YORKSHIRE MINERS IN NEW. ZEALAND.

Kumara Times, Issue 1166, 24 June 1880, Page 4

YORKSHIRE MINERS IN NEW. ZEALAND.

It is a pity that people in the Colonies especially in New Zealand will not write correct accounts Home to their friends, and not mislead. There is enough of truth in the following letter which we take from the Sheffield and Rotherham Independent of the 26th February, to render it plausible, but the stern hard facts, are sadly misstated. The writer of it is evidently a lucky fellow. No doubt some of our Brunner miners and the poor fellows who came out to the Westport Colliery Company, could tell a different tale. The letter in the Sheffield Independent commences thusly : In a letter dated December 31st, 1879, Mr John Oldfield writes to his relatives in Sheffield, from Kawa Kawa, Bay of Islands, New Zealand, as follows :—“ No longuage could paint the beauties of New Zealand. She sits as the queen of the Islands, spreading out before her people every luxury, and inviting people of other nations to come and partake of her bounties. There are thousands of acres of rich soil only wants scratching and sowing to bring forth an abundnat harvest. A young man with a small capital and a knowledge of farming, might soon gain an independence. A man and his wife would receive 140 acres of land from the Goverment, on condition that he builds himself a house in five years of the value of LSO, and brings 60 acres of it under cultivation. The Government land is about 12 miles from Kawa Kawa, at a place called Raupekapeka. In a few years the railway will pass right through it. The land will then be of great value. It abounds with creeks and springs of water. Cattle are cheap, so that a man might stock a farm. At a little distance there is a rich gumfield, where the miners go when out of work. They can earn from 10s or 12s per day. There is a great demand for gum at the present. The coal districts are very barren. The black diamond lies 12 feet thick under the high mountains. We enter the mine by a footrill, and work with oil lamps. There are no safety lamps needed, as there is no gas. There are miners here from Rawmarsh and Barnsley, and some from West Yorshire and Bishop Auckland, Good keep soon changes their appearance; the pale look they brought with them from the slave country soon disappears with the strength of fresh beef and mutton, and ventilation. The best English skill is brought here to manage the mines of New Zealand. R. Moody, Esq., civil engingeer, has the principal care of the mines j his nephew is the manager; his brother Henry is surveyor under Mr Jeffcock, in Sheffield. The miners earn from L 5 to L 6 a fortnight. They commence work at seven o’clock a.m. They have luncheon at twelve, and commence work at one. They have a good New Zealand breakfast, which consists of beef steak and chops and potatoes, tea and coffee. They are much stronger than the English miners. They have fresh meat three times a day. This climate is superior to Australia or Queensland; it is warm in the day and cool in the evening. Those who have been here a few years live in their own houses, and have several heads of cattle, consisting of cows, horses and pigs. Leaving work at half-past three o’clock, they have time to cultivate their own gardens. The buildings here are all wood, even church and chapel, and all the hotels. The entrance to this place is by a fresh water river, and is sheltered all round by lofty mountains, presenting the grandest sights the eye can behold. The ocean is about four miles from Kawa Kawa. _ We have a good view of it from Wangai, a small settlement just ovei the mountains. The working men live about the same as the middle class in England. In Auckland, clothing is about the same rate as in England, but dear in the country villiages. There is a great want of domestic servants and dressmakers in town and country. They charge 14s here for making a dress. Servants get from 10s to 14s per week ; a char-woman, 5s per day. But the mischief is, domestics soon get married. There are twenty applicants for every single women, I expect in our first letter from England to hear of Mr Mundella and S. D. Waddy being the honored members for Sheffield. I have no fear of Mr Mundella. His fame has spread all over the world. We have heard of J. A. Roebuck’s death. We get English English news from the Auckland paper.”

The Sydney Evening News is responsible for the folowiog “At cursing, the Chinese surpass all the people of the earth. The gambling house keepers have employed tvi o Buddhist priests to anathematise Willy Reilly, the half-caste who assisted the police. Instructions have been given to spare no expense, but to do the thing pronerly. The priests have been at it day and’night, spell and spell about, for three days. They commenced at the top of Willy Reilly’s head, and cursed every hair, every pore, and everything else down his right side, and they are now nearly up to his left shoulder. Tfaey are doing the work thoroughly. After finishing up with Willy, they have, in accordance with Mongolian practice, to curse all bis relations, however remote, and his ancestors back to the sixteenth generation. They expect to finish the job in about three months, if the weather holds up.” , Sunday week, at a church which is situated not a hundred miles from Seftou, the plate made its usual appearance, when one gentleman put a sixpence in it, immediately commencing a search amongst the coins already deposited, which ended in bis finding a threepenny bit, which he pocketed for his change. This gentleman must be pretty nearly connected with th« man who in the old days of provincialism pull, d down his chimney so as to avoid the education rate, (and made a hole through the roof for the smoke to escape by.