NASEBY. NASEBY. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Otago Witness, Issue 1582, 18 March 1882, Page 13

NASEBY.

NASEBY. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. )

The result of the famous " land sale," or, more correctly speaking, the sale of the leases of our runs, was, naturally enough, the chief topic of conversation here for some time after that eventful occurrence had taken place, and opinions of course varied very much as to whether that result was altogether a satisfactory one or not. The Daily Times, on the sale, expressed very clearly the views of that portion of the community who felt entirely satisfied with the result, satisfied that the runs had fallen into the hands of those who were, on the whole, likely to, prove the best tenants for the Crown— viz., the present holders— and satisfied that the substantial increase to our annual rent-roll was a fair quid pro quo for the new leases. Those, again, who had looked forward to the sale , as the means of ' bursting up the large estates, and the consequent settlement of a large additional proprietary on the # land, were woefully disappointed, although it was pretty generally believed before the sale actually did take place that all ' middle-clasß » men were handicapped out of the field, which was in truth the case. Whichever may be the correct view to take of tbe matter, it was unquestionably the intention of the Legislature to prevent enormous tracts of pastoral country, reckoned by fifties and hundreds of thousands of acres, again passing into the hands of any one. .individual or firm, and the causes which led to this intention being so completely frus trated are not far to see. „,,., One good result, however, obtained by the Bale is the public demonstration of the vast wealth of the public estate in Central Otago. Nothing, surely, could be more convincing than the seventy thousand pounds in hard cash eagerly planked down— not by reckless speculators, or fanatical shopkeepers consumed with ♦ earth hunger/ as at some land sales ; no, but by those who know the country best: those who have lived on it ; those who have lived by it, and those who know its value better than all the Royal Commissions, Waste Land Boards, and Government officials put together. This Js surely evidence enough of the capabilities of country described by the ' Lightning ' Commission aB barely affording subsistence fo^ a good sized rabbit to the acre, to cause those "Qbecile Commissioners to hide their diminished heads The weather has been all that could be desired of late for harvesting, and our farmers are deep in the mysteries of cutting, binding, stooking, and stacking * with more or less satisfactory result. On the whole, I believe they are satisfied, not that the crops are by any means heavy, though here and there a fair crop of wheat may be seen, but having at one tune almost despaired of a crop at all, and haying prepared themselves for the worst, their light crops seem' good by comparison, and are harvested thankfully.' Our annual raceß oame off last week, the weather being good and the attendance very fair considering now busy all ' the fanners are, Some surprise was felt that Foster's Sailor Boy should have succumbed so softly to Skipper and' - Yaldhurst : respectively, but it • was evidently not his day out. Foster, however; easily secured the District Handicap with his other horse, Eocket. It is, I understand, the owner's intention to take both Sailor Boy and. Rocket to the Oamaru 'meeting, where it is hoped they will worthily represent the district. Four guineas apiece for the ordinary wild duck may be said to be fuller as much as they are worth, and such no doubt was the conviction of a well-known resident of the Kyeburn, when he was mulct to-day at the R.M. Court in the sum of £5 and costs (some £3 additional) for shooting a couple of ducks out of season. So far as I know, this is the first case of the kind which has occurred in this district, and, at the price, I fancy the sport ie slightly too expensive to be very generally indulged m. Apropos of ducks, I was shown, last year, by a fanner some scores of sheaves from which fully one-half of the grain had been gobbled by the voracious paradise duck, of which there happened to be immense coveys in his neighbourhood. Now I do not know whether the law contemplates fining a small ' cockatoo for protecting his hardly-wrought for grain when m stook from the ravages of these feathered visitors ; but if it does, so much the worse for the law. The average Britisher, under such provocation, would probably go for those ducks in or out of season, law or no law.; and one could almost excuse the unfortunate and exasperated man, if he went for the pro-cess-sprver and whole Bench of Magistrates Several substantial improvements have of late been made to some of the business places in the town, and the contractor (Mr G. Stephens), has just begun work on the new premises of Mr Hjorring, draper, &c, who is about to erect a handsome shop at the corner of Earn andLeven streets, familiarly known as Morrison's Corner.' As the move will bring Mr Hjorring into the' centre of the business part of the town, it should be a remunerative one, and, in any case, he deserves encouragement in his plucky venture at a time when everything in the way of trade is at so low an ebb. The Deep Lead ' Committee have not yet taken any further steps than to lodge their application for a prospecting claim ; but I hope to be able to announce in my next that a vigorous start has been made to get the shaft under way. Other mining matters aro only middling, though the heavy rain last week gave us, temporarily, a good supply of water.