MINING NEWS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1108, 15 February 1872, Page 2

MINING NEWS.

; GUEY VALLEY DIGGINGS. (fkom our own corkespoKdbnt.) Ahauba, Feb. 14. ;" The miners' throughout the Grey Valley have suffered seriously from the effect of the recent floods.* From all directions tho details of the damage done ifcitf VSfifitig InV arid' thrf ull extent of the injury will ! not- be ktTowri /for so'me(time. p?he'injuries to wa+er--races in the elevated parts were being partially repaired^when a second freshet came on Tuesday night and carried away all ,the f newly-made work, causing nearly as much loss as the previous flood. The upper parts of the lead at Half-Ounce is filled with surface water, and as far down as Ha'fford arid party's claim, the majority of the underground workings are swamped. The water-races at Nobles arid Duffer Creeks, burst in all directions, arid were otherwise injured by landslips. The flood at Callaghan and Sullivan Creeks carried away head and tail-races, flumes and tail boxes,. undermined large trees, bringing: them down, in some instances to the imminent danger of human life. Moonlight Creek appears to have suffered most. The creek workings,' especially in the locality of the Gorge, are rather important, and every trace of the presence of a mining operation is. carried awayi An immense landslip .took, place above the middle township, and the effect was as singular as it was' disastrous. Several acres (some say about twenty) of the range tumbled' into the creek,, and, forming; an impromptu dam : blocked; back the water for several minutes during the highest time of the flood.-; The<result was that when the creek had risen sufficiently high to burst its way through the obstruction, it came down like a bore : carrying everything before it. The town was partly washed away, leaving the remaining portion in such a position that its remova will be necessaiy. In thetßed Jacksand No' Town districts the danVage to waterraces, paddocks, arid/dams/ is ipcalcuiable. ■The farriiers have suffered in a greater degree: than the miners; because in numerous instances the very land which formed their horiiesteads, is destroyed, either by being carried away bodily, or covered over with debm in such? a manner as to render its .abandonment necessary. The destruction in the lower parts of the Valley is deplorable, and the residents appear,cpmpletely disheartened. And it is no' wonder, 'for it is heartbreaking to see the result of years, of ; toil and industry annihilated in a few liours» The people seem paralysed for the time, arid the whole country seems as if anepidemic was :" . . : passing over it, ! ■ ; so that ; ; one can almost imagine the " air filled with farewells to the dying, and mournings for the dead;" a state of desolation, whichjis said to be characteri istic of '.'■ plague-stricken countries. ■.; - -The damage done in the farming districts is greater than at first appeared. Wheß the • water subsided people were thanHul^that ■ the i land 'refrained^ but qn"closer examination it has been fourid/ that hundreds of acres have been, left in" such a condition as to be wholly valueless, [n some places the standing crops were, covered with several feet of sand", shingle, and drift wood. This latter contains immense logs, which it will not pay to remove, so. that , posited will"' of .necessity be\abandoried. Regarding these large snags and logs, it has been remarked that nothing like them in dimensions ..can be seen in the forests on the surface/ now. An enormpiis trunk of an old tree has been left on one of, the beaches ■« near ,.;the Old Ahaura. It. is evidently an ancient voyager, for its roots and upper, forks are well waterworn. It measures as it is, J6O .feet in lengthy with a diameter of 18 feet about 10 feet from the roots. The proportions of this monster must have been inxposing.when.it. stood upon its', native heath. j " ; The latest from the new rush in the Teviot Ilanges, is the bottoming of Fagan and party's shaft at 52 feet, with a small prospect. From the position of tbeshaftj it would, seem that the lead, if it continue, will take an • opposite direction to ■ the originally supposed course. This shaft oLFagari arid party's is. dipping into the hiU.at the of one foot in two and a half, whereas it was expected the deep ground was further down the range. Tie prospectors have bottbined another shaft with very good, prospects, arid several duffers have 'been sunk, but none \of them. deep, enough to reach the level of the auriferous dirt iri the prospecting claim. A fresh base line will have to be struck, for the deep ground is not running parallel to the. Government line as. .at; present laid oft. A new track has been cut from Granville to the rush, by Mr Lewis and his staff ; it is nearly; a; bee line along a leading spur, and the distance is a little more than a iaile. Theprospects of the lead being continuous are as good as ever-; the difficulty is the finding ihe- course of it ; when'tliat is done, there w ill be no further delay in reaching it with tunnels, but its true position must be first ascertained. Except in the hydraulic sluicing districts,' the r miners are mostly repairing damages ; but the sluicers are as busy as nailors, taking advantage of .the. copious, supply of water. Water was much needed, but unfortunately too much of it came at one, time.; ' : ■ -.■••; ■ , ■..■'.-■ The rush to Boatman's Creek, on the Inangahua, has taken away a few miners who were temporarily unemployed, arid who intended lending the farriifers a hand to get their crops, in,, but labor for the harvest is not so scarce as was expected. There is a 'little 1 political bustle at Ahaura, in anticipation of Mr Fox's (not E. 8., but the Premier's) visit. We are also in pleasureable expectation that the honorable, igenial, and" straight without" member for Greymouth in the County Counoil wUI call upon us as soon as he has leisure to unbend after Kis arduous representative labora. It is rumored and hoped that his Honor our Superintendent will once more perriuV the light of his countenance to shine upon us. If so his "Honor will receive a suitible reception. Mr Wilkie, one of pur representatives in the Nelson Provincial ; Council, a'ddressed;Mt]ie"' electors' on 'Friday last at AhauY^. ); and he^certainly gave them a bit of his " TOind. ;.'. ". He " made no bones" about . giving ' his opinion 'of the Nelson Executive, .and if his. estimate of his fellow members from the " more settled districts" be correct,, they must be a "scaly lot," and what a pity it is that such a magnificent public property as thepoison South-West Gold Fields; ?containig such an energetic and werth-pro-

during population, should be at the mercy of and driven to the verge of ruin, by a pack of somnolent, ignoraut, narrowminded, and incompetent numbskulls. The selection of either of the rival routes to Reefton from the Little Grey Junction has not yet been made. There can be no question about which woold«b«K the most advantageous for. the farmers and other residents in the Grey ."Valley, but the real difficulty of selection, and .the fatal objection to O'Malley's route in* .the eyes of the "Engineer's department," •is the vulgar fact that that route has been discovered by a person of the plebian name of "Jinks" instead of by one of the aristocratic and admittedly-talented young fellows who form the ornamental appendages of the. aforesaid department. ;The energy and industry of 1 dist^c^' surveyors cannot be too highly estimated,.but Jinks was there, first this time.' ';Tfe^- • formation of the road at Pothan's'Hill'ufgoing on rapidly, under the superintendence of Mr Mirfin. It is intended to throw a bridge with a span of 40ft across Orwell Creek, at the foot of the ,terracJß. ; iThe under part of the bridge will be ICtft clear of the ordinary water level, and the iroad will be built up to that height.. The 'material for filling up the formation will, be taken from the . rise of the hill, and when the work is finished the easy gradient will be scarcely perceptable. - „.-.,