CROMWELL.

Tuapeka Times, Volume II, Issue 101, 15 January 1870, Page 5

CROMWELL.

(From our own Correspor*dent). Since the date of my last communication, we have entered urion a new period of the nineteenth century — we have passed from the year 1869 to 1870. May the exchange be for the better, and not for the worse. So far as we, of the Cromwell side of the Province, are concerned, the holiday season can scarcely be called a merry one. Preparations for the occasion were made upon a liberal scale. The requisites for an excellent race meeting were provided in a style which bade fair to eclipse all previous events of the land,

and the outlying population mustered strong to do honour to the occasion. The weather itself appeared to favour the project, and the rain fell copiously for some time preceding the event. To your Tuapeka readers this may appear something like a contradiction of terms ; but they must not judge of Cromwell by their own moist climate. There is such a tiling as ruling a man with kindness ; and one of the greatest drawbacks to outdoor amusement in this place is the extraordinary fine weather we enjoy. Three feet of dusk on a plain ten times more open than the Wetherstones Flat, is liable to generate into clouds of dust winch only the fewest number could be expected to apjHreciate. Be that as it may, the day preceding the meeting was wet throughout, and although rain fell on the first day of the races, the couise was upon the whole good, and the weather enjoyable. Of the racing itself, 1 will not bother you with many remarks. The district horses proved up to the mark,, and before oiitsiders will be able to carry away the honours, a better stock will have to be provided. In ' ' book-making 5> a fair stroke of work was done, and it is. said that some of the more knowing gentlemen of the turf found to their dismay that they had got out of their reckoning. One valuable horse, named Pasha, dropt dead at the hurdle, and his rider had a very narrow escape. A similar immunity,u nity, however, was not vouchsafed to one who was present and took an active part in the first day's proceedings. I refer to the melancholy end of the unfortunate man, Garrett, whose name is intimately associated with tho quartz reef discoveries at Bendigo Gully. At the conclusion of the first day's meet, Mr. Garrett was returning from Cromwell to a place known as the Lowburn, on the Bendigo Giillyroad, when his horse stumbled, and in the fall the rider broke his neck. The intelligence fell like a thunderbolt amongst the merry throng congregated in Cromwell tocelebrate the holidays. Never was the voice of mirth brought low by a sharper stroke. It seemed as if a message bad c raie from the grave to check the frivolities of the season. The day following an inquest was held, and after the facts of the sad case had been elicited, a verdict of accidental death was returned. On thefollowing Sunday the funeral took placo, and a large and melancholy cortege it was. The district Masonic body mustered strong, and followed the remains to thegrave, where the solemn services for the dead, conducted by the R.W.M. Bro. Vincent Pyke, took place. The whole proceedings were touching and suggestive in the extreme. Scarcely had Garrett's fate been realised, when it was discovered that another holiday maker— Robert Ralston, a cattledealer — was amissing. He had gone in search of some sheep grazing on the banks of the Clutha, and in attempting to ford the stream, there is toomuch reason to fear that he was carried away and drowned, His body has not yet been recovered. One more addition remains to be made to the list of fatalities. A Chinaman, engaged as a cook in one of the local hotels, suddenly disappeared under circumstances which point conclusively to the Kawarau Kiver as having teen his doom. He too still remains tobe accounted for. In mining matters there is little to report. The rain, although disastrous in some instances, has provided a welcomesupply of water for mining purposes, and dams and head races are now reported tobe full. The miners have again set in to work, and things now wear pretty much their ordinary aspect. A new dredge hasbeen launched in the shotover. This is looked upon as a very important movement. The Shotover is rich in golden treasure, but the difficulty is to recover it. Beach workings are painfully liable to floods, and claims are no sooner got into working order than down comes the waterand swamps them out. The dredge, it is to be hoped, will obviate that difficulty, and should it succeed, other machines of the kind are in contemplation. There is little new to report upon from the reefs. The Aurora claim will be ready for crushing in a few days, and the action taken by Mr. Murray to erect a public battery has met with general approval. The prospects are very good, but they cannot be realised until we have crushing machinery in our midat. The Shotover bridge is getting on satisfactorily. The last tier of piles were driven a few days ago, and the contractors are confident thac they will be able to open the bridge to the public in the early part of March. The Shotover crossing at Blair's Ferry is as treacherous as ever, and the present broken weather is not likely to improve it. The grand Whitter-Cromwell-Mujnici-pality game has opened in the Supreme Court. It would be a godsend to the town and district if Whitter's reign could bo brought to an end. The council, as constituted, is a fair one, but in the hands of Whitter it is something to contemplate. The weather still remains threatening, and at the time at which I write somepretty sharp showers are knocking about.