CROMWELL.

Dunstan Times, Issue 225, 17 August 1866, Page 2

CROMWELL.

It i* at, all times n source of gratification to a correspondi nt of a publio journal, »o be in a position to sp< ak weil of the district in which he writes, ev. n if that we 1 sptakiti<j sjoes no further than to iro>e that, the pnsperitv of the locality is not on die wane. It ig, howevt r, d übly pleasurable to be in a p< sition to state broad'y, that the pro- • perky of the district is daily on the i increase, snd that its future prospects are not ea-ily to be surpassed by any in the provinee I ne;'d not harbour any trppidity whatever, in sating, that the Cromwell diggings, at the present moment, are the most promising of any alluvial diggings in the province of Otago It inustnotbesupposed for a moment that I include the raining intelligence bearing ur.on the quarts reefs of the countey, because the information on that score is quite sufficient to stamp the teim 'perpetuity' on the prosperity of the province ; but my remarks have reference only to alluvial diggings throughout, the country. , Long has been the season since we witnessed in the columns of our public journals mining intelligence headed by the soul-stirring words ' Discovery of a new Gollfield!' and the trite announcement followed up by a glowing description of the hopeful district and its presumed extensive resources. As a novelty in these tame times I may risk stating that a most extensive niw goldfield has been opened in the Louburn district. Hatter's Gully has been the scene of mining operations for many months past, but nothing more than trifling importance was ever attached to it, and to all appearance it promised to be lastingly deserted ; however, the party referred to in my last correspondence. Kelly, Edwards, and Co, entertained a strong belief that the whole district would pay hands im ■ wages for sluicing, and thev constructed a 1 irge waterrace from Farmer's Creek to the upper end of Hattr's, and branches out of it have during thu last month b en c ns'ructed and di ected to nu nerous gullies running into 'he Louburn F>at. These gullies have long been known to be auriferous but how water could be brought into them seemed to be an insolvable problem, and, therefore, they were allowed to remain in possession of their normal quietus up to the last few days. I he ouU;es are at present being actively worked, except two; and to these, water will be b-ought by a party of sixteen men who have hid a fc rant of all the surplus water of the louburn This race, to reach its destination will have to be constructed along the breast of a large number of terrnces. up one side and down the other of three 1. ng pnliies, making -he race at least four miles in length, although ii> a direct line the distance would not j be more than three. The party are not * in any gonse K stowing experimental labour as the ground has b~cn *e.'\ tested, and proved sufficiently rich to remunerate nanrl-so-ne'y fo' all the time and capital s ento form the lenghty sip, n'ine conduct. Mine otn feeling- are not surcha'ged with 'ikiiij; for the Chinese population, but as the Rnropeanß of th* Cromwell and Clyde district have not deemed proper to pay immediate at-

tention to the hints thrown out to them in your co'umns, for the last three month* ; as to the opening for miners in the neighbourhood of Hatter's, I am disposed to fee] pleased at senng a number of Chinammi rushing the ground On Wednesday last, T noticed a party of fifteen of them active'y at work constructing a branch waterrace, to be fed out of the great race of Kelly and Co., its destination being a fine gully ne»r the lower part of the Lonburn flat. They have marked out claims in the gully, and have obtained protection for them from Mr Warden Str-t-------ford until the race will have been finally constructed. Whilst John is under notice, I may mention that since the orening of Otago as a goldfield no district has been discovered calculated to maintain such a large Chinese population as the Cromwell diggings that are newly opened. Tt has already been stated that the field will be at least twenty miles long, and lere T may further state, that all the numbprles* gullies and terraces included in that area are proven ground and gold found in them in sufficient quantities to satisfy a Chinaman in the rurctißse not only of life's necessaries but also in the purchase of a fat rooster occasionally, should his inner man at any time fancy one. Two European parties have alreadv put in an application for wntf-r-rigbtp out of a creek some mx miles further on than the I.ouburn. mid before the present month will have passed by, Europeans no doubt, will be either in possession, or applying for all the available water in the district and tne Chinamen will have to hire whatever number of sluice heads they may require. Though they will have to pay for water they will be able to realise most satisfactory weekly earnings, and much more so than at any old diggings they may hava fossicked The field will be soon occupied by a large number of Europeans, but eventually it will become an extensive Chinese district. The extensive sluicing claims in tha Eawarua district have maintained the prossperity of the locality in be m-st gratifying manner, but never cou d the town of Cromwell boast of any staff to lean uprn equal to the diggings now newly opened. In concluding this correspondence, I am in duty bound to caution against an unreasonable rush at present, as at least two months w 11 have to elapse before some of the projected races can he constructed, and sn abundance of wa'er hireable, but men possessed of a sma'i capital may t-a'ely got here at once, ai.d form races for themselvcs.j