THE COUNTRY.

Evening Star, Issue 3166, 14 April 1873, Page 2

THE COUNTRY.

ArhOWTOWX. —The large section of our population wlio follow agricultural pursuits, may be reported as having upon the whole experienced a prosperous season,"and as a c' 'iissquenoo the farms are being improved by extra fences, and additional areas for next season are being ploughed in.—A very competent commission of inquiry has also been appointed, with a view to giving’ bettor satisfaction totho large class who depasture stock over the district. During the last few years many difficulties have been met with in the working of the Depasturing Regulations, principally owing to the multiplicity of the various reserves made for great and small cattle, and the consequent expense entailed on stockowners in keeping boundaries of comparatively small extent. The evidence which has been met with in inquiring into this subject, leads me to the conclusion, that in order to give satisfaction, very much larger blocks will have to be apportioned to the different classes of stock than hitherto ; further, that such natural boundaries as the Shotover and the Arrow, should intervene between the blocks. Although many stockowners would find themselves placed at a greater distance' from' their property, the expense of keepifigbouirdhrie's would be lessened/ and rendered' tliorc certain—for stock cannot so easily crqss <ga rlvgrs as they qaq a syp-vey line.' and a large amount of litigation may be obviuteii Tfrast that those interested will come forward freely; and 1 )y giving information of the fullest nature to the commission, furnish it with evifleijco which will enable it to fleal effectively with this important question. A kindred subject presents itself iu respect of fencing agricultural areas. As the law stands, the holder of uufenced sections may punish stockowners for trespass of stock on such [anils, tipis causing continual supervision to be required from the unfortunate owner of a few cows or horses in the neighborhood of such lands. The working of this law gives any amount of scope for unneighbovly feelings to be developed, and is a fruitful source of misery to many.—Mining interests would seem, judging by the escort returns, to be at a lower ebb than usual, the last two escorts from the Arrow having been much less iu amount than usual. But it must be considered that it is from our mining population that the labor is principally obtained to take iu our harvests, and do all the extraordinary work required by the farmers at this season ; and having this in view, the reduction in the gold returns becomes easy of explanation.—Doubtless some interest will be felt by your Dunedin readers in the mining companies lately advertised for the Arrow and the Shotover, ami I will therefore refer to them. The Shotover Company appears to have been most promptly floated by Messrs Gillies and Street. As the ground to bo worked is of proved richness and presents no engineering difficulties, shares arc sure to stand high iu the market for many years to come. It must, however, be stated that in scarcely any other portion of the district known at present, except on other terraces of the Shotover, is found such a large and compact area of rich mining ground, and so tasilv worked- —The prospectus of a company iqwtfrk aportnm» ( f river].v«lclosetpArrowtmvn, will be well known to yoliv readers ; and I wij| endeavor to give them some idea of t)jo ground proposed to be dealt with The gorge of the Arrow river terminates at a point a little to the north of the town, and the run of gold was never followed beyond the termination of the gorge, owing to the depth (some thirty feet) to which the wash suddenly dipped. A large area of presumedly rich ground was thus, after several ineffectual attempts to drain it, left for many years totally unworked. The claim of the Arrow River United Gold Mining Go. only comprises a portion of the Arrow river run ; but the rest of its ground is on a tributary (Bush Greek) containing a large amount of gold nut hitherto worked. It appears that a special cpi-iip N.v;(.s grijujjud in Im the Government, to Messrs Keefe, (,'qttef, and others, for the remaining portion of the ground on the Arrow river run of gold (six acres). This party, after expending some hundreds of pounds in pumping machinery, was flooded out, their wheel, &c., buried, and the claim has remained unwoi ked ever since. Scarcely anyone knew of the existence of their special grant, until they appeared at court to oppose the A. R. U.G.M. Go. for having pegged-in a portion of their grant. The objection was sustained, and Keefe’s party propose to work their claim by a co-operative company of about forty men. It must also be stated that, dqr(ng (.lie juip.s of imußon, a |argjj party of Chinese have ’brought up a covered drainage tail-race towards the spot, and are within a few hundred feet of the ground, as they were not aware that it was held by anyone. The Chinese party have not yet reached the run of gold which is comprised in the claims of Keefe and party and the Company, but their works would drain nearly twenty foot from the surface of the ground, would be of immense value iu working it, and must have cost some thousands iu labor. I cannot help regretting that, for the purposes of a large mining company, the whole of the properties mentioned were not amalgamated, and the scheme thereby made of much greater magnitude and importance.—The next place south of Arrowtown Where payable gold fras been found is at

Whitechapel Bat, where some extensive sluicing operations are carried on, and the value of which is daily increasing. This is supposed to be a of the lost Arrow lead, as some good sized nuggets are occasionally met with ; and although the lead is more than half a mile in width, it is payable for sluicing, and will be the most permanent of any of our workings. The principal race owners there, the Arrow River Water-race Company, are only awaiting the receipt of a subsidy from the General Government to largely increase the carrying capacity of their race, and to open up a new and large area of good ground now held under an agricultural lease. Some late washings have averaged over '2os per diem, and, as before stated, the ground is of vast extent.-—You will observe by the report of the Arrow Miners’ Association that the policy of building a bridge at Franktown Falls is questioned, as it is thought that it should be on the main trunk road at Owen’s punt, when all would share in the benefit; but, if built at Franktown Falls, it would only benefit comparatively few. TY.vpeka.— Mr T. L. Shepherd intends to address his constituents shortly.—Mr Vincent Tyke has obtained leave of absence onfall pay for twelve mouths. The Government have not yet definitely fixed upon the gentleman who is to take charge of the Tuapeka district during Mr Fyke’s absence.—On the 9th inst. Robert Glover was charged before Mr Fyke, R.M., with stealing some articles of wearing apparel at Switzers. Mr Taylor, who defended him, dwelt strongly on the course adopted by Detective Farrell in searching the prisoner’s house without a warrant, and Mr Fyke concurred in the legal gentleman's remarks. The magistrate is reported to have strongly animadverted upon Detective Farrell’s conduct in searching prisoner’s house without a warrant, stating t’mit it was a violation o£ the sanctity of the man's house, illegal, and unjustifiable ; and he (Mr Fyke) was not quite sure that a charge cf larceny could not be sustained against the detective. It was time the police knew thc-jr duty, and if Detective Farrell were brought to account on a charge such as he had mentioned, it would be no more than he deserved, and would teach a useful lessor). Glover was sen-* tenced to fourteen days’ hard labor.— T lines,