WARDENS' REPORTS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 806, 19 July 1864, Page 5

WARDENS' REPORTS.

The following are the Reports of the Gold Fields Wardens received by the Gold Fields Department since those last published by us :— Wakatipit, 9th July.—Weather during the past week cold, severe frosts. Mining: news much as per my last report. The No. 1 Race on the Queenstown Terraces is completed ; No. 2 Race is in course of construction. I hcjpe in my next report to be able to inform you as to the result of the undertaking. There appears to be a "-eat denre oa the part of many of the resident* in the district to obtain Jand under the Agricultural lease Regulations, numerous applications have been made lately. Large areas of lani"ave also required, and have been applied for in the neighborhood of Halfway Bay. on the Lake; and~ there can be no question but that a very large section of the population of the district will permanently settle and engage in the cultivation of' land. Estimated population: — Moke and Moonli hr,275; Archer's Point, <&c. up, to Peep Creek, 859; Margin of Ihe Lake, 350 ; Frank ton and Kaw;irau, 75; Queeustown, 650 ; total, 2200. Of these about 12L0 are miners and 990 luvsiuess people. Upper Shotovek, 9th July.—"During- the first part, of the week the river,continued very low; the claims in the bed of the river were kept in | full working order. The largest yield that lam cognisant of, during the week, has been got in a claim lately abandoned, and a?ain taken up by a party of 12] men, the fortunate holders, out of one of the paddocks they sank, took 290 ounces after three days' wort. Heavy rain fell on Thursday night, causing the river to rise from four to five feet; it is now gradually-subsiding;. Tyrn and party are pushing on their extensive works at Shellback Beach. The claimholders on Jack-he-B.'s Beach are about to turn the river into its original channel; the same operation is going on, on many parts of the river, as in many of the claims it has been discovered that the gold is where the stream has been turned on to. Estimated population, 1200. Wakatipu, 9fch July.--The weather during the last week has been very fine, bright, '.clear days followed by bard frosts at night. Owitigto these frosts the roads and tracks m this district are in a very,bad state, especially the horse track from Queenstown to the bridge over the Shotover. I -observed, on my visit this week to Arthur's Point, that/many of the river claims in this locality were nearly worked oat. and that the miners were anxious to obtain claims on the bank of the river. These terraces the miners seem to bs very sanguine about, and the only drawback I can see to their becoming highly re-, munerative is the want of water for' sluicing-, as most of the creeks in the neighborhood have already been taken up. Estimated population, about9o(>. ; ; .-.■-.' \ - - DffNSTAisr, 9bh July.—A continuance of cold fine weather for the early part of the week had the effect of sending the river down nearly as low as it was in April last j-' but a slight rise has since taken place, the result of a thaw and a heavy fall of ra;n ia the Lake district. The rise was nearly 18 inches, but the weather has again settled, and the water is rapidily- decreasing in quantity. On some of the beaches a little work can be done; but most of them have been worked down to the pres'snt water level. A day or two ago, when the river seemed likely to be at its lowest shortly, there was some little excitementmen leaving day labor to go and look after their claims, but that is over tor the present. Fresh coal workings sre being opened in various parts of the district. Between Clyde and Alexandra, by the river side, a pit is opsned under the ambitious title of the " Newcastle Pit." The lignite is about the best I have seen. _ The seam is about 17 feet in thickness, and in it'are two banks or layers, 5 feet each, of fine coal; the rest being; inferior. It lies below the water level, . but i 3 easily worked. . At Cromwell, very superior coal is obtained from an immense seam, great part of which lies high and dry above the river Kawarau. This is worked by driving into the bank. Same of the tunnels in these workings extend more than 50 feet through solid coal. ; .'The Fortuna Mining Company are about' to issue preference shares to raise funds to enable them to bottom their shaft, on the flat near the Clyde township. Estimated population, 3000. Mahuhertkia, 9th July.—The weather this iweek has been fine and warm, in f cfc, too warm for the season of the year, in consequence the river ha? again risen, and is now about one foot hieher than it was on' Wednesday. The machine, which. I mentioned in my last report, met with an accident on Monday, caused by the water being too powerful for its strength However, the owner, nothing daunted; is at work on the repairs, his great difficulty being thewantofnroper material. A sad accident occurred on the Halfmile Beach, on Friday morning, resulting1 in the death of a miner, named Roberts, (a quiet respectable man) and very nearly in the death of another, named Smith. This accident was caused through the bank slipping in upon them while at work, and it is supposed that between 80~and 40 tons of stuff fell from the face, which, I believe, was nearly perpendicular. Smith has not been much, injured/ but the shock must have been very great. Estiraatsd population.—Manuherikia, miners, 1300 ; storekeepers and others, 500; Campbell's district. 10. Total, 1810. Hamilton's, Taxbkt, 9fch July.—Mining matters qutet here, but at Hyde everything is bustle and activity. A large number of stores have gone up, and the township is pow by no means a small one. At Hindon, some 200 men. are at work at Fraser's Creek, but the officer", in charge reports to me that they have not yet touched the landslip that apparently conceals the ancient bed. «Weather has been i beautiful, and snow entirely disappeared. > Estimated population, 3250. Mount Ida. Ist July.—The district has been quiet daring the past week, and nothing of importance calls for mention. The weather has been favourable, on the whole, for mining, and the water supply good. Estimated population about 2030. NoKoaiAi, 9th July.—The miners up the Nokomai are doing very well, the ground paying good wases. Moa Creek still continues to increase its population, which are doing well. Several j>avties are prospecting in the gullies on the water shed of Mataura, towards Kingston. Estimated population, 480; seventy of these nonminers. ■ Akrow, 9th July.—The Arrow Quartz Mining and Crushing Company are now fairly under weigh. The richness of the reef is undoubted, indeed the reports have, if anything, underestimated its real value. Mr Hackett, Geological ! Surveyor, was here last week, and expressed his favorable opinion of the gold bearing capabilities and the probable extension of the quartz reef. There is little news of public importance to communicate. The miners are working steadily and profitably throughout the district, and I hear very few' complaints of bad times; in fact none but the lazy have cause to want. Estimated population, 1345. " ' '.-,-■ Switzer's, Nokomai, 9fch July.—The weather continues fine and open, therefore highly favorable for sluicing purposes. I hope before very long to furnish some good results obtained by some of those parties who are now preparing to wash up. Estimated population, 240; of these about 30 are engaged otherwise than in mining. Mount Bengkr, 9th July.—A rush has taken place to the Terrace or Flat at the FourteenMile Beach, at the boundary between the Mount Benger and Manuhenkia Districts, and about two miles below Chamouni. The flat is about three quarters of a mile in length, and about a quarter of a mile in breadth, measuring from the river beach, A good many parties worked on this flat at the end of last winter, but abandoned it in the summer; and a party of foreigners who set in this winter have been remunerated for stripping two paddocks by finding, as it is reported. 27 ounces. The stripping or sinking is from 15,t0 30 feet, with 2to 3 feet of wash dirt. I purpose going to visit the ground in the beginning of the week, and will report more fully thereon,

The river up till Friday continued to go down very well, and a good deal of work was done by the miners, in getting out wash dirt, which, as a rule, they are wisely stacking. With the dredges, which continue to increase, there ' being now about fifteen of them at work, some parties are doing very^ well. One party of five during the week have'been taking out at the rate of three ounces a day with their dredge. On Friday, the river rose about two feet, and suspended a good deal of the work, On the mining lease area, granted a short time ago at Moa Flat, the party have commenced work, and the prospects they have got are very encouraging. • A new seam of lignite was discovered the other day on Commissioner's Flat, and it is reported to be of excellent quality. It will be a very great benefit to the people at Koxburgh, as the seam' at ■Butcher's Gully is getting exhausted. ■ A party have recently commenced to work the lignite seam on the west side of the river, at Lignite Creek, which is generally considered the best lignite seam in the district. On the lower Poroahaka there are a good many parties engaged sluicing, and making very fair wages; but up the river there are now very few at work, the weather is so cold. Estimated population, 1500.