WAKATIPU.

Southland Times, Issue 1285, 29 July 1870, Page 3

WAKATIPU.

' * (jTLOJt OUB OWK COBBESKHTDENT.) Queekstowkv July 16. "We have now entered upon the dead of mater, and the inanimating influences of i the season appear to have diffused them- - selves throughout the whole of our social • system. Even the weather, which only a few. weeks since perpetrated such serious outrages upon the person, seems to have '<- entered into recognisances to keep the ' - peace. "With the change of the moon, ; ;': frost set in, which increased in intensity ■ - until the snow-drift on the mountains :[ became completely frost-bound, at least j ,v for. the present. Should this state of matters continue, and the chances are it ; will, the rivers will soon be low enough > to bring bank-claims and dredging into ':..■ requisition. It is much to be regretted that the*e branches of employment are ■' : exposed to so many contingencies. Dred"ging in" particular is a work which promises well, and if it could be brought to that state of perfection when floods and shifting bottoms would not impede pro. '.gress, an important change would be wrought upon the mineral development of the country. Work of this kind is extending gradually. Last season a new was placed upon the Shotover, and £* although- it eventually came to grief, the '- tact is admitted that during the time it lV > was at work it paid welL This latter t circumstance has directed special attention i to the subject, and it is more than * probable that during the ensuing season more than one dredge will be launched ;. into the Shotover. Ifo on* acquainted -"' with the peculiarities of the New Zealand • . rivers can doubt but that a more economiv- cal means of working them than the dip- ” spoon exists. Currents of four and five E -knots an hour are surely sufficient to >; impart motive-power for elevating a few ' ; hundred weight of silt. ;A machine on the harbor-dredge principle, with water wheels at each aide, was set a going on the Moa Flat bend of the Molyneux a few years ago, and although it works admirably, but very little is heard of it. The truth is that our miners are far too much tied to old opinions to be brought to embark in schemes of a progressive character. That a- deal of dredging work remains to be done is evinced by the amount of wing-damming operations which characterised the early days of our river workings. Another phase of the river curtent questions is its adaptation for elevating water for sluicing purposes on to the banks. Every gully and water crevice has been ransacked for the purpose of augmenting the supply, and yet, it continues to be far short of the demand. All this time such rivers as the Clutha are rolling past some of the best ground in the province, and yet no effort is made to utilise them. The whole subject is one which stands badly in need of mature consideration at the hands of mechanical skill. Quartz-reefing in Otago has become a very -stale subject of discussion. Happily the Bendigo Gully bubble burst before it had got too much inflated with joint stock capital. A few speculative spirits, however, burnt "-^tbetr-fingers to the tune of an odd sixty, Xi seventy, and even a hundred pounds. The truth is that the whole affair was a cunningly devised fable, which is evinced 1 by, the fact that wherever it was found >>■ practicable, the original shareholders sold : ; out fo more or less advantage. A few of ther claims did show one or two specks of „ ■ ' gold imbedded in a soft rubble casing, in which case the stone became -valuable as specimens "from other claims" less 1 fortunate. The transaction as a whole was tolerably well gotup, still it was not a successful swindle in the true sense of the —-ward. Bendigo Gully now ranks amongst , : the quietest places io the province, and

f it is very questionable indeed if ever ii becomes known to fatne. Skipper'i reefi > are said to be promising well, bat it wil 1 take time to confirm the fact or other r wise dispel the allusion. >The annual farce of electing mayors for the incorporated townships on tht goldfields is now being enacted. Queens- : town is to have a contest between the I ex-mayor and a local publican. Cromwell > is also to have a contest. In fact, who f ever heard of Cromwell without a • contest of some kind or another hitched ■ on to its flank. The truth is that the i place is perfectly fermenting with l disruption. Other places have got their i factions, but Cromwell is a sort of free- . and easy battle-field, where every man finds himself honor-bound to " shake " without respect to persons, age, or even > principles. The history ot local selfgovernment, as deduced from the municipal experience of Cromwell, points a moral to all, and to such as delight in studying the depravity of humvi nature, it adorns a tale. Clyde, lower down country, returned its ex-mayor without a grumble, and from what I know of Alexandra, I am pretty certain it will do the same. Tuapeka has only one man capable of acting as mayor, at all events it has never attempted to return other than the celebrated Horace Bastings, Esq. As a whole, these institutions have done good. If they could only get rid of the idea that they are citizens of no mean city, and act their part with some degree of wholesome moderation, they would be to some extent a credit to the place. So much then for what must under the circumstances pass muster for intelligence. Now for a handful of gossip. I have already notified the clerical zeal that has been manifested for the suppression of drunkenness. Within the last day or two another class of sinners appear to have come under the lash. In prosecuting their ministerial researches, it would seem to have come to the knowledge of the rev. gentlemen that certain' individuals in the enjoyment of matrimonial felicity had omitted to elevate their communion to that of the sacrament, according to the rules of the church. In pursuance of that information down came a pastoral exhortation to pluck out the right eye and discard the right hand, which was listened to with wrapt attention, but failed to producemoro abiding results. Finding the spiritual appeal ineffectual, something very like a carnal appeal has been resorted to, and certain parties have been signalled out to employers for dismissal, and quoad others, the public at large have been counselled to discountenance them in the prosecution of their lawful pursuits. Such is gospel teaching at Lake Wakatipu, and who can deny that we are in a fair way of becoming a people distinguished for hope, faith, and charity.