ALEXANDRA.

Cromwell Argus, Volume IV, Issue 164, 31 December 1872, Page 5

ALEXANDRA.

( AVo« our ou<n Correspondent ) December 30, IH7'2. The Compliments of the Season to you ami your readers, and may we soon get ruin! Mining matters in the district will very soon !beat a standstill for want of water. On tin? ; west bank, more than.half the claims are ! idle, those on the east bank being more furi tuimte. The farmers at the Wai Keri Ken j vallev are pulling very long faces ; in fact,, their crops will scarcely pay the expense of , harvesting. And the same will apply to tho | crops at Speargrass Flat and Blacks. How ; many seasons'like the last and this the farjmers will liable to stand, I can't say; but I lam very much afraid some of them would ! soon have to. cry "ago," fcore particularly : those who depend solely on farming. On Saturday evening, a public meeting | took place in the Library Hall, for the pur- | pose of discussing the desirability of forming a company to place a. steam dredge on the river, capable of lifting and sluicing six hun|dredtons per day. The whole of the dredgers in the district put in an appearance. Mr i Chappie was called to the chair, and he explained thp object of the meeting by stating I that Mr W. Walker and Mr Gordon had called at his office one day last week, and asked him to take in hand the formation of a company to place a steam dredge on the ■ river, those two gentlemen agreeing tt> invest j £SIM) in the undertaking. Mr Chappie fur- ! ther stated that he had tested the feeling of j the district, and. had not found a single individual who did''not believe it would pay j handsomely.! lie was quite sure the capital i would be readily subscribed, especially since i two of the oldest dredgers on the river had i promised to invest so largely. That sort of j thinggavo-ttee outside public a certain amount of , outside money would be required. The meeting discussed the best mode of arriving at the amount of capital required, the principle ■of the dredge, mode of washing, power of engines, Ac. U was rltimately agreed that Mr Chappie should get the required information from the different foundries in Dunedin, and that he should call another meeting when he bejjtttue possessed of the information. \ discussion arose as to whether it would not he advisable to send to England for the machinery ; but it was agreed that they should not go outside; the Province for it. A.voto of thanks to-the chair, and further to Mr Chippie for taking the matter in hand, concluded the meeting. On Wednesday (New Year's Day), what with the races and the ball, we expect to be very gay ; and no doubt we shall all bo thoroughly tired on the second day of the New Year. The members of the Clyde Brass Band have volunteered their services for tho ball, —a very graceful proceeding, and ono which I am sure will be greatly appreciated by the Alexandra people. I am much mistaken if the Band will not bo highly pleased with the way .we. manage things here, though I am afraid -W&rtam gentleman li;is tried his host to prejudice them against Alexandra. [ feel confident the right man will put on tho hat, and would recommend him never to try it on again, move particulars- when the affair is for so good an object. (We were all young and fooiish once.) I am sorry to say our sporting men don't seem to hit it well this year. "The haudi-.-ippers are getting some hard knocks for giving Civssidoro top weight in both handicaps. The mare, if she could sneak, would certainly thank them for giving her weights which Iter owner does not intend iier to carry, he having turned her out to grass, and as a matter of course our races are spoilt. I have an idea that the handicappers must be wrong in tiiis instance, because the owner of tho mare is the only thorough sportsman we havq among us, and is consequently the be*t authority on such matters. I would suggest that the' handicappers think it over seriously, and do the thing handsomely : they know what I mean. 1 have been very much pleased, in the course of my travels, to hoar the Alexandra beer so highh: praised. W ; th*Bncli excellent brewing establishments as the Alexandra aM Cromwell ones, it must be the fault of tho proprietors if they allow much of the Dunedin and Tuapeka beer to come into tho market.