WARDEN’S REPORT.

Evening Star, Issue 3336, 29 October 1873, Page 3

WARDEN’S REPORT.

Mr Warden Stratford, writing from tho Arrow under date 10th October, reports as follows regarding that district: The winter having been much milder than that of 1872, there has not been a great demand for protection. Altogether it ha* been a favorable season, especially for eluicers. Up fhe banks of the Arrow Liver the returns of gold have been sma , owing to the groat labor companies have been pub to in repairing the damages caused by a heavy flood in May last. _ There seems to be amongst the miners in this neighborhood an opinion that there is a vast extent of rich auriferous ground m the bed of the Arrow River, as well as in Millers Hat Val ey, which is supposed to have been the original bed of the Shotover. In regard to the for-mer-acting upon that belief, companies have been formed to be registered under the Limited Liability Act, for the purpose of testing the ground. Seventeen acres ba\c been taken up altogether under the Mining Lease Regulations m the vicinity of Arrowtown, and I believe that one of the two claims in the area above mentioned will he opened by the company in October. the proprietors of the other eta srl l probably not commence operations until alter Lhnstmas. A special claim of nine acres has been granted to J. A, Miller and pai y Their claim is situated at the falls, about four miles above Arrowto'.n, and the promoters are floating the company under the Joint Stock Companies Act. Bush Creek diggings, near Arrowtown. are beginning to attract attention. About forty acres, with head-races and other easements, have been applied for during this quarter; and as Messrs Sharp and M’Kechuie arc constructing a tramway, to be three miles in leng i, to bring down timber from the head of the cnick, the gully, when mining operations are in full work, will be a source of considerate wealth to the town. At Macetown and Emht-Mile the population is becoming more settled than ever. At the latter place there are several good tunnelling claim 1 . At the former miners are making on an average fair wages, the best claims paying as much as Lb to LS per week per man. The population of Macctown and neighborhood consists of about IffO Europeans and 250 Chinese, of all occupations, ages, and sexes. There are four European and three Chinese siotcs, two hotels, one shoemaker, a timber dealer, a dressmaker, and a National School teacher, who has about twenty children under bis In Rogpr’s Quljy there are a fpW Eim-pian miners, vyho arp quaking fair wages, hut this locality is ao high up in the ranges that it is very cold during the winter months, and, there being no track from Mac town, and no means of taking a pack-horse there, the provisions hare to be carried by hand All these obstacles preveut a larger number ot miners from setting in to work on ground known to be extensive and highly auriferous There are some quartz reefs also in this neighborhood, out of which payable mens have been procured, but to develop them it will be necessary to commence with considerable capital to cut a road to convey timber and machinery. I have heard that some steps will be taken shortly to form a company to test these reefs. At Motatapu, there are about twentyfive Europeans and eighty Chinese. lam unable to say much of fhpir prospects at present, bqt gold brought jn from that locality is c°arse, bright, and highly prized by the goldtbuyers. To encourage settlement in these places last-mentioned (as the gold in payable quantities is to be found almost everywhere) tracks safe for pack-horses will have to be formed. The expenditure involved, I have no doubt, will soon be remunerative. There are two routes from Arrowtown to Motatapu, the one by the Roaring Billy Creek being the most used at present; but as Government money is being expended on the Macetown track, and that is the shorter route, it will probably become the most favored.

At the Cardrona, mining matters are beginning to improve, as the miners are recovering the losses sustained by the great May flood. Three large companies, namely, Empire, Banner of War, and Groat Extended, are almost at a standstill owing to a dispute with Mr Timothy Cotter, an agricultural leaseholder, but I am glad to be able to report that, through the intervention of tho Government, a settlement between the disputants will probably eventuate shortly. The result will be the employment of about thirty men in the Cardrona Deep Bead, which bcar-s the reputation of being ground paying on an average about L 4 a-wcek. ihe Enteiprisu Company, next adjoining Cotter’s leased area, is'now sinking another'shaft. J he prospects of this company arc very good Messrs Bond and Mackin have succeeded m establishing a provisional directorate fm their “one mile” claim, at Spott’s Creek. Their efforts to test the value of the auriferous ground down the Cardrona Greek, ten miles from the present diggings, arc highly praiseworthy, and, if successful, it will prove that the run of gold extends all the way down the Cardrona Valley. Ihe European miners up the Cardrona Greek appear to he satisfied with their returns, as they are men who, having been there lor some years, are now providing for themselves peinument homesteads. The same remark may apply to all the residents of Cardrona \ alley, which contains a population of about 240 Europeans (all told), and about .100 Chinese, who appear to live on friendly terms with the former, Tho sheep and cattle-owners appear to agree very well in regard to the commonage ground, and to maintain their boundaries without disputes There is no doubt that the price of meat is kept very low perhaps lower than any other place in Ota"0 (beef at 8d to sd, and mutton at 4.1 pe ‘ ”b)— owing to the advantages afforded to cattle and sheep-owners. The ranges surrounding the diggings aro well covered with snow, in which the miners rejoice, as they (the ranges) are gigantic reservoirs containing supplies of water which will be much needed during the dry season. The track from Arrowtown to Cardrona is in a shocking state of disrepair, and the innumerable bogs between the two places require to be bridged over with stone culverts. A track with an easier gradient could also lie made across the Crown Range and down into the

Carclrona Creek, at a cost probably not oxcecding Ll5O. To this it would be necessary to add LIOO to bridge the bogs and repair the track I have already mentioned, both of which are much required, as the traffic averages thirty men and sixty horses, with about five tons of merchanise a week all the year round. At Whitt chapel Flat there are about fifteen miners at work, using about fifteen sluicc-heads of water. Mathieson and party (whose works have been constructed with Government aid, under the Public Works Act), have their head race in good working order, and at a recent washing up proved their ground to be well payable. Harris and company have also obtained encouraging returns. Walker and party, who are working on the. Crown Terrace, have discovered that the gold still continues going on towards the ranges ; tho ground is stqney, but beginning to pay better —a fact which jnotifies tho Miners’ Association in petitioning tho Government (as they did last autumn), not to alienate the Crown Terraco land (food prospects have also been recently found at the Five-mile Creek on the same terrace. The families residing at Whitechapel aro grateful to the Government for tho now bridge that has been erected across the Arrow river, as tlvy are no longer depending upon horsemen to carry them across when they wish to visit Arrowtown; and the children are now able to come up to school, a boon they have hitherto been deprived of. Down tho banks of the Kawarau, between Morven Ferry and Kirtleburn, tho miners are progressing very fairly. They are all old residents, and have largo sluicing claims with permanent water supply. The Cambrian Company, whose race was very much injuml during the winter by floods and laud slips, has just succeeded, after one month’s labor, in discharging a good supply of water to work its claims. lam unable to report further on its prospects, as the ground has only just been opened. At Arrowtown building and enclosing is still going on. Trade is brisk, though, perhaps, there is too much competition to be healthy. Tho new Roman Catholic Church, -which will probably bo completed before Christmas, is a handsome structure of stone, quarried in the neighborhood, and when finished will have cost about I 1,500. The towu is shortly to he formed into a Municipality, being the result of aa unanimous wish of tho inhabitants. Miners’ wages rule at L 3 per week ; Chinese do, at L2. Laborers’ wages and for general work at about 7s a day without board. Firewood, from Wakatip, at L2 13s a cord ; from Arrow Bush, at L2 ss. Bread, 41b loaf, at 7d; beef, 4LI to 6d; mutton, 44« l per lb ; oats, Os per bushed ; oaten cludY, 4s Od per cwt; district flour, Ll2 per ton ; fresh butter, 2s per lb, eggs, Is 6d per dozen ; potatoes, L 4 per ton.