MINING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9511, 20 August 1892, Page 5 (Supplement)

MINING.

COAL ISLAND AND MAINLAND, PRESERVATION INLET.

NOTES FROM WAIPORI. (From Our Own Correspondent.) August 15.—The winter which is now almost over has been one exceptionally favourable to miners, especially those working in the higher gullies of the ranges. There have been no falls of snow sufficiently heavy to drive them to the lower '"■round, and but little frost to tie up their water supply. Consequently there have been a good many diggers continously nt work on the Lammerlaw and Deep Stream basins, and one or two parties have had more than average returns. In the Deep Lead claim tho second paddock lias been pretty well ' stripped of the top stuff, and is sunk 'about 3Sft or half ■way to the bottom. Some of the local shareholders are inclined to be a little impatient at the slow rate at which they think the loose top gravel has been got rid of; but this kind of working, and that in this claim especially, presents features of difficulty that are not' apt to be appreciated except by experts or those actually engaged in the work. The storage dam has been of valuable assistance to the management ever since its construction, work having been suspended for about two days only, through want of water, during all that time. Two ejectors aud elevating apparatus are in position in the paddock, but one only is at present working, the other being idle through delay in the arrival of some additional lengths of requisite piping. It may not be generally known that this claim presents the instance of the deepest ground worked on the principle of hydraulic elevation in any goldficld in New Zealand or elsewhere. The distance from the bottom to the box head in the last paddock was between 70ft and SOft, while the ratio of pressure to height of lift is much less than that in many other of the claims in the colony worked by the same means, it being only about 5 to 1. It has taken all the fine weather we have enjoyed for several weeks past to render the roads between here and Lawrence barely passable for. heavy traffic. They have never been in such a wretched condition since their construction, and they have never.been so much required as during this winter. As a consequence some of the dredges on the Waipori Flat have been idle more than once for want of fuel. If this state of things is allowed to occur another winter it will be a lasting disgrace to the Tuapeka County Council, for it is to the culpable indifference of that body to the interests aud requirements of the Waipori district that the wretched state of the main roads in this part of the country is due.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) August 12.— Slowly Coal Island is getting divested of its pristine glory. The stove there, having changed hands, has been removed to Observation Point, mainland, at the foot of the track leading to No. 1 Sealers and the upper Wilson. Mr F. M'Kenzie, the new proprietor, promises great reductions in prices. Hitherto most of the miners have been getting their goods from Dunedin or Invercargill. So far we have been able to rub along without a public house or even a shanty. Now, however, Messrs Bungs and Co are hawking about for signature a petition to his Excellency the Governor praying him to proclaim this a district for the sale of fermented and spirituous liquors. We have now two stores and are likely to have two public houses, so that we are going ahead. Accommodation houses are certainly a desideratum, but why cannot they be conducted without the liquor traffic ? Tilinino.—ln mining matters there is nothing fresh from Coal Island. Only 10 miners are left there all told, and none of them have been doing anything to speak of since my last report. No. 1 Sealers, Tresseder and party, are still doing well while a few new arrivals are trying the creek lower down where it was deserted at the ' first rush to the Wilson. A few miners are prospecting in the little gullies running into the inlet, while others are out beyond the Wilson on the Coalburn, Iliwiburn, and Goldburu, as well as in other directions, so that, this summer ought to give this quarter a fair trial. The Govehnjient Track.—This affair is a terrible eyesore. A surveyor from Wellington and five men have beeu for about 10 months laying out a track to the Wilson, about 10 miles, and it is not fit yet even for foot passengers without swags. It is likely to rival the Otago Central in red tape and waste of time and money—on a much lower scale of course. Were this track pushed forward with energy to the Waiau it would in all probability open up a large goldh'eld which would give a stimulus to Southland and Otago. The Wilson. —During flood time some of the miners have turned their attention to the terraces, and in several instances with fairly good prospects. They are likely to be better lower down, as the terraces are more regular and better formed. The late spell of fine weather has enabled the miners to give this river a very good trial, with the result that several parties have done exceedingly well—especially Ileffernan and party and Macaloney's. None of the prospectors have done any good so far. ,