LIFE AT BROKEN HILL.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 274, 20 June 1888, Page 5

LIFE AT BROKEN HILL.

AIkS. Dlw \n, son of Mv A. Dewar, managei of ;i mine .it Broken Jlill, and for moi ly a lOMclenL of Auckland, has. scuta friend hoc a\eiy loadable account of his cxpciicnccs at the .>il\cr mines. The letter has been placed at our disposal and we make the following exUacbs .-- Biokenllill i? a composition of cam as, coiru gated iron and brick. fcThere is one well-lciid out which at timed presents a veiy lively appearance. Business is \ery brisk, and everything seems to be progressing. The large mine is a grand atiah. They are working on a big lode, and keep two smelteis continually going. At night the molten ore piesents a grand sight as it is being poured out on the blag heaps. As soon I ;i-. one die out, another truck is emptied, and -o on from day to day, Sundays included. Long teams ot bullocks may be^een | continunlly coming in firewood and ! timbci, '•ometimes as many as thirty in a ! team. The weather is very, very pleasant this time ot the ,\ear, and gieatly resembles your summer in Auckland. The days ate warm, and the evenings cold. Wate>- is I very scarce just now, as it is a month since I theie ha-> been any rain. Water for drinking purpose,- has to be catted from Stephens' Creek, a distance of eight mile--, ilnd is sold at 12- jier tank of 200 gallons. Watoi for mine use is convened in large dams, and these also aie getting \eiy low. I have not drunk any water since arris ing, but think it safer to take a long beer when one feels thirsty. Things at present are very low, on account of the tall in shaie». There are numbers of people who have come uj> hereon "spec." and cannot get work, and so the place has been o\crdone. The mines aie all getting good ore, although the shave? aie low, but. if they rise again things will at once look bettei. I would not adsise you to come here at present, as there are too many here already for, the si/c of the place. Since writing the foregoing 1 have been out with £i prospecting party to a new goldtioltl about 150 miles from here. We drove all the way in a bujjgy. There were three of us. Two men named Logan, who are at present staying with v«, were the first to receive word of it from a bullock - drivei. They are old mincis from the Thames. They left at daylight Sunday morning, and asked me if I would care to join them. Of course, i was on, and father being agreeable, J took the third seat. We aimed there Tuesday afternoon, after a splendid drive tluough level country, and weather which could nob be surpassed. We had plenty of shooting on the road among kangaroos, emus, rabbits and wild turkeys. Tho evenings were moonlight, which enabled us to drive on until nine o'clock. On arrival at the field, we first traced the lode, and then pegged out three forty acre blocks ; and after taking a number ot specimens, which contained a good amount of gold, we left a station hand in charge and started for homo. The drive back was pretty much the same, but our horses were beginning to cave in, so j we had to camp a night and a day on the banks of a small creek to give them a vest and a feed on the luxurious salt bush. During the spell we went out for a shot, and had some grand sport among the kangaroo. At last we made another start, and arrived in Broken Hill on Sunday morning, having enjoyed the trip throughout, and felt as if I were in my old groove, camping out in New Zealand, but we were minus tho yacht and the watei.

Whal. it> the clitVeieucc between a hill and a pill 7 One's haul to up, and the other's hard to got down.