The Dunstan Times FRIDAY, 16th August, 1867.

Dunstan Times, Issue 277, 16 August 1867, Page 2

The Dunstan Times

FRIDAY, 16th August, 1867.

Beneath the ni!o of men ektieely jvsi, th. pkm ia mxohtikr than the av.oiii)!"

The late stormy weather, though producing many inconveniences for the time being, cannot in the end but be productive of much good to the gold miner, the large accumulation of snow now laying upon the ranges is looked upon by the ground sluicer with favorable eyes; in the fine white mantle covering the hill tops, he sees a store of water that will supply him for many months to come, and we may with safety calculate upon a prosperous summer for the miuing interests in genera', ground sluicing being now almost universally adopted as a means of getting gold, and water being so iudispensible for the carrying on of these operations, it may be looked upon as the prime mover of our industry. The water race is to the miners of Otago, what the steam engine is to his fellows in Victoria, both affording motive power for the extraction from the soil of tho precious metal, and although the mode of applying the liquid element may'in both case 3 differ, the required result is precisely the same. The high level* from which our supplies of water are obtained, must be considered a most fortunate circumstance, for were such not the case, the total absence of fuel for feeding the "iron horso" would have ever let manual labor remained unassisted by artificial means, it has been pretty c'early demonstrated these last few months, that gold is bo widely disseminated through the soil, that the difficulty instead of being that of " how to find the gold " is rather " how to extract it" for wherever there exists a fall for a tail race and water procurable, tho most satisfactory results are obtainable. The ooca despised baiiks of the Molyneux, is. row t/'f?

j he succeeds by improved appliances in obj taiuiug gold in highly remunerative quani titles, from where a short time since it was deemed utterly worthless, as a field for Chinese labor, and there are thousands of acrea of such ground to work upon, was thorebut a sufficient supply of water availalle to do so. The head waters of the Clutha and Lin dis Rivers, could at no extraordinary outlay of capital (much less than is now spent in opening a claim on Ballarat) be made to flow down the great terraced plain laying between Clyde and Alexandra, and what is more satisfactory, employment would be found for them at highly remunerative rates for the next generation to come, even beyond the expectations of the most sanguine shareholder. We were quite surprised when reading the debate upon the delegated powers question, to find members, who ought to know better, condemning and turning into ridicule the proposal of the General Government, to assist in supplying the miners with water. Is not the Government of Victoria expending nearly three millions of money in the Coliban Water Scheme, for no other purpose than to assist the miners of Bendigo ar.d Castlcmake in obtaining increased quantities of gold, surely, if such a scheme is needful in Victoria, how much more necessary is or.e here, we have no means of employing machinery, or ever likely to do so, excepting in rare instances ; our very prosperity; nay, our very existence, depends upon a supply of water and that fact is palpable to the most uninitiated in mining affu'rs; any scheme that will increase our means of water supply, cannot fail but to increase the number of the population, and at the same time add materially to the prosperity of the Province. We will allow that a certain number of water races have proved unprofitable speculations, lut they will not a 1 ways remain so, in all new euterpri ses, the first results ore invariably unsatisfactory, but when experience has been acquired, by past reverses, the same undertakings may be embarked in with a certainty of success, and we can o;.ly say to disappointed and hesitating shareholder.) "tryagain" and this time you shall succeed. 1 he Honorary Secretary of the Dunstan District Hospital beg to acknowledge the receipt of Twenty pounds i-terling, from Messrs Glassford. Brothers, of Matakanui Station. On Tuesday last, at Alexandra, the Resident Magistrate, H.W. Robinson Esq, was engaged investigating a charge preferred against JVhn Weaver, for maliciously damaging the Over.s Water Race. The depositions of several witnesses, were taken at great length, occupying the attention of the Court for nearly four hours From the evidence of the working Manager of the Race, Henry Young, it appeared, that the portion of the Race injured, was composed of timber, laying at an an. gle of about 35 degrees, and called a drop that the timber had been literally smashed, some of the pieces bearing marks, as if made with both the hammer end, and the pointed ends of a pick. Footprints were also discovered, to match which, a pair of boots had been found in the possession of the accused. The evidence of the other witnesses, went to prove that the accused was from his own admission in the neighbourhood of the race, and that he was wet through. Upon the application of the Police, a remand wa3 granted to Monday, the 19th inst.. The accusal was admitted to Bail in two sureties of £25 each, and himself iu £SO. A correspodent at Wellington, kindly furnishes us with the division list on the Local Government Bill, lost o > the second reading, the fo lowing is the list:—For the Rill:—Adams, Armstrong, Atkinson, Atkinsoft, Bradshaw, Bunny, Carleton, Cox, Curtis, Farmer, Hull, Hankinson. Haughton, Houltain, Jollie, Lucllam, M'Lean, M'Nei', Muii-on, Ormond, Potts A. Richmond, J. C. Richmond, Stafford, Stevens, Wells, Wilson. Against the Bill :-Bryant, Ball, Bell, Borlase, Brandon, Rurns, Campbell, Cargiil, Clarke, Hignum Eyes, G. Graham, R. firaham, Harrison, Heaphey, Hepburn, Hall Macandrew, M'Farl&ne, M,Farlan, Main, Moorhouse, C. O'Xeil, J. O'Neil, OKooke Parker, Paterson, Reeves, Reid, Reynolds Sladholme, Taylor, Vogel, Watt, Williams -Wood. Pairs, for:—Fitzherbert. Against -FcatherF-tone. Mr left the house and of course wan not prpse - t. to record i hi.) veto.

In consequence of the suddenness of the : death of Mr James M'Gill, of Ida Valley, an inquest will be'held on the remains, this day at one o'clock. On Friday night last, a public meeting of a very desultory character was held in the School-house, Cromwell, for the purpose of making an erquiry into some alleged unbecoming language used by Mr. D. M'Kellar, the Master of the School, towards Mr William Jackson Barry, the Mayor of Cromwell, the novelty of the proceedings caused a large attendance of pcrso 1 sto be present. Mr J. O'Neill was unanimously called to the chair, who after explaining the oljects of the meeting, called up >n Mr Barry to make a statement of his grievances. Mr Barry did so, and •tigmatised the conduct of the School mnster, a d] School Mr M' Keller, next gave an explanation, and acknowledged, that although unbecoming language might have been used, considered 'there was ample provocation given, and urgwVthat no person'placed as he was could have done otherwise, he however had applied to the School Committee to in vestigate the case, and he as a matter of course was bound by the result Mr Jno Marsh, the Chairman, and Mr Whetter, a member of the School committee addressed the meeting, so also did other gentlemen, the matter was ultimately settled, and the meeting brought to a close by a vote being carried,—" That the School committee should hold an inquiry into the circumstances of the dispute. After the business had been disposed of, an elec ion of trustees for the cemetery took place to supply the places of Messrs Ptratford and lletherington resigned, and Mr Thomas Shanley, deceased ; Messrs (1 codger, Grumitt, and Roberts were e'ected. Ou Friday last, an unprepossessing individual who gave his name as Richard Griffiths was charged by the Police, before Mr H W. Robinson, R.M. at the Po lice Court, Clyde, with a breach of the " Vagrant Ordinance" to wit, "he had been imposing upon private individuals, with a view to obtain goods under false pretences. It appeared from the evidence, that prisoner, who represented himself, as a " new chum " stated that his unch had just purchased Sheenau',.. static-1 at Lower Manuherikia, and that his une'e wished to engage twelve men at the rate of thirty shillings per week, and two pounds per I week, should they remain i.i the service for twelve months ; meeting four men at Treweek's station, near Tuapeka the terms proposed by prisoner were eagerly embraced, n"d they accompanied him to Alex ! andra, lending him money, and " shouting" for him on the way. Arriving at Alexandra, prisoner represented that he was going to visit his sister, and that he would return in a short time. His dupes after waiting patiently, concluded they were being imposed upon, and at once repaired to Clyde, and laid information with the police Prisoner was soon arrested at the Port Philip Hotel, and met his deserts in the shape of two months imprisonment.