THE GOLD DREDGING INDUSTRY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2370, 3 August 1899, Page 20

THE GOLD DREDGING INDUSTRY.

IN ITS PRACTICAL, ECONOMIC, AND GENERAL ASPECTS.

(By Our Special Commissioner.)

XIV. — ALEXANDRA. It does not take a prophet of" the first ■wafrsi" to see that Alexandra is destined to hold a position in Otago similar to "fiia* Ballarat holds in. Victoria. There is *n abundance of evidence all pointing to it 'is a centre of great activity, and the time <s not fax* distant when factories and foundries will send up their smoke and contribute' their share to the noise and bustle of ? busy dredging centre. Already, one enterprising townsman — Mr J. Kelman — ha entered the lists of manufacturers providing working gear for the dredees. It yp •

Mr Kelman who made the ladders for the Manorburn and Chatto Creek dredges, and"' in both cases the work has given entire /satisfaction. Other signs show how the town is'progressing. There are displayed in the several shop windows merchandise and goods which are met only in well-to-do towns, where luxuries are asked and paid for. It is now about nine years since I previously passed threugh Alexandra. The township consisted at that time of one street, of perhaps a couple of dozen of more or less tumble-down shanties. Now the town h?s parallel and cross streets. When a township has evolved street corners it has attained the dignity of a town. So long a^. a township has one street only, there ip no need for street corners. The houses are mostly substantially builfc of ntone and brick, arid many of +he old wooden buildings have been, or are going to be, rebuilt in the same permanent material. Mr Rivers and Mr Theyers ara now located in new premises, the Bendigo Hotel is being rebuilt in brick, and, it is said, the Criterion Hotel is to follow suit. On the outskirts of the town handsome and substantial private residences are going op in all directions. Gardens are laid put, and there are not wanting signs of the means and inclination of people to make themselves Comfortable; All this invests Alex-', andra with an aif of prosperity shared by' 1 *sw up-country towns. Before closing.with. Alexandra, I must record a word of thanks."' to Mr L.' Ryan, • sharebroker of Alexandra, for the valuable aid rendered me "in so kind a manner. Mr Ryan enjoys the confidence of the leading local dredging men, and '» " & power on the field. BALD HILL FLAT, COAL CREEK, AND TEVIOT. Leaving Alexandra, a total change eome.^ over the scene. For the purposes of description, however, wo must leave the coach road and follow the river, for it is with the latter we have to do. A short distance below Alexandra the Molyneur contracts into a rocky channel, which is really a gorge. On the eastern side the mountains rise more or less abruptly, wHil^ c.n the western shore a high rocky plateau extends to tho neighbourhood of Bald Hill Flat. Here farming and mining prosper in close proximity. Since the early days of the gold discoveries some very rich ground has been ' worked in this locality. Long and costly tailraces were constructed, and a great deal o- gold obtained. Then hydraulic lifting iollowcd, and also proved successful, and now dredging is to be introduced. One company— the Bald Hill Flat — has been* floated, and the Last Chance Company iato follow. The latter is one of tnocft conowns about which there is; an air "ot -iub«< stance not always met' with in mining cdnwpanies. - The present owners of the claiu. ■ have rjeeu working their- ground for .Sometime, obtaining jus Thigh as 2500z and.3oo.ozs .for- sir Weeks' w.ork. They pay their moa £4 a week — wet and dry,— the' highest!' .wining wage in New Zealand. They havu apent £7000 in the construction of water • aces and in the purchase of prior rights, till they have acquired 40 heads of water, commanding all the ground from Alexandra !\o Roxburgh. These are facts that inspire j confidence, and give an idea of the permanence and value of the alluvial deposit."; of Otago. It is estimated that a dredge" will take out a paddock, as above described, in a week, netting from 200oz to 300oz for six days' work, which now takes «ix men six weeks to do. This is one of the big and safe things of the near futureBelow Bald Hill Flat the valley of the. Molyneux contracts again, and flows through one of the most stupendous mountain gorges in the world. River flats and beaches are scarce, and it is not for some* miles above Roxburgh that favourable dredging ground is reached. The whole of f-he Molyneux between Alexandra and Roxburgh is marked off, with a few exceptiouj ol the most stony and gorgy portions. At Roxburgh dredges in active work «r'j again met with. There are two clos» to thi township. The nearest is The Roxburgh Jubilee Gold Dredging 'Company. This is one of those dredges that havt; .passed through many vicissitudes. She is the original Talisman dredge, built on the; Shotover, It was her fate to be mixed up. v/ith Mr J. JEtiley, her owner, in the Colonial Bank troubles, playing quite a rojej in tho tragedy. She is a much-travelled boat. From the Shotpver she w as taken, to Gow's Creek, Waikaia ; but, not proving successful, she was taken to pieces, shifted to Roxburgh, refitted, and rechrisaned the " Edina." This seems to have been her misfortune, for hereupon the bank troubles overtook her, and, to wipe out tho stain, she is now named the " Jubilee." 1 The dredge started work near the site she now occupies, where she met with old ground and tailings, and, deserting theiw, came to her present position, where it is hoped sHe will have a prosperous run. In will be seen that in this manner the dx-edge has been taken to pieces twice after the first building, and has now entered on her third lease of life. The dredgemaster, Mr Philip Reader has shown good judgment in shifting the dredge to her present position, though he happened to strike very stony ground for opening a face. At the time of my visit, after meeting with many difficulties on account of the stony nature of tho ground, he came across gold that promised well, although bottom had not yet been reached. Mr Reader was still busy 1 in getting through a layer of big stonesdoing, in fact, prospecting work. ■ Tc explain the nature of dredging work ii may be mentioned that the practice is to keep the buckets constantly ocooping up ♦<he gravel at the bottom. The material passed through, not being of a sufficiently solid nature, keeps falling away in small portion* as the foot of the face is being removed. The difficulty is to get to th» bottom and open a face. Mr Reader at the time of raj visit was battling with this difficulty, which was much increased by the quantity and size of tho stones met with.Any one of the stones I saw lying iipo: \ the deck as they had been brought up by the grabs was enough^ not only to brinj.

,bp the engine standing, but might have Jcaused serious damage to the buckets or • However, Mr Reader succeeded, not only in reaching bottom, but ]also in striking very fair gold. Although for the short hour of my visit the buckets and ladder were being over- • ihauled, and dredging consequently stopped, • 'I saw enough, partly from the nature of \ .the repairs, and partly from the stones V Hying about, as they had been brought uj, (by the grabs, to show what the- work really tis. It is nothing short of wonderful horse clumsy and intractable a piece of mech '.anism as a dredge bucket ladder can bt •»;made to bring up stones out of muddy •water, where the only means of locating /them and defining their shape is by the ifeel of the ladder. As to the machinery of the Jubilee, for ifc must be understood that the name of thfc company is the Roxburgh, and that the dredge, now goes by the name of the Jubilee, — there is one engine for the bucket ibelt and another foi the pump. The iwinches are the most primitive on tho river, being simply hand winches, and th<i> jwhole boat is out of date ; while the fact of having been put together for the third jtime makes her all the more unfit for the rouph work, she had to do in opening th 6 {present face.' In fact, the whole boat, and ..especially her winches, were not at all de- . signed for the Molyneux ■or thfr work she ■jhad' to do. The winch for shifting the '{position of the boat is driven from thb main shaft — an arrangement totally antiquated. The pontoons are iOOft long, and there is a large boiler 15ft in length, giving ample power for working all the machinery. fTlie ladder is capable of reaching to a jdepth'of 30ft, which is more than is re,/quired. The buckets are of 3ft capacity, iiand stand the rough work they have to do "(very well. The gold-saving apparatus consists oi a teluice box 50ft long, 2ft 6in wide, and is fitted with perforated plates, and Venetian Iblind ripplers for sifting the wash. Tht> ibottom of the box is lined with plush tnd cocoanut matting. There are also tw«> side /boxes, 35ft long,, and a save-all. The bottom "having only jusfc been rtoudied, nothing can be said of the pros£.^ci:s of the company, beyond 'ihat^ the j;oLl is there in promising quantities. Mr Reader, who has a good idea oi engineering, and of gold-getting and saving, ihas worked himself up from fireman to his present position as dredgemaster. Besides serving -for some years in the Union S.S. Company's boats," he has had eight years' dredging experience upon the Molyneux. Mr Reader is one of those young men who jhave risen with the industry. The party is a private one, and has bew» working the claim for some years with an•other dredge, but the returns from the (ground are kept secret. Mr Reader is of th& opinion that with a more powerful and bettefc-appointed boat the' whole claim will pay to"! work ovei again. At any rate, her jjrfiseiib returns would be double with A «ew boat. - Thf Dxtnxidin Goli Dbedc^O' COMFANT. Sere we have another historical dredge. The Dunedin was t?ie first dredge designed foi * steam bucket dredge, but liei claim ito that title was jumped by the Eureka, ■which, being a current wheeler at the time tin full working order, was fitted with steam iboilei and engines, and got to work berfor« the Dunedin. In spite of this } the credit of conceiving the idea of steam dredging belongs to Mr Charles M'Queen, of the late firm of Kincaid and M'Queen. Originally the dredge consisted of one pontoon and two bucket ladders — one on either Bide. This arrangement did not prove a euccess on account of the two sets of jbuckets never filling equally, causing the iboat to rock like a vessel in a gale. One iof the ladders was condemned, which naturally necessitated the building of anlother pontoon, the ladder being placed {between the two, as is the case with all Jdredges at the present time. The company was registered in 188) with &. capital of £8700 in £1 shares, 1160 going to the vendors. According to the jofficial return the company got £61,488 worth of gold, out of which £14,835 wa« jpaid in dividends, the balance going for expenses. This statement covers the period of, her existence down to May 4 last. The {Dunedin dredge was built by Kincai& and M'Queen, of Dunedin, near Alexandra, (where she worked for some years meeting /with fair success. After slie was reconstructed as a one-ladder and two-pontoon idredge -she was taken to Coal Creek where she did remarkably well, averaging for a period of several weeks about lOOoa pe' .week. Somewhat less than a year ago e)u rwas shifted to her present position, where ishe met with very fair success, averaging from 260z to 50oz per week. A feature in the Duuedin dredge is hci powerful engine, which was intended to work two ladders. The engine is of 30 inominal horse-power. Although this i& tfar in excess of what is required, Mr D. •M'Lennan, the dredgemaster, speaks in [high terms of the engine. Mr M'Lennan, twho has 22 years' dredging experience, (partly in harbour dredging, and for many years upon the Molyneux, is evidently a (thoughtful and careful observer, and he has Ino hesitation in saying that one of tlw first points in a dredge should be engine •power. He is satisfied that with his small (buckets of 2^ cubic feet he has done mort; fwork than several of the big dredges tipfetream with buckets nearly double the siflo of his. The buckets of the Dunedin dredg<\ (though small, are exceptionally strong, and iphe remains of old ones lying about th*smithy give proof of the power that rp«* jbrought to bear upon them. Mr M'Lennan is now working close ■beside a high reef on the western ibank of the river, obtaining very good returns, running about 30 ounce? per /week. The highest week's return the dredge- has obtained was 185 ok. {The dredge is fitted with the electric light, (which can be seen far and wide, shedding its scintillating light over the surface of Jthe venerable Molyneux and its banks with Jairy lustre. In this way the oldest dredge wpon the river appears in the newest ligh* by night. Mr M'Lennan speaks in the {Most decided terms iv favour of the light-.

pointing out the great assistance it is to tTie Winchman on the night shift. The gold-saving apparatus consists of . revolving screen and the "ordinary table?, with matting and expanded metal. The average depth of the ground dredged i.*. from 28ft to 32ft, the ladder just comfuriably reaching the^ latter depth T'du ground is rough and stony, and gives no small amount of trouble, as is testified by the use the buckets are subject to The bottom is a moderately soft- reef bottom, the gold being of a coarse nature, th»> best .rash lying upon the reef So far as Mr M'Lennan's experience govs, 'be oan come , to no other conclusion ,than ■-hat in his claim the runs of gold go up ana down stream, and not across the river. This, "under the surrounding circumstances. i£ easily accounted for, because here the river is* rock-bound on the west side. «nd though there is a gravel bank upon the other the rock is perhaps not far off from the water's edge. The valley of the Molyneux between Alexandra and Roxburgh partakes largely of the nature of a gorge, and what has already been said on the probable auriferous character of. a gorge applies here also. The gorge is sure to be patchy and stonj, conditions which aggravate each other. . Very rich gold may occur in small are«\s of ground, and may also be easily and in-•-.xpensively got,' thus giving phenomenal returns. Then, again, blanks may occur, presenting, ' in addition, all the difficulties of big stones and hard bottom. Such places may take all the gilt off the ginger- | bread,- swallowing up the profits *if the good places. Another peculiarity oi the portion of the Molyneux extending from Alexandra to the Beaumont is that there are no creeks or aide streams of any consequence falling int. the Molyneux. and the few creeks thers tare do not carry any gold. In fact th' only way to account for the gold in the river from Roxburgh to Beaumont is tha* it must have come down the river. Terraces upon either side of the river occur sA, intervals, and have been fairly rich. Owing to the facilities of working them they have paid sluicing parties handsomely, and, in some cases, piles have been made. From this it is fair to argue that the river will partake of the gold in an equal proportion, and whenever the conditions are favour fcble the river will pay well. Where there are difficulties from stones, invention and ingenuity in working will have to step in and devise means to get over the obstacles. This part of the bargain is only » ques j tion of time. * When it was stated in the foregoing thah the creeks falling into the Molyneux belov Roxburgh carry no gold, it applies chief!;. , to those on the eastern bank of the. river. Those coming in from the western bank carry gold more or less. XV. J Ihs Ejjdeavo/ob. Gold Dainois" | Company. This company is situated about on© And a-half miles below Roxburgh, and at the present time is working near- Hercules I Point. The party is a private one-, the j dredge being owned by working men,, who ■ work the dredge on their own account. The dredge was designed and built by Kincaid and M'Queen, and it is noteworthy j that many of the dredges built by this firm, now a good many years ago, are still t<> the fore and in good condition. The dredge was built for the Roxburgh ! Company, and changed her name with the [ last change of owners. The bucket ladder is 68ft long, dredging to a depfh of 40P 1 and over. The 'buckets are 2£ cubic f«et. The engine, boiler, and all machinery were built by Kincaid and M'Queen, as was their custom in the early days of dredging. The | present party have now worked their dredge I for 18 months, with perfect satisfaction aa regards the behaviour of the machinery, while the results obtained from the river came fully up to expectation. The engine on board is a compound one. The boiler is on the tubular principle. The winch raising and lowering the ladder is driven by the engine. Wood is used iv the construction of the pontoons, which are 95ft long. The claim contains 62 acres, and is b< marked off as to take up one mile of the river, including the eastern bank of the Molyneux. Owing to this circumstance the | party has a long spell of work before them. | The depth of the ground runs about 30f 1 , though as a general rule it is less than that. , It appears that big stones and heavy wash decrease as the river is followed to its mouth. This circumstance tends to bear out the ' supposition that the auriferous wash, as well as the gold, were paid into the river from the top, and not from the banks of the river. It could certainly not. have been fed into the river by side streams, foi the plain reason that there are no side .streams. It is a general rule that the coarse and heavy wash accompanies the best of the gold. There are a few instances where this observation does not apply, but these are the exceptions that prove the rule. Mr A. Rennie is the dredgemaster, <nd is also, I understand; a shareholder. He j started work "upon the Endeavour dredge ! as fireman, and now holds the position as" { her dredgemaster, filling the position with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of | his partners. Such instances as these show the benefit derived from dredging in another phase than dividends, which has received little attention from the general public, though quite a number of young men are keenly alive to the opportunities it offers to them. The Pride of the Clutha, (Pringle and Party), at thS lower end of Miller's Flat, it the huccecsoi 1 of the first motive pover dredge on the Molyneux River. The ground is of first closs quality, and the >'clu*ji*. quite regular. The hull was builfc by William Jenkins, and the machinery by John Anderson, Christchurch. Sha ii ovrajd by a parly of four men, and they fci'c. deserving of good returns, ps they spent aiany yearc' work with a very kinall dredge, scarcely making an existence. It appears tint since my torn round tlu dredges it has been decided by the owner* to place their property upon the market, aud* a* will bo seen by the Otsuio Daii\

Times of June 29 last, the prospectus h* been issued. By the work that has bain done in the claim, and the richness of thy. surrounding workings, this spec >»ay be counted with the safe ones. . v _ * - •- The last three dredges arp till thosp tbav are at work near Roxburgh. The portio .- of the river lying between that town and Ettrick, or Moa Flat, comprises the Gold King, the Gold Queen, and the Moa properties, all highly spoken of: It is difficult to form an opinion upon this part of th« river, because the width of the valley allo\"s plenty of room for the river to hava flowed in several water channels, every on*, of which acts' as a robber upon the others. i It is when you enter the top end of Moa ! and Anderson's Flats, of which Miller"* J Flat is merely the continuation, that the fact of the immensity of the gravel deposits which pave with* their golden sands the rocky basins of the Molyneux, and line the banks of the liver with made terraws, dawns "upon you. An apparently endless flat fills the foreground, covers the middle distance, and fades away in the background, with no visible termination. The width of this expanse, although defined by mountains, seems to be almost as limitless as its extension down the valley of the Molyneux — i.e., from a dredging point of view. The river, though much wider than at Roxburgh, covers only a very narrow strip j of the flat, and looks like a ribbon flattened out upon a carpet. At first sight a feeling of gloomy regret takes possession of the mind, to. contemplate that this wealth of green valley may be ploughed up. by tho dredge and converted into a stony desert. i But reflection soon reassures the troubled mind, that the devastation can at most be only partial, and then it will not be for ever. In course of time the more friable parts of the debris will be acted upon bj the weather, and will decay, the wind will sow the new-formed soil with seeds, vegetation .will spring up. and : vegetable growth furnish the material | for her own sustenance. By-and-bye the j waste will blossom once more like the rose, and the new earth will bring forth abundantly. But this is looking a long way ahead. And yet it is onjy a repetition of what has been. Once upon a time the plains and flats of the Molyneux Valley, now studded with farms and homesteads, Avere a stony j waste, where no tiny blade of grass wan j seen. Yet Nature found a way to clothe I the stone heaps with soil, and adorned th.' i vale with a mantle of smiling green. And so the practical and useful blend with th« . beautiful and pleasant. A certain amount of devastation of the landscape is inseparable from dredging. Manj- an acre of fruitful and productive land will be demolished in the eager, hungry search for gold, bufc the gold won will produce what perhaps the* soil could never yield. C4old in chxtita | tion resembles manure spread over a farm. jlt increases production. So fat *»s iho world has got in its, civilisation and *n ; lightenraent, the hunger for gold has beer* ! the mainspring of its advance (if any). I However, this article must not be allowed to resolve itself into an essay on political ■ and domestic economy. Dredging is ivs i object, and to dredging we must returu j ; At Ettrick — a hamlet consisting of a | flour mill and two pubs, far removed frwax ' the madding crowd — one would think there j was a chance of escaping from the universal talk and excitement of dredging The first thing I heard after getting off the coach was that there had been a rush for dredg- | ing claims in the neighbourhood during the i past night. Owing to a decision of Mr Warden M'Carthy at Roxburgh certain applications had been thrown out, and thj land declared open for fresh application. Consequently there was a rush, and, the days being short just now. the night was drawn upon, and lanterns and candles ' I brought into requisition. For fehe greater ' part of the night there was a bobbing around of numerous Wills o' the> Wisp. The moral of all this is, go where you will you cannot escape from the dredging excitement and dredging talk. The BENTfEHBTTRN Gold Dbudgix" Company. There are two dredge*- close to Ettrick-r the farthest up is the Bengerbnrn Com pany's boat. i!3ut she was not working at the time of my^ visit, owing to being in volved in the -meshes of the law The lawyers, it was said, were doing a little dredging on their own account. The law suit uffeetiug the ground only and not the I boat, tho idle time is "being utilised fdi | mi-kiug repairs. Mr Grogar. is the dredgemaster. He has met with encouraging prospects, and when the present Jaw > trouble is over and the dredge has again ' got fairly to work she will, no doubv, giv« a good account of herself. The dredge was built by William Jenkins originally for the Golden Run Company. She paid foi herself in a very short time. The machinery was supplied by John Anderson, Christchurch, and fitted up by that firm. A. new dredge is now under way in charge of Mi Edward Roberts, engineer, to work the high river banks. j The Ettrick Gold Steam Dpxdgix j Company. j j This company was registered iv. August, j I 1890, with a capital of £4500 in £1 shares, j 2000 fully paid-up shares being paid to the | vendors. The dredge got to ' work soon ■ after the company was floated, but for a long time met with no particular success, often not clearing working expense About 12 months ago came a change, and better luck has dawned upon her since tho>i. Judging by the time which has elapsed since she was built, it is not difficult *.o conceive that she is getting out of date. Messrs Anderson, of Christchurch, werethe builders, furnishing her with all the machinery and gear she carries. Although everything on board is somewhat primitive and antiquated, it is all of substantial make and well fitted, owing to which the dredge is in a very good state of preservation, though not quite up to the re quirements she has to meet. The bucket ladder is scarcely long enough to reach the bottom when the river is high but it answers well enough at the present timi, when the dredge is doing very well out of ground worked some years ajro hv a current wheeler.

During the past 12 month? dividends have been regular. 13s having been paid per £1 share in that time. Since startingwork in 1391 up to May 4 last £16,013 worth of gold was produced, out of wh'-cb £2700 was paid away in dividends, lbs difference (£14,940) being absorbed in "-\- penses of all kinds. Mr J. Crowley, the dredgemaster. considers that the company's claim is a valrable one, and, with a dredge of more powerful calibre and greater capacity than the present one, would give a very good account of itself. He is of the opinion tb^t the whole of the ground would pay to work again with a suitable boat. In "fact, he has no hesitation in saying that the ground he is now working would givs double the return of what he is now obtaining. The gold-saving apparatus consists of a sluice box 2^ft wide and 36ft long. The box is fitted with Venetian blind ripples and perforated plates over cocoanut matting and plush. At about half its distance the bottom of the main box is perforated, the stuff and water passing through the perforations is paid on to another box with reversed fall. In this dredge, the buckets being only 2£ cubic feet contents, and .the gold not over fine, the gold-saving arrangements answer veiy well, the stuff treated being paid in pretty regularly and in not too great quantities. The weekly returns average from about 20oz and upwards. ' Mr Crowley, the dredgemaster, took up the dredging -profession when he I was 16 years .of age, and learnt bis trade j under some ofthe most careful, competent, ond successful dredgemasters on the field. ' He has thus worked up his way from fireman to the top wrung of the ladder by his own exertions. The engineer of the boat is Mr John Alexander, who came over from Victoria about two years ago. Mr Alexander is a man of singular attainments in his profession, and his services are in great demand amongst dredging men in the neighbourhood. I had nearly . forgotten to mention that the Ettrick dredge is worked by hand winches, now considered as altogether out of date. The stretch of the Molyneux from Roxburgh to Ettrick presents a variety of ground, which will furnish an unusual scope for invention and tax the ingenuity of dredgemasters to the utmost. Stones, current, hard rock bottom, • and other dreaded unpleasantnesses combine here to make work for the dredges, and put their masters on their mettle. Anyone who has not come in contact with the current of the Molyneux in some of its gorges can form no idea of the strain upon a dredge exposed to it. When dredging is in pro- 1 gress the grip the buckets take upon the ! wash in scooping up the gravel counter- ' acts the force of the current upon the boat. " So long as every bucket does its ■duty everything goes .well, but let a stone j fall in front of the bucket in such a wa.y | that the bucket slides over it, the shore ' lines and other guys that hold the boat in its place tighten with a jerk, the effects of which upon the boat the winebman has i,o counteract by a gradual easing off of the shore line winches. Now, again, leb the stone come down in such a position that the bucket -gets a grip, and a strong grip, upon it, and let the stone be too big and too heavy for the bucket to lift and bring up, or to move it so much out of its place as to slip out of the bucket, thus setting it free, the engine pulling and the bucket at the bottom holding fast, the dredge slackens all the shore lines and guys, which, when the slip comes, that either lets the bucket go or the stone is lifted out of its bed, the current again forces the dredge downstream, tightening the lines again with a jerk, which, were the winchman not upon his , guard to counteract the effect, might other- , wise prove disastrous to th© dredge and all on board. From this it will be seen that the winch, and the winchman, have very important duties to perform. It is specially on dark nights when the work is most precarious, and the assistance of a powerful light is therefore of the first importance. ACTUAL DREDGING WORK. The reader is, by this time, sufficiently instructed by the endless number of photographs of dredges to be seen everywhere to form some idea of the bucket ladder, and the work it has to perform. As the name implies, it is a ladder in construction. It swings upon an axle in a strong frame, its upper end being raised from 10ft or 12ft up to 18ft and 20ft above the deck of the pontoons, according to the size of the boat, and the room there is for the cylinder, tables, and other gold-

saving- apparatus, all" of which must have S certain amount of fall to cany off the golden . wash" brought up by the buckets. To gain this fall the upper end of the" ladder must be raised to the height jusf. staled. The lower end of the ladder is swung by a block and tackle, and by thi;means is raised and lowered as occasion requires. The heavy gallows-like erection at the bows of the pontoons is for this purpose. To it are fixed the block -and tackle, which is worked by the winch, and here the winchman must, also be alwayp on guard. If the bucket catches upon v stone, or anything else, which may «be a log bui'ied in the wash, cemented gravel, or a lump of reef, into which .the bucket 1 digs, the winchman may tighten the ladder tackle to assist the bucket in its work, or. if the resistance offered is too great, he may slacken the shore lines and guys, thereby allowing the dredge to drop downstream, which, of course, draws back the bucket, and the tackle of the ladder beingslackened at the same time, ,the bucket is freed of the resistance. All this is don«» by the winch, under the direction of th» winchman, whose attention is always fully centred on his work during the whole liin.* ■of his shift Besides all this,, the position .of She areoffe is altered and regulated dv the' aid of the winch. Steel ropes, of the best make only are" used. Of these there-are always « number on hand, nothing being-allowed to depend upon chance or makeshift. . The winches upon all modern dredges consist of three double-barrel winches,' and. one singlebarrel for. the ladder. The mechanism in »o arranged that four barrels may. be 'worked at the same time, chiefly relating to th© shore lines. As a matter of course, all the barrels are fitted with reversing gear TiYoia this it will be seen that the winches, nextto the engine, are the most important, fit tings of a dredge. In spite of the vartod. demands made upon the winches, they cannot be called very complicated pieces of mechanism. It is interesting to see the precision and promptness with which they work, and the surprise is their strength , when the boat is brought up with ? sud den lurch, and the strain is thrown apno the ropes, the boat tugging at them like » tied monster at its gyves. The offices of the winches and the winchman having been described, some idea, can be formed what the work is like when verystony ground is met with. As has already been incidentally mentioned, dredging is always carried on at the foot of tie face to be worked — that is to say, when. a ; fa"ce has been gained. Where the bottom is soft' to a depth, of several .feet it is r excavated underneath the stony wash, which falls away, and is then scooped up as loosa gravel, the current of the waier — which is always acting upon the face — assisting in Jbringing down" the gravel. Cutting into the banks where there is no current, the face if brought down by simply undermining it. Where the bank rises hieh above the water level, a hose and nozzle are used to. bring down the gravel in portions sufficient to keep the buckets filled, and not much more. In all cases, .when once a face' has been got upon the' work, the buckets are. always working upon the bottom, which is cleaned up by the buckets, when a piece of ground of any desired size has been stipped. The description of the bucket ladder may now be finished. At the top and at .the. bottom of the ladder are fitted square-faced tumblers to fit the length of the links of the belt. The tumblers revolve with the working of the belt, which is set in motion by the top tumbler, driven by the main gear. The ladder is fitted with rollers, all too small in many cases, to aid the belt in travelling. In quite a number of instances I saw the rollers worn away by the belt, the rollers never having revolved or having ceased to revolve.' The largest and best' rollers I saw on the field were those of the Chatto Creek dredge. They measured 18'^. in diameter, and travelled freely. The bucket belt calls for a few additional words of description. The belt consists of solid castings of iron, nearly the length or the bucket. Each link in the largest dredge weighs just about lewt, and there are fou/_ of these links in every set — two on each j side. In a large dredge throe arr trot? 37 to 42 gets of links. The links are furnished with eyes at either end, and through them are connected by pins, up to 2ii in. diameter, upon which the belt bend? «>>"*•■" j the tumblers. , ; - The buckets are fastened to ths linlw;, and they fill by being dragged along the bottom r of. the paddock, for which the belt musfe ! have a certain amount of slack, and then by being drawn through the loosened wash »b the bottom of the face, and they empty by being turned up-side down in passing ove* the top tumbler.

Many, of the modern ladders are provided j With a provision for telescoping the ladder, jt has been found that an angle of 45deg !feives the best satisfaction for working the They fill better at that angle, and the slack of the belt acts most in favour of counterbalancing its weight. The length of the ladder being a fixed and rigid quantity and the depth of the ground to be .worked a variable one, it follows that this angle cannot be always maintained. To equalise things* as nearly as possible, the telescoping arrangement has been introduced ; but it can be applied only tc. a very )imited degree — 3ft or 4ft at v the most. Small as this is in a ladder 60ft or more long, it is still something to be thankful for. Grabs have occasionally been mentioned In the foregoing description, and may it*, connection with the belt be ' briefly -»x blamed. Grabs are horn-like iron arms, Shod with steel points, and are always used in pairs. There are generally two sets of grabs in a belt. Where the' ground is very Btony there may be more. It is found advantageous to have an iron plate bolted between them in the shape of a miniature bucket. This serves as a rest for stones of medium size, which would, were it not for the plate, slip through between the igrabs and leave the buckets to deal with Grabs are also useful in breaking up hfcrd or cemented wash, and in all stony ground are a great saving of the buckets. From the above a general idea of tho ■working of a dredge and the actual operation of dredging may be formed by those ■who may never have seen a - dredge. It sgoes without saying that these operations, carried on upon a river like the Molyneux, .■where the safety, of a boat depends .very often upon artificial mooring, ' and where the current cannot be described otherwise than a raging one, adds a zest, of danger frrhich is absent where the dredge floats upon fe pond ot its own making, beyond the ,vcjach ©f fisods or waging currents. XVI.— MILLER'S FLAT. ; Under this heading is comprised all the open flat land lying between Roxburgh and Beaumont, divided into Moa, Anderson's, and Miller's Fla'ls, at the lower end of which is the Island Block. This portion is not a rock 'basin like that at Alexandra, but resembles much more the Valley of the Clutha. It will be interesting to watch the manner of the deposition of the £old in this part of the river, as it will throw a Welcome light upon the condition of the Clutha in that respect. Dredgemasters at Roxburgh, Ettrick, and Miller's Flat are less agreed as to the runs of gold striking across the present course of the Molyneux, which, it is generally accepted, has had very little or nothing to do with the lodgment of the gold in the leads in which it undoubtedly occurs. Some of these leads, especially in the Golden Gate and the Otago Company's claims, angle diagonally across the rfbrca-m, and enter both banks, but at such a slant as to suggest that they we.re -formed .by ancient, courses of the Molyneux that are. now obliterated. If this be so then there is a chance that nofc all the valley here referred to will bo attacked by dredges. There will be a margin left near the foot of the hills flanking the yalley on either side. Miller's Flat, taken in its whole extent, as above defined, is ideal dredging ground. The depth rarely exceeds 27ffc or 30ft, there are no big stones, the current, though strong, is even and regular, and the width ,of the river is such as not to be readily affected by freshes or small floods. The gold is fairly coarse, and is present in highly payable quantities. Mr Templeton, dredgemaster of the Otago dredge, kindly showed me a sample o f the gold, tbe finest of which showed a, -smooth, well-rounded appearance under the microscope. There was no scaly gold- in the sample, and the whole was of a good uniform colour. Taking the visible and readable indications of Miller's Flat as a dredging field, it is jecond only to the Molyneux at Alexandra, frith the advantage of being easier wrought than «the river at the latter place, which, of course, will have a. salutarr effect upon •the returns, allowing a margin for -& perJiaps less degree in the richness of the ground. In support of all this it may be mentioned that dredging has been carried on "at Miller's Flat for many long years ; that it has always been, through the Stages of its development, a paying and profitable pursuit; that here dredging never went down to the dying-out stage, and so far has not risen to boom dimensions. It has always been in a sound and healthy state. Taking the claims in their order down the river, we have tx begin •yith The Goldek Treasure Drkdginxj Coup ant. Registered in July, 1891, the company ivas floated with a capital of £3000 of £1 ihares, 1384 shares being given to the vendors* Ur to. M&y; £ last £19,416 worth

o/ gold was won, of which sum £7693 was distributed in dividends, so that the capital of the company was returned twice over in eigbib years, and the claim is likely to hold out at the same rate for many years j to come. Although visiting the claim somewhat ' tote in the- day, considerably past knock-ing-oft' time, Mr P. - M'Vicar, the dredgemaster. cordially granted me an interview, and a mutually profitable hour's chat, as I venture to hope, ensued, of which thfc following is the essence. Tht pontoons of the dredge are 90ft long vpfcb a beam of 27ft. The ladder is 63ft long, capable of going down to a depth of 40ft, or, on a pinch, 45ft. The buckets hold about three cubic feet. The belt at ordinary speed delivers about 12 buckets per minute. The engine is al2 horsepower Marshall. The boiler, which works up to 1251b pressure per square inch, is ' by R. S. Sparrow ; while the winches are after Messrs OuUen Bros.' patent, and '. give the greatest satisfaction. At present ! when the dredge is working in the river ! the elevator is put aside, but when the J bank is attacked the trays are put on. j About six or eight acres of bank have been i turned over, and what once was bank or , main land lies now as an island, piled up i from 15ft to 16ft high, about 100 ft re- j moved into the river — an illustration of . what dredging can, and does, do. J The Golden Treasure claim h situated a j short distance above Miller's Flat bridge, i from which the dredge can be plainly seen, j riding the stream like some great bird of i prey. • The ground "now working has been gone ; over by previous small dredges, which could ! work the bottom only when the river was j low. Stones are met with in moderate quantities, and occasionally the wash is pretty hard and tight. Mr M'Vicar finds that where previous dredges, however de- ! ficient, as compared witb modern ones, had i the chance to bottom they left precious , little gold behind, and that it is only where they could not get to the bottom that gold of any consequence is met with. The present dredge has been at work ' for six years, and during tha<t time has done very good work, and is still a sound and serviceable boat. Messrs Cutten Bros. • were the designers, and with this boat • marked an era in dredge-building. Mr R. - S. Sparrow was the builder, and furnished : all the working gear, which was so faith- ! - fully done that no serious break has occurred for all the time the dredge has \ been at work. Sometime ago the boat \ ■underwent a thorough overhaul by Mr E. j Roberts, and several innovations, such as an elevator and new ladder were added. Although Mr M'Vicar would not commit himself to any decided opinion as to the banks of the Molyneux at Miller's Flat being payably auriferous for any very great distance back, yet he "lias mo hesitation in saying that the gold is going into the banks. The claim has been worked in a good workmanlike manner, dredging being begun at the lower end of the claim, and ' bank and river being taken on a face. ; For a little time back — that is, since the' dredge is on the ground that has been gone ' over — returns' have fallen off, but there is tsfcill a good, long lease of life before the claim. So far the claim has paid £2 12.s per £1 share. ' . Mr M'Vicar, who has been amongst machinery nearly all his life, learned the dredging trade on board the Golden Treasure dredge, and. after an apprenticeship of four years, has worked himself up to the position of dredgemaster, having now served the company in that capacity with much credit for about eight months, and is likely to make his" mark in , that line. j The Miller's Flat Electric Gold j Dredging Company. ' This company, formed about six months ago, completed arrangements with the Electric Company, Sandhills, Upper Shotover, to work their claim at Miller's Flat. The dr.edge was taken ito pieces early in the year, and packed down to Queenstown, part of it being sent on to Frankton and other places, where it was allowed to lie, pending the means of transporting it on to its destination by way of Lawrence. All preliminary arrangements are now completed, and the machinery is about to arrive on the ground. One of the prime movers in this company is Mr P. Laffey, of Miller's Flat Hotel, a man of great push and energy, who has always been one of the aniainstays and supporters of dredging at Miller's Flat. It is proposed to build a current wheel for the purpose of generating electricity, and work and light up the dredge by the electric current. Mr F. W. Payne, of the New Zealand Electrical Company, was up at Miller's Flat just prior to my visit to take the speed ' of the river, preparatory to drawing up plans for motive power, and, so iar as has leaked out, the investigation of the speed of the current proved to be satisfactory The dredge is to be built upon a site near , Miller's Flat bridge, and is to be taken, up

to the scene of her operations when finished. In this manner still another Shotover dredge, designed to win the gold of her native river, is to be taken to dredge Shotover and Wakatipu gold many miles — 120 ttt least — away from her intended sphere of action, for it cannot be doubted but that the Shotover. and the Wakatipu generally, contributed their share to the gold thailies now awaiting the dredge to come along to fish it up. It certainly looks like the irony of fate that after having provided the gold for the Molyneux, even to its lower reaches, the Shotover must send away her last dredge almost to dredge up the gold in a fardistant and foreign part. The Miller's Flat Electric claim doublebanks the Golden Treasure to a certain extent, having, hoAvever, a frontage to the river near its lower end. The ground is well spoken of by knowing local men. who have been in the district for many years. The height of the bank is fully up f-o any now working at Alexandra, and wi!" tax the elevating power of any di'dlfre so ihv as elevating power has been carried. However, bank dredging is one of the latest developments of the industry, fird. judgir^; by what has been attained, it is impossible to say what the next stage in advance may be. The Got.dcx Treasure Xo.. ?. This venture marks another departure in dredging. At a point above the Golden Treasure there are unmistakable indications of an old river bed, where it is supposed the Molyneux, once flowed, and deposited its golden treasure. . The ground must,, therefore, not be confounded witb a bank claim, which implies the extension of a known gold run in width. In an " old river bed " the presence of the gold is assumed, or, worse still, it is taken for granted ; ' in a bank claim the gold is proved to be there by actual exploitation, the only question being, how far does the gold go into the bank? Old River Beds. When an old river bed has been discovered it does not by any means follow that it must be payably auriferous. In practice, it has been proved that old river beds are very misleading things, as witness the Island Block. In mountain gorges, like the .Shotover and the Arr.ow Rivers, old river beds are often immensely rich in gold ; in an open valley like the Molyneux, atMiller's Flat, the very reverse is the case. The valley has been filled with auriferous wash at only one period of its existence. That is to say, there is only one lead or run of gold. The lead may be split up into any number of streaks, running parallel with one another, but they will be all on the same level and upon the same kind of bottom ; the variations, if any, will be very slight. These observations hold good for the Avhole distance from Alexandra to Beaumont. Where "old river beds" exist, something has gone wrong with the local geology at different times. In geology, different times are marked by differences in level — i.e., high levels are older than low levels. This is a sufficient truism, and no kind of " ology " is required to explain it. It, therefore, follows that if an " old rivei bed " is found many feet above the present gold level of the Molyneux (that is. -of course, measured in " time transverse section), the -old bed belongs to an age prior to that which brought the gold into the Molyneux, so that the chances are against such an "old river bed" being payably auriferous. From this plain statement it be seen that the boring rod is of the first importance in deciding^ the question, whether or not a given old river bed be payably auriferous, mining experts not except ed. At the risk of being diffuse, the commonsense view of the " old river bed " theory may also be stated. Supposing tlfat there is an old river bed, and that it is payably auriferous, there is the problem of rise in the bottom. The Molyneux, by measurement, has been ascertained to have a fall of 550 ft from Cromwell to its mouth, a distance of 92 miles, measured along the windings of the river. By far the greater amount of this fall lies between Cromwell and Beaumont, a distance of .about 60 miles of river, for which the fal) may be estimated at least at 400 ft. or, roughly stated, 7ft per mile. The danger, therpfore, is that the rock bed in the " old river bed " may rise above the water level o* the Molyneux, and cut out the dredge. This, of course, is a question for the boring rods to decide. All this is said not foi the purpose of raising difficulties, but of guarding against them. This ruther learned discussion has been Indulged in because all sorts of fads, to /t-bich tbe least bit of glamour can be attached, are about to be foisted upon the public. Old river beds and " old wute<channels'' are to be found everywhere in Otago, but let them occur in any auriferous locality and they lend themselves with ready case to imposture of every description. Craig's Flat, of which there nas also been some talk as an. " old river bed," is of the

same description as the Golden Treasure No. | 2. The public cannot be too cautious in j guarding against such risky investments, j especially in the present plethora of good .' and safe things. If the " old rive.r_ bed '* j notion has any particular fascination for j them, they may be advised to insist upon boring .evidence conducted, not by any 'would-be expert", but by a gentleman of the colonial Geological department — Mr Alexander Mackay, preferentially. i The Otago Gold Dredging Company. Situated about the same distance below Miller's Flat bridge as the Golden Treasure is above it, the Otago Company's dredge is carrying on its operations. The Ofago Dredging ' Company ( yak registered in May, 1895, with a capita] of £4500, in £1 hlvves. The vendors received 2500 fully paid-up shares for their claim and dredge, which up to 4th May last yielded £4700 in divi dends, Laving obtained a total amount of £11,816 worth of gold up to the above date. Thp dredge was built sbuui. e:,^ht or nine yi-ars atro by Kincaid and --. Quacn. at a price of £4000. She is remarkable for her great length as compared with hei beam, being 110 ft long by 20ft wide. She has also a remarkably long ladder (72ft). being exceeded only by the Lady Ranfurly j (Electric' Company, Kawarau) by a few feet. ! The greatest depth the Otago dredge has had ■ to work is 36ft. It is not an advantage, to work shallow ground with a long^ ladder. The buckets are of about- 4ft capacity. All the machinery and gear on board were supplied by Kincaid and M'Queen, and though the dredge has now been at work for about seven or eight years,- it is still a reliable and steady machine and. boat. Kincaid and M'Queen also supplied the winch,- of wliich Mr I. Templeton, the dredgemast&r, speaks very, highly.' Revolving screen a.nd, tables 12ft square,- fitted with matting, and expanded metal, form the gold-saving appliances. At the time of .my visit the dredge -was ; working ground aboiit 15ft to 18ft deep, I of which about 10ft is water, the remainder being gravel. The' dredge is working ground that has previously been worked and bottomed, with the result that it still pays 22£ per cent, on the full capital of the company. This fact throws a certain light upon the efficiency or otherwise of a dredge bucket cleaning up gold off a bottom. What is no less surprising is the fact tha*" ■ the bulk of the gold obtained is of a de- , cidedly coarse nature, there being natur | ally a goodly proportion of fine gold also. ; A , proportionate mixture of coarse gold i'with the fine would go to show that the , coarse gold had never been lifted. 1 Mr Templeton concurs in the observation that the gold is found in runs, which strike diagonally across the present course of the river, mostly at sharp angles. The dredge . has turned over a fair proportion of bank, 1 for which she was fitted with an elevator .by Mr E. Roberts, of Dunedin. At the present time, while working the shallow ground in the river, the elevator has been dismantled for'the time being, a shoot being provided for the discharge of the stone? and tailings, which answers all purposes. A feature on tlhis dredge is a well-designed save-all, catching tho spill and droppings from the emptying buckets. • The box which catches the spill is protected by steel bars, upon which the empty buckets slide past the box without catching and injuring It. The engine and some of the gearing is placed in one of the 1 pontoons, and the winches are so placed that the winchman has a clear look-out upon the shore lines j and guys, as well as a good view of the : buckets, to see that they come up well filled, for all this is under the winchman'a control. Mr Templeton, who is a careful and circumspect manager, always keeps his buckets in constant repair, so that they are in a fit state to do duty whenever required, and everything on board is kept in perfect order. Having had many years' experience on the river, he has now been iv charge of the Otago dredge for two and a-half years, achieving a very fair amount of success. For the first year of his regime tho dredge paid 55 per cent., for the second 50 per cent, was obtained, and during the current j^ear the percentage was 22^, the comparatively low figure being accounted for by the fact that ground is worked now that has been turned over before. The claim has been worked for about 17 years by spoon dredge and current-wheeler, until the steam dredge does now the final cleaning up. However, there is still plenty of virgin ground both in bank^tnd river co yield handsome dividends for many years to come. Spark Ground. Between the Otago upper boundary and the Golden Treasure lower boundary" there lies a punt and bridge reserve, which sug gests Clip old Victorian, practice of spare ground being left between claims, in order to .avoid disputes about boundaries. The trouble and endless lawsuits that were caused at the Blue Spur, Gabriel's Gully, will bo fresh in the minds of many. There is some danger of something similar, though , in a les.-> aggravated degree recurring with ' dredging buuk claims t

The auriferous gravel of one claim cannot be worked out up to the boundary without some^of it falling away out of the neighbouring claim. The subject, is mentioned incidentally, to prepare dredging 1 companies for unpleasant possibilities, ngainst which it is better to guard in time than to be overtaken by them unawares, and, above all, to avoid" legal proceedings in connection with, the subject. This difficulty is perhaps best met by leaving- a liberal margin of " spare ground " — say, 30ft or 40ft or 50ft — between claims, as neutral ground.