The Lake Wakatip Mail. Queenstown, Wednesday, May 2, 1866.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 314, 2 May 1866, Page 2

The Lake Wakatip Mail. Queenstown, Wednesday, May 2, 1866.

In another column will be found an account of what may be considered, with good one of the most auspicious events in the his. Tory of the Luke Wakatip district. The com. pletion of the Criterion Quartz Peef Mining Company's works on the Arrow, whereby they will be able in future to extract the precious me'al by machinery, may well be considered of more than ordinary importance, inasmuch as their success or failure will encourage others to do the same, or deter them from following the laudable example—laudable because whether gam or loss be the result, not the less honor t s due to those who have been the first to make the experiment. For this reason, more than ordinary importance is felt in the operation of (he Criterion Company. They are the pioneers of a new era, and their success or failure will go far towards determining whether u promising luture ot permanent mining prosperity or tue reverse may be safely calculated upon. It is admitted by all that the whole district abounds in mineral wealth, hardly a week passing without a fresh discovery of auriferous reel, supposed to be heavily impregnated with the precious metal; yet, with a caution miners generally are not supposed to possess, these spots have not been a* yet systematically tested. Numerous claims have certainly been taken up, but the appliances hitherto generally in use were totally inadequate for the most experienced to give a positive verdict as to whether the ground would yield a golden harvest or not. Thoroughly testing the ground has been done in but few instances, number of men at work—so far as is known, only four —viz., the Criterion Company at the Arrow, the Scandinavian, Prince of Wales, and Perry and Co, having doue so. No doubt other companies have struck upon auriferous stone in their claims —which, in not a few instances, ha?e proved rich —but there, practical test and positive experience ends. The results of the Criterion Company's enterprise will solve the problem of p.iyable or not payable, loss or good dividends. Not a few will wait the time when such a conclusion can be arrived at with considerable impatience, and according as the balance-sheet shows a handsome surplus or a loss in working—though the latter is very little feared—rush to the con. elusion that all reefs must be nearly alike, that if one company can pay good dividends there is no reason why its neighbor should not do so likewise. This is the time when caution in the extreme ought to be exercised. Notwithstanding the fact that while one patch

of ground is yielding its pounds weight another may not give an ounce, our fining friends are usually so flushed with the prospect of success, because another has achieved it, that they rush i# where prudence would pause and consider. Caution, therefore is of paramount importance. In strongly advising this course, it is not intended to underrate in the most remote degree either the importance or the value of our quartz reefs. These have been seen and proved to a certain extent, but to work them efficiently companies should [ neither be lightly formed in hope, nor easily broken up with discouragement, A few men may readily enroll themselves as a company, but the fact should never be lost sight of that its operations may, in spite of skill and precaution, be ineffective, and heavy loss instead of handsome gains the result. With ordinary care and prudence there is sufficient evidence to satisfy the most Sceptical that this need not be. Still the wise maxim of ,l Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst " should ever be borne in mind, and then, though failure follow the most strenuous exertions, there will be not merely the consolation—barren though it be—of having deserved success, but the absence of that utter despondency so natural to many when, do their best, the end is failure.