XIII.—THE MANUHERIKIA VALLEY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2369, 27 July 1899, Page 22

XIII. — THE MANUHERIKIA VALLEY.

The Morning Star Gold Dredging Company. Here we meet with another ■ relic of ths defunct Wakatipu dredging boom, the Morning Star dredge having been one of the Sew Hoy Big Beach (Shotover) dredger.. Inrefitting the dredge near her present 'site considerable alterations were made. Steel pontoons were substituted for wooden ones,, and the original length (90ft) hi" 8 beon much reduced. The ladder is 40ft long, and easily bottoms the deepest ground likely to be met with. - The buckets • are of 2-j cubic feet, and are to be replaced by others of three cubic feet. The experience on most dredges t«nds to a medium-sized bucket — i.e., three or iour cubic ieet. Buckets of five cubic feet appear to be the limit, anything in excess, even where all the conditions oi ■power and capacity for gold-saving ar*? provided, is considered in excess of actual requirement. •- The advantages of larger ibuckets than sft are looked upon as doubttful by the majority of dredgemasters Mho bave pronounced an opinion upon the subject. The sluice boxes, stone, and tailings shoots of the original dredge have been cast aside, and a revolving screen with Jtables provided with matting, etc., put 'up an their place. A novelty on this boat in that the tables and screen are raised on a aboiit Bft or 10ft above the deck. ißhis arrangement does away with the eleyators, as it permits of the tailings being {paid away at such a level as not to interfere with the paddock. The ground worked toeing shallow, the deepest not exceeding 20ft, makes this system practicable. On )this dredge "the boiler and engine are Sunk in the pontoons, which make? <che boat an exceedingly steady one, iand though there are objections to such a plan, it is an open question whether it fis to be condemned on this account. The {winches are on deck, as may well be imagined. They are Cutten Bros.' patent, which is highly spoken of. The pontoons, {machinery, and gearing were provided and fitted up by J. and A. Anderson, of Christchurch. The dredge was designed by the late Mr Robert Mason. The bottom in the liower Manuherikia is composed of a granitic sandstone, the ordinary country rock, cjay, and -sometimes lignite. r j.he scene of the operations is the \ipper portion of the Manorburn Flat, and joins at its lower boundary the Manorburn Gold Dredging Company's ground. The Morndng Star claim includes a piece of ground to which cling many golden legends of the iolden times. A certain piece of ground was worked by Californian pumps, the of which, one of the legends has it, brought up little nuggets every now and then. The claim comprises 100 acres in •the middle of the valley. Work upon the claim was started early in the year, and a fair degree of success met with. The dredge is private property, being owned by the New Zealand Engineering Company, Who keep the earnings of the' dredge secreh Humour, however, says that the dredge wins from 18oz to 20oz per week, running up sometimes to as high as 30oz. Mr E. Hyan, the dredgemaster, I had not the pleasure of meeting, beyond a few minutes, allowing just sufficient time to arrange an interview, which, however did not take (place. The Maxorburn Gold Dtikdc;i:xG Company (Limited). The Manorburn dredge, co called on account of her working the Manorburn Flat, about one mile and a-half up stream from LAlexandra, at the junction oi the Manorburn Creek with the Manuherikia River, ihas now been in active operation cince August, 1896. The Manorburn Flat was in the early days regarded as a very rich alluvial diggings, and from it a* Jarge amount of gold was won. Induced by the success of the Upper Waipori and Jutland Flat, in similar ground, the piv^nt company decided to place their dredg on •the Manorburn Flat, and accordingly che /was started in February and finished in •July 1896, under the supervision of Mr 'Herbert; Park, 'C.E. The' pontoons are of kauri' and bluegum, and, as originally designed, she • had low po2>pet heads and elevators. The engine and boiler were among the first — if not absolutely che first — ordered from Marshall, v and Sons, England. The machinery was con - Istructed in Dunedin, by Messrs A. and T. jßurt, the ladder and buckets by Mr J. Kelman, of Alexandra South. In December, 1897, the elevator was dont away with, and the poppet- heads raised, giving a higher drop into the screen, which was also raised, and shoots for carrying ,off the stones from the screens and silt from •the tables were fitted, and have been found to answer most satisfactorily. In this wav the stones are delivered nearer the diedgo, ftnd so form c bed upon which the finer Band lodges. From time to time, as occasion required, the Manuherikia River is turned from its present course, and the dredge works through the ground thus laid dry. the water required for floating and washing Mie ■golden gravel being supplied by a sm*ll race led into the paddock. As usual, when constructing a dredge, the first .matter considered is a suitable place for building and launching. This was found in a place outside the clam., and it was not till November 1896, thu.t she really got upon her ground and started •work. The return for the first four weekr wan 87oz. From that time up to the present, with the exception of two occasions, when, during floods, she had to be kep running, simply grinding- tailings> in order to keep the paddock clear of silt, without being able to bottom, she h.'.s prove" most consistent goldfinder. The gold won in 1897 was 7910z— ; £3060, for a year of 44 working weeks three of which were lost owing to floods, leaving 41 weeks of actual working time, giving an average of 19£oz per week, lh 1898 the gold obtained was 6450z, equal Ao £2532 10s, for a period of 36 weeks'

actual working time, equal to an average of 18oz per week. - From January, 1899, -to the end of May last the dredge worked 19 weeks for a total gold return of 5160z equal to 270z per week. The working" ex penses -of the dredge throughout the year amount to about lOoz per week, and as the capital is a small one (£3000) the company is a regular dividend-paying concern, and has paid off the sum of about £3000 at the end of May last.

The company was registered at the _ m d of January, 1896, with a capital of £3000 fully paid up, there' being no vendors or promoters'' shares. Since starting actual work the gold obtained amounted to £9572 worth — a very good output for the time. This return is up to May 4 last. The Manorburn dredgo being the pioneer of the field, had to do a certain amount of prospecting, and though, the early part of her history is not available, it is well known that the gold was found to extend for several hundred feet across the vallcv without the limit being reached. The claim consists of 98 acres, varying in depth from Bft or 10ft to 18ft in places, and is said to be deeper still in the further side, adjoining wbafc is known as Tucker Hill. The gold occurs on a variety of | bottom — sometimes on clay, . a soft granitesandstone, rotten slate, or, rather, schist rock, and occasionally coal. This company lias adopted tha plan of starting at the ■ lower boundary ol tb* claim, working upwards, taking a straight cut to tho upper boundarj-, which luis recently been reached. The dredge was then turned round, and is now working down, stream alongside the first cut, similar «g a ploughman ploughing np a paddock for seeding." In this way good, bad, and in- j different ground is 'treated alike. The ground now being ojjerated upon was sup- j posed to be very poor, indeed, and miners ' Lave always held that the middle and fai side of the valley is much the richer po).tion of the claim. The wash is easily lifted, and no timbc or large stones are met^vith to delay progress or give trouble. The Manorburn was the pioneer dredge of the Manuherikia Valley, and having been a success from the very beginning ought to inspire confidence i in the valley as a paying dredging field. Since starting the - Manorburn dredge haa worked steadily on, save for periodical overhauls, which all dredges are subject to. The machinery and gearing is kept in ; thorough order, and her condition and : achievements reflect great credit upon he" dredgemaster, Mr Harry Leicester, and fra crew. GENERA! . The Manorburn dredge completes the acoount Df all the dredges at work at tlie present moment in the neighbourhood of Alexandra upon the Manuherikia, as veil as upon the Molyneux, and, dry as the recital may appear in its details, it offer? a good deal of interest by reading between the lines and diving down belov + -he surface. *' By reverting to tho different registered -ompanies and private parties composed of a fe-\v shareholders — often working men — we find that the private parties were, and are, the most successful ones upon the field. Unfortunately, their doings and gettingfc cannot be got at except by the roundabo-j*-and unreliable way of rumour, which is not a satisfactory way of comparing them with public companies, which incline to the other extreme, and a>-e perhaps little ,too anxious to court publicity. However, che fact remains that the preseni- boom arose out of the doings o f strictly private parties, and •so long as they kepi their affairs to themselves there was no boom. People smiled benevolently when they saw unmistakable signs nf prosperity in the private parties, but took no further heed of their evident good luck. From t]i e moment the returns were published, ground" upon the Molyneux and its banks roso in public estimation, promiscuous marking-off became the order of the day, and the. boom began. Next the Electric claims upon tho Kawarau infused new life in dredging, 'and the speculating public became alive to the possibilities of this new art of gold mining. Up to the present most of the registered gold-producing companies are virtually private concerns, in so far as the shares are held by the few shareholders who were the original holders of the property when they were private concerns. But all this is tobe altered now. So far as things have gone, there has been little speculation. The money put into dredging was •mostly in the shape of investment, as distinct from speculation. There are, however, signs that this state of affairs will not continue much longer. 1 was showia prospectus the other day in which the sceno of the intended operations wa ( skilfully concealed from discovery. At leas* it was hard to find out where the claim was really situated, except that it was in a survey block 59, section 110— a description exciting chiefly on account of its mystcionsness. Cases are pretty warmly discussed if directors of companies voting themsel"«is fat salaries and liberal travelling expenses in companies that have not even a dredge upon their claims, and aro consequently far from earning expenses, to say nothing of giving dividends. Many other little straws are floating about showing which way the wind blows. When this stage has been reached speculation begins ''.o take' the place of investment, and "with it the danger point is touched. Of course it is .futile to preach moderation and cautioi to a public smitten with the sordid desire of growing rich in a few days or weeks. ■They must work out their own salvation or damnation according to theii i'lstinc end luck. The popular notion that dredging as a means of gold getting is proof agains f , tricks that are dark is no ir ore than a notion. Quite a respectable host of wonderful and fearful revelations ,could be mad* 1 at this early date even. For dredging to be successful it is necessary that the conditions be favourable. It is not enough that the proverbial grain per cubic yard is present, the conditions of the ground must be such as to make the grain pay. •Double and treble-banked claims hove beconifi an established, fact, and if this system

goes on ad infinitum, as it appears to be inclined to do, there will not be money ■enough in the country to float the companies nor -water enough in the Molyneux to float the" dredges. Perhaps nothing •short of such a dilemma will check public dredging excitement. RE PUBLISHING GOLD RETURNS.

There is a very strong feeling abroad on this subject. The question is of sufficient importance to be briefly discussed. The favourite argument with parties who practise secrecy is that they are fully entitled to keep their affairs to themselves, just the tame as any other private business or money-making concern. This argument is ■perfectly good so far as it goes ; bu*- itdoes not go far enough. Gold, as well as coal, fisheries, forestry, and a great many other things, is a national asset in the wealth of the colony. The Government have wisely reserved to themselves tho power of regulating tb» output, guarding against wilful waste, and miainanaging in otner respects some of these national assets, amongst which gold is no*; included. Dredging and other mining companies acquire by the simple act of application most valuable concessions, giving thus the double meaus and opportunities ol profiting by the proceeds of their property and by converting it into commercially (negotiable bonds by the issue of shares. These double means of profits are thfc glory and the bane of mining. Mining history teems with examples of mines having /been' killed by speculations in their «crip. This phase of the subject need not be followed beyond the above reference : bui i\ may be added that nothing ha? been done by legislation to try and stop thi* unhealthy state of affairs, the need for which legislation has been long existing. It is a well-known fact that shares in a mining claim are affected by the doings of neighbouring claims. As the case stands with its legalised secrecy, it is easy fc one company to doctor the returns of another by false reports when it is to it» interest to do so, the public being at the xnercy of the designing parties. This is eurely not as it should be. The public in many respects is protected by legislation against itself. Why not in this case where it is more helpless than in a great number of other cases where protection is afforded? At any rate, there would bo no visible hardship or undue interference in private affairs if gold mining parties were compelled to publish returns, for stated periods as suits their operations — that is, weekly returns dredging, monthly returns for quartz crushing, and quarterly, half-yearly, or j early returns for sluicing companies. This, perhaps somewhat loosely-argued contention, voices a widespread feeling amongst investors in mining and dredging scrip. Some go even farther, holding that heavy penalties should be inflicted for making and circulating false reports. With •weekly returns the danger from this cause is not likely to be great, for it would mean living constantly in an atmosphere of falsehood, which would be an impossibility for any public company to attempt. Dredging is of such a nature that doctoring returns is made exceedingly difficult-/ because it is easy of detection. Dredging adds to its other advantages an immunity from imposition. The "picking out of eyes," or favourite spots, cannot be done without being found out, because all such tricks must bo carried on in broad daylight upon ihe surface of the claim, where anybody •may see what is going on. However, it must not be supposed that such a -way of ■working is not indulged in to somt little excent, and, perhaps, in isolated cases, it is carried out on a sj r stemalic plan.