will bo by many deemed UtoI pian, but, <as the French say, nous uerrons. Oa Sunday last, I rambled with a friend | f° r a few miles along the terraces lying below j the Dunsfcan Range, and fronting the Lind is | River ; and was surprised and pleased to find | that an immense area of agricultural land j exists in that locality, looking, as Jonathan j remarked, as if it only required “to bo I tickled with a hoe to laugh with corn” ; and i I almost regretted that I had not been bred a “ Chawbaoon,” that I might settle down j incontinently ; but f suppose the permission [ of the monarch of the country hereabouts i familiarly known as “ Big Jock” - —would have j to be accorded before such a consummation | could be reached. To embryo “cockatoos,” j I strongly recommend a personal visit to the j scene. My companion, who Ims prospected a good deal in the neighbourhood, told mo i that he that he had found payable gold in many of the gullies intersecting the agricultural land ; and from their position I think it unlikely that the mining and farming interests will clash. I asked my friend why he had not worked the ground, it being payable I He answered that to do so required water, which was at a distance, and plentiful, but the funds necessary for bringing the liquid and metal into juxtaposition were not. And such is the case all over the, district; water in one place, and gold in another. Commissioner of Water Supply to the Goldfields, please “ to make a note on’t.”

The Cromwell Company are pursuing “ the even tenor of their way,” and 1 suppose are satisfied with their returns, the amount of which I am unable to give, as the Mining Companies here, unlike their Victorian prototypes, are generally very reticent on the subject of “cakes.” I could possibly on hearsay evidence furnish the yield at eacli washing-up, but I decline to trust in such matters to the vox popnli. If I notice an unusual addition to the Cromwell escort, I draw my own conclusion, and 1 must leave your readers to do the same.

The Alta Company are going on swimmingly ; they have added to the number of their hands, and have both batteries crushing at full speed night and dav. The muchabused turbine wheel, which is the power used at this null, is doing its work splendidly, and seems, as it becomes better understood, to be fully appreciated. My impression is that for steadiness, power, and economy it is superior to all other engines for crushing purposes. Tao manager, Mr Hazlett, reports that he lias struck good stone at the upper end of the lease in a shaft which is being sunk on the line of reef; it is about a foot wide, with very fair prospects. The Colclough Company have furnished another lamentable example of “great expectations.” They have a splendid machine and plant, which might be made to do good service at the Thomson's Cheek reef, which is to all appearance genuine. I merely throw out the suggestion. The weather is mild, but Variable. Hoary old Winter seems to have taken his tardy departure at last. He has, however, left a good supply of water for future use, in the shape of snow.