The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1870.

Dunstan Times, Issue 408, 11 February 1870, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1870.

BcneaththoTlalcof M'oiikstiuely just the pen is mightier than theswoED

Mb. Warden Pyke’s eloborate report of the Duustan district, as furnished by him to ' the Government for the past year contains very many interesting particulars, which cannot he re reived with feelings other than those of unmingled sati faction. The mining district of the Dunstan, it is quite unnecessary for us to remark, has no rival in the amount of its gold produce; and when we come to consider that the average earnings of our miners amount to 1477. ss. per head per annum we may with truth exclaim, taking numbers into consideration, that there is not such a prosperous community in the known word. It is also very satisfactory to know that the earnings of the miners are pretty evenly divided. The yield of gold is not absorbed by a few. There are, of course, some prizes, but of blanks there are scarcely any. Every man possessed of sufficient energy of purpose to do a day’s work, let his means be ever so limited, may succeed in making something, or he may obtain profitable employment; while to the miner with capital the inducements are considerable, and for the outlay of 1007. or so he may purchase into a sluicing claim, which will take a man more than a life-time to exhaust Events prove that to increase our already large yield of gold all that is wanted is additional mechanical power to extract it from the soil. The agent required is water, and as first as it can he brought to bear on the auriferous banks and terraces of the Dunstan Basin, so will profitable employment be afforded to additional hands. We may briefly sum up by saying that there is gold everywhere, all that is wanted is the means to obtain it, and this can be accomplished by a judicious system of combined* labor. In this matter we may certainly learn a good deal from our Chinese neighbors. An old saying has it, “ that they do these things hotter in France.” It is an allpatent fact that they do these things better in China

In his judicial capacity of Resident

Magistrate and Warden Mr. Pyke’s office is the reverse of a sinecure, and wc think that when he hears one thousand two hundred ami ninetyeight cases during the year that his time must he pretty well occupied considering also that he visits the whole of his district at very brief intrevals.

In quartz-raining we are making considerable progress, and though last in the field in the development of this industry, we are now at the top of the tree. The discoveries of reef?, at Bendigo Gully, Butcher’s Guliy, and the Serpentine are of great promise; in fact, their value may be said to have been already ascertained. At the first named place there are fiftytwo claims at work held under miners’ rights, besides four leases, the total length ot reef occupied being seven miles and a quarter, affording employ ment to a population of four hundred persons. Stone that will pay for crushing appears obtainable in almost any quantities, the difficulty being <lic want of machinery to crush it. The reefs at Butcher’s Gully, also at Conroy’s, exhibit unmistakable signs of turning out extremely well. They are, withoutdoubt,of a very permanent character, and the more they become developed the more promising is their yield. In alluvial mining both gullies have not been surpassed. Gold has been obtained from them in all known situations where gold has been found, and from the roots of the grass downwards it has been extracted in largely remunerative quantities We may say from experience that this portion of the Dunstan district partakes more of the character of the Victorian goldfields than any other part of Otago. All experienced quartz-miners that we have met concur in the one opinion, that Butcher’s and Conroy’s arc rich in quartz-reefs of the most permanent character. The Serpentine is doubt less a promising field for the quartz miner. The existence of auriferous quartz has long been known here, but the inaccessibility of the locality lias been a serious bar to progress. Now, howevcr,thatsomcenergeticindividuals have availed themselves of former discoveries to prospect further, there is every probability that the reels will

be made to pay. Everything promises well, but the peculiarities of the locality necessitate the expenditure of a little time and patience. In agriculture we have not made that progress which we should have done. It must not be supposed that because we purchase the majority of our cereals from the Tail ri and the Lakes that the district is unfavorable to the growth of grain crops. Our large flats are entirely unsuitable, but the gullies and slopes of the ranges possess virgin soil of unsurpassed richness. But the opportunity to cultivate and settle our surplus population upon the soil lias always been wanting. There has always been a difficulty with the squatters, and until this is got over progress in agriculture is impossible. It is very well to say thatlarge tracts of country are open for occupation, hut are they lit to occupy 1 This is a question which must speedily be taken up in earnest, and wherever the soil is suitable it must be made to produce food for man in lieu of pasture ground for sheep. Our necessities demand it, and we must, in self defence, make the most of our opportunity and use what we have. We may congratulate ourselves that we live in a district where gold is plentiful, where the toil of the workman is liberally repaid, where the fruits of the earth spring up almost at our bidding, and where if we are not prosperous we have only ourselves to blame.