BLUE SPUR.

Tuapeka Times, Volume I, Issue 20, 27 June 1868, Page 2

BLUE SPUR.

(COMM ONICATED. ) Years ago when the ejient of the auriferous cement formatio£%t the Blue Spur began to. be properly understood, most ridiculous opinions about the permanency of even small claims were entertained. The writer of this was gravely informed by a miner who held a share in a, cement claim on the MunroVs side of the spur, that he fully believM his claim would not be worked out in a hundred years, and he thought that his interest would pass from father to son f qr several years to come. His opinion was based oh the hardness of the cement and the slow method of working it in vogue at that time, but since blasting operations, on a large scale have been generally adopted, a material change ofjopinion has gradually been brought about in reference to the length of time the different companies will take to work oi# their ground. A number of the Mining Leases on the Blue Spur have been taken out for the term of fifteen years, and no doubt when the leases expire the cream of the ground will be gone.. Those companies who have sufltcient fall to work out their ground down to the bed rock I by the ordinary method of ground sluic- | ing, will be the first to finish. Nothing tends more to prove the faith of 'the. miners in the payable quality x>f the ground, than the comfortable houses and neat gardens which are to be seen in all directions around the Blue Spur. Not long ago a busy little township was. ! situate o the spur near Mr. Fulton's, blacksir .h's shop. There was then a large hotel, a butcher's shop, two general stores,, and a number of .private dwellings, but as time rolled on the people saw that all the ground in that vicinity was doomed for sluicing purposes, and a gradual stampede took place until now, the site of the former township is completely deserted. The old road over the spur which was once a necessity, is now no longer required, and is utterly impassable for dray traffic, and" some portions of it are difficult to traverse on foot in broad daylight. The road which was once a convenience is now an obstruction, and application has been made to the Warden to have it declared abandoned. Nearly, if not the whole of the ground occupied by the old road, is held on lease for fifteen years, and is highly auriferous. . .-^- I am informed on good authority, that Mr. T. F. Morris when working in Rich's old claim, obtained nearly £800, worth of gold, and he paid Rich's Gold Mining Company a large sum as tribui^ money. Mr. Morris recently resumed work after obtaining an assurance f^m Mr. R. G. Pulton and: others, that^hey would take no steps to restrain him from working the old road, and on the faith of that assurance two working miners bought shares in the claim. Mr. Fulton although the greatest sufferer by destroying the road, has honorably kept his word, but some of the others have not. Mr. Morris is- now idle, pending the decision of the. Warden. Long ago it was foreseen that, the old road would become dangerous and impassable, and. when his Honor the Superintendent and Mr. Duncan visited the Blue Spur last spring, Mr. H. Clay- • ton, of the Perseverance. Company, and other gentlemen, explained to his Honor in the school-house that the road was a barriei? to the proper working of ground on the spur. His Honor and Mr. .Duncan took a practical common sense, view of • the matter, and the Government granted the sum of one hundred pounds wherewith to construct a new road via the head' of Munroe's Gully, in lieu of the old dray track over the spur* The, public convenience was qonsialted, and the newroad was made, and has been in generaluse for the last seven, or eightf months. The old road- has long been impassable at the northern end of the spur, and a month or two ago. a landslip occurred on Spiers's old claim, which completely destroyed that portion of the old road, and near the centre of the spur- the ground cracked to such a degree, that the dam of the Perseverance Company was rendered completely useless for. the storage ofwater, and Mr. R. G. Fulton was obliged to remove his ' house on account of the numerous cracks and fissures underneath it. The Perseverance Company were reluctantly compelled by circumstances to expend a large sum of money in the construction of a new dam some distance away from the spur. That portion of the Blue Spur near the late residences ofMessrs. Fulton and Fife, which might have been supposed to be the strongest part of the hill is proving to be the weakest, and the workings of Hales and Co. and the Perseverance Company are. so weakening the base of the hill, that apparently at no distant day the whole, crown of the hill will slip down from Fife's tipper face to the workings ofHales and Co., on the Gabriel's side ofthe spur. Fresh cracks are constantly appearing, and the old cracks are opening wider. Already a large crack runs folP some distance along the water race ofPonsonby and, Co. Some weeks ago Mr. Ponsonby, the manager of the Waipori "Water Company suggested th» idea of\^ working of the crown of the hill to 9 lower level as a precautionary > measure, and no doubt that plan will eventually be. carried'out, although at gg^ent it could not be done without inWrvenience to. Livingstone and Co. and Fife and Co. The ground of the Perseverance Company around their old- dam is known ia, b« very rich, and beyond doubt otjh«>.

A portions of the" crown of the hill are * !*jual&.good. , , % . r . fili & l*i be,Jutfa4 .thj&'the, friendly B pj|i w hich has hitherto with a few exc^Fonsbeen th« rul& siinong the Blue Spur Conlpanies'in' their dealings with each other, will continue to manifest it- " seKbyaapir^ of mutual concession arid forbearenceu 1 . ±