HAMILTON'S.

Otago Witness, Issue 652, 28 May 1864, Page 11

HAMILTON'S.

(PROM IHB DAILY TIMES CORRESPONDENT.;

May 23. Hamilton's just now is in a state of convalescence from a heavy attack of snow, and the hill workings and township, which for the past three days have worn a robe of white, are now once more regaining their ordinary appearance of green, thickly interspersed with the clayey pjies of washdirt and headings. Not so the Kakanuis and Mount Ida ranges, these still present the most picturesque appearance, as -wending round the verge of the Maniototo plain, which was not visited with the slightest snow— and behind the hills, in our immediate vicinity, they are densely covered— not a patch of earth is to be seen, and all the furrows, and as it were, gullies, in the mountains themselves, are' strongly marked in bold relief. At sunset particularly, these ranges present a beautiful sight, the Bimin its fall bringing out all the rugged charms, heightened as beforesaid by their snowy mantle. Whilst snow looks very nice and pleasant to the eye, still the inconvenience and injury to mining operations more than counterbalance this in the practical point of view, and for the last two working days of the week the miner* have been almost at a

standstill. During Friday the snowdrifts rendered mining operations a nullity, and on Saturday the want of water, to be explained immediately, made the usual halfholiday resolve itself into a whole one. The cause of the want of water arose from the fact that the water races from the Pigburn (the United and Perseverance, lately known as the Irish Co.'s) having from necessity been carried along the side of the high ranges, and these ranges being covered with snow heavy in depth, on the drift coming the channels got choked up with snow, and this got frozen during the night. The proprietors of the races consequently, to avoid the breaking up of the banks, by letting the water run through them and force the snow over the side to the detriment of the walls, shut off the supply and thereby caused themselves and the miners much loss of time. They had a supply of snow-water during yesterday (Sunday), and the hills being now bare, the usual supply from Pigburn will be running today. It is a good sign for our comfort during the coming winter, that, notwithstanding the thaw, one does not require long boots, the ground drying as fast as the snow melts — in other places the effects of the thaw did hot leave the district for days. Ido not think we shall have a heavier fall this winter.

At Hindon, during the last visit of Mr Warden Broad on last Tuesday, an inquest was held by that gentleman on the body of a storekeeper there named M'Shane. The particulars are as follow : —Deceased had a store, but in the slackness of times had taken to digging within call— he had been puddling, when the earth came in upon him and completely crushed in his head, which presented a frightful appearance. A witness was called who was mining a short distance off, and his evidence in court disclosed an instance of wonderful sagacity in a dumb animal. He felt a little dog, which he knew belonged to the deceased, biting at his trousers and whining, which he wondered at and ordered it ofi ; it continued to pull at his legs, and thinking there was something in the pertinacity of the animal he followed the delighted dog, now wagging its tail, and was by it led to the paddock where he found the earth had fallen in on his neighbor, and on his digging him out found him dead. The poor man left a widow, who was thoroughly paralysed with grief, and two children to mourn his loss.