LAKE COUNTY.

Dunstan Times, Issue 983, 18 February 1881, Page 3

LAKE COUNTY.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT ) Harvesting operations are still proceeding satisfactorily. The few showers we hove experienced have not in the s'ightest delayed operations ; on the c intrary, they have assisted them by cooling the atmosphere us well as the parched up ground, tnaUin.' ttio work in the harvest fi -Id more agreeable to the busy toilers employed in gathering in the grain. So far as thresh' inn operations have proeiedel, the yield is not so Urge as was anticipated The late soring rains, although causing a considerable growth of straw, an nears not to have had a corresponding effect upon the ears of grain, which, in patches even am mgst the mist luxuriant crops, are very short and stnntel. The average of the total yiel l of the district Will, of course, bo a large one, but not quite do large as appearances seemed to j is'ify. On the Crown Terrace, where everybody a few years since rilicnled the i lea of growing \vbeat,— first, that it won 11 not ripen ; and second, that the grain would bo all i shaken nut by the wind the crops both of ) wheat and oats are in a most flourishing 1. Condition, and reaping operations have alrealv commenced, the season being only three weeks behind the warmest situations ou the Arrow an I Shotover Flats. The work of enlarging and improving the Arrow Ath-nseirrt buildings is being pushed for war 1 briskly by Messrs Aitkin and Tucker, the contractors. In connection with these itnprovem n nfa a rather remarkable event took place during Hie week. It appears that the committee, which is an obstructive, slow going disorganised, egotistiea l , an-l, X miy say, unenlightened body, bad drawn out their own plans and specifications for the wo k ; an I although told by subscribers that ♦hiv were not on'y impracticable and wasteful, but simply ridiculous ; while at the same time, nnle-H the building was made wider as well as longer, the large hall would resemble a skittle alley instead of a well-proportioned place for public entertainments. As soon as the ground work for the alterations ha 1 been sufficiently laid out so as to make plain the fn'ly of the committee, indignant subscribers bestined themselves, and waited upon the presilent (dr J. Bndow) and explained their v'ews of the matter, whi hj 'he ptesi lent readily entered m f o, an-l stated that they were precisety like his own, but, he c mid do nothing with sneh an obstinate body of which be mi fortunately was at the head Nevertheless if they ( he subscribers) could see tlioT way to guarantee the sum of £3O, Which he bad ascertained from the contractors as the cost tiny wonl 1 be willing to add 4ft, to the width of the hall, lie would take it upon himself to have the alteration male, and hn wonl I himself join in the guarantee. The guarantee was in due course made, and the building will now present something of an uniform appearance, It is contemplated by some of the subscribe 'S to call upon the committee to resign in a body, as being incompetent to manage such an institution as the Arrow Ath-maeim, and which for some lime past has boon the worst manage I and worst kept institution of the kind on the gold-

fi M«i of Otago. * considerable linin' er of tourists have paid Arrowtown a vi it during the last few weeks ; but from all I cm learn, t hey are by no means favorably imoresse I wl'h the town or its hotel accommodation. In respect to the first, it presents an unsightly dilipi luted appearance, ami there are the same old make-hift buildings doing duty now which di I duty 1R years ago, when of Ciurse makeshift erections were excusable. Tn respect to the hotels, the accommodation is all of the same old-fashioned order, just as if anything was good enough for a mining popu’ation, and John the digger only wanted to spend Ids money, and Was contented with whatever he could obtain for it, only finding happiness whenever it Was gone. In sanitary arrangements our hotels are also very imperfect, while in one particular instance there are aotiully bedrooms built over stables, realizing the i lea of an Eastern caravansary, which

provides “ accommodation for man and beast.” Such a state of affairs as exists in Arrowfuwn could most certainly not d„ so elsewhere, and if owners o’" hotel property decline to keep p ce witli the times and with modern ideas of ciulizition It is high time for po'iec interference. We have only three really presentable buildings of a public character in Arrowtown, and theSe consist of one store, one hank, and one gaol. [ should Hot at all wonder that. With a continuance of the present hot area'hoi*, unless vigorous measures aro taken to improve the sanitary condition of the place generally, Arrowtown will he visited by a scourging sickness something after the same as that wh'ch proved so disastrous in its eff-cts some few years since at Cromwell. Snre'y after all the great i flux of money from Dunedin and elsewhere occasioned by the opening up ot the Mace tow.i reefs, it is high time that the march of improvement, so universally noticed elsewhere, should at last dawn Upon the slow-going township of Arrowtown, necessitating a change from its present “Rip van Winkle’* like existence.

The Macelowu reefs have been producing a little ekoitement during tho past week by the discovery of gold in two mines, the owners of which have been long looking fir some tangible result to their labors. The Defiance Company, in their lower tunnel, have come upon some very excellent stone -h .wing gold pretty troely. The find is a redly very promising one, and proves the existence iu depth of.gold in paying quantities. It appears that tho ktono which was hitherto divided and taullocky near the surface, becomes one

body and better defined os it gnoe into the hill. On the foot wall there now exists about 12iu of good solid quartz with gold a 1 through it, with at least hetwien one and two ounces to the ton, while the quartz has every appearance of widening out the further it is diiven in upon. The Premier have Como Upon quart* in their shaft, which contains gold. As the country is a good deal more kindly to wo'k, and the fiot of gold-boaring quartz coming in, there dan be ho doubt that the company are coming upon the same lode now being Worked upon by the Gladstone. The latter company are having a survey made of their claim by Mr A. J. Park, of Dunedin. This is a very important matter in mining, and it is really sUrpiising that this is the only instance at Macetown where the directors of a mining company hj ive conclude 1 to undertake this most necessary operation, Koc that it will do any good in the shape of putting gold into the atone, or lead to any satisfactory results as to where the lead may be found elsewhere than where it is known to exist; still, all shareholders in a mine should know how many tons of quartz, taking a fair aveiage, is likely to lie produced by their mine. This, will an average of the yield, would give an idea of the value of the property. Ido not mean to say that an estimate of the quartz should he made fiom the aveiage width of ihe lode between the “walls,” because at Macetown there is a veiy gieat dial of mullock or “horse,” and you may lie actually in the position of having a quartz reef without having any quartz. 'J he calculation of tons of quartz should therefore be estiihited by the actual qnintity of stone taken from a given and ascertained Urea of the lode. The Ladye Fayie are taking out very good stone, and altogether thines look wry promising for this mine. The Maryborough are getting on with the construction of their tramway, hut the contractors have a long and wearisome job before them, while their ability to carry it out successfully seems very doubtful.

The Homeward Bound are still sending down some very fair stone, but the water is getting veiy short, consequently their crushing power will require to be curtailed to the use of five heads i f stampers and the Berdan machine. A very serious accident in this mine occurred to a man named

Tho mis Hughes, a welsh miner, on F May morning last. The unfortunate man was engaged clearing away ready for putiing in timber to s-cure a pass, as a “stoup” of ground had just been filled in hy ma erial sent down fora tho surface, and tliey wre getting ready to open out an itlier ‘‘stoup ’* when all of a sudden a slip from overhead took place whore the reef is divided and which knocked Hughes down, and before help could come a sec nd f ill occurre I and W ■ ich completely hurled him up, Upon b ing extricated, it was found that he hi I sustained a very severe cut on the hack of the hea 1 and neck ; also that his anele was raich strained. He was, as a matter' of cotrse, conveyed to the Arrow Hospital, where his wounds were dressed by Dr llohertson, who found that the skull was also fracture 1 The man is tit present doing well, an !is expected to recover. There .tppeus to have been no fault on the part of anybody, the disaster being purely accidental. The timber mm was on the spot at the time, and ha i just sounded the gonia l wh oh was sc irc.-ly “ drummy ” Two smooth fac-s of rock was the cause of the mishap, aim these will, at times, slip Without giving thcsT;hteSt Warning. The Tipperary Company are busy crush ing and things look about the same as usual. The man Charles Clarke, w'io wis injured by an explosion in this mine some 10 days since has ne vrly recovere t. This was no accident at all, but the result of Clarke’s foolishness. It appears that he was employe I putting up a rise, which wh within 4>t of being through to the place intended. Clarke and his mate had put in a 2ft shot cb irge 1 with Dynamite a id firing tho fu/.ce, he made his way to the spot just where it should come through to witness the effect. Clarke, however, had miscalculated his distance, unfortunately took his stand over tho charge, which exploding hurled him some distance, cutting him in the face and shaking him violently.

The Garibaldi will set to work almost directly, and get out a trial crushing from the reef where is was uncovered last winter l.y a land-slip. It is sft wide, and shows gold free'y. The Scotchman’s is coming into favor, as some very goo 1 stone has been picked up amongst the ddbris thrown out by the workmen when pro-pooling thia lode some three months since

Golden grain and grains of gold is the j dnt outcome of Mr Thomas Matheson’s wonderful harvest at Whitechapel Flat a pleasant little spot on the banks of the Arrow River, some three miles below Arro.vtnwu on tbe main road to the Uunstan. Mr John Mathcson, or “Old John,” as he is familiary known is one of the most fortunate of cockatoo fanners and doubtless the envied of the whole tribe, for while rich heavily laden ears of gohlen grain are fust ripening on the surface, just below the roots of the Corn there exists a rich harvest of grains of gold and with only the piimitive appliances of a pick an 1 shovel a wheel-harrow an I a sluice-box ; and in the heart of his waving crop honest “Old John ” is making tho very handsome wages of L 5 per week and there are many months work before him. Gold Was discovered at VYhiteohapel Flat many years ago, hut like a great many other places it was said to bn worked out and done for. So when tho public works scheme was fairly launched and the railways begun, tho miners migrated thither as they could make better wages in the various works connected with their construction, than by following their old pursuits of gold digging. Old John Mathcson and another old man were the only inhabitants left behind to fossick about the old workings and very little they had made over a long period of time by tho pursuit

of that industry, but the employment suited them, as their old bodies and old bones had been prety severely tried years ago when they were Ihe levers which hid unearthed many a pound weight of gold in the good old times of Victoria and Now

Zealand, and now sere old age coming upon thorn they wore unable to follow in the footsteps of their more vigorous neighbors. “ Old .John 11 in his loneliness to (ill up his spare time improved his hut, and enclosed and planted a very nice fruit garden, he afterwards applied tor, obtained, and cultivated a3) acre agricultural leas' 1 , enclosing also a little bit extra of Groan Lands and which has turned out a sort of “Tom Fildlers ground” for here the fable of picking up gold with the hand was practically realised. It appears that the men engaged in the construction of the new lino of road to connect with the suspension Bridge ju-t recently erected by Mr M‘Cortnack over the KawUran River while engaged cutting through a gently 'rising piece of ground managed to collect some 7 or Boz of nuggety gold while turning over the earth with their tools, but strange to say they never marked out a mining claim adjacent. “Old John” kept his eyes open and secured 2 acres in the best portion of the grounl and winch was mostly enclosed with his own fence and covered with his own growing crop of golden grain. The run of gold is supposed to be a continuation of what was known as Louis Harris’ leal, which he lost and is now found, so while Louis Harris works on the railway as a porter somewhere about Dunedin, Old John Matheson is doing well out of what a little pains might have been found bj tile original occupants. The other old man also improved his dwelling and planted a garden, but did not start as a cockatoo also. He, however, has managed to secure a claim on the new auriferous discovery, and has every prospect of doin' well out of it. Whitechapel Flat is not now only the home of two poor old solitary “ hatters, ” other people have set into work and occupied the position and there is every probability of their unite I and individual labors being rewarded by a satisfactory harvest of gral s of gold, while with the exercise of a little extra exertion there remains for gome of them in the future the chance of a seoon I harvest of golden grain.