SERPENTINE.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 154, 16 February 1872, Page 3

SERPENTINE.

' *(From our cwn Correspondent )

The same cry —"want of water " *dt|i , the, * Chronicle ' has lor some time past teemed, lias been and'' i& equally felt Kere:; 1 h .spite, however,of this great d>*a vhack, the Chinese portion? of the population appear to have been doing veil, more especially in the creek known as Serpentine. Creek. What their actual returns; have beeii it is impossible to say, but the ia« t of their having plenty of money at command leads everybody to believe th|ifc7 their labor has been rewarded. The l arrival! of;Ghinese duri rig the last week has been over 20, making total population "about SJ, as against 80 Europeans. The police Have -lately made an. extensive raid upon those "Johns'" who have for a long time past eyjid^d v th.o taking oat of the necessarv miners'rights, and 1 am glad to say that those who have been 'detected and brought to justice have been mulcted in sums vary ing from £2 to dBS &iehv A The more attention paid .by the. police inthe,.matter of niaking t ;ese. fi loiig-tails'•' pay-rtheir quota; )for the privilege' of mining, the better pleased will the European part of the population feel, and the less will they feel disposed; to quarrel with ''Jobji." while at the same tme a .considerable! amount of grist will be brought to the public revenue mill. ' '

-With- the exception I have stated mining affairs here are at a comparative standstill .The y-reat tailrace of Byrne and party, to which I have already on .several occasions made allusion, still um-oinpleted.? I feel, sure that had the results of this enterprise been properly understood, public fund a would, have been lon<£since forthcoming it to a speedy termination. The uiidert;tkin-r, as a private one, iyj.iur.illy causes procrastination, as ibhe means atjihe command of the ; p:).r!y,, \yho. are hardworking practical miners, are naturally small. Still, their to succeed is ; indomitable, ami I sincerely wish them the success their pluck and spirit deserve. 1 think the ease'is one which should fair'y come und'ifr the consideration of the offie rs <»n \VaterSupply ; but 1 suppose the fact of the a tail instead; of _Jii headrace will 'of necessity preclude even a discussion on thersubject. Ii m;«y mention;that-your late upon the. are fully endorsed,' and they—the Peculations—are, so tap as thf?ir, workability is concerned, fairly gone out of men's thoughts an I minds. Our post office, or rather mail'griev I ance, remains as before—all our piiny | effortsto soften the heart of 0 lief j Postmaster barely receiving eVeri recognition.' Were he to btj lb(*ated fir a j time here, I fancy his opinion, upon the j ,subject., would undergo rbiisi-leivible < change.lt mu-fc be ac.k.n i1>yl,•djred.. that the Government, appear to-.- have /been willing to accept teudeKs l for a' maii service, between' Linbu»*n v and the kSerpehlhne, but the terms in which the call tor tenders ;were advertised were*-' SMit'e -ly unintelli jblo, th t nobody ventured to inake'an offeiv :Lm Mr ionr this to you, a* it is in the ' Chronicle' only that any notice :is of this important producing Held. I trust «that thesen+'ew linesi may- meet the eve representative, who'i w'leiry here; was as full of promises as' He has proved Himself voicl of perforMahco.' * Of the weather I can only re-echo, a recent remark of yours that what the distirkffe requires rain! rfaiirF raijcE! 5