MAEREWHENUA.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 244, 7 November 1873, Page 3

MAEREWHENUA.

This Goldfield (we believe the latest pro- '• claimed in the Province) deserves more at- ' terition and consideration than older settled " and more prosperous districts, were it only ; for the great difficulties the pioneers have : had to contend with. As our readers are, aware, a-question has been raised there —i ' that of river-pollution—the issue of which, '< vitally affects the Goldfields of the Province. < The owners of certain acres on or near the river Maerewhenua claim a right, as riparian proprietors,—whatever that may mean,—to enforce, when they choose, a, cessation of j work in the mines above them. This they \ claim, not for any purposes connected with • their freehold—which, they allege, gives • them the right—but for washing some 50,000 or 60,000 sheep grazing on Crown lands. We do not know what extent of freehold these ; gentlemen have on the river; but we have a . strong suspicion that, if any of it at all bounds the river, it is only their fifty-acre i pre-emptive right—and this, too, ought, if ' proper care had been taken, to be a chain : clear from the banks. A leaseholder would : not have a shadow of a claim under any law, however ancient or Anglican, to dictate as to the condition of the river, so that we hardly see how a few acres under crop could entitle him to dictate in order to obtain certain fa- ; cilities for washing sheep depasturing, not on his freehold, but on lands leased from the Crown. Be that as it may, a question has been raised that has often been threatened—a question that, as long as it remains unsettled,; will weaken and destroy confidence in mining-sluicing property. A few miners, very embarrassed by the expenditure of nearly all they possess in works of great nitude—yet that can bring them in no maintenance until completed—have been picked upon to be the objects of attempted intimidation by those whom the turn of fortune's wheel has, for the time, placed in a highly prosperous condition. We say attempted intimidation advisedly, for the agreement proffered to a few is nothing more or less than a direct threat. This precious document says: "That, in consideration of the owners \ Messrs. Borton and M'Master) agreeing not to take any proceedings at law or equity, by injunction or otherwise, to prevent the miners from discharging the tailings and washings of their said claims into the Maerewhenua Riverj the miners hereby covenant and agree with the owners that, in every year during the continuance of this, agreement, to discontinue to work in such a way as to cause the said river to be discolored, polluted, or rendered usifit for the purpose of washing sheep. . . . . ." Either party breaking the agreement is to forfeit to the other the sum of £5,000. If words mean anything this promise implies that, if this proffered agreement is not signed, dire consequences shadowed out will follow. Fortunately, the whole Goldfield is now determined to resist this interference with mining ; industry, to have nothing to do with the signing of documents the residents at. Maerewhenua being firmly resolved to disre- ! gard, in a courteous but firm spirit, any ac-! tion that may be taken Possibly an in- j junction may be attempted to be obtained, if ' it were for nothing else but to throw upon \ the miners the onus,of being plaintiffs in a, hard and excessively protracted law case. It is to be hoped that these men will not permit. themselves to be entrapped in such a.way. j We fear, however, that a direct clash of in- j terests will not take place. It seems that [ some such clash is actually needed before the Assembly will undertake to legislate on the J difficult questions of mining and obtaining outlets through or on private property, and river pollution. j Going down the north branch of the river, the first signs of enterprise are the flumes and heavy side cutting at the head of what is ' known as Webb and M'Cann's race. This race, lifted at a conveniently confined por-, tion of the river near the Shepherd's hut, { after turning one corner, crosses to the , other side over a strongly-constructed fluming of considerable magnitude. The timber for this work has had to be dragged, sledged, and even carried, piece by piece, successive . stages to the ground, and some of the sup-. ports were hauled out by sheer determina-' tion from some of the most inaccessible j gorges. A good deal of work still remains to ; be done —portions cut earlier requiring to be , cleaned out and repaired. This completed, it is hoped the company will be in a position ' to utilise one of the best races on the field in ' such a manner as very soon to make them forget the too arduous struggle they have had, to carry out a work that, perhaps, they were hardly strong enough to undertake. The race will command a very large extent of payable ground, the quartz-gravel formation being already so successfully worked, extending for,, several miles to the basaltic hills above the Hon. R. Campbell's application. Rising the hill from this branch of the river, the races from the south are plainly visible in the distance. Highest of all, the Mosquito is seen coming from near the snow and following the leading spur by a succession of drops down past the lower township. ,This race has been completed for some time. Below, again, winds the Maerewhenua, being cut by Kermode and others. Below, again, comes the Golden Hill, which i 3 completed. Another right is also existing out of the river, but not yet utilised, belonging to the Band of Hope Company, who at present have been content to cut only to a subsidiary creek on the line, a right to which they also hold. We had hoped the Maerewhenua and the Band of Hope Companies would, have arranged to amalgamate or sell to one another—a course which would have sseea beneficial to either. The former taps a permanent water supply, hut has to run for •sW*wty-*hree anile* without being aided by a

single refreshing stream; the Band of Hope, j on the contrary, have not yet cut to the main ' source, possessing what would be invaluable \ as a subsidiary, but that cannot be called a permanent main source. Both races run within a few feet of. one another, and could have been joined with great mutual advantage. As, however, the Maerewhenua has now overlapped the Band of Hope for a considerable distance, it may hot be so easy to effect : an arrangement. Visible, too, at one turn of the road, is the long fluming of the Golden Hill Company. This fluming is a suspension over about four chains and a half, and is. a wooden platform securely fastened to wire ropes, with white iron 12-inch piping, in the shape of the letter D, screwed, to. the planking. From all that we can learn, this fluming has been very well put up, and has cost, as maybe supposed, a considerable sum of money. . Looking farther away still, after an effort, the race to the Kakanui, cut by Botting and Sons, is seen, snake-like, apparently extending to the limits of the earth. Over twenty miles of this race are completed, : about six remaining to be done. It will be -remembered that the Government were applied to to subsidise this race, and a survey was ordered. After considerable delay, we are glad to learn that intimation has been received that the subsidy is finally agreed to be given. On the auriferous ground on the side which these races command we observed several elaims at work, the best probably, so far, being that last opened by Botting. and party. This claim, too, is of a different nature to any other yet opened. •-'•':■ Anyone possessed of the idea that the ground at this field requires no labor, biit only water supply, would, if they visited Bot-f ting's claim, find their notions considerably altered.' The gold lies principally oh the bottom —at present at no great depth—in a cement of quartz pebbles; above this lies a very hard, stony conglomerate with tough sand on the top. Not only is the hose no good to bring down this ground, hut the pick also, is discarded—drives being cut in the reef below for twelve feet, witntwelve feet turns at the end, in which three kegs of powder are laid and the drive stamped and fired. The shaken ground has then to be gone upon with the hammers and broken up as best it may, large quantities being obliged to be left to collect below, requiring, in their present state, a powerful'battery to crush them: It is thought that the action of the weather will soften this valuable refuse, and make it worth running over again. It takes a man a week to put in each of these drives, so that the working cost, combined with that of the powder, necessitates the ground being very good to pay for labor. Two or three years' work appear to be certain at this claim, as the ground has been opened for a considerable length and the auriferous lead followed. Among other claims in this neighborhood, we noticed one worked by Mr. Frank Reed and two others, which appears to be giving good returns in spite of the £9 per week to be paid to the G olden Hill Company for water. Lower down still, and hear the township, is ! a claim worked by Messrs. Carling, Pearce, j and another, which is well spoken of. The ' enterprising holders had considerable diffi- | culty in cutting a tail race through the rock, i Such, however, are the thriving propensities of the district, that one of the party is eur- . rently rumored to have put on a stone of | flesh during a fortnight spent in the cutting, j Passing again across to the north side we \ come to the Ben Lomond water race, owned byMrVFratefi'*:: gentleman is J cutting a smaller race, parallel to the larger one, which he hopes to have finished, if he can secure two or three hands, by Christmas. j The ground on which it is to be brought has, : been bottomed at a depth of sixty feet, and immediately below has proved highly pay--1 able—fifty ounces being taken out of a paddock in the gully in a very short time. Mr. , Frater has put up a comfortable house, en- , closed by a substantial fence, and has the be- , ginning of a good garden, in which trees transplanted from Naseby are making good headway. Further down the spur the wellknown Fiery Cross claim shews out boldly. : This, claim is now owned by Messrs. G. Carlyle, Davidson, and Barclay, and has a first, ' class dam above it, built at a cost of £2OO. I The face at present being worked is over fifty : feet, and the owners estimate that the bottom , is still some thirtyfeet below them. This claim presents a most interesting appearance to the ; geologist, being composed of bands of quartz] ' gravel and sand, alternated with thin belts of colored earths, topped with a cap of .river j drift. The claim is full of curiosities, in the way of hollow stones and fossil shells. The owners are. highly satisfied with the returns obtained from the boxes, and anticipate a fa-' vorable washing up at no distant date. k Lower down still is the claim of Mr. Tom Smith and others—a claim of the same: formation as the previous one, a formation that extends for many miles. As in the other claim, the results are very satisfactory to the owners, who, -not without reason, anticipate good results. Howe and party's claim we had not time to reach, but hear that it too was turning put very well. We were sorry to learn that one but of this claim had seriously injured his knee, the cap at first being thought out of joint. These, claims are aU scattered very far apart. The ground is not prospected at all, nor is there any prospecting going on, so that there is a certainty that an extensive Gpldfield exists, only requiring water in larger quantities to turn but very large escorts, Great improvements could be effected, especially in the higher faces, by the use of iron piping, in the place of canvas hose. This, we think, would prove a '' highly economical investment. It is talked !■ of a3 a settled fact that the race from the ■; Otekaike- is to be proceeded with at once, and -i brought on totheßouth side, : If sh.at4s denae^

and a race to carry thirty ■■ or forty heads could be drawn from the" Waitaki, there would be no sluicing field in the Province superior to' the Maerewhenua. \

In social matters we observe that Mr. Crickmore is now in a comfortable :.wooden building, erected since our last visit, and that Mrs. Carling, well known in Naseby, is acting as hostess at the-Royal Hotel.- Our old friend Mr. Gallagher appears 1 flourishing, all his - outbuildings being now completed in a substantial manner. Mr. Craig, at the Maerewhenua Hotel, also seems to be thriving as well as he could wish.

Referring to the claim below the Fiery Cross, worked by Messrs. T* Cooper and Smith, we should have mentioned a very fine: specimen' of fossilised timber, found some thirty feet in the gravel deposits. This specimen, about a foot long by six inches broad, is completely petrified, the granular nature of the wood beiug beautifully preserved. Mr.: Smith is anxious /to forward the specimen to the Dunedin Museum.

gical survey could be made-of. this field by the Provincial Geologist. A report would, we are certain, prove of great value to the miners, and afford the Government a correct idea of the value of the Maerewhenua Goldfield.