MISCELLANEOUS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1957, 23 May 1889, Page 12

MISCELLANEOUS.

The following items are frorci the Queenslander : — The Iguana p.o. Croydon, has crushed 660 tons for a yield of 27270z gold, and the Waterfall p.c. 578 tons for 5260z gold.— The manager of the Baker's Creek Gold Mining Company, at Hillgrove, reports' having obtained 11450z gold from 100 tons of stone taken from Smith's reef.— No. 1 North Glanraire have had their regular monthly washing up, and another excellent yield is again the result; The quantity of stone rained- and crushed during the period was 1216 tons, for a return of* 37020z 17dwt 18gr smelted gold, and from the ■ money proceeds the directors have been able to declare a dividend of 10s per share, equal to £12,000. In the underground workings the faces generally upon the Great Eastern reef oontinuo to show rioh or payable stone with a good body of crushing stuff, so that there is not any likelihood ot a decrease in the output of stone for somn time to come. . At fWaipspa the various claims are busy at • work. The Dre-Jge Company is steadily progressing aod getting gold, in what quantities will not be known until cleaning up. Mr Welman in expected soon; he has been away to the West Coast erecting machinery there, and when he arrives he will, according to agreement, hand, over the plant to the company, his responsibility ceasing. I (Forrrose correspondent Southland Times) hear that the working staff is to be increased, and work will so on night and day when practicable, Butler and party have completed

5 their w«ter«raoe,' It hat been & long tnd arduous • undertaking, but now that it is done they will ; reap the fewarti of their enterprise! They have , many yea»*' work before thetoj and" from, pros- | pe6tß obtained the Tftlitute is likely to fdrnisha i competency. . , >•< *•< f <<■ -<i : ,Mr Hiclfton) legal manager m .thfc Golden Gaily Company; Serpentine, who visited Serpentine 1 officially last week, informs us (Mount Ida Chronicle) that while there he thoroughly inspected every portion. 'of themindj and was very pleasod with all he saw. Besides the main pass to the shaft, which is up over 40ft., the minpmanagfr'haa. .put up , two other rises , from th« low lerel.both being at the date of his visit up about 40fk and in aU.thtee. rises there iii a fair-aiSed reef allowing good gold. The reef is e&ailest m the main pass, but .the mine manager says it is improving in. size as he rises on it, and as this is tb« key to ;the position it is very satisfactory to find a reef there at all. In : the otb,er risesthe reef is of a very respectable tuso, and undoubtedly good quality. The country seems : tp have got jumbled in some manner' in the vicinity of the/main pass, which will aticount for the difierencs jjn the sile of the reef there. The muifc m^iiagbr ., was instructed. to take men froift the other irises and put, all big available energy oh; to the main pass., with a view to get-, ting' it through as early as possible. Judging from the rate of rising to, the present, and allowing for,, extra ipeed by increased, 'labour, it •hould .reach the foot of the shaft within a month from date. In the main shafts the water is sinkiof slowly, And^wA* surprising t£ bate how smaU an impression was made upon the, reef hef eHy Mr Turnb u Hr there being only one small drive to the east about 40ft, while the , westward side ia untouched to the surface. At the, Uyml , of the water the reef is looking extremely well, being about 15in wide, while, as we know, at the bottom of the shaft it is between 2ft and 3ffc. On the wh,ole, Mr Hickson nays, he is confident that, once the company erects a battery and commence crushing in earnest on compietion ] of^the main pass, there is years' of remunerative work before the company from stone which is in work before; the company froib stone which is In j sight. , Great Credit is due to the mine manager, I Mr Bennetts, for the apple-pie order in which he keeps ,the whole mine. Our Millers' Flat correspondent informs us (Tu'apeka Times j that the' Island Block Gold Mining Company are making good progress with the construction of their water-race, 1 whicti' will 'be a really first-class 'piece ,of work Large ' quantities of pipes still continue to arrive daily for the company, who must have expended a small fortune in pipes alone, to Say' nothing of the cost of getting them delivered on the ground and afterwards placed in position. Everything in' connection with the company's operations so far bear the impress of thoroughness, and it must he the' sincere wish of everyone interested in the welfare of the mining industry that their most sanguine anticipations in regard tc the ' value of 'their property will be more than realised. An extensive enterprise like this deserves to meet with the fullest encouragement oh every hand. According ' to the Taieri Advocate, the Nenthorn reefrt were discovered quite 1 aoci'dently. McMillan, the discoverer, was, so the story goes, sitting on a rook eating' his dinner when he 1 aocidently picked up a piece of stone and examined it closely. He 'sa* the colour and commenced fossicking, and in a few hours recognised that he had made a discovery. He made tracks lor Berwick, where he secured mates* and since then* as our readers know, some splendid reefs Haye 1 been discovered. It is eaid of McMillan that' he was bom in a yea* when some great gold discoveries were made* and he has always entertained the idea that ho was born to make some big gold discovery. It looks as if ' his idea was in a fair way of fulfilment. The Wedderburn correspondent of the Melbourne Argus telegraphs :—A large- nugget, weighing about 336ozand £1360, was discovered at a place known as Hughes' Dam, 'Possum Point, near the township. • The luoky finder is an Austrian' named Costa Clovich, , a recent arrival. . The nugget was on view at the meeting of the l Korongshire Council, and' was eubsequently lodged at the' Bank of Australasia. The discovery has created quite a furore of 6xcitement in the township, as the lead appears to be' a distinct one, and is likely to be traced from the vicinity of the old workings in outirely new ground, which has been pegged off fotf » long 1 distance. ; There is great excitement over a rich find of alluvial gold on the Hokitika borough boundary iou the south side of thd river. The gold has been found on private prbperty. The extent of 1 the lead is not yet known. 1 A Hokitika telegram states 1 that tbe Mont dOr washed up 4130z;' Valued 'at £1590.' A 'dividend of 2s a share has been declared. The mining manager reported that the same high rate of yield might be' expected for a long time. ' ; The Tuapeka Times states that the Nelson,' Perseverance, and the Great 1 Extended Companies, have intimated to the local' directors of the Blue Spur and Gabriel Gully Consolidated Gold Company that they have determined to resume possession of their claim*, owing to the i balance of the 1 money on mortgage not having been paid according to agreement.. The final payments were made on Wednesday ' to the Tailings, the OtagOi and * the Tuapeka Water Race Companies. The money was 1 advanced through the 'agency of tbe Colonial Bank, in whose favour deeds have been' drawn out. ■ The ' position' now is' 'that the bank holds 'an security the' Tailings Company's property for an advance of less than £3000, the Otago Company's mine foran advance of about £1400, 'land the Tuapeka Water Race for about the lastriamed'sum. It will be remembered that the Consolidated Gold Company about 12 months ago paid the difference in the stipulated price as a first instalment. The same paper states that Captain Pearse did not on Monday bring with him the cash that was promised the owners of the O.P.Q. mines, though he assured them that, everything would work out all right in the course 6f 'a month or two. The miners,' apparently, were well satisfied with the captain's ' statement. Captain ■ Pearse left for London, via Melbourne, on Friday, having been entrusted with the disposal of two or three New Zealand mining properties in London, as well as a large tin mining property in Tasmania. i ' A much more modest attempt than that outlined in Sir J. Vogel's novel is about to be- made to get at the gold in the bed of the Kawarau, Mr Warden Hickson haying granted the application of Mr W. T. Sorimgeour for the right to construct a tunnel to divert the river at Victoria bridge. Mr H. B. Smith; agent for appli6ant, stated the estimated cost of the proposed tunnel to be £40,000; ifcs length, 45 chains; and the time of construction, two years ; but that nin«' months would be taken up in getting necessary machinery from England to be used in putting the tunnel through. Application will be made in the meantime to have the right protected. The Lake County Press says :— lt is currently reported that Mr W. J. Farrell nas succeeded in floating the. new company in London to work the Premier mine, Macetown. ' .

, A Fair, Beautiful Skin. — Sulpholine Soap gives the natural tint and peaoh-like Bloom of a perfect complexion, makes the Skin smooth, supple, healthy, comfortable.— 6d Tablet*, Everywhere

: EXHIBITION NEWS. At a meeting of the Christchurch local fcomm'ittee, Mr Mitchell, the treasurer, reported thai since" 6b'e, last meeting he. held' received a cheque for, £100 from Mr Stead"* and two cheques for £25 each from Mr P. < 'unnipgnam and Mrs Cunningham ; Messrs Miles and Co. had promised a donation of £50; the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency, Company and Messrs Dalgety and Co. had promised £25, each, and Messrs Kaye and Carter had promised £20. He had also received some smaller ataqunts. ' Evidently the ChristchuVch commiitee ffleali b'ii&ltiedsi find unless Dunedin makes a special effort we shall suffer in comparison. „ r ' ,' ' " ' " ' At a meeting of Wallace County Council it , was resolved to apply for a bay at the exhibition^'and the members formed themselves .into a committee to procure exhibits. , The Rev. Father Lynch has, at the request of the Educational Committee, with the'consent bf the executive, been invited'to join that committee. The Agricultural and Pastoral Committee are preparing schedules for the. wool,, grain, and wine sections, as well as for dairy produce, whibh 'latter department, it is contemplated, will include* ia" 'mode} dairy, in all 1 its 'branches. At the Melbourne Exhlbifcitiu the working dairy was a great success, and enough .butter could not be manufactured to meet the demand. * ' The plaps for the fernery, which' is to be 57ft 6in by l3oft,have beea approved o,f by the Gardens, Committee, and Mr Hislop, the architect, is preparing .specifications' in .order that tenders may be called for its erection. > A' temporary fernhouae has been erected in' the Dunedin Iron and Woodware Company's old premises, whefe the gardener is preparing the plants for the ferher'y. Any donations of plants for the fernery or gardens wljl now be gladly received. Ten cases of plants' from the West Coast Sounds, colleoted by Captain Steal, of the Stella, have come to hand, and are being potted and prepared. Letters received from Sydney Ultimate that the Department of Mines, Department of Eriu» cation, and Technical and Technological Colleges wish to be represented at the New Zealand Exhibition, and that the New South Wales Government will probably grant a sum of money (£2000) to defray expense?. The AngloAustralian collection of fine art works, now qn view in, Sydney, has been secured' for the Dunedin Exhibition. ; Captain Sommerville has already set to work $o bring under the notice of Australian shootists the rifle meeting to be held in Dunedin in connection with the exhibition. At a meeting of the Tasmanian Rifie Association, held last week, a letter was read from the chairman of the New Zealand Rifle Association notifying that there would .be a jubilee rifie meeting held in Dunedin in December next, at which £2500 would be offered in prizes open to the world. An intercolonial teams match will then be held, the first prize to be a handsome challenge shield and £100. ' The Grey Valley Coal Company and the Westport Coal Company have eaoh guaranteed £50 to the exhibition fund. ' The Victoria Insurance Company have taken £50 tfbrth of advertising space. : The following applications for new shares have been received :— George Esther, £10; 8. G. Smith, £10; M'Gregor B. Wright, £5 ; Archdeacon Edwards, £5; Andrew Maxwell, £5. Guarautee.fund:,- George Wright (Roslyn), £5; Ba.sil Sievwright, £25 ; George Esther, £25 ; W. Gregg and fo M £30. . Mr H. C. Field, of Wanganui, has sent down a supply of ferns for the Exhibition Gardons. Mr John Roberts, president, and Mr R. E. N. Twopony, 'executive -commissioner, appear to have been successful in their tour of the Otago Central districts' in exciting interest in the exhibition, At Naseby they were well received and were able to give a good deal of information bo the local committee formed. At Clyde they attended the meeting called, to, -ol.ee t- two delegates to the General Committee for the county, and to appoint a local committee. Mr John Roberts, in his address, said from what he could see there would be no lack of enthusiasm at Clyde. After pointing out what the local committees could do, he | urged that they should apply only for such space !as they could fill. It- had been found that the space required would be nearly double that at first proposed. Victoria had appointed a commissioner to represent that colony, and it was generally, understood .that New South Wales would do so likewise. Victoria was going to take as much space ai was at first thought would supply all demands. The encouragement the Executive Committee' was receiving was gratifying in the extreme. It was expected at first to 'have five acres of garden, but they found that .they would have \>6 build upon three of the^e. The plan of the building first proposed was a hollow square, but they would have to build 'annexes inside. They purposed divjding these annexes into provinces, each- provipceto be divided into, counties. This, he thought, would .be an excellent plan, as strangers passing along ; would see at a glance, the products of each province, as also of each separate county. They ! purposed asking .exhibitors in ' grain, and minerals for duplicates of their exhibits, for it was intended to form a grain .trophy, as also a 'Mines, court. As to the mode of exhibiting, j that would 'be left to the committees themselves. <As far as he could see, no part of the country was like that district for grain producing—especially wheat and barley. Butter and cheese should form one of the < main exhibits of the district, while he was particularly. anxious that the fruit of the district would be conspicuous. It was expected that the supply bf fruit would be replenished twice a week during the season, so that it would always be fresh. Mr Twopeny, by request, also addressed the meeting. Replying to questions, Mr Roberts said grain exhibits must be in before the opening on November 26. Arrangements re wool and fruit would be made later on.' > It was expected bushel bags would be the medium adopted for grain exhibits. • Mr John Roberts, the president of the Exhibition Commissioner?, and Mr R. E. N. Two* peny, Executive Commissioner, retnrned to Dunedin on Monday after a tour of the Central Otago districts. They met the mayor and local committee at Naseby, attended and addressed a, public meeting at Clyde, and interviewed the Mayors of Alexandra, Roxburgh, and Lawrence, during their tour. In each place they found that •

good deal of interest is taiog taken in the- cxhlt bition, and everywhere there is a disposition to display to advantage the varied products of the district. Local committees have been »p. pointed mmostlof the districts to raise funds and prootfre exhibits. . r. , ; Satisfactory progress is being made with ths exhibition btisldiags. Jn the No, 2 contract foe annexes the side walk of 10 of the, bays. are up, In two days theywill.be ready for iroofing, an<| as' soon as that is done the work cam be pros*. cdted in all weathers, so that there will be no difficulty in pushing the work on. The plans" for the' fine art gallery, a fire, proof building, have been finished, and .were for* warded to Wellington on Wednesday for ths approval bf his Excellency the Governor, who represents the British loan collection. • As soon as the plans have been approved of the building will be proceeded with* • <'- ' The applications for space are coming in very freely, so that, in .the veily important matter of exhibits a.veryja^enieasure 'of „6access is assured. •. ,V •',''.-".' • i ; . ,■ v A large number of ferns are. being* housed in [the ruins of the the I 'New Zealand Woodware ; C6mpany's old "premises, which haye 1 been con-. verted into' a temporary fernery. , ThVis'dona under tile of the Gardens .Committee, so. as to have suitable materials > at hand, Wherever it can be managed 1 preparations are being made sim.ultanflOßuly, so that .there may be ultimately neither undue haste nor vexatious delay. ' ' . Applications for shares are received occasion* ally, and, probably a, gopd many, will be taken up by people to whom direct appeal has not been made. The last applicant is the Rev. Father Lynch, who has taken five shares. f> - . • There is a probability of Messrs Duncan and Fraser's electric tramefcr running in the exhibi» tion, an offer having bpen received by Wednea* day's mail from Melbourne. At a meeting of the Invercargill Chamber of Commerce those present were appointed: a com* ittee .to supersede that formed in December ia connection with the New Zealand Exhibition, to take steps to have, Southland represented.