MINING NEWS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1205, 8 June 1872, Page 2

MININ G NEWS.

GREY VALLEY DIGGINGS.

(from our own correspondent.) . Ahattra, JurieS./ The chief mining item of interest is the rapid progress the lead at the Teviot is making. Gold has been struck in new tunnels to the north-west of the prospectors' claim, and in the direction of Brandy Jack's Creek. The ground is becoming valuable at that end of the lead,and, from the amount of litigation already going between the several claimholders, it would seem as if the place was fast becoming another Napoleon Hill. The Teviot Company have now brought their head-race to the hill, so that there is no scarcity of water for washing. ' The existence of a denned gutter is ; noW settled, and there is no doubt that. this discovery of Messrs Grogan aridFraser, the prospectors, will now. lead to important results. The Government are about having 1 a track cut from the Teviot to Granville, the Government township of the Half-Ounce district. The people of the upper town, at Half-Ounce, are also talking of connecting their town with : the new lead- by means of a track. A rumor was current during last week that the lost Half-Ounce Lead had again been found, but * it has not . been confirmed, although, , from the . activity going on there, something fresh most have happened. ■ ■";..: ■■■'■:. : •'. r; Another important item to this immediate district is the completion of .Mr Michael Maher's water-race, at Sullivan Creek, near Ahaura. The race is not of great length or capacity, but the cost of its construction has been very great, owing to the quantity of expensive fluming required for it. ; Some of this fluming is: at a height of/lsoft from the;creek bed. below. The water is intended to command the high terrace ground along both banks of Sullivan Creek, and from -the ; sue- : cess the owner of the race has hitherto met with, the limited supply of water; formerly at- his command, the increased quantity now available may reasonably be expected to repay the large outlay incurred in procuring it. The race will be formally opened this weekv. The "helites" of the district are invited to be present .at the christening, which will be a grand turn, out, " with lashings of whiskey." : : : - ' Just above Sullivan Creek, at Riverview, the original sluicing company is disbanded and scattered, only one of the first shareholders being now a prospector. A share was sold here Recently for L 40 ,.. and little more than a year ago Ll5O, was considered a fair price to ask for a similar interest. This alteration has hot taken place, it is said, through any depreciation in the intrinsic value of the property, but owing chiefly to continued disagreements in the company, likely to end in litigation. The race ■ certainly commands a large extent of country, all of which is more or less payably auriferous, and. there is no oth^r water available without' going to enormous expense. ' Callaghari Creek, which is also in 'this localiiy, is getting very lonesome. Several of the older residents, have left, but some of them have turned, up trumps at ;tbe Inangahua. The Messrs Adams, who " : were sluicing here for years, are the prospectors, among others, of the Rainy Creek reefs, and several other old residents are shareholders in adjoining claims. At Ahaura, the probability of the formation of Road/Boards in the districts is

beginning to be discussed. If the lethargic blight resulting from Nelson influence could only' be shaken off, a success! ul effort could soon be made in this direction. The manner in which the members for the Grey Valley, Messrs Kynnersley and Guinness, are working in the Nelson r Provincial Council for the interests "of - uheir constituents and for the Coast gener- : ally is highly appreciated, and it isnoped that success will partially at least crown^ their efforts to procure. a fair recog-* nition of the importance to the whole Colony of the districts they represent, The active, co-operation of the other Gold Fields members with our own 13 not likely to be forgotten, should any of these gentlemen visit these parts. A serious, and at the same time, laugh- r able incident happened here recenfiy^l which nearly resulted in the poisoning of : the residents of the Police Gamp; There -■ is detained here at present, a "harmless" lunatic, who sometimes assisted in the culinary arrangements of the Camp. 'Th,e , other day he prepared a "savoury dish of field potatoes, which was highly relished \ by those who 'partook of it. Shortly.! afterwards a member of the force, .who, is remarkable for the faultless military c ! dm- f pleteness of his "get up," was searching 1 ' for a pot of pomade of his own. manufacture, which was missing from the .usual,-., place. To his intense horror, knowing .' the ingredients of which the pomade was,., composed, the "harmless" lunatic-in-formed him that he had used it to fry the . ; potatoes ■which they had eaten so heartily': and praised so much. Seeing that the corn--pound was made of such materials as those used in the manufacture of -, Barry's Tri- : 'f cophorous, O'Neill's Oxide of Copper, and other . similar^ and. celebrated hair-re-storers, there was good cause for alarm* . but fortunately no dangerous result',,eiir.V.-.-sued. The lunatic has been promoted . from the. kitchen to the stables. The;: poor fellow who was the unwitting cause of this accident has been wandering about p the town for some time, and he appear^ to be rational enough, except on one subject connected with a water-race atCallar ghan's Creek, where he has worked for years. During one of .the recent floods, a crowd was, as usual, congregated " under the verandah" at l^hite and Garth'JJ 1 discussing the weather. This man, who is a. Swede, and well . educated, , was , re^ i lating the effects the moon had upon the; " weather, and he was scientifically explaining the different climatic influences the moon exercised upon the earth when, in I* Perihelion or Aphelion./ ... A. disiin-,5 guished citizen, and a: father of the settlement, was listening attentively t to th,e ••• man-slanguage to see if he could detect any sign of the insanity of which he.waa, then suspected. On hearing the abqye words, not understanding their meaning,-, our townsman turned round, and solemnly and pityingly remarked—" By G— d, the] poor follow is gone, listen to how he raves." ' ; : '. : ; • ' ■'•} The road contracts are advancing as-' 1 , rapidly as the state of the weather will permit, but it is expected communication.'', will be opened through toEeeftonwithinVr six weeks. The probability of the Arnold ! and Ahaura road being made appears ;tp be as far off as ever, and ithe . difficulties in the way of possible tenderers for 7 the contract in dealing with the land payment clause is increasing every day, • owing to the large quantities of land con r stantly being alienated along the. course of the road under the agricultural leasing regulations. ~ ' '