VISIT TO THE WHAUWHAU COAL COMPANY'S MINE, WHANGAREI.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6998, 22 April 1884, Page 6

VISIT TO THE WHAUWHAU COAL COMPANY'S MINE, WHANGAREI.

[BY OtJB SPECIAL BEfOKTEE.J 6# l?riday evening a party of- shareholders in the Whauwhau Coal Company's mine, Wkangarei, and other gentlemen, accompan? led by! the Secretary o J the company, Mr. Walter SlO»ue f .left Auokland by. tjie Nbrtnera Steamship Company's Macgregor, Captain Johnson, for Whangarei,' in order to visit the; mine and, inspect its workings. The weather was all that could be desired, BO that the excErsion was a most enjoyable. one* The steamer made a pleasant run down, arriving at Maraden Point at an early hoor ; next morning. After landing ' passengers and cargo, "end transhipping ftorn the barge to the steamer eome settlers produce the anohor, wss again _ raised md » course made for the Wharf, some three miles below the township of Wangarei, the Macgregor being unable to (to up as usual to the township wharf, owing to it being neap tides. Here the party landed, and were taken on by the early morning train to 'WaDgarei, where they were met at the station by Mr. Bright, manager of the Wangarei Hotel, with a trap, -who was-keeping a> bright look-out for the party, and driven on to that hostelry (of which Mrs. Lea is where an excellent breakfast awaited them. A start for the mine was made immediately afterwards, Mr. Bright driving the party up. PRESENT POSITION OF AFFAIRS.

Before describing the visit to the mine, and the result of the inspection of its 'workings, it may not be uninteresting to the general reader to furnuh some particulars concerning thu present project to -form j liie Whauwhau Cotl Company on , a new and enlarged basis, to be termed the ' VFbangarei Coal Company (limited), with acapital of £40,000 in 40,000 shares of £1 each, ot which 10s per share is tbibe called up as follows :—2s 6d on application, 2a 6d on allotment, 2s 6d by call at three months, and 2s 6d by call at six months. From the prospectus just issued,. it appears that the present shareholders of the mine are willing to sell their interest in it to the new company, taking as payment 12,000 shares paid-up to 10s. They are so satisfied as to the future prospects of the mine that they ask for no' 7 cash whatever, but are content to retain the whole of their interest in the company in the manner above indicated. It is, deemed better to purchase Messrs. Walton and Graham's interest in the property, which is 700 aores in extent (having timber in parts thereon suitable for mining purposes), for a lump sum, on terms, than to pay royalty, as in view.of the large output of ooal, when the mine is c'onneoted by a short ■tctdon of- line of- a mile and three ohains with the Government railway line, the royalty in a few years would repreaent the present purohaae money. Messrs. Walton and Graham have covenanted to sell all their right and !title in the estate for £8000 —namely, £1000 cash, £1000 in twelve months, £1000 in two years, and the balance at the end of five years; the unpaid balances to carry 6 per cent, per annum. " The present shareholders also agree to surrender to the new company the whole of. their interest in the lease of the colliery, plant, steamer Piako, manager's and workmen's houses, stables, etc., eubjeot to the lolloping conditions :—let. That £1250 be set aside to discharge an existing liability which has-been created in order to bring the mine to its present state of working. 2nd. The fund to be further applied to acquiring. Messrs. Walton and Graham's title in the colliery:; and 3rd. That a further sum shall be applied for the purpose of constructing the short aeotion of line from the mine to the junction with the present Government railway. THE VISIT TO THJS MINE, After a pleasant drive of some two miles along the main northern trunk road, leading to the Bay of Islands, the party turned

off the road up a romantic wooded gorge, with' a " bura "of beautiful water flowing at its base, fed from the mountain springs above," "At the foot of the gorge they came to the residence of the manager of the mine, Mr. Love, where they halted and alighted. The rest of the journey to the mine wag

performed pn foot up the horae-tram linerr-a distance of a quarter of a objective point being the blacksmiths'' shop, at the entrance to the main tunnel of the mine, ;'lt may not be uninteresting in this connection to give some particulars concerning THE HISTOKY OF THE MINE.! The coal was first discovered a quarter of a 'century ago by some Maoris in. a creek afar the mouth of the present water tunnel. Mr. Walton, satisfying himself of the genuineness and importance of the discovery, secured a 99 years' lease of the land (70f) aores) from the natives, with, the right to work for minerals only. . Hβ. begrvii operations to work the coal, and continued them for four years, constructing a tramway from the mine to the head.of the navigation of the Whangarei River, a little above the towasbip. Mr. Walton commenced tojfojjow the dip of the coal, of 1 in 12, from the "outcrop to a distance of 600 feet, having to pump the water, and also haul the coal up the inclined plane of the workings. The expense; coupled with the accumulation of water, led to the failure of the enterprise, and after an expenditure of £22,000 and four yeari' labour, the mine was temporarily closed. After a lapse of four years Mr. Love and party took the mine again in hand.. In order to avoid pumping and the former cost of haulage, they commenced a water level tunnel aud drive to a distance of 1200 feet, which has cost in all £2000. At that distance the coal was cut, in 1873, the eeam being 11 feet thick. INSPECTION OF THE WORKINGS.

The party having made the necessary preparations, ib dross, at the blacksmiths' shop, for ■;visiting the workings, awaited the arrival of Mr. love, the manager, who presently cams oat of the tunnel, bringing some half .dozen tracks for the conveyance of the interior of the mine, Mr. Love, it may be mentioned, has been engaged in coal mining nearly all his life, having been a coal miner in the Ayrshire collieries, and hie lengthy connection with the mine, for over ten years—in fact, ever since the mine has beeb really opened—haa given him that practical and intimate knowledge of its requirements so necessary in one occupying the position of a mine manager. - The visitors stepped into the trucks provided, and were soon drawn up the water level tunned by the horse, Jerry. Jerry is one of the " properties" ot the mine, and is said to be worth nia weight in gold. He has been employed for niae years hauling in and ont the waggons, nntil he knows every nook and cranny, can go through the drive without guidance, almost with hie eyes shut, and performs his various duties with as mnch ability- and dexterity as if he were a oircns trick horse. In going up the drive, the visitors could see the roof of it studded with glow-worms, their emitted light being deuldedly more aesthetic than that given forth from.the .train oil or colza lamps fastened on the miners' caps. In places also could be seen in the roof layersof fossil oysters and pipis, indicating some old beach line in the "aeons of.the seona" of some bygone geological period. In the main drive is a band of fire-clay: five feet thick, which underlays the coal, and is of superior quality, being muoh prized for making, fire-bricks, gas' retorts, etc., and other purpoies where great heat has to be endured. The Auckland Gas Company have tried it in these respects, and report favourably of it.' On the floor of the drive, alongside the tram rail, about 600 feet in, a sod«-water spring bubbles up clear as crystal, and of the medicinal qualities of which J)r, Hector speaks in the highest terms. Some of the party availed themselves of the opportunity of doing a cheap " soda." At the termination of the drive, or waterlevel tunnel, 1200 feet from the mouth of the.mine, the visitors alighted from tho waggons, as it is at this point the coal is struck, and commenced to inspect the seams and the >vof kings of the mine. At this junction the coal .{jranches off in every direction, the tunnel apparently being in tho-centre of the coal basin, and , the coal overlaying the tunnel for;6QQ feet. The party went up No; 1 drive, 400.feet to the westward, and then travelled northward 660 feet, where the men are at present;' at work'j 'with a ' thickness of coal averaging eigh't *tp~"ten"feet thick, and of-a very much superior quality to any hitherto found in the mine;' Retracing their steps, direction 400 feet, the coal apparently being of 5 the same quality and' thickness of seam. The distance of frontage opened and : ready for. working is ' 1600 feet: 86 far the minb has been little than 'the blocks ready for working■'•: butj, being ,:S!Q fathoms square. In one of the drives -to. the ■norththt coal appenre to be' .:'<)f-' »

inuch superior character, being lees friable end possessed of better steaming qualities— clinkers forming cleanly, and not adhering to the furnace bars—as certified in the reports by engineers. Among the testimonials given as to the qualities of the coal for steam, purposes, are some from Minefield and Co., engineers and iron founders : Mr. Walter Stoddart, engineer of the e.s. Macgregor, who baa been.using it in the Macgregor since September last; Mr. Arthur Mainland, sngineer of tho s.s. Rowena, who has been burning it for the past three months; and Mr. S. D. Hanna, engineer in charge of the Western Springe Pumping. Station, -who haa used nothing else for the past two and a half years. It may be mentioned also that the North Shore Ferry Company are now availing themselves of the coal largely for their steamers in the Ferry service. The limekilns at Wbangarei Beads and Mahurangi uee the Whauwhau coal exclusively for lime-burning purposes, it being considered more suitable for this purpose than any other coal. .At'.the. time of the visit of the party the cutter Mnry Ann left Whangarei with a cargo for the Mahurangi kilns, belonging to Mr. Nathaniel Wilson. The water, whioh was so formid-

able a difficulty to Mr. Walton, was tapped by Mr. Love ia making the water level tunnel, and' now runs out in watercourses on either side of the main drive, so that the cost of pumping is entirely obviated. The coal workings are completely dry, and the ground. and roofing of such a character that timbering is unnecessary, except in one or two short sections, so that on that item a considerable outlay is saved. The mine is well ventilated, the return air. course being connected with Walton's old workings, and carried to the surface, thus securing a simple and inexpensive system of ventilation, as is attested in the reports of the Government Inspectors of Mines, . Messrs. Cox and MoLaren. There is on ingenious device at the mine for 'giving a second screening to the coal, so that nothing is lost of • commercial value. When the coal has been tipped from the waggons over the screen, and thence into other waggons below, the smaller coal falls through the screen into a. water race, and is carried on to a second screen by the current of Iwater, where the nuts y of coal i-e-screened fall into a waggoa below, the whole of the dust being carried into the creek, and down the valley, so that no expense is incurred in the cartage away of tailings. This small coal is specially adapted for steam purposes, and the Northern Steamship Company are prepared to take'all that can be delivered of this class. WORKS IN PROGRESS.

There isnow in coarse of construction a new doable inclined plane, which will give such facilities to the mine, in .working, as will secure an output of 300 tons per working day of eight hours. It is eight feet wide by six feet in height, and nix hundred feet in length, being constructed at a cost .of £200. This inclined plane Is intended to open up the remaining area of the field, and from this point drives will radiate in all directions. The main drive has been constructed with the object of increasing the output of the mine, pending its being connected with, the Government railway iine, by a line a little over a mile in length. The present means' of transit are quite inadequate to enable the proprietors to meet the increased demand for the coal. THE FUTURE. The inclined piano will be wrought by a wire rope round a drum with brake attaohed, the full waggons bringing up the empty ones to the termination of the water level tunnel. From thence the coal waggona will be hauled out by. horse power, as at present, to' the screens. Forty miners could be employed and 300 tons per day produced, if the con-' necting link, of railway were finished. From measurements of the coal now opened out, it has been demonstrated that this quantity can be supplied for many years, irrespective of new workings in other parts ot the property, which have, yet to be developed. The only "fault" as yet met with in working the mine is a downthrow of five feet in the coal seam. Mining engineers and ether practical men who have inspected the workings, report very highly of the method whioh has been adopted in opening up and working the. mine, as being both systematic and economical. ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE RAILWAY. Mr. Sloane, secretary of the company, during hie visit, made satisfactory arrangements, as to compensation, with the different parties through whose land the proposed branch line of railway will run. It will be necessary to bring' in a private Bill at the ensuing session of the General Assembly, to empower the taking of the railway across the publio highway, and the necessary legal steps are now bejng taken for that purpose. ' THE WHANGAREI COAL DEPOSITS. The coal deposits of the Whaegarei district are not confined to the Whauwhan and Kamo coal Beams,' as there is reason to believe that other! coal deposits, equally as valuable, only require enterprise and capital in order to their being developed and utilised. In the Waimahunga on 'the north bank of the Whangarei River, and nearly opposite the Railway - Wharf, Meesrs. Sloane and' Love have some 400 aores known to be

coal-beariDg, and presenting the same indications as these on the Whauwhau property. Aoross the ranges at Whareora deposits of coal have also been discovered of superior quality. The coal appears to dip towards the Waimahunga block. The growing demand for coal in the manufactures and industries of the province, will'no doubt lead to these coal seams being worked at no distant period. It is only a question of time, when .the present Whangarei railway coal line will be carried across the river and .on to Grahamstown to deep water, where the largest vessels can lie .at anchor. When that project is carried out, it will be comparatively easy to bring out the Waimahunga coal, if the preliminary prospecting operations warrant it, by a branch line of a quarter of a mile, and also the Whareora coal by another line of five miles, thus converging the three coal lines on the deep-water terminus. THE RETURN TRIP. The'party, left the Whangarei wharf. yesterday afternoon in the -.Whauwhau Coal Company's smart little tug .steamer Piako, whioh caught the a. a. Macgregor at the railway wharf in time for sailing for Auckland at half-past'two p.m.' ; A stoppage was made at Whangarpi Heads in order to take in some settlers' 'produce for Auokland. The run back proved' a very pleasant one, the party landing: at. .the Queen-street Wharf a little before one o'clock this morning. Captain Johnson, the popular commander of .'the and hjs officers, did their beat to make the trip an agreeable one to all, while nothing was left undone by the steward, Mr. ; Willco'cks, to minister to their comfort and convenience. The party separated for their several homes, having nothing but pleasant recollections of their excursion, and of the Whangarei settlers who bad hospitably entertained them.