MR. TURNBULL AND THE GOLD FIELDS.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 276, 19 June 1874, Page 3

MR. TURNBULL AND THE GOLD FIELDS.

(To the Editbrof the ' ; : , Sie,—The,,.aVeasurerj! ; iVlv.'; Tumbuil, has prided himseldon protecting the Treasury against a request made by me on behalf <: of. the. -Clf-fFs- Hill'*Prospectjng Company, for a subsidy of £ ,l. for £1 to of" |gTSO, to 'enable ihai company to further prospect untried ground, they having at' a considei-aiile expense tunnelled, through "the bed rock 1,10,0 ft- . portion of wh'ch has cost over £3 ; per foot; the object of the comuany being to put a tunnel, at the lowest possible level, through the dividing range which , separates Gabriel's Gully from " Wetherstone's, with a view. of prospecting fir quartz reefs, of which there are many .indications. If the company should fortunately succeed in their enterprise, the benefit to the province cannot be overestimated At the present the work is s .spended, and a ' iiuri'ilie"--;-.--of leases held during the progress of the woik, and contributing as rent at least £250 annually to the Treasury of the province, will now be abandoned ; consequently, in that respect alone, that amount is lost to the province. The company . .olTered ,in the event of payable ground being discovered, to refund tlie £l 5O advanced vemment. Se'eihg that there 1 was a vote of £SOO sanctioned by the Council for the purpose of prospecting'fbi deep leads -and, qustrtz | reels,, ' I' fai.l'.t6' : 'seelhac the' : desire' shown by me in trying. I o induce the Government to carry out the expressed wish, of the Provincial Council should have caused our sensitive and astute Treasurer (Mr. Turnbull) to have-given vent to expressions • unworthy of ariy jnernber of any Government. :^l ' should ' be 1 ''glad''if' -yqu would' find" space ' for the' enclosed'.;.. vvhich. appeared/in the I "Thames Advertiser'"of' ihe ,ir 27th*" ult; ; 7 ana'"wili,,^' 1 sufficient Turnbull,'as in ' the" works re - terre.d to.are, jexjicijlyLjtbe 6 s.arne» aft'lthbse entered upon by the Clark's Hill Tunnel" Prospecting SBt: lisT.'fell that .other, .<^°v.e^nir^jrilsl,Jiaye..,mQre. Enlightened views on the subject than the present Provincial Executive of Ota<ro. I am, &c. J, : .*-..-£"'., I J. C: Beown, M.H.R. », J :■; >: .'•■—j -j. n r j

i \\ We have no doubt that ; _ most ( qf ,our 9 reader [Mire' ,%{ great ] ibonisfocU | lode, wnicVis said the value of £32,000,066 ;worth .of; mineral— propably the meat- wonderful lode which has beeni worked" since the sons of men first began to dig-metals from the bowels of the earth; The lode is. in the State of Nevada, ab"o"uT'2sp i miles from San Francisco, cific Kail'way, with which 'it 'is connected by branch" It "is now "projected topuFiir an immense tunnel! fed -'as 1 J t'o "'develop the lode. The tunnel has already been entered^l>BOo^Jyardsj»Jand* 'aid^is^nbwj asked from English /capitalists to complete* it. Jt wasithoughv that be got from Congress, and, the Mining Committee'of the House of 1 Representatives recommended the Government to ts'sist' by a loan 'of 2,6'C)6, , 006d0l at 5; per cent Congress, adjourned before granting the required* aid,' and it' has fhe'efore been del■e;'aiined"to r ,seek the' funds in, the London.-mavlcet! V,The;plan of the Sutro Tunnel, Company seems something of the same nalure' as' theCoi . romandel Tunnel Company.. The Sutro Tunnel Company have secured a width ot 4000 ft., through which the tunnel is to run, and it is expected that important discoveries will be made before the lode specially in view is reached. Congress has granted the Sutro iunnel Company the right to claim a royalty of 2dol, per ton for ever upon the produce of all the mines benefitted by the tunnel. The last number of the 'Mining Journal' contains a number of interesting particulars respecting this important project. Sutro is, it seems, the name of the engineer who has concaved the plan of the tunnel, which is to run in a straight drive for'four miles, to' a point vertically under Virginia City, when it will have a depth of 820 fathoms or 1,290k. The suiluce over the line ol the tunnel has heavy undulations, and several immediate shafta- are being put down, so as to have difterent parts of the

tunnel in driving sicau'.taneously. Three of ihcse shaf:s have been already commeri:3d. Li is estimated 'thai yvilh ordinary diligence the, whole .tunnel;will be complied in two- ,y.eai'B ; .and the, writer in !he fouvnal fi'om which'we obtain the • p • . . .1 , ' •-i • -••*.) in ;0;.-iap;iio.n sta-ies,._;. aa'", • consideruigt tiiat m a very sho. I ti:ne.there will" be seven ends driving, y.} id thai a large plant of; pumps' and mai.\i\ie;y -in at wort, there-need be no feai" .hat the estimate is over &unguine.i When the tunnel has bean driven four miles, and has reached direc'Jy under Virginia City, it is .proposed., to, .drive two: raach' tunnels,'eacTii about a mile ancl.a) half long, : ' east';*and : 'wist; ' tpi'Te'acll/"the! whole.',qi' the' snipes; oii tlie Cpmstqck''. lode,; securing perfect drainage, and relieving; them -rrom >the cost *of haulage. wide,-• is have and a drain for cavrymgVojEf ;the j. a .;;) '* tunnel is** somethings-like our frowevei*; •wJu!\i-g?ve-i"eiit! , ive!y ,, 'a' , gi'eatie'f i ' i S ! iptli in proportion ,to the length diiven v We are glad 'tb'' see a ''mbyem'enf 'is 'fe'ing "* made towards it 3 continuation* and .the recent! encouraging indications.kom the lodes at! andM'Ae/yiebiiiy>oE ■ .<RungaY : Flat\snustj stimuiale those interested to have the tun • j liel extended/' rtii ttieWent scheme sti|- i mitted, when asking a loan from tufcNjo^! vemment for the * this tunnel, i statistics, were, given,- .which showed; .that I the 'Fa£ahui '"Hill tunnel,"if carried in a further ..distance; of GOQOfi.-. : would: reach to Puriga Flat at a depth ot 900 ft. below the surfacean;E,uby ; claim. »It:would intersect«.the«,.Jmost. .prominent lodes-o£«the district at levels which would;.give extraordinary taciijty for working them to advantage, i; and ( testing them, j at; [depths which.cannot|otherwisebe, : reache 1, Jex? cept in way . and at larger expenditure," -by'jthe sinking' of sliafts.' The greatest' advantage' ( toj'be; cloved)frpm„the tunnel would be ;ihat,,:W i hile giving very low levels,, it would.obviate, thec-necsssjty for expensive .machinery,-and in this respectalone, leaving ; put of the quesjipnjthe ready means-of (transit afforded, a great saving of expenditure.would, be, effected/.'^