GREY VALLEY GOLD-FIELDS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1670, 11 December 1873, Page 2

GREY VALLEY GOLD-FIELDS.

[fkom our own correspondent.] MINING. As the summer advances the inevitable wail about the scaicity of water is bepinning to be more distinctly and frequently heard. A very fair quantity of rain has fallen this season so far, but even now there is a great and general want of water in sufficient quantity to be of material assistance to the sluicers. God keep us from the effects of such a scorching as has made the summer and autumn of 1872 so full of bitter memories for those who have to make a livelihood on the gold-fields. A repetition of the last season's fearful drought with its attendant ruinous consequences would most certainly depopulate these gold-fields. No plans or specifications to hand yet of the Hochstbtter and Nelson Creek Water-race. Intending tenderers are getting disgusted at this delay, for it entails serious disappointment and loss ot time on them. _It will take two or three weeks after the plans ar6 open for inspection before a careful examination of the proposed course of the race can be made, and before an undertaking of such magnitude is taken in hand a very careful examination and most accurate calculations will have to be made. As it is to be hoped the successful tenderers for this important work will be some of our local contractors, so it is to be regretted that every facility is not placed in the way of these men, who are: not supposed to be millionaires, getting any information that may guide them in making a correct estimate of the cost of the serious responsibility, to men of limited means, of the work proposed to be executed.' A party of men, acting under the instructiqns of the General Government, are prospecting near the Nelson Creek outlet of the Lake to find; a. solid bottom on which to lay the foundation of the wall of the embankment which > is to convert Hochstetter into an inland sea. The wonderfully exciting news from the Inangahua has still a disturbing influence upon the more unsettled portion of the alluvial mining population, in the Grey Valley. There is the absence of constant employment -through scarcity of water, very little inducement required at any time to take away the bulk of the floating population, but now that the true value of the Inangahua quartz reefs is making itself apparent, there is a legitimate excuse for the desire to get a share of the many good things now going about in the reefing districts.' SOMETHING ABOUT THE NORTH While the doings of the miners in the Grey Valley and certain other portions of the Grey district are duly chronicled, there i 3 very seldom anything heard of the gold- workings in the once famous localities north of the Grey river, in the Grey division of the Nelson Southrwest Gold-fields. ' The formerly celebrated Darkies Terrace, the Herbert Terrace, the workings on the Seven and Ten Mile Creeks, the beach washings frpm the Seventeen-Mile Beach to the Razorback, are now rarely heard of. The,rich ground at one time - opened at Canoe Creok seems to be exhausted, although this can scarcely be the case, seeing the nature and formation of the auriferous terrace lead in that locality. The first terrace run opened at Canoe Creek was about the best paying piece of ground ever discovered ■on the Coast, as the following incident, given on good authority, will show : — The rush to Addison's Flat took place while the Canoe Creek lead was in work. One of the shareholders \n a claim o.n the lead went to Addison's, and met with sufficient 'e.ncon.ragpment to induce him to remain there, Tliis led to a dissolution of the partnership, and those working at Canoe Creek decided to purchase among them the share of the man who was leaving. The purchase money was advanced by a storekeeper, who required repayment of his cash sooner than was expected. Water wa3 very scarce, there being just sufficient for one day-'s. washing with a cradle, in a small dam made' dh the claim tq catch the surface drainage, and the story is that tjj.o result of the day's washing- was 160oz of gold, and there were between 20 and 30 loads of equally valuable washdirt left in the paddock. Only from one spot among all that remains of the once populous iJorth IJeach diggings does any news of interest come. This;" is the plaim of Luke and party, ' formerly R.eidV, near " the Razorback. The claim is situated at a considerable elevation-rr-some 300ffc above the beach level— and. it is said that il is still yielding as well as it did when Mr Reid was killed. When his share was sold by auction, after his death, it realised between LSOO and L6OO, and it is stated that his partners, who bought the property, obtained the purchase money back again ftov» the two subsequent washings.' 1 There is a fine field for prospectors in the country between those coast line terraces and the head "of iMoonligh£ and the Black Ball Creeks, but until bracks are cut through the all but impenetrable scrub which covers the surface very little exploring can be done. There is here a fine opportunity for the Cobden Road Board to immortalise itself. POLITICAL. This is the day, the happy op unhappy day, as the case may be, or as it may result for the candidates, on which the most important political contest which has yet taken place in the Province of Nelson will be decided.. It is now nearly twelve o'clock, and " there isn ? t a blow struck yet^" a lamentable state of affairs, the inevitable oonse.qnen.ee in these degenerate days of the introduction of the ballot-box and the insertion! of that abominablebribery plause i.n the Regulations of Elections Act. tn the good old times three or four neighborly sorimmagea would have been amicably arranged by this hour of the day, and what matter if the friendly intervention of the iC laist taste of a blackthorn" was found necessary to "level distinctions." Rival candidates used to flood the intellects of their free and independent supporters with sweet eloquence, and their gullets with bitter beer, but alas ! those times and those candidates, haye passed away, and the electoral rolls might ' as we.ll be filled with the names of Good Templars, for all the candidates of the present day will "part." Whichever of the caudidates be elected, and there cannot be much doubt as to who will be returned, he would do well to remember that he will rule over a Province in which the pastoral or agricultural ihterest arjtao' longer of paramount importance, jf the Province of Nelson is to be raised to the I rank of the other Provinces of the Colony,

and raised from her present undignified position of being behindhand in everything conducive to material prosperity; the change must be effected by fostering and developing our,-, practically-^inex-haustable mineral wealth. Without attempting'to imitate the illustrious example of the editor of the English country paper who again warned the Eiaperor of Russia," that if that, personage didn't alter his foreign policy, he (the editor) would be down upon him, it would be as well to suggest to the new Superintendent that t the interests .. of : the gold-fields must be fostered and better attended to than has hitherto been the : custom. If the next Superintendent expects a fair and effective support on the gold-fields of his administration, he must show that he will endeavor to deserve such snppbrt. The appointment, from among the gold-fields members, of a : special representative" of the gold-fields interests, with a seat in the Provincial Executive, must be the first step towards making amends for former negligence, and if the officer so appointed be made directly responsible for the proper administration of gold-fields affairs, there is little fear' but the duties of the office will be properly performed. ." PUBLIC WORKS. It was stated last week that .the horse track commenced some time ago from Hatter' 3 Terrace, Nelson Creek, to the upper workings of the district, and to the Hochstetter Lake, had been discontinued. This is not the case ; the work is still going on, and it is expected that within two" weeks it will jbe completed. ; The track will be altogether about thirteen miles long; taken partly; through the beds of the right and left forks of the creek, and ending at the lake. The opening of this track will be a great convenience to the miners working.on the upper terraces, as it will in a great measure do away with the difficulty Of getting provisions and other material to their claims. When the contracts which have just been let for the making of the remaining sections of the Amuri cattle track, are completed the greatest obstacles to the steady increase in the cattle trade betweeu Canterbury and these gold-fields will be removed. The dangers and losses of; the transit of " the saddle on the dividing range will "no -longer exist, for cattle, can be driven from feed to feed, that is from the rich pastures of the Amuri to the grazing lands on the Ahaura fall in pne day. Therefore, the great depreciation and frequently total loss of stock through detention on the Saddle, made a large item in the price required to allow a fair prospect to those who brought stock overland. There is another great advantage to be gained by easy access to the Amur;, which, although ■ mqre qf a pro? spejctive than an immediate benefit, will eventually attract notice. It . may not be generally known by people living on this side of the range that within two days' journey of the Ahaura, when the road is finished, there exists a number of those hot springs which in other parts of the world possess such wonderful attributes in curing rheumatism and other diseases. The hot springs or rather lakes of the Hanmer Plains are already famous even throughout Australia for their curative qualities, and they are certain to become a favorite resort for those in search of health, enjoyment, or even luxury, when they become better known, and the locality in which they are situated becomes more accessible. And when the track to Lake Hochstetter is finished, if there be any tired and fagged out resident of the coast towns, who is in want of a few weeks' real relaxation, let him. spend his holiday at Hochstetter, which he can reach in half a day from Greymouth. The lake abounds with fish, of a kind gertainly, but nevertheless fish — r=-the country' is comparatively open with abundance of game, again of a sort, but "sufficiently good to afford, some sport. An enterprising pioneer is about erecting an accommodation - house at Hochstetter for the convenience of the great influx of visitors which may be expected when the large water-race is commenced. He intends to keep boats on the lakej and to provide other means of einjoyment for his patrons. There are plenty of suitable spots where people who xoill meet each other by moonlight alone can spoon away to their hearts' content without fear of interruption, or of having the inconvenience of saying good-bye at the door, because there are no doors, and last, but not least, there are eels as big as the American sea-serpent for the catching, if $nyqne has the pluck tq tackle them. JIJT ifElilQifAM. -••■'• One of the few remaining links between the Grey Valley of the past, and as it is now; was broken when George Muir passed away on Saturday. The news of the awfully sudden death of the fine generous "old man," as he was affectionately called, spread like wildfire through the Grey Valley, and people whose feelings are supposed to be blunted and hardened like unto the nether millstone were visibly effected at the loss of their old friend, and were not ashamed to own it. Mr Muir, who died at the comparatively early' age of 46, was a native of Edinburgh, and came A to Melbourne in the ship Ivanhoe in 1853. He was an old > and much respected resident of thef Pleasant Creek and Mount Ararat districts,where he at one time carried on the business of a contractor and builder. He came to New Zealand shortly after the opening, qf the goJd-fields-of'OtagOj and he was an early arrival: on> the Coast. He was one of the pioneer business men of the Red Jack?s andjNelson; Cr-^ek districts, both of which places owe a great deal of their' early development to his enj;erpris,e and liberality. Jje was very progressive in his ideas., and as a proof 'it may bei mentioned that b^e was the first man who drew public attentioo to the practicability of bringing water from I^ake Hochstetter to Nelson Greek, a work which after seven years of continual agitation about it the Government now intend to execute. He possessed that free and frank bomhammw to a remarkable degree, which gains and retains confidence and . respect, and whether as a host doing the honors of his comfortable homestead at Camptown, or as a, visitor away from home, he always exhibited those qualities of character for which he will be long remembered, lie was nqt. a genius certainly, and he never made a pretence ol being other than he was, a decent honest man, and as such his loss will be long felt by his friends and acquaihtahces.l I ;i:l y .-■■., L