MACETOWN. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Otago Witness, Issue 1672, 8 December 1883, Page 13

MACETOWN. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

December 4,

Postal. — The postal a-rangement=i in operation at Mace '.own are just the reverse of satisfactory When a new postal and telephone-ofliue was fixed up by the Govarnment, it was expected that fr< sti and better arrangements in regard to mails would follow. There are only two outward and twe inwaid mails weekly, and the outward mail leaves the post-office about eight hours before the arrival of the iv ward mail. Tho inconvenience of such an arrangement is so obvious that it is rather a Buri>rise that the public have not struck againat it long ago. The mail leaves here on Tuesday and Friday mornii,ga respectively, and arrives on Tuesday and Friday evenings, and no doubt gentlemen in Dunedin who receive litters on Monday night or Tuesday morning, bearing date Mauetown, Saturday, &c, naturally think the letters are ported at Macetown, but .an examination of the postmarks would reveal the fact that such letters lire posted per favour of some traveling friend at Arrowtown post-office, and to such an ex ent has this practice been carried that it is generally conceded that more than half the letters written at Macetown are posted at the Arrowtown office, which, therefore, gets the credit of half the postal revenue of this place — a state of matters far from healthy in its bearings on our relation witb the Government. The establishment of a

Telephone Offics makes us feel mrro independent of postal exigence, and bas proved a boon in many ways, besides teing a most important factor in the management of mines hero by directors located in the distance, and in all ways where spte iy communication is an advantage. Tbe establishment of a ' Monbt-ordbr Officb would prove a great boon to many persons here. Many miners work at Macetown wh .Be wives and families live elsewhere, and there are many other caaes in which tho establishment ■ f a money-order office in connection with tbe Macetown Pest-office would be hailed wilh satisfaction. The appointment of some person to act as

Registrar of Births is also much needed here, as many parties who are not acquainted with the laws in force anent such matters are inconvenienced to an unreasonable extent owing to the absence on thu spot of an officer for such purposea The appointment by ihe Government of the teacher of the hchool (Mr Ntedham) aßpoßt«naster and telegraphist was a most economic and happy one in every way ; and as the labour of registration will not be great, perhaps the same gentleman might be induced to perform it in ca c e the authorities see fit to make the appointment. , Explanatory —Your correspoi.dent does not flatter ti 2 J fchat his noteß anent the ucciftl matters alluded to ab .vo will produce the changes desired, iney are mentioned only for tho purpose of showing some of thtf social thavacteristirs which mark our isolated position, and which produce effects more momentous than appear on tho surface. As an instance of the efiocts produced by ouch wants as aie above alluded to, it may be inei.tiuned that n.any men of good ability who have spent a season at Macetown have left it because ihe place was bhort of mauy •"T 6 ?%FT ?n? n< y a wbit "b. they could command tho opjoynient of ewewhtro. Miners have frequently

refused to bring their families to r«-side here because such a state of things exist ; and miners who had their families residing in the place have romoyed them though still working: here themselves showing clearly that we suffer an ns a c >mmunity for our apathy in those appar* nt'y trivial niattt td. Progress. The app n arai>co if tho township has been improved thl* summor by the addition of two nice new cottages, the pro <erty of two mmf rs who ha\e tettlod down bere and taken to themselves wives, to w-iom, with themselves, I wish much happlnesi Air R Pritchard's new store ib e»euted on the site of the former one, which v. as unfortuuat-ly de stroyed by fire last season, and were it not for tho low level of the ground on which it Kta':da, its appearance would leave little to bo desired. Wh«n compared with its eurroundings, and taken comparatiroly wjth the recently-erected and neaily-flnißheil cottage residences of Messrs diaries and William Patou, the'i-ew buildings look like the introduction of a better state of things at that end of the town ; whilst Mr Korr's pretty little coitago ctauding at the other end of the supposed street, beems to say, '-Come on, boys, settle down and fill up thuse other empty spaces ; there is room enough for all." Busi>E6s Establishmrntb.— Commerce is fairly represented at Maeetoun by threo xtoies a.ul two wellappointed hotels. The stores have hi'herto been branch establishments of larger ones held by the came proprietors at Arrowto«n, which has been up to data the extreme limits of that grand old institution the American waggon. !<rom Arrowtown the means of transit was mubtly packhorses. each storekeeper having a good supply of those useful animals for the purp se, on the bauks of which the stores were packed to Macetown, and thence to the huts and tenta of their customers nn arduous and exj e-isive operation, which i-> nevertheless performed with a despatch and uoi uraey, eire, and attention which to those acquainted with the physical and climatic difficulties of the co ntry is bimply surprising The storekeeper at Macetowu is exp-cted to supply any article which ni>y be required by his cu-tomer from a crowbar to a paper collar ; and should he fail in any article, it is generally considered that he is getting into a dangerous mental state —The hotel accommodation provided for the general public by Mr E. Elliott and Mr H. Dyson is very good, considering the place, and the circumstances under which they labour.

A Grievance.— The traveller, seeing .Macetown on Satuid.iy evening or Sunday aftwiioon, whou a tolorable muster of the miners make son c show about it, would naturally think it a good place for bu-inea-i. Bub when " 'he winter of our discontent " teti in, and the " avow covers cabin and stye," Macetown puts on a dreary, dismal, fr ze out apptaranco. Two-thir "s t f tho mine s are gone off the field to seek the omploymenc el-ewhere which is deniid them hire, and the ueiiera! aspect of affairs is at zero - commercially, socially, financially, and generally ; a state of things which can be accounted for only by the cessation of operations in the mine*, a prac'ice which hai cone further than anything else to make these mines unprofitable, and for which the circumstances of the case presents no excuse whatever. It has been proved over and over again that men can work underground here to as great advantage in the winter us in the summer, and it is clear that shepherding is the chief, if not the only, object of companies who lie idle all the winter. So there cannot bo much doubt time, wh'ch changes so many things change this also. Shareholders will learn that it does not pay to let timber rot, and tunnels crumble, for want of tho attention which is required to keep them in order.