WAKATIPU.

Southland Times, Issue 1284, 26 July 1870, Page 3

WAKATIPU.

f - : X**bit. PUB OW2T COBBESPOItDEin?.) ".^ / . r \ : Queenstowit, July 13. ;: -Although the weather of late has slightly 'improved, it has nevertheless unsettled enough to Tender outdoor - pursuits l the reverseof profitable. Transitu from. Dunedin bat been all but suspended. IJrayi with freights, advised a month ago, furve not yet put in an appearance, and although the mail contract between this - and the Dunstau is performed with a moderate «bow of regularity, it is only eafcuaHy tliat it brings on the mails from districts lower Sown. A mail from |)^iiedin once a week has now come to Be sought for in Tain, and although , general' stores have not altogether run *mt, certain branches of commerce have Kadia> put up with, short supplies. This ■hows plainly that the roads down country must be in a fearful state, a fact "which ought to be noted by Southland. At the present moment, loading from 3>unedin is charged at the rate of £20 tiOT t<m, m addition to loss sustained by delay*; ifow, ia it not possible for Southland to obviate this difficulty? 'With two harbors situated within 90 miles of the Lake, does it not seem absurd that the lion's share of the traffic should be brought a round-about way, involving a journey of at least three times that distance? The road from Inyercargill to Kingston is not by any " "7Bj€9ns~aqgood one,-but a moiety of the moneys spent in patching up the Lake " rojtd from Dunedin would serve to make firteadable ill fee year'' round. Moreover, G i^te."ctf v mattjera, so far as Dunedin iVconceri^^ naustf continue for a long time- fo come, The abject of the Otago |BKiT^rhnieii6 ; iß"'tb make the road T)y theTeyiot. Now, to this r^l^e-diay men i are i strongly averse. It involves two additional punts, making in aM/qorpunte .which fall to be paid by I&e^cjjmers^ themaelres. •. These punts are innfthor bands of private individuals, witkOtet- any ; restrictions having been E§a^ie%iM^ charge, and the result is, that £pj^|mpose upon the poor draymen a mcmt ll ««OTbitant tax. The road by "Wdkouaiti and Palmerston is much lofeger, ¥e]ndes being less practicable, still t^^a^ymen prefer it, solely for the :ri^i:^ai^ilaboTe.. This is Otago's extapenu^f* and it but remains for Swilhlaßia^ to take advantage of her opSortam^' Goods once brought to can command every facility for bSingTjcought on to Queenstown. The Jake is amply provided both with steam : aod-aafling crafts, the p.i. Antrim itself being'i vessel of at least 30 horsepower. This is a hint which should not be neglected. Both Switzer's and the Kokomai are situated along the Invercar- ; gQI line ot road, besides a hoat of out. lying diggings, the future of which depends to a great extent upon the facilities provided for communication to and fro. Then if we may be allowed to speculate upon the -future, we find the project even more inviting. The "West Coast track will open up an uninterrupted chain? of communication between the east and west coasts, and what can be more reasonable than to suppose that SouthUxulr.would be enabled to assert for herself a position in that arrangement. Besides, your province can lay claim to idnae- territorial estate in the vicinity t£&t could sustain no material damage f?om being brought under the notice of the: public cAjr m get-off to the prevailing depression, Quoßnatown has initiated an active crusade against the tippling propensities ojCrfcs people. The lewiers of the movement are the spiritual and Judicial rulers -^^tfee 1 place, -finding pulpit admonitions ;iffl^*jb|nal statutes making but little head vf»J^. against bar-parlor and taproom #j*|ilecfionß, idiea*^worthy men have libkes'tiiemßelveß to the Town Hall, Wftr»,ai gat after night, they admonish ;audiences of the evil of what result remains to t^jfi&i^j^^ieir latest move is to erect a 'Hotel, with a certain amount o? :i: Jjpaid-ttp ; capital, and when they m.dding it there are more in the r jour correspondent prepared teadniij; i£at they have done wonders. ■: object- is no doubt a laudable one, ; tertf^^fiiidenng' the present unsettled

state of the goldfields' population, it is not by any means alight evil to deal with. The publicans' interest has acquired an influence which certain classes of the population are not yery anxious to recognise. It is astonishing the extent to which diggers iv the outlying districts place themselves in the hands of the publican. As a rule the latter are men who have matriculated from the ranks of the digging population, consequently they are much better acquainted with their habits and customs than those who aspire to be leaders of public opinion in a wider sense of the word. When the digger visits town, the publican is ever ready to receive him, and the chances are two to one that he is made the custodian of his ready cash, all disbursements are made under his immediate sanction, and in other respects bis counsel and advice become his rule of conduct. No one knows this fact better than our devoted statesmen, who generally take good care to make friends with the publicans when they come to ask for the suffrage of the goldfields. Now it is all nonsense for any man to fancy that he is able to rend this tie asunder at one stroke. I have no wish to defend the morality of the system ; all that is wanted is to deal with it as it really does exist. Now.if a reformation is to be wrought, this is undoubtedly the direction in which it must be applied. The indiscriminate granting of licenses, and the still more reprehensible toleration of the shanty, must give the cue to the temperance movement if it is to become a successful movement. But to return to the Qaeenstown demonstrations. These proceedings are pretty much on a par with similar proceedings amongst older communities. Trifling anecdotes, mixed with violent declamations, are received mirthfully by a mixed audience, the only reasonable account for whose presence is the novelty of the affair. A lame version of one of these anecdotes has been going the round of the provincial press. It may. be given as a fair specimen of the whole ; at the same time it will put the narrator right with the public. It was a leaf out of the experience of the Bey. Mr Coffee. The rev. gentleman said that, having become impressed with the subject of total abstinence, he banished all sorts of spirituous liquors from the code of his domestic economy. For the sake of illustration* say that this noble resolution was given effect to on the Ist day of April, at which date the rev. gentleman weighed 12 stone 31bs some odd ounces. On the 30th April then current, the rev. gentleman discovered that his weight had come down to 10 stone 31bs nett ; thus leaving a defect of 2 stone, ; less the odd ounces, against the total abstinence tenure. Upon this ; alarming discovery being made, the rev. gentleman's spouse took immediate action to counteract the baneful results already set in, and a mild form of intoxicating drinks were restored to a place at Mr Coffee's board. This is a sample of how the temperance question is handled in Queenstown, and thereon hangs the tale of its probable fate. Last week a very sudden death took place at Bees street, Queenstown. Deceased was a Mr Lorimer, a chemist, who had resided in Queenstown for the last six or seven years. He was found dead in bed early on Thursday morning, death having evidently resulted from a fit of apoplexy. The previous evening was spent in company with some friends in a local hotel, and when they separated Mr Lorimer was, to all appearance, in his usual-state of health.. An inquest took place, which resulted in a verdict of death from natural causes being returned. The report of the "West Coast and other tracks brought a good many men j to the district in search of employment. So far as public employment was eon ? cerned, they were disappointed. After prowling idly about for "a few days, they disappeared. A. number of them have set in to work the gullies in the neighborhood. At One-mile creek, which, as the name indicates, is situated one mile from town, about half a dozen parties have set in, and to all appearance ground that has long since been deserted will once more be brought under the operations of the long-handled shovel. For the most part the story of these parties is that they are merely putting in time until spring sets in, when it is generally expected that something worth while will open at the West Coast. With regard to the auriferous prospects^ of the place, opinion is somewhat conflicting.' Fox, the prospector, who was equipped a few months ago by the Queenstown people, did no good. One version of his expedition is that he never Jbried to do anything, and that opinion is countenanced by the fact, that he has never rendered any account of his proceedings to those from whom he received his outfit. The track from the head of the Lake has proceeded as far as the dividing range. The work is said to be proceeding much more satisfactorily than it did when double the number were employed. That a rush on some scale or another to Martin's Bay will set in in the spring appears to be the general opinion, although as yet no assertion respecting gold, beyond finding the color, has been made. The Dart and Bout burn are spoken of by some as the most likely places, while mention is made of Bruce Bay and the coast line north from that of Martin's Bay by others. This last-named locality being situated more in a direct line with the head waters of the Shotover, accounts for the preference thus given to it. Amidst all these conflicting expressions of opinion there is one thing very certain— Otago never stood more in. need of a fresh outlet for its industrial population than it does at the present moment. If some of those benevolent employers of hired labor, who talk about immigration schemes, would . take an overland trip on the wallaby, through some of the landward districts of the province, they •would find the place perfectly inundated with idle men — men ready and willing to work for a bare subsistence. That is a fact, gainsay it who may.

Although slow in its movements, industrial achievement is not by any means at a stand-still. The flour mill at Frankton is doing an excellent stroke of business, and the flour is rapidly rising in publio estimation, and finding a market in remote parts of the province. A second mill is in course of erection at Arrow Flat. The Wakatipu brewery is producing a beer in good demand ; aha aa an addition to their extensive timber yards, the enterprising firm of Messrs J.W. t Eobertson and Co. is about to add; a tongue and groving and planing establishment. These facts, supported by ' a moderate amount of fancies, enable u&jto rise superior to the ills by which life jin Queenstown is beset. !