COUNTRY NEWS.

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 2028, 4 November 1869, Page 2

COUNTRY NEWS.

Sergeant Naden, late of Waikouaiti, has arrived in Oaraaru, to take the place of Sergeant Bullen, late in charge of police there. Among other souvenirs of his Oamaru friends, a very handsome Tranter’s breechloading revolver, with 200 rounds of ammunition, was presented to Mr Bullen. At a meeting of the Oamaru Dock Trust on Monday, it was resolved that Mr Dobson, C.E., be invited to come over immediately co confer with the Trust with a view to the preparation of plans and specifications for the work.

A correspondent of the Oamaru Times, writing from the Maerewhenua diggings, says:—The miners on the Awamoko seem doing pretty well, telling me they earne I L 3 up to ai. ounce of gold a week, others from 30s to L2 10s. There are several instances of parties not doing so well, and some leaving for the shearing ; but although the field will not be much worked before the races come on, there is always room for a few really practical miners* with tools, and either sluice boxes or cradles, along the Awatnoko, and in the various gullies where -here are small runs of water. The chief difficulty in the Awamoko is that there is not sufficient fall for ground-sluicing. The best gold appears to he got by taking up from three inches to a foot or more of the soft slate at the bottom of the “ paddocks,” and one party were cradling this slate only. Much dissatisfaction is expressed at the want of postal communication, and a memorial was to have been presented to the Government through the Warden on the subject, and also praying that the field might be declared open for the granting of acre claims—a very necessary provision to settle a population, as the small claims are soon worked out—but through some mistake the memorial were not got back in time. Between sixty and seventy sheep a we-k are now sold by the different stations, which, at one sheep to every three individuals, would give a population of about two hundred, which 1 think is near the mark, though I dare say during' shearing this may be somewhat lessened. One good sign is that the married men are getting up their wives ami families, and making little gardens, bui ding sod huts, &c., which shows they mean to make themselves comfortable on the field for ome time to come. I have seen aeveal n-w quartz specimens, waterworn and thickly studded with gold, but so far as I can learn no stone has been raised from the reef on the Awamoko with gold in it visible to the naked eye ; but at present the party have only sunk five or six feet. The prevailing opinion is that a rich reef cannot be far off. ”

At Balclutha, on the 2nd instant, Dr Smith held an inquest on the body of a man named John Baird, who died very suddenly while crossing the Balclutha bridge on the 30th instant. The medical evidence attributed death to congestive apoplexy, brought on by excessive drinking. The same day intelligence was brought in to the police that the body of a man with his throat cut, was lying in a gully about a mile south of the township. Sergeant Cobden at once proceeded to the spot and brought the body to the p lico station. At the inquest se-geant Cobden stated that he examined th e deceased’s swag, and found a billy and pannikin attached. On the billy was scratched : —“hunted to death by Roman < lathic blood Hounds and again—“i inform that Mrs Clark and man Harry not clear.” The same words were also written on the lid of the billy. He had every reason to believe there had been no foul play from the position of the body and the clothes being undis urbed, and also from the fact of his having four pounds ten shillings in his possession. The Bruce Herald > aysWe are informed that steps are being taken for the formation of a Wesleyan congregation in Tokomairiro. We believe a not inconsiderable proportion of the community previously belonged to that community, and were the services of a popular pastor secured, there could be no doubt of the success of the movement.