GREY VALLEY GOLD FIELDS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1485, 8 May 1873, Page 2

GREY VALLEY GOLD FIELDS.

(fROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

MINING.

It was expected from the threatening appearance of the weather during the latter part of last week that the muchwisHMfoT'fain was T'co'fiing 'atTast; But beyond J>he<fyU,of a few brisk showers there was not any change to* do much good;-'-* HowJong the presfent^ condition of affairs may continue will depend of course on the state of the weather, but it will need an alteration soon, or there will be an end to gold-mining as a profitable occupation in the Grey Valley. The new discovery between Cbbden- and Brunnerton is attracting the attention of the miners resident in the old^r districts. Numerous parties passed through Ahaura on Saturday and Sunday on their way to the Fiji rush. The Government Surveyor visited the place on Friday, and with the authority of- the Wardenj 'granted • the prospectors conditional protection fora treble area of ground for fourteen days. Mr Lewis, in his report to the Warden, .stated that the prospects were so far good, but that the extent of payable ground was not known with certainty,- and that it would not be advisable for. parties to come from a distance before something further was proved. : In anticipation of the early commencement of the Nelson Creek and- Lake Hochstetter race, parties are looking about for ground along its course with the intention of securing claims.' These early birds are certainly taking time by 'the' forelock, but it is the general belief; whateve^justification there may be for it, that this work will be started before, long. At the same time it would be unsafe to neglect other chances or to abandon other claims elsewhere, on the probability ol'. the. race being made during the present year. The Provisional ; Gonunjttee -.•:?s<; No Town appointed tp; make inquiries as|^) the best means of, .getting a supply of water for that district is vigorously prosecuting its work. The secretary to the Committee is about to place himself in communication with the Warden and the Provincial '"Engineer to learn the. amount-'- oof;f f; assistance the Nelson- Government will be likely to give towards the, undertaking. \ .The grant of a free survey will lid all probability Be given as soon as the survey stafr are disengaged from their' present work along the proposed road to the Amuri. ; .

The Warden visited the Orwell C^eek rush on Saturday, with reference to the b dispute going on about* the' 'parallels 1 and ■ the confusion oi the boundary lines of the i claims caused by the marking off of the t authorised base-line. An arrangement, the best that could be made under the ' circumstances, was come to. It is' reported that the lead was struck in another , ; claim on this .lead on Monday. There .has not been a regular washing-up vet from any claim, although twq ijr flifcPP parties are making aptive preparations |qp 1 starting. A good many, cbmf orfoble Wia • are being greeted, and. other indications . show that the claim helders are preparing themselves for a lengthened sojourn in the locality. -~ --..... _ ' There is nothing new, from either the ; Blackball or Mossy Creek rushes. THE ART-UNION FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE . j GRBTCRBVER HOSPITAL. . ,\ \ . In reply to numerous inquiries made as to the cause of the delay in bringing off the art-union for. the . gold watch presented as a donation to the Hospital by a lady resident in . this . district, it may be stated that the sole reason of the.disappointment so far is the great scarcity of pash, caused by the <w.an£ qf wafer: 3|h£ plan adopted by tfle committee afc Ahaura was to forward a number of tickets, to th.c several local committees in the outlying districts for disposal. The tickets were nearly all applied for, but owing to the above cause they were not paid foi af once, and the members of eachgorqmittep think it would be a pity, to lose the ptn portunity of raising a handsome sum for the charity by . disposing of the watch, until money gets a little rpore plentiful, for it is fully expected that a comparatively large amount will be realised. In the meantime the several committees ; are requested to make every effort to forward the gathering in of the cash; The watch is in the possession of the Warden, and can be inspected by intending tiefcetholders at any time on- application to the clerk to the Warden at Ahaura. x" THE ELECTORAL ROLL. That every means would be resorted to for the purpose of •preventing any increase in the number of names on the Electoral 8,011, was just what might be expected, 1 but that advantage would be takenifdf every trifling technical error or omission in filling up the forms of application, to make wholesale objections in the maaner which has been done, could scarcely be supposed, bearing in mind the official position of those who would have to make objections. The object the persons had in view who interested themselves; in, inducing the lesidents of the gold fields to make. these claims, was to extend the franchise by every legitimate means. '■■-. |$ was not their business or desire to make bogus claims, because- they performed the work without payment, and at great personal inconvenienced The > principal reason so much interest was taken was with a view to place the names of as many miners as possible upon the roll/ and in stating the nature of a miner's 1 qualification, it is impossible to give anything but a general description, especially if the claim be made through the possession of a household qualification. It is not to be supposed that the. Revising Officer will; consider the objection fatal, if it is raised? because a miner does not describe the particular brafjeh of a creek or gully in which he has pitched his camp. How<jati a more accurate description be given of the situation -of a miner's residence than by mentioning the locality as it is officially known. If it, was. wanted to find, the residence of anyone among the hundred or J.wo whose claims ; are-,pj>jected to^it could be done by the description given. With respect to errors or informalities in certain of the attestations, it must be borne in mind that owing to the late date at which the work of collecting the claim§ was taken in hand, it was necessarily per? formed hurridly, and the collectors not being connected with the Circumlution Office, it could hardly be expected the work would be carried out in that strictly methodical manner for which that dep|r£> has become famous. Whatever objecfioW may be made or sustained as to the insufficiency of the qualification, every claim is ; made in good' faith, 1 md most of the claimants can be proved to be in occupation

of the property on which the claim is based. THE REVISION OF THE MINING REOUXATIONS. The Mining Conference at Reefton did not feel itself called upon to interfere with the operations of the rules regulating the distribution of water in alluvial workings. This is a pity, because suggestions for improvements or alterations coming from such a source would have the recommendation of being based upon practical experience. The Wardens did not disagree on any material point with the alterations sugsugested by the Conference, but as the Wardens will probably content themselves by administering the intentions of the Conference as expressed by the recommendations offered, these recommendations would be more satisfactory if they were given a wider scope. The alteration in the mode of marking out quartz claims, by making it compulsory to define them in blocks, while it will practically do away with the frontage system, ■will be a godsend to the " doublebankers" by increasing their chances of getting claims through the mistakes made J by wrongly|marking out ground in the first instance. Several other important alterations effected in other rules will be referred to on a future occasion. THE FARMERS. The rise in the price of farm produce has gladdened the hearts of the agriculturists, who are jubilant over the return of the, to them, good times. The prospects of the farmers looked gloomy enough after the collapse of Reefton as a market for produce, but if Beefton is done for the time being, Greymouth can still be operated upon. The drays going down country are freighted with home-grown produce, and such is the demand that there is a perceptible rise in prices every week. Not long since a project of establishing a mill for converting potatoes into farina and similar substances was spoken of, but it will now pay best to sell the tubers in their jackets. In Victoria, where this mode of disposing of the surplus potato crop is common enough, the plan does not pay if the price of potatoes should range above 30s or 40s per ton, ar.d it will be a long time before they fall to such a figure here.