ALEXANDRA.

Tuapeka Times, Volume IV, Issue 220, 18 April 1872, Page 8

ALEXANDRA.

(Prom our own Correspondent,) The few showers that have fallen in tuis district lately have had the effect of filling the whole of the water races, And giving the gullies a plentiful supply pf water. AU of the claims in butchers and Conroys Gullies are in full work, but no washing up will take place for some time yet, except in Minton and Co.'s plain? at the lower end of the gully. This party, not being able to sluice off the whole of their 3 ground (having to lift about five feet of the bottom into boxes), wash up a paddock every fortnight, which pn an average pays the shareholders £6 per week. This claim will take several years to work out, and it is all maiden ground its owners have before them. JVf'emnis will soon have eomp^ ea his monster tail race UP tp WsQ'nd Nieper's hotel, where he o-pects to work better ground than he has heretofore. If such should be the case, he will be a lucky individual. I am infortned'that M'Ginnis was offered the sum of £750 for this tail race by a party of Chinamen, which offer was refused, "Walkings and party will goon have worked their claim up to the Butcl ers crossing, where they will meet with a difficulty in the shape of the stone bridge across the creek. Tin's bridge will have to be destroyed And a pew one built to allow them to work above the crossing. I believe the claim will pay for the destruction and reconstruction. The whole of the claims in Conroys Gully are yielding .satisfactory results, which is more than ■can be' said of the Cpnroys Reef, which has been idje for some time past, owing, the shareholders say, to the quantity of water in the deep shaft. Jt is a great pity to see the machinery and reef standing idle, more particularly when the reef for the short time the machinery was at work paid the whole of the working expenses, together with nearly one • thousand pounds for the machinery. The water wheel at the Butchers Gully Reef" was again started this week, and the shareholders expect to have a crushing in about three weeks, when I will-furnish you with the result. The claims on the west bank of the Molyneux are in fill work, and some of them doing exceedingly well, particularly the claims of Noble and party and Patterson and party. M'llroy apd party are getting on well with their tail race, They are at present cutting through a heavy bar pf ropk, which they exppct will take them five weefes to accomplish, after which time they expect to commence getting the precious metal, I hope they will get it in plentiful quantities, as they deserve to do so for their pluck. The tail race, when completed, will" be over one-third of a mile in Jengftli. Kett and party are making preparations fpr working their claim at 1 the Half-mile Beach, and should the river be at a low level this season, I believe it will yield more gold than any previous season. The Hit or Miss men intend to resume working their old claim at Frenchman's Point. I reported some months since that this party had removed the whole of their extensive plant into the Earnscleugh Grand Junction claim, and after working there about three months, came to the conclusion that it was a duffer. On Tuesday last they commenced to remove their plant back again to their pld claim, by placing the whole of their sluice and flume boxes in the Molyneux, firmly bound together with ropes% Three of the shareholders were in a boat to land the boxea at the Point, but by some mishap they did not succeed. The raft was not manageable, although they got the j'opeß on shore. One of the men wound the rope round a rock, to endeavour to stay the progress of the raft, when he got one of his legs entangled in it, but luckily for him it broke, otherwise he would have been a dead man. He was very fortunate to get oft' with a bruised leg, The whole pf the boxes went down the river, ' which will pause great loss to the ! -shareholders, The Ovens Co. are busily engaged in sinking their second paddock, which they expect to bottom pome time next week. According to prospects along the face, it should turn out very good. The Manuherikia men are in full work at Insley's and near the brewery, with what results I haye not heard lately Blackwell and party Jare busy washing up nbout one acre of ground that they have stripped for some months. • This party have-been idle for some length of time for the want of water, the Manor Burn, from which they get their supply being very low this season. The Chinamen on the upper and lower Manor Burn Flat are doing very well. The timber merchants must be doing a good thing out of them, it being all cash, and not a day passes without a load of timber being sold to them. One speculativp Chimv man is trying to obtain a slaughtering Jicense. I have heard, that the police object, on the ground that Chinamen oarjnofc give the returns required hv the Ordinance. Should a petition by any chance eorno this way, having f o V its object the expulsion of the o'iincsp, \t would get but very few signatures \n Alexandra 3 on the contrary, wo would go in to double their number. On Monday last Alexandra was very busy indeed. The business 1 in the v Resident Magistrate's and Warden's Courts was not concluded until three oV-tork. p s in, The principal cases were M'4)o.nough, V, M'Kentfe and, M'Ken,

zie v. M'Donough, for cattle trespass at Speargrass Flat, In the first case a verdict was recorded for plaintiff for £6 ss. and costs ; in the second case for plaintiff for £20 and costs. There was a third case, M'Kenzie v. M'Donough, claim for £2 17s. 6d., for money lent and goods supplied. Defendant admitted his liability. From what I can learn those cases all arose from some angry words having taken place between the parties about the payment of some nips supplied. I trust, as the parties are neighbours, that all angry feeling terminated with the Court proceedings. At half-past three o'clock Mr. J. C, Chappie auctioned at Eyan's Bendigo Hotel Mr. Knowles' interest in water races, which realised the handsome sum of £500, Thomas Oliver, Esq., Como Villa, being the purchaser. The large room of the hotel was full to suffoca-. tion, and the bidding was spirited. The following day Mr. Chappie sold the whole of Mr. Knowles' iurniture at good prices, I very much fear that all communication between this place and Tuapeka will soon cease, if something is not done to the road between this and Butchers Gully. Some parts of it are almost impassable, and should we get any heavy rain it will be absolutely impossible to ascend the steep hill about half a mile from the Ferry, I have been informed that our Council here have instructed their Town Clerk to call the Road Engineer's attention to the state of this road ; and I also believe it is the intention of the Council to try and get a special grant from the Provincial Council to improve the road from the Ferry to Butchers Gully. I hope they will be successful in getting it, as it is very much needed. About afortnight since a public meeting was held in the Library hall, to take into consideration the commonage question. The Mayor occupied the chair, and explained that he had received a requisition from a number of ratepayers to call a public meeting to take into consideration the extension of the Alexandra commonage. Resolutions J were passed to the effect that a memorial be drawn up, praying the Council to grant <in extension of commonage, &c. Ail Ihis h s been done, and something over 300 signatures were attached to the memorial. The case stands thus :- —Messrs. M'Laren, Gregg and Co. (Mr. Turnbull being one of the company) have erected a fence from the Race Course down to near the Mauuberikia river, about half a mile from 'the town of Alexandra ; and I may state that the fence is erected on the Alexandra commonage, and not on their run. Perhaps the whole of the fence is not on the commonage, but a great portion of it is ; and all the commonage we enjoy j is the flat between this and Mutton Town, which is nothing more than a sand bed. About three weeks since Mr. Turnbull employed a man, by name, Wm. Woodman, of Clyde, to impound cattle from off his run, which he did with a vengeance, — going about close to people's doors and driving the cattle to the pound. But to give Mr. Turnbull his due, it has come to my knowledge that he instructed Woodman to impound no cattle running below the Dunstan road ; but Woodinnn being in Mr. Turnbull's employ, that gentleman must bear the brunt of it. lam credibly informed that Mr. Turnbull was in Alexandra one day this week, and went into a certain shop, where he met our Mayor and Mr. o 'Regan, whom he addressed in this wise : " Oh, here's two of the principal agitators to take away part of my station. It's ft pity you loafers hadn't; something better to do," and much more to the same effect. Up to the present I had taken Mp. Turnbull for a gentleman of a different stamp, and am truly sorry he should have so demeaned himself on this occasion. No doubt he is very sore on the point ; but I consider the few should give way to the many ; and I further consider if his fence is erected oh the commonage, the inhabitants of Alexandra should not allow him to remove it — that is, if thsy have the power.