Lawrence.

Bruce Herald, Volume VII, Issue 653, 27 November 1874, Page 5

Lawrence.

— « (From Q-.ii- own Correspondent.) Nov. 22, 1874. We have now had a considerable spell of fine weather — indeed, it may well be called hot, with occasional heavy gusts of wind, which latter has injured, "to a small extent, the young fruit. People are therefore commencing the rain outcry, and doubtless a good, shower or two would just at this season do au immensity of good. There is, however, a great improvement during the last fortnight iv the appearance of the young grain crops which as yet are progressing favorably. That feared enemy the measles, which before its arrival here was so much dreaded, has been working its will in the town of Lawrence, a^a scarcely a family of children has esc ."iped, but, thanks to providence, there has not as yet been a single fatal case in the dis--trict. In one or two instances, adults have.had rather severe attacks, hut have conn;

out of ttienx * victorious, and I think it will shortly disappear altogether. The fine weather has enabled contractors to proceed with their works, and both the Courthouse and Town Hall are going ahead fast, and will, I hear, be completed in a month or two. The great bridge over the Wether ston Creek leading to the Blue Spur has been finished, and the approaches are sufficiently so to allow constant traffic thereon, which is a great boon to carters; as the old track through the Creek was becoming quite dangerous. The contractor for the bridge, after being paid by the Town Council for his work, sued the Corporation for damages sustained variously — amongst other • items was one for wrong instructions given by the Town Clerk in setting off the work, for this the modest sum of £40 was charged, but the Magistrate could not quite see it, and that item was struck out. By the way, in the course of the evidence it came out that the Town Clerk was not the architect (or engineer) of the bridge, but Mr Mears, and. the former gentleman is thus shorn of his amateur engineering honors. However, palmam gui meruit ferat, the bridge is a good one, and has been passed as such by the Government Engineer, and as the Town Clerk undertook the work and carried it through, even although he used the skill of Mr Mears (or any other man) why, more power to him, and may his shadow never be less. To-day will be heard the first batch of applications for land, lately opened on the Bellamy run under the Agricultural Lease Regulations. As there are, in several instances, more than one application for the same piece of land, I anticipate there will be some fine distinctions or definitions as to the height of the various pegs, as delineators of the boundaries, some parties I fear will be disappointed as they have been rather careless in fixing their notices at a lower height than provided for by the regulations although quite high enough for all practical purposes, yet where many applicants are in for the same lot, the one who has complied most strictly with the rules will, of course, stand the best chance. There has been a good demand for land in the newly opened country, but not to the same extent as I expected it would have been. However, the bulk of the applicants are sufficiently bona Jide to ensure real settlement, and as these selections are taken up and improved, they will induce others to follow the example, and ere many years are passed over us, the heretofore wild looking spurs and gullies will be dotted over here and there with green fields and comfortable homesteads. Mr M'Lean, the owner of Bellamy run, has still the unapplied for land to use as grazing ground, besides a fine slice of country north of the surveyed land, and extending as far as Gardener's old run on the Beaumont, which, although considered in the old times rather rough, is admirably situated for station purposes. I notice that Mr M'Lean was smart enough to secure three or four freeholds on the Black Hill Range, which will thus give him an outlet to the upper part of the old run. The Government has at last determined to put the Beaumont Road in something like repair, and with that view has advertised for tenders for forming, pitching, and metalling about two miles of the worst part of the Main Road, which runs through some of the land recently taken up. The tenders will close this week, and as 1 believe there are no great engineering difficulties to overcome, and stone and gravel being plentiful along the course of the proposed road, there will probably be a joodiy array of tenders for the work. Jjx mining matters I have nothing new to report, tQe Blue Spur being now the only place from whence large quantities of gold are obtained, wi.tie the outlying districts only contribute a small proportion. As a proof that the Spur still retains its value in the estimation of old residents, I may inform you that a sixteenth share in the North of Ireland claim was sold last week for £600. This claim has long held the reputation of being a good one, and although it appears at a first glance to be well worked, yet I am told there remains an immense quantity of land yet to be manipulated. They have also lately started a battery to crush the cement, which is now being taken from the bottom by means of a shaft and driving, and which could not have been reached by the ordinary method of ground sluicing, in consequence of the levels being too low. I hear this latter mode of extracting the gold is likely to prove a good speculation, and will give impetus to similar work in other places similarly circumstanced.