GREY VALLEY DIGGINGS..

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1185, 16 May 1872, Page 2

GREY VALLEY DIGGINGS..

[fkom our. own correspondent.] Hat,f-ouncb, May 14. The, heavy. rains for thejast Jfewf j3ays^ will grea% benefit the mining districts, jspeoially;tho3e in which ground-sluicing is mostly carried on, for that branch of mining- has been entirely at a standstill for weeks.. , The^dams and races- have n ot been so' short of water for the lao'i twelve; months, and great loss,and inconvenience 1 : has consequently ensued, because thpseengaged in hydraulic and ground-sluicing; are' in forced idleness during dry weather. This scarcity of water has specially affected the No Town. Nelson Creek, Noble's and Duffer Creek districts, and the latter places particularly, because the .miners, there, cannot stack washdirt or otherwise' profitably employ themselves while they are waiting for water. These periodical stoppages greatly reduce the average earnings of our. hydraulic miners, and the fits of intermittent prosperity and impecu: niosity resulting from them .will, always have a bad effect, until they are rendered impossible of occurrence by the introduction of some widely extended and easily available system of water supply. In the district of Half-Ounce some new ground has been opened by Hafford and party, on the terrace to the west of the claim formerly held by the Greek Company. Hafford and Co. applied for and obtained a double area at the last sitting of the Warden's Court, and several other claims have since been taken up. The ground is said to be payable, and it was prospected by the discoverers because of indications, they observed while wording the deep wet claim they have just finished' at Mutton Townj closeby. Some think the gold may have a connection with that in the deep lead alongside, but this is not probable, owing to the great difference in the levels ; it is more likely a continuation of the shallow lead, which has been worked from the source of N the right fork of Half-Ounce to the Upper .town, a portion of which _is, now. being wrought on the, narrow terrace behind the township. The Greek's claim, below the present discovery, is the nnlucky spot of all others in the district. Tt is the only duffer claim on the whole length of the lead, as it has been the most expensive to prospect. : Numerous parties of energetic miners and a generation of storekeepers have "gone broke" over it, and, to crown its evil reputation, it was nearly becoming the grave >of the two poor fellows who lost their lives while endeavoring to find the lead in it. Evec Belfast Jack, who was acknowledged tc be the "hardest case" in the settlement, gave it a wide berth. With regard tc the future progress of the main' HalfOunce lead, at the lower end, it 'is'verj difficult to form a reliable opinion. A lease of nine acres or a little over has been applied for by Graham, Marshall, and party, last week, and they certainly deserve to get it. They have^been prospecting for the lost lead continuously for nearly eighteen months," and "tliey 'now find they will bt> compelled to erect more powerful machinery, besides cutting a deep tail-race, over a thousand feet in length, and erecting about the same length of fluming to extend their headr ice.- The singularly abrupt termination of this lead, or the sharp and sudden bend it has taken, has puzzled everyone, and set aside all pre-conceived theories,' 01 former experiences of the vagaries of underground gutters. Borjersen and party's claim— just above Mabille's, which is the last golden claim— is one of the best ever worked in the Grey district. The average fortnightly washings are about 60oz, and the claim has paid from. Id 5 to. L2O per share per week for months, without any indication of a falling off. The Mabille Company's ground is said to have paid well up to this, and it will be strange if the gold cannot be traced further along. It is most probable it has slewed suddenly i to. the westward, in c which. ,case it will f orni a narrow, deep, and rich: gutter, but very wet, or.as some are of opinion it has i gone down in its present direction and become scattered and poor with a' great depth of washdirt, which, will not pay to take out. Those who hold this opinion point to the fact that the Federate, the Adriatic, and other companies once working lower down, but now defunct, could get small prospects in their wheel pad--1 docks while sinking them, and that even [ now gold can be worked from the headings fifteen or twenty feet from the bottom. A most unfortunate dispute took place among the miners at- the upper part of Half-Ounce last week, and but for the good sense of some of the parties, the result might have been the swamping of every claim on the lead. . The water- wheels and pumping machinery, with the motive power to work it, on the claims formerly held by M'Grath and Gin ty, Dunn and O'Hara, and Muldoon and Faler's parties, have, through the operation of a kind of water "'ring," f alleh>into the possession of two or. three individuals. They offered the wheel and pumps on Dunn and O'Hara's claim to Wildridge,and Sheehan's party and those lower down at a certain price, and if their offer were refused, they threatened to stop the pumps and allow the water to . rise. ..The. parties could not come t(i terms about the price of the machinery, and the owners, iii' fulfilment of the threat, turned off the driving water and' stopped the wheels on Thursday. The grdund 'being all partially worked, and there being connecting drives : communicating with each claim as far down as the Greek's, as the water rose in the claim on which the pumps were stopped, it flowed into the workings in those claims below, and threatened to destroy the -property and . means of livelihood, of some twenty-five five "men". 'On the case being stated to the Warden at Ahaura, on Friday, a, written order was made, directing the members of the "ring" to set their wheels going unfii some equitable arrangement couldbe made about purchase or rent for drainage. They thought fit to disobey this order this order at first^but on the case being discussed, and the risk they.ran in disregarding a written order of the Warden being represented to them by disinterested parties, the, machinery was 'putin motion on Sunday morning. This matter has given rise to a deal-, of bad feeling, but looking at it in an, impartial, light, neither party is blameless. The owners of the machinery have clearly, a right to stop working, because if, they should elect to abandon the ground, and take up a fresh claim elsewhere, they could not be : prevented from 'removing their ihachiheryto the hew claim. But

when (hey had no such intention, and the cause of the dispute was solely a disagreement about the amount of the purchase money to be paid for the machinery, then by allowing the water to rise so as to damage the workings of other parties, they brought themselves within the juris- • diction o£ the^Warden's^ CourJ^Jßv the 22tnd- clause'cif tKe Tfutea the procedure of that Court, power is given to it to issue "an interim order or injunction, op the person complained against, to desist from working his claim, or from any act 'or proceeding, likely to cause irreparable or serious injury to other . parties." Therefore if- the parties in this case had persisted in disobeying the order of the Court, they woulifrbe sliding into a proper fix. On the other hand ifc is asserted that the claimholders - who/ran such a narrow risk of being totally swamped, had ah offer of purchasing the machinery for ah old song, before the present owners got possession, of it, and if so they should have embraced the opportunity, knowing that the pumping gear was indispensable to them, and thus prevented the difficulty arising. Xt : 'is said the whole affair will come before'- the Court next silting;- "'* ' ' .'I . ""■]': , From the Tevlbi Lead encouraging accounts are coming. 1 The prospectors and the other claims on gold are yielding satisfactorily, and several fresh claims are taken up. It is expected' that . Condron and party on the south, and Ginty and party to the north-west of the prospectors will come on the gold this week. If the run can be proved to.the^northVwestj' there will be every probability of an Extensive patch of payable ground being The Teviot > Water-race Company will soon have their water on to . the . ground. It is not improbable that this rush may be the means of opening up the .Brandy Jack's district, which has been neglected so long. Although Brandy Jack's was overdone at the first rush to it, there were some very rich claims worked, but it seems at the lower end there was a great amount of fruitless : labor ;^lpne, through looking for the gold in the wrong direction, as in the ..case at Half-Ounce. Some of the claims on the deep lead at Duffer Creek are paying good dividends, but the ground gets poorer as the lead reaches the" junction of Half-Ounce. At the Eowdy and Sqlliyan's Creek terraces, especially the Veniiis Terrace, the returns continue as good, if not better than ever. From the rich contiflfcns yields f rom these V: '-terrace worki^s throughout district, the miners are more generally turning their attention to them, and it is not improbable that before long the terraces, instead of the deep leads, will be the mainstay of the place. Ahauka, May 15. Two or three small rushes have taken place during the past week or two, but bo far they have not resulted in anything of consequence. The- terrace above the Orwell Creek Company's lease was the scene of one of them. This is apparently an attempt to trace the gold found on the Whale's Point, but, up tothis, it has not been successful. Another was to a terrace between Callaghan and Kelson Creeks along the line of the foot track recently made. There will be nothing known, about this place for ; a week or two. A small rush also set in to a terrace at Half-Ounce, but it is not likely to be of any extent. A few claims have been wrought at for some time oh one of the beaches of the Brown Grey, above Mackley's station. This -is a kind, of mining which has been much neglected up to this. Years ago good patches were got in this locality; and some of the former workers are now prospecting the beaches higher up. The gold is found among the : top layer of stones, which form the ripples in a -kind of natural ground sluice. A full- description of these workings will be given in a future letter. , : . Numbers are returning from the reefing districts to their former localities on the older diggings.- No Town, Duffer, Creek, and Half-Ounce absorb most of these wanderers, but a good many have set in to work on the, several road contracts now going on .throughout the Grey Valley .yAs everyone expected, who knew anything of the place, Reefton and the.district will be deserted by the surplus population during the winter months, for at the best of times it is an uncomfortable place for houseless men with only a little money to live on, but on the return of the spring, and the warm weather, ■ a greater rush than ever will take place, that is, provided Mace and, Company make the result of their great crushing authoritatively known. One item of news from the Inangahua has -been received with a painful shock in sympathising circles down country, especially at Hokitika. This is the announcement that the "United Grand Perishers AssgJ^ ciation," whose chief abiding place used to be at Barker's Hotel, in the Strand, has collapsed, and its membera become scattered in all directions. Recent domestic alterations at the head-quarters of the Association is said to be the immediate cause of this catastrophe, but it is more likely that the failure of thecombination to secure the . money for the Government contracts in the district, without performing any. of the work, 'had most to do in causing the burst up. "'-.'.'.!■" . The contract for making the, road from the Mia Mia to Eeef ton has been cancelled, and not before it was time. It is to be presumed the, penalties for nonfulfilment will be strictly enforced in this case, because, if this is not done, bogus tenderers of the same description will be continually cropping up whenever a Go/ vernment contract is to be let. But suppose the utmost penalties are inflicted, who, or what is to compensate the country, and especially the Grey district, for the enormous losses and great inconvenience arising .from this delay in, opening the 'road?. ; Hundreds of .tons of freight, and an immense and profitable "traffic have been, diverted for months from the legitimate and natural channel, to suit the Convenience of this contractor, or his backers, who must have known from the first that theterms of.the-.contract were impossible of fulfilment, by: them. There should be some means of punishing such people, penally, for their, criminal recklessness. The road contracts in 1 the Grey Valley are progressing satisfactorily. Mr. J. Kitchen's portion of the main road from the Little Grey Junction to Totara Plat will be finished within two weeks. The formations and a good portion of the metalling are completed. Connor and Tracy's contract, through the Mat, is also in a' forward state. MessjcV White and, Garth's ; contracts for. cutting down the hills at the entrance to Ahaura, and at Pothan's Hotel, are finished, ■according to the. specifications;* but it would be

much better if about as much work again were done at both places, for the gradients are far too heavy yet, for ordinary traffic. Mr Garven's contract for clearing the telegraph line between the Ahaura and the Arnold rivers is getting along rapidly. Men are at work at every available point, and the only drawback appears to be tho difficulty of obtaining a sufficient numbei of suitable hands for the description ol work. The fault with this contractor is that he gets ahead of the several Governments who employ him too quickly, and and that now and then he has to be compensated in case he should complete hia contracts before the specified time. Mr John M 'Lean's contract for making a foot track between Ahaura and Nelson Creek was finished and opened, as required, and it is now proving of great benefit to the miners of Nelson and Callaghan Creeks as well as to the telegraph clearers. The new Police Barracks at Ahaura will be completed next week. The present police quarters will be turned into a lock-up for female prisoners. It was hoped that the Telegraph and new Post Offices would be erected on the other side of the Court House, so as to make, with the Police Camp, a uniform block of official buildings ; but such, it seems, is not the intention, although there is ample space in the present Reserve for the purpose. It has been decided, it is said, to purchase the cottage formerly used as the office of the Bank cf Australasia, for a Post Office and Telegraph station, but however suitable this building may be, it is not conducive to the progress of the town that important public offices should be stuck in holes and corners in every direction, especially when the convenience of the public and the requirements of the public service have to be consulted. In consequence of the cutting down of the hills at each entrance of the town, the traffic of loaded drays has become more frequent through Ahaura. The Landing is now a busy place, and most of the goods for the Inangahua are landed there. Messrs Magill, Kankin, Page, Marr and Lock, Devery, Hughes, and others, load from that place now. Mr Antonio Lardi has succeeded in opening a communication for dray 'traffic' from the foot of Nelsou Creek to the terminus of tbe tramway on the Grey River, at Totara Flat. Whether he will succeed ofin being able to compete with the water-carriage to that place remains ! io be seen. Whatever the re3ult may be, Mr Lardi cannot be too highly praised ! for his pluck and enterprise, for it is to his exertions and expenditure the opening up of the Upper Grey is mainly to be attributed. Antonio's Flat, Napoleon Hill, Duffer and Half-Ounce Creeks, and the present dray road to the Mia Mia, each owe their development to his almost unaided energy and outlay. Mr Lardi has, in comparison, done far more than the Nelson Government towards opening up the mining districts of the Grey Valley. The inauguration of the penny readings and the musical and dramatic entertaintainments at Ahaura will do much towards whiling away the dulnesa of the long winter evenings, and the thanks of the residents are due to the gentlemen who have so cheerfully given their services towards this object. At the same time it should be remembered that amusement, according to their bent, is as necessary to the miners and other residents on the i?old fields towns as it is to the people of Aham , therefore the determination to virtually close the dancing saloons, by refusing 12 o'clock licenses to their pro- ■ prietors, is depriving the residents of those towns of the relaxation to which ' they have a right. The dancing-room on the diggings is in every respect to the . miner as a theatre in more settled towns la to the inhabitants, and so long as these S laces of amusement are properly conucted, and under the immediate control of the police, it is an uncalled-fur stretch of authority to interfere with them. It is the old, old story of the development of the worst form of "Pecksniffism" in small communities. Because we, ourselves, are getting religious and respectable, therefore the vagabond diggers shall have no more cakes or ale. Tbe sittings of the Resident Magistrate's and Wardens Courts have been abolished at Camptown. Warden's and Magistrate's Courts will, in future, be held at No Town, and the business of the Nelson Creek and Blackball districts will be transacted at Ahaura. The day of sitting of the Courts at Ahaura has been altered to Monday, and the dates of the days on which the future Courts will be held, will be published elsewhere. These arrangements, which it was intended to carry out long ago, are expected to give satisfaction to all parties concerned.