THE NEVIS GOLDFIELD.

Otago Witness, Issue 2237, 14 January 1897, Page 18

THE NEVIS GOLDFIELD.

One great advantage dredgers on the Nevis will have it the abundance of good lignite whioh is found all over the place, it being simply quartied out. It will be possible for a dray to back into the coal quarry, load, .and discharge the load into the bunkers of the dredge at a cost of 10b or 11s a ton. This lignite it an excellent steam raiser, as has been proved by Mr Cunningham, who uses i& on his traction engine when bringing up stuff for Mr Nees from Gars ton. The cheapness of this article will enable ths dredges to be worked very economically. One thing that has yet to be tested is tho ability of the dredges to work during the winter, which owing to the elevation is extremely cold on the Nevis. Tie alluvial tninera are frozen out for three mouths or so every year. Some of the dredgers, intend to run steam pipes under the tables to prevent the water flowing over them from freezing. So long as the dredges aro working they will not get frozen up, but it is anticipated that gome Moaday morning the workmen will.flud everything frozen fast. Ono resident told me that he has had to smash the ice with a. sledge hammer in order to get water for domesticpurposes. This Uon the Lower Nevis, aud on the Upper Nevis it is still colder. The great | drawback to the Nevis is the difficulty of com- I munication with the outeidc world. There are pnly two nays of getting a dray into the Nevis : one over the Carrick Range, at an elevation of 1000 ft or so, from Cromwell ; the other over bbc Garston Hill, which is not quite so high, but which is equally impassable during the winter owing to rhe snow lying in the Upper r Sevis Gorge. For about four months Nevia 13 Uut off from all commnnioation, except on foot or horsebaok, with the outside world, and towards the end of summer the inhabitants provision themselves against the recurrent winter siege. Both of the roads are bad. The ascent of tbe Carrick Kange from Kawarau Btation to the saddle is very steep, and only a tight load can be taken. Tho ascent from Garston is also very steep, and as tho road does not follow & leading spur, but zigzags up a steep hillside, the turns in the road ara so ! lharp that it is impossible to take a waggon np, as the horses are unablo to exert any lores on the waggon owing to the sharpness of the I curves. This fault is, however, being to somo j extent rectified. After crossing the saddle ami j getting into the Upper Nevis Gorge, some boggy ground it met with, and this is at ipreaent the worst part of the rotd, as a load 'which can be pulled up the hill cannot be pulled through the soft ground. Through the Upper Nevis Flat are 10 miles or so of road lhat is good in dry weather. Going through the Gorge which connects the Upper and {Lower Nevio, the road is rough, but not so bad as it is in other places. On this piece of road » imm of money voted by Parliament last year is being spent. The opinion of the residents seems to bs tbat this is a mistake, as, so they say, it is of no use having a road good at both ends with a bad bit in the middle. The whole quality oE a road is the quality of its worst parts. To ihow what the road is like, it is sufficient to say tbat two and a-quarter tons is as much as a traction engine can drag from j Garston to Nevis, and then the engine gets I stack occasionally. A ton and a-quarter taxes the pulling power of four horses. Mr Nees b»s a traction engine and four teams carting for him, and they cannot keep him going. To 'make the Garston road practicable for heavy JLoads, it is necessary that the swampy pieces of road At the head of the Nevis should ba gmvelled and made solid. Unfortunately the jroad from Nevis to Garston is partly in Vinoent County and partly in Southland County, and each county tries to spend inside its own Jioundary any Government grant it gets. The money at preaent being spent will certainly i improve the road on which it is expended, bub AS long as the really bad bits are not attended to the carrying capacity of the road will remain \u low as ever. Considering that £12,000 is at present being invested in dredges on the Nevis, and that an additional sum of £40,000 or £50,000 more ii likely to be invested there in ,J;he near future, this road requires, and requires urgently, to be put in us fit a state m possible for the carriage of heavy loads. *The conveyance oE a fire-ton boiler from Garslon to Nevis presents an awkward problem, especially when one hears that there are no "appliances at the Garston railway station for moving such heavy articles. In fact, the difficulty of communication is likely to retard the : building of the Nevis dredges, owing to the impossibility of the contractors getting the material oh the ground at a decent rate of cfulokness. If the powers that be read these notes they may study them with advantage. ANCIENT HISTORY. Through the kindness of Mr Masters, who is

a resident of 30 years' standing, I am able to give a brief okotch of the history of the Nevis. The field was discovered about 1862 Some very rich gold was go'-. »fc the Nevis Crossing, at tb« north or lower i-uil of the Lower Flat. In 1865, when Mr Maxtorx made hia debus on the Nevis, there wan a population of 500 miners, or perhaps moro. For many years good, gold was got, attention being directed chiefly to the low flat through which the river runs, but; the water proved troublesome. This is the ground upon which the dredges are going to work, and i the promote™ have tbe advantage of knowing that they are going to operate oa ground thas has been proved to be auriferous, and the fl.lding of gold, and tbat in payable quantities, na*y be looked upon at a certainty. Ail along the miners have b«en trying to get at tha gold known to lie below the reach of ordinary sluicing. I saw on the flat before Mrs Elliot's an old paddock full of water, and standing there, a relic of olden daya, was an ol'i Caliioraian j pump. About four years ago elevating was introduced, *nd now dredging is being brought into operation, and the low ground will at length be forced to disgorge its golden treasure. All the persons well acquainted with the Nevis with whom I entered into conversation aro of the opinion that there is nob the slightest doubt about; the dredges getting payable gold, but they do not prophesy auy phenomenal returns. MODERN HISTORY. I At the lait election 60 odd votes were polled at Nrvis, and the present population must be about 200 souls, exclusive of Chinese. There is a school attended by 15 pupils, which is j taught sucoessfully by Miis Musters, who is a ' native of the place. The Presbyterian and Weßleyan rniuistern come over from Cromwell during the season of opea roadn and look after the spiritual interests of the inhabitant*. At the township in & nice little public building, iv which a^ good library is kept, and from Which many a miner working in the lonely gullies derives amusement and instruction. Toere is a. cricket club, and on Christmas Dly a match was played b-.tween the inhabitants and the " stranger* within the gates," which ended in I a victory for the bom*; team Nor in uiusic I neglected, for Nevis boast) of a brass band, 1 which was discoursing sweet music when I rode lup to the hostelry. This iast belongs to Mrs I Elliot, and in it one may reckon upon meeting kindness, cleanliness, and comfort. Mrs Elliot is going to erect three more rooms, as her present accommodation is far too limited to meet ' tho calls likely to be made upon ib. Anyone who has *n eye for scenery ■will get a ; good view when goiui? to the Nevis by either rente. Going from Gar6t>n one gets a grand view of the -wonderfully tumbled country lying round the head waters of the Mataura. Crossing the Carrick R«ng<i a flue vi«w of the mouutains stretching from Lake Wanakm to Lake Waketipu is got. On a clear day Mount .Aspiring can be fle^n towering he*d and shoulders over all tha children of iskyl&nd. In conclusion, I must thank Messrs Nees, j Masters, Williamson, aud Robertson for the iv- j formation they so kindly supplied me with, and | state that, if I have omitted anything or made any mistakes, the fault does not lie with them ; and I only hops that tho present favourable signs may pr»ve prophetic of a loog and pros- j perous career for them and for the Novis. i

(By Oun Cbomwell Cokbespondent )