MINING REPORT.

Kumara Times, Issue 1054, 16 February 1880, Page 2

MINING REPORT.

[From our Special Mining Reporter.] Dr. Hector's description of Kttniar'a, published in the Kumaua Times of the 3rd inst., although, meagre in itself, furnishes us-with sufficient inducement of a theoretical kind to make some sort of effort to further develop the resources of this district. I have very frequently advanced the opinion that as this was to all appearance a river formation, gold might very reasonably be expected to be found in a similar tract of country on the old river couise. Writing of Kumara aud comparing it with the Greenstone and Kanieri, Dr. Hector oays} " I have no doubt that many other similar depnsits will still be discovered in the parts of Westland where their presence is yet unsuspected by the prospector." The same idea is pretty generally entertained by the diggers, and a good deal of talk has lately taken place about sending a party out ahead of Larrikins. A meeting was to have been held lately itt the Star Hotel, Larrikins, to take some steps iu the matter, but, through not bein£ advertised, it fell through. A preliminary meeting at Larrikins, to set the thing afoot would be right enough ;• but a meeting wants to be held at Dillmau's, and it would be ne-* cessary to have the co-operation of the business people. Your correspondent S. B. H., in a recent letter, sufficiently showed the impracticability of the system of Government assistance, rts by complying with their terms* the money they give together with what is locally raised is is just thrown away. It would be much more preferable t<) have a lesser amount of money, and have it spent wheie reason aud experience dictated, than to be obliged to go afar off into the wilderness and pitch your tent, where the very " mopoke-" hoots and ! screeches and laughs at your folly. ' There is not a more encouraging field for prospecting in New . Zealand than there is close to Kumara", but somehow or other it is difficult to get diggers to organise. If our energetic member could only be induced to take the initiatory steps that are necessary to forming a Prospecting Association, there is little to be feared of their ultimate success, if they only keep cK-ar of that infernal bugbear, Government regulations. Both mining enterprise and business is on the decline, on the Kumara, aud there is no need that it should be so, if only a little more interest was taken in developing the resources of the district. Greenstone has its prospecting parties out and why not Kuuiara.

•"" ~" ' - t-_—• rvTT-r-.TSsaa *% HOKITIKA AND GREYMOUTH" ' RAILWAY PROPOSED DEVI A; TtON; The following is the concluflion of the evidence given by Mr Wylde before a Select Committee of the Housd' of Representatives appointed to inquire into this matter : ; Well, now, as regards the grades: A<s cording to this plan it is shdwu that thd steepest grades would be 1 in 50; As a professional man, dd you look at 1 in 50 as a steep grade for a railway line t—lt depends upon the length of it. On our ' present line lin 50 is nothing; In this case the grade' Wouid be a falling grade in the direction of coal traffic. If a heavy trade sprung up in coal in the direction of Hokitika the grade would be a falling ; grade to carry the coal. I cannot cou-... ceive that 1 in 50 wouid be required except for a short distance by Goldsborough: The fall from the farthest point inland to the sea-beach line, is 400 feet in eight miles, which is equal to a grade of about. lin 105. For the sake' of economy it might be well to make 1 one short piece of a little heavier fall. Would there be any difficulty as regards sharp curves ?—No j none whatever. ... ; You do not think there would I —No it is not country like the and Greymouth line. You would not have to* curve round like you do there. That line is full of sharp curves, and it brings the coal traffic. This is a line of flat country, and there are no hillsi Are there any private properties thas would be interfered with by this proposed route I —No. Starting at Teremakau, is. 7 miles to Kumara, and it would pass through Crown land and a reserve for tlie Bo'rougli of Kumara. There would be no difficulty' there ; and from there to. Goldsborougty another seven miles,. I only, know ..of ond section, 12 chains wide, and that is of no value worth speaking ofj and you might? say there is no compensation to'speak of until you go to Stafford Town, and there there would be a slight compensation. The ground has been worked ?—Moj& of the gcound has been worked,' and abandoned. And taking for granted that it is going id cost, say, £22,000, the original cost along" thebeach, and £27,000, the estimated cost of : the loop?—No'; that is not my .estimated cost. • Supposing work, cost as .much asr estimated originally it would be that, but | now I consider that £220,000 wo'uld be" I ample to make the line by the inland route. lam certain that would make it.-. The original work now", is far in excess of what that elites tifwdTk costs at the present time. :•••.' '." ' That is a liberal estimate," yoli think 1— Very liberal j but it. was, done before. the department Had the e'xperienee' it hoii • now. .''.'. You say that it wouid not pay tforkingT expenses along the beach?—l think it? : would be perfectly useless. ~ . There would not. be sufficient returns ?—No. In addition' to that,- there 5 is no land for gale along the" beach; and on thd other line it Would open Up land for 1 sale up to the Christchurch Road, and bring it all within easy access of the mar r " ketSi ... Mr M'Lean.] Will you tefl''tis, the' amount of traffic on train way between; Greymouth and ifnmara 1 There are 5 three trams a day,- and the tram-car is generally full. I have not any particular? of what is taken, but the tram-car will hold sixteen or eighteen, I suppose, and it is generally fairly full. I think it goes with an average of a dozen persons. I suppose it would be easy tc get returns of the traffic have* no' doiib't. This is not of course a subject upon whiclt lam well posted up. It was not brought before me. What is your opinion' of the traffic between Greymouth and Hokitika ? What traffic do you think would be there 1 Do' you think the railway would pay ?—I have 1 taken a great deal of care on the' subject, and, if compared with other lines in New Zealand, I am convinced it Wo'uld be the best paying line' you have, after the' Greymouth and.Br.unner line. I mean along the beach between Greymouth and Hokitika ?—I think it would* be paying public money away without any return.. There'are two'ports-—Hoki-tika and Greymouth—and the line connecting these would be valueless. Is it not a fact you can work one port • when you cannot work the other t—lt occurs occasionally j but that would hardly affect the case, because the small boats can be outside for a few days. I do hot think the coast traffic' along that line froirt town to town would be anything." I have" never known stocks so low at one -port' that they could afford to bring them from the other by land. You said there was considerable traffic between Kumara and Hokitika ?—Yesv You said that seveii-horse wagons could carry seven tons ?—Yes ; and I know that very frequently they'do. I have seen instances occur in which goods have, had to' be carried away, and have ascertained' in' that way that they have carried seven: tons with seven horses. They must be splendid horses I —They are splendid teams. I think on an average they have to carry four tons, and asthey are seven-ton wagons the weight would not be so much on the horses 'com* paratively as a single dray. Have you any means of ascertaining pretty nearly the amount of freight goifig from Hokitika,* and the number of pre* sengers by coach I— lt could be ascertained in a short time ; but I conld not give'evidence myself that would be of any value just now. I should think the beat means of getting at that would be to get the ordinary consumption of the population. In addition to that we have to add the Greenstone population, which.'ia able, and the up-country population; and

if you take the census returns you can ascertain what amounts they shottkt consume, bearing in mind that miners are larger consumers than ah -agricultural population. Mr Seddon.] The population has been increasing lately ?—Yes. Mr McLean.] Do you say there are ■four coaches running -each way ?—Yes ; there hav» been always. Are you an engineer ?—Yes ; I was Provincial Engineer of Canterbury for -some time. Have you ever been over the track this deviation would -go .oyer from Goldsboirough to Kumara I—l know every part of iti i nifcy say. What sort of country would it be to make a railway through that portion of it?—l see no difficulty. I have not seen this plan before. It does not come from where I would have taken it exactly. I should have taken it along the creeki Well, you say it would have been an easy thing to go towards Hokitika, as it would be mostly down hill ?—Yes. Have you seen that plan before ?—No. By that map have you not to keep up 'the same incline about the same distance as you have to get down I —Taking Lhese distances, you have to get up six miles, •and have to get down eight miles and a feal'P. The Kumara side being only six Iniles, you have a shorter gtade than .you would have the other side ; but for economical reasons the engineers thought it would be desirable to have one piece steeper than the others. It could probably be done in one grade, but it would cost more money on account of heavier cuttings, &c. It is 1 in 50 for a mile and a half, and that is not an extreme grade. Mr Seddon.] This line from Whitcembe to Sandy Stewart's Hill is pretty level, is it not?—lt is a gradual rise. The "difficulty originally was supposed to be from Kumara to Goldsborough ; but the Kumara Borough Council pointed out that they could go round these hills. Mr M'Lean.] Taking the line from Hokitika to Greymouth, if you say it is a waste of public money, how was it started? Ww there much pressure put on the I mean at the time the contracts were \et for the railway 'l —We were always told this country would be opened up by branches'. Suppose now, for want of moneys we got stuck up at the end of these sections, would the others be any good to work ? It is doubtful. Would it pay anything at this end Where there is no tramway do not think it wQuIU. Th'ey would never bring good's to the railway there. When that line : was laid out this coiintfy Was hot known ; and it is difficult to examine bush country of .that natizre well. H'OW long would it take to 'get a proper isurvey of the deviation—one that would satisfy you - as a professional man?—l think six months. The actual survey Would hot be so long ; but What you must take .into, consideration is fixing the grade's, and, examining the country over and "over again. I would say six months. Could it not be done in less than that ? months would do the actual survey- .. . . Sufficient to say whether it would be hd'visible to adopt that route ?—That I would consider could be done in a month, because you could confine yourself to Where there was a difficulty—namely, that little bit between Goldsborough and iStafford Town. What wbuld be the effect of Working it Voiihd that way where there is a grade of 1 m 50 ?—1 should say that was a matter for the opinion of engineers, who may pr6bably differ. My opinion is that a •grade of 1 in 50 for that distance is no 'objection, or very trifling. Do you know what steep grades there are in Canterbury ?—Yes ; I came down the line last week on my Way here. I know the country Very Well-, and know the fall of the River Waimakariri is 40 feet to the mile, and in some places the fall of the country is greater. If you go to Blueskin Hill you will find it vei?y steep!—Yes; McSeddon.] This is supposed to be the main trunk line between Otago and Nelson. The mineral to get to the East Coast, would not come round this way at all would they ?—No. The probable traffic would be timber and passengers ?—Yes. And the timber cut in the loop would come down hill to Hokitika?—Ye9. By one side to Hokitika and by the other to Greymouth ?—Yes. It is fairly level eountry except going down the Waiand there it would require a detailed survey to say what the curves would be ; but I am supposing that they would not require more than 5-chain •curves anywhere. It would require somo walls there ; but there is material on the ground. At the present time the Chinamen are turning the creeks with stone Walls, quite good enough for the rail' Way, Hon. Mr Gisborne.] Does hot the coach run on Sunday between Hokitika and Greymouth ?--Yes ; they are crowded Oh Sundays. Fvoih what you know of a raining population, do you know if this loop-line was cons'tifucted between the two places whether the passenger traffic would be very much increased ?—Yes ? it is the invariable rule that the means of traffic makes th£. papulation travel about. I may say ttefc, within a week of its being opened, the traffic would be doubled. Travelling by these coaches ia alike disagreeable and expensive, so that people only travel.when they are obliged to, but if a railway was Opened they would travel oh every slight occasion. Then, in point of reproductiveness, you think,the traffic would be increased by the loop line ?—I think it would be one of the

best lines in the country. I know of no lines of that length superior, except sucih as the Lyttelton and Christchurch fines. Mr McLean.] Would you rely on goods traffic and passengers alone paying that line 1-^-Yez. Would the traffic and people amount to £SOOO per annum ?—Yes. There i 3 good timber, is there hot, oh the one side of it ?—Yes all the way. That would be get-at-able ?—Yes; there is silver pihe and rata. That is valuable timber ?—Yes silver pine is the most valuable timber known in the world for bridge-work or anything of that kind. May I ask yOu hoW you arrive at the £5,000 per mile? Well, I have taken generally the cost in New Zealand and similar country to this, and I have taken generally the highest cost for that sort of country as hot exceeding £5,000 a mile. You make some that cost more. That includes the permanent way and everything I— Yes ?it is shown by contracts which have been let al pric'fes fully 30 per cent, below the original estimate.