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Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 1685, 18 January 1889, Page 2

y -—= / Mr James Richardson, of Dunedin (son of the late Dr Richardson) and for some years resident in this district, kindly semis us an interesting piece of information concerning Rere Lake, and also some useful suggestions touching future excursions further afield. He says:—Here Lake is named after its discoverer, a surveyor, who was seen by Doctor Hector's party when they were returning from Martin's Bay. I don't remember the date, but it must be nearly 25 years ay;o. The soot was seldom visited then, except by Mr Willie Grieve, now of I Southland, and shepherds. In 1870 the lake was photographed l»y myself and F. Finch, of Queenstown. One of these photographs was sent by Mr Morris, photographer, Dunedin, to Melbourne in 1880. and refused the prize at an Art exhibition because the scene shown was so picturesque that the judges declared it must have been doubly printed from two negatives on a calm day, with reflections. It is the prettiest ">ake in Otago. The Greenstone track, Martin's Bay and river run along the Gorge a few hundred yards beyond the lake, whilst Mount Humboldt faces it. The Tooth Pedes rise abruptly on the left of the Rere Lake track, and on returning a magnificent view can be obtained of Mount Karnslaw from the top of the terrace. A few miles up the gorge from the rear of the lake, the Greenstone Valley opens out — Lakes Ffowden and M 'Kellar lying cloße to each other on the saddle dividing the Greenstone and Holyford—the Mararoa Pass branching off to the left of Gnnn's Lake, ane lyin: behind the range to the right of the Mararoa. To tourists visiting the Upper Greenstone or journeying from Martin's Bay a cut across by. Rere Lake to Sandfly Bay will save s me miles beside 3 being easier walking. Allow me to suggest a big picnic up the Routeburn, leaving Queeusrown at sav 5 am. Horses can take provisions from Bryant's hotel, Kinloch, and b n h near Scott's station, five or six miles distant. Visitors can then stroll to the Lower Routeburn crossing, where they <an see waterfalls 7< Oft in front of them. On the way from Bryant's, the Cosmos and oi her high peaks, and lots of glaciers will be in view all the time." Mr Nelson, at one time wardsman at the Wakatipu Hospital, has just returned from a two and ahalf years' sojourn on the West Coast. Mr Nelson, | who was most of the time by himself, has been ! prospecting the country lying between Martin's and Jackson's Bays—his attention being chiefly directed to the locality about Big Bay. He has evidently done a lot of roughing in the bush and back country; but, nevertheless, intends to return again, if possible, with a view to further testing a quartz reef, with wnich he says gold is rather freely impregnated. The appointment by Government of Messrs M'Kerrow (chief commissioner), Maxwell, and Harvey as meml>ers of the newly-constituted Railway Board has created great dissatisfaction throughout the country, and when the House next meetp it it difficult to see how they can fairly defend their action. Attention is directed to various alterations in the Wakatipu 8.8. Co.'s busiuess notice. Those of most importance to the travelling public—as previously mentioned last week—are that the early boat for Dunedin train will leave on Saturday instead of Tuesday mornings, and that the Head of Lake steamer will leave on Wednesdays and Fridays at ', .7-30 a.m.—the Antrim's day for the Head now . being Monday at 10 a.m.

Our Skippec* correspondent" furnishes us with a short ac nt of what took pla" io his direction during th. recent %plidaw, which were nrach enjoyed" He ear hoet, Johnston, of the Otago "Hotel, Skippers Point, gave his usual Christmas sports, which were well patronised. The st "its consisted of onoit matches, running, jumping, ftc. There was also running for the young people, a grand spread, and, the weather being fine, a very enjoyable day was spent, concluding with a billiard match and a dance, which last was kept up untill daylight, At the reefs everything was quiet, and a round of visiting kept up, but no sports of any kind. The picnic for the school children, which was the sensation of the day, was carried out with immense success—many visitors being present—and it finished with a dance. Sports were kept up for the children all the afternoon. Mr and Mrs Murray (school teachers) and family leave here on Monday next, and their place is to be filled by a young man named Mr R. Stephenson from Southland. A Garston correspondent, writing under date 9th instant, says:—"The weather down here has been very fine, but rather too dry, and a good shower would do good, for our diggers are ruunirg out of water. The crops, however, are looking splendid, and promise a good yield of everything, besides wheat, oats and barley, which cheer the hearts of the farmers. The shearing is getting on pretty well. I hear one squatter is retrenching by dispeimini; with a man who is i e illy required to cook for his shearers. This is cutting things pretty fine. The holidays are all over now, and our School was opened again on Tuesday. Mr F. W. Thompson, L.D.S. Sorgeon-Dentist, Invercargill, may be consulted at Mrs Richardt.'a Hotel from Wednesday, 23rd, to Friday, 25th January. Hours, 10 arm; to 3 p.m.—Advt. We regret to learn that the Rev. D. 0. Hampton had to shoot his horse, found on Monday morning in a wretchedly lacerated condition in Mr M'Ewen's paddock, Qneenstown Gorge, where it had been turned out about six weeks previously. It appears that the horse, having one of his hind feet badly cut was turned into the paddock about three weeks before Christmas. He was missed by the M'Ewen's a day or two aftet wards, hut no notice was taken of this, as they thought the horse had been sent for. On discovering his loss, through going for the horse about three weeks after being put in, Mr. Hampton sent ami searched and made enquiries on all sides—but of course without avail On Monday morning, however, word was brought that the horse was found in the paddock is a wretched condition in a steep and dangerous gully, hemmed in on one side by rock (down which it must have fallen) by thick scrub or "lawyer" on the other, and intertwined foliage over all, where he had been imprisoned the whole of the time—fully five or six weeks—the flesh being torn off the fore legs to the bone owing to the struggles made by the beast to get free. As it was found that nothing could save the animal, except at great and useless cost, he had to be shot at once. We hear that the loss of the horse, cost since he was disabled, and purchase of another, will be fully £2s—a serious matter these hard times. It seems strange that the missing horse was not at once reported to the owner, and that the owner of the paddock, who knew the nature of the gully in question, did not thoroughly search it when be found the horse was really missing. Some may think the secret lies in the fact that he was not responsible for the loss; but, it would be more charitable to attribute it to thoughtlessness. This is the second accident of the kind that has occurred, we hear in the same gully. Agricultural depression is not confined to New Zealand. Out of every four farms in Illinois, three are mortgaged, and the losses of the Illinois farmers in the last five years are estimated by official reports at 50,000,000 dol. Politicians in Victoria must be in a more flourishing condition than on this side of the water. In the Victorian Legislature the members get £3OO a year; and as their sittings only last 36 days in the year, their dailypay amounts to £8 6s 8d each. The reaction in Melbourne has set in with a vengeance, the boom is making its victims, and the land speculators are going down like ninepins. Those wha can leave before the crisis arrives are doing so. In business circles in Dunediri it is rumored that the Hon. Mr J. M. Lafnach and Messrs Street and Montagu Pym are likely to return to Dunedin shortly. These are all shrewd business men, and their departure from Melbourne speaks for itself. A new point in connection with judgment summons cases was raised in the R.M. Court, Invercargill, on Tuesday, before Mr M'Culloch, RM. The defendant did not appear, but his solicitor (Mr T. P. Finn) explained that the usual expenses hat! not been tendered his client, and he was consequently. not in a position to attend. Counsel for the plaintiff (Mr Moffet) stated that defendant was in a position to pay the claim, being at present in the employment of the Government as a rabbit inspector. He contendtd that in such a case it was not necessary to tender the expenses, and pointed out that, if compelled to do so, his client would suffer a hardship, because, as the law at present stood, he could not recover a penny of the amount even if he got judgment for his claim. Authorities were cited, and, after argument, his Worship reserved the point till to-morrow. An interesting calculation has been made of the average yield of wheat for fifteen years past of four of the wheat-growing colonies of Australasia, with the following result:—South Australia, 840 bushels per acre; Victoria, 11*64; New South Wales, 14*55 ; New Zealand, 2616. Allowing 3s for each bushel produced, the balance in favour of New Zealand over South Australia is £2 14s 5d ; Victoria, £2 3s ; New South Wales, £1 15s. The same calculation in the oats yield shows practically the same results for fifteen years past. Judging by these comparative results then, New Zealand should be a perfect Eden for farmers. And yet, how is it that farming does not pay ? Last year this colony sent to England 441,289 cwt. of mutton, which, even at lsd per lb freight, meant £257,000 to the shipping companies, apart from the other agency and marketiug charges. The meat must have ultimately cost the English consumers over a million sterling. New Zealand, it is calculated, without straining her resources, can supply the English markets with 600,000 ewt, or even more, annually, besides large quantities of frozen beef (now a growing industry), butter, and cheese. Until, however, the impositions of the numerous agencies have been disposed of, a fair proportion of the wealth of these exports w ill never reach the colony. Cooke, the well-known tourist agent, now takes tourists, not only all over New Zealand, hut Australia, Fiji, the South Sea Islands, Hawaii, Vancouver and the Canadian Pacific, the States, and then to Liverpool, complete baggage and hotel coupons for the trip having been issued, the total cost being £SOO. Mr D. M. Stuart, youngest son of the Rev. Dr Stuart, died ot Dunedin on Saturday last. The de.eased gentleman was a well-known solicitor of some seveu or eight years' standing, and has attained considerable success as a pleader, and gave promise of still better things in the future. He was only thirty years of age, and leaves a wife and family. The Gear Meat-freezing Company have made £16,693 13s 3d by last year's transactions, and have declared a dividend of 10 per cent. all coucerned, except ''indeed, the actual producers, appear to be reaping a golden harvest from the frozen meat trade. There are 1619 certificated teachers at work in New Zealand—9os males, and 80 married and 634 unmarried females. It is understood that Mr Percy Smith, of Auck. land. Assistant Surveyor-General, will succeed Mr J. M'Kerrow as Surveyor-General." For depraved Tarrikinism Auckland certainly holds the belt in this colony. A young girl in that city, the daughter of respectable parents, left: her place of service one day recently, and was found wandering through the domain on the following morning, in a state of partial insanity. She had fallen into the hands of some larrikins, was drugged, outraged, and then robbed her, her boots being actually taken off her feet. Barman, the famous American showman, has retired into private life with a fortune of 10,000,000 dol (two millions and a-half sterling).

L n " ni< » t e<i paragraph (containing an attract from the Nm Zealand Church News on the decadence of Wesleyanism in Great Britain) which appealed in thw journal a fortnight ago, has given rise a flutter in two directionlLthe Count* week having taken the matter up, an* the Rev B F. Rothwell, Weeleyan minister, having something to say on the question in our present issue. As to the paragraph in the Prat, it requires no deep insight to fix the source of its inspiration, and had pur contemporary Jtmingßftßojt. enough—and the real author " man " enough—he might, with equal truth, have Also tacked On the words'* eon* tnbuted," However, the Prew has elected to take the responsibility, and the precious production will therefore be treated in its fatherly relationship. One does not know which to admire most, the writer's ingenuity in serving up such a dish of stimulating hash, or his extremely careful avoid* ance of the bristling statement about the '•decadence "to which that extract referred. Nevertheless we should not have noticed the paragraph were it not that the writer drags in our name as having shown unfair play in the former controversy about two years ago on the same subject between "Ob. server " and Mr Morley. We published those letters for either side as We might publish other matters of a statistical character (such, for instance, as the recent extract from the Church Newt) en* tirely without any pergonal biie, until, it wi quite evident that Mr Morley had nothing, more to say—in fact, his last letter Was, in our opinion, of a very persona) character (a bad. sign) and each aide having had its say, we closed the correspondence, to save M r Morley rather than to allow " Observer " "to beat a retreat" as our contemporary ingeniously puts it—although had he known sufficient of journalistic etiquette he would have approved the course adopted. .As -to the parrot-like complaint of "Observer" being, afraid to "nut his signature like a man," the subject is of such a wide nature, that it can be better and more calmly dis cussed without the personal element so much in* sißted on on one side. " Observer," who was (if we can properly use the term) the aggressor, perhaps took this view by concealing his real name, and if Mr Morley—or Mr Rothwell—elected to throw off such disguise that was.their own choosing, and placed no similar obligation on " Observer.'' However, that did not affect the real question under discussion, which at the time seemed to be pretty well threshed out We had purposed saying something further on this unpleasant affair, .but our remarks have already exceeded the limits intended. With regard to Mr Rothwell's letter, published elsewhere,.we beg to state that our desire has ever been to arrive at the truth, no matter wbitber it leads—and we shall always be happy to give currency to any reliable information he may wish to supply concerning Wesleyanism, etc. We have just to add that we see by the last Church New to hand that some one has been objecting to the paragraph which was copied as it appeared in that paper, and the editor, as a consequence, makes the following reply :—" The words were Hot our own nor were they taken from an Anglican; paper; but they were an extract from a paper, which is usually most accurate in its. news." The Borough Council requests ratepayers to strictly economise, in the use of the water supply during the present summer. Unless there be some serious defect in the dam or main pipes, we do not suppose householders are asked to deprive themselves of water really needed, as the supply should be ample enough for all reasonable purposes The chief grievance seems to be that, people are wasteful by allowing their taps or hoses to run unnecessarily long. Nevertheless, there are complaints from the terrace of insufficient pressure, and it is to be hoped that the dayman will devote special attention to the waterworks. In consequence of the loss of the Maori Point mail on the 24th ultimo one of our subscribers suggests that down-country contemporaries should follow suit with this journal and forward other copies of their Christmas number. This hint is intended more especially for our Dunedin contemporaries who, we are sure, will comply with it if practicable. We hear that the Big Beach Co.'« dredge, which got beached, is now afloat, and dredging operations are to commence.to-morrow or on Monday. Owing to insufficiency of attendance at annual meeting of contributors to the Wakatipu Hospital, an adjourned meeting is called for next Thursday morning. '"'-Si We regret to state that Mr J. Simmers, first mate of the Mountaineer steamer, had his leg broken today while loading wool at Glenorohy jetty—a bale having slipped off a dray alongside. A tourist on board kindly set the broken limb. Mr J. W. Robei tson, one of the hands, also sustained a slight injury and narrowly escaped a more serious accident through being struck by some of thebmachiaery on her way to the Head. A Property-Assessment notice of considerable in*' terest to owners of property who have not yet forwarded the requisite statements to the Chief Commissioner, appears elsewhere. One of the most welcome, and certainly the most valuable, annuals in this little provincial world of ours is Stone's Otago and Southland Directory—the issue of which for the current year is just to hand. The new volume, which is quite up to its standard of excellence, contains a large amount of useful commercial and general information, and the completeness of the compilation is such that only a'person of untiring carefulness and industry can accomplish. The additions and alterations are unusually numerous in consequence of business changes, large migrations duriug the. past .-year, the,inclusion of Waimate, South Canterbury, and the new Custom tariff and exemptions, Ac. Some improvements have also been made in the arrangement of the directories, etc.- Maps of the principal towns are given, and also well executed portraits of the Mayors of Dunedin, In vercargill, and Oainaru. The get-up of the book is alsa very creditable to the printers and book-binders, 'but we would suggest that next year a change should be.made in the color of the cloth, to enable it.to be easily distinguishable from that of its predecessor. The local agent is Mr L. Hotop, Rees-street. ■ ; . "v Mr T. P. Finn, barrister end solicitor, of In yer cargill, announces his intention of commencing practice in this district It is usually accepted as a fact that an increase of members of the legal profession means a corresponding increase in law business. If such . prove to be the case in the pre* sent instance there will be jdU) times lor the law* ! yers, but we pity their clients. The guid wife of one of our old residents (Mr Gray, Frankton) announces her intention of going into the jam-making business, etc. Nothing like local industry. At last meeting of the Southland Education Board, Inspector Hendry's report recommending the adoption of a uniform set of class-books was approved and copies ordered to be forv. arded to the Minister of Education and various Education Boards in the colony.—Mr R. Stevenson was appointed temporary head teacher of Upper Shotover school. —The action of the Upper Shotover School Committee was approved in objecting to the granting of a portion of their grounds for a mining claim.—Mr W. H. Qualter was appointed head teacher at Lower Shotover. • • The Lake County Council invite tenders for dog collars, the right to collect dog-tax for the current year, and for gravelling portion of Cardrona road. Mr O'Meara announces the sale to-morrow week. at his rooms, Queenstown, of the plant and all other property belonging to the Phoenix Extended Quartz-mining Co., now being wonnd up in liquidation. f ', Mr Phil. Robinson, the well-known correspondent of Home papers, and who was lately interviewed by a reporter of the Auckland Star, thus expresses himself:—"My impresssions of the trip up from Wellington! Well, I was immensely struck with the beauty of the bush in, parts, and not less surprised at the extraordinary fertility of intervals of cultivation. Wellington is the most remarkable specimen of carpentering I ever saw. It is all wood, but this is justified, of course, under its Volcanic existence. Wellington is obviously going to expand enormously. I was struck with the thoroughly English aspect of Christchurch, and the'business there seems to be very comfortable. Dunedin, to my mind, is the prettiest place of the < towns of the colony, but Auckland appears to be - far ahead of all from a business point of view, and is more distinctly metropolitan.