MISCELLANEOUS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1858, 1 July 1887, Page 12

MISCELLANEOUS.

A private letter has been received in town from Mr J. C. Brown, M.H.R., who is at present in London, stating that he has eueceeded in floating the Blue Spur claims and tailings property, the purchasers being a London syndicate " composed of some of iha best meo in the city." The purchase money is to be paid as soon as a cable report on the mine is received at Home Mr O. S. Reeves, who is also iv London on a similar mission in connection with Cromwell mining property, has also written that he is making good progress with the work, and iU successful completion may be expected shortly.

An electrical machine intended for the use of the United Alpine Company at the Lyall was testet? in Messrs R. S. Sparrow and Co.'s foundry ■ last night- with excellent results. Mr Walter! Prince, the well-known electrician, undertook a j contract with the company for the transmission ' of ten-horse power a distance of a mile and ; a-half, to work an air- compressor, and for this purpose he ordered from Home the machine tested on the 23rd, The air-compressor manufactured by Messrs #p*rrow has been kept back in Dunedin in order thai ife should be tried with the electrical apparatus .under actual working conditions. At the mine jtfee tunnel where boring is to be carried on is .ove? » mile from the present battery, and the powejr will be transmitted from the dynamo-electric machine placed in the battery to the motor and .air' compressor at the tunnel. In order to actually represent this distan.ee of transmission, iron •wire resistance was used on Thursday evening equivalent to a canductor at least a mile and a-half in length. The result under these conditions indicated that the machine was capable of transmitting considerably more than the tenhorse power required, as the air'Compxessor, which was gauged to 501b pressure, was blowing off nearly the whole time. Mr W. N. Blair, who with other gentlemen witnessed the expertjment, was thoroughly convinced of the isipacity of the machine, and the Alpine Comt p»uy will find themselves supplied with • a ■retfiwkably serviceable motive power. »Qik Reefton correspondent in his telegrams •informg us that a special meeting of shareholders *in. the mine has been called to rCoasMer the advisability of winding up the l mine andselUng the property to a company to t-be floated in; London. Mr W. Watson has received a telegram/foom the legal manager stating rthat the conditions, 09. which the mine is to be rsold are — that an English company is formed vTritfc a capital pf .iIOPjOPP^^OOO shares of £5

each ; the amount to be paid is to be £50,000 in cash and £25,000 in shares with £3 15s paid up, which would be equal to one-third of the shares.

Conflicting news continues to be received from Kimberley. A Southlander writing from Perth, W.A., under date May 18, says:— "We are getting some horrible accounts from Kimberley jußt now. They have plenty of water but no gold ; the rivers are flooded, so that there is no communication with the township. Mr Price (warden) wrote a letter which was published in the papers here, in which he says that they are overtaken by all sorts of calamities and, are starving.. He also says that the Government will have to remove some of the people as they cannot help themselves, and he fears that some outrages will be committed by the men in their present state of mind. A large number have died on the field."

A ton and a-half of picked specimens from the .Royal Oak claim at Coromandel (Auckland) yielded 116oz gold last week. The Lake County Press says that Mr W. Sutherland, of Bannockburn, is making 1236 ft of 9»n pipes for Halliday and party (Criffel) for sluicing purposes. The Garibaldi Hydraulic Sluicing Company is a new venture being promoted at Mount Ida for the purpose of acquiring and working, on the most approved principles, a claim of 10 acres situate at Garibaldi, whence a large quantity of gold has been obtained in past times.

, The Cambrians correspondent of the Mount Ida Chronicle writes :—": — " We have had grand weather in this neighbourhood for sluicing, there being plenty of water and no frost. Our friends at Shepherd's Hut Flat and Vinegar Hill are taking advantage of it, and washing' up — I hear with good expectations."