TUAPEKA NOTES.

Evening Star, Issue 9831, 21 October 1895, Page 2

TUAPEKA NOTES.

[From an Occasional Correspondent.]

There is just a possibility that the China' man who did such a taU piece of shooting ah the Chinese Camp, near Lawrence, last west, and afterwards attempted suicide, may recover. The perforation of the viscera is, it seems, usually followed by peritonitis and death, but Dr Newell appears to think that owing to the smallness of the bullet there is just a chance that the internal injury may not be followed by. the usual fatal reynlta. The man is forty-seven years of age, speaks but little English, and has been for some time known to the police as a loafer and a gambler. In fact, the revolver with which he shot himself and others was bought with part of the proceeds of a “rise” recently made by him in ope of the gambling dens in the Camp. The woman Bridget Sing Lee has still a bullet somewhere in her huge anatomy, but she can carry it around comfortably. Of the' other two women, Bridget M‘Anlay is already out of the hands of the doctor; but Bridget M‘Loughlin, hiving bad some inches of her scalp ploughed up and displaced, is still undergoing repairs in the hospital. . Judging by the remarks made at some pr the late meetings of the Island Block Extended Company, one would imagine that the people of Tuapeka were ready to invest their last pound in that ill-starred mine. Ihe Dunedin directors and shareholders who talk so will think otherwise when the property is put up for sale. There are to syndicates being equipped here for the purchase of the claim, and those of the Dunedin shareholders who are not’yet “ full up of it ” need not fear any competition from this quarter. The directors made a huge mistake in refusing to allow the claim to bo worked on tribute. Had they accepted the offer made by the men the shareholders would be getting a return of some kind for some months past, and the race and boxes would not be in the condition they are now. During the heavy snow there were some very bad slips, and large quantities of earth and boulders came down into the water race. In fact, in some places there is no water race to be seen, and it will take a considerable expenditure of money to make the damage good. The boxes were also piled up and exposed to the weather, with the result that many of them are almost split up into matchwood. All this would have beep avoided had the directors allowed the mine to be worked on tribute.. Should a party of practical men get hold of the property, it will in time pay dividends. Managed by a board of directors In Dunedin, as it has been in the past, I cannot see how ita prospects are to be improved. The Island Block Company. I am glad to say, are having an unusually long ran of luck. The yield during the last few months has been very encouraging, and they are still on good gold. A characteristic of this mine is the uncertainty of its returns. The best judges are, however, agreed as to its richness, though, unfortunately, the history of the company does not quite bear out this conclusion. The periods of big returns have been discouragingly brief and uncertain, and have been followed by long runs of vexatious disappointment. But in this respect it does not stand alone. The Golden Treasure dredge still continues to give big and steady retains to her fortunate owners. I hear of a shareholder in this dredge who put a parcel of shares in the market a week or so ago. Twenty-four hours after being apprised of their sale he went down to Dunedin and bought them in at a shilling each over the selling price. Why he sold them at all it would be hard to explain. The Golden Treasure is by a long way the best paying dredge in the river. The latest addition to the dredging fleet in the Tuapeka reaches of the Clutha is the Golden Gate, a splendidly equipped dredge with all the latest improvements. She is owned largely by the principal shareholders of the Golden 'Treasure Company, Mr B. Hart, one of our most successful and enterprising mining investors, being chairman of directors of both companies. The latest surprise in mining matters in the Lawrence district is the pegging off of a large area of Wetherstone Flat by Messrs J. C. Arbucklc, M‘lntosh, and M‘Koich. With a good water supply the ground is certain to pay handsomely. There are large areas of abandoned ground on the flats aronnd this district that would pay well if only the requisite enterprise, backed by adequate capital, were at band. The initial difficulty is water for sluicing purposes, but that in most instances could he got over. Our local fruit-growers have reason to be grateful to the Government for the consideration extended to their class in the adjustment of the tariff, as well as for previous favors. One of the Coal Creek fruitgrowers most active in agitating for the duty on imported fruit is a gentleman who has for some years been clearing from £SOO to £7OO annually on his season’s fruit crop. The selfishness of these peop)e is incredible. These exclusively are the people who are agitating for an extension of the Heriot railway to Roxburgh. That accomplished, J should not be surprised to see them demanding the free carriage of their fruit to Dunedin.