CARRICK.

Dunstan Times, Issue 504, 15 December 1871, Page 2

CARRICK.

(FROM AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT.) The weeks seem to pass away more quickly than events arise to chronicle. A few fine days, a fresh discovery in the matter of reefs, a crushing from two claims, a man burned out of his tent in the dead of night, are the most prominent details of the week's history. We have had two ernshings, or rather two washings up since my last epistle tie Caledonian sml* Elizabeth.From 114 tons of stone the Caledonian obtained, I am informed, sranej9B ounces.. The Elizabeth, from IIS tons, obtained an unknown quantity—one shareholder affirming one tiring, another somewhat differ cm . lam justified in saying however t a the on-. hing did not yield according to expco .ati n. I could say a good deal on this head were I so disposed ; and breed perchance considerable distrust and ill feeling— hut as I am a residentlmre*.T-frad” better that “silence is golden. ” Let us hope that the next washing up at Xmas will ho more satisfactory. I don’t consider for a moment that the yield from the “ Caledonian ” remembering the thickness of the reef, and its easily worked character, should at all dispirit its shareholders. It is certainly payable. Ecefs that are comparatively poor, cannot afford to pay from twenty to twenty five shillings per ton for the crushing. The only escape seems to be—combination among adjoining claims for the erection of joint machinery’. The machine being erected for the “Heart of Oak” and “ Star of the East ” will commence operations next week, and will I opine crush double the stone running through the battery belonging to the Elizabeth Company, and it is purposed, should nothing unforeseen happen, that it should be formally opened on the 19th instant, I purpose be at its christening, and will fake notes ”of what may transpire. The reef found by the “ White Horse Company has been cut through, and found to he eighteen inches thick. Gold can he seen in the stone, and a very'good prospect can be washed from the rubble and casing. Slightly dipping to the East, it cannot yet he stated whether this is the main reef running through this portion of the spur—a leader running into it, or an entirely distinct lode. Of other claims working and well known little fresh can he stated, beside the fact of their vigorous prosecution.

Beyond the Nil Desperandum line of reef, nno her reef has been found still higher up the hill, prospecting well on the surface—but as it is a recent discovery, and the ground yet unopened, little positive can be said. Tenders have been called for sinking a shaft forty feet deep on the “ Young Australian. " It has been taken at seventeen shillings per foot, and will probably be completed by Christmas. I really cannot say how many other events will take place at this festival—they thicken daily. A share was sold in this claim on Saturday 1 hear for 20/. The most novel feature however which I have to mention is the discovery of a new reef by Mr. Brydon on the othersido of tho range, falling into Potters. An excellent prospect has been obtained, of seven or eight grains to the dish, and by your next issue, tho importance of this discovery, as well as tho one in Pipe Clay, will very probably bo confirmed. I’ll give you all tho details connected with these claims when more certain information can be obtained. It is unfair to criticise nr comment harshly on now undertakings, and it is far easier to find fault than to go and do better. But there are several things patent to the uninitiated that must take place, or be alt-red, to' insure the prosperity of the district, cartage aujd feeding must bo done away with. Wire tramways or shoots must be laid down to dispense with the former self feeders must bo erected to economise labor, end provide against the evils arising

from the employment ol incompt tent men. Good feeders are often difficult to obtain—and a machine at any time is better, more regular, and cheapei than manual labor. Should more payable reefs be found, of which there can ' o littleduubt, and addi'ioual and heavier machinery driven by team be erect' d on the >ange, it will be expedient, nay almost imperative, that Some other plan lx-adopted than the ex; elusive and cumbrous one at present now in vogue for the supply of fuel. The two batteries at present in Carrickton will consume ’ weekly about twenty five tons of fuel. At less than the present contraot price for carting, the cartago alone for the supply of lignite for these two small batteries will cost over 1,000/. per annum. With such excellent facilities as the mountain slope possesses for the construction of wire V tramways, and the heavy cost at present * entailed, it will soon become patent I imagine to all interested how expedient, it- " will be to do away with the mode of conveyance at present employed, and the subsntution of plant to supersede the labor of horses and men. The wires can he stretched across the ravines ; spans of fifteen hun'red feet can be adopted with safety ; curves "f almost any imaginable severity, present no obstacle ; while an access of power given t > the machinery already on the hill would provide the motive power necessary to draw the coal to its destination. It should be borne in mind that all the stores and materiel wanted on the hill would come by this means to Carrickton or where wanted, and supplement in no small degree the saving accruing from dispensing with horses, carts, and men, as at present disbursed. Millar, F.S. A., or some other well informed well disposed man, should give the public instruction as to how these roads should be laid, the amount they are capable of delivering ; the power requisite to drive them, and the cost of construction. If any one so charitably disposed will dispense this information, let him tell us the relative cost and strength of both steel and iron wire. One other matter, and 1 shall finish my weekly epistle. Fifteen months since Dr. Hector tardily pointed out tbe iniquity of our mining laws relative to quartz reefing. We are privileged to hold in ordinary quarts, claims, one hundred and fifty feet . on each side of the lode, or its supposed i line of its direction. We have borrowed this law like most others from Victoria, i where the lodes are almost vert cal, or run , only as a rule at, a small angl- of inclination. What must bo. right in Victoria was imagined could nor be otherwise hire It , is found however on the Than Ps, Con nr n del, the Nelson district, and even : n Ota- , that the dip . f the reef is oftc as nv ■.! as forty five. Now shi n’d s / :; r , . . this rate for any clcplh, r vd : : b, v j , vions that it would soon nm

mrface bonn> hifie-of he ;rs- : ■ »• and become th • po cry of rhe ..,r„ ,i. m claim-holders. Deride .lia_.nn th - lod.-o, take, ‘j:' " Steves, sonn times shelf aft- r belt succeeding each other, while “ faults ”or dislocations occur, generally a- a rule, cl) tending towards the natural dip of if.,lode, and still accelerating the pace at which they run from tholriegitiraate owners into the hands of those who should have no lieu on them. Now the mischief of this ruling is very plain. It prevents the ground in many instances being properly worked, and properly’ secured. It. prevents the expenditure of money in the' development of reefs, and the erection of powerful rnachiuery ;it depreciates the value of mineral estates, and allows on “ outsider ” to ston in, and by a small outlay to reap the reward that should by right have belonged to those who have opened and traced the lode, and the privilege of marking off SU-i feet of the dip of the rec , win o the prospectors could mark off , nly hai’jthe amend. I wonder how long this singular piece of mining jurisprudence is. to endure. Is there in our gold-fields’ members absolutely no power of invention, or have they to be educated to see the wants of their constituents ? How is it that our Member, the Member for the gold-fields, as he loved to be called, has not taken up this subject? He has gone in for banking, for cock sparrows, for a whip for “Silver Pen, ’’for a watch “ with roguish eyes ” over the “fair divan” in the House of lleprcsentatives, and ignored this “ weightier matter ” of the law. He should have known he would ho arraigned for his derilections of duty—and have to toll his constituents what he has done.

“ Suppose in onrall powerful smash Our hearts surrendered with a crash Wouldn’t the Smiler cut a dash In the House of ilepreaentatives ?” “ Silver Pen ” exclaims. Well we did surrender, and he did cut a dash—and iiow he refuses to return to the lady of his love, and to exemplify his constancy and troth, by telling us what ho did and saw. Perhaps he is waiting—and it is necessary I no —for that nymph who exclaimed “ Would I could give my hoard of brains To dwell with thee on Dunstan’a plains” My pen always runs away with me if I touch on polities —mrenenotu tee muutum. I have been pegging away at this necessary 4| alteration in our reefin.- laws in almost a every letter I have w itten on tho subject ” for nearly two years—and now male- my valedictory request. Get this iniquity altered, and let the lisc'.verer of a reef have tho right to follow it in all i s ends, dij and depths, wherever it can bo followed over the whole length of the trround be eenpies on the surface. may consider whether it is - , dsd. or not, xpediont or otherwise,' ' ha;, v. c should have some comnmnicai ion with the outer world. I have hid no letter* - since 1 have been her , and never expect any till I go to Cromwell or Clyde t fetch ihoin, end all the inhabitants of die hill are sin ilar lv situated We heard of In Rang ov gl inn down by a wandfre; for Queen' own—and it that mopt calamitous i f ail Provii cb.l mishaps should occur—'ll bur ing down of the Cow-ho« ; e in Cromwell —wcshould probably 'rental •. ig orint of the fair ri 1 v.c went to settle our affairs in the V ardtn - s Court, and found that the place *| a' ■, once occupied, know its nairow confined, weather-stained and rotten presence no ■ more.