THE ARROW.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 117, 11 June 1864, Page 6

THE ARROW.

(from our own correspondent.) June 10, 1864. This district is just now suffering a recovery from the effects of the recent ill-timed and unprofitable rush to the Northern goldfields, which at its commencement was little heeded by the Arrow people; but rumor, with her thousand tongues, suddenly aroused among our miners all the roving propensities incident to the gold, seekers' existence, and for some time bade fair to decimate this population, and seriously disarrange the prospects of mining companies and traders for the coming winter. Day by day, bands of miners passed through this township, all bound for the rush, and comprising many men who were leaving claims reported to be amongst t he beht in the district The many vngue reports of heavy finds, and golden holes on the WakamarinH, which were in daily circulation caused more excitement for the time than probably any other occurrence in the annals of the Arrow; every digger—whether holding a good or indifferent claim—became unsettled and discontented, and few men of business could wit. ness their best customers leaving in scores without some sensation of despondency. Fortunately the little panic was of short duration, the first authentic news from the rush utterly quieted many half-formed plans for speedy migration

and also dispelled a host of doubts and fears. The miners who had not rushed away at the first impulse congratulated themselves on still having the certain prospects of the Arrow to depend upon for the winter season, and men of business breathed again. The worst effects of the rush was the temporary depression it caused to trade, but which is now slowly reviving. Parties of returning diggers daily arrive here who eagerly hasten to take up or buy into claims a<rain on the various creeks and terraces, and o although the population for the next few months will be numerically small, yet there exists a tolerably certain prospect of each individual being profitably occupied. In mining matters, the Twelve-mile still holds its own as the best portion of the Arrow district. Two-thirds of the gold sent away by each escort herefrom may be assumed to come from that locality, and large parcels are known to be held by shareholders in the various sluicing companies. During the past month a great extent of additional ground has been opened up for sluicing by the completion of the race constructed by Smith and party, after many months of severe labor, which brings a good supply of water from the direction of the Shotover river, along an extensive range of terraces and gullies, all of which are considered to be highly auriferous. This, in addition to the permanent works already established by the various other Twelve mile companies, renders the prospects of that outlying goldfield essentially promising. The general results for the month from the claims at work on the Arrow proper may be stated as satisfactory ; the greater portion of the river-bed claims have been long since worked out, and miners holding river claims now generally confine their attention to the tunnelling of the banks, which is found to be a profitable undertaking, and when this means of obtaining gold is exhausted there still remains a wide scope of terrace ground, which, although not found payable when worked by the present limited resources at the command of small companies, will, in all probability, be , deemed worthy of notice when a greater combination of systematic labor and scientific aid is adopted by miners. The favorable report of the district mining surveyor on the Arrow quartz reef proves that the applicants for the lease of the land comprising the reef are by no means too sanguine in their estimate of its value. Already matters are in train for the formation of a company of shareholders, and, barring the chance a very promising scheme has of being nipped in the bud by the delays of government official routine, or strangled by the inevitable red tape, there exists every probability of the Arrow Quartz Company's being one amongst the most successful of Otago mining ventures. No special event has occurred here of late in social matters worthy of record, except that the people have at last resolved to literally mend their ways. The Township Committee, after an interval of inaction so protracted that uncharitable individuals ventured to assert the institution had become defunct, have lately aroused to a sense of duty, r.nd have been successful in collecting sufficient funds to put the main street in ' good order. Their plan comprises tl e defining of two lines of footpaths, the construction of culverts to drain various boggy places in the highi way, and a general cutting and filling up of the streets to one uniform level, which, when completed, will add much to the appearance of the township and the comfort of pedestrians. At last the long-promised track to the Twelvemile is actually commenced, the contractors hav. ing begun work on Monday last ; but they com. plain much of the additional expense entailed by the delay in the acceptance of tenders, some seven weeks having elapsed from the closing of tenders until the signing of contracts. The necessity of this track being made was first brought under the notice of the Provincial Government in August, 1863, and the correspondence on the subject, and details of deputations and consultations would afford sufficient matter for a special | Blue book. The main trunk road question has not been lost sight of by the Arrow men, although on ! recent local discussions as to the merits and demerits of the Franktonand Arthur's Point route, they have taken no action, faith being still held ; in the promises—verbal and written—of the ; Superintendent and the late Provincial Secretary I that the Arrow should be placed in direct traffic | communication with Dunedin. Whether this trust is in a broken reed remains to be proved. A few days since a man generally known by the name of Jerry, who has been for some time packing between the Arrow and the Cardrona, met with a serious accident. His horse slipped, and both rolled down a steep sideling, the man breaking his leg just above the ankle, which will necessitate his confinement to a bed of pain for probably some months—another offering at the shrine of governmental incapacity and neglect.

The track is in a frightful condition —positively* dangerous—and as it is scarcely likely anything will now be done to it this winter, this will most probably not be the only catastrophe of the kind that will be brought und<r my notice. On the Flat there are still some parties working, under great disadvantages from the wet nature of the ground ; but I believe most of them are doing pretty well—from " tucker" to good wages.