MISCELLANEOUS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2014, 29 September 1892, Page 14

MISCELLANEOUS.

A doleful account of the Preservation Inlet diggings is given by" a correspondent ot tne Western Star. He. says :-" Atlk'Namara'a and Sealer's creeks a little gold is being got; but in many cases there is not sufficient of the precious metal to pay the working and feeding expenses of the miners. The place is not an encouragmg one for men who have no means, or even tor those who have means. There are great hardships to encounter and a great, deal oiviohpecting to be done before it is possible to settle clown to steady work. There are plenty of terraces about. * Up tq. the present they have proved not worth the trouble expended on them. In conclusion I would warn intending parties from being led astray by glowing reports ; , lhe field is nothing but a poor man's diggings, and^ic is as rough a place as anyone could »»«»». There is a considerable amount of untruth^bout this, for we are in a position to know jfoat a . laige quantity of gold has come from the field, and that several parties have done extremely well. No doubt there is plecty of hard work to do^anj [this is what seems to trouble the . eorre^r^ni of the Star If cold was lying about on the 6urtace waiting to be baggedf tlie field would be rushed "Sand £ anfthen he would still complain, for, in the hunt after the precious metal, he would be left lagging hopelessly in the rear. The Upper Vaikaia correspondent of the Mataura Ensign writes on the 15th :— i nere are only two claims on the river or terraces that are paying : all the others are barely making their tucker ; still they are hanging on expecting somethine better. The Waikaia river is the great field of attraction. Some of the great claims at the Teviot are nearly worked out, so that tnc miners arc looking out for fresh fields.. We .had two arrivals from the Teviot last week and they have taken up a claim in the river opposite JVlr A. M'Leod's house, and another claim known as M'Do well's old claim hns been taken up by a party of miners from tho same locality. Ihere hafa been nothing doing all the winter at Potter s

or Campbell's. The most of those working there go to the Teviot and get work, while others go rabbiting." Mr Charles Nicolson,.jun., has been appointed manager of the Island Block "Extended Company s mine. . , . For two weeks past (says the Temuba Leader) two gold diggers have been prospecting on the Rangitata Beach, Canterbury, and have found gold of good quality and in fairly payable quantities. It is to be regretted, however, that on Wednesday one digger took the mean advantage of the other to make himself scarce, taking with him all the gold they had found.. It is the intention of the other digger to obtain aid and Pr The e Western I tarreporfcs that at the last sitting of the Warden's Cpurt Mr Docherty, who has resided at Dusky Sound /or the last 16 .years, applied for and obtained a mineral license to work over 26 acres. It is his intention to work the asbestos to be found there. The manufactory will be situated at the Bluff, and his headquarters will be located at Invercargill. , Mr J. Gow, one of the inspectors of mines, in a report on certain mining' works in-Otago, just published by the Government printer, describes a visit to some of the dredging claims. He says of the Six-mile Beach dredge:— "The engine is one of Davey and Paxman's compound- 20-horse power. .The centrifugal pump (Wclman's) has 3Jft runners, and the casing is 6ft high from the bed plate. The discharge pipe is loin in diameter, and the suction pipe 13in,' capable of discharging 10 Government heads of water. The pump weighs seven tons, and is driven by two belts. Some very large stones aie sometimes ".carried through the pump. I saw one myself which weighed 7Slb, and I think from its shape must have nearly fitted the pipe. This is a proof of what these pumps are capable of doing where there is heavy wash. At the time of my visit the pump-was lifting the wash from a depth of 14ft fronr the surface of the water. The dredge is capable of lifting and washing 40 tons per hour, and uses a little over one cord of wood per sh ft. The stripping is all fine sand, and the bottom is paved with heavy waterworn stones, which arc firmly lymg on a bed of peat. No gold is supposed to. be below the peat bed. Thia plant is the most complete of its kind in Otago. Attached to the crane' is an ingenious piece of mechanism which works a sleeve, to which is attached some stronr «on tmes. This sleeve is made to revolve at .will, .and loosen the hard-packed gravel bottom. It tears the hard peat bottom to pieces, the pump at the same time sending it up to be washed." -■ - ■ The Sew Hoy Big Beach Company pay a fifth dividend of 3d on the 2/th inst. / . , - , The Bruce Herald hears that two beach workers at Measly Beach, four miles south, of the moiith of the Tokomairiro river.,, have averaged L 5 a week each for more than five weeks. ■ . The mine manager of the Amalgamated Waipori Deep Lead Gold Mining Company (Limited) reports for week ending 17th inst. as follows :— i have washed down shallow paddock between ISO. 2 elevator and river, and obtained gold as already wired— 31oz 15dwt. lam now sluicing from the gutter between elevator No. 1 and the old Reports from the Wilson's llivor Goldfield, received at Riverton, are rather conflicting. One miner writes to the Western Star praising the field, and declaring that it will give profitable employment to a number of men for many years, Another miner alleges that very few miners are making a decent living. The manager of the Roxburgh Amalgamated Mining and Sluicing Company reports for the week ending 24th inst. as follows :— Both elevators have been kept going as usual during the week. There being a lot more bottom wash in No 2 than I expected, I could not get it properly cleaned up before Saturday night. 1 shall wash down this run of bo.xcs on Monday, and then remove them and the ripples to the new lift, which will be ready to start sluicing with on or about Tuesday. As it will not be possible for me to have No. 1 paddock cleaned up by the end of the month, I shall wash down the boxes on Wed; nesday, or after the new lift in No. 2 is -started. A telegram was received by the -secretary yesterday advising 950z ldwt 4ar of fold from No. 2 elevator's boxes for 19 days' sluicing. After reading Mr Gordon's .report on the damming of the lakes (says the punstan Times), we have come to the conclusion that it would have been better if he had made his examination in winter instead of the middle of summer. If he had also gone into the whole question more exhaustively, and less hurriedly, his "report would have been of more value than it is at present. So far from the whole question being damned by Mr Gordon's report, as some of .our contemporaries think, the train has only been laid by the Government for sonic civil engineer togive bis opinion of Mr Gordon's figures and approximate.' cost of constructing locks at Lakes Wanaka and- Hawea. Tbere is no doubt, if both were dammed up for short periodsin winter .time, the beaches of the Molyneuk alone would yield immense quantities of the yellow metal. Last year, between Cromwell and -Clyde,, through a fall of a few feet in v that river, of Chinese fossickers obtained, during Winter, some thousands bf pounds' .worth itf.gold: We hope some civil engineer will givo, his attention to this Bubject before long, andplacc, beyond doubt the feasibility or non-feasibilijjy>f the scjienje.