MINING MATTERS IN THE MERCURY BAY DISTRICT. Mercury Bay, November 20.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 320, 28 November 1888, Page 4

MINING MATTERS IN THE MERCURY BAY DISTRICT. Mercury Bay, November 20.

Tjie Matarangi excitement has moderated considerably since my last letter to the Star was posted. There was plenty of room, for moderation, for, from the manner in which a few of the expectant ones in Whitiangi indulged their " blowing" propensities regarding the new field, one would imagine thab a receptacle of natural gas had been tapped about the same time that gold was struck near the, top of the Matarangi hill. A chaugo has come o'er the spirit of their dreams, and those who I could only talk of thousands a short, time since, are prepared to discuss hundreds. Not that the prospects of the place have altered. Thore is just as great a probability of the new field proving a success now as there ha& been at any time, and the way to make it a success is to go to work at once with all available resources. Warden North croft's visit to the Matarangi field smoothed away most of the difficulties existing between claim owners, and in all probability there will be no appeals to any of our higher courts of law. As might be expected, those to whom the Warden's decisions were adverse do not look upon his judgment in the light of an unmixed pleasure, Small blame to them. The prospectors are busy getting quartz down to the beach. Already there are over live tons stacked there, and the Tokerau cutter, Captain Norris, is expected at an early date to ship it. The Mercury and the King of the 1-tange claims have been amalgamated. A meeting of shareholders of the joint properties was held at Mr H anna's hotel (the Empire) on Satin day evening last, and various wise measures were decided upon. The talking period, is over. Money and elbow-grease have now to do their part, and by an expenditure of both only can the new field be made to pay. To the southward there are no changes of consequence. Messrs ■Plummer, Thompson and party are getting some sixty tonb of black fcand ready for shipment from Te Caro to the Thames. Satisfactory tests by different processes appear to have induced them to enter into such an extensive undertaking, and their venture deserves to be rewarded. The prospectois' claim at Boat Harbour is still being worked. Goodlooking -stone is taken out daily, and frequently shows gold by simple cru&hing tebta. 1 cannot help thinking that this claim would pay handsomely if there were a battery on the ground, but having the stuff packed down to the beach on men's backs, and then shipped to Auckland or the Thames for treatment is to .start with, enough to swamp the profits of a bonanza. Robinson Cruboe and his pai tner are still "pegging away " on their island at Boat Harboui. Their claim, the Neptune, has yielded borne very good-looking ore, and they are looking forward to a handsome return before Christmas. ]t is> a consummation most devoutly to bo wished that some of the recent developments in this district will prove a permanent success. In the olden time there were occasional dull periods about the Bay, owing generally to a want of sufficient rain to drive the logs from the bush, but when Jupiter Pluvius, was propitious all went well. Since the advent of the "Syndicate " things are changed. To notice the manner in which hundreds of thousands of pounds were rolled before the public in the advertisement columns of the chief journals of the colony, one would imagine that the timber industry was about to receive an impetus hitherto unknown. Not so, however. The lately-formed Kauri Timber Company have, to put it mildly, been proceeding with extreme caution. Wages have been cut down, the number of hands have been rei duced, and bush work has been restricted, so that you cannot wonder at the inhabitants pray ins* heartily for the success of all or some of the recent auriferous discoveries. A local poefc expressed in two lines the state of the public mind when he wrote on the front of the Kauri Company's store :- - " Times aro hard and woges low. I'll pack my swag for Wangapo."