NELSON CREEK. X' xj

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1084, 18 January 1872, Page 2

NELSON CREEK. X ' xj

(JFROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) „...„, ., VWtf: ,dwsßyJZ^* The miners in this district are now turning their attention to' ;th)e best means of utilising the immense quantity of old -Bnd,-poor ground existing, in- the-locality." The old terraces in, /the; neighborhood of the upper town,' and tlie workings about Try Again terrace and Tobacco, Flatj willshortly be brought under, the.melting influence of the several large water-races 'now ih'course of construction. ! The project of taking in a large water ditch from the Lake Hochstetter to Nelson Creek appears to have been abandoned as too expensive. The idea is practicable enough, but the probable outlay was too large, for any private company to engage in the undertaking. This is one of the works which should be constructed with tho assistance of the Government, and the miners of Nelson Creek ought to bestir themselves and endeavor to secure a share in the Government subsidy, for the benefit of their district. Full directions as to the mode of proceeding will be found in the issue of the Weekly Argus of the sth instant.' " '" The large.water-race commenced nearly / two yearsago, by Messrs Magee, O'Donuel^' and Co., is now approaching completion. It is ■ about the. most extensive miuing work yet undertaken in the Grey Valley ; . and it is likely to become one of the most valuable mining properties on the West Coast.: The;water has; been raised from the left hand branch of the main creek, and the ditch when completed'will contain between .15 and 20 heads. An im- ■ mense Quantity' of timber 'has been used in making the long reaches of fluming, rendered necessary by the nature of the country through which the, race ians. Long and expensive tunnels had to be driven through the hard rock to get the water through .the points of the spurs obstructing its course, and neither labor nor material have been spared to complete the undertaking ; in a .faithful .and work-: manlike manner. Considering the dangerous nature of the work, and the perilous situation the contractors were often obliged to place themselves in, few accidents occurred} although one poor fellow lost his life. This company's water will command all the country from the source of the race to the Grey River, including the working about Hatter's Terrace and the. Deep Lead, as well as Try Again Terrace and the workings below it.: It is at such an elevation that it will be of great benefit-to the owners of other racesrunning at a lower level. Magee and O'Donnel's race, at the terminus of the German Co.'s race at No. 3 Creek,' will be - nearly It Jft higher up the range than the' German party's, and it will be nearly 200 ft higher than any of the present rapes at Hatter's Terrace. This g»*eat elevation and consequent pressure will give an enormous amount of power, and great results may confidently be "anticipated; The tail-water itself will be again collected and turned to valuable account. Among the other new races brought in during the last twelve months, Coal, Yates, and paiiy's is the most important. This race is situated some four miles up the'river from Hatter's Terraqe, and the party are said to have discovered rioh sluicing ground. The race was commenced in Januaiy, last year, and. the cost of its construction was cleared off before Christmas, besides allowing current wage's for the shareholders. It took five men about ten months to bring in this water. Kennedy's race.party are now.working on. Swindler's Point, in ground which' was tried and abandoned four years ago, and situate immediately above the site of the old township, and opposite Hatter's. This was long the largest and most important race in the district, but this new race of Magee and Go's throws it into the < shadeKennedy's water was at' one~time~takett' across Nelson Creek byimeans of fluming erected some 150 ft above the level of the creek bed below. This fluming-waslblown. down during one of the gales-last winter,; and the company have decided not to reerect it at present. • It is said this party intend to take their water further/along to Try-Again Terrace. The German party, at No. 3 Creek have had a good cleaning up recently. -Tliis company's water is also yaluable, but the supply depends a gqod deal on the weather. There are several smaller waterraces at the upper part of the creek, all of which give profitable employment to theuy owners. ; There , appears to bo payable ground everywhere water can be brought to bear, and this fact should be brought under the notice of those who will have the official distribution of the. General Government water grant. .; Hatter's Terrace is chiefly in the possession of John Graham and party, and John Potts, both of whose races are here in full swing. Mr John Potts, the oldest and most permanent resident, although not the actup I discoverer o^ Hatter's Terrace, has conferred an everlasting obligation on the publicans and other, business people of Hatter's. He has.laid'on a portion of. his race water for the domestic use of the residents in tow j^ ; and; the aforesaid publicans can now water their grog with impunity, and without any* trbnble tq themselves in procuring pure) water.' These waterworks have been in existence some. time, and an appjpg,/ .is due to Mr Pctts that they were not notjeed in these reports before. There are only three parties left on the Deep Lead. A. Bell and party are now in possession: of the Scotchmen's ..famous- . claim, aboi^t whiph there were such reports at the time the lead was rqsh§d, R. Larkin and party and John Westpn and party are working at the extreme lowei end, and this includes the population, with the exception of a few fossickers who still linger about the scenes of their former greatness, of this once busy and prosperous locality. The population of the upper parts of the creek is increasing,' but the almost illimitable area of payable ground will remain effectually locked up'until a road or track is cut through it: There were. L2OOO voted.,by the Provincial Council (f Nolson last session to be expended in this district, but as usual, this money is. "gone where the woodbine t.vineth," or, as it is vulgarly expressed, up the spout, for not pne shilling of ft has been spent here, Notwithstanding all the impediments placed in the way of the development of this district, it is said there was more gold sold during the Christmas week than at any former Christmas sin*s; the town has been in existence. This is satisfactory, and shows at least that the place is not retrograding. Mages how bridge across -lie river at

the town is finished. It is a wire Buspt' sion bridge, well built and safe, anj^^ must be a great improvement on the old style of crossing the river on a tight-rope, after the manner of the acrobats. A boat was attached to the rope stretched across tiieriyeun^ fen/man "went to see a party ' in the township, which he fpttndit ttecpssary .t£ do very often, intending passengers were his assistance. The consequence was, that from the complicated arrangement of the ; life lines, and the difficulty of wprkjng ihem, the boat generally went in' one direction and the^ M , ahqtHer, and as the separation usually took place in the middle of the stream the consequences were anything but pleasant to the unfortunate travellers, who were! often^ left, like Mahomet's coffin/ hanging in mid I ' air from the rope, until they were rescued. At Try-again Terrace'the attempt of *' Howe and Sweetman's party to Teach the deep ground under the cemetery range-has ~ been . postponed for the present. . , This- r■ , party and others intend to work the old ground up to the solid, and then go ipsearch of the supposed lead. This ar- . rangement will lead to a thorough pro- a specting of the deep 1 ground and to the ; : discovery of the deep gutter^ if it exists, : ;of which there is scarcely a doubt. Pointdexter and party have commenced awaterrace from the Brian Bpru Creek to Tobacco Flat. Theßrianßoru is situated about a, mile from Jenkins' Creek, .fprmerly k'no^tf v as German Gully No. 2. The 1 racewi!! have two heads, one at .the Brian Bora -and the other , at; Jenkins' ; Cisek. ;.THe' ., .lengthwi'l -be-about four- miles,-ancUiifl--' terminus will be at Tobacco Flat, some distance below Arthur Ellis' and party's dam. There is a great extent of poor sluicing ground on Tobacco Flat. The Tl7- Again lead,, whidh yra&{ve~j rich in places higher up, has become scattered here, and spread over, a.widji ?p.ao9,"oJC" . country. '. This new company; ban' reckogi/j upon years of profitable work, andCthey 1 ;.*; may be able to'settle the, point as jfaK^ iwhether the Tobacco lead does not form a deep and rich 1 gutter further down' the. range. The : Pbintdexter party areail-old^ residents of the terrace;: and theyvhave % good idea of what they are; about,; one of, r them especially, whe^ formerly; " fpllowed thesea/' maybe said to have a .personal acquaintance with every stone bniTobacco ,. . Flat. May they prosper "i the** adventure-. .--.;.. .... ; , . ......... A .new. shareholder has been introduced „,. into Messrs Arthur .Ellis.and.C)ompany's,; party. This pa.iy's race "commands all-., the drainage of the range from Farmer's Greek to Totara Flat, and at its terminus;' a capacious .dam is ' erected. Theparty^ is sluicing the terrace, and' the good fojl, ' permanent supply of water, and . other . . advantages and facilities, the : claim l".t continued to pay well for" years. Messrs .Abraham Jenkins and r Co., in Jenkins' Creek, are after sinking a new shaft on their extended claim. The ta?l-race .j . ; this party's claim was the largest of t 3 kind undertaken in the Grey Valley at ■ the time it was made. It took nearly two years to make it, and ', the quantity., of. : water in the ground was so gceat that the party were compe"ed to resort to the plan of sinking sYJbs frdin 50ft ! to 80ft deep, at short intervals,, .to enable them to proceed with the'work.T;he claim is. • aying welj. Sotne^of .this jcpmpany have devoted themselves/fo 1 fee I pi i aotioe of experimental sericulture, and they" have f \ succeeded in a remarkable and l unex-> j . pected manner! in raising monsters they had no idea Of .' ' •''. '•,- '■''"'''. '''''''■■, On the ranges, between German or ' . Jenkins' Creek and Try-fAgain Terrace,, 1 several parties are dry-sluibjig, that is piling washdirt and washing; it when it rains., They have been doing xemarkably; .; well, and some of them are said to have obtained large quantities of gold, but as they are mostly hatters, the results of their wdrk'seldbm transpire.' 1 ' '! ' On the whole the district of Nelson ♦Creek is assuming an appearance of per^ mauency. • The 1 fact; is becoming recognised that the district is especially adapted for extensive sluicing operations, and., every effort is tbeing made to utilise every;., available .drop of water.; .The miners in ' ? general are well off, and this is proved by the large amounts of money frequently; ; collected here for charitable purposes, and the large collection for the Greyßivep -Hospital, repentlyrnade by fi^essrs Arthur 1 •Ellis .and others, is a, casein^^ point. . This] donation is the largest yet given to the Hospital, wh°n the population of the district is considered. Large quantities of agiicultural land' are vbeing applied for 3%^ the locality, andVcpnsiderabje quantities are . now under crop. From present ag^ , peirances and future prospects Nelson; " = CreeH is liMy to onpe m.orp Tft s flni"i its* fprmer leading position among the Grey Wey Gold Fields.