HAMILTON.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 238, 26 September 1873, Page 3

HAMILTON.

i f (To the Editor of, the Moxtnt IdaOheonicle.) September 22,-1873. Sir,—-I see that " Hamilton ' Miner " is .•', not satisfied as yet with regard to my state--.-.xnent that a "hatter" was making £lO a week. IN ow, sir, I have not shifted my ground, as : he says I have. What I said first was, that I had been informed that a "hatter," in a claim adjoining the Perseverance Company's, was making £lO a week; and, afterwards, that I myself saw this " hatter " wash a dish of stuff which yielded 4dwts. of gold. Then, sir, as regards bringing water on to the ground, the water is there already, as the " hatter" has a race and dam of his own, with a.plentiful supply of water just now, an extended claim of one acre, and a fair tailrace. If that is hot showing where £lO a •week can be had—at least, as far as I can

judge by. the prospect and the man's own wbrd--> 1 don't ; know what is. .-"

" Hamilton Miner" "also says that he quite agrees with. '.-Old Identity " in saying that it is wrong to try to lead men astray. I have positively stated that the want of water was a great'drawback, and I say so still. I also believe that most of the ground, at the Shepherd's Hut would pay about £lO per week, if there was water on it all the year round—that is, a good supply, such as the Cornish and Perseverance Companies have at present. I may also say that not one of the parties who have started at the Hut has given the ground a fair trial, so as to know what it would pay with a good supply of water all the year round, as there has been only one party therefor any length of time (the Cornish Company), and they have often been eight months of the year without water. That, however, is now a thing of the past, and, with the additional supply that they have brought on at the enormous expense of between seven and eight hundred pounds, I believe that they will do well. At all events, they appear to have more faith in the ground than " Hamilton Miner " appears to have. The weather for the past fortnight has been very stormy, and oh one occasion there was as much as two feet of snow in places. It thawed, however, as quickly as it came, causing every place to be flooded. The Hamilton J&iver is so high just now that fording it is an impossibility. I think it is high time that there was a bridge over this river;- if the Government intend taking any steps in the matter at all, as at present it is an impossibility to find a safe ford in time of flood, and considering that there have been lives lost at the crossing of this river when it was not dammed back by tailings, as it is now —and getting worse every day. This , is likely to be still more the case when the Sludge Channel is finished, and will proba-' bly render it uncrossable for many miles I above.

So the people of Hamilton are going to do something towards erecting a fence around the cemetery. But I will not .enter into the subject until 1 see what the result will be, as there is going to be a meeting on the 4th of October, when Mr. Booth will lay the estimated cost before the public—along with a plan now in preparation—for their approval. —I am, etc., A Hamilton Miner. * (To the Editor of the Mount Ida Chronicle.) Naseby, Sept. 22, 1873. Sib, —Can you inform me, and other publicans, how it is that so strict a watch is kept by the police on our licensed houses, in order to prevent us from allowing persons to remain drinking in them after hours, and yet that a shanty keeper—not over three miles from this town—should be permitted to illicitly vend grog, without so much as a business license, and to keep men carousing at her place all night long without any notice being taken of it ?

I have been informed by several persons that, on their way to this place (Naseby), they -were allured into this shanty, the grog introduced, and that they did not leave till their money was spent.. JSTow, sir, I am of opinion the police should show, their zeal in watching those persons who defraud the public revenue, and exercise more discretion towards some of us, who have enough to do to find means to pay for our licenses and other expenses.—l am, etc., License.