DREDGING AT MILLER'S FLAT. (By a Correspondent.)

Otago Witness, Issue 2328, 13 October 1898, Page 19

DREDGING AT MILLER'S FLAT. (By a Correspondent.)

Miller's Flat may ba said to be the cradle of the dredging industry on the Clutha River, and while in a sense we stand astonished at the development of so small a beginning, we can also see that we are still only beginning to cradle. Mr Bennet and party were the first to deviate from the old current wheel dredge and adopt steam. When Mr Bennet first mooted the idea he was ridiculed and poohpcohed in every direction, and by none more thai by the fad-cramnied and prejudiced old dredgrnen of Miller's Flat. It is proposed in the near future to build a dredge at Miller's Flat by Messrs Lafiey and party that for size, power, capacity, and .general equipment will totally surpass anything of the kind that has yet appeared in New Zealand. The property, comprising 100 acres, lies between the Golden Treasure and th.3 Ettrick Dredging Company's claim. Recent prospecting through the centre of the flat goes to show that the results will justify the nr<?ov-, taking. In the early day o'Cuie miners, still living at Miller's Flat, and still getting good payable gold at the same place, notwithstanding the different level of the river owing to its bed getting silted up, traced the gold into the above property. They had at that time to throw their washdirt 12ft high, and yet two men with the primitive appliances of those days were securing lib weight of gold per week although never bottomed. What would a powerful dredge do in such ground? Still the ground is very deep, probably, including the bank above the water level, which is all more or less gold-bearing, not less than 60ft. Consequently to treat such an enormous quantity of stuff successfully and scientifically would require a dredge of no ordinary power and capacity and mechanical appliances, backed up with sufficient energy, enterprise, and capital. With these commodities at her disposal it goes without saying that she is bound to win. A curious relic has been placed in my hands by Mr John F. Kitto, dredgemaster for the Ettrick Dredging Company, in the shape of a miner's right, being one of a bunch of 50 that was dredged up out of the bottom of the river a little above the (mouth of the Benger Creek, dated 10-11-62. Some are of later date. Tho number on the one in my possession is 3471, and the name " as far as I can decipher it is John Gurthry. The parchment is quite sound, and in some places the writing is quite legible, which is remarkable after lying in the bed of tho Clutha River- for a period of 36 years. There are the names of Watson, Sinclair, and several Smiths: How they came to bo all sewn together and others of different date but separate from the bunch found in the same place is a mystery to ime. The warden's signature on some dated 1865 is that of your respected townsman W. L. Simpson. Tb,e place where issued on the one in -my possession begins with a G-, probably Gabriel's GuUy. PRESERVATION INLET. INVERCARGILL, October 10. Tho returns from the Preservation mines by the last steamer were rather disappointing affc3r the recent small boom in shares. 'file Morning Star's cake weighed 2220z from 432 tons. The manager reports tha.t larger returns may be looked for after a month has passsd. From the Golden Site the yield was 12gr short of Boz, from 130 tons crushed. It was supposed that the battery had been going since the last steamer's visit, but it appears it only ran eight days, and that mostly on. mullock, which the manager states accounts for the small yield. The absence of a defined strong resf seems to be a peculiarity of this mine. The Alpha mine did not clean up for this steamer, and the manager reports that he is working low-grade stone.