CORRESPONDENCE.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 223, 17 February 1874, Page 5

CORRESPONDENCE.

fWe do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions expressed by our correspondents.]

Toth Editor of the Cromwell Argus.

Ptr.— T n your issue of the 3rd instant, unde*’ the heading of “Quartz Mining Memoranda,” | appears the.following, relating to the Lucknow j Company’s mine i ,c A good deal of uncertainty prevails in the minds of many as to whether the i tunnel hasn't been driven past the reef, even if ' it did underlie so much as was said. If not met j with soon, perhaps it would be well *n bale the ! shaft, and discover how much ! be underlie really , is. Some of the old employes sav if was V reel inches, some six, some nine, and some even | twelve inches to the foot. Whatever it is. it! will he a caution to companies in future to insist upon their managers furnishing them with exact data from time to time of the actual workings in the various mines. A great deal of valuable | time and money might thus be saved, when oneH manager has to resign the reins of government t to another/' . •■Now, Mr Etlitoi'.Hhe plain inference from the j foregour? :a this,*—That I, being the billy miii 6

manager in the employ of the-ohl company while ■ttfe reef wart*,in work, or in .view, neglected to .inform the management of the different, chainc« that took pi ce. I moat emphatically deny this, and assert that I at ah times gave the Directors full information, that relating 10 the underlie of the reef being no exception,—about which, up to toe time of stopping the works, there ought not to be the slightest doubt. As it is but fair that,blame should rest where it is merited, I will mention that previous to leaving the mine, I marked the ground, and strongly advised the Company to carry the then proposed level from the mill direct to whero the working shaft would cut, if the underlie coatinned as it then was. Some of my reasons for this advice were the following,l. A main level for the etlicien.c w’ovking of a mine, ought if possible, to be perfectly straight; for even the tunnel in, and payable stone found to extend any distance to the west, branch drives could easilv be put in.—2. A greater chance - of getting payable stone in that part, than farther west, as from 126 feet west of the working shaft, beyond which distance in that direction no payable stone had been got. the reef had been gradually civb out until within fi'ty fectlof the shaft!; and at. ft depth of ISO feet from the surface’there was not half; an.inch of;stone, and ‘hadjrtftt beehjfor a: depth of 30 feet.—3. The risks at all times in gold mining are so great, that it is in my opinion an act of extreme folly to increase them, even for the sake of saving a few pounds, by turning the level, and cutting the line of reef a few feet nearer than if it had been continued in a straight line.—4. A far greater probability of the level draining the mine, in consequence of the shaft and adjacent workings being much deeper than , any other part of the claim,—s. Smarting direct from the mill would enable the tunnel to go ; in ,at a lower level than if it were commenced closer, to the reef, as the ground rose from the hill, io the line of reef.—6. A shorter’ distance to or under the old workin s than from any other available point at the same, level, and a good chance of cutting payable leaders. , Mot withstanding all this, the' management have thought proper to alter t,he line! of the tunnel, thus to a great extent destroying, its usefulness, rendering it doubly difficult to get rid of powder smoke, and eventually cutting the line of reef where, in my expressed opinion, file chance of getting any sort of quartz wiLs bii’t small. , , . r . ....... . . VV ho are to blame for thus squandering. tl>o j shareholders’ money, I .know not.- nor does it I concern* me, beyond the very■ unfair jittempt to I father the gross bungling on my previous maj nagement, by insinuating that nhpdrthrit'infiir- | mation had been withheld from the company, j I write this trusting to remove the impression j that all mismanagement in mines is attributable to mining managers, and also to show'that the capital of mining companies can be* wasted through the incompetence, .neglect; and; fo' ly of:. 1 others’than mine managers,—lam, Ac>. : iIiCH. N. N. H.wvtcES. Dunedin, February 7. ’■■ : ■ To the EHtor of the Cromwell AkouV Sik,— In looking over the ooiums.of the Cromwell Argus of. yesterday, I find .you have givenexpression to a public opinion discussed on Car?, drona this evening in reference'to the rVthbyal of M r Warden St'atford. The secretary of the Miners’ Association here called a public meeting an the Golden Ago Hotel this evening, in o»%r to ventilate t}ie above sub-.-ject, which resulted in' a vote of censure on the Government, for depriving us of our Warden, as' he had been the only Warden in -the Arroiydistrict up to the present (hat ever gave any attention to the wants of Cardnma ; and diming his s:ay here was always a painstaking, conscientious Warden and 11. M. ; also, that his absence, though it was hoped it would lie only. temporary, would be a serious loss to this part of the district. A copy of the resolutions requesting'hia ‘ return within three months, was ordered to lie sent to the Provincial Secretary. I am confident (he inhabitants of Cardrona endorse your remarks, when you say: “Putting the district to one side, we would ask if it is not time Mr Warden Stratford had some sure place ; of abode and, “at every place Mr Stratford has held office, people have the highest opinion- < f his conduct as Warden and R.M.” Speaking in miners’ parlance, I sav it is high time Mi* Stratford wasallowed permanent campingground. I see by notification in the local paper, Mr Warden beetham intends holding Court here on the I7th proximo,—our annual race day,. Just what we would expect from Mr Beetham : to come when it suited himself only. During the year.prior to Mr Stratford’s appointment to the disfciict, Mr Beetham was supposed to visit us once in two mouths ; though it would appear to an | observer that he came about once in six ; and even then, he held Court at any hour lie chose ; nine in the morning or seven in the evening, as he thought proper, regardless of the inconvenience of those who in some cases had to travel three miles, and then perhaps to get snubbed and snap: ed at for | not being to time, as if each one individually wax I the cause of his having to cross that insurmountable barrier, the Crown Range. But if Mr Beetham is supposed to attend to this part of the district in the same manner as he has previously done, we on Card.rona would cheerfully make a present of his supposed services to tho Wakatip Hospital. Trusting I have not trespassed too far on your space,—l am, &c , A Miner. Blackman’s Creek. Girdrona, February 11, 1874.