THE AROHA.

Waikato Times, Volume XVI, Issue 1350, 24 February 1881, Page 3

THE AROHA.

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' Sib,— Will yo'ajillptf irie space juri S^ ur ' yahkabW pape/; for ! a few, refiiarM.'lip'an, Tje 'Atfha^'lt' is true that nuniiDef a'of oiir Working riiiner* have 16ft the flfeld, i; andtnariy'inoro ere leaving. Jfo doubt the outeido ydblic

will look upon Te Aroha as a place which soon rose into repute, and will as quickly fall again. There have been reports circulated by those who do not wish to lee the old Thames cleared of its working men, and they deem it to be their policy to retard the prosperity of Te Aroha, in order that they may live a little longer. Again, Te Aroha owes its bad name— to a great extent, at least— to the class of men that first came here and left again. The majority of them were worthless, both in regard to morality and money. They pegged-out a great many claims, but what little work they did is a disgrace to any man, much less to the so-called practical miner. They did the publicans a good turn, but their life was merry and short. When their money was done their credit soon followed suit. They rolled up their " arums," and paid their grocery bills at the rate of three miles an hour. It is not an unsoluble problem that such men would give the place * bad narpe ; but it is a strange thing that Bpeculntive men should be deterred from supporting Te Atv:ha by the report of a few who spent more time in debauching ihan they did prospecting for gold. However, theto has been but little piospecting done here, yet sufficient to make some claims payable. Ido not pay it inadvisedly, for I consider it evidence enough when gold can be seen freely in a. reef three feet thick, aud there are more than one such claims in Te Aroha. What we would wish to see is a little more interest manifested in the ris* 1 of Te Aroha bv the momod men of Waikato and Auckland, and I believe they will get the value of their money in time to come. If they will only tru>t us with a little more in future than they huve in the p;ist ; if they do, you may dspend upon WB. We will not. huve any dealing with the beggars below. — I am, &c, D. J. F.

When travelling in South America last year L-idy Florence Dixie came acioss a South American jasmar with its cub. The mother savagely attacked Lady Florence, who in the most plucky manner shot her in self-defence and captured the cub, a young male. Lady Florence brought the cub to England, and last winter the jagu-ir whs out in the open during 1 the cold weather, having only a small kennelhonae slightly heated by <t gas stove. The jaguar had for a companion a tiger cat, and these two animals were subsequently transferred to the Fishery Wiudsor, where they were allowed a large open spice, with an abundance of fresh grass and tree-*, which they were very fond of climbing Being close to the Thames thny never omitted to have a swim in the nver of a morning. Their food was varied, but what, they liked best was the head* of sheep and bullocks- Lady F. Dixie's jaguar is a beautiful specimen, and not ho mischievous he might go at large. As Lady Florence is about to leave for Africa, she han deposited her pets at the Zoological Gardens. The wife of William Morris, the poet, can give pointa to Mr-* Lanurtry and the rest of the professional beauties, if a correspondent of the Inter- Ocean is to be ' tru-ted :—": — " She is a mysterious, Egyptianlooking woman, with great, sad eyes, and Oriental complexion, burning scarlet lips, and the expression of ineffable remoteness aud vagueness that one in imagination gives to the Sphynx. The young lady's face was just one of the inexpressively melancholy ones that the preRaphaelites adore — ju-t the type of young women comiug down the ' golden stairs ' in Burne Jonea' picture at the Grosvenor Gallery this year — and Morris married her. Not long ago thi-< lady wore at an evening party a robe of the sheeniest, filmie-t, white mu-hn, fine enough to be drawn through a ring. The petticoat under it must have b«en the mime, for the fold-* of the robe cluny to her body an if cut by the finest chisel. At the waist thi-j thin robe was confined by a long Hiipple chain in the form of a serpent, which, after writhing round her body, dropped its jewelled head by her left side, where its diamond eyes glittered and burned like fire. Egypti m bracelets and necklace adorned her arms and neck, and an Egyptian maKque gathered and held the folds of the robe at the throat. Her black hair was one thick mass of short curls, and lay close down to her eyes, crept iv and out by another golden nerpent with jewelled eciles and burning eyes. One would have said she was a Cleopatra, who had- turned her ?nps into i; old and jewels, and come to life to dazzle a barbarian world."