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Tuapeka Times, Volume II, Issue 75, 17 July 1869, Page 5

The Thames Goldfields. —By later Auckland papers we gather the following items respecting these goldfields: — The crushing of the Long Drive claim specimens was finished on June 21, and from 4391bs of stone the handsome yield of 1490z5. 6dwts. of gold was obtained. 6001bs. of stone from. the same claim yielded, on May 11, 18400z5. of smelted gold. This is the claim in which H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh has twenty-five shares, for each of which he paid £50. The following are reported :— Full share in Keily's claim, for £1,000 j a half original share in Dixon's No. 1 claim, £1,200; a quarter-equal in Golden Gate claim fetched £200, and some full shares, £800 per share ; a quarter share in the Junction claim, £350 ; a half-share in the Inverness claim, £450 ; a half share in the Shamrock claim, Waiotahi, £500 ; shares in the Long Drive, at £100 per share. The fortunate proprietors of the Manukau claim have netted over £4,000 a-piece dividends. On June 15th, 1020ozs. of gold reached Auckland from the Shotover claim. 120 tons of stuff, from the Homeward Bound claim, has yielded 130 ounces of retorted gold. Through the courtesy of Mr. Muir, the manager, we are in a position to know the amount of gold which has been yielded from the Long Drive claim since April last, up to the 29th inst., amounting in all to the magnificent return of 63750z5. 7dwts. 18grs. of smelted gold, of which the value, duty paid, amounts to the good round sum of £16,735 7s. 10R

The London correspondent of the "Oamaru Times" says :— While speaking or writing of things American, I may mention the interesting fact that this week, or at all events by the end of next, the Pacific Railway, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, will have been completed. The telegraph wire accompanies it, and in connection with the difliculties attending that work, allow me to quote an amusing paragraph from an American paper : — "The buffaloes found in the telegraph poles of the overland line a new sort of delight on the treeless prarie — the novelty of having something to scratch against. But it was expensive scratching for the. telegraph company; and there, indeed, was the rub, for the bisons shoved down miles of wire daily. A bright idea struck somebody to send to St. Louis and Chicago for all the bradawls that could be purchased, and these were driven into the poles, with a view to wound the animals, and check their rubbing propensity. Never was a greater mistake. The buffaloes were, delighted. For the first time, they came to the scratch sure of sensation in their thick hides that thrilled them from horn to tail. They would go fifteen miles to find a bradawl. They fought battles around the poles containing them, and the victor would proudly climb the mountainous heap of rump and hump of the fallen, and scratch himself into bliss until the bradawl broke or the pole came down. There has been no demand for bradawls from the Kansas region since the first invoice."

An inveterate toper, when receiving a lecture from his wife on the subject of his convivial habits, savagely reminded her that woman brought more sin and sorrow into the world by. her eating than ever man had. done by his drinking.