PIGEONGRAMS.

Thames Star, Volume XI, Issue 3721, 27 November 1880, Page 2

PIGEONGRAMS.

(fbom ottb own coeeespondent.)

The Latest from To Aroha. Te Aboha, This day. The township is comparatively deserted today, the majority of the miners being out prospecting. The general feeling seems to be that there is a good field for prospecting, and the miners present are determined to give the whole district a fair trial before expressing any opinion upon it. Every now and then one hears of claims being taken up, find many of the rumors say that good stone hag been taken out. Of course it is nothing unusual to see good specimens in the possession of men, but little dependence is to be placed upon all that is said as to where they were obtained. The Prospectors' and adjoin* ing ground furnishes specimens for those seeking such. Claims are, however, being pegged put upon all the spurs leading from the mountain, and quartz is found in almost them all. The Prospectors'. Mr Corbett, the manager, has let the tender for driving 50 feet to Beilly and Murphy, who have already started work. The drive will intersect one reef in the ground, already cut; higher up, and two feet sir*inches in width, from which good ' prospects were obtained. A small leader ' found on the surface will also be cut, besides the main or Prospectors' leader, from which all the golden stone has been obtained The drive will give 100 feet of. backs, and will enable Mr Corbett to open the mine systematically. The Disputed Ground

Claimed by the parties of Mclntyre, Kneebone, Corbett, Parr,, and McDonald Scott, has not yet been adjudicated upon by the Warden. The fact is that all claiming it will hare to amalgamate, for there can be no question but all hare an equal right to it, the pegging out being done at the same time. This course, if adopted, will however, materially diminish the interest of the individual claimants, for there are no less than 55 men included in the several parties. At the present time there seems to be no other mode of settling the question, the fact that the Warden made a remark something to the effect that men who had done some pros* pectin k would get a preference is buoying some up who claim that distinction. The ground is well known to be valuable, for good stone has been found in the creek by Ferguson, Mclntyre, Frater, Marrinan, and one of the mates of the latter, a I native. ; The ConsolidatodThe parties represented by Scanlan* including Wickham and Whitaker* Comes, Fitzgerald, and Murphy have arranged their disputes, al 1 joining in, and the following proportion of shares accepted, namely:— Soanlan and party 8, Fitzgerald 5, and Comes 4, holding seventeen men's ground. The ground is manned and work will be started at once. It is suggested that a company should be formed, and after a lease is obtained that operations on a large scale should be inaugurated.

Grille and Party. Mr Gribble, the well-known mine manager, at one time in charge of the Moanatairi mine, has taken up 13 men's ground on behalf of a party of Waikato people. The drive is in 25 feet, and a reef has been cut—the stone obtained showing gold. It is said the reef met with is TXo; 2 of the Prospectors. Another party of men have taken up 10 men's ground adjoining Gribble, and have also opened out upon a reef. Many claims have been pegged off on the school reserve, and it is re]H>rted that a very rich discovery will be announced to the Warden in a day or so. The Township.

The excitement over allotments still con* tinues, but there is every prospect that all disputes will end well. A few well disposed and good natared individuals suggested that " Yankee grab " should bo resorted to in determining the ownership of the sections. This course was adopted by 'some, while others suggested that the game of drawing straws, such si favorite one with boys, in determining the wish of Fortuoa, should be resorted to, and accordingly straws were drawn, and he who pulled the longest straw got the coveted piece of ground. In other cases the piece was put up by auction by the claimants, and the highest bidder was declared the owner, the purchase money being divided among the others; while others demanded from the purchaser the refund of the license fee. By such means many of the differences were settled, and appeals to the Courts of Law have been been avoided. . ' Later, 1.30. Messrs O'Halloran and Lipney, the owners of small sections of land, seeing the great demand for business sections have laid off their plots in business sites, and already all have been taken up. The Warden is having to-day another block of land surveyed, and business men on the order ef their applications will receive sections in the new piece. A good looking reef has been opened in a claim taken up behind O'Halloran's, immediately over the Hot Springs. :