ADDITIONAL NOTES OF THE OPENING OF Te Aroha Goldfield.

Thames Star, Volume XI, Issue 3720, 26 November 1880, Page 2

ADDITIONAL NOTES OF THE OPENING OF Te Aroha Goldfield.

, (By Oitb Special.)

Fbateevillb, Yesterday.

After the excitement of the morning had a little subsided, a great many miners might hare been seen for miles along the High School B-jsei /e and on the principal spurs of the mountain evidently engaged in prospecting, as eveiy man was armed with a pick, wbJle not a few also carried tin dishes with which to pan off along the creeks. Others, howe rer, engaged them* selves in a totally different manner wait* ing about the township, and occasionally drinking at the hotel. Mr O'flalloran must have done an exceedingly good business. He has had his bar consider* ably lengthened, and the demand for refreshers kept four men hard at work. With all that there was but little drunkenness, and I only saw one scrimmage the whole day. Judging from the tenor of the general conversation everyone seemed satisfied that the opening was over with so few complications, and all hands joined in praising Mr G-. T. Wilkinson, the indefatigable Land Purchase Commissioner, *8 it was admitted to his tact nd knowledge of how to treat the Maoris that the field was opened without the almost inevitable native difficulty. Talking about the natives reminds me that during the day a very large number of natives, were deeply interested spectators, although to many of them the mysterious action of the apparently demented pakeha during the pegging out must have been somewhat bewildering. The Township Allotments. As I predicted in my pigeon despatch yesterday morning, there was some excitement in the pegging oat of the township allotments. Mr Kenrick had previously stipulated that the marking off of the sites should take place at the same time as the pegging off of the claims. Shortly before nine o'clock closa on 100 people bad assembled in the vicinity of the Warden's office, each bearing a three by three peg. As nine o'clock approached all were standing breathlessly waiting for the signal gun to declare that the field was open. Presently the loud report echoed through the air. The hitherto immobile mass of humanity became thoroughly animated, every man of them rushing wildly and putting in his peg. Of course the corner sections were the principal points of attack, and in come of them seven or eight persons put up their stakes. Then a rush to the Warden's offioe ensued, for the purpose of lodging the applications. Mr W. Burton was the first to reach the gaol, and the closed door flew open with a crash before his frantic rush, and in another moment the small office was packed with excited applicants, each and everyone bawling to Mr Burgess to receive their application. He, however, refused to do this until order was restored, and when the excitement had toned down a little he received the applications, numbering and endorsing each

paper carefully. Mr Burgess deserves the greatest credit for the coolness be displayed daring this trying period ; the excitement and clamor would have quite incapacitated a more nervous man.

Discoveries. | I must admit that I was somewhat' disappointed that more discoveries did not see the light of day. However, I have hopes that during the next day or two a great deal more will be known. In Mr Gribble's claim on the south side of the bald spur, a reef about 3 feet thick has been discovered from which a trial crushing yielded at the rate of half an ounce per ton. He pegged off fifteen men's ground, but someone else had got wind of his discovery, and pegged off about six men's ground right in the centre of his claim. Charlie Jenkins and others pegged of a claim of 13 men's ground at tome distance from the Prospectors' and I was told by ! one of the party that they have a reef showing gold. I have also heard that Fitzgerald and party have got a good show in their claim to the western side of the Prospectors'. In one of .the gullies a party composed entirely of tradesmen from Hamilton, Cambridge, and Ngarua* whia have taken up a claim which they purpose calling the Tradesman's Gully. Many of the prospecting parties are paid and provisioned by the Waikato storekeepers who seem thoroughly determined to get a footing on the field.

The Claims Pegged Out. The following is a complete list of the claims pegged out adjoining the Prospectors' :—On the north boundary of the prospectors claim, B. M. Scott and party pegged off seven men's ground; Mclntyre and party, thirteen men's; Paltridge and party, seventeen men's ; a Maori party four men's, and Captain Dawson and party twelve men's. On the east Corneß' and party, four men's ground; on the west side Scanlan and party, eight men's ground; Healy and party, six men's ground; Dillon and party six men's ground; Austin and party, five men's ground, On the the south side, Etlman and party, eight men's ground; McCombie and party, seven men's ground ; McGuire and party six men's ground ; .Brown and party three men's ground. -Besides these claims several have been pegged off on the spur immediately above the Hot Snr'Tigs, which is some distance from the Prospectors' claim. Mr James Gribble and party have also pegged off fifteen men's ground towards the bottom of the spur upon which the prospectors' claim is situated, and others have pegged off near them. Further eastward from Mr Gribble, and about half-a-mile from the township, Vaugban and jpar'y have pegged off a claim, fifteen men's ground, upon what is known as "Jimmy Acton's discovery." , Other claims have also been pegged off in various directions, and over a considerable area of ground.

Regarding the opening of Te Aroha, the Herald of to-day's date says:—There need, be no apprehension that the colony will be scandalised by soch an affair «a the Ohinemuri miners' rights swindle. The Hon. the Attorney-General, at a late hoar last night, received telegrams from the Warden and the Nat ire Agent. The former, after narrating the facts connected with the opening, states that claims hare been pegged out three miles to the north, also over the main range, aud at least one to the south of the Prospectors' spur. Mr Wilkinson, the Native Agent, refers chiefly to the position token by the natives. Te Mokena, or Morgan, the chief who up to the last had been making objections, himself climbed the hill for the purpose of firing the opening gun. A good many natives have taken out miners' lights aid pegged out claims for them* selves, while others have joined with parties of Europeans.