OUR RAMBLING REPORTER.

Tuapeka Times, Volume I, Issue 12, 2 May 1868, Page 4

OUR RAMBLING REPORTER.

Mr. Editor, — I hav,e been given more to cogitating than to rambling lately. The other day, however, I took a strolJ to the Blue Spur, in order that I might continue my rambles, part of which you have already published. But before saying anything about it, I feel very much inclined to take my friend Old Peter Piper to task for his remarks anent your report of the Wetherstones entertainment. I happened to be at the entertainment, and when I saw your meagre report, like a few others in Wetherstones who expected to see their names standing out in bold relief, I was grievously disappointed ; but on reading your explanation, I accepted it as a sufficient apology. There can be no doubt — at least I have no doubt in my mmd — that Old Peter was proud to have his name bandied about in the prologue, and to know that there were repeated calls for his appearance before the curtain. It waa doubtless, then, with infinite chagrin that he found you did not publish the prologue. Now, as my sobriquet is freely mentioned in the same prologue, I have as much reason to feel proud of it as Old Peter has ; but I cannot endorse his opinion of the prologue when he calls it "admirable!" We generally judge most things by comparison ; and, testing the Prologue by the well known works of the authoress, I do not think it a fair specimen of that lady's poetic abilities j it is too strained, and wanting in spontaneity, Peter, however, can be forgiven in the matter ; he is not only advancing in years, but is already far advanced ; and although I must acknowledge that his mind is remarkably alert for his age ; still, if I fail through the ardour of youth to observe the eye of the poetess — " In a fine frenzy rolling, Glancing from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven," I think Old Peter fails, through the dimness of his vision, to observe any imperfections in the poetess, because she has immortalised his name in the prologue. I cannot say he fails from a want of the poetic feeling, for he has favored you in one of his letters with a verse about •' Wetherstones braes are bonnie," &c, showing he has a turn for rhyme. It is evident that Wetherstones is all in all to Peter — its braes bloom fresher than other braes, and the tutu, grows greener there than elsewhere, and whoever speaks well of the place, gains his approbation. I have no doubt your reporter might have extended his remarks, and made a good long report of the entertainment. He might nave spoken of the unequalled Prologue, and expressed himself in soft and pleasing words of its talented authoress ; of the excellent elocution displayed in its reading ; he might also have descanted on the excellent music, and praised the inestimable qualities of the I performeya ; the great taste shown by the ladies in their dress ; and then he might have waxed eloquent upon the crowd of listeners ever on the tip-toe of excitement as to what would come next, or ke might have re-produced "some of the puns and oddities of the Christy Minstrels, such as this and "many other smart things for pwfcicli Wetfterfltone^ is aotedr-"! say,

Bones, can you tell me this— Why is Peel street like the Molyneux River 1 "—"Because— eh ! -because — Oh ! I gub it up." " Why, you fool, because it has a bank on each side of it." The balloon, too, which "" " merged into a perfect star," might have given the imagination of your reporter scope for an aerial flight ; but, then, you had no space, and a good job too, if you could Jnot give anything but fulsome adulation of this kind. There is always a want of genuineness and a profusion of "bunkum" in that sort of praise, which savors greatly of hypocrisy. It may be the way to gain friends, but I believe in the end it is the way to lose them ; and I trust, Mr. Editor, you will not demean yourself to such means of gaining a crust, but that you will always call a spade a Bpade, and not an article of husbandry. Asking your pardon for this \ long digression, you will remember, if you read my Ramble by Evan's Flat arid Munro's, that I left you after coming out of a long tunnel. Well, supposing we continue our stroll up the Gully, and cross and recroSfe the creek and several water races, W come in sight of the extensive mining operations of the Blue Spur— leaving which on our left, we ascend a track which brings us, after some puffing and . blowing, to the top of the hill on which , the most of the houses of the miners are , situated. Many of the houses have not been erected more than twelve months, ' and as a sign of the exceeding prosperity of the mining aristocracy of Tuapeka, as ■ the Blue Spur miners might justly be termed, we observe several new houses in the course of erection. The most prominent buildings on the Spur are the Schoolroom and Schoolhouse, and with, a view of ascertaining the state of elementary education in this important mining locality, we may as well step into the Schoolroom and see what is going on. Here we find upwards of thirty strong healthylooking youngsters, about an equal number of boys and girls, whose ages vary from six to twelve. The teacher, Mr. M'Lelland, appears to have the entire 1 command over them— not the command resulting from fear, but from tact and good management, as the children are extremely orderly and obedient. The copy books of some of the boys and girls from nine to eleven years of age, are very creditable, and some of them in arithmetic have gone through the rules of proportion. A very good plan adopted by Mr. M'Lelland is this — When a scholar . has worked out a question on his slate he is then made to copy it in his copy book, by which means the question is not only impressed upon his memory, but lie is practised in his writing. Mrs. M'Lelland lends her valuable assistance in the school by teaching the younger children their letters, and the elder girls plain sewing, to prepare them as they grow up to fulfil those domestic duties likely to devolve upon them. The System of marks carried out by the schoolmaster is very complete — a system by which justice will be done to each scholar, the attentive and persevering promoted, and the careless and inattentive put to shame. Leaving the school, which, in every respect, reflects great credit on the teacher and hi 3 better half, we pass Mr. Grievo's store and proceed along the Spur to the scene of the mining operations, where the various claims nearly meet each other, and where it is almost dangerous to walk. On each side we have vast yawning chasms, •with sides torn and rugged by the immense blasts of powder used in loosening the cement, and from a hundred and fifty to two.hundred feet down can be seen a few miners busy at work with pick and shovel, 'very few, however, of the many miners at work on the Blue Spur can be seen at once. Some are tunnelling, some sluicing, some breaking up the cement, and so on, and dashing down with all the impetuosity of impassioned youth, the water hastens to lend its invaluable aid in separating the gold from the dross. The formation of the Blue Spur is peculiar- It is a vast gutter, with the reef sloping down at each side, at an angle of 45 degrees. This gutter is filled with the deposit known as the blue cement, all the strata of which dip slightly towards Gabriel's Gully, to which fact is attributed the greater difficulty of blasting operations on the Munro's side than on the Gabriel's side. Mills and Co.'s claim is the nearest to Lawrence, on the Gabriel's side, and here the reef is close to the surface of the Spur, and dips down at the same angle as it does in Mouat and Co.'s claim. It is not yet known Avhere the two reefs converge, but it must be under Hales and Co.'s claim which looks near to the middle of the gutter, and the depth, from the top of the Spur at this part, must give a deposit of cement of at least two hundred and fifty or three -hundred feet, including the surface soil. I believe the bottom has not yet been reached, although a hole of considerable depth, was sunk by Hales and Co. One thing is certain in connection with the blue cement, the further you descend, or the nearer the reef, the more prolific the cement. Mr. Hutcheson, of Mouat and Co. , showed me a small piece of the cement with two good-sized pieces of gold in it ; one of the pieces was quite rounded and ■water-worn. /The cement in Mouat and Co.'s claim, close to the reef, look 3 very compact and pressed — almost as solid as the rock itself, and very stoney ; large boulders, in some cases weighing a ton, have been extracted from it, and a large quantity of smaller ones can be seen on the face of the claim. Mr. Hutcheson also showed me some very fine specimens ■of chrysfcalised mundic, a sort of copper ore, a large quantity of which, he informed me, is found in the cement. Mr. Mouat had. dissolved some . of it, and found that it was impregnated with gold. The following will give an idea of the number of claims at work on the Spur at present, with, an approximation to the extent of land leased by each company : — Mouat and Co 1 acre j Livingston and Co. ... 7| ,, j Morrison and Co 4 „ PyfeandCo 4 „ Blue Spur Co 7 „ Perseverance Co 7 „ Keppel and Co Ik „ Hales and Co 2$ „ Great Extended Co. ... 6 „ Cousins and Co 4 „ Nelson and Co. , 2| „ Mills and Co 1 „ Hall and Co 1 „ These, parties are ail busy at work, and it

may be said without exception, are on a fair way to amass large fortunes. The PerseveraiKse Company are making a dam for their own use, capable of ' holding some six or eight hours supply of water. This dam, from the, nature of the ground and the blasting necessary, will cost the company not less than £1000, which fact of itself impresses upon one the payable description of work at the Spur, thatwill admit of improvements of such magnitude. One of the finest sights at the Spur is the water races, especially where they are brought together at the cutting over Mouat and Co.'s claim Morrison and Co.'s, the largest of the nine races which flow through that cutting, is in the middle, and the smaller ones are on each side. The water, from the impetus received by the steep fall, rushes along at a great rapidity. As they leave this cutting, each race diverges in its own channel, being measured and apportioned to the requirements of each claim. These channels are worn so deep and wide in^ (some places, that I should suppose unless well watched, the strong current of water everflowing through them would burst their banks, and allow the races to amalgamate. Various estimates are given as to the time the Blue Spur is likely to last. Some say twenty years, others say fifty, but if the present slow process of washing away the hill be continued, the work will certainly occupy not less than twenty years. There is a new Ordinance issued by the Provincial Government materially affecting the law as regards powder magazines. Private mining companies may now, without any infringement of the law, keep aay quantity of powder in their magazines, so long as these magazines are 300 yards from a dwelling house or publio road. The latter part of this Ordinance, if enforced, will cause very great inconvenience to the Blue Spur miners, from the simple fact that it is impossible to find a spot of ground on or near to the Spur that is not within 300 yards of a dwelling house. It is to be hoped, therefore, the Government will reduce the distance by one half, which, to all intents and purposes, would meet any emergency in the case of an explosion, and at the same time enable the miners to have a magazine within an easy distance of their work — in fact upon their own claim. Wednesday was a fearful day of wind at the Spur. It was a pretty sight to observe two small races, as they were discharged over the precipiece into the claims on the Munro's side, blown high up in the air, and thrown right back across the road. In the distance it had all the appearance of steam. It was not so pleasant, however, in attempting to pass that portion of the road, to get drenched to the skin, and less pleasant still was it to witness the iron roof completely blown off a poor fellow's house while he was sitting comfortably enjoying his dinner ; but this was really the case, and he was speechless, and looked quite disconsolate as he stood and viewed the ruin ; pieces of the wood work, &c., of the house were blown a distance of a hundred yards. Mr. M'Lelland, too, is afraid that some day the schoolroom, which rocks to and fro with the gale 3, will tople over en masse, and play havoc amongst the children. The schoolroom presents a broad side to the gale, and is less protected on account of its height than any other building on the Spur. But I must now turn my footsteps homeward. The rain has come on heavily, and the wind being as strong as ever, it has beaten the rain into my clothes, so that they are completely soaked. Nothing of interest is to be seen — a horse taking shelter behind some flax bushes ; a few cattle with their backs turned towards the storm, and a few Chinaman working in the Gully amid wind and rain, and the smoke rising from the sodden chimney of a hut, are the only signs of life to be seen all around, till I reach Lawrence, the great emporium of the commerce of Tuapeka, where two or three stragglers can be seen in the streets, and a few persons waiting at the hotel doors for an overdue coach. I should have said that when I started my ramble, I paid a visit to the book sale in Ross Place, to enjoy a few moments' conversation -with the young prodigy of commerce who, at the age of sixteen, is fully acquainted with all the dodgery and trickery resorted to by business people, whose volubility of words is equal to the best auctioneer who ever held a license. He has the real nack of starting at £1 and gradually coming down to 2s. 6d. > c reminds one of Slater the celebrated Cheap Jack who used to travel the midland counties of England ; or of Robbie Salmon, the celebrated vendor of " sweeties " and gingerbread, better known to your Scotch readers. He is a prodigy in every sense of the word. He can "polish-off" eleven dozen of oysters, smoke his cigar, and "shout" for his customers if he thinks the profit from their purchase will admit of it. But I fear my ramble will occupy more in print than the distance I have travelled warrants, otherwise I should attempt to discuss the question as to whether we shoubi'* encourage these commercial interlopers to take money out of the district. Were they all as ready to "shout" and circulate the profits as this young prodigy, we might possibly become more lenient in our judgment of them, but unluckily they are not.