MINING NEWS

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1539, 10 July 1873, Page 4

MINING NEWS

GREY VAISiY FIELDS. ~ — Ahaura, July 9. i.!.i;i' ,!;-, ;UJ, MINING.' : i. >'■'/. ; '- ! r The mining news of the Grey Valley is easily told now^iWo? historians of pennyweight, patches, like unto ptha .chroniclers :: of small be'er^'are 1 at'their wits-end to find matter for, r gossip v , ,G.old-mining, as it was when tti'e present generation of miners were serving their* apprenticeship to the " profession," is gone where the wood't bine twinethj and the (neWj' (and 1 / second ' good timej which has been so long coming, has not yet/ arrived.- ft THe water which should be made ioJlood us with fortune, is still running .to. jy;aste, without any attempt , worthy the name being, tried to utilise it for the : benefit 'of the commonwealth, Gold) bright; beautiful gold, lies buried in our hills in qartlo^dß, without an effort with, any' chance of success to possess it. ' The ■"valleys 5 lie smiling before us," full; of ancient (and I was going io say honorable) auriferous drifts, and such is the condition of utter and ' apparently hopeless ■'eneifvatioh"''fd which local misgovernraent ] has brought the Nelson Gold Fields, "that unless through a : special intervention 6£y Providences por, 1 what would be the next best thing,ithe advent of a capitalist with water on the brain, and a mania* fovr making" water . ditches, the , whole. ;place/ will ! b'ecbme ' as • rotten as* old punk. Railways-a re fine things, and coal. is a' ] inveritibri," « but- of- what, use are .those civilisers if nobody be left in , the countrytb'.civilise. Every miner who f) can,, get, away is going, provided he, can 'do so with, a clear conscience ''and' a ! few' 'pounds. Northern Australia is the 1 net? El Dorado, and most: .of . ...the -emigrants- are -bound. -for that sultry clime, taking .^IL the money out of the [country,' ? although it must be confessed that if a r man had jallj^he hard; 1 'of < these* voluntary" exiles^ "leave behind th.eiga;?.' n in the shape of bad; debts, it would be a good rise. There is a small spurt^t „the- Qaribqo^Creek, Little Grey, but the f (ill particulars of the rush, such as it is, cpme.to hand yet. ; AJttint3resting i experiuie.nt in (hydraulics is about to be.^triedlithis Week/at Nelson Creek. Messrs Thomas Prettyjohn and party, at the upper 'part Of 'the 'creek, are constructing a 'natural'^ syphon^ I which,' if successful, ; wiU !il be' r ft:^eV''and"/jijrpndenui thing in .' water-raWs. f [ They^airb; taking their head" waler^ •acrpsi' > Nb;' ! l;,cree,V, a tributary of Ifelspu 'Cre'e^ 1 but^instead of fluining it,, they, are making preparations to take it, under, the (ted of the creek, and compel it to rise {to.. its level on/the opposite side. Shafts; .have been sunk in the banks of the. creek on' either side to a depth of between 80iand 90ft.; The creek has been tunnelled'iun'der, and it is the intention to allow • the '.water from the race to run down 'one of these shafts, and. by its own pressure^' force its way under the creek and up ithroughjthe. shaft on the, further side.' The, idea'; is correct, and. founded uppn.a.so.und and recognised scientific prinqipai,';! but i in. working out the details an unavoidable error has been: committed which, may result in failure. The underground, water was very troublesome while the shafts were being sunk, and to get rid of it by baling, shallow shafts — abont ; 2oft' deep— had .t,b' 'be 'put down in the bed of thfc 'creek' over the line of the tunnel. The danger now is that it will be, difficult! to fill/ in> these'; and secure . them so' that . the .. water in 1 ! its ' underground passage, won't . burst . through 1 ' them; : and :; n create- ! a■' geyser on a./small fscaleX! iThe'i actual' result will be known,/ by<; jSaturday < (this, ; week), . on which daiy it is expected^ everything will b&^n' readiness^' With this'event, . and the promised visit 'of : iwb members of Parliament tpfNelson? Greek: at ■; the same: time or ontl^e same^day),the ; " of Hatter's „ Terrace' will be. jubilant. Another inter es : tihg, 'important, 'and practical experiment, if it caW be properly so called, has just; ; been broughtito an unsuccessful termination at^Try,- Again ,Terrace, Nelson 'Creek. ' i Messrs' Richard Larkin, and p'arty ; 'have ll 'Dee : h ;: taking_ I Tevels to ascertain whether; < •■they • could '■ bring the water ; frpm • Callaghan yCreek,, to command the higher workings at Try-Again or German Gully, , , A atari, was made at the upper paftof Brian Bdrii Creek and the levels; were continued over the mountain • via Paddy's Look-out to the tailboxes of Williams — Hawk and party's workings at Callaghan Creek. It was found that this, the. highest obtainable , source at Calla-, ghan's, without' interfering/ .with prior registered, rights, was ! : about '. 20ft too low to be of any practical ad vantages.' , T;his matter, is of ,such;: importance that it would be worth • while i learning whether j Larkiri and party's! survey is accurately | made. . Thei Warden / has been made acquaintedwith.'thet facts as far as they, are now known, and there isevoryprbbabaity^hat.if^j make application in the proper quarter, assistance would be^given- %o have a professional survey made free of any cost to them. .! If l Callaghan Creek c6uld be] brought to Try-AgainjjTerrape, at even' anything lik,e a reasonable altitude,,, the results would' be ! 'simpiy 'astonishing, and second only t to.thoiJe jwhich' are likely to come from, J|he, bringing [in, qf | the, -Lake Hochstetter Water Race. "The tenders, for making the Hochstetter and Nelson Creek 'Water > Race^ will be out in . a month." This announcement has .been, made ; " on the very best authority," periodically for the last four years, but the hopes .raised ( by,i;fc l in,fchenbrea:sts;,of those sanguine individuals, who believe, fondly and blindly iti'the promises made by Governments : are. b.ound!i to; 'be!« blighted: " Put not your trust in princes," is a piece ofadvicje transmitted tp_us Jrrorn an unquestionable ""sburce. .The^ promises of the Government about 'tnfe race may or may not be ( kept— the intention to dp it on the 'pari/of'the Government 1 may be,' good, but acertain r hbt ! i;lace is paved with good: intensions. <x; : .or, ,-v;: -:■!■;■' .)■■■■'■ if "•■■ From | Moonlight; Creek jcomes <the distressing intelligence that the- , ancient mariner who is Charon. at the, Styx of the Grey ferry at the old 'Ahaiira, could not find anyrqne;, capable,; of .giving him one black .eye a^t: and. ; he ,had to travel up the. -, Creek I to; get two; L ]Never mind if he got what he went for, he deft his mark behind himj and even thajb is, a consolation in ;thesa hard 'times. -^ . v Merchants;* banlcWs;, and others, from Greymouth and r Hokitika, are w^ ;j truly rural sitniJHbitjr^ppl^ng'for knd m the Hanpari (Anglice "Cowparaf) flagon the road to/tne:^n*uri.'< ( tfhe land there is of asuperior.description and will keep a longtime if it Wjleft undwt^urbed,

thingihese would-be speculators would do if they got hold of it. It was not intended by the f ramers of the new land regulations of the Nelson Province that bogus agricultural leases should be granted for purely speculative purposes. It is not to be: supposed ; that the usual practice of making applications for agricultural leases appear in CJourt and make the applications in person,' will be departed from in the case . oft recently.; advertised , applications. It is very desirable to; see foreign capital aboufc,to be-invested, but it is not money we want in the present case, it is an addition to the number of our iona fide settlers! i : • " • :; ; : ' ■ ; ' • In Reefton is heard a groan of indignation, because of the intimation that the management of certain mining companies at the Inangahua is about to be transferred to; Hokitika and other, places at a distariceV This is only the thin end of the wedge, and if the resident shareholders permit this alteration to be made they will regret it. /,-:,•■ . The new main road is now opened from Greymouth to Ahavira. The work on the whole has been faithfully perforrned^ arid the public will soon, in cheap freights, begin to reap the benefit. '■ The owner of the punt at the Ahaura Crossing, hear the town, is building a commodious punt, which will be capable of carrying a loaded waggon with seven horses, across the river at one time. „,..'■