QUARTZ-PROSPECTING COMPANY'S MINE AT BLUE SPUR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2252, 29 April 1897, Page 18

QUARTZ-PROSPECTING COMPANY'S MINE AT BLUE SPUR.

' By The Tbuck. Haviug a holiday on Saturday afternoon, fcbreo of us thought wo could not spend the time better than by paying a visitto the above company's mine. We left Lawrence at 2 o'clock, and in due course arrived at the mme — a large , openiog in the side of a hill. Entering, we j found the manager, Mr Johns, in the act of ' pushing a truck, laden with mud and atone, to the end of a tramway line, where ifc is emptied!. While waiting for him to discbarge the load, the employees lent us coats made of a material not unlike that in blankets, and by them C3llecl " Chinamen." Those we donned, and by the time we hsd changed hats and " half-maBtad " our pant* Mr Johns arrived, and wa3 ready to sho x us the interior of the With lighted candles we plunged into the gloom, following the little rumbling truck. Attor going about EOycs we came to a weak place in the tunnel— that is to say, a part of the tunnel where tho walls are so weak that great manuka logs have to be placed on each side to support a roof, made oj pieces of manuka scrub, and covered with a layer of din to keep the tunnel at that particular spot from collapsing. In cleaning out the tunnel — for that is vthxfc they are doing, as ib was made aboub 30 years ago — they found that in some places the roof: had partially fallen ie, leaviDg cavities from about 15£b to 20ft above the level of the floor. As these cavities if leit alona would be a continual source of danger, more than a mera " cleaning out" was required. Stays had to be placed on each eide, and on top of these stays a roof was made so that if a fall should occur ifc would lodge oa tho " made " root and not upon the drive propor. Next we passed through a solid part, and then through a made part, whore in the flickerj ing light of three candles the drops of water on ! the woodwork looked like thousands of tiny 1 diamonds. For 1000 ft the candles Bhow the j way, and every now and then as we near the end we pass tho mouths of other tunne!s, leading away from the main drive. All of a ' sudden as we round one of the many corner* in the drive, weseeafaint light ahead, which oa being neared prove? to be the lights on the sides near where the miners work. As soon ao the truck armed they started to shovel the mullock near by into it. Soon it was filled, and away ifc went rumbliDg and tumbling along the wooden rails to its destination, » third of a mile away. While the truck was away we had an opportunity of witiice&ing the way in which the tunnel

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was constructed. After the dirt is carted away iv the truck the logs sre mads ready to fit in the part just cleared. A log is placed nearly upright on each side of the rails, about sft apart. On the top of these a cap or cross piece is Becurely fixed, and when finished it looks for all the world like an inverted V, only, of course, the top is a great deal broader than the bottom of the letter. Boards are wedged in between the posts and the wall, manuka scrub is placed on the top, dirt; is shovelled on top of the scrub, and the job is complete. Back again comes the truck, and again it is filled and sent away to discharge its load, only to come bask again and again 'for more. Mr Johns told us that they still had a good distance to go before they came to the end of the old workings. Ia many places where a fall had occurred in the tunnel, quite a dam of water had been formed behind it, and when the barrier was shifted a flood of water poured out for a few minutes. Even now a small stream of water is ocziog cv , of the dirfc ia front, and running along tho drain in the tunnel. This serves to show that there is still water at the back of all the dirt.

The air at the mouth of the tunnel is fair, bub at the end of the drive it h horrible, and I can scarcely imagine how foui- men can work there for eight solid hours without experiencing any ill effects. This is due mainly to the absence of air shafts and to the tvil-3melliug timber and dirt that have lain so long in the xvater. Thereisanair shaft farther on, and when they get to it this state of things will be speedily rectfied. The tunnel is 6ffc high and 4ft 6in wide ab, the base, bul the width gradually narrows' up to about 3ft 2in at the top. The tramway line is made of wood, and is about 2ft ■wide. As the rnea were knocking off work we thought it was time to go, so we forthwith made our way to the mouth of the tunnel— not, however, without sustaining a number of bruises through nob bending low enough. After divestiDg ourselves of th^ miners' garments we once more beheld the daylight-, after having greatly enjoyed our trip into the bowels of the earth. That this enterprising company may speedily find quartz rich enough to pay them 10 times over for the trouble and expense they have been put to is the wish of the writer and many othere.