Mining.

Dunstan Times, Issue 2093, 3 September 1901, Page 5

Mining.

WE always looked upon Mark Twain as a „ .. . humorist, but were disposed BuamUr m tQ take his storjes of the Moao. tribulations of editors and newspaper men in mining and agricultural districts cam grario sails. We have had reason to change our views, however, and have come to the conclusion that be founded his stories on something more than mere imagination. In a quiet country town suchast lyde we felt secine.froni the asaaults of bloodthirsty belligeients, bui alasl we were laboring under a terrible delusion. A certain individual, having taken umbrage at a paragraph which appeared in the mining columns of this journal last week, has been threatening all manner of penalties and physical tortures to the editor and his staff—much (very much I ) to the disturbance of their pi ace of mind. The paragraph taken exception to merely stated that shareholders in a certain company were grumbling because the dredge had failed to pay expenses, and that these grumblers contended that the dredge could be worked to better advantage. We stated also that we did not KNOW whether these statements were true or otherwise, merely chronicling what was town talk. Answers to Correspondents. ANXIOUS, Dunedin—On making inquiries we find that there is no occasion for alarm. The Monte Christo claim has plenty of summer ground. The dredge bottomed at 25ft, which allows about 20ft of ladder to come and go on. No doubt, as you say, chore will be a good deal of travelling drift to contend with in the summer t months, ""%. —o — A load of machinery for the Rise and Shine dredge passed through Clyde on Tuesday last. The winch was one of the largest that has come up country. Mr Roberts, consulting engineer, at the Half-way House Company meeting in Dunedin last week, said that the engineer was made the scapegoat now for everything that went wrong. He was used to hang all failure on. and the sins of everyone were placod upon him. Dredging had gone on too fast, and the men employed on the dredges were not always fit to do the work. A man could not do the thing properly without five or six years' experience. The secretary of the Old Dunstan wants an interview with the persons who have been interfering with the company's machinery. The Cromwell Gold Dredging Company have declared a dividend of 2s 6a per share, making a total of Vk paid in dividends. The reserve fund now stands at £750, £250 having been added. The Edinburgh correspondent of the • Otago Daily Times' says as to the re ported find of gold at Leith, its true character has been shown up in a scathing latter to the Scotsman, written by Mr H. M. Cadell of Giange, Bo'ness, secretaiy of the Geological Society of iidinburgh. He expresses his astonishment at the ignorance prevailing un the subject in a city of so ,-j much light and learning, and says that what was found was not gold, but " yellow boitite mica in common rotten whinstone." He castigates the "lool"who "published to all the world the discovery of a deposit of valuable gold quartz, when there was nothing better than cobbles of brown stone, not even good enough for road metal"; and the r ' still greater fools who were willing to beieve them and nay sixpence or one shilling for small pieces "i this rubbish." be adds: " Further than this, to hear othei wise sensible folk speak

of a gold reef in an old raised beach is ' altogether too ridiculous and utterly unworthy oi sob.r Scottish sense." From this you will see that our golden dnauis have been speedily and > uiiely dissipated. JUr Carnegie ie the only paying gold mim to at present,

The Otago Gold Dredging Company have declared a dividend of. 6d per shave. The Manorbnrn Gold Dredging Company has gone into liquidation-, The report of the meeting appears in another column. A suggestion has been made to amalgamate, 0 all the dredging companies carrying on operations in the Waimumu Valley," The plan, if feasible, woud enable the dredges to work at a greatly reduced cost. One capable manager would be sufficient to do the work of superintending all the dredges, instead of a manager a dredge as at present, a foundry for repairs could be erected, reducing considerably the cost and time in comparison with at present. Other expenses, compulsory under the present system, could be obviated under the suggested one. However, the suggestion has only been made, but it certainly has much to commend it.—' Southern Standard.' We cull the following pais from the Mt. Benger Mail.—The pump for the Endeavor dredge arrived yesterday, and a start will be made almost immediately.— The Golden Bed has not quite finished repairing yet, bnt should be rea ly to start dredging at the beginning of the week.—The Gold Queen has been shifted to the top end of her claim, and commenced dredging on Wednesday. —1 he Pleasant Valley Goldmining Company washed up last Saturday lor 290z 14dwt 12gr for three weeks.—Mr Fleming has finished all the woodwork in connection with the Main Lead Hercules pontoons, and the men left the job at the beginning of the week. The machinery will now be put on as speedily as possible. The Kelly and Casey washed up for 99hrs, 5.K lldwt. The dredge master, however, states that he was only on gold for llhrs. Owing to the rise in the river work was stopped on Thmsday, but was resumed yesterday. The reports of meetings of the Hallway House, Smith's Creek and Bannockburn Deep Lead, and Clifton Gold Dredging Companies will be found on our sixth The warm winds ond rain on Wednesday and Thursday last caused a rise in the river of about six feet at the Clyde bridge. Fortunately, however, the rise was only of short duration, as from Inday morning the river has gone down very quickly, and is now only some tv» feet above its height on Monday of last week. Of course, this rise had a bancfu effect on the returns, dredges opera 1 ; ng in the gorges being the greatest suffereis, as travelling drift hampered their operations considerably. The returns are, however, on the face of the above fact, very satisfactory, the dredges in the vicinitv of Cromwell doing exceptionally well. "Of the gorge dredges, in our own immediate neighborhood, the Monte Christo heads the list with 83 »z.

The Unity's return, presumably owing to the high river and travelling drift, showed a considerable idling off, though, doubtless, 230z for I2shrs work under these unfavorable conditions, will be considered satisfactory. The Leaning Rock has been dropped down the river—a distance of some 300 yards—to her claim, where dredging will be commenced at the latter end of the week. The dredge has been passed and taken over, but a few minor alterations have to be made. The result of her operations are eagerly waited for. It is hoped that the run of gold, at present operated on by the Monte Christo dredge, will be found in the Leaning Rock claim, and it is probable that such is the case. The Alpiue Consols washed up for the very satisfactoty return of 4Soz.. The Alpine No 2 yielded 350z. The Cairmnuir has been moved further up-stream, where it is expected bettei wash will be obtained. The Matan, though considerably hampered by drift, washed-up for 340z, and is working steadily. The repairs to the Half-way House dredge have been completed, and work will probably be resumed to-day. The 'Jreat Central resumed work yesterda "V- - r 1 l We would direct the attention of dredgemen io the union's advertisement calling a meeting for to-morrow night. The Monte Christo's return of 83oz exceeded the expectations of local shareholders. The last part of the week the dredge was troubled with drift, but now that the river has gone down this trouble will have ceased. An even better return is expected this week. At the adjourned extraordinary general meeting of shareholders of the Leaning Rook Gold Predging Company (Limited), held at Dunedin on Friday last, a large number of shareholders were in attendance. The result of the meeting was that the resolutions in favour of amalgamation were carried by a very large majority. The Vincent has been closed down indefinitely. It is more than probable however, that she will resume, as efforts are being made to raise money to carry on by the issuing of debenture. It is to be hoped that this is done, and the lower end of the claim worked. The Vincent Extended washed-up last week for the unsatisfactory return of 7oz 14dwt. It is currently reported that the dredge will be indefinitely closed down after to-morrow, if payable wash is noo struck. Another rumor is about to the effect that good wash is being operated on. This if true. will be pleasing news to shareholders, who, so far, have dune nothing else but grumble. The shades,, of the past, to shareholders in the company in question, have not been by any means refulgent with brightness, but we hope that the present rumor is authentic, and that this week's work will be the forerunner of a prosperous career.

THE MOKNJNG STAR GOLD DUELLING COMPANY.

An extraordinary meeting of the shareholders in the Morning Star Gold Dredging Company was held at the office of the company on Tuesday evening- There were eight shaieholders present, and Mr C P M Bmterworth took the chair. r J he meeting was called for '4he purpose of considering an extraordinary resolution to wind up the company. Ihe Chairman explained that the present position had been forced ou the directors by the acs tion of a creditor, ana as tlie deficiency amounted to about .£-150, there was no help ioi it but to go into liquidation. The receui capsize of ibe dretige accounted for about ,£350 of Ihe in* dei teuness.

Jin f? i-uke, of .Alexandra, stated that the dredge was in very fair Order, and quite capable of treating the ground in the claim effectively, -about £$Q should put the

dredge in thorough working order! Mr W Vivian said he thought the company had given the dredge and claim a good trial, and he would therefore move- -' That, it has been proved to the satisfaction of this meeting that the company ~-iiino:, by reason of its liabilities, continue its business, and that it is advisable to wind up the same, and accordingly that the eorpany bd wound up voluntarily.' Mr \V Kdmond seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously. Mr E H Fulton \\as subsequently appointed liquidator at a fee of 25 guineas. ALEXANDRA. FROM OUR OWN CCRKELPONDENT The winds and warm rains that were experienced last week, had the effect of rising the river to the extent of five feet, ai the bridge. The rise was detrimental to the working of the gorge dredges, the river rises therein the ratio of 2 to 1, as compared to the open extent of the river at the Bridge At the present time, the river is receding, but it is not considered likely that it will go as low as it was btfore, although it is probable that a low summer level will prevail, as there is less suow than usual this season. The Fourteen Mile is again on the metal, with 114oz to her credit. The Moa had a full week, but in many places the dredges could not bottom, and still she washed np for SSoz. An up-to-date dredge on this claim would yield handsome returns. The Manuherikia with !)3oz 17dwt is still on the same rich run that she has been working of late, and but for the rise which necessitated her stopping since last Wednesday afternoon, she ' would have gone near her last return of 2020z. The Sailor Bend with 40cz ;,nd the Firsc Ohauce with 13oz w< re both afkctau by the rise. The Perseverance No 2 made a very good start on her new claim, having scooped up 730z for 8 days. This is a proved claim, and shareholders in this company will now receive more benefits in the shape of dividends, now that two dredges are at work. The Morning Star has closed down for good. Shareholders in this property have decided that it is to their interest to go in for liquidation, and although local holders of this stock were in favor of resuming work, they were outvoted by Dunedin holders. This property would pay a working party of G or 7 men, if terms couid be arranged, and the same would apply to others in this district, which have not paid to shareholders the dividends that were expected of them