The Criffel Field.

Otago Witness, Issue 1765, 19 September 1885, Page 12

The Criffel Field.

{FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Criffel, September 12,

The weather has changed for the better. The frosts have lessened in severity and the snow is gradually disappearing from the top. About 80 men are now located on and about Crift'el. Many shafts have been bottomed since I last wrote, but without success; in fact, up to date no new finds are reported. Like the diggers, business men from a distance, so it is rumoured, intend rushing this field, but I would advise them to have a care and to think twee ere they take so precarious a leap. The local police have their hands full at present, for the gold has brought a class of gentry to these parts that we could well have dispensed with. A case of sheep-stealing in broad daylight is already reported. One digger's tent has been robbed of a small sum of money, and tools are commencing to walk from the claims. The police are on the gui vive, and they seem determined to nip these things in the bud. One party who left Criff el in a hurry were bailed up by the police near the Bannockburn, aud one of them was speedily lodged in durance vile, and the others are under the surveillance of the police. A man was seen by a lad among the sheep in a paddock at Mount Barker, but was afraid to approach because the man carried a gun. A sheep was found on the spot with its throat cut.