OHINEMURI. [FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.]

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2126, 23 February 1886, Page 3

OHINEMURI. [FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.]

Tlfh 01 dm iry reading public, skimming the cie.un of a newspaper over their niatutin il coffee and toaot, coming to a pujgi.ip'i or an article upon mining usually skip it huiuedly, either not thinking of it at all, 01 supposing that such things ate necessary evils to journalism, and liko thnsi> philanthropic advertisements headed "Tlicb.ui and worthless," and " What is this disease that is coming upon in?" ct hoc genu-> omne, being endurable munt be endured. The only wonder is, like the fly m tho amber, not that it is rich nor rare, but wh.it the deuce the editor wants to pad his paper with such unreadable matter for. The shrewd reader will, of couise, understand th.it he is nut refened to. He knows that the^e things are nece^saiy ; that there arc ccitam classes in all communities to whom these tlnng.-, are interesting, and foi whose benefit they are published, etc., and pjihaps, altogether, shrewd reader, you are c iriect m most cases. But in mining neus it is diffcicnt. The mining industry, one that, being a staple, and at least tho suomd important one of the colony, should not bo dished up in a new spaper in such a way that only miners an 4 those who understand its technicalities can partake of the menu. It is one of the great supports of the colony, and this should be understood in some degree by all colonists. It Would be a safe remark to venture that thoie is not one reader in a hundred who roads and understands a mining report ; in fact it puzzles the reporter himself sometimes when he reads an item of news that emanated from his own pen concerning a cjuintity of quart/ being ciushed at a bitteiy by a " one eight-horse shaft," more especially when he wished to inform the public that it was "one eight hours shift," a mishap which recently happened to the writer. All this preamble is but to lead up to the fa.it that until the importance of the mining industiy is better understood by the people generally, the people generally will not support mining ; and all the industry asks is fair play, and no more and no less support than is given to other and far less important colonial industries. Swindling and mining are so often bracketed together that the public generally look on new mining ventures with suspicion. If they weie told through the medium of the presa that all over the Ohinemuri district lay piles of hidden treasure, of courso they would not belive it. Now there is no getting away from facts, and plain writing and truthful reporting is as essential from the pen of a journalist as it is from the mouth of a Bishop. From a reef supp >sed to be auriferous is taken promiscuously say air ait a, cwt of quartz. It is put into a large moitar and roughly bruised with a pestle and the contents well mixed. A portion of it is taken out and put into a smaller mortar and there ground again, and again it is redivided and a smaller portion still say 200 groins, rendered into powder in a wedgewood waie mortar. This is mixed with certain quantities of soda, flour, lithia, common salt &c., as a flux and is fused. The result of this is that a small "button" of metal, chiefly lead is found in the slag after the cooling. This button is placed in a cupel made of bone ash, a smail vessel rather larger than, and the same shape as one of those cups in a water-colour box. This is subjected to an immense heat, with the result that all the bate metal is oxidised or burnt away and nothing remains but a smally bead or prill of bullion if ie., a mixture of gold and silver. This is now weighed in ft balance so perfect that, a piece of paper weighed, taken out, marked with a pencil tho difference will be plainly peiceptible in the alteration of the balance. The rest is easy, a mere sum in pioportion as the 200 grams ore is to a ton of the same so is the weight of the prill of bullion to the bullion in the ton. Now there can bo no lying here, and any person can see for himself assay after as«ay made as above, returning from 200 to 1000 oi., of bullion to the ton. Not merely from picked stuff, but from chance averages taken out of various reefa. Only la«t evening was an assay made of a piece of Karangahake stone, from a place the name of which I am compelled to be silent upon, that gave a return of 5680z5. bullion to the ton, which, supposing it would contain only lOozs. of gold (it has not yot been separated), would be worth over £150 per ton. Another assay at the same time gave 5070z5., and several others from l"50ozs. to 4000z5., and these are not at all exceptional. Professor Black informed the writer at the time of a conversation while he was in this district, that two and three hundred ozs. returns of silver would be common at Waihi as soon as proper appliances could be obtained for the extraction of the metals. The only thing that now remains to be explained is the small as-ay given by the furnace people (on which they purchase) of this same sort of stuff. The new field at Parakawai is attracting a good deal of attention lately. Some 12 or 14 parties are out that way prospecting, but although good dirt is found all over the country, the means of tiansit available are so bad that nothing but a few stray pieces, the assays of which cannot be relied upon as a genei al ay crage, can be obtained. The county council have given the sum of £10 to mend the gum tiacks, hut it is merely money thiown away. This dribbling of money in ten pounds and twenty pounds only does harm to a place. It is better to lefnse it altogether. Water is very scarce at the batteries, and tho-se at Owharoa, Waihi, and Waitekauri ha\o stopped completely.

Suotia.— A parcel of seven tons of dirt has been roasted in order to desulphurise it, and ha^ been sent to the Ivanhne battery as an expei irnenr. If it returns a larger ' amount of gold than before was the case with the samo class of stuff, a much larger - parcel will be sent in. KKNir/.voßrH.— The Htonc from this mine i>> turning out well. The five ton parcel

sent tn the Thames tealiaed £15 per ton. J AnEMXE.— A good show is appearing on the plates from the .second-claws stuff sent C to the battery. Six tons went to the Thames last week for treatment. Tin's is « the first parcel smelted by that mining com-P-W- _. .... ....

lio*>E.— The new leader discovered in this mine is showing well. A meeting of the Ohinemuri County I Council was held last Saturday, when the Appointment of Mr Simms as Clerk was confirmed. It was decided that the Commissioner of Audit should be called in to settle the a-wets and liabilities of the Thames and Ohinemmi County Council*. Mr A. A. Bowler, of Waitoa, wrote asking for some help in making roads in that disti ict, which was referred to the Board of Work-. MrK. Pavitt of Te Arolm, was 1 elected to the position of engineer and surveyor to the Council. t Tho licensing election is causing a little more interest than was at first expected, owing to se\eial of the candidates avowing their intention of shutting up several of the houses. There are undoubtedly too many 2 here, but .n they are all well conducted it would h.uc to be almost a lottery to decide n which to close. As business is with some of them it would almost be a charity to r close them up. The weather it> still dry and hot, although _ we ba\ chad occasional showers during the * nipjhts. At the time of writing, however,* the weather looks threatening. 1

Hali Asleep !— "I never," wrote a young lad} to a friend, "go to church or lecture but I am halt asleep, and I never know afterwards what the sermon or lecture was about." It was a plun case of nervous lethargy, product by wa»t ot action of the liver and digestive organs. She was pervaded to try American Co's Hop Bitters, and now she writes : '• How intelligent and bright arc sermons and lecture now, and how glorious the world yip live in is! Dr Soule's Hop Hitters arc indeed a blesssing to me.' Notice