BENDIGO

Cromwell Argus, Volume III, Issue 149, 17 September 1872, Page 5

BENDIGO

(From our oum Correspondent. ) September 11. IST 2. That respectable dame, Mrs Partington, in speaking of her son “Ike,” sail “he had made a boat all out of his own head, and had stuff enough left for another.” It would be well for newspaper correspondents generally, if they had a reserve fund to draw upon occasionally in the matter of contributions, more especially when, like “ your own,” their lot is cast in a place of this sort, where news of any kind is about the scarcest article in the market. However, that quaint old writer, Ben Jonson, said, “ See divers men’s opinions ! Unto s >.no, The very printing of ’em makes t lem news, That have not the heart to believe anything Hue what they see in print so 1 must try and find if, like Ike, I have stud’enough left for another infliction. A sudden and unlooked-for break occurred in the pleasant weather of the past fortnight. On Friday night, a tremendous thunderstorm arose, and culminated in a heavy fall of snow and rain, —at the same time blowing a perfect hurricane from the ri.E., very unlike “ The gentle wind that breathes the Spring : Zephyrs with Aurora playing.” It has now become again settled and seasonable, and with the exception of a slight frost at night, is hardly to be improved upon. The Aurora tributers are busily engaged in their new discovery. They met witn a slight fault or break in the lode a few days ago, from a hard band of ruck crossing the course ; it has now, however, returned to its original direction and appearance. They have from forty to fifty tons at grass, and have either commenced, or are just about to commence crashing. I will not attempt to mitigate the tortures of suspense some of your readers must be suffering, by giving a “tip” as to the possible yield, but in common with my neighbours earnestly express a hope that the result may prove highly encouraging. Your editorial remarks on this subject, and upon the possible future of Bendigo, are duly appreciated up here, as being quite apropos to the existing state of things. A general meeting of the shareholders in the Colclough Company is to be held next week in Dunedin, pending which matters at the mine remain in st Ca qio. I learn that not one but several tribute parties have offered to take the speculation in hand. This fact ought to greatly simplify the business of the meeting, whose decision, in my humble opinion, ought to be to stait again “ on their own hook,” and put in die tunnel originally projected without delay ; as unless this very necessary work is carried out, they may as well fix a date for the reception of dividends, and say the millennium. So far as I can learn, the chief obstacle in the way of success in the past for this Company has been the laborious and grudging manner in which the necessary amounts for expenses have been doled out, giving the manager no chance to ever look ahead of the work in hand. 1 would remind the shareholders that there is a proverb which applies in some sort to quartz companies as well as to charity, —Bis dat qai cito dat; and is a capital rule in paying up calls.

The changes in the proprietorship of the Cromwell Company have apparently produced no change in the operations thereof ; and indeed I scarcely think anv is necessary. If I ask any of the employe's how the reef is looking, I am invariably answered, “first-rate'’: and as nothing is ever heard to the contrary, your readers will please accept this as a fact. The mill is for ever at work, and this alone will produce dividends, even if, as Jonathan says, “ the prospect is only one cent to the pan.”

I ha ve remarked a singular feature of Bendigo generally, and that is the common mode which unfortunately prevails of settling disputes by an appeal to fisticuffs. Formerly 1 fancied it was a concomitant of the feverish excitement then prevailing in all matters pertaining to the new rush. That having passed away, I had hoped to see the objectionable practice vanish also ; but it still obtains, and is probably due to the robust health, engendered by the. mountain air, requiring periodical blood-letting. As we have no resident qualified phlebotomist of the “ Sangrado” order, the operation is mostly performed by amateurs, in whose hands it very often proves “ a rule which works both ways.”

I hoped ere this that the qnestin vexata. th<s dear mutton grievance, would have died ou , but it is not even yet “ scotched.” A flirt l er rise to 12s. has taken place in the price of skeletons, subject to a further addition of 2s. shortly. Ye gods ! what will the poor deluded new chums think of this land of plenty I A rise of 100 per cent, in three months ! When the butchers are asked what it is due to, they can afford no solution to the enigma, but shake their heads in an apathetic kind of way, expressive of disgust. I think if my shoemaker or tailor were to stick oil 100 per cent, in our transactions, 1 should wish to know the why and wherefore j so I the squatters will he kind enough to give a reason for the startling imposition. Unlike the eels, which are said to be used to the operation, we should certainly like to know why we are being skinned.