SOUTHERN ITEMS.

Hawke's Bay Times, Issue 1522, 5 November 1873, Page 2

SOUTHERN ITEMS.

Some attention has of late being drawn to the Waikaia, on account of the rich finds of gold. The Tuapeka Times says:—"A one-eight share in a claim on the Waikaia was sold last week for £450. The ground is immeusely lich in places, and no" doubt the next season will see a large number of men profitably employed in that locality. Besides the large deposits known to exist, there is a large quantity of timber. Mr M'Lcan, late of the Waikaia Flat, is erecting a saw mill on the ground. We hope the Government will, as soon as the weather permits, make a road through the bush; it could be done very cheaply, and would be the means of opening up a fine tract of first-clas3 agricultural land. There is no doubt quartz reefs exist about the head of the Waikaia River. Several rich specimens have been unearthed in the alluvial workings.

The Westport Times of the 30th ultimo says:—" Good news has been received at Charleston from the rush at Razorback; a large number of men are on the ground, and they all seem to think well of the prospects. Some splendid parcels of heavy shotty gold have been brought iu. The track to the workings is rough and dangerous.

AtHokitika recently a mail was charged with cutting off a Chinaman's pigtail, in a drunken freak. The magistrate said the defendant appeared to be one of a great many persons on the goldfields, who, because these men were foreigners and weak, and not apt to resist, thought they could assault them w ith impunity. He would, however, be made to understand that he could not do this. The offence committed was a grave and disgusting one, and he had a good mind to send the defendant to prison. He would, however, be firmed £5, with Us costs of Court, and 26s for the interpreter.

The hut of a miner, named Donald M'Kinnon, on the Kanieri Terrace was burned down a few days ago while the owner was at work. The building and everything in it were destroyed, with the exception of a JBS note, which, after much searching, was found in a chamois leather bag, in the corner of the pocket of a half-burned pair of trowsers.

It is somewhat remarkable that, out of a total of ninety-five o flices, the withdrawals from the Post office Savings hank exceed the deposits in two onlv—Hokitika and Westport. The cause at the fii at- named place may possibly be attributed to general depression, and the consequent diminished savings ; while the latter is attributable to the repeated losses by floods, from whiGh it has suffered severely. It is said that out of some three hundred buildings ia the township, only one remains in its original location,

The Nelson Examiner of the 28th October, says:—"A specimen of superior, though unprofessional, basket-making has been received by Mr Disher, of the Trafalgar Hotel, from his correspondent in Takaka. It is a clothes-basket, made, of supple-jack, and i shows bow Svei i thig plßnt ~£ the business e The 3ffW%T wlt k. oth ers of different material, of which' we made mention on a previous occasion—also shows how the evenings, or the days in wet weather, might be spent usefully and profitably in turning to domestic or ornamental purposes the vines that abound in the New Zealand bush."