Untitled

Grey River Argus, Issue 102, 6 September 1866, Page 2

A." rush has get in up the Teremakau, about two miles from the beach and about half-a : mile inland the left bank.' The prospects are reported to be ,good, varying -from half a pennyweight and upwards to the dish, sinking is from 10 to 70 feet. A large number of men are now on the ground. The contract for the formation of the road, way along Mawhera. and Richmond Quayshas been given, to Mr Kellett, the contractor who constructeel the roadway at the Cobden Jetty. The work is to be commenced iriurieeliately. " " •:■■' ,-v . ~ It may interest oiir readers from the Otago Gold Fields. 'to learn that according to the Dunstan papers mining matters hiive assunied a niiich more lively dspect lately, and a largo increase may be confidently expected

in the escort returns. At Alexandra, the claims at Frenchman's . Beach are all in full work, and wages men are oncejinore in great demand ; in fact, an idle man has become a great rarity. The Hit or Miss, the enterpriee, and the Frenchmen's Companies, arc- in first-rate ground j, and; should' the riv^r only maintain a moderately low level for the next two months, the ill-success met with by the miners at the early part of the season will to a consielerable extent be compensated for. Butcher's Gully and Butcher's Point are pro-, ducing large quantities of gold. Water is pretty plentiful almost anywhere, and the mildness of the season .enables mining pur-, suits tbbe prosecuted profitably. In the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday a painful-case of juvenile elepravity came before the Bench, aJad'only 12 years of age being charged with being drunk and incap-' 'able. The culprit had been employed at the' Belfast Hotel,' Gresson street, anel, during the absence of the landlady,' he had helped himself to whisky,..and niade himself elriink. The Magistrate elismissed the lad, but cautioned him that a future appearance before him would entail the punishment, of a flogging, ■" ' ...... From- a return of the liabilities of the various New Zealand Province's issued by the Government 'we find -that the -indebtedness of Canterbury amounts' to £304,000, and that of Nelson to £51,574. The Province of Canterbury is authorised to borrow £830,000, of which surii £230,000 -have been actually raised, entailing an annual charge of £19,000^ It Mill thus be seeri that the province can still borrow £600,000, Nelson is authorised to borrow £54,000, of which sum' £29,ooo has been raised, the annual charge on which is £2080. • I ". . Tho combined .attractions of the rushes to the Teremakau Jind Stafford Hill have had the effect pf elra^ing away the majority -of v the population at the New River, the number now remaining on^the ground not being over 200. The elifficult nature of the ground* has 'quite disheartened the bulk of the claimholders, many of whom have abandoned thenclaims. Those remaining have, -yv'e are in/ formed, combined to carry out the cutting of a tail-race to drain the ground. Business is very dull, and a great many storekeepers have left for the Teremakau. Accordiug-to the West Coast Times a >yery extensive rush has set in to a terrace about two miles north of the Arahura River, at the back of the ' Lagoon. N The fact that gold had been discovered there first transpired ~ on^ Monday last, and by noon thaiTday several ' hundred men were on the'ground. ami we are informed that between 1500 and 2000 visited the locality yesterday. The prospects obtained are very encouraging, as it is stated that from a half dwt. to three tlwts. of fine' gold was washed out of different dishesof wash-elirt. The good effects of tliejecent red\iction in the rentalibf the back portions of the Maori Reserve- are already evident, most of the available sections having been taken: \iip. The grouncj is being rapidly cleared, and, as the soil is of excellent quality, some good gardens are in course of formation. The NeUon Examiner gives currency to a statement made to it by "an experienced digger," that the " country to the northward of the Buller is likely before long to bear a yery large mining population, several parts having been tested , with more than' usual success." -A party working CO^nriles up the Karaniea are said to_have been making LlB per week per man for some time. , The funeral of the late s Mrs Blake, the wife of one of the oldest residents on the Grey, took place yesterday afternoon. The body was followed to the. grave by a considerable number of the inhabitants, and the flags of the shipping and of various stores were hoisted half-mast high, out of respect- to the memory of the deceased. : The West Goad . Times says that the news from the Scandinavian Rush (Stafford Hill) is so far satisfactory that every shaft yet bottomed on thie lead is paying remarkably well. - v ■-'-.. / L From the -Nelson papers we learn, that .tho prisoner Burgess is engaged writing his own biography, to which work he continually applies himself. '] Sullivan has received a letter from his wife, in which she declares her intention to" come over to him. - We are informed by the West Coast Times of ■ yesterelay that^ on , the passage from Hokitika the Lor A Ashley was boarded off Milford Sound by a party of nine men in a whale boat, who desired that one of their party (James Elliot), who was suffering from yellow jaundice, should be taken to Dunedin for treatment. - The request -was at once granted by Captain Ponsonby, and the invalid, on arrival on Svnday, was conveyed to the Hospital. The v party stated thr.t they were then six months out from Okaritaprospecting, .and were making a little more than' tucker. At 3 s p.m. on the same day ■a' ketch sent a boat alongside withletters. They reported being three months out from Dunedin prospecting for copper and lead ore, and had found some good specimens. : The Westland Observe!', oi Saturday, in its notice on- mining in that district, says: — " Two new pieces of ground at the Five Mile Beach are now being actively wrought by parties who, by the prospects they have obtained, are ' encouraged to unelertake a much greater aiuount of labor and expense than have usually been incurreel. On the new lead'at the south end of the beach, soriie parties ha\*6 amalgamated so as to overcome the heavy stripping' and the- work of slabbing their paddocks., with greater ease, and in several instances it is expected, that they will be able to bottom this week. The stripping is not less then from twenty-five to thirty feet, and, as the water comes upon them when about twenty-five feet down, it is necessary to slab the remaining few feet, and to do it most thoroughly, the pressure of tho water being very great. In one. of the first of the claims opened, the^work was interrupted by the stroqg slabbing giving way f under the extreme pressure to which it was , subjected, ;The other new claims ard at" the north end of the beach, and partially below high water mark. The same ground had been tested |>y several '.parties; ancl from

eighty 'to. nintcy ounces were iiji-s'ktme'iiii". stances ; obtained in ; smalt= paddocks of J na great depth ; but'lhe proximity offtHe claiis to the sea prevented them. .froiri being otherwise than imperfectly wrought. "The new claimholders have, however, erected substantial breakwaters, .by driving into the sand rows of heavy logs, which ihey have interlaced with branches, the whole "being constructed so thoroughly, as to resist the force of the s^rf, arid effectually, to prevent any damage to the claims. > The construction; of these is a considerable item in the cost of working the" claim, but the grburid is be. liev_ed to be sufficieritly good to justify its being undertaken,/ and^ there is no "doubt that there are many parts on the same beach and" others 'where the same plan will yet be sdopted." ' '.'.;. , " ■ A communication has been received by a gentleman in Hokitika from Mr R. B. Bradshaw, one of the Otago gold fields members of the House of Representatives, 'to the effect' that he has withdrawn.his bill for reelucing the export duty oil gold, but that he intends to introduce it- next session.- WithreganHo the proceedings of the Select Committee on Gold Fields Mr Bradshaw says :— "The re? suit of our labors is the introduction of a bill in which we recommend the miners.' 'rights,to be reduced to 10s. In it alsP a ckuse will be introduced,' in accbrdance with your recommendations in respect to a'Central Mining Board. If we manage to get this bill through, you will be able to have a Central Board on Jjfche West Coast very soon. They are also 'trying t» get for the gold fielels some elirect responsible control from the General Government by the appointment of a Minister of Mines. If this I.e. not carrieel it will -be entirely the fault of the miners theiriselves. A petition from the -■ miners to the General Government, asking them to take the control of the gold fields into ! their hands, would be' attended to in the present session,"