UP-COUNTRY GOSSIP.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1293, 20 September 1872, Page 2

UP-COUNTRY GOSSIP.

[from an occasional correspondent.] Ahatjba, Sept. 17. Our little township, the inhabitants thereof having indulged in their annual custom at the ploughing match, is now suffering a recovery. The speakers are " doing a course of « pulmonary remedies necessitated by the usual local, patriotic, and friendly toasts, and the speeches ap- . pertaining thereunto. The consumption of Keating's cough lozenges by one gentieman, who insisted on responding to nearly every toast in a key pitched several octaves above his natural voice (itself a screecher) is, I ha*ve been informed, something truly marvellous. Those whoso talents, like Dudu's, were of. a more silent class, have only needed sodawater, the unprecedented consumption of which proves beyond all doubt that the agricultural interest on that day did not suffer from drought. The inhabitants, of tho Ahaura, like the dwellers in every other part of the world, are wholly creature's of circumstances; About the time of our race meeting we are "horsey" in the extreme ; now we notonly talk, but feel thoroughly Beedy; But seriously, our annual Agricultural gathering was an un- • qualified success ; the weather was: all that could be desired, and in consequence the Totara Flat was visited by a very large number of the fairer sex. Ploughing matches are not the matches that possess great attractions for young ladies; and the greater part of the visitors merely : > looked on for a few moments and then took a gentle canter round.- More congenial weather may arise from "that same," which will be duly chronicled when they come off. ;, .-:' Of the match itself I—how.-the1 — how .-the work was done., the prizes awarded, will have already in your colnmes. : Of the former I was informed by an expert, N who, iiponhis own authority, "Ken'da t weel plooed rig as weel as ony mon 1 on '■■ the ground," that it was admirable, -and I believed him. In the matter of best team and best kept set of harness,. had the awarding of the prizes been left te me I should have sown the money broadcast" (pet phrase for the present frightful effect of match), and have let the competitors scrambled for it, for all were so excellent that choice was hard. ' The orthodox' thirteen only sit down to the banquet, not through lack of viands or invitations, but from the fact hereinbefore mentioned— the fair sex and weather proved greater attractions, and led elsewhere. Among the limited number who were present, however, there were rip " wet blankets," and all went-' merry as a marriage bell. The toast of the ocpasion was pledged in bumpers with no heeltaps, and fervently responded by one voice but aIT hearts; I need scarcely mention that the toast was " The ; agricultural interests of the Grey Valley, and God speed the plough." : After the match our great topic of conversation has Keen the disgraceful state of the new >, Beef ton road. The Nelson mountain was in labor for seven years, and then brought forth a mouse indeed. , The road has been opened for traffic about a month, and is likely to remain so until it rains., and then }t is \incertain whether goods will have, to be sent from Greymouth to : Rpefton. : via Westport, or whether some enterprise ing genius will initiate some new style' of inland conveyance—flat bottomed boats that could be worked through the sea of liquid slush would perhaps be the' most convenient mode. The Nelson Governr: ment have rather a showy way of doing j work. Their staff,' like the celebrated "Naseby Regiment," consists of officers, lower grades than lieutenant _ : colonels being unknown..; Surveyors survey. Do . nothing, report. Inspectors inspect, and then, there is very little money left to pay the working men. One example is worth a ton of precept, and the good, folks pf Greymouth can judge the way Government works are carried on upon the Nelson South- West Gold Fields by watching the. solitary' specimen of the geivus Iwmo w.ho js endeavoring opposite the Cobdgn, wharf (that; i« to be) to deepen tbebg^ .of the river with a wheelbarrow, : - " ''■ In mining I have little to report. The 4 River View water-race, situate about four miles above the Ahaura, and onoecon.--Bjder.e4 one qf tfce fines} properties in tho neighborhood, is becoming a Veritable' bone of contention, •;' Malvey, who has . but recently bought in, was compelled (to avoid litigation), to dispose of his intern i on Monday to the other shareholders. : This share was 3-Bths of the whole, and fetched LI 00. .This amount is supposed to' be 'Considerably less than its intrinsic value, but the real value of mining. property is difficult to determine.' ' <l At Sullivan's Creek, in the same locality^ things wear a: settled appearance. The miners thereabouts are mostly groundsluicing, and seem contented: witty thei? gains. During the present dry weattier • $»ey ar.e busily preparing patches; of ground for gardens, and getting in limited * crops. If the Lake Hochstetter ;water- > race were completed to Nelson Creekj a - branph could, witlv very Jittle cost • be 7 brought into the district,' and remunera- . tive employment might be found fof ' hundreds. , - ',' In the matter of gardens, I notice that the miners of the Grey have no titlexto . their patches of ground. By.mutual consent they* refrain' from interfering with... one. another clearing, and in consequence pay no rent. This is an illustration of ;_ the manner in which the niggardly grasping policy of the Nelson Government defeats its own ends. Intending agriculturists can rent land at half-a-crown per acre ; the miner who wishes to cultivate, ; : L 2 ss. That.is, he may take up half-an-acre of land upon taking out a miner's right, and paying ?s ; 6d in addition as registration fee, aud for every extra halfacre he is charged in a like manner 22s 6d. Some years ago, when I ; belonged io the ' "horny-handed multitude," J travailed in Ota go, and as I had succeeded in getting a lift for my worldly goods on a dray, my mate and self roamed unburdened by ;he way. We stayed at an inn kept by an old identity for breakfast. The " s,onsie lassie who waited on: us seemed sorely I puzzled during the tjmethe meal was being despatched. Atone time she was so fas distraught as to commit the grave error of handing us the teapot in place of 'our desired cup and saucer.^ Something serious ; evidently preyed upon the maidens mind, and after breakfast the cause of her uneasiness was dis-~ closed. "What's the damage?" we in> quired. "Weel," was the cautiously" worded answer, "if ye're diggers? i& half-a-crown ; but if ye're ony other poo! working bodies, it's twa shillings." Wf indignantly repudiated the idea o£ beinj

miners, and did twa whiskies at the next house with the money saved thereby. From that ignorant girl, and Oswald Curtis, Escj.,. Dy tho will of Providence and the voices of the people of Nelson, Superintendent of a Province, the miners have received the self-same treatment, and yet the lords of the land wonder why miners don't settle down, as well as wonder why a restive horse will not stand jqniet while being galled by the spur. The rumors of a rush to the Roper are still rife, and numbers are starting to the supposed El Dorado. Unless something is done to encourage prospecting we may fear a large exodus of our mining population at the end of the forthcoming summer.