LATEST FROM THE DUNSTAN.

Otago Witness, Issue 657, 2 July 1864, Page 11

LATEST FROM THE DUNSTAN.

(from the dailt times oorrbspondkot.) 28th June. The weather still oontinnes very severe, and to all appearance, a long duration of sharp frosty weather has set in. The river is falling rapidly, and in a very few days will be as low again e» ever. Business is rather dull, but everybody is hopeful,' as the chances of the river, beintc down are well nigh a dead certainty. Mr X Mather, by public auction, on Monday last, disposed of hi 3 stock ; it consisted of wines, spirits, and groceries. The prices realised were as follows . - Draught sherry, 7s 6d per gal ; port, 6s 6d ; whisky, 16s ; rum. 12* ; brandy, pale, Otard's, 60s ; Pease's claret, 21s ; porter, Byana'a. per dozen, 150 do ale, 10s; tea. congou, L 4 7s 6d per half-chest; Sinclair's bacon, Is 2J4 per lb; tobacco, 4s 6J ; coffee. Is 21; potatoes, 3d per lb ; kerosene, 6s 6>l per gallon. Mr Surveyor Coates gives a lecture on Thursday eveniug. for the benefit of the Church Fund. The subject will be '' Geology and its Practical uses." Prom the well-known ability of the lecturer, there is little doubt but that the lecture will be highly instructive.

The c 'al pit is once more yielding a supply of the precious fu«l. A. aolendid seam was struck in the new sh.ift yesterday.

MANUHERIKU.

The continued falling of the river has a most beneficial effect upon the commercial interests of this townuhip. Population ia once more seeking this favorite district, and settling along the banks of the M olyneux. Deserted claims are again reoccupied ; and, with the present favorable aspect of the weather, there can be lit.tle douDt but that a season of prosperity is before the large number of tradespeople who have si long and s * patiently watched for the coming of better times. The river still keeps decreasing in volume. On the night cf Saturday last, thero was a rise of about nine inches, consequent upon a slight fall of rain ; but on Sunday the water subsided again to its old level ; and. doubtless, by the end of the present week, it will be as low as at any period siuce the winter of 1862. A large number of claims have commenced work agiin in earnest The halfmile beach is as lively as ever ; and those claims that have been cleared from the debris of the last flood are yielding: equally as well as before ; besides, »bout half-a-d< zen fresh claims have been started \t the point opposite the township, great activity prevails mining operations being carried on on a scale of magnitude not hitherto attempted in this district This long-neglejteil piece of ground is about a quirter of a mile in lencth by a depth of 150 to 200 feet. It has doubtless at one time been the sito of the ancient river, hut through causes unexplainable at presi-nt there now exists in its place a huge sandbank, abutting immediately on a rocky precipice and the current ot water which oritfinaily flowed there has been diverted considerably towards the shore at the Manuherikia Juiction. Till vrry lately this was always considered as "duffer ground." as .scarcely any gold could be obtained > in the bcaeh, but when the river rose last timn ibe attention of the miners was attracted further into the bank, and an exten ive layer of highly rumteiougravel was speedily struck. There are uhout fiftren frontage cfairas and nearly as many back ones in this particular point of level, but the baclc claims cannot be wrought till such times as those in front are worked out and abandoned. Tn a few cases the two parties have amalgamated, but that laudable system has not yet generally been, adopted. Three of these claims are in fine working order, viz , the Fr°nchman's, Oarr's, and another, and are each yielding from twenty, to twenty four ounces of gold per day ; the depth of washdirt is about five feet thick, from whioh prospects will average a pennyweight to the shovelful. The stripping is from eighty to a hundred feet, and necessarily entails a large expenditure for hired labor, but as the yield of gold is so large, the amount paid for wages becomes an insignificant item. Bacb of these claims are kept drained by means of a very large Californian pump, driven by an overshot wheel ten feet in diameter by two in breadth, supplied with water from a race cut on the top of the high bank, the wheels being inserted in a sort of a ledge cut for the purpose. In consequence of the height of the bank, the distance from the wheels to the pumps is about one hundred feet, the power being applied by means of an endless band of rope passing over a drum attached to the Bhaft of the water-wheil, communicating to another on the Californian pump. In the Frenchman's claim they are about discontinuing the use of the Californian pump, and intend using a more perfect elevator, believing that with a system of buckets, there will be less loss of power than by the present plan cf floats ; besides, with this mean«, the carrying capacity of the elevator can be considerably increased. After the water has passed over the wheel, it descends a long hose into the sluice-boxes, through which every bit of the dirt passes from the surface to the bed rock, and what gold there is, is thoroughly extracted ; at the same time the top stuff is not put through the boxes lor the sake of obtaining the small modicum of gold which it contains, but from the fact ot its being the easiest way of clearing it oft the claim, and it gets discharged into the river by a much quicker process than when it was conveyed thence by manual labor. Mr Brown's newly-Invented current wheel is to be placed in the Molyneux, opposite to one of the claims here,' when, should the experiment be as suooessfdl as it promises, the machine will be the means of thoroughly revolutlonUing the whole

system of workings on the banks of the riv<v, and hundreds of claims that atpresent itisalmosthopeless to think of working will, by its application, be made to give up the gold they contain. Not that the principle of races will become obsoleteas no better means of cheaply conducting water can be found; but so large is the area of ground available for sluiein? operations, that without the help of machinery but a very amall proportion can ever be wrought. rTu c £ ood race and dam for diverting the course ot the Manorburn is now complete. The race was fini-hed, or rather said to be so, on Tuesday last, but upon being examined by Mr Surveyor Coates, i w ? 8 . fonnd not t0 hive been cut to its required depth by fourteen inches, when he very properly refuse Ito pass the work With much reluctance the men deepened it to its »equired level, and oa Saturday Mr Coates certified that the work had been properly performed. ur^D l^ 68 '*"16" 16 Ma nnherikia have presented Mrs B. Wonh with a very handsome goldwstcb, valued at twenty guineas, on tke occasion of her leaving Alexandra for Queenstown. Mis Worth has long been a resident on the Manuherikia, and was most deservedly and universally respected. Througn her instrumentality was established :h» Sunday and day schools, both of which are in » most floun>hing condition. For the latter a very commodious stone building is in course of erection, and which will be the moat complete of its kind on the gold fields. , * man died suddenly in the Old Man, Campbell's Gully side, on Friday last. The deceased 1 , in company wtth some other men was engaged cutting a horee track fora packer named Brown. While thus employed he complained of cold, and was unable to work. His mates left him for a short time for the purpose of preparing him some warm tea, but upon their return thuy found him dead.