ALEXANDRA.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 300, 30 October 1873, Page 6

ALEXANDRA.

(From our own Correspondent.) October 24th, 1873. The Molyneux rose several feet at the beginning of the week, flooding Coleman's claim at Butchers Point, which has been turning out very well •this season. The r^ver has since fallen considerably, so that it may-be hoped that work will not be suspended for any length of time. As the snow is disappearing from the Old Man, miners holding claims over the ranges are beginning to move out, preparatory to commencing the summer campaign. A considerable number of Chinamen are migrating to the head of the Earnseleugh and the gullies around that locality, and there ia every appearance of a large Chinese population being .located in that neighbourhood during the summer; The glory of dredging has departed! On Saturday last the once famous Galatea was put up at auction and realised the ,] a 1 try sum of £25. The old dredges hay i had their day, the increasing flow of tailings requiring some more powerful means than hand labor for raising the golden wash from the bpd of the river^ \ v> . The body found in the Molyneux near the Tuapeka Mouth, a notice of which appeared in your columns a few weeks ago, has been identified by the clothing to be the remains of John Brown,. wVawas drowned near Alex- . andra about fifteen months since. In the report of the proceedings of the Waste Lands Board a short time since, it appeared that an application had been made to purchase some suburban land outside of the town boundary, near the brewery of Messrs Tbeyera and Beck. As there are several persons residing in that locality, the notice attracted little attention, it being generally supposed that the application had been made by some of the parties who wished to purchase their residence sites. It appears, however, that the land is about fifteen acres in extent, and is apparently wanted for speci*lative purposes, consequently there. ' Js a considerable amount of opposition to the sale, as the ' terraces are well known to be auriferous, and are commanded by two of the pnnApar-iKW Q djsteiQV

ftbe Manuherikia "and the Ovens), while the sale of the land in questionwould block up the outlet to the Mauuherikia river, and curtail the quantity of land available for mining, already confined to a rather limited area. Judging from the opposition which the proposed sale has worked, I think there is very little chance of it being sanctioned. There is a rumour current that a bullock team with timber from Tapanui had succeeded in 'reaching the j Teviot in safety. Should the rumour j be authenticated, there will be a prospect of our communications being reopened with the Tapanui district. It is a singular ciroumstance, and one well worthy of the attention of our rulers, who fondly term New Zealand the Britain of the South, and are never tired of tracing fancied points of repemblance between the colony and the mother country, that the North American ports from whence Britain derives her principal supply of timber are closed to the traffic during the winter. Strange to say, Tapanui, whence we derive our principal timber supply, (in spite of the skilful navigation of the gallant bullock drivers) is likewise closed to the timber trade for nearly half the year j and the time occupied by the passage is about the same in both cases. •I am not aware that any one has previously noticed this remarkable coincidence.