OTAGO.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 52, 8 May 1863, Page 3

OTAGO.

["from our own correspondent.] DUNEDIN, Monday, 4th May. The latest news from the Dunstan and the Lake Districts may be briefly summed up as follows. Many lately working at the Lakes liave gone to the Dunstan ; many at the Dunstan have come to Dunedin, some to proceed per first opportunity to Victoria and New South Wales. Those remaining at the two great centres of gold industry are preparing to face the winter by erecting weather-proof dwellings, and laying in as large a supply of provisions as their means will admit of. As the Molyneux sinks, and leaves naked its auriferous treasures, those who have held on to their claims will, it is reckoned, do well, but for the fresh arrivals no great hopes of success are held out, as all the likely ground has been taken up, and is either being worked or vigilantly shepherded. 1 have heard of a rather singular method of deciding the ownership to a disputed claim. Tlie contending parties mutually agreed to refer their Tights to the turn of a die. The representatives of both parties were to throw three dice three times, and he who scored in' the aggregate the highest number was to hold the claim for self and partners. Luck fell upon the party who it was generally allowed were the rightful claimants, and appeared to give general satisfaction among those who had interested themselves in the dispute. The winning party immediately set to work, and in the course of three hours had washed out forty six ounces of gold. Forty of them they kept to themselves, and the remaining six they made a present of to their unsuccessful opponents. Mr M'Arthur, the General Manager for the Bank of Australasia, is reported to be coming to Dunedin to start a bank here, after which he will proceed to Invercargill to open a branch. Your place must really be of some note to be taken into consideration by such a leviathan monetary concern. 1 wrote you in my last of Captain Gunn, the pilot, and tive ot his crew having been drowned in boarding a vessel. It was a melancholy catastrophe, and caused very general concern. Captain Gunn and his crew have been consigned to a watery grave, leaving (the most of them) wives and families not only to lament their un. timely loss, but in the most necessitous circumstances. We are getting up a subscription to relieve the despairing widows and helpless orphans; — cannot you, out of your abundince down your way, give us something to lighten womens' deep sorrows, and relieve little childrens' hourly need. We had all of us given the William Miskin up as lost, and great was the relief felt when the news was confirmed that she had arrived safe at your port after a twelve days' passage. Separation is again receiving the earnest attention of the newspaper press in Dunedin, but really people are so taken up with their own affairs, that all the able articles which are written on the subject fail to make any impression. In the meanwhile the North Island continues to receive a gigantic proportion of our hard-gotten riches, and we make no special effort to get rid of the incubus. Professor Bushell has been down here the last three weeks, electro-biologizing the inhabitants, and affording a fund of entertainment to the laughter-loving public. He is really very clever and amusing. lam informed he will make his bow before an Invercargill audience in a few days. The Marsh Troupe have arrived from Sydney, for the purpose of giving a series of performances in Dunedin, and from thence proceeding to your town, so that you will not lack amusement for some time to come. At length, and at last, a new p*mt of the requisite dimensions and strength has been placed on the Molyneux. lt was built under the direction of our Provincial Engineer, Mr Swyers, and has been tested in all possible ways. Drays and waggons may now cross and re-cross, with a reasonable expectation of doing so in safety. The Evening News, which a few weeks back became defunct, has been replaced by another daily evening paper called the Star. The weather continues cold and blowy. Frost at night, rain at any time, sunshine occasionally, and all very unsettled. People are coming into the city fast, and house-room is very difficult to be got. The "social evil" gains groun I am sorry

to say, with us. I see with pain young women, who but a short time back were in service in respectable families, now on the streets, a great proportion being among the late arrivals. News came in from the North last night. The Native "difficulties," which we all thought had nearly been got over by the policy of Sir George Grey, have become more perplexed and entangled than ever. Tuesday, 6th May, 1 o'Clock. Mail closes per Omeo. Nothing of interest to report.