TELEGRAMS

Patea Mail, 29 March 1882, Page 3

TELEGRAMS

, (PER: UNITED, PRESS ; ASSOCIATION.) This Day.

The Hew Gold Hush.

Hokitika, 28th. —Several more claims have bottomed on payable gold at the Woodstock rush. There are now eight or nine parties on payable gold, and about three hundred miners on the field. The last claim bottomed to-day was that of Duncan and party, who obtained 15 grains of coarse gold from four dishes of wash. Cnrnick and; party washed three and a quarter loads on Saturday, which yielded' loz. 17dwts. with five feet of wash. The rash is assuming quite a busy appearance, and miners” generally are well satisfied with tb'eir prospects. Numbers of stores and shops are in course of erection on the ground, and coaches are loaded daily for the rush.

Wbetmakura Contract

LIST of TENDERERS.

Wellington^.—-The,, following tenders were received at the Public Works Office for the Whenuakura> contract, Foxtoh-New Plymouth, Waverley ,tp Patea:— .. -• /• ;

Accepted —Wilkie & Crawford, Wanganni, £21,379. V . Declined —Mace <Ss Bassett; / Patea, i £21,553 Thomas Den by, Wanganui, £21,827 ; Berry & Newman, New Plymouth;* £22,262; John McLean, Auckland, £22,840; . Powell, Orr & C 0.,.; New; P1ym0uth,..£23,,141;, F; 11. Downes,;!. !Dunedin, i £23;551;; H. McKenzie & Co., Dunedin,' £23,644; John McComb,* Dunediri, £2^,802; Ch’as. Bray, ’ Wanganui* £23,88.9.; Kirkpatrick & Gallagher, Manutahi, £23,950; J. Saunders, .Wellington., ’££4,897 ;’D. Scellby’ McLaiighliri, Wanganui,- £24,991,; Joshua . Gpqdfelldw,. Wellington, £25,240 ; Wi G. Bassett, /Wanganui, ; £25,353 ; Joseph Gibbesji Wanganui, £25,644; W. B, Kendall, Hawera, £26,025 ; J. B. Blair, Dunedin, £27,170; A. Nathan, Hawera,' ’ ££7,677'; M. Danaher, son, £^1,,491.,. ; ; =

The following were permitted to withdraw their tenders :—Thos. H. Parsons, Christchurch, £18,532; M, Hislop & Co., Dunedin,' ’ £19,720; W. ’;F. Richards & Co., Hawera, £20,766 ; J. J. O’Brien, Auckland, £21,507.

Professors for Auckland College. • Wellihgton.—By the Home mail oh Sunday there went a ; dispatch from, the Minister of- Education requesting the Agent r Geperal to take immediate measures to secure two professors for the proposed, college at Auckland., Nelson Races. Nelson.- —There is every prospect of fine weather and good sport at races.

>;Ship on Fire. ' ! 1 Dunedin; 28th .—A settler from the i Peninsula ‘reports having- seen a vessel off the Oceair Beach : i this; evening which’ presented every appearance of .being on fire. The ciiairman of the Harbour Board has authorised a steampri iC’eed ! to the coast with a view of ascer-f gaining :whjether; any ship is burning or lin distVe’sSj as A number of 'settlers’ rpn the' Peninsula are said to •have formed the opinion that the vessel iis on fire.; V.,-. j!, Later,this day.-—The captain of the steamer has sent telegram as follows: j‘‘ Seamed'np ; to Cape Saunders. Saw noiboats on- way; Gotnmunicated with Light keeper who. shw ndlhipg' of ship ion fire, must, ave ; ,been Stella flaming, up.”;" -i: -■ ' ’v : 11 '• , .

s' 1 , land Court for Mokau. | Auckland,l2Bth.-rT'be holding -of the Native Land Court at Makati is ■■officially., notified. Rewi applies for a Land Court, at Kihikihi, intending~to„,.put largo trsc l t,pf through: the court, '

MINERALS IN STEWART’S ISLAND.

Professor Ulrich, who has been on a visit to Stewart’s Island, for the purpose of making an examination regarding its mineral resources, having returned to Dunedin, has since furnished a report to Mr Pearson, Commissioner of Crown Lands, Invercargill.

The Professor first of all visited the goldfield reported to have been discovered at Pegasus Bay, and here, on a kind of tableland; *he saw specimens of somewhat shotty gold obtained by sluicing on the Surface, and according to appearances sufficiently payable. Traces of gold have been discovered throughout the valley and all oyer the upper portion, where it expands to a great extent, reaching i back to the thickly-wooded hills. Well-defined lines of quartz also exist, but the ground has not been tested-below, the surface. ; The main reefs may therefore be supposed to lie in tlie ridges enclosing the upper .end of the extensive valley. 7 The: Professor recommends the prospecting of the ground to a considerable extent.

At Port- William, where the discovery of . a fairly rich quartz reef was reported some time ago, the Professor also landed for the purpose of making an examination, but as the had been' driven into, the reef had fallen in,? there; was, unfortunately, no > opportunity of: testing tie stone. From 1 the .reports presented, however, of the yield of the stone, and circulated at the time when the tunnel was made-—if such be correct —lie is of opinion • that- the driving should . be ; further continued; so that the reef may be properly opened up, and the stone tested;' 5 Professor ; Ulrich also; examined the sand in the .neighborhood —a black which traces of: gold were clearly visible.. There is consequently a prospect of fairly payable results being "obtained, but nothing sanguine is yet held forth regarding the' discovery of dold on the island, beyond the fact; of its being,traced.over-; a; large area; and the main point of interest centres in the probable fact of highly payable quartz existing in the neighbor- i hood, only, to, be. revealed after soma trouble- and expenditure in prospecting. The field may thus'hold forth some inducement to energetic ptdspectdrs. ; The report that copper ore had been found is Wholly incorrect, the only signs being the stone here and there coloured green by the presence of a very small quantity oLcarbonate .of copper.

r One of' the ’ most important suggesgestions made by Professor Ulrich is that there is a great probability of tin ore being found on the island, as, among other observations, the most peculiar one was- that the formation resembled with remarkable closeness that of the tin country in Tasmania; and this should also prove a strong inducement to specruJatprs and others so interested to take measures to carry out a thorough system of prospecting for this ; mineral.

Commenting on the “ sinister rumors ” which have been put in circulation by the opposition press, to the effect: that Mr Bryce l had resolved to apply the same treatment to natives of the King country a§ hajd been so successfully applied to the Te Whiti . nuisance,; the Timaru Herald says : : = While there is; not .the slighest foundation for such, rumours, we are.quite prepared to- admit that if the occasion required it, Mr Bryce would do nhto Tawhiab and the , Kingite.chiefs and their outlawed protegis, precisely what he did unto Te Whiti and the Parihaka malcontents., ■, What- is -more,

it would be- ; the right thing to do, and the' Natiye Minister would be backed by the whole country in doing it. - Two lads named- Byahy’ aged about' 17 •ahd 19. respectively,,’sons of a rabbitef on Castlerock- Estate, were drowned on ! the afternoon of the 14th inst. while in ; the. Oreti River, a few miles below Lumsden, Otago. To all appearance says the Daily Times, the younger must have got into deep water, and the elder , one, .in bis attempt,. to save, his .brother’s life,. jalso-s lost his life. . Both bodies ; were • found in the evening, ■clinging together.

Cottage Burnt. Nelson.—A small cottage belonging to Mrs Adams, and occupied by a man named Hame, was destroyed by fire yesterday. The house was insured for £SO, and the furniture for £BO. Hearn’s Challenge. Wellington,. 28th.—Hearn denies that the challenge published last night was inserted with his wish.