Notes from Roxburgh.

Otago Witness, Issue 2258, 10 June 1897, Page 22

Notes from Roxburgh.

(From Our Own Cokrespoxdent. June 7.— The Roxburgh Amalgamated Sluicing Company for the month of May washed up as follows :-No. 1 elevator, 41oz 13dwtl8?r; No 2, 15oz 12dwt ; No 3, 65m ;-total, lffiop Sdwt 18gr, of the value of £470 IBs. The return from the No. 2 lift is small, as the elevator is worked only occasionally, when alterations are being made mother elevators. No. 3 paddock has been cleaned up, and a start has been mado to dismantle the boxes. &c The elevator to work the No. 2 paddock will be the highest yet erected in the claim. During the present month a start will be made to work the deep ground. . Louden and party have taken out their second paddock and have commenced dismantling. The wash-up last Thursday was very satisfactory. On Friday stripping operations were commenced a littlesbelow the dam. An acre has to be stripped, which will take about three weeks. The next paddock will be down towards the river. As the wash in that part of the claim is not deep, and the fall is sufficient, the party do not purpose using their elevating plant for at least some months. The nozzle will be used to blow the dirt into the boxes. On Saturday I visited the claim belonging to Mr John Evring at Hercules Flat. There is a kind of gutter in the reef, at the lowest point of which the elevator is sunk. The wash looks well, and is easily blown down to the jet. I think this claim is the worat on this part of the river for stones. The drainage is very heavy, a lot of water soaking through from an old paddock into which the tailings aie at present being dumped. The elevator is lifting about 50ft, and abaut 15 beads of water are used to work the claim. When asked as to the returns the manager replied that they were satisfactory enough "to keep the pot boiling." On the night after Sir Ewing bought the United Hercules Company's lace there was a huge landslip up towards the head of the race. A good deal of it has been sluiced away, and on Monday car. panter* are to be put on to rebuild the flurnir.g. On Saturday about five tons of scrap iron, con« sisting of old cas'iuas. etc, were sent aw«v from

the old Hercules claim No. 1 to be remelted and recast in Dunedin. Haughton and party are doing pretty well in their claim at Commissioners Flat. During the last day or two the Columbia amalgamator haß been on view here, exciting a good deal of interest, and I may say admiration," in our mining community It was tested by Mr Peters, of the Amalgamated Cnnpany, who put 2dwt 6gr of exceedingly fine gold mixed with some black sand, etc., into the machine, which in a few minutes had the gold gravitated to the lower end, and all the sand, etc., out at the other. It is needless to say none of the gold escaped. The Ettrick and Golden Treasure Dredging ! Companies have each declared a dividend of Is PBr share. On Saturday the Ettrick dredge washed-up for 15Joz, which is about two and a-half times the return for the* previous week. i The Roxburgh dredge's return for last week's work was 6oz. Since the recent wet weather the Pleasant Valley Sluicing Company have had plenty of water, and during the past few days some neces- ! sary stripping has been commenced. The Edina dredge has commenced working again. It was well worth the rather arduous climb to sea the recent landslip on the old United Hercules race. A large portion of the hill has slipped into the creek, carrying with it about two chains of fluming. An attempt has been made to hluice away the debris in order to get on a solid foundation ; but I do not think it practicable—any way, ' it will be Bone too safe to reconstruct the race, as far as permanency is desirable, because there is every probability of the debris in course of time J gradually working down into the creek. , j j