The Shotover District and its Mines.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 1522, 12 March 1886, Page 5

The Shotover District and its Mines.

(it ont &MCUL uronn.)

Sa-rmu, March 10. Gold-mining. like other pursuits, has its phases « development, and it appears that the Wakatinu J.urtnct M destined to play an important part in the 51T? *• P°**h of the industry. Considering we industry as one of the most important-if not «< meet importaot-of New Zealand's industries, "can be safely claimed for this district that it has "W» the cradle of qaartz-miuiag in toe colony, and Utat, although that class of mining has passed through several trying crieea, it has survived all, u- t r *•*" *' * ''"earing «wsteuce, during which tt has been kept alive solely by the pluck • O< J* o*rgy 0 * r gy of a few men, it now once more promises to become the mainstay and hope of the district, as >t b»a been for so many years in the past, with this distinction that, whereas formerly the hope was founded upon the evanescent sangnineness of the ■peculator (whose support of the industry was as traoscient as his means, and as thin as his knowledge of the difficulties besetting the undertaking ppon his expectations depended, the fate of the industry now depends upon the intelligent and judicious employment of the requisite and ample me f Dt which are necessary to ensure success. That payable quartz reefs exist in number in eeveral parts of our district haa, it may be accepted, now been satisfactorily proved, and the only apparent means whereby to turn them to account being in the course of development at Skippers, it may interest the readers of the Lake Wakatip Mail to have laid before them a succinct and reliable report on the reefs in that locality more particularly. With this object in view, we have despatched our special to the scene—as well as to other portions of the Shotover—at, to us, con- j aiilerable expense, and we hope that the effort to | assist the mining industry generally in the capacity l marked out will be appreciated by the resid-nts, I whose welfare depeuds upon the progress of the i district We have reason to believe that our special ii so much impressed «ith what he saw of quartz-mining at Skipoers, and of alluvial mining in the shotover Valley, that his reports will extend i to a considerable length. In thin issue we publish a first instalment, commencing with THE HISTORY OF THE SKIPPERS REEFS,

which cotnmen'reri and U connected with the memorable floods of July. 1563. Old residents cf the Wakatipu will still rememlier the direful effects of that disaster, and even at this distance of time it is a matter of consolation to many to ix> able to think that these flood* were the rm-ans of leading to the discovery of gold-bearing quartz reefs in this district. It was in the interval of these floods—of which there were three iu rapid succession—that Mr Alec Olsen discovered gold in a 10-.se quartz bonlder in Skippers Creek, near the locality of the

present Phoenix mine. A general knowledge of gold and mining, which was then ohtaiued amongst miners, led him to the supposition that the reef, of which the bouider must evidently have formed a part, might be found on the bill slope* on either side of the creek, led him to commence the search. The hills were then so densely timbered that the ■untight scarcely penetrated through the foliage. and it was impossible to see any distance in any direction whatever. Diligent seatch, however, soon led Mr Olsen to the spot where now exists the ■plendid and extensive works of the Phoenix mine. There undoubtedly was the reef, and there aUo waa the gold. The erectiou of a "dolly"—that is to sty, a wooden block shod with hoop iron, suspended from the end of a sapling, aiii dumped down upon the quartz to be operated upon—was at once erected, and from a bushel of quartz stone loz. of was obtained. Then prospecting led to the discovery of other reefs, and so satisfied was the lucky prospector with bis outlook, that he determined to bring over his brother from Victoria to share his own pood luck with him. Carefully covering up his discoveries Mr Olsen aet about taking steps to bring over bis brother, but cirenmstances intervened, and fear of Ins dormant finds being discovered by others sent him hack to the then lack country of the Shotover—and not a bit too soon. The r imor of the existence of payable auriferous quartz irefs had somehow been mooted abroad ; and tle leasing regulations comin; into force. Mr Olsen started the Scandinavian m*nj tiie site of the present Plueuix mine. Splendid atone was broncht to light, and warranted the erection "f the first crnaliing battery in consisting of four hea Is of woodt-n stamper*, shod with wroti; bt iron shoes, bro'ight no all the way from Dunedin. The man ruilty of such an unheal dof thing was denounced as a madman, and it was assorted that no man con Id make quartz p-ty in such an inaccessible place. The thing was simply madness. However, the result proved different. Gold in payable quantities wss really obtained wi'h the wooden st-tnipera, ami it is worthy of mention, <»n p€U*ani, that the last crushing of the old Scandinavian shareholders by this crude process before transferring their interest to a party of capitalists —of whom the present owner of the Phoenix mine was one—was four tous of quartz, whi-h yielded 7&>z. of gold. Other parties, amongst whom was Mr Southberg, Mr Jones, the Sorensen brothers and others scoured the ranges, and Mr OUen. in j •pite of his first discovery, did not remain idle, I adding to »♦ tn rapid succession the Bnrish-.Am ri- j can. the Prince of Wales and other reefs, and thus ' reefing w.ts fairly established on the Upper Sho'.'jver. i Many additional discoveries goon followed, amongst i which the Opbir, on tiie opposite »r east side iu the Shotover Vallev, was most noteable one.

So rapidly did quartz mining advance, that, in ISoo, three crushing mills existed at Skippers Creek, ami between 50 and 6-1 claims were ::urked otf and fl nated as companies up>n the share market. The result of tiiis *i» t'ut a '* corner" was created at similir to that B.ill.irat institution. That leech upon mimii;, the "sharebroker," got Lis fin.'ir in the pie. and, upon the principle of " too many cook*," he spoilt it.

Many stones are still extant how interested parties watted and watched for men coming down from Skippers at the Gorge, to extract from them the latest uews from the reefs, and how the wary prospectors evaded the insiduous advances of the tempter nntil his owu ends had been served. Bet sometimes even tbe biter was bit iu spite of his cleverness. Everybody was on the qni n'/v for news from tbe reefs. Mining news had not then the facility of being circulated by telephone or telegraph, and men were not in the h <ret of travelling, in the absence of roads, to Quceustown ofteiier then absolutely necessary. Thus the " sharebroker" had fall opportunity for the display of his peculiar proclivity. Speculation ran wild. Trial crnshings from t!ie British-American, Ophir, Scandinavian and a few other mines, yielded '2O to 22 ounces of the precious metal aud upwards per ton. Companies were formed in galore ; shares rose in pri* e ; auylwdy who could not talk quartz and scrip was nobody; and he who had an interest in anv of the mines uas considered a lucky fellow. The fool's paradise soon burst; wild expectations of unlimited gold weie not realised; and, as a consequence, the reefs were condemned as delusions and snares, and those so eager to rush into the lire were the first to cry o it aud show the white feather. The natural difficulties of the place begaa to present themselves in their true aspect, and formidable as thev were they were aggravated by faintheartedness, whi -h came over the speculators. The physical charade- of the reefs was unknown and hut little studied—if at all.

Returns did not come np to the expectations raised by sharebrokers, whose occupation seemed to be confined to profit l.y the proverbial folly of a gullible pn'ilic, and whose rapacity was unlimited. T!i« uatnral consequence of all this was that a reaction set in—so far as the speculators were concerned—and disseusi in arose amongst prirate parties, leading to their dissolution anil rain. One party after another broke up, some "lying of mere inanition, some of too much ente>pri«e, tome throngh ignorance, whiltf not a few were improved from off the face of the share market by, to say the least, questionable practices. The renera! rain tore down with it the very prospectors, and interprid Alec Olson amongst the rest, after be bad invested his savings in the enterprise. Though almost rained financially by his «nterpri*e. the eld spirit, nevertheless, aejli buoys

him up, and he says that he atill hopes to find a lode to repay him for his lost time, as a help to smooth the remaining days of an active and useful existence. Upon more than one occasion his spirit outgrew his strength, and, overtaken by privation and exposures upon his prospecting trips, he had perforce to face real danger. The last of these occasions occared a few years ago, when Alec had been ont and bis "tucker" running short, he stayed longer among the ranges than he should have doue. Hunger at last compelling his return, he reached within a few miles of his hut, when, completely exhausted, he sank noon the groand, in an unconscious state. Lurkily he had been observed by another prospector, Mr George J. Walton, who, on going to hie assistance, found Alec so weak that he had to carry him upon his back to his (Alec's) hut. Such were the pioneers of the Upper Shotover.

( To be continued.)