LAKE COUNTY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2558, 25 March 1903, Page 31

LAKE COUNTY.

March 20.— The past week has been dedicated to the equinox; i»m, cold, and storms, with enow upon the. hills, were the Qrder of the day, and the might, too, for the matter of thai If it is any satisfaction to Mr Paulin to have his foretelling of the weather come tide, he may •well take credit to himself for all the disagree•bleness it brought with it. The rain, no doubt, has done much good to grass and turnips; but more harm than the good amounts to was done io ite grain in course of being harvested. Quite a number of farmers had started cutting and fitooking,ond many crops were coming on that •way, which are not- improved by the continuous wet. The heaf of last w«ek had brought on -wheat and barley,. too, and for both diy weather is absolutely required during the harvest process. However, a very good all-round average harvest is now assured, with not -a few phenomenal crops, which latter may be late. As Others See Us.— During the last few months several gentlemen, the representatives of largo London and Continental syndicates, have been on an exploiting tour of the colony's •mineral resources, and amongst other likely specs visited the scheelite lodes on the. shores of Lake Wakatipu, the iron deposits, and the copper lode at Moke Creek. Speaking in favouTanle and hopeful terms, of the mineral capabilities of the colony, they refer in very different terms to the labour legislation of the' £>eddon Government, some- not hesitating to express their opinion that Mr Seddon had batter run the whole show himself, including gold mines and everything else. At anyrate they • did not feel justified ir recommending their respective syndicates to invest in New Zealand at the present time: The surprise is that what is so patent to the casual stranger does not dawn upon \he average resident. Exception is often taken to the cry of New Zealand for tho New Zealanders," and with justice; yet nobody appears to notice that the powers that bo work things upon the principle of New Zealand for King Dick, has satellites, and their parasites. They have all along worked upon these lines, and with so much success that they look upon the good things their opportunities and the colony offer as their legitimate prey. Shooting Competition. — The competition for the Goldfields Challenge Shield took place at Queenstown on St. Patrick's Day, the sompeting- corps being the Alexandra, Clyde, and Queenstown Rifles and the Wakatipu Mounted Rifles. The following were the scores : — Crora--well, 549; W. M. R., 538; Queenstown, 524; Alexandra, 488. The shield, which was won by Cromwell last y«ar, goes back there again for another year. Unfortunately ihc day was cold, wet, and. stormy, with scarcely a. break in tte "bad weather. The attendance, of the public, -therefore, was limited. The nest competition ;will take place at Arrowtown. St. Patrick's- Day in the Morning. — The anniversary day of Ireland's patron saint was celebrated afc Arrowtown by a social and dance, which, in spite of the bad weather was numerously attended, the ladies turning up in great numbers. The programme was a varied one, dances and songs alternating. Audience i and. performers had corn* from all parts of the district, Queenstown, M&cetown, and 3-jbbston contributing their quota, and a very enjcyable evening, way the result. The' function was ra aid of the funds >f St. Patrick's Church, Arlowtown, the proceeds reaching the respectable cum of £12 net. The songs, which were all appropriate to the occasion, were very finely rendereiJ, and "were -received with much approbation by the audience. Altogether the' entertain-' ment ranks- as a high class we. Municipal. — In response to a Tiumerouslyeigned requisition, Mr L. Hotop, chemist. Quoenstown, has consented to be nominated ' for the next mayoral contest in that town. Mr Eotop has served in the capacity of mayor upon •rrejai .occaeionfii aeauittins: b'mt p -U with much

r credit, ancT to the benefit of the community. Afloat on. the- Rolling Deep.— A rowing club is in course of formation in Queensfown, and promises to attain success. Although the community is not a large one, the young men ara. always ready to engage in anything of a social or athletic description. The New Invasion.— The bad times on the ; other side have resulted in wafting across to New Zealand quite an army of seekers after work, several of whom have penetrated so far as the Wakatipu. The men who came this way are, to all appearances, of » very desirable kind, willing and able to do hard work. Though every t»ne of them, has not been able to secure employment, they are unanimous in their resolve not to return to the other side so long as they can knock out a crust in the lamd of the Maori and the mew. j Licensing. — It appears that a number of representative gentlemen have been nominated for election to the- Wakatipu Licensing Committee. So far as announced, iheir names are as follows :— Dr Douglas and Mr A. Ford, Queenstown ; P. da la Perelle, Arrowtown ; J. L. Scott, Cromwell; W. Monteith, Pembroke; R. Norman, Albertown; G. Johnstone, Lumsden. Up to the present not one of the candidates has given an inkling of his tenets anent the control of beer or whisky, or prohibition, or , anything else, so that the electors are left to j guess by the look of the names what they are really voting for. This uncertainty is an element that will work much against the number I of voters who will go to the trouble of record- ' ing their votes ;. and besides, there is the harvest • occupying nearly one-half of those on the roll, who are not likely to leave their work for the purpose of voting for men of whom they know the name only. In any case, however, any com- j mittee- is better than none* at all. I