THE ARROW.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Volume I, Issue 43, 26 September 1863, Page 5

THE ARROW.

(from oub own correspondent.) The rain which has fallen during the la>t few days has had It tie or no effect on the river—no perceptible rise having taken [ilaa 1 . Tne gre ite>t activity prevails amongst all the mining community, aud tUeclaiuis thiougliout t ; .e course oftne Airuw are m lull work. Within a lew miles of the township nearly a dozen large wheels are in play, and several more are in the coarse of construction and will be soon available. A week or two, if no spring floods come down upon us in force, will undoubtedly alter the state of our escorts, and thousauds will soon take the place of hundreds in the reports. The tunnel claim, about a mile from the township, which has long been out of work, has agein proved most remunerative; gold to the value of JtoOO having, according to rumor, taken f.om it during the past wtek. A nugget weighing 15 oz. 16 dwts. has since been brought to light A company has been formed to work a portion of the river bank not far from the Twelvemile, and will be conducted much on the same principle as the large companies on the Shotover. Some of the leading men and most successful miners have joined it, and we hope that its name—the "Perseverance," will meet its due reward. On the Flat everything is going on fovorably. The wall for protection of the flood-race is completed, and 100 energetic men are now at work on the tail-race, cleariog the old bed and extending it both to the eastward and westward, or rather up and down the Flat. In another week some claims will be in a condition to bottom, and though we cannot wish the shareholders to have, like Midas, their bdtyfuM of gold, yet we may hope that some may have their billies' full, and to spare. Sluicing is bting carried on with great pertinacity; night and day-work being the rule, as stat» d m my last. The gold is very fine, but the quality seems to improve as the work recedes from the river bank, and those interested by no means despair of the speculation ultimately paying. From Bracken's Gully good accounts still come in, aud there is no doubt that this locality has been the El Dorado of New Zealand during the past winter. The sample of gold is uniformly rough, and large nuggets are frequently turning up. Snow is still on the ground to the depth of two feet, more or less; but notwithstanding this, and the difficulties of transit and ezpence of provisions, upwards of 100 miners are living and doiug well. The old rush of two months back at the Gentle Anuie is likely to turn out, after all, permanent diggings. A considerable number of men are on the ground, and to my knowledge £2 or £3 a day has been in many cases realised. The Township Committee met on Monday, wheu the following resolutions were adopted : 1. That this Committee have seen with much regret the appointment of the Court House at Queenstown as the meeting place of subscribers to the Wakatip District Hospital, and consider that such appointment is an injustiee to the subscribers on the Arrow, and is calculated to effect a want of co-operatiou of the inhabitants of the District, and thus seriously to affect the prosperity of the Institution. 2. That the members of the Hospital Committee for the Arrow be requested to represent at the next meeting the necessity of a due proportion of members bting elected on the permanent Committee from each district, so that unity of purpose may be maintained throughout the goldfield. m 3. That a deputation wait on the Warden to enquire respectrally why the Surveyor has not, up to this time, taken in hand the survey of the proposed road to the Twelve-Mile, and strongly to represent the necessity fur the immediate construction of such road. The following letters were read by the Secretary. Provincial Secretary's Office, Dunedm, 14th S.ptember, 1863. Gentlemen, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt by his Honor the Superintendent of your memorial, praying for the construction of a dray road to cennect the Arrow district with Dunedin, via the Dunstan. In reply, I have to acquaint you that the Government have not lost Bight of the importance of opening up communication with the Lake district by the route indicated, and have

already issued instructions to the chief Engineer of Roads on the subject. They intend also to place on the supplementary estimates a sum which it is expected will be sufficient for the purpose. I have the honor to be, Gentlemen, Your most obedient Servant, E. B. CARGILL, Provincial Secretary. To the Arrow Township Committee. Dunstan, lOlh September, 1863. Sir,—ln reply to your communication, dated 18th Aug., enclosing copy or memorial to the Superintendent, for a dray road to the Arrow, via the Dunstan, I am requested by the Dunst *n Progress Committee to inform you that they fully agree and concur with the object of your memorial, and that they have determined upon co-operating with your Committee, by at once drawing up a petition, embodying the same views as your own, and presenting it to his Honor the Superintendent through the representative in the House. I have the honor to be. Sir, Your obedient Servant, THOS. MUJTROE, Hon. Sec. On Friday evening a meeting was held at the New Orleans Hotel, for the purpose of filling four vacancies in the Township Committee. A large number of townspeople attended, and the following gentlemen wire elected. Messrs.lngs, Spenseiy, Hazel & Ecclcsfield. A public meeting was advertised for Saturday evening to consider a petition to the Government fr a Rsident Warden and K. M. The inclemency of the wiather necis arily required a postponement, as the miners could not get in irom up the river. A general wish has been expressed that a petition be drawn up at once, and signatures obtained on the field, and this course will probably be adopted. Mr. Manders is very kind in taking upon himself to answer for the Arrow people, but he is one of those friends from whom in a public way we should wish to be saved; and as is justly observed in a note to that gentleman's letter, the resolutions of the Township Committee, elected as that body is by open voting, are a very fair index of public opinion. The present Wardens of Queenstown do all they can in their weekly visits to prevent inconvenience and delay to the miners, but still the urgent want remains of a Warden permanently resident and able to decide disputes in the field.