TE AROHA.

Thames Star, Volume XI, Issue 3699, 2 November 1880, Page 2

TE AROHA.

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In my pigeongram from Te Aroha yesterday, I touched on the various topics of the week necessarily in a brief manner, and I now propose to enlarge on what I discovered had transpired since my ' previous visit to the. new goldfield. On the whole I do not consider that the present state of' things on the field is at all satisfactory. With the exception of the prospectors—Hone, Davy ' Morgan, and Sweeney—scarcely any of the other miners are doing anything. Nor are they to be blamed, because as the field stands at present there is do guarantee that the fact of the making of a discovery will give the finder priority. They consequently prefer the Micawber • like policy of waiting for something to turn up, in the, meantime keeping themselves thoroughly acquainted with every move. I can vouch i for the correctness of Morgan's promise to allow free prospecting over the 1400 . acres owned by himself and his tribe; the j old man is a very friendly and intelligent' native, and has sufficient foresight to appreciate the advantages that would accrue to his hapu were a payable gold* field to be. discovered. With all this he does not wish to invite prospectors, as in the event of non-success he would be blamed. Taking this desire on the part of the owner of the land into consideration, and the present unsatisfactory mode of prospecting, I really believe it would be in the interests of the district if it were declared a goldfield at once, when men would hay heart and confidence to go in for giving the mountain a thorough overhaul, and have security in the event of success attending their efforts. ' WAITOA PBOSPBCTItfG ASSOCIATION. Some months ago, Mr Bueben Parr and other settlers of the bucolic. Waitoa visited the Thames, and during their short stay amongst us probably became smitten with the gold fever.' At any rate on their return to their homes they talked learnedly of reefs, shafts, drives, and so forth, and determined by means of a prospecting association to endeavor to unearth auriferous treasures in their own vicinity. The proposal was to form an association of 25 members, each to subscribe £5, and obtain the. services of two. practical miners to prospect the mountain. The idea however collapsed in consequence of a difficulty in getting a sufficient number of members, and consequently a sufficient amougb of money to carry out the work proposed. The matter has been moribund^ till quite lately, but there may now be a chance of its resuscitation, as. I noticed an announcement at O'HalIbr'an's yesterday, convening a meeting of " The Waitoa Prospecting Association "! for, that evening. ;

A NEW BEEF. , I yesterday made brief reference to a new reef discovered by a party of prdspectors, wholly unconnected with the burnt spar people, and though, as I hare already stated, no gold has been seen in it, the indications are such as will encourage the men to farther prospeoting. This reef shows 7 feet of solid mineralised quartz, with 10 feet of stringers on one of the walls, and iti outcrop has, been traced for half a mile. THS SURFACE SPECIMENSThe surface specimens' shown me at Morgan's were really rery good, some of the pieces exceptionally so, being worth | perhaps half an ounce per lb. The quartz as a rule bears the appearance of centuries I of surface exposure, and is of very coarse i quality. It is a wonderful thing that this I loose stone should be so plentiful, while its source yet remains undiscovered. It may turn out that these stones came from much higher up the mountain, if so 1 prospecting the bald spur will bo so much labor thrown away. If I were prospecting there, I think I would make my motto "Excelsior." A DISAPPOINTMENT. I heard of an amusing circumstance in connection with one of the Te Aroha's passengers who visited the prospector*' claim on Sunday/While laboriously ascending the precipitous hillside, per* «piration oozing from every pore, and already faint hearted with his selfappointed task he suddenly espied on the ground in front of him a piece of quartz with something bright and glistening showing in it. He prised it up with his stick. It was quartz, and, lo and behold I right across the Btone ran a band of bright yellow mineral., "Gold, and no mistake," he mentally; ejaculated. He hastened down to the creek visions of the future prosperity of the place coursing through his brain, and in this frame of mind dipped his treasure in the pellucid water. Yes, there was the yellow gold glistening and shining in the streaks of sunlight that found their way through the interstices tin the oanopy of foliage. Then he rubbed it thinking how fortunate he was, to pickup a good specimen, but horrible to relate the yellow metal grew mint and soon after disappeared. Our friend, after praying fervently for about five (consecutive minutes, devoted his energies io discovering the cause of the phenomenal He soon realised thai the rubbing of \ the brass ferrule of bif stick had produced the auriferous appearance. 1