SHAG VALLEY,

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 296, 2 October 1873, Page 6

SHAG VALLEY,

; (From our own Correspondent.) September 24th. It never rains, b.ut it pours, is surely a true adage i,n my cas,e, for here-am I writing two letters in the short space of a week. 1$ almos,t takes my breath : away to think o$ it. But seeing some ; rather severe and uncalled-for remarks on the working of the reefs in this district in the '-' Waikouaiti Herald" ;of the 17tb insfc., being an old resident in the district^ and knowing that the " said article (to put i% in a very, mild form) is very w^de of the mark* has induced me to, pen, .this letter. The writer of the article in question, who professes to. be an authority in the 'matter, but who evidently, by his, remarks x must be entirely ignorant of what he was, writing- about x or- else wanted to. mislead the public ; and the fact of; 1 the article appearing in the ,(i, (i Waikouaiti and Shag- Valley Herald," ; which professes, to. be '•' the "■ paper of the district^ compel me not to. let it pass unchallenged. The writer, in the ■firs,t place* states that the. want of coal .is. a, drawback ljp any returns being realised, &c. I have mentioned that fact ia several of= my,, lei/ters. Still, that might to h Y^ry great extent hpve been, obviated, if those interested— viz., the directors— had onjy taken the pj-e- = caution to, h#ve laid in, a stopk during : the summer, months and wjien, cartage -was, -low, a^nd, would tlius. h&Ye been ; ajbl t e to na,ve ijaken, advantage, of, thp

writer goes: on to say that previous to the winter setting in the "■ hitch " was want, of water, &c,, and quotes., the Perseverance and Shag Vajley Freehold Oo.s as "instances,. But as lam given to understand that the former company was not stopped from the above cause, his remark^ must apply to the latter company. Now what are the facts 1 It was not until December last that those interested decided upon a site for machinery, &c. ) and it was somewhere about the end of January of the present year before they had a dam constructed, films allowing tine wet season lo pass before provision was made for the storage of water — the past summer being a remarkably dry one. I fail myself, to see, consi9ering the ahove facts, how there could be other than a hitch; and from what I have above stated, I think those interested have onl) themselves to blame for not feeling jubilant at the result of their past, outla/. Wifch the provision now made by the above company as regards water, I am fully persuaded that no hitch will occur, unless we haye an extraordinary dry season. Regarding the other reason — viz., coal-^rit will entirely rest with those interested if a hitch occurs or otherwise. I will admit th,at the prioe of coal is a serious item (it may be justly termed the only item) in the working expenses, and I am afraid will continue so until we get a pit opened much nearer than the present one, The writer then quotes Pearce and Co., better known here as Cooper and Co., as an example of what can and what ou£*ht to be done regarding the working of these reefs, and which must cause many a lauojh to any one at all acquainted with the same, and evidently 'provas that the writer must be writing from hear-say, and not from a personal inspection of the reefs. Were it otherwise, 1 rather think he would have remained silent, because (as I mentioned in my letter last week) although possessing, as the writer states, . water power for crushing and systematic working, they unfortunately came to grief, through (as is well known) partly the want of management and the cost of getting the quartz to the battery. Anyone^ however sltebtly acquainted with quartz mining, will readily admit the great advantage of water power over- steam. But it is also well known that it is not in every place that water can be msde available. I will show presently that in the present case it is rather a disadvantage than otherwise, on account of the expense of cartage. I mentioned in a former letter that the present holder of the claim intends (if possible) to let it on tribute. A party Irom your district a short time ago paid a visit to the claim and battery for that purpose, but would not have anything to do with it solely on account of the difficulty of getting the stone to the mill. I have taken the trouble of ascertaining the relative cost of getting and crushing the quartz at the different batteries, and will let these facts speak for themselves. A short time ago the S.V.F. Co. called for tenders for raising and delivering quartz at their battery. The stone had to. be broken fit for the mill, it being self-feeding. They received a tender to do it for seven shillings per ton. The other crushing expenses, viz., coal, engine drivers, management, wear and tear, &c, seven shillings ; so that a yield of ■Adwts.- of" gold per ton would leave one shilling profit over expenses. lam given to understand that the expense of carting and crushing alone by Pearce and Co. (not mentioning the cost of raising) was about fourteen, shillings per ton. The distance from the claim to the battery is about five miles, and the quartz has to be handled five times before the gold i& extracted. It is caHed to the top of the hill overlooking the battery, and then put in a sleigh, the road down to the mill being inaccessible for drays. Taking the above figures as a guide, I tfcink it shows conclusively that in. the present instance steam can very successfully compete with water. Ido trust, taking into consideration the above.figures, that the writer in question does not hold Ptearce and Co. forth as an mstanee of the more effective system he ' wishes carried out in developing these "reefs. Such articles as the one in question are, very likely to prove injurious to this promising district, for in , considering the small amount of work done, and the few (some two or three by each Co.) crushinga Had, I think it would be presumption in any one, more especially any person who has ' not visited the reefs., to. say whether 'they will pay or not, or yet to. say which is or whiclj is not the most r effective system of working them. I for one do think that the small yield ; required to pay a dividend, as shown .by the S.Y.F. Co., will compare favorably with the reefs in Yictoria t espe- \ f cialty when you take into question the > relative time that the reefs have been at work in both places, also the cost of ; : fuel, &e>, and 1 where the one side has ; 4 the advantage of all modern appliances,- < larg e batteries, &c. As a q,uartz miner ' of lang experience^ i feel confident that the cost of extracting the gold ! will? no!} be less than at present until '. we get more competition in the coal ; . trade ; ; labor will not be any cheaper, '■ if as cheap, this. 'district now having ' the credit of giving the smallest wage, > .viz,, £2: Bs, to £Z IQs. per. week ;, and ; I for on© fail to see, in the present un- ,. ; developed; state of- the reefs, which , woujd be the most effective plan of ; working them., I cannps helfp.w v ou,d«r.- > '

in any of these reefs, and wrote the above article under pressure, viz., a call, for I expect there is rather more pleasure derived iv receiving a dividend than paying up a call. I may mention for his information that I have not the least interest in any of them, neither am I at all connected with them ; my only object in writing this is to see that the reefs get a fair trial before they are cried down. The weather still remains very unsettled, and serious fears are entertained that if it does not soon take up it will X)Q too late for the farmers to get in their seed. The river has gone down sufficiently to let the coaches cross,' and Ued Devine is therefore himself again.