SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2239, 28 January 1897, Page 34

SOUTHLAND NEWS NOTES.

(From ' " Own Correspondent.) Invercargill, January 26. The Taraweraleft the Bluff early this morning, % full passenger ship, in fine but very doubtful weather, for ber second trip to the Sounds. The weather here during the past week has been cold and ofttimes boisterous and showery, to the great disappointment of a large number of tourists who have been doing the Lakes, Sounds, and Stewart island. " Messrs Tothill, Watson, and Co. held yesterday a very successful sale of town and suburban properties on account of the liquidators of the Colonial Bank. Nearly every lot changed hands At prices quite up to vendors' expectations. , '/he Premier"(with his two secretaries) and Mrs and Miss Seddon, accompanied by the Hon. J. G. Ward, arrived here by this afternoon's express from Dunedin, and proceeded by the 5 o'clock train to the Bluff to join the Manapouri there for rHobart. Tbe Premier and his party expect to .return to Wellington via Sydnoy and Auckland. Mr J. W. Hamilton, one of Southland's best Tinown Western district settlers, died somewhat suddenly yesterday at bis residence, Thornbury. ' Lost Wednesday the st. Awarua had a rough passage to the island, and- was unable to return the same day, ac is her usual cu«tom, on account of the inclemency of the weather. Forthefannersand the country folk such weather - has not come amiss. The turnip crop, about . Avhicb. fears were entertained a few weeks ego, is looking splendid in all directions, as. indeed, are other crops on the good lands. I was speaking l-.his morning to a gentleman who has just arrived from Christchurch, and he said it was a real treat to see so many green fresh-looking paddocks as \v« have in Southland after paseiog through the country north of Oamaru, wh«>rr! fvervthing is as dry as tinder, with about as n we °- of eato)*fngfireas that inflammable art c The Southland Freezing (Juinpany and the Ocean Beach works commence operations on tho Bth and 10th of next month respectively. The trade for the first few months will be' confined chiefly to lambs, for which there is likely to be a good demand at from 8s to 9s. Best wethers .will not fetch, more than that at present The Ocean Beach- work* have had to keep their freezing chambers below zero all tbvnugh the, -&lack (she«rjing).Beason, an they had la 1 g-- stocks of frozen fish ■in them. To-day over 400 ca«.us of fish are beiog shipped from these wotks per Maaapouri for Melbourne. , . The pieat-preßerving works at Croydon reopen 6*n February 2 to receive rabbits. This is an industry of,, very considerable dimensions. - "When the works are in full swing about 50 men are constantly employed, and a large sum is annually paid to rabbiters and workmen on tbe premises. Tbe Woodlands factory, which is of about' similar dimensions, will no doubt start operations about the same time. A big catalogue will be submitted at the second wool sale next Friday. Experts agree that Southland wool this season is above the average quality, while the brokers are concerned that there is a considerable shortage in quantity. This Is at once accounted for in the annual sheep returns for the Southland district just published, which show that on April 30, 1896, the number of sheep in the county of Southland was 855,250, or v, decrease of 97,769 on the previous year's totals. The Crusader and West Glen, wool ships lying at the Bluff, which are already well on With their loading, are likely to get quick despatch after this sale. Reference to the Bluff reminds me that the oyster season opens next Monday. February J, and that the cutters and other small craft there, known as the " Mosquito Fleet," are getting into trim for the harvest of tbe sea. A new Roman Catholic chapel at the Bluff has just been completed. It occupies a commanding position, and makes a conspicuous landmark from the harbour. It will be opened for service early next month. i The Wyndbani Herald says it is probable that the co-operative works at Waikawa will be stopped at the end of ihe month, the parliamentary vote having been exhausted. Mr C. B. Shallcrasa, who has been prominently identified with, banking affairs at Wyndbani during the past two years, has been promoted to the accountancy of the Bank of New Zealand at (Gore. Mr W. G. P. O'Callagban, who haß recently been appointed to the chief clerkship of tbe Magistrate's Court, Dunedio, wbb for tome years clerk of the Magistrate's Court her*. Mr J. W. Poynton, our S.M., who has been to Auckland for a few weeks' holiday, returned here on Saturday last. His Worship, who had not been enjoying the best of health prior to his trip, has come back greatly invigorated Mr John D. Fyfe, formerly of Wyndham, writes from Johannesburg an interesting letter to the Farmer. He describes it as the most wonderful place ho has seen in all his travels, but his staying there is out of the question. "I usrd to laush," he says, "at the idea of £2 a week in New Zealand being better than £S here. I laugh no longer. Xiiving is very expensive here, and the wages paid are none too large for the discomforts and troubles the psople here have to put up with." Bricklayers and plasterers are most in demand — they get from 203 to 253 per day. The city is swarming with mechanics, chiefly blacksmith!, engineers, ironmoulders, and machinists looking for work. Those who can get away are clearing out every day. The arrivals in the city average 2000 prr week, and the man without a trade is lost, as all the labour is done by coolies, Zulus, Kaffir*, and Russian Jews. Stupendous buildings are being erected everywhere. I have constantly wished aince my arrival that I was a plasterer or brickltyer, as they are the boss trades here. But, for all that, I would not advise anyone following those trades to come, for perhaps by the time they got across from the colonies their trade would be overdone. No place on earth could po«sibly absorb the tremendous influx of labour that keeps pouring in It is a great sight to see the Caps train arriving. Some nights as many as 500 . men arrive, all in quest of employment." Mr Fyfe thinks that Natal ia the coming country— it is beautifully grassed and well watered, but farming, as carried on in. New Zealand, is as yet an unknown quantity there The White farmer, or Boer, tills the land with a plough drawn by four or six ■ oxeni A Kaffir leads the oxen, one wields the' whip, and another steadies %he plough. I should tbink if they did half an acre a day at the rate I saw them working it would be the utmost they could do." In' concluBion, Mr Eyfe, who has decided to-return to Naw Zealand, says : "I am glad I came, for I' think I have now seen one of the world's wonders. Such a mining field as this is not known anywhere ; but I would not live here at any price. Men who are desirous of making a chaque might do so here ■with luck ; but typhoid and rand fevers are very bad, and claim many victims. The climate seems to be very agreeable— nice and warm, and cool at

nights. Johannesburg is about 6000 ft above sea level." On Friday last there was a school excursion from Mandeville and intermediate sobools to Queenstown, in which upwards of 500 children and adults took part. The day was beautifully fine, and the water on Lake Wakatipu both going and coming was smooth as a mill pond. The excursionists ai rived at Queenstown about 11 a.m., and left there again at 4p.m. It took a little over two hours each way crossing the lake. The whole thing passed off without the slightest mishap, and both children and adults were delighted with their outibg. The body of a young girl, Johanna Gourley, aged 15 years, daughter of the county surfaceman at j Waikawa, was found in the Titiroa Stream on Sunday afternoon. The body, which bore no marks of violence, was scantily clad, and there were neither shoes nor stockings on the feet. Some three months ago deceased was engaged by Mr H. Templeton as servant to Mrs Robert Outhbert, an aged relative residing at Wyndham. Nothing peculiar in her demeanour was observed till Tuesday last, when she became violent. She was quite rational on Wednesday, but on Thursday evening she was again uncontrollable, and the assistance of neighbours had to be sought. On Friday Mr A. Moir, of Waikawa, arrived to take her home to her parents. That evening she was again violent, and, though only a slim girl, tbrew Mr and Mrs Cuthbert and ifoir to the floor. She was placed in her room, but jumped through the window and made her way to the police station, where she was j taken care of by Mrs Bogue, wife of the constable, I until Moir was ready to start with her for home j next morning. On reaching Tokonui Gorge, five miles pa»t Fortrose, the unfortunate girl jumped I out of the trap and got away. Though search was made she was not heard of until 10 o'clock I that night, when she knocked at the door, of Mr Riddle's house, and before it could be answered i jumped through the window. While preparing to convey her to the township she again escaped, and was last seen at 11 o'clock by a- horseman near Mr W. G. Rich's place. Such are the dis- | tressing particulars of the young girl's end. j 1 (From an Occasional Correspondent.) Without being absolutely positive, there are -evident appearances of a mining boom, the South- i west Sounds Goldfields being the locality to which attention is mainly directed. All practical experience goes to prove that this heretofore terra, incognita is a highly mineralised country, and the more the subject is gone into the more conclusive tbe evidence becomes that the precious metals are largely represented in its lodes. Report has ft that some half-dozeu more or I*bs well-accredited pro-pecting parties are at work throughout the i Inlet, and that hitherto unexplored country is now being put to the test. One of these parties returned to town within the last few days bringing a quantity of reef stone, which has been subjected to a dolly test. In all seven separate parcels were treated, the concentrates of •which have been submitted for ivy inspection. Two of these are specially noteworthy. As regards locality, I aui only at liberty to say that they cam*.- from ground in the vicinity of Southport and the lower reach of Chalky. The stone in one case was a dark blue substance intermixed with a lighter quartz between the crystallised and the limestone texture. It is fine, friable stuff, easily pounded, and carries a very nice sample of free-milling gold. My information is that upwards of a couple of bushels of the stone were taken out for test purposes. It was then carefully examined, and all pieces showing gold were laid aside for specimen purpo3*s. The roat was submitted to the test an staled above, with the result that it showed gold at the rote of from 4oz io Boslper ton. It was a nice sample of gold, i and I have no hesitation in believing that the concentrates shown to me carried coarse and fine gold in that ratio. The stone was taken from outcrops situate" some distance from each other, • but all, suppos-n ;•■ form tbe one line of reef. It in miles distant man any known reef, and the conclusion is that the development will direct attention to an entirely now tract of reefing country. The other sample was taken ,out of v welldefined reef of the enormous extent of 60ft from wall to wall. So far as my memory serves me, there is not a working reef in the colony of these dimensions. It has been cut right through the crntre by one of those mountain torrents with which this part of the country abounds, and forms on one side at least the vertical wall of a creek 40ft or 50ft high. It has been described as a quarry of stone running into the hill and disappearing at the bottom of the creek, co that its actual dimensions as a body of stone cannot be determined. The hanging wall is as hard as bell-metal with a splendid face, which a few plugs of dynamite would shatter in immense quantities. The quartz on the foot wall is murh softer, cirrying Beams of pug and plumbago, and without being at all hard it would make good standing ground to put in a few yards of driv» to inspect its internal organisation. After examining the stone, as well as the concentrates taken therefrom, the assayer who accompanied the London at d New Zealand Finance Corporation experts gave it as his opinion that the reef irmide would make into the < same class of stone as the one noted above as having produced gold. Simples of the stone taken, out of both reefg have been forwarded to Dunedin per Mr H. S. Valentine, and the chances are they will be submitted to you for inspection I have authority for laying that if good practical results follow upon these discoveries a greatly extended field for reefing enterprise will b« opened in the neighbourhood. Two syndicate company experts have visited the Inlet. Professor Bl»ck and Mr L. O. Beal represented one of these. They confined themselves to the Cuttle Cove reefs. So far as I can learn business is not at all likely to ensue. 'Ihe company ask five-aixths of the mine, and 'his the registered owners are not by any means disposed to give. The reef taken- up by these parties has an outcrop to the sea, and is said on geological authority to be a continuation of the Morning Star line of reef. A good deal of needless work has been expended upon it, the rpsult being that during the past 10 or 12 months its operation* have been entirely suspended. Report has it that a misapprehension existed as to the lay of- this reef, and that the calculation hitherto made has bee.n a point or so out. Tht reef follows a more northerly course, and the result is that two or three of the adjoining claims are thrown out of it altogether. Those carrying the reef are said to be the Crown, St. George, Lizard, St. Patrick, and Easter Gift. The other syndicate visiting the Inlet is named the London and New Zealand Finance Corporation (Limited). They left the Bluff this (Tuesday) morning per Tarawera, and will return again next week. A number of claims have been placed under their option. So far as known, the terms they offer are much more liberal than those proposed by the Dunedin company represented by Professor Black and Mr Beal. It is devoutly hoped some business will be concluded, as the place is perfectly dead for want of a little capital and enterprise. For the Morning Star and its amalgamators an offer of £ '5,000 is said to have been received. Opinion is divided as to whether or not a bargain will be struck. Fourteen men were sent down to the Inlet 10 days ago to open a new shaft on the Golden Site. It has been reconstructed with an entirely new board of director.*. Some there are who think that too high a. figure has been paid to the shareholders in the old concern. Mr W. Moore, of Milton, will be a candidate for a seat on the Education Board. The Western Star says: — "Owing no doubt to the liquidation proceedings in connection with the Colonial Bank a »lurap has occurred in business in Invercarglll." I The examination for gold and coal mine managers is at present being conducted in the Survey Office, under the supervision of Mr F. B. Leonard There are two candidates sitting for first class coal mine manager's certificates. Sir Walter Buller is in Auckland visiting the mission station at Tangiteone (on the Northern Wahroa), where his father, the late Rev. James Bailer, laboured, and where Sir Walter spent his youth. The mission station is now in ruin, like many other mission stations. Sir Walter states that when the Horowhenua title difficulty it disposed of he will take a three learo' tour to the mother country*