Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1491, 15 May 1873, Page 2

(JFROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) MINING. No raiu yet, therefore no water and no gold, and, worse,. still, frpjoj a correspondent's point of view, no news. Th^continuad> absence of gold and, gossip is becoming - c unendurable," as is the truck system, and some remedy must be devised or dullness and poverty will soon make an end of us. It is a comparatively easy matter deaUng with the truck system ; that and the contractors may safely be left to the tender mercies of Jim Graham, who will deal with both effectually, but how are •we going to get over the other ; difficulty. "Call- - ing a public meeting,' and' giving the merchants, traders!, navvies, arid others of the metropolis an opportunity ' l of airing their eloquence, grievances, and bad grammar all at once, may put an end to the truck system, but wh^t canriompensate for the almost total absence f of water on a gold 'field 1 Nothing, but ;.the:.introductibri of it, for without waterj labor, no matter how well' directed, is ; unprofitable in the descripti^ofgold^miniiigiprincipally followed in .the Grey Valley. The wpr f ksVmVprpgr^.Jh;'thiß' : -dM^rt^ distripts where preparatipik .are gbing : on to make the most; of , the *ate^ whleri it comes, are, riiore ..or^ess,! wortny -of : notice, ;i but the,; centre pf attraction ,se^ms to be (the-new, leai^.at j-Z , jL -- : -.i \i--,f . ): ,\ .„. • : ■••■ "'■-. DKWBIL GREBE. : "•*>■(•,■'•-; A rumpr. was. current last, week .that rich wasb/dirt had been struct' In'' one of the claims, on a longdistance ahead on the -lead from, the prospectors, and this s'eeriis tbbe the case. The- r following extract from a letter froiri i! a correspondent living ;qn the spot, although not actually ' confirming the report of. the ex't^aor|unary richness of the find, shows that payable gold was found in theldirectiortindicated. "Mining affairs ar.e.progressing slowly but surely 7 at Orwell f Creek. Last week, onefourth share in ,H.Brp,wn, and party's claim-changed hands for. L4o.;',This party have 4ft.pf was^dirtj iwhich on an average prpspects 2gr to/the dishi Louis Korman and party, on Saturday last, struck gold that .wjitt paywellj^iri, thp ; WrAnto.^awyers'Creek,' a distance or mK-ji-mile ahead fro^m. .the. last .p,ay^ble claim; and great exciteirierit prevails in consequence. Spme .seem .to. think it is the continuation of the 'Napoleon llad] othert'tnat it is the Orwell Creek run. Tlte laiiter^fffftpbsitiotiis riiost probably the'borrect ofie, as then locality 'is 'nearly, fin a direct course with > the Surveyor's base line." The Sawyers' CreekToajßntipned is a gulch intersecting the continuation of the range on which the gold ait Orwell was struck. Old terrace workers^ Oknow that L these ravines : interfere with .the free run of the auriferous drifts, and thai the gold either is lost altogether, or 'becomes scattered whenever a lead : is crossed '.by t>ne of them. This was especfelljr^ the qajie" with the!Nap^lepri,and;^b'sqiiifoXe^^ It is coriseqiientiy in' fivor of '\s&' probable coritinuatibri?6f th 6 Orwell Lead that gold in payable quantities is found, in or near -one-of these breaks, for -it indicates that the course -.pi: -the; gutter has not been disturbed^ . It 5 is. to be hoped the final r result willjustifyj the- supposition. From another sourpe, itjeomes thatfDreed anjd party had cpme, on , the leajOn the tanriei ' they are dpving l their claim, which is- iihe ninth or tenth from the prospectors. Costigan's* party were to have a washing on Saturday. This being first- regular washing from" tfie lead, the result would be anxiously 'awaited. NeitheiT the r prospectors^ nor any of the ! claim'holders. yfb.6 first struck goldThave washed anything yetj except sufficient to 'iest v the relative valvie 3 of the = washdirt and mullockl They have been busy building large "and expensive pad.docks and erecting, su^s^tial,. houses, -wMch gp to sKbwVii^t^iney are certain their 'ciyms.wffl-p,ay. w.ell and pay for a long time. It. ; jwlfl be^a.., [mercy of Providence if they are '-not counting their chickens before . they are hatched/: and it will be a fearful disappointment"if, after losirig all this: time " making -themselves comfortable" ; itishpuld turn PutthSt the ground is not as good as was expected. Tommy ,Lync,h, one. of the original pioneers of the' Gre y! YaUey Gold Fields, used to .say ithat it was unlucky to ? f put up a. fly,' that is, rig his'tent, ; 'pn a new rush', until he proved his,^ 'claim —^he always lay out "to keep the bush warm," as he expressed it, until, he was satisfied his claim- would-pay,.. . when be built himSjelf.^.a ;^ut. Now-a-days^, hut-building seems tb b go on first and tqH testing , the ground., afterwards,^ut as people' become more civilised tney pay more- attention .tp^eir,electoral qualifications. The cutting, "of the ditch to bring in Hanson's and' 'party's water-race is going: bn.with great rapidity. K When this water is in there, will not be any reason to depend upon' the accidental rainfall for ! ' a ; ' supply^f or : * wayhirig purposes <qn thejead. , rThejdisputes-ab^utjtjie intersection of the boundary lines are not yet .concluded,, but. a, matter r Uke this cannot be easily arranged after tjie|ocourence — the remedy lays in adopting preventatiye. measuresf^ The remedy in this case is simple and practicable — it does not consist in giving workingmena ; : difficult or. impossible ., njathematioal problem to solye,_ "J\ ' ' "'^ '''"^ '•■'"•i i i ■■".'« • ' ' " THE ; HklS-;6cFNeE : 'dISTBICT 1 . *'-> ' The forthcoming ;formal inauguration pf Olivier and ,<3pmpany!^ machinery and works, with the indispensable ceremony of the christening of the j lifl;rdg >^eir and claim, is the most important tbpic~of conversation hi this locality. 'chastening of new mmmg ~p|ants. or venti^rearis the , bperatioh cbririecfed ' with' ' mining which cli My' interests; the ladief,;'consequently the ap'pwach'ing ceremony is much talked'^ arid thought about. Apart from the interest ladies,take. in .christenings of every . description, , . and nnder all circumstances, the rone about > to come off is to be followed; vby r ,«>. ball, which, v to, the Imin4>v-4s of more importance than the opening of a new gold field, much less the commence? meptof a new enterprise, on, tfn.ol^ dig-: girigs. Ollivier and' party's machinery is perfect of its-sprt,, and from the facilities and natural advantages the company pos« sess in ptoburirig water, raising washdirt, apd draining. their ground,, the under* takirig should' pay well. f intend taking the whole of the old leaHiiO face before them . and washing evßTwthing. The wash will be raised by hyflrftunc lifts, in trucks holding iiearly a load each, to a considerable height above the r fiurface, so that a good fall can ije l 6btairied\ About 30 of these trucksf vl will be raised every hour, so that' the quantity of auriferous wash put through the sluice-boxes during

a week will be something enormous. This is another argument in favor of the ground paying for anything at all approaching a yield of a pennyweight to the load will give good dividends. The following from a correspondent at Half-Ounce will give an idea of the value of some of the, at one time, all but abandoned ground in that district :— " On the main lead between Mabille and the Upper township, there are at present five claims being worked, some of which are extraordinarily rich, as times are. One of these claims, I may mention, was, through the continual disagreeing of the original shareholders as to the working of their claim, by order of the Warden, sold by public auction and the partnership dissolved. Since then the claim has been by the present owners re-opened, machinery erected, and the ground worked in a thoroughly systematic manner, and as a reward for their enterprise they have since Christmas received and are still receiving the nice little sum of LlO and upwards per week each man. man. At< Barry's Creek, Hafford and party, Milne and party, and Surgeon and party have each within the last week or two got their machinery into position, and soon as water comes for driving their wheels you may expect to hear more from this quarter." The instance referred to above of the ground on the old lead paying so well is not an isolated one in this district, and this accounts for the great liveliness and apparent soundness of Half-Ounce in comparison with other districts since the drought set in. But as one swallow does not make a summer, neither does one or two good claims make a, prosperous mining community. The want of water keeps the majority of the miners from getting gold in this district as well as elsewhere. DUFFER CREEK. At Duffer Creek, Doyle and Harper's party have struck payable gold in the bed of the main creek, nearly opposite Dwan and party's tunnel. This discovery is supposed to have some connection with the old main Duffer Lead. The so-called Duffer Lead, on which so much work has been done for the last eighteen months, is properly a continuation of the Sullivan Creek Lead. The main lead was lost higher up the creek, and although several • > attempts were made to find it, none of them were successful unless it be done now. O'Hara's party, below Granville, : are. making their ground pay reasonably well. : Whether it is the Half-Ounce or - - the' Duffer Lead, or both conjoined, this party are on, has not yet been determined. An ; accident occurred to this Company's machinery last week, which might have resulted very seriously had it taken place a few moments sooner. The waterlift was working, bringing up a truck with a man, and just as he reached the surface the wire-rope snapped without any apparent cause. Had it broken five feet from ' where it did, the man in the truck would have a narrow escape, if he was not killed. .