OHINEMURI.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 120, 19 September 1885, Page 7

OHINEMURI.

• THE GOUDPIBLD. Bspoioi commencing weekly reports on the mining industry of Oitinemuri county, it will perhaps be besi to give a brief outline of its history, dating from tie time of the opening of the Lower Thames for gold mining purposes, as we feel confident such will pro re of much interest to our readers, not only in this district but throughout the colony. , In the early days of the field Oiiinetnnri \jras looked upon as being a perfect I El Dorado of mineral wealth, and it ( tras then, the generally received opinion i that gold occurred here not only in the | reef-formation, but also as an alluvial ! deposit ;t subsequent events have proved I the fallacy of that theory. Early in 1869 there could not have been less than 500 miners camped at " Cashells' Landing," better known as the " Puke," waiting for the opening of the field, which it was then expected would eventuate daily. Meantime the Maories kept watch and. ward over the premised land, and, although some of the "fosBickers*' managed to elude the vigilance of thei dusky sentinels, others were caught 5 in the act and treated in a manner, that- was by no means ceremonious, Those who managed to run the gauntlet of the natives and reach the gold -bearing territory, returned with Baron Munohausen tales concerning the size and richness of the reefs which they had discovered, and if Government would only throw the field open they could; " lay" their friends and backers on to " pile claims 0 at a moment's j notice. After a considerable amount of " backing and filling" on the part of the | Government of the day, and a large consumption of flour, sugar, and firewater on the part of the natives, it was announced through the medium of the Gazette, that the Ohinemuri district would be opened as a goM field on the Brd of March 1875. At'an early hour upon' that day there was great excite nient at Mack ay town where the headquarters of the Warden's depart men i \ was. . then located. Applications for miners' rights were received by the ! Warden's clerk on the previous evening; f«r a miner made application for risy'its for hii itself and mates to the clerk of the Warden's o">nrt, who gave thr applicant a numbered card. This was th only receipt given, and applicants were iniormed that they must present thornselves, .and their tickets at 10 o'clock upon the day in question, when the rigKte would ail be isuuod simultaneously. Up to a late hour on that evening 80.0 miners' rights had been applied for an 1 these were made up into bundles with the iiuniber of the tickets previously uBU£d attached thereto, so that the miner had bnly t/>, present his ticket and 'the , number of rights :fs3L which 1 he had apU&e&iironlil l&ratjpjico.. handed, to him. As the- hour ,fortf#ead'mg /thsi proclamation approached the excitement intensi{tffcjfy&P&i &3b there must have . been, fully one thorisan'd'ni'eu standing closely packedrtog^tlier; iri front ,of the canvas shanty j wniea served as a, .Warden's offic '. &LJUi*Sb^M&£*)&) Eraser r m« mnte.l a pjajform, "aiT«r after a brief addre^, iiinrers^'righte.fwere JB^«ei!f' t jnime'liatplj;. : aftewV.arliB,mn'.Uii&Ml«» < fBkelU)r down

the'hill across the Ohinomnrj river- and up th<- steep terrace on ihe-btsnr sid<v can better be imagined tjiau .described. We will just ask out' readers to picture to themselves eight hundred e.xited men starting all together from a point at- a given signal, the goal bein£ the prospector's claim at Karangahake. 'fhe i distance between the two -poiuts was ! about a mile and three-quarters) and in a very few minutes aftor the issue of the . miners' rights, the track was literally \ lined with a struggling mass of men on > foot and on horseback. In crossing the river a good number measured their lengths in the stream, and were converted into temporary stepping stones by those who were in the rear guard, . and were fortunate enough to be able to keep their footing. Once acioss the river it was up hill all the way t.o the rcHie of operations, and the pace kept np ras fast and furious. Even now we often wonder how the footmen managed to escape the numerous horsemen who were tearing along the narrow track at a pace that meau't destruction to any person with whom they "might have corns in contact. Upon reaching the ground, marking off was the order of the day, and in a very brief space of time there was a perfect forest of pegs surrounding the prospectors' claim, which had bten marked off and reserved for the prospectors some days prior to the date of the opening. A man named Howard marked off a considerable area of giound adjoining the prospectors' claim, and produced a miner's right for so doing, long before any of the other mineis had reached the ground. This led up to an enquiry being made, when it was f mnd that forty miners' rights had been ab stracted from the Warden's office during the night, and the men to whom there rights were given went by the name of the "40 tlnVves" for a long time aftorwards. Several Government officers wer.; hauled over the coals about the stolen rights, and at least one of them was clothed in that garment commonly called the " sack." For many weeks after the opening of the field the Warden's Court was occupied day after day in tbe settlement of disputed titles, and as usual the lawyers reaped a very rtcbjiarvest. In due course the prospectors' claim was formed into a company ; a ba'tery of 16 stampers erected, and permanent work in the mine enteied upon with great spirit. After an expenditure of several thousand pounds without any result worth mentioning, work in the prospectors', as well as in the adjacent mines, was suspended, and the district remained idle for years. Early in the year 1882 Messrs McCorabie, Liddeli, and McWilliams started prospecting operations somewhat higher up the spur than the old workings, and they soon succeeded in unearthing •several gold aud silver bearing lodes, of which some have sin-e turned out handsomely. It was undoubtedly the discoveries made by these men that gave rise to the present prosperous state of affairs in that district.

The Furnace. The fine weather now prevailing has permitted more rapid advancement of the work in connection with the erection of the furnace at Karangahake. The heaviest part of the machinery and plant is now on the site. The blower, stone-breaker, etc., were lowered down the self-acting tramwajr on Tuesday last, the line working very well ; the rope and brake wheel are of a similar pattern to that known as the Moanatairi brake, which is capable of lowering a great amount of material during the day. J&r Haslett has a large number of tarpent<jrs engaged in the erection of the dams, flaming, and boxes for the waterrace ; also the tramway construction is making rapid progress. Mr Winter, with his assistants, is making good headway with the furnace brickwork, the iron casing all being in position. The refinery and testing furnace will be finished in a few days. Should nothing unforseen occur to retard the works, it is likely that a very few weeks from now ,the Ires should be alight, and we sincerely hope the spirited proprietor, Mr R. K. Davis, will be well rewarded for his enterprise.