A VISIT TO THE MINES NEAR TAURANGA.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XV, Issue 2361, 21 November 1888, Page 2

A VISIT TO THE MINES NEAR TAURANGA.

y x <l^ofc Abgus." • . Continued. On Monday morning I bade farewell to the inmates of Glenville, and turned my Dag's head towards Wai hi. On passing Barney's Mr Agitator ho?e in sight, and we had a long beer together; and I attempted to hide my blushes (I was then actibg a« the proxy for the octablithuMffltV wJMtn frhftffii iPir** 1 "" 1 * 1 complimented me on the excellence of the " Bußter." - MineUdaf informed me that a young aaa jjonneaftid with the assay department oF the Union inine was about to start for Waihi, and I promptly madefris acquaintance and requelteoVjyf jfawmjA bis company to TNmJki- L^ts*m were spoken, and w6 BtarUt fpr tW,*o me, terra incognita. ij<^~*^-. "^ ''lMy companion had arrived in Katikati, from Waihi, that morninj at 4 o'clock, and his horse was w/consequence rather tired ; so we did not go along Tery fjitit. The road through Katikati tHi t;h« famous . forge is reached ia like an avenue fjjrj^gh a large estate, fine tfefefe andnJtedges being on each side and a well kept roadway under the horses r feet. Fine rilla residences could be teen Iv&te and there nestling among trees, au<i to me, who had never been there : bsfoft. the prospect: |waa vejry pjwing^indeed. Bat, alw, the whole road ifllW*ihi is liot like this, and' imthe«iitt% after passing Captain & StewiltVtifioe we entered the gorge, and, leaving this land of beauty at our back* vp were in a wilderness oloWy surrounded by stern looking hillft. NoHbinfr remained to while awajr ; the time and make the miles not appear like Bootch "bittocka, " but to engage in converta. tioD, so my fellow traveller and I fell to. I a»3ertained from him that Bowentown was the best place for getting goods Ac. from for toe mines, and that a very consM^rabfc Amount had been brought there by cutter and then carted to Waihi. I also learned that all the men working at iMeCnion Company* mines, wltn on* or two ex. ceptions, are boarded by thftt&mpany for the moderate sum of 14s per week \ and sleeping quarters are also pro* vided. As we got on I noticed where some work had recently been done on the road ; this I believe was done at the expense of the Taoranc* Obunty Council. The hills graauaUir cot further apart a» we approachtdyaihi, and we could, tee bouses dAftm about on the face of the bill in front, just below the covering of bush which reaches to the top. Getting nearer we could see the mouths 5f prospecting and other drive* gaping on the hill side, each with an accompanying heap of yellow dirt below it Shortly before reaching the Waihi river my fellow traveller left me in order to -make a short cut to the Union mine, and I went, on to wards tjie.jjo^nsjiip,^ The river at.the f ota rans acrbssVolM'rockj which has been smoothed down to a level surface, .but thqre axe fsveral fissures, which%|uld be rathe£ awkward for any hor«e which might happen to pu't 1 a foot in. A short distance above the ford the remaining

piles of tbe unfortunate brfdge could be seen sticking out of tbe earth ; and on the left the crushing "battery of the Martha mine could be seeikL* !Tbe -water for working thii battfry is brought by a race, in which tjSefe is a considerable quantity of fluroing. For the benefit of those who are not up. in miniDg terms I may explain that flumiDg is a Bort of small aqueduct, made of timber, for carrying water across low ground ; and it )* Very ex* tensively made use of far bringing in water, being, in o^ the way jriacea like Waihi, mach cheaper than east iron pipes. After, hasdtiff pttrtd the ford the road took me under "a viaducfc. along which a tramway MaMliF* the-ba^-ery above mentioned. Tftif tramway is used for conreying tracks of quarts along from the mine to. the battery, a cfotaaoe of about one mile. T»* ifUs «• piecej^^pKt timber^ and the line seemed to be in a Jtery bad afcaU^ol repair ; fojnany IpJaoea the end or one rail was sticking up about two inches, above tjgg oa» adjoining, or vice w<», &* $& Iri^ man would say. A Very dooU* |owt» could be seen drawing a couple of small trucks along *hk train, eac> truck containing oi9 tan ef quart*. * X Jtf^M&p Atthflkhotrf; noirra tb« handy lofßifr F. NowiM, and m*n sjuibeast had a wed. One of tho firsiOr«on» whom I came across was, Mr A. 8. Ford, formerly prospecting at T# Pake* After the inner mau* ajaia th§ inner horse had dejw itmewi«v '■%^Jflbeßi. panie^ Mr ?or4, Bet ontQpng oner of wowt roads j no;! aW wrong, it was M« worst road I e*eV saw £» Kew, Zealand for this time ofchfrtear, to U BMJst hare . been a beaiA f i{ the winter time. The ruts wet abo»| the size of the ditch alfonj&g^ g^ ordinary ditch and ban J fence, and after hating brared the Crrors ef thift road, 1 determined trof to fe^ the track between Te Ar6hafcdXatikati which 1 was to take in % edune of my travels. The readersl ot the M 6njter^will befelad to Wnlhat Mr ford and I arrired m fafetyj OQr destination, the Britannia tnufc. $ The Britannia is a new dßSmr, a*. ipining the Martha, and wAr* siaa)l bit which runs pAf«JV>? to tHe wooded range before feferrec to, ana.it ibevi half a mile l rom another lateer kin which is farther ofl^ »tiU rwm tf,* wooded range. The latter hrn hHe property of the TTnion Gold and fther Mining Company. The Britanrtia k owned by Messrs Brooksy Hewitt, Stevenson, and Sav«ge, thejr haw • Jrive in 150 f«* »nd ekt aftflgmr « dn«e inside- the ftite. TbetfWj* 20 feet thick, Afld I had an oppoft^

nity of inspecting a sample of the quarts, which had just been shot out as I arrived. I must pay that if I ever saw gold before 1 taw it their. There was no mistake ab :»' t. n;«l,l would very much like to i».-iv- been the happy owner of a fourth share in that mine. I afterwards beard that the owners want £10,000 for their claim, rut I wont say that they will take that, or will not take less. After parting with Mr Ford I wended my way up to the big concern, the Union. (To be continued.)