WARDEN'S REPORT.

Otago Witness, Issue 988, 5 November 1870, Page 11

WARDEN'S REPORT.

Mr Warden Robinson, writing to the Secretary for Land and Works, under date October Ist, reports, for the quarter ending September 30th, as follows: — A very favourable season for mining operations has had its natural result in general prosperity among the miners, ; who' h'ave'Jost eoaroely any time by reason of bad weather, while they have, as a rule, always had a plentiful supply of water for sluicing.- ' No great or remarkable individual successes are to be recorded, but the profits of the miners as a body have been very satisfactory ; and, indeed, it could hardly be otherwise, for besides continuous work and plenty of water, the miner- has had 1 the ' advantage ■ of -a reduced ■ price- - per' - head ■ for 1 -, the water that ■is so eeßential to his- :Buocess. Fresh ground has been opened in several plaoes, and almost everywhere it seems to pay' for working- on a proper system. <Dhe process of sluicing has been greatly improved since first the Hogburn diggings were opened, and much ground whioh was then left as too poor to work ia found to be highly remunerative to the miner under the system of washing now in vogue: ■ Some of the Surface Hill claims hare rather disappointed the great expectations . of: their holders, bnt this has been owing ratner to the excessive expenses of working than to the poverty of the ground . ~* The town of Naseby has been considerably improved of late. Several new buildings have been lately erected, and old ones altered, and at length the streets are being properly formed with kerbing and channelling. The Naseby Water Company supplies the town, with water laid on to the' houses through 1 iron pipes, and' already the people are beginning to water the streets in front of their stores by means of flexible hose. A Fire Brigade has been organised, and the neoessary apparatus procured. While on the subject of local improvements, I may mention, also, that a brewery has been erected, and that good beer is turned out from it at- a moderate prioe as compared with the cost of a similar article if brought from Dunedin. The same remarks as I have made about mining at Naseby will apply to most other parts of the distriot — St. Bathans, the Kyeburn, Hamilton, Hyde, and Macraes, have all felt the benefit of an open season. . • . At Hyde the system of acre claims has long prevailed, but the miners are not all satisfied even with an aore a man, and the tendency is towards a general adoption of the mining lease system. This is to be aooonnted for partly by the great expense of working ; the ground as a rule being deep and liable to great slips,- which render it almost impossible to work small claims profitably. It is alse felt that -the tenure by lease is more secure than that by olaime nnder the rules, and that mining properties so held have a better market value. The reef workings at Macraes have not made the progress that might reasonably have been expected. This is te be attributed to the short supply of coal at the engine of the Duke of Edinburgh Company. The Company have been depending upon Shag Point for their supplies of fuel, and during the winter the roads were so bad that it was impossible to get a sufficient quantity to keep the machinery going. Latterly the Company's manager made the discovery of a good seam of lignite within about four miles of the claim, and it is expeoted that this will prove a great assistance, and that there will be but little danger of the works being again stopped for want of fuel. A new reef has lately been reported as having been discovered at the Stoneburn, not far from Maoraes. It would seem that all the hills in the neighbourhood are permeated by a net work of reefs. The inhabitants of Macraes township are evidently satisfied that the reefs must soon begin to yield profits, for they have of late been busily improving their premises. . It is reported that the quartz crushing machinery at the Rough Ridge has been sold to a Bendigo Gully Company. It is a matter of regret that the Rough' Ridge Company should have sold this machinery for removal. The want of a crushing machine cannot fail to be severely felt in the distriot, and it is to be feared that it will operate as » oheok upon prospecting enterprise. The Rough Ridge Company have apparently not been able to work their own mine to profit, but it is more than probable that tome of the many other reefs known to exist ftnd but slightly prospected, in th,9 vicinity,

The fluming of the BlaokstoneiHill Water Race 1 , near Bill'c Creek', long a conspicuous object in the landscape, has recently . been taken down. The proprietor, Mr Johnston, found that the "Live, and Let Live". Race, whioh has lately become his property, would supply all his customers at the Woolshed, &0., -and therefore decided to, use the Blackstone Eaoe water elsewhere.) . ■>■ ;• The Marewhenua diggings -have not yet begun to be .worked on any. extensive scale, as the great races have not yot brought in the waters of the main rivers. ; All the water as yet: available for slnioing is that of the smaller streamlets, for whioh little races have been' made, or that, have been pioked up in the bourse of constructing the larger raoes. The Work of making 'these raoes has proved more troublesome 7 and costly than was at first anticipated > .by their .-projectors, 1 ..- but; when once) they are finished, they iwill bring. in large and regular supplies of water, for whioh a ready market will at once be found.-. Then will a season of prosperity commence for the Marewhenua, • but until then no progress of any consequence can be expected. The works at the Otekaike reef are in a forward state. A fine race has been cut in from tbe Otekaike river to work the machinery by water power, and a ,road has been made. It only remains for the machinery to be erected, and then the reef will get a really fair' trial. ° Most of the machinery ia already in- Oamiaru, and * it ' is expected that the whole will very soon be at the mine. ' ' " '- * " • From some tables appended to the Report we obtain the following information :—'-''/": — '-' '/ " The total number of miners in the various divisions of the district is 1710, of whom 1415 are Europeans, and 295 Chinese. ' 1335 of the Europeans and all the. Chinese are engaged in alluvial mining, and' the remaining 80 Europeans in quartz mining. .'The machinery used by the alluvial miners comprises 110 hydraulic hosesi 1 pump, and 171 sluice-boxes. L The quartz miners use 2 steam-engines of 28 aggregate horse-power, 3 crushing machines with 24 stamp heads,' and 1 water- wheel* .' The' approximate value 'of all the mining plant in the district is L 5535. There are also 117 water-races, carrying 366 sluice-heads, and valued at L 77.531 j 162 tail-races, or gronnd sluiceß, valued "at L 29.54 5; and 89 dams and reservoirs, valued at L 13.657. The number of square miles of auriferous ground actually worked upon is 39, and the price of gold is L 3 15s ' per' ounce. The weekly rate of wages for miners lsL3.< • -■ <-•■ • - -■ ' '- ■•- '"■ '