DUNSTAN.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 269, 27 March 1873, Page 8

DUNSTAN.

(From a, Correspondent.) What of " your own " from these parts just now? Has the late dry weather so shrivelled his intellect that his effusions will no longer flow ? It is somewhere said, " All flesh is grass ; " so, if he has suffered like the grass his silence need not be wondered at. That the district may not be left out of your uwiiiory altogether, though not very well posted' up in the business, I venture to send you a few items of domestic news. I suppose I have said enough as to the weather and the- grass, and as for other crops, what was of them, they are what is termed safely housed, if we except poor Mr. Williams' hay, which was about the best crop iv the district, but it went to smoke and ashes, either by the action of spontaneous combustion, or by being too near a lighted match, it w,is not known which. Water then m.iy next be mentioned, and it indeed is at very low ebb. The. supplies are getting small by degrees and' beautifully less, and some are dry altogether, even Mother Molyneux herself has condescended to get remarkably, low before her timej which iv days bygone would have been hailed with the delight* as an omen of a good season ; what has been save 4by pur hand-

loom fleet, from wreck and destruction, are now all lying quietly —at their moorings. The familiar rocks heaving in sight, or the water breaking Over somo known spot, which was oftimes the signal for action, ceases now to move them. There they lie, sad relics of tho past, peacefully awaiting the dissolution which will soon overtake them. Gladly, after many a severe struggle, do they now give place to the I pneumatics, the submarine, the steam, and the ladder principle, while they seem to say, " ova star is set, yours is in the ascendant ; we were useful in our day, see that thou be so also." Sideebrg's steam and M'Lelland & Co.'s pneumatic dredges have been at work for some, time, but no great finds are chronicled -as. yet, though both answer every expectations as to their working powers. If opportunity offers, I will at soms future time send you a description of these scientific machines, and their modes of working. Mining and joint stock companies are the order of the day, especially in the flour mill line ; but I fear the Tigerdale Flour Mill and Brewery Company will swallow up or drown the Dunstan Flour Mill Company. The latter, I think, put the cart before the horse. They should first have got the land to grow the wheat, and the mill would naturally follow. The Goldfields Secretary and Provincial Engineer visited the district lately. -One object, at least, -was to look for sites for reservoirs for the Waike,rikeri workings, and for the town of Clyde. I did not hear of tho Secretary paying Feraud the thousands' compensation he" wants for his late purchase. Now, that you have et Judge Chapman go, we may soon expect to hear of what he says about a re-hearing of that application which was referred to him some time since. But it may be that the Government intend to leave Feraud in undisturbed possession of his gravel bed, and cut a sludge channel alongside of it. If so, it would first be wise for them to enquire well into the law of right of support, which the Bluo Spur litigants seemed so uncertain about ; for should any of the valuable surface shingle slip in the channel and get washed away, or any of the sludge should cover it, the upshot would be_ that we would soon be having Mr. Barton and his legal friends claiming for his rijxht of support the whole of- the Waikerikeri Valley, gullies, spurs, .and all, even down to Monte Christo itself. As he says they will soon have the Blue Spur to themselves, the*n, I expect, the problem will solve itself. But 1 am getting off the track ; there has been enough of the Spur lately and its famous peg. There has been a pretty full share of meetings lately. There was a hospital committee meeting, a band of hope meting, miners' association meeting, and there was the meeting of the three J.P.s, comprising two ex-mayors and a R.M. It appears that the two ex-M.s, whom I shall call No. 1 and No. 3 for distinction sake, and as we have three live ex-M.s in the town, it leaves out No. 2, who was not at the ineeeting, and puts them in their order. These two ex-M.s had disputed over a squaring up business, and No. 3 sent her Majesty's compliments to No. 1, inviting him to a, meeting with the R.M., in her Majesty's Court, at Clyde. No. 3 asked the R.M. to order No. 1 to pay him a certain sum of money. No. 1 said there was a gallon measure and a lamp, which he delivered to No. 3 eight years ago, the value of which he wanted taken off the amount. No. 3 did not know whether he had them or not ; if he had, he had no recollection of them ; but if it was proved he had them, he would allow for them. This was settled satisfactorily to No. 1, who was asked then to pay the balance in, a week. No, he would not before 2 months. This was refused ; and he said " I will not pay it ; I will file my schedule first." This contempt of the rules of the establishment the R.M. would not brook, even from an ex-M. and J.P., and ordered the executive officer to immediately wait on No. 1 ; and if money or effects were not forthcoming, to furnish him with a free ticket of admission to her Majesty's hotel in Dunedin for the period of two months. The meeting then broke up, but No. 1 di,d not accept the ticket. Being a peaceful and orderly community here, under the heading " breach of the peace " I would have to say nil, did not a neighboring town kindly supply the deficiency. A Cromwell landlady, of some celebrity, and her two girls agreed to differ one day lately, when the latter contrived to have the stove heated- up to high -pressure pitch, and on it they set the poor lady, threatening to roast Ler alive. * She managed, however, to escape, but with what amount of injury I have not 'heard, as it has not yet transpired so far whether either or both doctors the town supplies were called in attendance, but something waa said about requiring a cushioned chair. The ringleader was filled £2., or one month imprisonment ; and the accomplice w.as ordered to leave the town in. half au hour, or she would be taken in charge, which she accordingly did, returning again next morning. In sporting news is slack. It is not the proper season here ; but as the subject is important, 1 must fossick a little from somewhere. Your Jockey Club's disqualification of Reay haß been of some service to your con-

temporary of ths plain, in furnishing him with a fresh text to dilate on his all absorbing tapic. How adroitly he shifts from the practical to political jockeyship, and gives a hint or two to Yogel and Bastings. I wonder the disqualification of Roid was not mentioned, nor no notice taken of the supreme jockeyship and admirable judgment and forethought displayed bj him and his Superintendent colleagues, who, though mounted on the ministerial chargers, kept each their provincial ass in hand, in case of an There the Supers, had the best of Mr. Reid — though they lost their seats they did not, like him, lose their asses into the bargain.