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Dunstan Times, Issue 537, 2 August 1872, Page 2

We understand that a desperate battle of words will be [fought during the present Session of the General Assembly over the disposal of the loan for Public Works, and from what we hear, it will bo endeavored to have the money expended so as not to benefit one single constituency or favored spot, but pro hono publico. One question over which the respective supporters arc mustering all their eloquence and strength is the Great Northern Line of Railway—in other words, which route the Teviot and Dnnstan line is to take, whether by Way of Tokomairiro and Tuapeka, or via Mataura, tb once up the rich and fertile valley of the Pomahaka, converging on the Molyncux at the Teviot. Each routo has its advantages, and the issue mill rest upon the strength of argument of the - contending parties. In our own interests wo must support the Mataura route,fas thereby will both Dunedin and Invercargill be brought within a day’s journey of the Dnnstan District., and what is of still greater importance, a line of country abounding in magnificent timber and every class of mineral, from gold (the main lever and stay of the country) to the more common yet useful iron, mull be opened up and made "available. ,The resources of this line , ? country are not yet known; and mill not he until it is teeming with a human population. The Daily iTinics of a late date says Freestone, well adapted for budding purposes, is reported to be found in large quantities at Seaward Downs, near the line of the Mataura Railway.” The Teviot District, which is.more immediately concerned than we are, should take time by the fore-lock, and assist the friends who are working so energetically and earnestly for them. An expression of opinion could do no harm, and wo would urge them to agitate ! agitate ! agitate ! The eyes of many of the residents of Alexandra have been gladdened of late by the appearance of two black swans, which had taken up their location in that neighborhood. The hope that thev would remain in the district and increase in numbers has been ruthlessly torn away by some human monster, who lately shot one of the birds, leaving the other alone to mourn the loss of its mate.. We should, imagine that it is the duty of some one official in the district to seek out the perpetrator,,and make him answer for his folly.

Mr. Holt, the proprietor of the OlyJ Coal-pit, met with another serious loss oi Wednesday last; by the breaking down o his whim. The circumstances attendinj the occurrence are simply : The whim wa at work at the time bailing water, and the horse, having drawn the bucket to the top took one step too much, and bringing the bucket against the poppet-head, putting ai an.extra strain on the axle of the drum, which twisted up like a piece of paper, and the whole fabric fell to the ground with a crash. The axle was made of a piece oi red birch, and was about nine inches square. The last issue of the Illustrated New Zealander which is to hand contains some very admirable wood-cuts of Australian scenery-—one representing the coining of the first sovereign in the Victorian Mint, and others of peculiar interest to Australians ; while New Zealand views are conspicuous by their absence, the only one being a view of Cromwell Bridge and the junction of the Clutha and Kawarau. The engraving is in itself creditable, but that it is a faithful picture we cannot vouch. A Northern exchange says that prospecting for geld is becoming the order of the day up North and if this spirit continues much longer, the riches of the Tuhua and Taupo country if there are any, must soon be hit upon. Several parties of men have recently proceeded from Napier towards Taupo to prospect for gold on the shores of the lake but the weather was so severe they were compelled to turn back. Several heavy snow storms have passed over that country lately. Mr. Stevens, the lately appointed Master of Clyde School, it isunderstood, will take charge of the Clyde School on Mondav next. Mr. John Cole Chappie announces, by advertisement in another column, that he is instructed to sell by auction, at the Criterion Hotel, Alexandra, on Saturday, the 10th of August, at 6p.m,, a one-fourth share in the dredge Kersage. Our Teviot correspondent informs us that the water-wheel which was lost from Alexandra on the occasion of the poor fellow Brown being drowned, was'picked up near Moa Flat, very much damaged. M e have heard of a good many queer things in mining, AV e have hoard of brick houses being put through crushing machines and paying handsomely; of roads contain: ing quantities of the precious metal sufficient induce 'men to steal them. More recently we have heard of speculators giving fabulous prices for mud huts in South Africa, on the chance of finding diamonds in the walls. But we never imagined a miner, even with the most virulent form of quartz-on-the-brain, would peg out a fence as a quartz claim. Yet such a thing was done by the Gabriels Gully Quartz Mining Company, It appears that in the disputes between Mr. Clark and the miners who wished to work his land, the fence was entirely overlooked, and though several claims were pegged on either side, it was not includrd in any of them. The G.G.Q. M.Co., however, thought that the ground occupied by the fence was worth having and took up a portion of it in accordance with the Mining Regulations. Their right to do so has, however, been questioned, and unless the matter is amicably settled, there will bo a Warden's Court case over the right to possess a fence as a mining claim. The width of ground occupied by the aforesaid fence is 8 feet. The dispute as to the possessions of it shows the value entertained of the reef by those who should know something about it .—Evening Star. An extraordinory instance of the voracity of the Murray cod is related by the ‘Riverine Herald’:—“Last week while the men on board the Murray snagging boat Melbourne were engaged clearing a portion of the river near Swan-hill saw whatfthey at first believed to besome hitherto unknown amphibious monster floating down the river. The small boat was lowered, and one of the sn aggers jumped into it rnnod with a boat-hook, and in a very few moments had succeeded in harpooning tne monster and was not a little surprised to find, on bringing the captive to land that he had made a good haul of throe Murray cod, all fast to each other, ami weighing ia the aggregate Sslb. A fish of 101b. had swallowed, or nearly so, one of 31b., and another of 471b. weight had the Sail end of the 301b. fish down its throat, wd could not disgorge it. ” The 'Treasurer of the Dimgfcan District Hospital has requested us to acknowledge file receipt of SG I. Os. Cd., ainountof Government subsidy for the past quarter. The nows from Drybread and Black’s is if a most cheering character. The miners ire all busily employed, having plenty of water. Complaints, however, are deep and loud about the wretched state of the roads, which in places arc all but impassable. Other could not be expected, as we are informed that, for the past twelve months no more work has been done over a distance Df forty miles of road than what 51. would pay for. Mr- Fache requests ua to draw attention to the sales by auction, at Cromwell, next Thursday, of Mr. Smitham’s stud of valuable horses. Mr. Smilham having disposed of his business, is about leaving the Province, therefore all must be sold. The stock of Mr. C. Colclough is a varied and assorted one, comprising articles of everyday use, the whole of which has to he sold at any price, the room occupied being required for other purposes. The usual Government Land Sales will be held as follows;—At Roxburgh, August 10 ; Alexandra, August 20 ; Clyde, August 21 ; Cromwell, August 22 ; Bendigo, August 23 ; Newcastle sections, at Bendigo, August 23 ; sections, at Bendigo, August 23 ; Gladstone sections, at BondigoAugust 23 — Gazette. .The following Crown Grants, in favor of the undermentioned persons, are now ready for delivery :—Mary J. Cambridge, Clyde, and Isaac Wright, of Cromwell. Gazette.

By the Wakntip Mail we leam the me i lanoholy intelligence of the death by drown E ing in Lake Wakatip of Thomas Bussell ; nephew of Mr. E. M ( Morran, the circum i stances attending the fatal occurrence are—- “ It seems the unfortunate youth (whi was only about 15 years of age) who hac been impatiently looking forward, durin' the day for Mr. Murray’s equestrian troupe, and on their arrival shortly 'after five o clock, was too glad to be enlisted in the service of watering the horses of the troupe On the fatal occasion he rode further than usual into the Lake when the horse suddenly dropped out of his depth over one of the terraces running out; at the same moment young Russell fell, or was driven back by the force of water and parted with bis companion. The horse swam out a con siderjble distance before returning, while the drowning lad (who could not swim) had struggled and sunk. A groom ’in the emof Air. Murray, and named UvibheU;. swam to toe rescue, and on reaching Bussell,—who had again risen—was about to secure him by the back, when he (Cribben) was caught round the neck, ami both sank to the fyottom. Here Gribbon released himself, and hiought the drowning lad once more'to the surface. Here again the struggle'for life proved too strox g and Bussell clutched his would ' e preserver by the legs. At this time Gribbeu, who had managed to extricate himself was exhausted and again helplessly sinking, when a long pole was put out, whith’hc lahlholu of and was pulled ashore, We exti'aot the following from the Melbourne Herald: —Mr. William’.) ackson, exmayor of Cromwell, New Zealand, a colonist of forty-four years, who has returned to Victoria on a dying visit. He is desirous of giving such items of information as may he valuable to his old friends, and which his long experience suggests. He says that “the province of Otago is the finest grazing country seen hy me in my long experience; the locality in which I have been residing, Cromwell, has within (a radius of twenty miles) quartz reefs teeming with gold, and likely to be as rich, or richer than any in Otago. In fact, it only requires capital to develop its almost inexhaustible wealth.” “On arriving at Dunedin,” our correspondent says, “I was escorted over the Port Chalmers dock by the superintendent and a party of gentlemen. Though I had often heard this dock most favorably spoken of, I had no idea of its e> tent or capabilities. It is well constructed, is 297 ft. long, 50ft. wide, and 29ft. deep, and, as will be seen, is thus calculated to accommodate any ship likely to visit the port of Dunedii). In fact, to the Government is due some credit for its energy and enterprise in this respect. Should any of your maritime readers see this, and have a vessel crippled, I should advise making for this port as soon as possible. 1 saw there that fine ship Omeo laid up for repairs, in connection with hfir injured rudder, and feel assured that both her owners and master were satisfied with the accommodation afforded.” The Lyttelton Times "says that a son of Air. Gould, fanner,' near Pleasant Point, in the Timaru district, whilst employed digging in the Garden, which is swampy soil, turned up a very large and perfect moa’s egg, but unfortunately, from an ignorance of its value, broke it. The egg was the largest'ever found, and quite perfect, and the loss to science is very great, as may be gathered from the fact that there is only one real egg known to be in existence, and that is in an European museum, for which although partly broken, it was purchased at a cost of 115f. Dr. Haast has written to Mr. Gould with a view to procuring the pieces of the broken egg and re-uniting them. It is to he hoped that ho will be successful.” We have to ackixowlede the receipt of a batch of Parliamentary [Papers from the General Government Printer, and we are requested by the Clyde Public Library Committee to acknowledge a similar batch to that received by us. The Daily Times of the 29th iust says:— In our issue of the sth iust. we published an extract from the Timcru Hen.ld, stating th at a company was being formed to purchase the pneumanio apparatus employed in sinking the cylinders of the Baugitata Bridge, with the view of using it for gold mining purposes in the Alolyneux Biver. The following additional particular are furnished by the Lyt/leton Times of a recent date“ Wo are given to undex-staud that the artizaus lately employed in the erection of the Baugitata bridge have formed themselves into a company for the purpose of extracting gold from the Alolyneux river, Clyde. Otago, on the pneumatic principle. The company compi-iscs one carpenter, one blacksmith, two boiler makers, and a mechanical engineer. They pux-pose taking all necessary material and machinery to Clyde, and there build a suitable craft to cairy the machine and cylinders. They calculate upon being able to extract the waslidirt no matter how flooded the river, and as they will bo able to shift these cylinders as the ground is worked out the loss on material will he small when compared with the diedging machines now in use on that river, which yield their owners a handsome annual profit, although some seasons (in consequence of floods) averaging only two months’ work in the year, Air. AI. Al'Lcnnan, the engineer of the company, is at present negotiating for the engine and machinery requisite for the work, and has proceeded to Dunedin to secure a goldmining river claim on the Clutha. We wish them every success.” The want of other appliances than the primitive spoon now used lias been Ion" recognised, and the brains of many have been racked to discover one, but, beyond some wild theoretical schemes nothing has eventuated. The pneumatic system about to be tried is most favorably spoken of by, many who are competent to express an opinion on the subject, and we doubt not but that it will succeed. The prize sought after is worth the attempt, and we cordially unite with our contemporary in wishing the company every success.