WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21,1886

West Coast Times, Issue 134, 21 February 1866, Page 2

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1886

Considerable uncertainty of opinion prevails' within the district, and the most vague ideas out of it, as to the actual extent and richness, and the prospective permanency, of the West Coast Goldficlds. Of their extent, indeed, no conjecture can be hazarded, except one resting- upon a purely scientific basis, in consequence of the inaccessibility to the explorer of large tracts of country. The ground hitherto worked consists almost exclusively rff a belt of land boidering the sea coast, and the banks of some rivers and creeks. The character of the sold found suggests the very reasonable hypothesis that it has been brought down from sources which, if they could be reached, would yield supplies infinitely richer than those at present realised. The general diffusion of the precious metal in the form of fine dust over almost the entire surface of the district, naturally inspires the tantalising idea that there are magnificent deposits of gold somewhere if they could only be got at. And this hypothesis lies at the root of the faith of those who believe that the Westland diggings arc likely tobe permanent — or at all events, to continue to afford profitable emplo)'ment to thousands of miners, and to offer a field for the investment of capital, for many years ,to come, and until the ground has been thoroughly prepared for the general establishment of other forms of productive industry. No gold - field can bo permanent, in thu absol'.'sense of the tjrm. is noi a seed that, renews itvjSrop as ra^i-ii, as the indji^j/^manfleftn harvest it in. m;<\ ho intl^^mi^g^^ s *?"'^' I'--1 '--- <-"h° application oi^jJJMfi^r^^p^'inces and new pro-s^s.^*'3Pfec-ienco. But come the day cf | -exhaustion must at last. It is true that 'it does not often come prematurely. It is well that at some time in the history of a people the era of mining for gold I should terminate. Gold, after all, is but the commercial levrr that sets art in motion, and keeps the social machinery at work. Looked at from a strictly economic point of view it is valuable only as the soil oil Avhich we tread is valuable, in proportion as it can be made productive of fruit for the life of man. With the gradual declension of the gold yield of Victoria we see the concurrent rise of a vast manufacturing industry, furnishing a new base for commerce, and rapidly assimilating the social and industrial conditions to those of countries which have long since crossed the boundaries that separate the youth from the manhood 'of nations. Before the permanent settlement of the West Coast of New Zealand can be effected, an enormous work has to be done in the shape of penetrating and clearing the interior. To such an undertaking for mere purposes of settlement, the physical features of the country fail to present an adequate inducement, whilst elsewhere there are wide grassy plains and lightly timbered lands waiting to be occupied. It is as the pioneer that the digger is doing his work here as ho has clone it elsewhere. Gold is the great maguefc of population, which has done % more than any other agency of modern times to scatter the people of the earth over its surface. It brings the strong laborer and nerves his arm with the most powerful of all motives to cut his way through difficulties, and prepare tracts of country hitherto unoccupied, to be permanently possessed by the forms of civilised and industrial life. When the question is asked, are the goldfields of Westland permanent? — it is meant will they last long enough to work out their legitimate purpose and prepare the land for a settled reproductive and thriving enterprise r It is a question of vital importance as affecting the nature of the foundations we are about to lay of our future State. All public' circumstances at present point to an answer in the affirmative.

The actual wealth — tbat is the real present productiveness of tbe existing diggings— is a problem one would think much more easy of solutiou. It is a question not of speculation or induction, but of facts and figures. But we have no definite gold statistics, until at distant intervals! and long after tbe dates of the facts to which they refer, tbe official returns are published. By noting tbe Customs clearances and the quantities held in band by the banks, we manage to prepare something like an approximate estimate for tbe successive outgoing mails,but these returns in many instances necessarily overlay each other. The amount of gold exported, however, affords no clue to tbe fact which tbe miner at a distance is most anxious to know viz., tbe average yield to each miner, and tbe comparative richness of the several fields. When gold-freighted steamers reach Melbourne or Sydney, tbe circumstance is generally chronicled in the newspapers of their bringing so many thousand ounces, made up of parcels shipped partly at Hokitika, partly at the (Jrey, and partly at Nelson, all the produce of tbe " West Coast diggings" ; but these figures fail to tell a true story. When tbe quantities reported are large, tbe effect is impressive. When they are small, they arc often accepted as an indication of a falling off in the yield. But no reliable guide is afforded of the steady produce of the Westland mines, especially in tbe absence of all official information as to the number of miners who are at work dividing tbe spoil. Tbe new regulation, by which for tbe future all gold exported will be cleared at tbe one port of Hokitika, and tbe establishment of a local escort service, will enable the actual amount sent out of the district by tbe seaboard to be stated with, accuracy. The very important items of information respecting the populations on tbe several diggings, will continue to be, however, as they are now, inaccessible, so far as official sources are concerned.

The employment of associated capital and of costly machinery iv mining pursuits, is another topic on which it is of tbe utmost consequence that the fullest information should be given. Nothing is so calculated to convey to the Victorian a truthful impression of tho new phase into which this pursuit is passing on the older established goldfields, Tbe communication from our special reporter on Mining at tbe Kanieri, which appears in yesterday's and this morning's papers, tells a story of facts hitherto probably unsuspected out of tbe district itself. Yet this field is but an isolated instance of enterprise 011 a large scale, conducted with .patience and in faith, which is destined not only to sustain but greatly to augment our gold returns. Whilst tbe latter will afford evidence of actual success, the former will be accepted as a guarantee of the permanence of tbe Westland diggings.

It may justly be complained that no systematic official reports are published on these subjects, of such great importance and interest to the district. At distant intervals, indeed, and long after date thero appear — or rather there did j appear — in. the Christclmrcli papers, an oecasl -nal Warden's report ; but, even if the seriu.-; were published regularly, they bear 1 of antediluvian lojjk,. about Iho'n ly ihc tiin&fihey ix^Gh/tMsiicJe. n ! -Sciii. ia£gej^f Qjftv^^.fn^^ii^ ViOrttilG^^>#^|^il y^?i^'^^lt.^"'XVitl' we'*io^v#^yTtfj&t ifr-'is not' to the Christcliureh papers tbe miners of tbe adjacent Colonies are accustomed to look, for tbe latest intelligence from the T \Vest Coast diggings. It is bighly desirable tbat official reports should be rendered, promptly and at fixed intervals, from tbe more established gold-fields, and early official information given as to tbe new rushes that are perpetually unsettling the minds of tbe people here, and perplexing tbe diggers elsewhere. These reports should be banded for publication to tbe local papers, or at any rate rendered accessible to those who cboose to make use of their contents for publication, as they are in Otago and elsewhere. That the Commissioner entrusted with the administration of the West Canterbury goldfiekls should be under orders, or should otherwise deem it necessary, to forward a Warden's report to Christcliureh before its contents are divulged — as if it were some secret Slate paper — is surely one of the strangest illustrations of tbe " rcd-tapeism" under which the district has been so long suffering. Now what may be called the present permanence of the Westland goldfiekls, may be said to be an established fact ; and tbat the yield of gold is steady, the system of mining improving, and the area of auriferous ground largely extending ; it is proper that the example set in other places should be followed here, and our Mining History written with an authentic pen from week to week and month to month.

We are glad to hear that the unfortunate man Johnson, who was on Monday brought into town suffering from a severe attack of fever, and for whom no accommodation could then be found in the hospital, was yesterday received within its walls. The other unfortunate found Dy Constable White in a dyin& ttate in a tent on Gibson's Quay lias alto been admitted for medical treatment in the above institution. It is a .matter for congratulation that the new hospifal will be shortly ready to receive patients, as lately disease is on tho increase, cases of fever especially having become moro common. Tho present accommodation is totally inadequate for the requirements of the district, and no time should be lost in completing the new structure in all its details and at once throwing it open to the public. The Wellington Advertise); not having Westland in its eye, says of the approaching general election: — "Preparations are being made all over the country for the elections ; candidates are declaring themselves, and are hotly canvassing, while the journals are overflowing with their addresses. The only exception is our own city, where the matter seems to be treated with

rather too much apathy, . . The Northern papers say that nearly all the members*who appeared in the last Assembly will appear in the

next, if they choose to ilo so, and that thei'e will be no contest except in one or two instances in the pioviace of Auckland. No one there would have the slightest chance of success if he were not a strong separationist, and there is a

general feeling of confidence in the members who came to We'lington last July, In the south it is different. Thore, there will be hard contests ;

the large Provinces of Canterbury and Otago are much divided, especially on the separation question, and the local journals are urging their readers to be staunch, and do what they — the journals — consider to be the ' right thing.' "

We are informed that one or two of the claims at the " Darkies' Hush," four miles north of the Grey, are yielding a large amount of gold. As an instance of their exceeding richness, we may mention Dufty's claim, out of which L3OO was cleared by each o£ the shareholder the week before last. When brought to the surface, the washdirt appears half gold, so thickly is it impregnated with the precious metal, and some of the stones are fairly sheeted with the fine dust . On the terrace immediately underneath the "Darkies" there are some excellent claims, many of which will average from L2O to L 25 per week each shareholder. The price of shaves in golden claims range from LSO to L 250. There is, however, a considerable amount of poor ground in hand that will pay from expenses only up to small wages.

The harbor master's crew have lately been well employed in keeping tho river from the Custom House downwards clear of snags, and fixing beacons on those too large to bo removed. Some very ugly obstructions to its navigation have been either pulled on shore or else so marked as to render their position at high water easily discernible and from morning to night, whenever the .state of the tide permitted it, Capt. Turnbull and his men raight'have been seen during the jiast week busily employed about this most necessary work. The career of Captain Turnbull since his arrival here has been a most useful one and the port is much indebted to him for the many reforms in its regulations and the . improvements he has cifectcd. We sincerely hope that no . change which may occur in the administration will result in his removal from the position he so worthily fills, for wo feel sure sonic difficulty will be experienced in replacing him by one who possesses in so marked a degree tho qualifications of a thorough, seaman, combined with the bearing of a gentlemaii.

In (he Resident Magistrate's Court to-day several civil cases were heard. In the action of Pratt v Gtirvin and Thompson the plaintiff sought to recover the sum of £90 for demurrage. The defendants had chartered the schooner Three Sisters to go to the Grey and back, and were allowed ten days for taking in cargo, but this time they exceeded by two days and then kept the vessel in tho harbor for several days longer. Tho Magistrate decided that the amount of demurrage on the two days only could be allowed , as nothing was said in the* charier parly respecting detention in the harbor. An action about a case of hams

brought some time ago hj Messrs Alcorn and Co. against, Sir Wees was again decided in favor of the former. In McLean t Pole and Co. the plaintiff sued for the amount of a bill .of exchange given to him by the dcfendantSj who have within the last few days assigned their estate to trustees for the benefit of their creditors. The defendants claim protection for twenty-eight days from the date of signing the assignment, which protection their counsel contended they were entitled to under the Debtors' and Creditors' -Act. The Magistrate will' submit the point for the opinion of the Attorney General, and has adjourned tho caso until the 13th proximo for that purpose. The other cases heard were unimportant. The Wellington Advertiser in its summary for Europe, gives the following graphic sketch of recent military operations on the West Coast under Colonel Chute : — We must now turn to the West Coast, where one of the most important events of the war has just occurred. One of Major-General Chute's first acts on talcing comm;md of the troops was to proceed in person at their head to punish the murderers of Mr Broughton, in the Wnnganui district. His foioes had hce'i considerably n.-Juced, aud. luhtfas .left • with liUle,ovei'_tivaJiunibjiT^i^V : 'W'^o < *t& | tli-e.-fiddhf- lfc"ws%il 4 lj@s^V^JJipkev6r,*^c" * •^^^^=ta^tryrp?infig|ff3S^o£fttfa3ae had i\~ '.direebjoiit- : liW~sieMi?lct fie" iicsordingly w. :>'. "and "• instead of marching round pahs by ni '1 1, as General Cameron did, dashed at them uy clay and night, and took them. Okotuku, Putahi, Whareioa, Ohangai, Otapawa, Keteonetea, Puketi, and Ketemarae, all deemed very strong positions, fell with little loss on our *side, and great loss on that of the enemy, and tho General, looking round him for something more to do, determined to force his way through the bush to New Plymouth. Such an unprecedented expedition, for which, no doubt, there does not exist any authority in books on military tactics, would have shocked our late Commander of the Forces, but it was undertaken and successfully accomplished by I a force of fire hundred and fourteen men. They went provisioned for three days, and lost their way, so they were kept out seven, and had to eat three paok-horses, which was a serious loss to the Commissariat, and their leader remained in the bush until he saw every man safely out of it, a little hungry and tired, perhaps, but in no other respect any the worse. Then he refused to walk under a triumphal arch at New Plymouth,' because he thought he had done nothing to deserve it, and there was more work'to be done, and the grateful townsfolk read him a laudatory address, gave his men a gofld feed, and. sent them back with many a hearty cheer. Triumphal arches are, perhaps, more suitable for one who leaves a comfortable villa residence in a peaceable town to return home, having embroiled as much as possible the affairs which he was supposed to settle, than for a hardy nonpolitical soldier who dops his duty and makes no boast of it: Our friends at home should read the history of the last few weeks' operations on the West Coast, and then say if the colonists are -to blame for the expenses incurred through an unnecessarily prolonged war. We shall look for their opinions on the subject with anxiety, and trust that they will take the universal expression of approval that this gallant act has elicited>here as a proof of the heartfelt desire on our part that vigorous action should put a speedy termination to these ruinous troubles. The other accounts which we receive from this part of the island all tell of uninterrupted successes. At Mr. Munson's News Agency Office, Eevell-street, a branch post offico has been opened, .which will prove a very great public convenience, especially during the prevalence of wet weather, when tho approaches to the central ollice, if not flooded, are very difficult to pedestrians. There are to be two clearances at the branch, one at 9.30, a.m., and the other at 4*30, p.m. Whenever mails are made up for out-going steamers there will bo a special clearance shortly Jjefore the hour announced for closing the mail. _ . We were yesterday informed by Hr Hill, of the Alliance Store, Auckland Bush, that_ a parcel of spurious gold was bought by him from a digger on Monday last. Fortunately for him the amount sold was only 11 dwts, so - that his loss is not very great ; at the same time it shews this nefarious practice has at last been introduced in Westland, and also the necessity of gold buyers for the future being on their guard whon gold is submitted to them for purchase by strangers. On discovering the mistake he had made, Mr Hill rodo into town and communicated with the police, giving a full description of the party from whom he

had bought it, so it is possible he may yet bo recognised and arrested. The spurious metal, although a, good imitation, was nothing moro than common solder used by brasiers.

The steamship Auckland, from Sydney, is expected daily, and in the absence of a Bteainer direct from Melbourne, will probably bring us the news by the December English mail, provided the P. and O. Company have not exceeded their aveiage limit of unpunctuality. We have to oorrect an^ error that appeared in our issue of yesterday. The name of the unfortunate man who jumped overboard from the Star of the Evening on Monday morning should, instead of Norton, be read Martin.

Some heavy parcels of amalgam have been brought in from the Auokland Rush during the past few days, and submitted to the smelter for purification. On Monday 590 ozs. were taken to Mr Procter to be retorted and smelted, which after the process was completed, yielded 292 oz3 of pure gold. Another break to the <me weather, which culminatei on Monday in a glorious day of Indian summer ! The early morning yesterday was beautifully fine, and promised a continuance of clear skies and balmy air. As the day advanced however, clouds gathered, the atmosphere became thick and murky, a light drizzling rain fell, which became heavier during the afternoon, and at night there was a downfall, which, to timid 'minds, seemed to threaten another flood. A copious rainfall for a day would not be unacceptable, as the scarcity of water had begun on Monday to be felt as a serious inconvenience by many housekeepers. j " Twenty -five yeai-a Experience in New Zealand and the Chatham Islands, by Eobt. Hunt," is a brochure which, was originally published some time ago, of which, the pamphlet before us is a second edition*. It is edited by Mi*. John Arney, who describes it as " the narrative of a working man who has risen to a superior position, simply by force of character, energy, integrity, and industry," and presenting "so true a type of the old Anglo-Saxon race" that the editor "urged him to unfold his experience to the world." It is a very readable and interesting production, which cannot be better described than by the title and the words we have quoted. "We may take occasion to give some extracts from it. The " battle of the nobblcrs" promises to enliven the present dull routine of Hokitika. The chai'ge and countercharge have been made, and the combatants are now halting under aims. At present the " heavies " seem to have the advantage. Their forces muster strong, and they hold their position on high ground. We publish an advertisement thiß

morning, signed by most of tho hotel-keepers, against a proposed reduction in the price of "drinks." If the issue lies, as they put it, between cheap and bad nobblers, and dear and good ones, we hope the public have too fine a taste not to prefer the latter. We say this, however, without prejudice to the vexed question whether cheapness and badness are necessarily associated. The circumstance that the announcement of reduced rates has emanated from one of the leading hotels in town, would seem to militate against that view. We notice that a meeting is to be held to-morrow evening, to promote the establishment of a Licensed Victuallers' Associa-