The Cromwell Argus AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. CROMWELL: TUESDAY, JAN. 23, 1872.

Cromwell Argus, Volume III, Issue 115, 23 January 1872, Page 4

The Cromwell Argus AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. CROMWELL: TUESDAY, JAN. 23, 1872.

The prospectus of the “ Garrick Range Water Supply Company” is now before the public ; a provisional directorate has ■ been carefully chosen and duly appointed r by the projectors of the enterprise ; and f applications for shares may be made at . once. We simply echo the opinion of all who are acquainted with the Garrick Range and Bannockburn districts when we affirm that a more promising field for ’ mining enterprise does not exist in the e Colony. For several years past, in spite i- of the oft-recurring scarcity of water, Inine dreds of miners have found profitable emnlovninnf. in sluicin' l- the creek banks and r %j ** w * v o tunnelling the terraces of the Bannockburn 0 ® valley ; and all over the eastern slope of n the adjacent mountain—the Garrick Range ’■ —wherever the most tiny driblet of the ie aqueous element could be made subservient to the wants of the miner, gold has been met with in very appreciable quantities. >r We are acquainted with a number of residents in this locality who have each made hundreds of pounds by fossicking about among the small creeks and branchlets

I that in more humid seasons abound on the Range. Doubtless the richest of the allu- < vial ground has already been worked; but I with the vastly-improved appliances now 1 coming into use, and with the grand de- j Psideratum of an abundant water-supply, t I such as will be provided by the carrying- < | ou t of the Coal Creek Race Scheme, it is * jj no t too much to say that for every score ■ 1 0 f alluvial miners the locality is at present £ | capable of supporting, there will be per- £ I manent and remunerative employment for ‘ |at least a hundred when the projected un- * Idertaking is accomplished. ‘ On the Nevis side of the Range, espe- ,, , ,1 . n i | p -n ii ) c p cially in tue ii6igu uouruoou 0* Jradcsy s (and Potter’s gullies, a large extent of I proved auriferous ground is known to exist; and it is satisfactory to learn that 1 a branch of the proposed race can be con- 1 veyed from the “ saddle” at the head of ! S Buffer’s Gully at such an elevation as will * I command nearly all the ground that is ’ I worth taking up in that quarter. In addition to the almost unlimited area ( of sluicing-ground everywhere to be met 1 I with throughout the district, another im- j portant branch of alluvial mining has ’ lately sprung into existence, and is being vigorously followed up, with more or less I success, by a considerable number of men. j We allude to the extensive tunnelling opeI rations in progress at Pipeclay Gully. 'Every inch of this ground for which water "Is available has been taken up, and several 1 of the parties engaged are making over £5 f a week per man; but here, as elsewhere, 5 the miners are seriously hampered by the 1 extreme scarcity of water. 1 The whole of the quartz-reefs yet dis- c covered on the range are below the line 1 iof the proposed race, and not one of them can be worked, to advantage without the * aid of more water than can possibly be ob- j tained from other sources. Since the } Royal Standard battery (four head of } stampers) commenced crushing, the owners have never paid less than £5 a week for , the use of a quantity only sufficient to ( supply the machine boiler and the tables ; j land the raceholders have more than once £ threatened to cut oft' the supply altogether, t having ample and profitable use for it in working their own claims. The Elizabeth battery (of eight heads) is insufficiently ’ supplied by a small race heading from Smith’s Gully, and for this privilege the' < (shareholders pay at the rate of £2 per r week. The Heart of * »ak and Star of thej'j |East claims, with a ten-scamp battery be- L tween them, are no better off than the Eliza- j. beth : they are supplied from the - samel*, source, and the shareholders pay just| < double as much for the use of it. The j * crushing machines we have mentioned are ] all driven by steam-power, and the cost of i, fuel is a very heavy item in the working I j expenses. Were water-power obtainable, 11 the steam engines now in use would pro- 1 hablv be dispensed with, and thus a large moiety or the outlay now incurred for fuel ( would go to augment the profits of the ( ; clairnholders. ( But we think sufficient ground has been shown for the sanguine hope we entertain of the success of the Garrick Range Water Supply Company. The elements of sue- ] cess are propitious and abundant; and we ] ■ |will only add, in conclusion, our firm be- 1 lief that those who are wise enough to invest a few pounds in the purchase of shares in the undertaking at the outset, will be Isowing the seed for a golden harvest of a Uvidends.