Tho Mount Sonicrs Coal Company's Mine.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXI, Issue 6204, 26 February 1904, Page 2

Tho Mount Sonicrs Coal Company's Mine.

Visit of Inspection.

At th,o invitation of the members of the Mounb S,qmers Coal Company, a, number of ladie3 and gentlemen yesterday visited the Company'B rome situated at the Woqlshed Creek, about nine miles from Mount Somers. The vjsjt was made with the abject of inspecting the mine and its workings, prior to the handing over of the control by the manager, Mr James Gibson, who is about to take up hi 3 residence in Otago, having leased from the Governmeht the limeworks at Inch Valley. Mr Gibson was one of the promoters of the Company, and for the last four years hag electee} all its operations, When he took charge, the. present mine, knqwn as the new seam, was not opened out, but with oharacteris.tic energy, he set to work and had a drive put in frqm tha outcrop straight into the. hill, ar^d developed the mine on well approved principles. A fcratnway, nearly two miles ;n length, half a mile Qf wh^ch runs d.own a steep hill taping, was laid,, and a conneefciqn made with the County Council's tram lin,e, which, in turn, connects with £he railway line at Mount Somers, nine mifes away. To, see this property, and the progress made in its development, was the object qf yostprday's visit. '

Leaving Ashburton hy drag about 7.30 in the morning the party., consisting of sixteen ladies and gqntlernen^ am,ong whom was the, member qf th,e. djstric^, Mr John MoLaghlan, ar.rive.4 at Mount; Soraers about nqqUi a»et after, partajdng 0f q,n appetising luncfr ac Host Gjreen's, prq.cegdgd in $raps and, buggies up the Ashburton Gforge. Tlje weather was beautifully fine, and tne warm sunshine, bracing mountain air and fine sceue_ry was much enjoyed. Arrived at the terminus of the trum line the remaining two miles of the journey was done on foot by way of the steep Jig line and tram road. To those who ftad visited the property on previous occasions, it was evident that improvements qf a substantial and labour saving? kind had been effected. The first, and least, of these 13 a cutting a.t the foot of the jigi with, a staging for lqading drays to batter supply the Jqca'l demand for the product qf £he tnin§. I'h.e second improvement is at the othes end of the property, where a new mine has been driven into the hill higher up than the first workings, for the purpose of avoiding the heavy grade at that point and thus effecting a substantial saving in haulage. The position of the new drive gives a gradual fall from its entrance to the top of the jig, enabling one horse and one man to do the work of three horses and three men during the winter, and two horses and two men during the summer months^ A" junction has also been effected between the workings qf the mines for. air purposes and the ctje"ape,r working' of fche property."' "Bot'^i mines were fully osplqrsd and two of the ladies' tried thoir hand at hewing coal at the face and handled the pick with good results. The extenßive deposits of black diamonds which shone in the dim lamplight above, below, and around them, greatly interested the members of the party, while the fire clay deposits also came in for a good deal of attention. In the fire c}ay the Company has an aseet which 1 may in time be aa valuable as the" coal, for its miality has bean tested, and' foiihd to ba equal to the best West Coast' Mdsits.' 'The' 6nly thing required now is a plant for grihdirig 'it, and a cheaper transit'to the market. WhiJe cutting fhe track fqr th.c new tramway, a pipeclay deposit was revealed, and thus an additional asset disclosed to the Company. In handing over the management, Mr Gibson will have the satisfaction of knowing that he leaves the Company's property in 3, very much, better condition than when he assumed command, $com a practically unopera^ed outcrop in the face of the hill he has developed a fine mining property with three drivec in good working order with traml line and plant to carry the nroduots—coal/fireclay, and pipe clay—to their 'several markets. Eoads haye been cut through tip seanjs, opening up., it is computed, at least a million tons of coal Thia is a record of which, b,e may veil teel Pr The inspection over, a start was made for Mount Somers, where dinner was partaken of, after which the homeward journey was commencedlin the drag, and the four horses, ably handled by Mr Claridge, brought the party, tired but highly pleased with the day's outing, to Ashburton about 10,20 p.m.