NOTES FROM THE WEST COAST.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 10746, 28 August 1900, Page 3

NOTES FROM THE WEST COAST.

(special to "the PRESS.") j GREYMOUTH, August 27. I To-day 20 tons machinery for the Green- ' stone No. 3, and 12 tons for the Nelson ' Creek __»redging Company, were sent to theiz destination by rail. , I There has been a marked improvement in the share market during the past week. Grey Xi vers were in most demand, while the adjoining claims havo also demanded attention. Business has also been done in other stocks where companies have dredges in course of erection, and tho market altogether is healthier than it has been for some weeks past. i The road to the Grey Consolidated claim ia now completed, and the machinery is being delivered on the ground. The contractors for the erection of the dams for the Orwoll Creek and EricksonReward Companies are making good -progress with tho work. The Dispatch Foundry estimate the time to complete the erection of the machinery for tho Waipuna dredge at a month. This company will be the next tc start after the Grey River Company, and will bo closely followed by the Dobson No. 2, and within the next two or three, months quite a host of other dredges will be in active operation. The operations of the Grey River Company are being watched with the keenest interest, and great speculation is being indulged in a_ to the probable returns. A large number of the general public visited the scene of the first dredging operations in the Grey Valley yesterday afternoon, and wer. very wel. pleased with what they saw. The dredge is now on the site where she is to work through a bed of shingle before reaching the solid ground, which is some sixty yards away. On this solid ground splendid prospects were obtained, but it has been found more convenient not to start operations where the best indications were found. To do so would entail considerable trouble. To get thr. dredge intc the required position, she would have to b_ taken over a shallow rapid, and when this bad been accomplished the borthage wonlc not be nearly as safe as the present one. The dredge now lie 3in n very secure nositlon {just opposite the railway tunnel, which ia met with before entering Stillwater), 'n corparatively smooth water. Even a very ht .vy flood would not endanger her, as she wci.Td be in a kind of eddy, and outside the current which would carry down the drift timber. Besides the dredge is securely attached to the shores by means of wire ropes. It is not lik-ly that returns of any magnitude win be obtained for at least three week., owing to the fact that a face will have t> b. made and a gutter dredeed through a .shingle tank before the gold bearing ground is reached. The machinery worked splendidly. There ! was not a hitch, and the buckets came nc well filled. The gravel was very fine, sand, and contained little if any gold. On behalf of the directors, Mr J. Taylor announced that the opening was not a formal one, as that would take place when they reached solid ground. He was pleased, however, at the way the dredge had been constructed, and the way the machinery run. The tosst "Success to the Industry" was enthusiastically honoured. Tho .tfew River is rapidly nearing completion, and the contractors expects to have the machinery erected in a few weeks' time. Tbe machinery for the Foley's Creek Company is arriving steadily.