ALEXANDRA.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 286, 24 July 1873, Page 10

ALEXANDRA.

(Froyn oxir own Correspondent.) held over from our last issnp.] 'For the present King Frost has disappeared, and the whole of the mining claims \n the district haye resumed work with a full supply of water. At Speargra.Bß plat things, are du.ll in pining matters, hut po dou,bt will brighten up this spring, as they will enjoy an extra supply of water when G,orge Creek Water Eace is. compjeijad. I have nothing fresh to report ftotn either Butchers or Conroys .Gullies, neither is there any likelihood of either of the reef parties resuming operation^ M 7. Eitt is reported to be 4°i. n .f? well a,fc G.olden Gully. Bfaving been to great ex.pense in constructing a. tailraee through solid rock. 90 as to ground sluice from the ma^n bottom ; this ground would need •fa pay vyell for some time to repay the money laid ou,t by Mr. Ritt, who, no do.u^bt, is. one of the pluckiest miners Ijbe district. He certainly wa^ \up]siY ill his first venture, via, the Frenchman's claim,, which may in a great measure account for his pluck. i^'Hroy and party are preparing to Resume work in their claim near Alexandra Ferry. This claim has been idle the last six months, not being able •^0 obtain, water to work the same. The. party are supplied from Mr. QJiver' 1^ and Mr. Kitt's races, but they only, get the spare water. 1$ i,s § good claim, but they have not a constant supply of w,ater to work it. jsobl,-e an,d Bsallantyne, Fox and C 0.., and several other parties on the west ar,e in full work and caking ■yyages. The claim known as Felix's 3s ijQ, full work, the Hit or Miss Co. having joined w^th their extensive p.lan.t to, w,orl? the same. They have ypft succeeded in, reaching the bottom 3A yet, altjhou,gh they are down 18 ijees lipljovx the riyer. There is sufficient gold through the gravel to pay workip# exj),enJ3es, I hope I will soon be a,ble to ; reporij that they have struck gopd goljd. The Oven's race, now pwned 1 by the Alexandra Corporation, ip in full work on the eas.t bank of the and the lessees., are doing very this race, has, been, cleaned out |rom, top to bottom, by the lessees. 9jha,t portion, of- the Manuherikia Co. working nea.r the brewery are doing T^jjy well ; ( t^hose near Insley's are also doing w,ell". Allan, and party, who are forking in the bed, of the Manuherikia, have been, s^anvped oat several times ijhis^ wjn,ter, but they still persevere. T{ hear, that they have reached the bot torn this week, and find the precious metal, in, sufficient quantities to remunerate them for their perseverance. The dredges, tliis^, year are doing very Ijttle — in, fact, those on. the river are apt fit to, battle with the amount of failings that have accumulated 1 on' the bottom. The Pneumatic is. the only One that is able to do so ; but then she cannot lift a large quantity, which is her great desideratum.. On the Molyneux, Mjr. Siedityerg^s steam dredge is s still idle. Thja Alexandra Sfc^am Dredge Co. have not yet ordered their machinery, and, I believe, (jo not intend doing so, until they obtain the special, claim they haye made application, for. N,o doubt the most of your readers, know the action taken by the Dunstan Miners' Association in trying to prevent this claim ( being taken. Ijw^ill sjmpjy stjat« w,hat I knpw of the matter. Tiie Alexandra Steam, Dredge * Co. contemplate placing a dredge on the riven, capab]e,of raging and sluicing forty times the quantity of stufiytbat any dredge at present on the. river can raiss and sluice, on these grounds I would contend they are entitled to forty times the quantity of ground other dredges are, entitled to hold, j T,be Dunstan. Mjinin# Association held Several meetings to discuss this application, and after fujl deliberations recommended to, tHe Warden that a double claim, only should bp. grauted. l^hajb a lot of liberal minded men they mu ? stbp who constitute this Association, to expect any Company to expend jgpjOpp, and only obtain, a double area of ground, and that ground having been, worked and prospected- ft> * the J 3?ist n^ue year?. If ventures of- this sjppfc are npt to, be fostered, in, some tangible w^ny, then, I say^ gopd-bye.to prosperity on,t,he goldfiphla, ' 'In your issue of 3rd J-uly, yonr Dunstnn. Correspondent- alludes in a f"castic Vv;ay to. a. petition to his )npr the Superintendent, prayipg ifc they wjll take no nptaee.of the

were only a. self-constituted body, and did not 'represent the views of the miners, &c. I have taken the trouble to get a look at a copy of said petition, and find that it was signed by 129 miners , and this said petition did set forth that the Dunstan Mining Association did not represent their views aa regards tho special claim applied for by the Alexandra Steam Dredge Co.; i and further indicated that it was desirable that encouragement should be given to any Company or individual who, would come with capital to develope the resources of the district; and, as an individual, I am of opinion the person alluded to as going round for signatures deserves the thanks of every miuer in the province. Before leaving this subject, I wish to state that Mr. Alexander was the only person at the Associatipn meeting who \vas in favor, of encouraging capital being brought into the district to develope its resources. As to their being a self-constituted body, anyone by paying a small fee, I think 2s. 6d., can become a member. I sometimes, for the want of something better to do, read the " Dunstan Times," and \n its last issue, July 4th, I was surprised at the tone of the leading article. I was not aware uutil then that Clyde and Clyde alone was the Dunstan district ; neither we,s I aware that Mr. Hazlett was elected to look after the interests of Clyde only, neither do I believe Mr. Hazlett ever dream,t that he was elected to represent Clyde alone. However, I will wait and aj{ovr his actions to speak for themselves. I will here give a few extracts from said article. '* A bridge across the Molyneux at Clyde is most important. Upon the accomplishment of this depends in a great measure the futu,re of Clyde. The direct road to Tuapeka via the valley : of the Molyneux can never be CAm.-' pleted w.itho.ut it ; it supplies a link to the chain w.hich cannot be dispensed with, and the large expenditure incurred to make this road cannot be properly utilised unless there is a bridge at Qlyde. Mr. Hazlett. we feel assured, thoroughly understands the importance of a bridge at Clyde, and will do his best to secure one upon some terms or other. The area of agricultural and auriferous country,, the bridgingoftheMolyneux would open up, would be enormous." In the first place, I have no objection to a bridge being built at Clyde, but I do object to its being built with public mon^yas it is quite unnecessary, there being no traffic to make it pay without the Government will consent to do wKa^ the " Dunstan Times " indicates, which is to build a bridge at Clyde* and construct a road from Clyde to Napier's Hotel at Butchers Gully, on the west side of the river — a distanceof about 10. miles. About 6 miles oij' this road, that is the Butchers Gully end, would cost a considerable amount of money to construct. lam personally conversant with every i,nch of this country, and am satisfied the road v would cost more to construct than the . bridge would to build. Now, let us consider the road as at present constructed that leads to. that important city, Clyde. Starting from Napier's. Hotel, the distance to Alexandra is from 3 J to* 4, miles.. There is certainly one very bad hill, about half a mile from Alexandra, but that hill can be avoided. There are several hills quite, as bad on the other road. From Alexandra to. Clyde, is 7 miles, over a road as level as a bowling green. Then I say why not build a bridge at Alexandra and allow the traffic to haxe. the same road as at present, which is .infinitely better than the other ever can he? I wovJd further point out that the road from Butchers Gully to Alexandra must be always kept in some sort .of repair, as nearly the whole of the I produce from. Bald. Hill Flat finds its way to, Alexandra; and by a bridge .being erected here Clyde would have the same amount of traffic passing through as if a bridge were erected at Clyde. No doubt some of your readers will say there is some other reason that has not appeared why Clyde, goes in so strong for a bridge. No doubt there is, and it is this, Clyde wants to be the, .capital of the goldfields, and every ; shilling o£ public, money that is to be spent in the district the residents want spent at Clyde, They even, want a jail •and -sitting of the Supreme Court at Clyde. Truly they deserve, all: that, 'and I believe they would give the Court plenty work, from the number of .cases that have their origin there. In '■concluding, I venture to assert that by [a. bridge being built at Clyde it will not open up one acre of either agricultural or auriferous country, and I would advise the editor of the "Dunstan Times "• for the future not to. forget there cii'e such pJaoes as Blacks, Drybread, Tinkers, and Alexandra, and that these places are part and parcel of 'the Djinstan district '• (From a Correspondent.), i July 18th v : The weather continues very mild for 'the' season of the year, and as, a consequence the various sluice parties are • well supplied with, water. ! The Mjolyneux has.fallen. low enpughi 'to enable Colmanjs claijn, at Butchers Point, to resume operations. On Sandy Point, the Hit or Miss Co. have succeeded) in reaching the main, bottom, having, apparently sunk in a crab hole, as the'bottom is rising rapidly. They have a seam of very good; looking wash, dirt, which, affchongh, not giving any

to improve when the bottom becomes more level. The nomination for the office of Mayor of Alexandra took place on the 14th inst,, and Mr. William Beresford, our former Mayor, being the only candidate, was declared duly elected. The Alexandra Miners' Association held a meeting on the l^th inst. — the principal business being the consideration of the propqsed Goldfields Bill. A Sub-Committee was appointed to draw up, a leport on the Bill and submit it to the next meeting of the Association. The Steam Dredge Co. have received an. answer to their application for a special claim. The Government offer them a claim of 5000 feet along the course of the river, subject to the condition that the Company shall employ fifteen holders of miners 1 rights. I understand that the Company are dissatisfied with the decision, and have applied to the Government to reconsider their application. The ground applied for lias already been partly worked, and has ceased to be remunerative to dredges worked by hand, and ifc would be a pity if the proposed Company collapsed for the want of a liberal grant of ground, as it is not likely that any other company would be formed, and the probabilities are that in a few years the ground will be so buried with tailings' as to be practically worthless. Perhaps, if the Government were to split the difference with the Company it would be considered satisfactory. As to the condition that they should employ so many men, it seems rather strange that, aa the Company propose to employ machinery in order to save manual labor as much as possible, the Goyernment should require them to employ both,.