Notes from Lyell.

Otago Witness, Issue 2167, 5 September 1895, Page 15

Notes from Lyell.

(From Our Own CoumEsroNDENT.)

August 29.— Mining has completely gone to the wall her* for the present. Wkat with tbe Alpiue nearly as bad as it ever has been, and the Lyell creek trial ciushing turning out as it lias done— viz , iOoz of gold from about 3iW tons of stone,— £ don't kuow what is to become of us ull. Baker, butcher, and storekeeper ate all doing a quiet growl at the present bUU of things, and uo wonder. So memy people leaving the locality, both married and single, makes a wonderful difference to the district.

The treat mystery at present is— What has become of tiie Lyell creek gold ? Everybody could find a colour in the stove as it \rai being btoken out of the mine, but when tbe ca»c cume before the judge (i.e., the bat'erj) the verdict returned on tho bumming up was "Not proven payable." Old miners have stuck out *11 aloog that tho pro-perly-di fined retf has not been found yet, th« foot and hanging walls not being of the right char*cter. A nrw make of stone has now appeared iv the claim, which looks better than any that bus jet been found. Whether this new make of Ktone will prov.- payable or not uhoul-ibe known in about a week's time, as a trial crushing of it is n>»w going on. Fiom all accounts so far it is an improvement ou the last crushing and it would need to be. Io will be a gicat yity for tbe district and shareholders should it also turn out no g'.Ofl. The Alpine Company have let a contract for sinking in their property, and so far the contracts rB are doing well, although, the work has been taken at a very low figure ; but «s the men themselves s»y, '" li/s either take work and muke bread and butter or hump your bluov." You should soon hear once more of dividends from thiß old mmc, which has so handiomcly paid shaieholders.

Great speculation is going on just at present as to who is to be the legal manager or managers of the tbree &<nvpauies here. Wo have some new blood in tbe field altogether ia the per&on of Mr R. Shallcr*s3, of Nel«>j>, who has beon »ppo:nted manager of the Alpine Company, and as far as we can see of him be hj mus the rifiht man in the right place. It is evident they thought him no small potstoe* in Nelsan by the report of the fend-off the citizens gave him, and it is a pity we have no scope here for him to be put on hie metal as a runner, footballer, rower a»d bicyclist. He may though, by tbe bye, have a few opponents ti deal with on the wheel, as I notice lately a few highlypolUhed Btee<is carecriog along our rsad« at a great rote, to tbe wonder of all our small fry, who »re all tbreatcniag to buy a wheel when they come down iv prte« to suit the times. I wonder what the profit on these two-wheeled machines to the makers roally in? It muitbe something pretty substantial by the quantity tnat are ovidrutly turned out aad the number of manufacturers in the colony— judging from the way tbe advertisements appear in the Witness. T«»ui ists to the wonderland of the South Island —viz., the Wedt Coast— should have a good time when the eeason coaaes on as to roads, rolling (stock,' etc The roads ftom Nelson to Reefton and Westport are being put in spleiidid order since the m»intenance has been tik<n over by tbe Government from the -bankrupt county councils. We are having a suhfatan?ial bridge built over the Lyell creek— not before it was wanted. As tbe old structure was

beinf pulled down people wondered how tba thing atood so long. If the work being done kt present is a f*ir sample of what is being effected all along the road, there should he no fear of breakages for many years to come. The contractors for tbe Lyell creek bridge are evidently no new chums at the work aud know th* difference between a pile and a toothpick as is evidenced by the splendid logs of birch tb»y are putting into the work. There's none of your 3x2 piles, stays, stringers, etc., about this job. We have had a splendid winter hero up to a d*y or so ago, when we had a very severe g»l« of wind and rain, knocking down trees, swelling creeks and rivers in a very short time, and playing tbe deuce generally. It makes it unpleasant for travellers' just now the Lyell creek bridge being impassable. A coach it left on either side of the cresk, and passengers have to get out and walk a few hundred yard*, which is not nice in this dirty weather. But another week should get over this difSaulty. •• . - The great Matakitaki assault and robbery cast ended in a fizzle last court day here. The prosecutor c >uld not sheet the thing home properly, but there is no doubt in the mlsds of those who know the partias that thing* have b«ea considerably mixed in that part of the district for iomf time past.

The applications for specUl claims mad* last court day bave boen adjourned pending turrey. When th« man with the tripod and to^seopa business arrives on the scene and fixes things up, -there should be a job htickiog out for a few of our at present idle miners, when I hope to see a boom going on here m in the days of yore. People here are a bit disgusted at Mr Ztmin not paying us a visit while he was so handy. For ono thiit?, I don't think he was asked to pnt U an appearance. It was reckoned he ought to kara come along without being aiked, hut I suppose he has taken up as much as he could posilbly do with in Reeften, seeing that he owni nearly the whole of the R«ef ton district at present. If to is going to float all this property he will make things very nivrry for Reefton. Bo' h ( ha C'ock?parrow and the Buller dredges are doing fairly well, but the late laios will put them back a bit in their operations.

August 31. Lyell Creek.— The mine manager reports:— 1 During the week the uprise has bt en extended a distance ef 10ft. A new make of stone came in from the hanging wull side in the btginninff of the weak, ft»d cut the utoue that tbe rise was goiug up on clean out. The new make is now between 7ft audßft wide, and still widening. It ia very hard and clean, with a lot of w*t- r. It thows sold, and by crushing gives better prospects than I have got in any of the stone before. There have Ixw.n 34 tou« of stone tent to the battery, out of which 20 tonß have been cruahed. lhe plates show an improvement, but there is too liitl* going through to judge whether it is payable or not."

Crcksparrow Pirdge.— The manager reports :— "We h*ve only dredged 12 hours, the river* being t'^o high. We could not gettbe bottom. I uhlftea* the drcttf.e down the river about b'OOft to try and g*t the g"ld at tho foot of the fall, so that we could work into the beach and up the stream. We are sinking a hole to-day, but have not yet got through tbe drift."