OKARITO.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1518, 16 June 1873, Page 2

OKARITO.

[FROM A CORRESPONDENT.] ; ; Jtine 12..': -".-; On the Wataroa the miners seem very unsettled ; they are constantly shifting from place to place. AH that has. been.' done might almost be termed fossicking. Mrgß Stewart, one of Hossack's party; ' had a narrow escape from drowning ; he was paddling a canoe across a branch of 1 the Wataroa, when, through. some unacV'' countable cause, the canoe was capsized; '' Stewart, having been thrown clear qf the canoe, was seen floating on his. back by a man on the opposite bank of the river, who very courageously jumped in and succeeded in rescuing him from his perilous position. .'.-"■'. Alexander Lyell also had a miraculous escape : he was climbing a precipitous range at the head of the head of the Wataroa with a 501 b bag of flour on his back, and, when near the top, his foot slipped, and he fell, rolling nearly to thefeot of the range, fortunately for him unhurt with the exception of a' few cuts : and bruises. < - : . • , L There is no news of any account from . the Waiho ; the two parties who are there are sluicing away, and it will -be ■' some time before they have a washing-up. At the Omarua, the few parties who are fc there are busy fetching; in . water-races^i^ but it will be some time before sluicing operations are commenced. MTarlane and party of four are to commence cutting a water-race, with the intention of lifting the. water "from the main creek. There have been a few parties prospecting the " Wikupakupa lately, but the favorite spot seems to be the Omarua. Our worthy Warden, E. F. Tizard, Esq.,. is now at Gillespie's Beach, deciding O'Donavan's application for datnmingup the natural outlet of the Lagoon. I understand the Warden will go as far as the Saltwater Creek, to measure the length across the creek, and report as to the most suitable site to erect a wire bridge. This is a work which when completed, will be a great boon to parties travelling too and from Hunt's Beach and Gillespie's, as this creek is about as dangerous a one as could be found on the Coast, , At the ; Five-mile there has been some great agitation going on, with regard to having a substantial fence erected around the Okarito Cemetery. Some of the Fivemile people, with praiseworthy efforts to raise funds for that object, gave a concert, pn last Thursday evening. There were a £ood many people at the concert, and the singingwasvery good indeed. Judging from the oft-repeated cry of *' encore," and the many smiling faces around me, everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The net proceeds will amount to over ' LlO. As a supplementary effort to y amuse," a wealthy "Knight of the Cleaver "-thought fit, on the morning following the concert, to vociferate no small amount of vituperation qn these luckless storemen's understrappers who. Nad the audacity to stop at home and not patronise the concerts — rather windy down south. There is a rumor current on this beach ijhat Gillespie's people intend to apply for a cemetery reserve on their beach ; if this be true, the Okarito folks will lose the sebscriptions that would have been forthcoming from that quarter. . . There was a meeting of the Okarito • — . Road Board at the Five-mile on Monday T last, but very little business was done thereat ; the payment of cheques to the different contractors, and passing resolutions for tracks to be cut up the following rivers, viz, Wataroa, Waitaka, Okarito (from Canoe Point to the Forks), Omarua, &c, formed the whole of the business. 1 We are likely to have an election shortly for a member, vice Mr James Oostello, resigned. Hitherto there has not been any interest taken in these elections, but ; I fancy there will be a little more interest : taken this election. The weather has been very dull of late, heavy fogs and drizzling rain having been, the order of the day, and. there seems little or no appearance of the weather clearing.