ARROWTOWN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 4174, 5 July 1875, Page 5

ARROWTOWN.

(from our correspondent.) Whatever opinions may be held regarding Mr Ulrich's visit to the Otago goldtields, it has without a doubt caused a deal of attention to be directed towards the development of our qiiartz reefs. Not that people were unaware of their auriferous character, but that their surmises have been reassured, and the results are that this branch of mining especially has received an impetus which can Dot fail to prove of lasting benefit to the Province. Not only has quartz mining been stirred up, but the alluvial has alto received a marked spurt of activity, and I could instance several undertakings that hay« been launched, not exactly upon the faith of Mr Ulrich's recommendations, because people possessed almost similar ideas, but when they found theirs so coincided with by those of such an authority as Mr Ulrich, confidence in themselves was nects-arily increased, and where hesitation and doubt prevailed before, it has been replaced by determined and vigorotis action. The Sons of Fortune Company, engaged tunneling through the falls in the Arrow River, were almost in a state of dubious anxiety, but Mr Ulrich's visit reassured tht-m, and, after overcoming very great difficulties, the company's manager (Mr J. A. Miller) announce!! that the tunnel has been entered 2Soft., and that he is evidently coming upon the river wash ; already the precious metal, although limited in quantity, is present in the gravel. This has been a bold undertaking, or, as Mr Ulrich designated it, " something like a mining enterprise ;" and the plucky little company deserve all the good fortune which doubtless is in fctore for them. The Cornish Reef, the Crown Terrace, and the Criterion, near the township, have both been taken up, while work in the former has already been commenced. The late magnificent itind at Skippers of course astonishes everybody, and has qnite re-established the old faith t at the quartz reefs of Otago will be found rich in the possession of the precious metal. It is quite possible that we scarcely understand them yet. The large and well defined reeflike fissures, filled with alternate blocks of quartz and mullock, may not, after all, be the true gold-bearing lodes ; but which may be found at some little distance off from either the hanging or the foot .vails. The discovery in the Phienix appears almost to justify this assumption. In Victoria, it has oftentimes been found—especially in large, dense reefs—that the gold has gone oif into a mullock bank alongside The reverse might possibly be the case here, and iii may perhaps turn out that smaller fissures alongside what we designate as the reef will be found to contain closely-packed quartz, together with the gold which was being earnestly sought for in the mullock. So far as experience guides as yet, in Otago, the more dense and compact the stone, the mo'.e gold it contains, and it is quite possible that we have been on the wrong scent, and when the blocks of stone have run out, instead oil sinking, we should have been driviug, or, iis Mr Ulrich would say, " making an exploitation of the walls." At all events for the present the experiment is well worth trying. The agricultural interest is not very lively, still it has improved a little. H iwever, as oats are only 2s Cd per bushel, and wheat 3a 6 1, growers are not likely to be particularly jubilant. Produce will doubtless be higher priced next year, as there is but very little land, compared with previous seasons, under crop, or intending to be cropped, a field of wheat being now almost a rarity. Sheep are the order of the day at present, and, wherever the holdings are largo enough, a crop of wool is the srticle sought to be produced. lam afraid the bad luck which has attended the farmers of the Wakatip district, these last two years, consequent upon over-production, looms ominouisly for the future for settlement on a large scale in the far interior, as it b very clear, whatever may be said to the contrary, that the market for cereals can be very easily overdone, and it is very questionable even with railwaycommunication, whether we can at this distance fromjthe seaboard produce grainforexport so as to leave a profit to the grower. Excepting perhaps relieving the market when we have a large Burplus, the advantages of the Kingston Railway will be very problematical. The outlet for the farm produce of this district must unquestionably be the Dunstan and Cromwell. The increased activity in quartz mining will materially assist the agricultural interests, as there will be a much larger demand for horse-iced—as where there are now hundredweights of goods being packed up to Skippers, in a few months' time there will be tons.

On Tuesday last the Resident Magistrate's Court was besieged with suitors: no less than nine cases were on the cause list-, four of which iv the Extended Jurisdiction. Whatever is the cause of so much law none can ttll; it must be the bad times whiich set everyone by the ears ; and now that things are beginning to improve again, people are desirous to square off their old nenres ot animosities and start afresh. Mr Stratford, R. M., appears to think—and very rightly bo —that people have launched rather too heavily into law lately ; and, in one case, where the amount sued for was trifling, and a solicitor was engaged on the winning side, he refused to allow professional costs, giving, as his reasons, that where the c( nduct of a case was within the comprehension of any ordinary individual, legal assistance was a luxury, and onght to he paid for by the person employing it, The ruling of Mr Stratford evidently appeared to give considerable satisfaction to everyone in Court except tiie litigant, who won the case, and who, after payment of Us lawyers bill, would have little left for himself. Two suits for trespess were next called, between adj >ining neighbours of course, in the persons of Mr Charles Johnson and Mr Jamea Hamilton. These two • individuals possessed very improperly trained cattle, and, of course, the consequence was that they—the cattle— failed to observe the boundary lines of their respective owner's properties. Mr Johnson therefore claimed from Mr Humilton the sum of £33 for damages : and Mr Hamilton nought to recover from Mr Johnson £29 for a precisely similar offence. As the causes of action in both cases, also the residences of , the litigants, were within the jurisdiction | of Queenstown, Mr Stratford refused to hear , them, stating as his reasons that, as a matter of etiquette as well as justice to his brother magistrate, he would not hear cases | from outside the boundaries of Mr Stratford's warden's jurisdiction. It however subsequently transpired that these disputant*, imbued with a wholesome dread of Mr Beetham, R.M., whose summary disposal of two similar cases heard before him a few days previous, when as both the sums claimed were equal, he gave -verdicts for the full amounts claimed and cosbi, purposely sought the Arrowtown Court to have a tiltjat each other in ; but it was no utie, and the hearing of their cases was remanded to Queenstown. To Queenstown they however appeared disinclined to go, and the advice of friends was sought. One, a farmer, suggested that, if Messrs Johnson and Hamilton would expend what they were likely to lay out in law upon the purchase of a load of posts and rails and erect them between them, the difficulty would be for ever settled. This suggestion was not deemed satisfactory, and they had recourse to a wickedly-inclined newspaper man, who advised that the summons fur £29 should be amended, and £33 'übstituted, afterwards that they should submit their grievances to the Queeustowu Magistrate for adjudication.

This recommendation was even more unsatisfactory than the former, whereupon the least of the two difficxilties was accepted, and posts aud rails prevailed, payment of lawyers' fee? followed, and the cases were wit hdrawih Whether the would-be .litigants went Lome sadder and wiser men, the readt-r cm beet judge for himself. The other cases were uninteresting outside local inffui-nces..

A goodly sized piece of quartz, has Tieen shown about the town by an individual who professes it is from a reef *liscoyer'ed by himself somewhere in the ranges near the Twelve Mile, the exact whereabouts of which he refuses to disclose. Mentioning the circumstance'to an acquaintance .of mine connected with, the Phoenix tributors, and hinting that the affair looked very suspicious, he quite coincided with my views upon the matter, saying at the same time that the thing was beyond suspicion. The piece of EtoLe exhibited he could almost recognise as an old friend ; and that if it did not come out of the Phoenix, it did not come very far. from. it. ■■'■'.■.'

A man named James Carolin was killed while working in a terrace claim at the Sandhills, Upper Shotover, on Wednesday last. The deceased was engaged paddocking out some ground, when the sides caved in, and he wag smothered. Upon the first fall of earth his mate raanaged to clear the ikbrU from off his (Carolin's) head, but a second fall followed which completely covered the unfortunate man up. He was recovered within half an hour afterwards, but life was perfectly extinct. The deceased was an old resident at the Upper Shotover, and much respected. His funeral was largely attended by residents in the neighbourhood. Mr Scott, the agent for the Otago Bible Society is just now paying a second visit. Mr Scott has been very successful on the Arrow, his admirably assorted stock of books attracting numerous purchasers.