THE LAKES.

Dunstan Times, Issue 876, 31 January 1879, Page 3

THE LAKES.

1 {From Our Correspondent.) , January 20th, IS7O - Yon must not set us down as antidihi- I vians here, because the chronology of our ' events might be dated before or after the ( flood. We only calculate the untoward dis- | aster ol September last as a smarting point in our history, having, from its effects, practically to commence the world anew ; ( so I may as well -ay that “ since the flood ” things hive been gradually recovering themselves again, and a few months more wid find ns as fall blown as usual, “ the memories of the past” culminating in the fact I that we have lost a summer, while at the - same time we are doing our best to make up for lost time. Trade, as a mat'er of coarse, has been exceedingly dull, and had it not been for the spurt put on by the County Council in repairing the roads I do not know what a number of our working population would have done. This is, in reality, the only practical good which seems to have come out of the County system, as otherwise we are actually worse off in the matter of roads than when under the rule of Provincialism, as a more inefficient body than the Lake County Council could scarce have an existence. Things in Queenstown have very nearly been sot right again, nor has Ihe City of the L ikes been well nigh swept out of existence because of the sins of offending storekeepers, who charge the prices of IS6 5 in 1878, as Mr Warden Stratford would, by his official report, lead people to believe. It is a very interesting document is this official report, and it is prepared annually by the Wardens of Goldfields for the e lifieation or mystification of the House of Representatives, and there are some prices quoted in it by the War lens of the Likes and Dunsfan districts respective'y for IS7S. At Arrow, goa : s are quoted at lbs each ; at Clyde they are of no value. At Arrrow, swine are 40s each ; at Clyde, 35s to GOs ; horned cattle are LIO each at \rrw ; at Clyde they are as low as L 4 ; while horses arc L3O in the one case, and from Ido to LGO in theother ; sheen aie 10s at Arrow, ami os to 10s at Clyde. Then ws arc informed that wine is 30s per gallon at Arrow, and 14s to ISs at 1 Clyde. Be t at both places is eqnal at LG per hogshea 1. Brandy is 28t per gallon at Arrow ; 25s to 2Gs Clyde. In the list of i other commodities the prices are more equal, , hut the Arrow is the dearest, especia'ly in [ such articles as tea, sugar, and meat. Queenstown prices are not quoted. 1 suppose it is intended tint we must refer hack ■ to the schedn'e for 1853. Of the value of , this precious dnonme'tthc reader may form some estimate from this short extract made. Fr.mktnn Races concluded onr festive season on Pri lav last, so. notwithstanding the disasters by floods, both the Arrow and • Queenstown have held their usual saturnalias of rqn< stri.an sports. The attendance on both occasions was meagre, and the expenditure of money also. The events 1 themselves , perhaps to make amends for | . the other short, comings, were pretty well 1 up to to the mark. . In agricultural and gracing pursuits there are 'erious drawbacks fr. chronicle. Some of the crops will he scarcely Worth cutting, * whilst others have been p'nugherl in, bring starved with the cold and the wet which 3 prevented their growth. I think we shall have to import, next, season instead of exporting, so those who have crops will lie ’ luckv in the matter of prices. Shearing is e now in full swing, and emnlnyers have not , been so had as was expected. Yet there

I have been very severe losses, which pretty plainly show that the squatting business is not all profit, as we have oftentimes been led to suppose. In mining matters, except at the Macetown reefs, there is nothing very cheering. Skippers ami the Shotover reefs, with the exception of the Phtenix, have not recovered from the effects of the floods yet. The Phoenix, as we all know, is a most enterprising sort of an animal, and when it can spring up out of the ashes of a tire, it is not very likely that it can he put down by a drop of water, even in the shape of a flood. I hear the Company have ten heads of stampers in full work again, operating upon very fair stone. At Wacetown great efforts have been made to set things going, and the Homeward Bound ami Tipperary Companies are busily engaged crushing some very excellent stone. In all cases, when there are strong lodes to ope ate upon, there can he no doubt of success, and so far as things have gone I think it is an umistakahle fact that the success of the id ace town reefs is placed beyond a doubt. I will give a more detailed account in a future letter. There is no prospecting doing, although other and really very promising quartz lodes are known. The effects of the decisions given by your Mr WarrUn Simpson, while in tempory charge of the district here, has knocked that enterprise totally upon tire head. Onr energet'C prospectors hive either hj ft t he district or content themselves with what they have acquired. 1 really think that the Law, as interpreted in the Wardens’ and District Coiir'S, is totally opposed to the progress of gold mining in Otago Alluvial mining is quiet everywhere, although we occasionally hear, now and then of a moderate find where a piece of ground has been overlooked by eager gold seekers in the early days. The future must be looked forward to ns coming from the quartz reefs ; and re-aliy, I see no reason why this branch of mining should not he pursued with equally as much certainty' a other speculations where the fin ling of metallic ores is in question. Tor my part 1 never could see why the same amount of caution, caution, calculation, and economy should not be exercised in quartz mining for tin or copper. Some of onr Macetown miners go as far as to asseit that they will urove that the business of mining for gold can be pursued with as much certainty as any other business. Perseverance uml intellig nliy applied labor has certainly effected a very great deal here, and when we come to consider the small means at the I disposal of the several parties, their work does them infinite credit. We are to have a Masonic Lodge under the Scotch Constitution, opened at Arrowtown, on the 13th February next, which is one certain sign of improvement; and I also hear, as soon as some of onr quartz companies have got into proper working order, 1 we are to be indulged in the pleasures of a • new journal for the Lakes district. Now, 1 this is progress it you like. A gentleman from Wellington states that he has already 1 made overtmes for the purchase of the \\ a- ’ katip Mall and Arrow Observer.