DON'T BLOW.

Westport Times, Volume VII, Issue 1079, 10 June 1873, Page 2

DON'T BLOW.

The speculative " Walker" of Auckland is evidently not much impressed with the sage advice of good Saint Anthony Trollope. The following gushing creation of his facile pen and fervent fancy has been circulated among commercial men in Auckland and elsewhere, as a prelude, no doubt, to a still more attractive prospectus:— Coal Brook Dale and Mount Eochfort Coalfields, in the Province of Nelson New Zealand. DESCRIPTIVE 2ARTICULA.ES. Six thousand and seven hundred and twenty acres, held under prospecting license under "The Buller Reserve Administration Amendment A.ct of 1866," with the option of taking up a maximum of two square miles (1,280 acres) on lease from the Nelson Government, for a period of ninetynine years, at a rental of ffam one shilling to five shillings per acre, at discretion of " Crown Lands Board," and a royalty of three pence to one shilling per ton, coming in reduction of rent, also at the discretion of the Board. The situation of the ground is between Mount Eochfort and Mount William, taking in the table-lands and spurs of the former, also including Coal Brook Dale, and the fifteen to twenty feet seams of coal in the Waimangaroa Gorge* There are many seams;in the area of the 6,720 acres, varying from five to twenty feet in thickness. The Coal in the Gorge, or Coal Brook Dale, has been worked, and has been proved of the best quality. Calculated estimate of the quantity of coal contained within two square miles of the Prospecting License, 50,000,000 tons. Scientific and practical trials have proved this coal to be equal to any in the world,' amongst many, is that of the Admiralty—vide Woolwich Dockyard reports,—where the Buller coal, tried and compared with North of England, Welsh, Grey, and New South Wales coal, proves that the first is Hot only equal to the others, but in many respects very superior. For steam purposes, it has been proved to have an evaporative power 15 to 20 per cent, better than that of the North of England; and from all the various minute and elaborate-trials at

Woolwich, taken as regards evaporative power in regard to time, and without reference to time, it is evident that the Bui lot' coal is at least 15 pet cent, betted than either average North of Ebglahd or Now South Walesvide Woolwich Dockyard report. It has been Calculated for a voyage of twenty days Where 1000 tons of either English or New South Wales coal would be required} 850 tons of Buller coul would serve the Bame purpose, therefore there Would be a saving of 150 tons in cost and space. Many of the seams in the property can be • worked without great expense, as they lie nearly horizontal, or at such a dip that pumping for many years will be perfectly unnecessary.—vide Nelson Government diagrams, plans and sections. Westport, at the mouth of the Buller River, is situated about niile or ten miles from the coalfield; it is the best port on the Coast, and will admit of a much larger class of vessels than the Grey Eiver. The General Government have long contemplated connecting Coal Brook Dale with the port by railway, and any bona fide and genuine enterprise to develop and work the Mount Eochfort coal measures, would get material assistance from the Government of the country; in fact there is a large sum already vdted for the development of the coal in that district. The Eailways Act of 1872 provides for a sum of seventy thousand pounds sterling, to make a railway to the Mount Eochfort Coalmine; and guarantees interest at the rate of 5£ per cent, per annum upon the said sum —Vide Public Works and Immigration Acts, 1871 and 1872. The measures in Coal Brook Dale can be easily worked, in fact, many of the seams are in such positions that it would be only necessary to tunnel at once on the coal j hundreds of tons of the mineral in places are to be found which have dropped down from the outcrops of the large seams in the face of the precipice, in Coal Brook Dale or Waimangaroa Gorge.—Vide Nelson. Government Engineer's Keport. .V So important, also, is this portion of its mineral territory considered, that the Nelson Government itself contemplated, some years ago, working the Coal Brook Dale seams, and for that purpose rough surveys were and a proposed railway was marked out, and estimates made to Carry the line right up to the large seams in the Dale. A fresh discovery—-vide Colonist newspaper, of April the Ist, 1873—has been made within the last two months $ this is within about two miles from the sea, is probably within the limits of the license, or so near that it is tanta* mount to the same thing. The tonnage and value of coals imported into the various ports of NeW Zand, for the three years ending 1871, were as follows (vide Blue Book Statistics) : Tons. Value. 1869 ... 52,586 ... £139,94-1 1870 ... 93,424 ... 130,612 1871 ... 93,869 ... 121,151 Total ... 279,879 '.'.'. £391,704 Coal prices which have been ruling lately have, in many instances, debarred the general use of the mineral, and instances have been known where large coasting steamers have had to use wood as fuel. £3 10s to £4 per ton has been the current price of coal for the last few months. Coal miners on the West Coast have for many years considered the Mount Eochfort seams the best—as regards size, quality} and adaptability for working—of any coal in the colonies (vide extracts from Nelson newspapers) ; besides which,- the coal is superior to that of the Grey inasmuch as it is harder, and more suitable for export, as it will bear a great deal of handling, which the friable nature of the former will not permit.