THE LAKES.

Dunstan Times, Issue 457, 20 January 1871, Page 3

THE LAKES.

(from our own correspondent ) Queenstown, Jan 17 The great event of tlie week has been the races, but they cannot be con-idered to have been a success The weather was splendid, the attendance was large, money was plentiful; bin the several events were scarcely worth naming. The noises were cither too good or too laid, and an ev en match was almost out of Ihe question. !So far up the country as tne Wakatip, more esp ciaby that it is a district not suited to the keeping of local ho'sesot high breeding, lor reason that there is but very little flab country, tlnue should have been more races for district horses- As it was local owners were afraid to compete with such renowned stock as came from Canterbury. Consequently ihe cracks had it ail their own way, and scarcely exerted themselves to carry off the stakes Tis appeared to give general dissatisfaction, and I question whether, unless there is some alteration introduced next \ear, su scriptious will not bis very hard to obtain Queenstown was never so full of peep e before. The Bonifaces reaped a t ich harvest, and everyone who catered for the public, under any guise or pretence what-’ ever, had no cause to complain of the lack of patronage Theie, is a great deal of talk about the coming meeting at Clyde, and you may expect a goodly number of visitors from here.

Tlie next excilenient on the board I is tlie elections, both Provincial and General. llespeci ing tlie Superintendence opinions ae much divided, hut lain inclined to i,e belief ihat Mr. Mic-andrew is (he favorite and will obtain the majority of votes in this district. It iscon-idi red that, out of two evils, we should choice the least. The lesser evil is Mr. Macaudrew. And (hen there is another rea on for select.ng that gentleman : “it is better to have a devil we <;o know lhan one we do not know.” Mr. Ileid an I the Taievi femurs will not go down here 1 he goldfields interest must never he placed in their hands. Tin: co test between Messrs. Haughcn and Shepherd, fur Hampden, pr nd-es .o bo a keen on ;. Fnbiic ojiiuion is, I fancy, mostly in favor of the latter, for tlie reason that, by returning Mr. Hanghtonj we are virtually returning a member for the North Island at tlie expense of ourselves. It is the height of absurdity for any gentleman to imagine 'hat he can resid" at Auck land and efficiently represe t the interests of the Wakatip Wo want a resident representative if jiossihle, and the nearest approach to tha' is Mr. Shepherd. He has done his best in the Provincial Council, and there has been no cause for complaint. People may say he carries no weight ; bin that is all nn onshinc. Mr. Shepheul has made himself heard, and has been listened to upon many impor'atit qaes tious, and as Member tor the Goldfields has honorably a. quitted himself, therefore it would only be a graceful recognition of his services to return him to die General Ass-mbly. The harvest will soon he upon ns. The wheat, in a number of instances, is now yellow in the ear, and, unless we get some cool weather, reaping operati ns will commence in a very tew days This crop, as a rule, promises to yield abundantly. Oats are rather short in the straw, and the crop will lie light. The long continued drought lias told heavily upon this cereal. Potatoes, mangolds, beets, and other root crops have suffered considerably from the drought, and the yield will be short, more especially ih dry situations. Ab kinds of vegetables for the table are very scarce, the dry weather having almost annihilated the gardens, unless irrigation has been resulted to Fruit is pretty abundant, but the demand is quite equal to the I supply. A large quantity of small I fruit has been boiled down for prei serves, and there would have been ' more had earthen vessels been procurable. Jam making will he a branch of local industry at tho Wakatip next I year. ' • - • ■

ALEXANDRA. FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. When there is a dearth of news a newspaper correspondent's occupation is not a pleasant one. If ho writes facts alone he is stigmatized as utterly incompetent; and if he draws a little on . his imagination to spin out his letter he is accused of being injudiciously economical of the truth. Having explained the position I strand in 1 will proceed. We were rather dissappointed at Dr. Niven not coming to address us last Saturday night, but a* he was called away professionally, and intends to address us on Saturday, we don’t intend to growl much, of the other candidates in the field no liing fresh lias transpired, and with regard to the Buperintendency things remain the same as last week, with the exception of the people being rather disgusted at Mr. Reids inability to come up-country. The dredges seem to be making a good thing of it. On Tuesday afternoon the Alabama fished up ten ounces of the precious metal and on Wednesday fifteen ounces, and is still on the gold. The-Galatea is aiso doing we 1. ‘ TlieMaaihe • kit and ‘ ‘vens Companies have repaired the damages caused by the late thunder to-m and are busily ait it again At Butcher’s, MGuiime-. and party have cleared their tail race and expect to wash up at the end of the month.