CARRICTON.

Dunstan Times, Issue 507, 5 January 1872, Page 2

CARRICTON.

(from our correspondent. ) December 27. My last letter for this year, will pisses small sensational interest. So I must content myself by narrating the ordinary hum drum events of every day history. I see mysnppl -mentary despatch of last week arrived too late for insert ion, or got lost in transit, so 1 shall re-write thn details thereof, commencing with the christening of the Star and battery. The gathering of jieoplcXvas the largest yet seen on the Range. A\goodly sprinklingjf the fairsax being visible—and the vveather fora wonder, like what is called “ queen’s. About 4 p.m , Miss Stewart, in ft neat; nl appropriate spe-eh to the shareholders, expressed a wian that their prospects might be as bright as the Star, and enduring as the Oak, and having broken the orthodox bottle of wine on the fly wheel the machine was p tin motion and commenced ir. jlu*i. s. It was erected by the same contractor as the Elizabeth. Mr. Alves—at a cost of 120 )/. to the proprietary- —is of J.au-teen horse power, and drives ten heads of stampers, and in ordinary parlance may he eal/el a single high pre;s-ue engine. Tue stampers are five hundred weight each, an 1 it may be estimated, apart from stoppages, tint they will crush ten tons per weak, per stamper. Up to the present lime five head of stampers < nly have been at work owing to ch scarcity of water, and it

a pears almost certain that until an additional supply lie obtained, such will he its normal condition. Tue ,- Elizabjth” machine is idle, and Las been ever sine-• the owning i f the “Star and Oak”, and I can ready see no chance of its starting agdn until an extra quantity of water he obtained. Water, it is now evident,isa scarcer commodity on the.range than at tirst imagined. Messrs. Marshal, Crane, Barry, and the men.b, r for Kawarau and;vssed the audience assembled at tue christenings—ami with copious diaughts of mait an 1 spirituous liquors, and lingo boxes oi samlwioiics Laving been provide l, it miy oe presumed that both the imellcciual as well as aleimmtnry wants ot the viators ware duly cared for. We were informed by one oi our orators j‘that we might expect hereafter to ibid a North Island oa the Garrick ran _e. Our local member informed us that the roads constructed by private enterprise would probably be subsidi.cd next session, and that no lack of energy would lie wanting on his part to secure such first compen. sation. Henry R and Co., of the American Portrait Gallery, obtanod sane views of the opening widen will doubtless find leady sale. The Royal Standard Company have crushed about sixty tons of aton ■ fur about twenty ounces of gold— mt th y have been taking it out some ten feet in width ; which may a.-count for the poverty of the yield. 1 shall adjourn other details till the New Year—when the racing interest and the season's estixities are over. January 2 A number of ev.nis were supposed to take place after he Christinas f s ivities and dissipation were pas*, all tending to benefit our district. It is to hs hoped that no disappointment will icsult from those rosy imaginings a id that hard work and systems ic perseverance will obtain th ir meed. Today the joint midlin', ‘ Tire Etar an 1 Oak" coninmces its twelvemonths steady work—crushing at the rate of one hundred tons per week when water can be obtained ; a id from the quality of the sti ne on .which it is employed, there canbi lisle doubt bis chat satisfactory re:urns will rewaid the outlay, and p rse.vtrance of the proprietary, a nl induce confi leuce to bo m ).'0 .ir.nly\stablish id as to the nature and valur of .par auiii'c ous lodes. Tue Grannies are kjortun lie in having sc, nr.J Ue services of Mr'- Jiei as their n aaag»r —a man vh ‘thoroughly understands ev.-.ry biam-h of his business, adds f.pjioais by no im«n» likely to allow dcri-

,;ctions of duty to piss unnoticed. O.e fact already patent. There is not sufficicntT • iter running in the race to keep if stampers steady at. work. The ‘‘EJiwiu;h ' lower down the hill side will ho in a • rjrse position, as the supply dimmshes by dog, and further travel More water vom some source or otheymust lie obtainl for these machines, <J care taken in itinduction to avoid tiny vaste accruing by evaporation and soak//.

What has always a/eared a great under taking too local n sources to c pe wi hj, turns of after all to be akin to i bagatelle. I nw4 the making avai abh he waste waterCf the Coal Creek. Some dfteen miles of;utting and the mighty undertaking is /oinj/leted. Within six 01 seven miles, ix or seven heads can be obtained I hear—and only in two or three mil -s any i( d difficulty occurs. It will reach as him an elevation as ‘ The lloyal Standard /C tmpauy’s claim, eommaiuLnr ali the known lines of reef as yet discovered on the range. It is impossible 1 con aider to over-estimate the imp irtauce o' thii undertaking as affecting the interests of the district. It will enable maciiinery driven by water jjpwer to c u hj our stone nine months in the year, enormous waste and oust uf carti g up the range, capable of being used four times over f n- quartz reeling, an I thoi remain a most valuable property forsluicim purposes in the Bannockburn and its tributaries. It is proposed by many of the promoters of this scheme to invite the public to subscribe in the -form of scrip or shares, the full amount of the cost of construction, ignoring the aid proffered to such undertakin.'S by the “ Immigration and Public Works Act Amendment.” I hare not yet seen the regulations, under which applications are to be made to the “minister” or “un ler Secretary” anghton, but should

consider unless they are unusually stringent, aid too strongly bound together by red tape, but it would be highly injudicious to •reject the aid proffered. One thing is very certain, we shall have to pay for it whether we utilize it or not. The “ security” required, and the time of repayment of the loan, appears to be entirely left to tbe will of the Minister. The Governor fixing the | rate of interest—and it does not appear too much to say, that being almost irresponsible the conditions mly be such as he may presc. ibe. | Hudson has his hotel again near completion, but how long it may. withstand the gentle gusts with, which wo are favored remains uncertain. He has been very unfor- ' lunate hitherto, it having been blown down twice, and I shall not be surprised to hear t any time from its utterly exposed si (ration (hat it has met with a third mishap. Hardings erection is still in a dismembcic 1 condition—passers by, wonder at i *■, carpenters look shy, and repudiate their contracts, the site on which it is being erected is disputed, and our gentle breezes cany sheets of corrugated iron, duois and -neb like small things all over the country, like a hat blown oil' a man’s hi ad. Head aching empty' pocket, remorseful, indignant, go 10 work day this—and (bus I conclude all I sh ill inflict on your readers on this second day of 72.