CARDRONA.

Dunstan Times, Issue 303, 14 February 1868, Page 2

CARDRONA.

(from our own correspondent.) Feu. 7. Official .visits ferm to be the order of the day. Mr. St. John Branigim, , uccempai ted by Wardens Simpson aud Eoctbaia, give u; a call a fbrt-

higiit ..ago, and. j'estefcday'vsH6 were honored with the presence of Mr. Y Warden Short as.,the atay cf all have. been; it has produced one favorable result. The importance of the place begins to be acknowledged, even in higher quarters, and the first step in proof thereof is the invitation to tender fur the erection of a police station. Prospects in mining affairs are very favorable,: and; although Cardrona cannot by any means be termed a "poor-man's diggings," those "with a moderate capital may be tolerably sure of doing well It may interest your readers to learn a few particulars about fomej.f the claims :—lhe Gin and RaspMMy was opened fitteen months ago, ifas five shareholders, is one acre in extent, a tout forty feet in depth, has a large water-wheel, and has paid-£ls per week .per man. for the last twelve •months. . Expenses £3OO. ■ The .Pirate* which adjoins the above, has six sha<.i'hoklers. 'ihe company are now erecting a new wheel. 'i he claim is one acre and a quarter in extent, forty feet deep, and has, during eighteen'months, paid from ±lO to .£l2 per man per week. •.; The Homeward Bound was.the first claim opened, three years ago, on the i deep lead, aud has gradually extended / itself by advancing its pegs. Depth forty to forty-five leet. Average di\ i • deud £2O per week. Mr. Bond, of the Empire Hotel, has organised a party to take up a piece of ground on the detp lead, and they are Very sanguine as to the result. 0 iarlcs Murray is erecting a wheel for the terrace where the lead was lost, and expects to find it again. Munford a d party have just completed tin ir race, and are hard at \v« rk. Austin's, Yankee Dan's, and Oliver's claims all pay well, ond further down the creek there are other claims doing excellently The population is somewlnre about two hundred. During this week we have experienced the worst weather ever sun I here. It began to rain on Sunday, \ about noon, and a storm amounting 1 ainosc to a h'.rrieane alternated i;uiing forty-ehAit hours with the j.dtii g rain. Yesterday was fur, but i\. i _ tunea:a'n to-eay sei.ds us Eaia'u showers. Several houses 'have Uui se'r ously damaged. " We certainly are extremely obliged to the Govt n.mtiit for alk wh g us a wcek'y m; i . but the da_\ s ior :riivi.l aid dtp.r i.re arc miserably arranged. Thus, ior instance, the ''* Wakntip Ma.l" is a week old before wo get it, • •-notwithstanding that we ire cnly twenty-eight miles ft cm Que< hstt wi, I and the " Bunstaii is more than six days old when it reaches us. Jt is especially annoying, since the "Waka- . tip .Mail' has to travel down to Crom* j well before it can tome here. Tad as hlns is we growl and bear it ; but, . I when we have to wait a whole fort- | night for the mail, patience is ] ut to I the test. Yesterday's coach arrived j with Mr ir'mitliam'susual punctualitv, j but there was no mail cither from i.p or down country, (if course we ascribe it to tic ds, but it certainly ought to . be permitted for the contractor to wait, rather than leave a whole community for a fortnight, without news of any kind Cur town begins to assume quite a respectable aprcarai ce. }ir. Bend has lately erected a spacious hotel, and Mr. Kel y, of Cicmwell, gave us this week an opportunity of witnessing what a "Golden Age'' is. He Las built one of the largest houses here, and seems determined not to 1 c outdone by any of his compeers- An excellent bowling alley is very well petronised. Apropos to public-houses. It seems to me remarkable that all the store keepers openly retail liquors, day and , night, without let or hindrance, while only three publicans pay license. Mr. Cronquest, phre-ologist, has , been lecturing and examining heads lately, with moderate success-