The Dunstan Times FRIDAY, FEBURARY 14, 1873.

Dunstan Times, Issue 565, 14 February 1873, Page 2

The Dunstan Times

FRIDAY, FEBURARY 14, 1873.

Beneath the Tuileo'f Men en-tirecy j car the pes is mightier than the sword.

Predgl'G tie Molyntux for gold appeal’s to be regarded wuh much favor as a'branch of mining industry. The new Steam Bred gi■ ig Com;iany, which may be said to be all but established, is evidence tliat the extraction ot gold from our river beds is demanding considerabl attent : on, while at the same time, every confidence is fit that the operation will prove a profitable one. Three thousand five hundred pounds —aid probably five thousand—the cost of placing a powerful dredge upon the Molynoux is a large sum for a small community to subscribe; but, when we find that this has almost been acoonip ished, it is pretty good evidence that no doubts exist about any lack of gold, the only difficulty being the getting of it. So far as dredging operations have been carried on as yet, there has been no want of success on the scoie of any scarcity of the precious metal, and wherever gold •was hit upon, the “ apron,” when able to reach tlie bottom, invariably brought it up. The difficulty that has presented itself to the dredger is the large amount of sn all gravel and sand that cqmes down with the current, and which flows with the most unceasing regularity, filling up every excavation as fast as it is made. Hand labor is no longer able to overcome this difficulty, but powerful machinery will ; and to get gold from (he depths of the Ulolyueux steam must come to the rescue- This hss been already employed, although only on a sma i scale, by Mr- Siedebcrg ; but, when hissmal engine can accomplish so much, a larger cue cannot fail to do fill that is required. The drift of gravel down the river will present no difficulty to the.powerful steam dredge, which will -overccincal! obstacles, and wherever

'o!n exists the iron horse will raise it to the surface. Thtre are plenty of 'iien now thoroughly experienced in his branch of aqueous mining, and ve have no doubt but that the time /ill soon come when powerful steam nedg“s upon the rivers of Otago will ■e a3 common as crush! g machines in Victoria, while the operations of the brmer will be certainly more remitlenitive. The quantity of gold conaintd in our liver beds must be immense. The rivers have operated as natural ‘‘ground sluices" forages, and wherever the deposit is there is satlicient to repay us even for the most extravagant outlay. The beach workings in the early davs of milling on the Molynenx is proof of this. Some of the fi' ds were enormous, and in favorable crevices it may be said a'ntost to have existed in buckets-full. If all this was above tbe surface of the wat r, what may we not expect to find below 1 The unexplored and cavernous depths of the modern Pactolns may contain more gold than we can possibly covet, and there is nothing to b ad us to any contrary opinion but that, to successfully reach the bottom of the river, is all that is required to find the treasure. It is ui questionably there. The debris washed down from the mountains through countless ages must have deposited immense qu°nof gold in the chinks an i crev ccs (if the rocks or the soft clayey bottom. There it lays comfortably, and waiting only the enterprising hand of man to retii ve it. The new Steam Dredging Company, f.tirly started, will be a prelude to a number of similar undertakings.