TE AROHA. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Waikato Times, Volume XVI, Issue 1367, 5 April 1881, Page 2

TE AROHA. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

"Cobbler stick to your last" may be a perfectly correct maxim amongst cobblers ; but to anyone who is not a cobbler, it may sometimes be amusing to catch a communicative member of the interesting fraternity who is willing to tell outsiders something of the mysteries of the art. In the same way some of the outer world, who are not settled on Te Aroha, gold digging, may care to know some of the smaller details of the place that are stale news may be to the two hundred men or so who are settled there, and as the Times finds readers iv other places who may never have visited this interesting spot, and may feel some curiosity about it, I have ventured here and there to leave my last for a moment now and then, in order to indulge in gossip. Te Aroha is in its babyhood yet, but it is a lively little place ; and if it does'nt grow very much like its big relations, Bendigo or Ballarat, it will not be its own fault. The real hard work is still all to come. Having been punted across the Waihou nveranew comer will find himself in a very busy scene of rapidly constructed new wooden buildings of the shanty class for the most part, as easily taken down and removed as they have been put up, if they do not turn out sufficient. Several good stores, dining rooms announcing that they find board and lodging, at least three busy growing inns, m which the amount of business done is already larger than anybody would expect, a public office and a public officer, or bobby, several tents and The Battery, seem to make up the sum total of Te Aroha. Up the spurs and gullies of the range may be seen small holes of some six or seven teet in height, here and there, with men busily wheeling out barrow-loads of earth and shooting it over the platform of level ground m front of their drives. This seems to constitute their work that they themselves inform you is only prospecting so far, though what that prospect is to be will not be clearly revealed till the battery gets to work. This battery is the machinery of the Quartz Crushing Company that is to smash up the products of the claims and pronounce a verdict of "profitable" or "unprofitable" upon them. This battery then, is a fine piece of machinery, worth now, after some years of service elsewhere, about £1,000, and driven by a steam power of some twenty horses. All this machinery is covered by a long substantial shed that is nearly completed and the whole will be ready for work now in less than a week's time. At the back of the settlement there are two or three hot or rather warm springs of water that appear to be impregnated with a certain amount of sulphur and iron, and are reported to be very efficacious in the cure of rheumatics and such like complaints. One has a comfortable little bath constructed round it, and it may become of great service to the diggers when the place advances. There are a great number of regular Maori visitors to the settlement and the hotels seem to do a " roaring trade." Jollity seems to be the grand moral of all diggers' lives, whether successful or unsuccessful. If at this early stage of its existence the field can keep up such a tremendous allowance of jollity, it is hard to say what it -will be when it is in full work, for by many old diggers it is said to be one of the widest and richest goldfielda ever worked in New Zealand. April 4th.

A London cablegram to the Melbourne Argus dated the 20th March inst., says :— " A mine leading to the palace of the Czarewitch, the present Emperor of Russia, has been found under the street in which the building is situated, and in a house close by a large quantity of explosives were discovered. The object in view was evidently the destruction of the Czarewitch's palace and the inmates. The Russian Press advocates a great political change in the Empire, in the direction of liberalising- the form of Government. A decree has been issued by the Emperor of Eussia, which lessens the severity of the Siberian exile. The new pure cash system now being initiated by G. and C. will certainly prove a benefit to the public. It has been a great success^ in Sydney and Melbourne, and when strictly carried out the customer who buys at an establishment where the goods are marked low to ensure a rapid sale must be a great gainer. G. and C. sell their drapery millinary, and clothing at such prices for cash as gives the buyer the advantages of a shareholder sn a co-operative society, without the risk of being called upon to bear aportion of the loss should the year's business prove unsatisfactory. Garlick and Cranwell will aim to retain the confidence which the public have hitherto shown them, and are determined to give the pure cash system a fair trial ; whether they gain or lose the first year. Country buyers on remitting cash with order will be supplied with goods at co-operative prices j just the same as though they made a personal selection. Furnishing goods, such as cat pets, floor cloths, bedsteads, bedding, and general house furniture, the largest pqrtion of which is turned out at our own factory, will be marked at the lowest remunerative prices, and a discount ot five ocr cent, will be allowed to those who pay af the time of purchase. G. &C. having realised the entire value of their stock during their late cash sale, the present stock is new and cheaply bought. An inspection is invited. — Garlick akq Cranwbll, City Hall Furnishing Arcade Queen* street, Auckland