PROVINCIAL.

Southland Times, Issue 1324, 21 October 1870, Page 2

PROVINCIAL.

-."..'• ■ ' - — • — — • "■•■. Oamabp. — It is rumored that the lowest tender "for the dock- works'wds'fiTS.dOOrTiz^ £2l»o3 J for the wall at thftPoiafr, JBjJi,OQO^.for;the protecting, wells at the entrance, "and. £30,000 for the dock proper.— The -carcase of a 2-tooth-wether,~of the Leicester breed, fr>m the Ardgowan station, Jvaa found onieing dressed, to weigh 12) ibs 7 mett. — "WtftTtto-orwfptiiMi^f^aturday, the Bth inst.,ithe weather is . reported toTia^-ii©<rt*T-se*roaahleilQr, some time back.— -The first horticultural . show of ''he district is fixed to take place on.- January 2nd »' Mount Ida.— ? The weather, according to! the local paper, with the exception of a slight fall of snow at night, has been delightful, and 'the appearance of the gardens manifests not onlyj the advent, but the actual presence of Spring. The snow on the high ranges promises a supply 'of water for some time to come, so that witharaproved weather and improved roads, the hope is entertained that Nas'eby will enter upon a summer as successful, if not more so, than any which has preceded it. — The past winter; at : Hamilton's has been a propitious one. Scarcely a miner in the place was compelled to stop work for a week throughout the; entire season.— At the Sowburn digging operations are improving. The water of the creek has kept high, otherwise it 'is supposed there are many hundred acres of alluvial country that would be wrought.— At St. Bathans the agricultural operations of the season are proceeding vigorously. Cold dry weather is said to have prevailed, consequently the rapid growth of early vegetation has been prevented. Dunstan. — A melancholy and fatal accident is reported to have taken place at Elwards's Ferry, EJawarau River, on the 10th insfc. -A man named Parkins, said to be a new arrival from Victoria, left Clyde fay the Queens town coach, and in passing through Cromwell he was observed to be . the worse for liquar. On reaching the opposite bank, Parkins walked up the hill until he reached a sharp turn in the roai about halfway up, when, instead of turning to the right, he took the track leading to the left, which brought him to the top of a high cliff on the river bank. On reaching a point where the track becomes extremely narrow and dangerous, the unfortuuate man was seen to trip,. and fall headlong down a slope of about 60 feet, striking heavily against the rock 3. From the foot of the slope the doomed man was dashed from the sum. ait of the precipice into the river • below. For a few moments the body disappeared, but afterwards came to the surface, when it again sank and was seen no more. The man's hat was picked up, but no traces could be found of the body. — At Bannockburn a scarcity of timber is beginning to be more and more felt. Several tunnels have been lost through the inability of the owners to procure props, and the perilous position miners are placed in in some of the underground workings is spoken of with grave apprehension. : Toeomaibxeo.— The Table Hill Quartz Reef Company washed up 30 ozs. from about 127 tons of stone, or over 5 dwt per ton. This is an imi provement upon former crushings, and the men engaged in the work indulge sanguine hopes that a proportionate increase" will regularly go on as the reef is more deeply worked. ; The Company is busily engaged sinking" a* deep" shaft so as to drive at a lower level. \ ■'"-■