BENDIGO GULLY.

Dunstan Times, Issue 420, 6 May 1870, Page 2

BENDIGO GULLY.

(FRO It OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT ) April 2Gth 1870. The long expected, inevitable but unwelcome guest Winter at last appears, to day and yesterday, we had a taste of what " , the coming season may be like in these regions. 1 cannot say that I approve of the sample. By a very easy flight Okimagi- „ ‘ nation a resident here, can suppose himself at the north polo, after having been , indulged np to date with so much sunshine, the change is doubly severe, how- % ever we can only hope that this introductory storm wiil soon expend itself Reeling is still prosecuted with unflagging vigour, the general idea b.eing to got a trial crushing before the winter thoroughly puts a stop to crushing operations at the “ Aurora ” 'mill, a good deal has been said concerning the said stoppage, as to its duration, &0., I cannot say that I altogether agree with the prophets of Bendigo, who state that we may expect to see the water races ice-bound for two months, judging

from experience gained in other places in Olago at a similar elevation, I am inclined to divide that period by two, and still hope to be in excess of King FroiVs reign. The yield from Loughnan and Company’s trial crushing, spoken of in my last, was nearly one ounce to the ton, and taking into consideration the quantity of mullock I saw mixed with the quarts at the mill, I really think the return first rate. Colcbmgh and party had a crushing of thirty tons, retorting about two an I a half ounces to ths ton, as the stone crushe I was carefully taken from each heap so as to give a fair test of the average yield of the reef, the party may congratulate themselves in having ma le a lucky hit. Bruadfnot and Company are now carting their stone to the mill, they Will crush fifty 6r sixty tons, this party of men deserve praise for the energetic way in which they have carried the work of their claim on, it is barely two months since they applied for a prospecting chain, and they have now a tolerable crushing ready for the stampers, and have expended a fortnight of the time in ma king a cart road to the mill, if all claimholders have had displayed only h.df such pluck, the district would have loomed up better at the present moment. As a hatala' consequence of an increasing mining population unable to find regular employment the country round is getting a thorough fossicking. A number of men have set in sluicing and tunneling about Bendigo gully, I am glut] to eeia move in this direction, as I have a firm belief in the existence of deep loads in this neighbourhood, the grouu I hitherto worked only containing the gold deposited by the cutting down of wvter-conrses through the terraced hills overlying the earlier deaosits of auriferous drifts. The Post Office nuisance has at length provoked an expression of public opinio i here a meeting was held at the Provincial Hotel, Logan Town, on Wo nesday las , Mr. Patter ion in the chair, the matter w,is carefully debated by tue assembled wis lorn of th i district, and if all is true as stated by the speakers, then it is high time a change was made. A petition setting for,h the grievance, signed by the m -.Jonty of the inhabitants trill lie firwarded this week to tin Postmaster, who will be doing a wise and graceful act in at once givi ig it his earliest atte iti.m. May 2. Yesterday was a pleasant day for one ti sit down cosi y by his firosidoand listen to

tlit3 wiutJv blast roaring out of doors, but T, in common with many others, sa ! to relate, from the extreme scarcity of fuel up here, not possessing the desideratum of' a domestic hearth, was fain to seek the shelter of the bankets during the daj r , a pleasant prospect truly, in the time coming; showers of rain, hail and sledt fell all day, and during the night, Mount Pisa and all the hills within our vision were robed in their winter garb, presenting this morning one unbroken line of snow as far as the eye can reach. I presume this coat is likely to remain until, along with the doubts and fears of the future prosperity of Bendigo, it will he dissolved by the advent of welcome spring. Business people here are already beginning to pull long faces- and complain of the dull times ; if they feel lugubrious at this stage, heaven help them, in mid-winter they will he completely bowed down ? there are certain inevitable contingencies of a climate like this which must he put up with, so I would recommend our worthy merchants and caterers to keep up their spirits and remember that,

thore is supposed to be a “good time coming.” Xhe frost is not yet sufficiently severe to interfere with crushing operations, the Cromwell Compnhjr are carrying on vigorously, the last two washings up yielded respectively two hundred and sixty eight and two hundred and sixty six ounces, the result in each case of about eight days crushing with five stampers, this fact will I think need no comment. The Aurora Company have their ten heads at work crushing for themselves, the stone being put through is reported good, 1 sincerely hope they may have a monster cake this time, such perseverance and energy deserve a substantial reward. I believe Broadfoot’s stone will be commenced at the above mill this week, it is laying close at hand having been carted to tlib Company’s stamps ; this lot will I believe finish the series, “ public crushings '' and really, after all the outcry about the “ public ” wanting to bo crushed I am surprised to see the “ public ” so quickly satisfied. The old story of “ a great cry and little wool. ” more stone will have to be raised, and better methods of doing so will have to be adopted before another mill rvithin the 11 Aurora’s ” radius of operations will be wanted, distant reefs of course will require a pulverising agent

'6f their own, ‘as the serious drawback, of long carriage would, soon eat up the price of machinery, but in all cases, T. recoinmend.eaution,'as people’will \do well to re member that a crushing mill is not exactly like a cradle or sluice box to be removed hither and thither at the owner’s will, but is likely when once set up to remain a fixture, the reefs will I have no doubt eventually have to be worked from much lower levels, when the sinking becomes deep and wot, and it would be extremely aukward for the owners of claims to have to cart their stone up hill, as wou’d be the case. • »,if all the projected rjoills were erected where present convenience require theih. A few claims have, I am sorry to say, ceased working, principally I believe from scarcity of funds, and possibly a dread of “ hard times ” in the winter, as this however is a common feature of.fall reefing districts, no detrimental supposition should be raised in such a case, time, along with ■otherjgood things out of the womb of futurity, will provide a cure for this. The petition spoken of in l ’my rlaat for a local Post-office has; I am informed, been despatched to head quarters, it is to be hoped that our worthy C.P.M. will grant the prayer, if lie value the good wishes of the district. I may mention in conclusion one out of a countless number of instances that I have not received a copy of your two recent issues, nor do I know any one here who has, per post.