Local Intelligence.
BRITISH mails via Suez leave Lawrence on the morning of Tuesday, 19th instant. The annual public examination of the Lawrence Grammar School takes place on Wednesday next. A MEETING of the Lawrence Athenaeum Committee was held in the Library on Wednesday evening. Present : Messrs Abel (in the chitir), Adams, and Al'Kinlay. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and con firmed. The following accounts were passed foi payment, viz:— Jonas Hiivrop, £1 J>s 6d ; T. Burnett, £1 9s 6*l ; S. "Wotton, £1 lla , Herbert and Co. £L 9s 9d ; F. Meyer and Co, £3 15s 3.1 ; Charles Bryant, 17s ;J. C. Love £19 16* 91 ; J. Thomson, £1. It was decided to hold the annual meeting on the first Thursday in Febraary. Messrs Squires and Ferguson were appointed to draw up the annual report. An offer from Mr. Adams to mount the geological map of Victoria, received from the Victorian Government, was accepted with thanks. This closed the business. The weights for the Tapanui and Hurdle Handicaps will be found in oar advertising columns. The annual in^etiag for the electio-i of a School Committee for the Ev:ui"s Flat School whs held in the Schoolhouse on Monday evening. The following gentlemen were elected members of Committee, viz : — Messrs Brooks (^ch.iitmaii) Hiinawny, (Secretary), Smith, Hopkins. Evans, Ramsay, Dounykowski. Hogg, ami Buchanan, ilfr. Duthie, the teacher, has left the school foianother at High C'iffs, Anderson's B:iy, anfi Mr. Eley, a gentleman well recommended by Mr. Hislop and Mr. Petrie has been appointed in his stead. We nude! stand the funds of the school are in a veiy encouraging state. Messrs. Forrest and Cameron, deputed by the Alexandra Tovyn Council went over the Old Man Rnnge to the Waikaia bush last week to endeavor to find a track of sufficiently easy gradient to allow of timber being brought over by bullock teams. We have not yet heard if they wer» successful in tli« umleitnl-ing, but have very little dou')t that a roud will nltimu., tely be made in that direction. The work for the removal and erection of the Presby terian Manse at Alexandra, has been commenced the contractor Mr. T. Brown. We have ljeen favored with several particulars anent ihe Palmer goldfield from Mr. Edward Matyne, of Wetheistones, who recently returned from these much-talkedof diggings. Mr. Malone Vas some four months at work at the Palraer,but found that he could not stand the climate, so returned to Tuajieka. The Palmer river (from which the goldfield has taken its name) is a tributary of the Mitchell, which empties its waters into the Gulf of Carpentaria. The various creeks whose names have secome familiar in connection with the Palmer, such "as Oakey Creek, Stoney Crqek, Bushy Creek, and other creeks, lead into Sandy Creek, and Sandy Creek goes into the Palmer. These are the principal places where gold has been found. The ground is very shallow. From the surface to three feet in depth is the deepeit ground Mr. Malone ever saw on these diggings, and, as might be imagined, it is very quickly exhausted. A good claim lasts only about a fortnight. Miners' rights are 10s. each a year. At Sandy Creek. Mr. Malone states that tlere are several shanties and stores ; and as might be expected, " cash on the nail" are the only terms upon which business is transacted. When you go to a storekeeper you must pull (jjtt your goldbag, and then he -will bring outbil scales. The price of gold at Cooktown is £3 LBa Gd an ounce. Mr. Malone will neither recommend a man to go oi stay, but he says a person should think well of it befoie going. As for himself, he says he would rather work for £3 a week in New Zealand, than for £7 or £8 at the Palmer. The country is a densely-timbered one, and good shelter is thus afforded from the sun ; but the wet season is to be dreaded.During the wet season, the Palmer is an extensive river, from a q-m-ter to half a mile in width, but in the dry season it is simply one cogtinuous chain of w.iter holes with no apparent current. Much of the sickness was caused, Mr- Malone thinks, by bad fool. Salt beef diied in the sun is the chief article of food. Apptof jam, or even a box of savdines could scarcely be had when he was ther-e. The road from Cooktown to the Palmer by what is not euphoniously but very correctly termed Hell's Gate is 170 miles. Hell's Gate it seems is well named. It is a narrow pass through an immense rook, which is cut in two. So narrow is it that packets have often to unpack their loads to allow the hovses to pass through, and then repack for the remainder of the road. The accommodation on this road is very indifferent. The following is an approximation of the stages on the road where a v crossing and rations a of sort can be had : — From Cooktown to the Normandy River 40 miles ; from Normanby to Lora Eiver, 35 ; Lora River to Kennedy River. 30 ; Kennedy River to Edward's Camp or upper Palmer, 40 : Edward's Camp to Oakey Creek 25. Mr. ilf.ilone, during his four months' stay, was not mo'esred by the blacks, in fact, did not see any of them, although they were heard i--of in other parts of the goldfield. On account of the slwllowness of the ground^it was very soon worked out, so one had to be constantly 1 shifting his camp, Prospecting could not under any circumstances be carried on without a horse, | and as there is no fresh discoveries, nothing wa^Jeft for them who bad not horses, but to I work the old ground. "We cannot do better than conclude by expressing Mr. Malone's caution, that a man should think well over it before he goes to the Palmer at present,
FROM the Waste Land Board report, it will be noticed they have determined to sell the land on the Waikoikoi Hundred, at Lawrence, on 23rd of February. Messrs M'Connochie and Tobill have commenced work on the contract for improving the approaches to the Alexandra punt. The work will occupy about six weeks. DR. GDTHRIE Carr intimates by advertisement that he will give one of his popular lectures, and phrenological and mesmeric seances on or about the 24th inst. at Tapanui. Those who have not yet heard the Dr. should make it a point of attending, as the entertainment provided by this celebrated lecturer is both instructive and amusing. Odr Blue Spur correspondent writing on Tuesday, says :— " Monday evening was the time appointed by the 'statute,' made and provided for the election of a school committee. In some countries a seat at a School Board is an honor to be coveted. And in some places in this province, the public are fully alive to the piivilegea^and responsibilities of taking a part in, and by furthering the efforts of Governments in the cause of education. Not so at the Blue Spur, which may be gathered from the fact that at eight o'clock there were only seven of the ' free and independent ' present. As a matter of sheer necessity those seven were elected in the bulk. Two other gentlemen were elected in their absence ; and it is to be hoped they will see their way to occupy the position assigned to them by the noble seven, for they are good men and true, and being family men, ought to have a place among their fellows. The committee as elected are Mr. Erobert Grieve (chairman), E. Varcoe ('secretary),and Messrs John Pope and F. i\fichol, old members ; Messrs F. Margetts, John Coutts, N. Mills, Junr., J. M'Hattie and Alex. Cormack ; new members. A few weeks ago we referred to a letter which had been received from Cooktown from Mr John King a well known Tuapeka digger. The letter gave anything but an encouraging account of the Palmer rush, tut like many others who send bad accounts of the place, he had not reached the Palmer, and only judged of the place from the bad accounts which were brought to Cooktown by returning diggers. Mr. Archibald M'Donald, of the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, had a letter this week from Mr. King - dated Sandy Creek, and this letter while it does not speak discoumgingly of the field, says that there are no fresh discoveries, but it is nevertheless a ajood poor man's diggings. He hud been a few weeks at Sandy Creek working old ground with a mate and they had averaged about Bdwts a day each. Jlfany of the bad accounts circulated with regard to the climate and the prevailing sickness he says are origin" ated by people who get as fai as Cooktown, and are afraid to go further. The sickness, which no doubt has been prevalent, be states is very often brought on by people neglecting and stinting themselves, owing to the high price of food. Flour is 2s. per lb. ; rice 2s, and other things equally high, but added to these figures there is Is 3d a pound to be paid to the packer. Mr. King says it is not the slightest use any person going to the Palmer unless he can land there with £70 or £80 in his pocket. He appears very contested, and expects to make a "rise," ;iud spend his next New Year in Tuapeka. The ftoy.il English Opera Troupe gave an entertainment in the Commercial Assembly Rooms on Thursday evening. They commenced with the fits!. Act from Balfe's opeia of " The Bohemian Girl " anil also gave selections from *' SHtanella " and ''The Grand Duchess *' intersperced wirh ballads by the members of the company and some ballet dancing by ilfissKate Lester. The entertainment throughout was excellent, and the parts well sustained. Mr. rlallam was in excellent voice, aud was recalled several times bp the audience. His rendering of "The Pilgrim of Love" one of Sims Reeves favourite songs, and the " Death of Nelson " was especially g°°d. and so hearty was the applause at the conclusion of the last mentioned song that he repeated the last verse. The instiumental accompaniments weie excellent, Rnd added much to the effect of the vocal music. The house was rot what it should have been, for it is but seldom that so large and excellent a company honours Lawrence with a visit, The paucity of the attendance was no doubt partly owing to the shortness of the notice given, and the threatening state of the weather. Last evening the first part of the enter, tainment consisted of ballads, and a sailor's hornpipe by Miss Lester, whose graceful dancing elicited great applause, and a recall from the audience was responded to by that lady. The song titled " The Anchor's Weighed," by Mr. Hallam, was warmly aj-plauded, as was also Mr Benbam's rendering of "The Wolf." The entertainment concluded >with Ofenbach's comic opera "The'fßose of Auvergne." The company left for Balclutha this morning,, and after playing there to-night will return to town, where they will continue their engagement on Monday, as (he prima donna, Miss May, has now recovered fiom her illness. Last evening the annual meeting of the | members of the Church of England, of the parish of Tuapeka and Waitahuna, was held in the Schoolroom. There was a fair attendance. The -Rev. G-. P. Beaumont occupied the chair. The accounts for the twelve months were submitted to the meeting, and approved of. In our next issue we shall give a full report of the business done. The North of Ireland Co.'s Batterya t the Blue Sdut was started on Monday last. It is now employed crushing the dirt from the main drive, a considerable amount of which is reef, but owing to it 3 being mixed with cement containing gold, the manager thought it would be the better plan to put it through the mill. The crushing plant has been erected without regard to cost where strength and durability were required, and the whole of the plant, sheds, and appliances, have been finished in a way that will render the working of the machine a sinecure to the man in [ charge. The winding gear for hauling the | dirt out of the main drive works admirably ; the loaded trucks travel at the rate of 100 ft. per minute. It is estimated by the manager that tne machine will reduce about 300 tons of cement per week when in full work. The main drive is to be continued until the boundary of the claim is gained. The prospecting shaft has been reached, which greatly facilitates the working of the mine, as before it was broken into the air was very foul, and the smoke from the powder greatly retarded the woi % k. Several drives have been started from the main tunnel, but it is the intention of the shareholders to drive to the extreme boundary before opening out the claim to any extent. The prospects in the wash continue good, and there is every prospect of this now system of working the claim paying the shareholders handsomely. The plan of running the tailings from the tables into a sluice, as recommended by Mr. Ulrich, has been adopted, the water from the turbine wheel being utilised for the work ; and if only a very small quantity of gold is saved in this way, ft will amply repay for the trouble in laying the boxes,
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Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 426, 16 January 1875, Page 2
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2,244Local Intelligence. Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 426, 16 January 1875, Page 2
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