DREDGING AT WAIPORI FLAT. TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 8821, 3 June 1890, Page 4

DREDGING AT WAIPORI FLAT. TO THE EDITOR.

■ s'?;-J° urWedne»day'Bißßuecontainealetter bearing blr Koucrt Stout's otgnature, to which is attached a lengthy opinion from Mr John Mouat, on the value of the Waipon Flat for gold dredging purposes. According to Ins letter, Sir llobert hud been asked to take aharoa In the Perseverance Gold Dredging Company, but before investing ho thought the better plan would be to get the opinion of Mr Mouat" on the land Intended to be mined upon for gold." Will Sir llabert enlighten your readers upon theeo points — Ist. What object bad he in view In getting Mr Mouafa opinion ? Did he really wish to invest In the Perseverance Company, or was he not more anxious to prevent (by the publication of a pre-arranged letter from Mr Mouat) the floating of the company ? 2nd. Is he (Sir llobert) satisfied Mr Mouat is competent to give an opinion on the value of Waipori Flat for dredging purpcaes—or, indeed, of any other mining country? And 3rd. Is he In the habit of taking Mr Mouat'o opinion on all mining properties in which he is Invited to Invest, or before he allows his name and title to appear on a prospectus as a Sovieional director? For Instance, did he get Mr ouat's written opinion on sundry mining companies with which his (Sir Eoberfc'e)narae has lately been identified ? ami if so, why did he not take the public into his confidence io the same manner as he did iv the case of the Perseverance Gold Dredging Company? These are plain questions. Let the answers be equally plain, without any equivocation or departure from the truth. Binoe the year 18841 have been more oi leas closely identified with the development of the mining industry in the Waipori district. I have also worked on nearly all the principal gold-producing districts in Otago, and previously spent many years in mining pursuits on the more Important goldiields of Victoria. These facts I mention to show that my experience is not a matter of yesterday: that from a. practical standpoint I am in a position to speak with some measure of positivencss when giving a reason for the faith that fs within me. Can Mr John Mouat—Sir Hobert Stout's Jidus Achates-do .likewise ?

Mr Mouat I knew in the early days as a "fossioker" at Wetheratones and Gabriels, but I was not aware until the publication of his letter, written at Sir Bobert Stout'a request, that he had ever been mining in Waipori Mat, although ho makeß a pretence of giving his expsrlenceof working the class of ground to be met with there. Would it .be unfair to ask Mr Mouat when, where, and how long he was employed mining on Waipori Flat? Also, where the hard olay of which ho writeß, varying from 4ft to 6ft in depth, is to be met with oh tisa Flat f My experience has been that on the river flat there ib very little clay of any kind overlying the gravel. True, a stiff clay Is to be met with at Wcatherstones, Tuspeka Flat, and Waitahuna; bub the formation following the courses of the streams at these places differs very much with that found at Waipori—at lesst, lam speaking of the ground included in the Upper Waipori Alluvial Gold Dredging Company's special claim, and- extending to the gorge, six or seven miles below the townßhip. Within that area (which includes the Perseverance and Waipori Kiver Dredging Company's leases j the gravel drifts are met with within a lft or ]}ft of the surface, and these carry gold in greater or less quantities to a, depth of from 6ft to 84ft—the latter the greatest depth yet attained on the flat.

Mr Mouat says that he was personally acquainted with many of the diggers who worked on Waipori Flat in the early days; and while admitting that many of Them did fairly well, others " did not make anything beyond what waß the current labourers* wages at the time." Were all the diggers of Mr Mouat's acquaintance claim ownerß, or were they merely employed as wages men P To my knowledce many of the claim owners on Waipori Flat In the early days averaged from £5 up to ,£25 a week 'per man after paying all expenses, the current rate of wages then being 12s per day. Let me add that Waipori Flat Has always been, as it [were, a Bealcd book to the " fossicker"; the heavy drainage water to be contended -with has all along beena bar to individual miners, or even small patties, unleßs backed up with capital, working successfully on their own account. The difficulty also of bringing racps on to the flat to drive a water wheel and pump and to supply water for sluicing purposes has been greater than most parties cared to face. These are facts which I challenge Mr Mouat to contradict. • Further on in his letter, Mr Mouat 6ays that einca Wniporl Flat was given up by Europeans the ground has been well tried by Chinese, inferring that tlie whole of the flat has been worked and reworked. Of course such a statement as this is at variance with tho truth. The Chinese at no period have done a great deal of mining on Waipori Flat; and what mining they have done haß been exclusively confined to virgin ground. The worked out or abandoned ground has never been touched by the Chinese, Of course this order of things has been reversed, as Mr Mouat points out, at Wetherstoaes, Tuapeka Flat, aud Waitahuna; for I know ground that has been worked and reworked at Wetherstonss, particularly for the third and fourth time, and evon then has given fair returns to hand labour. Waipori Flat, however, has never undergone the same process.

To show how extensive Is his knowledge of the formation of Waipori Flat, Mr Mouat makes a further reforonoo to tho difliciilby a dreilgo will have in treating the,clay, intermingled with the gravel and sand, that is "scooped up bytbo buckets and pasßed through the sluice." "To dissolve, or na it. Is technically called 'to puddle' 50 cubic yards of clay daily would require n good many horse-power daily," continues Mr. Mouat, "and this is the quantity a dredge is expected to lift in an hour I" What experience, may I ask, has Mr Mouat had in puddling? and where was that experience gained P Why, 1 have in Victoria with one horse puddled as many as 80yds of stiff red clay in a day of from 10 to 12 hours; and how long, think you, would it take the Upper Waipori Alluvial Company's dredge to get. through the same quantity of stuff? Why, barely as many minutes aB the number of yards of . stuff just given I Before venturing an opinion on these matters, Mr Monat should endeavour to acquire Borne practical knowledge, and thus avoid an exhibition of! his ignorance. A visit to the dredge now at work on Waipori will morethan satisfy Mr Monat that the clay of which he writes osn be successfully and at the same time expeditious!? dealt with. " Let no-one be deceived," continues Mr M., "by the notion that because there is payable gold in one part of a flat, there must be gold all ovpr it." I can only invite Mr Mouat to visit Waipori Flat and see how the different special claims are marked out. Having worked on various parts of the flat, and also having superintended the various diversions of 1 he river in connection with the drainagechannel, I may fairly claim to have asgoodaknowledge of the " leail or run," as most people; and I need only add that the special ciaimß on the Wulpori Plai. have all been, marked off under my own direction. ForMrMouat's edification I may further state that the Waipori drainage channel, although only open some 18 months, was the means of some thousands of ounces of goM being extracted from the flat wherever the fcottom was drained. With the collapse of the channel, through insufficient protective works, the flat was practically abandoned, not because it no longer contained gold in payable quantities, but because (as I have already pointed out) the heavy inflow >f drainage water prevented ordinary claims from being worked to advantage by private enterprise. Mr Mouat'a remarks about "a gift of this whole Waipori Flat, with a score of steam dredges fully equipped for work, would be a damnom herediiai, except, indeed, anything could be got by selling the dredges" is a fitting climax to a letter evidently written to order, that fairly bristles with raisstatements and inaccuracies, and which di3plays such lamentable ignorance on the part of tho author. In conclusion, I may state that my own honest ' conviction ia that there Is no district -within the goldflelds of Otago that can at tho present time offer more legitimate or more profitable outlets for the investment of capital than Waipori; for it literally abounds in mineral wealth, capital alone being required to develop its resources. It also offers an advantage—one indeed of no small consequence—to the capitalist.tinasmuch as it 13 within easy reach of Dunedin, and thus affords an opportunity of a personal inspection, and an inquiry into the tona fides of any undertaking placed or about to be placed on tho market. Apologising for the length of this letter,-I am, &c, Waipori, May 31. Kichard Paras.