DUNSTAN.

Otago Witness, Issue 641, 12 March 1864, Page 9

DUNSTAN.

(FROM THE DAILT TIMES CORRESPONDENT.)

Bunstan, 4th March. The associated mining companies a r e getting on briskly w th their undertakings, and appear t<> bid fair towards developing our auriferous resources to some considerable extent. The people of the Dunstan have come down liberally with the one thing necessary for extensive mining operations, and should their funds be supplemented by the Government to the extent promised, viz., one hundred pounds to two hundred of privately subscribed, there is every probability that if there does exist anvtbing in the shape of an extensive lead iv ihe Flat between the two townships it stands a good chance of being found.

The Enterprise Company are now down over forty feet, the work is carried on by means of hired labor, the shareholders alone being interested in tbe success or non-success of the undertaking. The shaft is timbered with slabs of one and a-half inch Baltic pine, secured with both battens and pegj, and for better security the tops of each batten are fastened to the ground logs at the mouth of the shaft. The size of the shaft is six feet by three and a-half, to be divided down the centre when fonnd necessary. The sinking i* through a very loose shingling drift, no pick at all being required for its removal; every possible care is taken to fill up the backs of the slabs, from which the ground someiiines runs very badly before a bottom set can be put in, and every precaution is used for guarding aerainst accident. The melancholy otcuircnce at the Government shaft some seven mouths past fins made people very careful.

The " Fortuna" Association commence work forthwith, the timber arrived from Dunefiin yesterday It is of the same description and thickness as that used by ths Eaterprise Company ; the quantity on the ground i 3 sufficient to sink the thsft 75 feet, and cost including cartage as many pounds. The contract tor sinking is fifteen shillings per foot, and was accepted by Mr James Holt, a miner cf great experience, the same who, under most difficult circumstances, rescued the body of the unfortunate man who was killed in the Government Prospecting shaft; in July List.

The Pioneer Hjdrnulic Mining Company had another trial of their model in the Molyneux en Thursday morning lasf. The machine had the pumping apppra'us attached thi9 time, consequently the experiment was very interesting. The wheel revolved at a pretty good speed, but when the crank (a twelve-inch one) which drives tbe double action force pump was at its " dead point", it, did not pass so easily, in consequence of there being » great amount of friction on tho pump shaft, which difficulty will be adjusted and another trial made on Saturday. There appeals little doubt of the invention being a good one, but its merits cannot bo properly tested in the Molyneux without a deal of risk, as it is impossible to get the machine into the strong current, which is so powerful that in carrying the machine into the water the men are almost taken off their legs when but slightly immersed. Our shallow rivers, such as the Manuherikia, Fraser, or the Nevis, appear much more favorable either on a large or small scale.

The Bishop of Christchurch preached to very large and attentive congregations both on Sunday morning and in the evening. On Wednesday he again preached, and also baptised some seventeen of the natives of the Clyde.

An amateur performance took place on Monday evening, at the Victoria Theatre, on behalf of the Hospital funds ; also, for the purpose of presenting the highest scorer of the Clyde Club in the late cricket match with a bat. The performance commenced with that popular glee, " Come where my love lies dreaming," which was nicely executed by the company. AMr Crofts then sung " The death of Nelson," but this gentleman was very much out of tune, and the last verse, which is rather in a minor key. in consequence of his not being a proficient ia. music, did not go off very smoothly ; two or three songs he sang afterwards went muck better, as they were more within tho compass of 'his voice and ideas of music. Mr Fatchett sang with very great taste the " Bonnie Hills of Scotland" and " Cottage by the Sea," and was loudly applauded Mr Morrison danced the Sailors Hornpipe, a la T. P. Cooke, with much gusto, and elicited a perfect/wron? of applause. Miss Hetta Fleming and Mr C. Ellis, also the gentlemen of the band, gave their services gratuitously. During the

interval, Mr Edmonson, the spirited proprietor of the Victoria, piesented Mr W. S. Staite with a very handsome bat by Page, of Clapham. Mr Staite in a very modest speech, replied that it was the first time he had appeared in public on such an occasion, and said that his being the highest scorer was not exactly through his superior playing, but rather the result of good luck, and considered there were others in the club equally as good players as himself; in concluding his speech, he afforded the audience the following piece of information, perhaps not generally known, and which might awo be interesting to the reader. He said : That he was glad to find by the papers— he meant tho local one, the " Dunstan Times," that the ladies were t iking a great interest in cricket : he saw by that paper several matches had already been played : one was between the married and single females, in which the former were victorious; another between the single aud married, when the spinsters were victorious; and that the conquering match would soon come of}, the result of which another mail will make known. This speech, of course, created an immense amount of amusement, and nppeared rather to astonish tbe Dunstanites, who were certainly not prepared fir such a piece of information. They who enjoyed the fun mo>t were those who recollected the source from which the "top scorer" drew Ms information, which was an extract froia Lillywbite's guide relative to cricketing some seventy years ago, and had been mistaken by the speaker as the latest news from home respecting the appreciation his favorite game was held in by the fair daughters of the land from which it originated. Mr Warden Robertson then returned thanks on behalf of the hospital committee to the company and the amateurs who had so generously given their services for the occasion. The performance terminated at a rather late hour, the clear proceeds being about L 22.

7th March.

The welcome intelligence which we have received from the Lakes that the waters in the rivers there have sufficiently receded to permit once more the miners to reap the golden harvest, has been productive of a great deal of speculation as to when, if ever, we shall be in the same happy predicament. Such a result certainly appears quite natural, (specially as in quarters from whence come tbe floods that swell our rivers and prevent us possessing ourselves of the vast amount of gold which now lies deep under the Molyneux, tbe streams are so rapidly decreasing in volume that a corresponding effect must shortly be felt here, consequently the question of the river " going down" is now revived, and is as frequently discussed as ever. Of such a desirable consummation c raiDg to pass there can be little doubt. The veriest sceptic who has lately takeu the smallest pains to watch both tbe weather and tbe waters, must be thoroughly convinced that thi-i season the long and fondly looked for wish, of the mining community is likely to be realised. In our own quarter the river is falling very fast, and is much lower than at any one time during the last summer or latter part of tbe winter. For the last fortnight it has gone down regularly nearly a<foot iv the twenty-four hours, till it reached what may be called its ordinary minimum level, about the middle of last week; since which it continues to fall, but not with such rapidity, going down up to the present time four inches in the perpendicular every twenty-four hours, whioh shows yery plainly that tbe regular supply, or that which is unaffected by rain or thaws is gradually getting less and less, that in the absence of any heavy fall of rain, in a very few weeks the waters of the Molyneux will be as low as when Hartley an^l Riley first discovered gold upon its banks. Yesterday morning, as near as could be calculated by parties able to judge, a fall of seven feet perpendicular, was all that was required to place things as they were in the halycoa days of the Dunstan aud Mannheukia, and should the present fine open weather continue at the now rat. \ of falling, twenty-one days is all that is required to make every beach claim again workable. The miners in tbe near vicinity are rapidly occupying their old workings again, as well as taking up places they know from which good prospects have been obtained, also sundry heavily swashed diggers from Hamilton's and the Durstan Creek are constantly arriving and making a tour of inspection through the neighborhood of their o'd haunts where once they so long shepherded the banks of the fickle stream.

Procuring a supply of water for washing at a high level is also engaging very general attention, since the discovery of the existence of so large a detth of payable gravel along the e'ge of the river, high above the reach of the floods, and on which eventually we shall have to depend as one of our permanent sources of wealth. Sandison's party, who started a shoit time since to bring in water for this purpose from the Clyde Creek, found -they were forestalled by some people from the Manuherikia, and who had obtained a prior grant from, the Warden there. They were, of course, compelled to abandon the enterprise, but have since made application to construct a race from a creek entering the river at Rocky Point, some six miles above the Dunstan, from which they calculate they can obtain about fifteen or sixteen sluice heacta of water, as well as a sufficient Bupply for the domestic purposes of the denizens of the township.