THE OTAGO GOLDFIELDS.

Southland Times, Issue 1195, 14 January 1870, Page 2

THE OTAGO GOLDFIELDS.

(fboh oira ovrx correspondent.) Dunstan, 24th Dec. I presume I need scarcely inform you that certain discoveries have lately been made which augur well for the future of the Otago Goldfields. Tor the last year or two they have been upon the decline, despite the acknowledged fact that the area of undeveloped auriferous wealth was far from being exhausted. It is very little use, however, discoursing to the miners upon subjects of this kind. An actual find is the only thing that rouses them into action. Let one of their number stumble upon a " pile," and immediately the ground is rushed, whereas good remunerative work, the result of steady persevering industry, exercises but little real influence on them. The latest incentive of this kind was the Bendigo Gully reefs, situated in the vicinity of Cromwell. The existence of these reefs has been known for years past. They were wrought in the first instance by a company of Dunedin shareholders, but, as usual under auspices of this kind, they made very little headway. At a more recent date an experienced Victorian reefer, named'Logan, took the matter in hand, and, after overcoming many difficulties, he found what was pronounced to be a payable lead. Crushing machinery was secured, and the first washing up took place the beginning of last April. Periodical crushings have been washed since then, the result in each case being highly satisfactory. Some idea of the value of this claim may be formed from the fact that £10,000 was offered foe it. This is a fact, although, for the sake of policy, one of the. shareholders thought proper to contradict the statement in the public prints. One word more before disposing of Logan's claim. The thing has been altogether too good — too much for men accustomed to earn their bread in the truest sense of the word by the sweat of the brow — hence they have had a rupture amongst themselves. The dispute came before the "Warden at the last sitting of the Court in Cromwell, and a judicial trustee was appointed pending further proceedings. In all probability this justly celebrated claim will be brought to the hammer. One cannot but regret that men who have done so much for establishing the reputation of the district should be so careless about maintaining their own reputation. Let the issue be what it may, the names of Logan and Goodger, another of the co-partners, will long be remembered in conjunction with quartz-reefing in Otago. A few months ago a second line of reef was discovered, known as the Aurora line. The lode was tested in a variety of ways, and each of the conclusions showed it was richly goldbearing. This induced steps to be taken for the erection of machinery. Five head of stamps, to be worked by a powerful over-shot water-wheel, are getting fitted up, and will be set agoirg early next year. Other five head are reported to be on the road from Dunedin, so that a battery of ten head will shortly be in operation. One hundred tons of stone is ready to be put through as a trial crushing, and should it— as there is every reason to expect it will — turn out well, an important incentive to quartzreefing will be given. The third line of reef was discovered a couple of months ago by a prospector named Colclough. His discovery was the grand incentive in the earlier history of the place. The stone he took out was described as being clotted with gold, and as I happened to> be an eye-witness of the specimens, I can add my testimony to the fact. Since then other two lines have been discovered, and a large number of claims . have been taken up on the different lines, at both sides of the prospector's. Judging from the work that has been done, the opinion is that the stone gets richer the further it trends eastwards. I should explain that the bearings are east and west, with a dip to the north. The under lay of the lower lines is distinctly formed, but the vein gets more perpendicular the higher it gets up the hill. With regard to the prospects actually obtained, it is dangerous to give too much heed tocurrent reports. The following, however, may be relied upon. Last Friday three-and-a-half pounds of rubble casing, taken: from off what is known as the Saxby, was pounded down by the hand, and close upon two dwts. of good rough gold washed from the debris. In some of the other claims the prospect is so good that the men are warranted in saying that close upon an ounce of gold per day could be washed out of the casing. I use the word casing, in order that your readers may not be misled. It is all casing that we have to go up. Logan's, to a certain extent, is a well-defined lead, but it is a very well-known fact that the casing is by far the richest. A battery for public crushings is the first thing that will do the place good. At present not a pound of stone can be tested by the proper appliances, consequently there is no encouragement whatever for further ■ development. A machine of this kind is about to be erected. It is projected by a few Dunedin speculators, and will be carried out without loss of time. . A battery with thirty stamps is to be ' constructed. This will work a change in the prospects of the place — a change which only the quartz-reefer can properly , appreciate. The workings in the alluvium are progressing pretty much about their, ; ordinary rate. The water supply bas gone very low, and serious apprehensions : are entertained with respect to the remainder of the .season. The weather during the earlier part of the year has been altogether exceptional. The snowfall was much lighter than usual, and the hot sun which has shone almost without intermission since the commencement of spring, drained the various watersheds with amazing rapidity. Complaints upon ; thesubjectare comingin from almost every ) district. For a week or two it will not matter so much, as washing-up, pre-

paratory to the Cbristmns holidays, has become very general. There is another difficulty arising out of this shortcoming. The northern goldfields are almost entire strangers to rain. lam within the mark wben I say that hot, dry, sapless weather prevails throughout nine months of the year. Por months past we have had it at fever-heat. To rear crops under such j circumstances would be an impossibility, without resorting to artificial means for applying moisture. The numerous head races point to the only real means of relief. Irrigation during the night does not interfere with the supply for mining purposes required for the day, hence the two processes dovetail admirably into each other; but, with a short supply, it is impossible to carry out the process. The miner is compelled to husband up every drop of the precious fluid, and the agriculturist is left to shift as best he can, which simply means that he must stand by and see his crops burnt up bj a scorching sun. This is a contingency that has long been predicted. Years ago the proposal was mooted of adopting steps for promoting a water scheme for the goldfields, but the Otago # Government, with its characteristic activity, has done nothing practical in the matter. Tha Superintendent, in his opening address to tbe Council, again suggested the matter, but it is questionable if we hear anything more about it. In the Council, the goldfields have got nothing like proper representation. As regards numbers, it is all right, but as regards individuals, they are neither men of position nor ability. Adventurers— too idle to dig, and too proud to beg — is about the sum total of their characteristics. We know very little about them, unless when we see their names in print, with that splendid adjective attached, the hon. member for the goldfields. Horse-racing on the goldfields has become a great institution. The present is the opening of the season. Every petty township or digging centre has got its own peculiar event, and still it is astonishing the amount of money offered as prizes. Alexandra races take place on Monday first, the 27th, and Cromwell on Thursday following. A number of local horses with good reputations are in training, and some strangers, bringing along with them good pedigrees, ace announced. Shearing has commenced at the majority of the stations. The season's clip promises well, and for the next month or two we may expect to be rather busy in that line. The lambing season was upon the whole a good one, as many as ninety per cent, being quoted as the number at some of the stations on the Southland border. Messrs Boyes Bros., at the Kawarau station, are preparing to send down their wool by your way. Previously they sent it via Cromwell and the Dunstan to Dunedin. That prince of treacherous crossings, however, the Shotover, has been so bad that they have resolved to ship it to Kingston, and dray it from there to Invercargill and the Bluff. Should this not stir you Southland folks up to do something to the road from the foot of the Lake ? You have got a splendid opportunity of extending your business relations from that quarter. The Nokomai, Nevis, aye, and Cromwell too, aye all conterminous points, and if we could just get anything like a track opened up, you would show Dunedin a sign of the times. I believe that this is one amongst many advantages that would accrue to you from the proposed re-union. Southland is the natural outlet for the Lakes, Prankton, Shotover, Arrow, &c., and when the West Coast settlement is established, it will lend a new feature of importance to this locality. By carrying things to the seaboard by way of Dunedin is simply a perversion of the natural outlet. If you had only two or three good active men, well acquainted with the lay of the country, they could work the oracle for you in a way that would astonish you. " Mr Macandrew, as the political head of Otago, fancies that he will be able to work a point on you, but if you only keep a look out, you may be able to get the boot on to the other foot. Nature has paved the way for it, and if you are not able to traverse it, you should have given up the ghost long ago. The social peculiarities of the goldfields leave nothing to boast about. The amount of jealousy and ill-feeling that prevails is astonishing. Each township or digging centre is set against the other. The more they can do to blackguard each other the better they seem to be pleased. Cromwell, distanced about thirteen miles from this place, is a perfect concentration of this damning principle. Other pla ces have got their factions, but here every man is set against his neighbor. Pull baker, pull devil, is the ruling principle of the place. You have occasionally a little rowdyism at your public meetings in Invercargill, but how would you look if you saw your mayor and one of his councillors adjourn to have a mull at each other. That ■would rather astonish your weak nerves. Then your- report would read thus — The mayoralty had a taste of mother earth, and the skylights of the responsible adviser •were closed up with a shoulder punch. Drawing claret from the bottle washer, and a few other select phrases could from time to time be judiciously imparted, so that you see that the lame way in which you choose to carry on your public deliberations deprives your readers of some really choice journalistic treats. If you think it advisable to change your policy, I can send you a true and faithful account of the next special meeting of the Cromwell Council for your guidance.