Local News and Notes.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Volume I, Issue 50, 21 October 1863, Page 4

Local News and Notes.

Our readers will doubtless notice the distance of date of our advices from Dunedin and the older goldfields. We much regret this defect* but it is from causes beyond our control. The mail that should have arrived on Friday evening only reached here on Sunday, of course delaying to an equal degree the return mail. What should have appeared in our Saturday's issue, is now published four days later. It is really too bad that some means are not taken to enforce a more punctual service, for the present irregularity cannot fail to be highly prejudicial to commercial interests here. Since the first week, thee has been not 1 the slightest semblance of punctuality in the'mail either going or returning by this route. , • i In spite of the severe drawbacks that have at. tended mining operations during the past winter in this district, we have great reason to congratulate ourselves on the real freedom from real distress that has characterised this field, even under its greatest trials. Trouble, like its oppo-

site, is greater or less by comparison; and though the unfortunate sufferers on the Shotover may justly claim our sympathy, yet their trials dwindle into insignificance when contrasted with those of their less fortunate brethren on the Teviot and Hogburn. At each of these places a u Destitute Miners' Relief Fund" has been organised, and subscriptions have been collected to succour the miners of those inhospitable regions in their need. Taking everything into consideration, we may consider the past winter to have been " weathered" better on the Wakatip than in any of the other diggings of Otago, in spite of the high rate of living, the execrable roads, and our distance from any port of supply. As a proof that the miners have at last been roused to a sense of their wrongs, and are determined on obtaining some reparation, if not from the Provincial Council, at least from the General Assembly, we may remark that a petition has been prepared, and is now being extensively signed in the district, for the resumption of the management of the goldfields by the Assembly. On the Big Beach alone it was signed by 115 men

in an incredibly short time, comprising nearly all the miners there, a fact going far to prove the opinion entertained of the present management. We have no hesitation in saying that it will receive the signatures of thousands, and we will then see if our requirements are to be passed over with the contemptuous indifference hitherto accorded them; and the thousands of pounds of revenue extorted from the plundered and neglected miners, appropriated to improve the private property of Dunedin landholders. If this movement be successful, good-bye to incompetence in our rulers, bad roads, dear provisions.

and the other thousand-and-one ills we have so long been subjected to; and good-bye also to the wretched tribe of Dunedin parasites who speculate on the very flesh and blood of the un" fortunate digger.

The announcement of Dr. Hector's successful

discovery of $ route West Coast, has apparently brought a nest of hornets about his ears in the shape of rival claimants to that honor. But with all the commotion, there seems to be " great cry and little wool." We grant- that others have penetrated to within sight of the sea, but in their journeys they speak of nothing but snow-clad mountains and yawning chasms, whereas the Dr.'s account is of a character entirely opposite—fine rivers, fertile land, and sheltered valleys. Dr. Hector, in his account of his trip, which we; publish in another dolumnj does not pretend to have been the first to traverse the country from the Lake to the Coast; but it is only fair to acknowledge that he was the first who has traced out a tolerable track; and moreover, has demonstrated the existence of that without which the mere track would have been comparatively useless—a gfobd harbor. His official report is not published; but without waiting for any more informanion than at present possessed, already several parties have departed to seek for auriferous treasures in that direction. We again beg to call attention to the ball announced to take place to-morrow evening at Bracken's Commercial Hall, when we have no doubt the well-known enterprise of the proprietor will produce an evening's recreation not second to his last effort in that direction, which was so eminently successful. Among the new buildings going up, and about to do so, in Queenstown, we may mention one of a purely speculative character, being, in fact, a theatre, of a rather,ambitious kind. ; ; TJielsite of the new building is in Ballarat-street, next the Post Office, and will be built of wood, in size 80 feet by 40. It is got up on the joint-stock principle—twenty shareholders at £SO each. AV*hen complete it will be a credit to the town, and will no doubt be as much appreciated by those of the theatrical profession as by the r/nblic. A meeting of members of the M. U. I. 0. 0. F. is announced for Friday evening, at Bracken's Hotel.

Yesterday, during' the sitting of the Warden's Court,, an unseemly interruption was occasioned by some man outside using bad language.' Mr. Beetham, with the determination he has always evinced to maintain the dignity and decorum of the Court, ordered him to be brought up, and after showing him the impropriety of his conduct, accepted his apology to the Court and dismissed him. We trust this act of leniency will not be thrown ,away on the many persons who congregate round the door of the Courfc-house. Those persons who visited the Warden's Court yesterday would have felt considerably refreshed at hearing the statements there made in reference to the riches of the Shotover (Arthur's Point.) When we hear of thirty ounces being offered " on spec" for a paddock six feet square, and thirty-nine and a-half ounces being taken out of a paddock six by eight, we think even our most inveterate enemies will give us credit for having a pretty tolerable show, and the consciousness of our being still dominant prevents

us continually crying up the wealth of the Wakatip Field.

The performances at the Theatre Royal continue to draw as good houses as erer,; a result due rather to the energy and enterprise of the proprietors, than to the present dearth of amusement in the township. On Saturday last was played u Still Waters Run Deep," and the " Loan of a Lover," to a large and interested audience. The former piece, well known to all frequenters of the famous Adelphi, was acted with a vigor, ease, and grace, seldom seen out of the metropolis, and appeared to take all present by surprise. It would be ha,rd to mention any one actor who acquitted himself better than another; but the tete-artite of " Captain Hawksley" (Mr S Fawcett) and "John Mildmay" (Mr Carey) in the second act, is especially deserving of com. mendation, being all that could be desired on the score of acting. Mr T. Fawcett both dressed and played the character of " Mr Potter" excellently ; he makes a capital," old man." The ladies, too, fulfilled their respective parts admirably—Miss St. Clair as the proud, bVefbearipg

"Mrs. Sternhold," and Miss Kate Grant as " Mrs. Mildmay." The piece went off admirably, enchaining the interest of the audience till the very fall of the curtain, when the chief actors

were called before the house to receive the approbation they so well merited. The*afterpiece was also well listened to and vehemently applauded, but does not call for any special remark. Miss Royal's singing agreeably diversified the evening's entertainments. On Monday evening Byron's charming burlesque of " Aladdin," being announced for representation, the Theatre was crowded, aud the delight of the audience was only equalled by the bonne kumeur of the artistes. Miss St. Clair as the " Princess Badroulboudour," looked and acted the character to perfection, and her toilet was complete as the most fastidious could desire. Miss Royal and Miss Kate Grant acted with their usual

grace, but Miss Royal will perhaps: excuse us taking exception to "Sweet Spirit, hear my Prayer" being introduced into burlesque. Mr Carey delivered the puns with a gusto that would have provoked the risibility of the most nonchalant. 'The Messrs. Fawcett as the " Widow Twankay" and the " Magician" kept the audience in roars of laughter. Altogether, this is one of the greatest successes yet attained by this enterprising troupe.

"We were on Thursday shown a fine nugget, weighing 4 ozs. 12 dwts., which had been brought into Queenstown from,, the neighbourhood of IVf oke Creek, there was a large quantity of other gold, obtained from the same locality, of a very rough and heavy character, none of the pieces weighing less than two or three pennyweights. It is natural to suppose the fortunate possessor was not very eager to communicate the exact whereabouts of his discovery, but from what we could ascertain, it was in a gully near the Moke, and that ''there was plenty more where that came from." It is much to be.regretted that that district should be so "disgracefully neglected in the matter of roads, so as to be almost inaccessible, as its richness is oeyond a doubt. It has, Hjowever, been hitherto passed over with comparative indifference, partly on account of the reason mentioned which precludes in some degree, prospecting, and partly because the chief part of the gold from Moke and Moonlight has been carelessly denominated as " Shotover gold," thus leading the public to believe the main river, and not a tributary was meant. We are convinced that the neighbourhood of these creeks only requires a population to prove its immense resources. '