THE KUMARA.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 224, 10 January 1877, Page 2

THE KUMARA.

In a review of the "position" of the Kumara diggings, on December 30, the Knmara Times shows how that diggings now stands : "During the months of August and September a regular stampede set in, and in spite of warnings from the local Press, men came from every part of New Zealand and the neighboring Colonies, impressed with fabulous ideas of the wealth of the district. To say that Kumara grew would be to give a faint idea. It sprang up like a city in the ' Arabian Nights,' as if touched by an enchanter's wand. Every available site was applied for, and sections which, a few mouths before, were valueless, commanded fane}' prices, and on the 28th September the Knmara Times was started. The promises wc made then we have since endeavored to fulfil. We said we would be independent, and not in a single instance have we departed from it. Wc have not vaunted up the field. In our first article we asked the question whether business was not overdone, and stated that ' this was not the place for new and inexperienced diggers. These diggings mean work—hard, heavy, laboi rioiis work, and the mean 3 to " stand by " while the claims were being proved.' Since then we would point to the progress that Kumara has mad'.'. Its hotels and stores are second to none on the Coast, and while the ' inexperienced diggers' —men who have no right on a new golclJield—have disappeared, miners of the right stamp have taken their place. The diggings now extend for miles, and i>. new township—Diliuian's—has sprung up ; a horse-track has bicn formed to it, from which views of the yre.it.st beauty can be obtained, and whie.i e.mnot be excelled in ;\"cw Zealand, and another track is to be made :il-*ng tiie S.mmrock Luad. A telegraph o.iicc has b_-en cscablished, and also a Cot:rtdkt?use, p.».ice ca-'ip and barracks. i it is to be ma-le thj central station for j t..e llfsidetit Magistrate, and tenders are ' eatbd for the eitc.ion of h's resideiicj ; i w..ile a c:>iuun>dioti> p.-st-oliice is also to be bniit, and five brauc i banks r.rj in active operation. Two tiuaties —the i;«..»yal and the Adelphi—have been erected, besides two s:cam saw-mills, i,r..-»e.i-s, t>.e. 'i\>ue is still much to In; ti.fiic-iiw town !.ns to be drained, or t..ere is no doubt it \.iii be very unheal thy : a fire brigade established, and a hospital to be built : but the inhabitants have faith in Kumara, they know its resources, and though there will be a slight depression, consequent on the reaction after the holidays, still, wc say that in three months time Kumara will be more prosperous than ever."