A TRIP TO THE OWEN.

Press, Volume XLIV, Issue 6924, 2 December 1887, Page 6

A TRIP TO THE OWEN.

[By "The Warrigal."] Only a few days after my arrival in Nelson I determine to visit the Owen Reefs. Mr Byrne is going there and invites mc to accompany him; and at noon the buggy ia at the door of the Masonic Hotel, and we commence our journey. Just on the outskirts of Nelson we stop to pick up two young gentlemen who are to go with us—Mr Atkinson and Mr Collie. We have a glorious day for our journey, calm, clear, and bright. The buggy in which we ride is a most comfortable one and does its local builder (Mr Balme) much credit, the two horses that draw us are powerful animals,'the road is in excellent condition so we have nothing to do but admire the scenery through which wo pass; and after my long sojourn amidst the sombre gloomy grandeurs of the West Coastj this is just the scenery I can appreciate. It is like a peaceful sunlit harbour, after a stormy midnight sea. It is a change from the most rugged of nature's mountains, ■to the most cultivated of fertile plains; for our road carries us across the Waimea plains, past fields green with springing corn, pa*>t homesteads _o" peaceful in appearance, so rich with flowers and fruit trees that it seems a 9 if .their owners had lived there for ages, and had perpetually striven to make their dwellings pleasant to the eye* Through Stoke, Richmond, Hope, SpringgrOve, Wakefield; on through a region of pleasant farms; past hop gardens and orchards rich in blossom, the afternoon air heavy with the perfume of flowers; thc hills that surround us, and the wide-spreading plain glowing with wonderful lights and colours from the sky.

We passed Bellgrove, leaving the cultivated plain, and entering thc confines of a wilder country, and journeyed on until darkness began to creep over that part of the world, and we stopped for the night at a wayside inn, kept by Mr Corlett. The next day we drove on to Fagin's Hotel, which is about seventy miles from Nelson, and where a by-roa dleads us to the o%ven. This by-road is at present represented by a continuous line of soft mud ; the grides are comparatively easy, but during the recent wet weather a lot of carting was done; the heavy machinery and all the traffic necessary for the erection of a new Quartz town, where never a town was before, passing over it. Newman Brothers do nearly all the carting to the Owen; I believe there are few other people in the country capable of doing what they are doing now; but these men made their names famous as good whips when they had the Reefton line of coaches, and they seem equally able to sustain their reputation as teamsters.

The first sign we see of the new town Is a brewery, and after that our surprise at finding two new and substantial hotels Is not so great; but after anticipating having to find quarters In some hut or tent, the i sight of Carroll's hostelry Is certainly agreeable. To roughly explain the pre- j sent arrangement of things at the Owen may give people some idea of what the j promoters of the place have done. In-1 stead of each claim separately wishing to possess costly crushing machinery of their own. and thus start a speculative search laden with a heavy debt, which might possibly prevent them properly opening up their ground, a site has been chosen in a central position and a batten" of ten stampers has been erected by the Owen Quart? Crushing Company which is in a position to treat the quartz, not only from a vast area of ground, but from four or five different claims, so that any company within a certain radius can have their stone tested on a large scale without going to the expense of erecting machinery of their own. We were shown the quartz crushing machinery first. It is situated on the east bank of the Owen River, which here has a splendid fall and an unfailing supply of wat?r. By a short race the company have oatained a big and a fall of 66ft, which being applied to a Pelton Water wheel, serves to drive all the, machinery. There is at present, ten head of stampers, and ten berdans. All this machinery was supplied by Messrs Price Brothers, of the Thames, and is of such excellent manufacture, that it Is a credit to the cohntry. It was erected under the superintendence of Mr G. Sangster, who hate won considerable reputation for erecting similar machinery at Reefton. Although only ten head of stampers are erected, tbe space and power have been reserved for double that number. In fact, it was only in the exercise of a prudent economy that the Crushing Company did not erect twenty head. Twenty head of stampers were ordered by them from Messrs Price Brothers, but the Enterprise Company were allowed to take half that number because there being such a vast body of stone proved on their ground they could begin crushing any time they like.

The Crushing Company's works are certainly as complete as any I have seen. The The knowledge and skill gained by long experience has been used in the erection of everything ; the woodwork is solid and•well planned, the tables oyer which the crushed quartz Is ran ore of tha latest design, and great attention has been shown to the gold saving apparatus. I am glad

paddocks a .ar th _wo r £. I* ****** £" be treated over S_t I V"» <*» first mine to hSS a __„? tni _ tlrac * *«* W*d-atu;thisn-__?.^? ■ erected « th* *-___s_T—--» S Anderson, 0 f ari.»T T"**;- 1111----r do_i __ «!.-_ SS3__;tSi : '=^^S^-^__.S %%^-_b_3_Sß am thoroughly satisfied that e___J} l , 1 _S^-=K=*_3 C*_>wLt_ WC Visited was «» GaZ Crown, it ia situated ou th J«*j rises immediately from the battm %* ft.._-_° r exMllent ««tu a tio_Tor2nS its stone down to the cnashhig-roonT** found _ e,Sth _ found hw, a gentlemw (J* «cent arrival in this country) «2» Th 1 ! _ _ tunnel in the *«• « SfS They had passed through a «___££ body of quartZi wWch being SS " crushed yielded excellent pr<J£?2 gold, and were driving f^^ 1 * of encountering a reef which, C* large outcrop further up the Ml th» suppose to exist. If this claim cto 2 _ a permanent reef showing anythSifflJ the quantity of gold the outcrop should be one of the most pAfiS httle claims in the country. The Gk__ Eastern adjoins this claim, and both m probably be amalgamated, for, .ituatM as they are, both could be as easily workad as one. So little work has been doneU either that nothing definite can be sail only I hold to my first as-ertion, that, the present indications are any criterion to go by, the claims on this Golden CW Hill (which is conical in shape) will be « ceedingly valuable.

Descending to the Battery site we see Aerial Tramway at work bringing quart, down from the Wakatu claim. Wittu fa, alterations by the local blacksmith, who is a most ingenious fellow, the __t_*j works splendidly, and has veyed a considerable quantity of stole to the Battery paddock.

Crossing the Owen, and following __ course of the Aerial tram we arrive on the Wakatu claim, which, having araak*, mated with the [Uno, contains a consider, able number of acres. There are soma enormous blocks of quarto on tbjs ground; in fact, a belt of surface quart-, which is highly auriferous, extends right across the area of the claim. The various drives and cross cats which im been put in also prove the existence of an enormous body of quartz beneath the am*, face. I am convinced that this claim shows every indication of proving a mo*. valuable property, stone taken from various places (on surface and beneath it) yielded very good results. One of the most remarkable features about theOwsa, and one that recommends it most strongly in my eyes, is the fact that the gold is not confined to rich specimens in .until leaders. Strictly speaking, what is called a rich specimen has not been found hi ant. of the reefs, for in the greater portion ol ■: the stone the gold is not oven-visible to the naked eye. But crush that stone and every fragment yields particles of rich solid gold, not flaky.light metal that looks big and weighs nothing, but ahottyjittle J pieces that remain at the bottom 6. the '\ dish no matter how the water Is swirling over it. I saw a weil-known Reef ton speculator, who had just come down to view the now field, crush stone taken from half. score different places—crush it and wasV it himself; but in every dish he washef ; : the rich yellow metal could, be ob-e»*=*e-. / I believe if the Wakait.' Company only r crush the stone,which Is lylng on the surface they will he repaid for all the trouble and expense to which they have been put It would please anyone interested in mining to see the manner in which the work on this claim has been carried out, the most skilled and experienced men have been at work; there have been no iguorant blunderers on the ground to waste money on useless drives. The syHtem # working the whole mine by a series of drives, and passes means that the fatnni has been studied as well as the present, *_. that no labour has been thrown away. The natural odvanta es of the ground hftvt been taken advantage of; every level tan be stoped out, and the stene passed to thc paddock without any haulage bejond a truck to the pass. Most of the work hi* been carried on under the superintendent" of Mr Cosgrove, a -skilled miner; but» manager must also have good diretors to assist him; he must not be retarded by a parcel of men, igaojrsat of the first laws of mining, or b» he skilful or not, he can only meet the same fate as numbers of Ms class have met from ' the iiMfl* of men whose ignorance is only equa'fw by their cupidity, and who, because the? happen to have invested certain UiOßej-.ls the hope of making huge profits, im_"-* they have a right to have their wild ito" carried into effect, anil, as is well kno**. the more ignorant a man is, the nun-M thinks he knows. I don't think feberhavo been many of this class about th* Owen; they haven't shown. their daff" yet, anyhow. Ido not- wish 1 to goV.o mining details, because the greater nuff ber of my readers would not be Iptere»t_d in th.m; but as there are still a lot of important features on the Owen to b" dealt with, and as It Is a place that«"S ultimately be a source of vast w£_ltht* the country, it Is worthy of u-OtlW chapter. ;