The Dunstan Times FRIDAY, 12th OCTOBER, 1866.

Dunstan Times, Issue 233, 12 October 1866, Page 2

The Dunstan Times

FRIDAY, 12th OCTOBER, 1866.

‘iieneuth the rule of men entirely just, the ten is mightier than the sword!”

The munificent sum of two hundred and seven pounds and some few odd shilings. realised at Alexandra, at tlie Bazaar Ball, lately held there, in aid of the funds of the Dunstan District Hospital—especially when we take into consideration, that the population of the district barely exceeds two hundred and fifty persons—is something enormous, and to the most sceptical, inust be a convincing proof, of the extreme prosperous condition of our goldfields. We fully believe, that there is no mixed population in the civilised world from whom so large a sum could be drawn at any single occasion for a charitable object, save that of a mining one. 1 his has not been the only instance of the liberality of Alexandia, as, during the last six months, no less than sixty pounds was raised in aid of the local school funds. An Hospital and a School are, without doubt, the two institutions most valued by a mining community, and are patronised accordingly. The miners, as a practical body, brought up in the school of experience are not slow in discovering that, in both those cases, there arises a practical result ; if any one* of them becomes sick, or maimed, he knows that there exists an institution whose doors are ever ready open to receive and succour him, and that there he will find that attention and skill bestowed upon his case which in his own home would be impossible. With respect to tlie School, there is no class who values education more. Mining is an intelligent trade, notwithstanding that it requires a considerable expenditure of bone and muscle in its prosecution. The large and costly, aqueducts which everywhere meet the eye of the traveller, as he enters a mining district are, with scarcely an exception, the work of practical though purely unscientific men ; many of which works will remain for ail J .ime, mouuments

of ingenuity and skill. With those facts f 0 j before us, we cannot wonder that thelm married miner, who having'made the gold |t| : fields his home, although he may possess but few attainments himself, notwiths'tauding which, sees the value of giving his p children the full benefit of the education sj procurable; he, therefore, forwards to *j the utmost of his power, the interests of ~ District Schools, in which good work, pj others, although not so intimately in- fi terested from motives already explained, v* lend their assistance. p As a field for mining enterprise, the g ] district of Lower Manuherikia has no u rival, its fortnightly escort returns are ei second only to the larger field of Tuapeka, a and notwithstanding all that may be said _ and written about the magnitude and B costliness of the mining undertakings p there, we very much question if they ex- l: ceed similar works on the banks of the § ' Molyneux and Manuherikia in |the neighbourhood of Alexandra. The payable v nature of the mining ventures at the 1: Lower Manuherikia are too well known r and appreciated to need much comment; and withal the long and disasterous winter experienced by almost every branch of s mining, the ultimate result hr.s been satis- J factory. It was but a few days since the f shareholders in the Frenchman's, claim x after clearing off a debt of £I2OO " a 1 standing over from last year, each a . received the handsome dividend of £GSO the proceeds of the seasons work; this t may have been perhaps the largest c sum divided at one time by any mining party, but there has been plenty of equal ~ ' instances of success. The weekly and ; i monthly dividends- of the Dredging and s Sluicing Companies have been propor- j tionately as great, and with scarcely an , exception, we fully believe, that at the present time, every mining undertaking in i ' the district—pursued with adequate skill 1 and appliances—is attended with favorable results. No bttter proof of this can be " i given than the present high rates of labour • i and the extreme difficulty there exists in ] • procuring it. Wages men at Alexandra . ' cannot be obtained under £i per week, ; while oftentimes more than tint sum is actually paid when the demand is a pressing ( - one. With the condition of the labourer 1 so prosperous, the only inference that can ' t be drawn is, that the position occupied by ] u the employer must be still more favorable ; ] and, with such facts before us, wo cannot be , ,i wrong in making the assertion that, " The i< nuning district of Lower Manuherikia is the most prosperous and desirable lield of ' "• enterprise in the Province of Otago."