Notes from the Arrow River. (From a Correspondent )

Otago Witness, Issue 1974, 19 September 1889, Page 12

Notes from the Arrow River. (From a Correspondent )

Arrow Bivbr, September 14. Now that the unprecedented severity of the winter is past, mining has again resnmed its usual swing. The Arrow Falls Company have started to proceed with their tunnel. Scoles and Morgan are busy with their hydraulic. The last Chance Company a few weeks ago uttered a dj ing groan by surveying a tunnel to drain the water in their claim into Lake Hayes, but it v, as found to be impracticable. To procure tha immense deposits of gold in that claim is a puzzler. Mining on the river generally with " hatters " or small syndicates is as dead as a door nail. The man who now chooses it for Jilb profession must possess threa grest Christian virtues - viz,, long-suffering, patience and perseverance. In the Wakatipu district;, with few exceptions, almost every place where it was possible or impossible to get a pennyweight of gold has been fossicked and refossicked.

But these great tail races or sluices— the Shotover and Kawarau— still remains to be washed up. The question has always been how to overcome the great natural disadvantages. It is contended that the present course of the Kawarau is of recent date, caused by a crack or fissure through the Pisa and Nevis chain of mountains. It was proposed to construct a huge tunnel to turn it into its original channel and then wash up this great (ail race. At the same time this would have inundated a large tract of fertile country that produces wheat In abundance. The scheme was vast, incomprehensible, and the theme of the novelist. The problem how to wash up this great tail rare is now being solved by another means - that of dredging. Strange that such a simple expedient was never thought of before, for dredging is by no meaua a new industry in New Zealand, nor one whose success haa hitherto caused a panic— it having been exceptional.

But it has received an impetus from the success of Sew Hoy's dredge on the Big Beach, Shotover, both by the production of gold and the rise in the value of shares. The ground that this dredge is operating on was known to De exceedingly rich; and from time to time futile attempts have been made to get at it. By success and the force of example, pegging has been carried on to an alarming extent. Every river and creek, even the Boiled Dog, are pegged off for dredging purposes. Places that were poor have suddenly become rich. On the banks of the rivers handsome wages can now be made where men lingered on in starvation. The great question which agitates the public mind in the pegging districts is will they float ?— not the dredges, but the claims. .It would be entirely out of place and injurious to the interests of the pegging districts to agitate the question, Will they pay ?— will the capital spent be productive ? Why talk of unproductive labour in a productive country like New Zealand ? Why should promoters trouble about these questions P For a few shillings the immense wealth in their olaims can be stated in choice English in their prospectuses ; so that investors can be referred to these useful documents. It is to be hoped that the most likely claims may be floated, and that the dredges may do more than form bubbles to float dawn the stream and burst. A brighter day may now be truly Baid to be dawning on mining.