ARROWTOWN.

Cromwell Argus, Volume VI, Issue 311, 27 October 1875, Page 6

ARROWTOWN.

(prom our own correspondent.) October 25, 1876. The Crown Terrace Q.M, Company have received returns of the two tons of quartz sent to Skippers for crushing to tho Messrs Southberg. The yield is loz 4dwts per ton, which is considered very satisfactory, as the reef is from 18in to 24in thick, and it is asserted that the stone was not picked, but a fair sample of the twenty or thirty tons which have been raised from the shaft, which is now to be sunk to a depth of 40 or 60 feet in order to further test the lode. The total want of crushing machinery in the Arrow district is felt by those engaged in reef prospecting, in this case it cost £7 10s per ton to the quartz to Skippers. Splendid stone is still being raised from the Homeward Bound reef at the 12-Mile, and its appearance and prospects are enthusiastically spoken of by numbers of visitors from hero who have inspected it. It is stated to bo four feet thick, and looking very rich. Many parties are preparing to spend the summer in that locality ; and high hopes are entertained of its future as a valuable quartz field. In the meantime, as no returns can be obtained from the reefs until the advent of machinery, and as the important deep sinking operations of the Arrow United and Universal Companies are suspended during the erection of machinery in the latter case and the completion of the flood race in the former, our gold returns are very low ; still there is no desponding on the part of those well acquainted with the nature of the field, as it is firmly believed that, in a year or two at the farthest, it will again take a leading position as a goldfield, in which case its agricultural capabilities and healthy climate will

greatly tend to bring it into favor, and render it an important outpost, from which discovery will advance Into the vast mountain regions which surround it. The Sons ot Fortune Company are breaking into better looking ground with a softer rock in the bottom, and have ordered a set of sluice boxes in order to save the gold which they now expect to meet with in their main tunnel. The Messrs Fraser, who have been for many years working a sluicing claim at Bracken’s, have sold out to Greeves and party, who will take over the claim at the end of the year. Mr W. Gilmour, the miller, at Lake Hayes, is going home shortly, after a residence o£ some years in this district, in which he has achieved a good position by his perseverance and industry. The valuation of property in the Municipality by Mr H, J. Cope has been completed, and was adopted by the Council without any alteration.

It is stated that the Colonial Bank has purchased the stone building belonging to Mr James Marshall. It is an opposite comer lot to the new building of the Bank of New Zealand and the Post and Telegraph Office. The Good Templars announce their intention of holding sports on Boxing day, and playing a temperance piece in the evening in aid of thebuilding of a hall. The election of a district deputy for the combined districts of Cromwell and Wakatip will take place shortly, and the lodges here are anxious to see Mr H. P. Macklin, of Queenstown, returned. The last deputy Mr A. Peach was stationed at Cromwell, so it is felt that it would only bo fair to agree to have the office alternately in the Cromwell and Wakatip districts.

The movement for a volunteer corps at the Arrow is reported to have found more favor with the Defence Minister than was at first accorded it, but no direct official communication has yet been received hero since the first, by which the application was declined. The farms and gardens are beginning to look well, and good crops are anticipated, the spring having been moist and warm, in fruit especially large yields are looked for. Several tenders for gravelling and formation of portions of the main road through the district are called for by the Government. Mr Christenson who took a contract for gravelling and forming 24 chains of road from tho Municipality for £175, has thrown it up, alleging want of means as tho reason. His letter was read to the Council, who declined to receive it.

The working of the Municipal bye-laws in regard to cattle trespass in the town is causing much inconvenience to residents, many of whom keep cows who have been used to graze in the neighborhood and return to their owners’premises to be milked and fed, and the Inspector of Nuisances is growled at for doing his duty in carrying out the bye-laws strictly ; but it would be better to agitate for a modification of the bye-laws if found oppressive than to blame a man for carrying out his instructions, and as the Arrow Observer puts it, <( pulling” people. An application from the proprietor of the Commercial Hotel for permission to erect a verandah in front of his hotel on the main street has been declined by the Corporation as contrary to the bye-laws, although several such erection are permitted to remain, as they were built prior to the formation of the Municipality. Verandahs are an advantage as a protection from the heat and rain, but are very apt to result in obstruction of traffic, owing to the tendency ©f people to stand about under them, and even to bring out forms in front of hotels and sit smoking or talking on the street line. Mr Peter Butel reports having seen a trout of very large size in Hayes creek, near his mill. It was about three inches across the back and nearly a foot in length, and it seems certain that the fish are thriving moderately well in this stream.