WARDEN’S REPORT.

Evening Star, Issue 3411, 27 January 1874, Page 3

WARDEN’S REPORT.

The following is the report of Mr Warden Robinson (Mount Ida) for the quarter ended December 31 There has beeix but' little to vary the heual bohrse'of events upon this goldfield duriag thp period, i Until quite recently there has theeflagood Supply of water for sluicing/ and, the’Christmas escort will be « very heavy oWe—l say, will be, for it will not be actually despatched until the New Year. The 5 father is how setting in for a dry season apparently, hndwater is already scarce. If fj-esh falls of rain do not soon : take place, many claims' will hard to be''-stopped‘working; *'This is by no means unusual at about this time of year and the ordinary practice is for nomben/ol the miners to cross the ranges to the Waitaki side and seek a few weeks’ employment at harvesting, returning to their mining work here so soon as water for sluicing becomes again available. ■’ -MV? < At the Maerewhcnna the,important qnestion of the pollution of streams has at length come to a practical issue. The innholders (Messrs Bortoh wd M‘Master) are owners of a large tract of freehold .land frontingthe river. They have npou their freehold the usual apparatus for sheep washing, for which they obtain water from tho. i Maere whebUa river by means of a race—all ithe works, race, and everything are within the freehold. The pollution of the stream .by:sluicing into it has rendered the water,, quite .useless>,for sheeP' washing, andv thpy have this .season been in consequence obliged, to, shear in grease. To avoid this they wished the miners to refrain from sluicing during, their shearing.time, .This ppuld. not be arranged, and Messrs, Rotton andM‘Master are now steps to enforce what they, consider,to be their rights.,. The proceedings, which, are by way of t injunction, are at present only against Cne party'(HCnry‘ Howe and (Jo). I purposely refraip from passing any opinion upon_ the meritr nf : this question, at nd aoqbt it. isnl soon be solvea by proper, an thorny. . ■ . , . L to have to mention thatthe quartz atlUingh R|dge seem lively to of th«

getic Company are, afc.anyrate, stopped for the present, and it is reported that the company will be probably-wotmd up. : It is oer-'. itainiy a pity that s6 much capital and labors .should from time to time have been wasted in abortive attempts to work the Bough Ridge reefs to profit. Every company that has had to do with them has failed hitherto. Yet there is undoubtedly gold in the reefs, and practical men seem to bo of opinion that if worked on a sufficiently large scale they Wouldpav fairly. One difficulty appears to be that’the companies have all had Dunedin directories, Who, looking for immediate returns, have not perhaps been willing to incur the large preliminary expense Of. thoroughly opening up mines. Whatever the cause, the fact remains that company after company has, after comparatively short trials, given up the work. At .St Batban’s the large water-race of Halley and Co. is bring steadily carried onward, but I am not in a position Instate when; it will be completed. • It will bo a fine property when once’ the water is in it, as it W»H command, such an extent of payable ground. •Thb 'Naseby sludge channel and the water race from the Manuhcrikia Biver are both showing good signs of progress. Of the' sludge channel there are two and a-hklf miles finished, and two miles cut, • but not yet pavedraltbough the stone for-pavingia on the ground. This, work has taken longer than was at first reckoned upon. It was expectedj to; , bave been done in ten months; but to'all appearance another year must elapse ' before it can be ‘ready for use. ■ Yet the work now goed On welb as many 'as seventy men being recently employed. The mining coin- 1 munity is to get anxious to know whether r the, channel is to be brought up at the deeper level as Suggested. I presume the •engineers will’soon have to decide’ whether it is worth while to increase the expense of making the.channel deeper, at the upper end, for ! the sake of the adciitionalground that would thereby be rendpred workable.. If' the expohso of deepening is hot too gfcat, it certainly, seems a, pity not to make the channel dt thik lowest, wefkidg level, So'as to command the greatest possible extent of ground; The fall of the faim’at thri ujiper end, according to the present plan, will, bo about’ , T : '* in 55. The proposed •deepening would reduce.the falL tq. about .1 : in 60,. or rather‘ less than to 12ft. 1 The head race is till let* to contractors, with ihC excep . tion of about ten miles; ,that is to say, there are - fifty-sik miles 'tirfSSV 1 CQntf*ctj of tflhich twelve and a-half are actually finished, and five and a-half almdst * It is expepted that the whole may be finished before aabther ■ yeiT'haa'gbho by. ! The escort for the past quarter has been as follows':— ' ..5 ■ ■ , OZB. J dvrts. I . .Naseby .v . . 4,392 .16 . St. Balkans . - ... 1,150 0 > Macrae’s- -■' ''’’3Bl X,. T’klinefstbh : ' ■79 :r l4 ' i : ■ p " ! ’ ' 6,003 17 ’ 1 * ,jr ’- ' r il ' >' '