The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1871.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 236, 5 October 1871, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1871.

We have been favored with a copy of Captain Hutton's report on the Collingwood district, which contains a deal of valuable and interesting information. We have not sufficient space at our disposal to publish it in extenso, but will make a few extracts form that portiou of it which refers to the Perseverance mine. After describing in technical terms the appearance of the reef, Captain Hutton goes on to sa y : — Associated with the quartz in the lode are considerable quantities of iron pyrites, and occasionally copper pyrites, aud other ores of copper in small quantities; no galena, blende, nor stibnite have as yet been found in the lode, but about five feet abpve it is a band some five or six feet thick of zinc blende and galena. Whether this band extends continuously for any distance it is at present impossible to say, as the drives in the miue follow the lode, and, except in three or four places, do not extend high enough into the overhanging slates to determine the question. The blende has also been found at the bottom of the winze sunk on the reef from No. 3 drive, where again it has the same position of about five feet above the lode. In No. 1 drive, however, there are places driven through which appear to be high enough to cut the blende, but none is seen, neither can any be found along the outcrop of the lode either in Bedstead or Kelly's Gullies. I am, therefore, inclined to think that the zinc will not be found in a continuous band, but in large, nearly horizonal, lenticular masses, thinning out in all directions. * * * As the lode can be traced for a considerable distance down both Bedstead and Kelly's Gullies, I have no hesitation in expressing my opinion that it will extend continuously through the whole of the Perseverance claim. Taking the moderate average of three feet as its thickness, this would give 5000 tons of lode ground per acre, or say 100,000 tons in all. In other words, I might roughly estimate that twenty head of stampers could be kept constantly going with it for ten years, and, in my opinion the yield over the whole claim will not be less than half- an -ounce per ton. At present the battery consists of ten head of stampers, and a single stamp specimen battery, worked by a. thirty-horse power turbine. The plant is an excellent one as far as it goes, but I should recommend that a Berdan be aided for grinding the blanket washings, for it appears to me that without some means of working up the blanket washings, the blanket tables are useless. The mine is now worked by levels driven in from the gully, but as the continuous character of the lode, and the absence of water in the mine may be considered as proved, I should recommend that an inclined shaft he put down on the lode jußt opposite to the battery, so that the turbine could be used for drawing up the stuff, and the mine worked by levels right and left from the shaft. If this were done, and the battery increased to twenty head of stampers, I think there is every reason to suppose that the mine would prove a very profitable concern. With regard to blende and galena, I hardly know what to recommend, for it is well known that blende is looked upon as

the worst enemy of the lead smelter. Perhaps the safest plan would be to ship a few tons to England, with the view of ascertaining its value, and the best process for smelting it ; and if the report was favorable, it would then be time enough to ascertain the extent of the deposit. Such are the opinions of Captain Hutton with regard to a mine in which so many of the inhabitants of the Province are more or less interested, and it is both satisfactory to have placed on record the conclusions at which so eminent a geologist has arrived after a thorough examination of the district, and gratifying to find that he entertains so favorable an opinion of the payable qualities of the Company's property. It is to be hoped that his anticipations of the mine proving " a very profitable concern," may be fully realized. With reference to the Pioneer claim, Captain Hutton's report is not so favorable. uHe says : — " I regret that I cannot endorse Mr. Davis' opinion as to the c remarkably promising ' character of the copper ' lode ' ? in the Pioneer claim in Coles' G-ully. This so-called lode is but a band of quartz schists occurring in the upper part of the felspathic slate formation, which here dips at an angle of 65 ° E. These schists are traversed in places by veins of quartz containing copper pyrites, but so irregular in their occurrence, and so small are the detached pieces of ore, that I do not think it could be worked in E»gland, and feel sure that it would not prove remunerative in New Zealand."

The<Tararua, with the Suez mail, is due at Hokitika to-day, but up to the time of our going to press, her arrival on the coast was not telegraphed. Steamer Alhambra. — This steamer left Wellington for this port at noon, and may be expected to arrive here at midnight. She proceeds, to Melbourne via the West Coast to-morrow. Winter Evening Lectures. — The last lecture of the series will be delivered at the Provincial Hall, to-morrow evening, by Mr. J. Sharp, the subject being "Life Assurance." The admission ou this occasion is free. Foxhill Bridge. — Holder's Coach did not come into town this morning, and it is rumoured that the detention has been caused by the approaches to the new bridge over the Wai-iti, at Foxhill, having been carried away by the recent floods. The s.s. Wanganui, bound from Wanganui to Manukau, with a cargo of cattle and sheep, put into our harbor this morning from stress of weather, having been out several days, during which time she lost a large Dumber of the stock, the surviving portion of which she proposes to land here. Strange Fkeak of Nature. — At Mr. Newton's stable in Hardy-street there is now on view a calf's head with two mouths, the one being in the usual position, ami the other ou the right side, beneath, and a little in front of, the ear. The same muscles worked both tongues, but the jaws on the side of the head were immoveable. The calf was bred by Mr. Bensemau of the Upper Moutere, and, judging from the appearance of the head, must have been from ten days to a fortnight old when the owner killed it, not liking to see such a monster about his premises. A New Use for the Water. — We have to-day had an opportunity of inspecting a most ingenious contrivance now in use at Mr. Moutray's foundry, for creating a blast for the furnaces. At present it is only used for blowing the ordinary blacksmith's fire, but, eventually, it will no doubt be used for the smelting furnace. It consists of an empty barrel or quarter-cask stood on end behind the fire, to the centre of which a blast pipe from two to three inches in diameter is fixed. On the top of the cask is another pipe, the same size as the blast pipe, some six feet in height with a funnel-shaped top. Just above this there is a horizontal waterpipe of the ordinary service size, with a nozzle having an aperture of an eighth of an inch in diameter fixed at right angles, that is, pointing down the ; pipe leading to the barrel, down which there rushes with considerable force a tiny jet of water, which causes a draft ( to rush through the blast pipe, that is iar > superior both in power and steadiness to any that can be obtained from the common blacksmith's bellows. The waste water, which is very limited in quantity, , escapee, through a pipe attached for the purpose to the bottom of the barrel.

Free Trade. — The King of Burmali has proclaimed internal free trade. In the Legislative Council, the hon. Colonel Brett, in moving for a committee of the Council on the defences of the colony, described the volunteers as being in an iuefficient aud disgraceful state, and said they ought to be disbanded. The Wakatip Mail suggests that Chinese stores should pay a hotel license ; they being, for the most part, merely opium-smoking, and also brandy-drinking establishments. The anti-Chinese feeling appears to be attaining strength in that district. The Queen's Health. — The Lyttelton Times publishes the text of a prayer for the restoration of the Queen to health, read aloud in Hebrew and English in the Christchurch synagogue on Saturday week last. The Patea correspondent of the Wanganui Herald, speaking of the extension of the telegraph towards New Plymouth, naively remarks that "it takes a deal of flour and sugar to take a line through a native country."