Untitled

Otago Witness, Issue 2412, 24 May 1900, Page 20

The Secretary of the Fourteen-mile Beach Company reports that Messrs Christie Bios, have completed tha first portion of the flurning contract. This will provide sufficient water to enable the dredge to stait work as scon as the machineiy i 3 erected. Messrs Cossens and Black's contract for the machineiy is completed, and the machinery is on the ground. The electrical plant is on board tae iViamari, which maj" airive at any time now. At Monday's meeting of the Equitp.ble Stock E::chanre correspondence was read from the Si'osk Mschinge of Canterbury relating to bhe soiistaat ?»le of vendors' or paid-up shares, to the exclusion of contributing, shares. The Equitable Stock Exchange consider such a practice inimical to the public interest, and have rdsol'. Ed to discourage the fioiation of gold dredging, companies which do r.ol provide in prospectuses for the restiiction of the .sale of ve'ac'ors 1 shares for a period of 12 months, ov Utitil Fuch tisjie as- the dredge has commenced tfork. A Melbourne 'cable states that the piofits of the Brolren Hill Block Tin Company for the half-yer.r are .g'16,750, the dividends aggregating £15,000 paid; £20,003 lips been added to the receive fund. Since the inception of the company th^y'have paid ££25,000 m dividends. At t"h3 Piinaal meeting of the Alpine Ino. 2 Sold Dredgirg Company, held leccntly, Messis

Peter Aitken and E. S. Paterson were elected [ directors, the former to fill an extraordinary j vacancy. rlher lhe pontoons are nearly completed, ; aitd a portion of the machinery is on the ! ground, and othor posit-ons are on tho^r way" up to the claim. lhe diiectois aie losing no ', time in lruriying the wo.-k on to completion. j The Manager of the Av3blalla.li Tin Mining ! und Crus'rrng Company, B'v.e Tier, Tasmania, ! leporto u.ider dote April 38: — " f oitnighc's crushing, 510 tons for 3 tons tin — 68 per cent. ! Had to xjul thiough poo. stufl' on account extending tram line. Plenty water for dressing." j The Berwick corre-soonpclent of ths Taiori ; Advocate states that the work on the Cinnabar j reef& on Waitshuna Heights has been stopped, 1 pending further developments of the venture. ' About Jiarf a io:i of tbe valuable pro has been [ sent to Englaii-V and it ib the intention ot the i owners to no?.u a company Several picminert i city men, including Professor Black, arc 111- : teresteJ in the mine, and as the rnaiketable value of the ore is about £100 per toa, the undertaking ina3" turn out to be a very profitable one. j A party of Miller's Flat ininci&'have (says the , Tuapeka Tunes) takea up 100 acres for dredging pud hydraulic elevating at -what is known as ' the Fortification Creek,' the upper end of the Di;mal Swamp. A piospecting party ->\as out under the charge of Mr P. C. Grant. Very fair ! prospects were obtained, but they could not , ooiwom owing to the great uude^-cunent oi , water from the creek It is intended, when the winter is over, to get the boring rods to work and try the de^vta. There is an abundant sup- , p:y of water emier for hydraulic elevating or , elecuic motive power for dredging; and the i fiat has got tome of the richest gold-bearing .^u'he; in trie XjamriitiA&ws f.s icerers, notably the Sweeds and the V\ elfhrnau. j The Champ:on Gold Mining Company ■ (L^irii..""!) f Jtninct 3oz Udwc of gold lor last week's wark. ! 'lhe pomoons o." ths Meiihnac dredge on, the Kawdi-au fiivcr aie drawing lowia'ck corr.- i plc-tiiO'i, and will probably be launched at the itkl of th.?, 01 early next, week. The engines and bcilei (ii&rtbalt iu:d Sons') wci-e lecently landed ci: 'iohomaru, end a.« the "iv/iole of che j iioiiwoik i" eithe-' 0:1 the cla:m ox a,: transit itat dredge- r;liou!cl be at v. ork by iJio end of ! 3r.l\- IVics=r r , ILoigan, Cpble, a:icl Co. have | the contiact ioi the lii edge', the pontoons hay- j. ing been sub-let to A'ps^rs i'_new'-tubb Bros. ) Th Seciefcary oi the 'Sise and Slm-e Gold 1 Dredging Corap-iiiy informs us ihs.t th-e direc- ' to:s have received a pi ogress lcport of the ; boring opeiations now bemj; carried out on the company's claim. Nc. 1 boie was canicci doA'ii to a ciepth of 32ft, t-id on the contents — about four cubic feei — bemr, panned off 6gr cf flat wn.ter-wor.i3 gold remained. 'Ihis bore was put down on the flat about 10ft back from the river. The second one was sunk in the , river, on a spit of gravel extending about 100 ft i out from No. 1. It bottomed on reddish-browu pipe-clay at 35f1, and gave a return of 7gr oi gold. Good prospects were goi in the- top etuff but tiic. best gold was obtained ij. the last lOit. It 13 intended to put down fou; more bores m the cen:re cf the river 011 J. 0.1 0 low flat at. the foot of the terrace. ' A meeting of the directory of the Ifcg and j Annie Gold Dredging Company was he-id at Lawrence on Wednesday, the 10th, wnea i:. was reported that the ciiedge potiloons waie out of hand, and that the contractors (Messrs Morgan, Cable, a.ici Co., of Fort CliL-Jrnera) had started to place the machine^ on board. It was expected that steam would be got up b3 r the end of next month, and that 110 time would be lost in getting iairiy to work. Mr j D. M'lntosh, of Cromwell, an experienced ! di edging-hand, who was 111 charge of the Ran- j fuiiy dredge for some time during the absence ot Mr M'George. was recently appointed j dredgenias i er 01 the Meg and Annie. In Fridaj's Daily Tiroes appears the abridged prospectus of the Twelve-mile Gold Dredging Company (Limited). The claim is j situated m the district known as the Golden I Belt, and is at the junction of the Grey River | ond the rich No Town Creek. Already over 5000 shares have been applied for. The brokers are Messrs Baker Bios., of Dunedm, Christchtuch, Wellington, Auckland, ancl Gieymoutu. Mr H. Lyders, of Dunedin, has just corn- j pieled the pontoons of the Majestic dredge at i Miller's Fiot, and Messrs Stevenson and j Poole, who have the contract, are sending the j ironwork along as quickly as circumstances j will permit. The boiler is now on the claim, 1 and the engines (Marshall's.) are to follow in j a day or two, having recently been landed at Dunedin. The Majestic will probably be at v/o-k in six x/eeks' time. With Friday's Daily Times appears the prospectus ot the Murchiso-i Gold Dredging Co. The claim is situated on the Matakitaki Eiver, In the Central Buller di&trict, and adjoins Messrs Cut ton's private claim, on which a tli'sdge is workii g. The claim is reported on by Messrs W. H. Cult en, J. Gow. and T. Ritchie (manager of th? Mammoth Hjdraulic Sluicing Company), and they all speak very highly of it. Mr (low, in his leport, goes co far as to say that, from the appearance of the wash when prospecting, the lesults showed 1 that with an up-to-date dredge the returns j should average 50oz a week. Only 2000 shares rre reserved joi Dunedm, and early application is necessary. It is le-oorted that the Wool&hccl No. 2 dredge at Wsukaka is on a very good vein of j gold. The dredge, which only commenced i operations three or four \teeks ago, is working ! veiy tmoothly, and promises to give a very gco'l account of itself. The heavy rainfall of the past few days has ! caused the Waipori Hiver to run very high, I but so far it has not interfered with dredging \ opsrotions in that district. 1 Tlis statutoiy meeting" of shareholders in ! the Major Eobin -Gold. Dredging Company j (Limited), Ores'- Rivor, \Vest Coast, was held in the Board Room, Agiicultural Hall, on i Wednesday, 16' oh inst., when there was a good 3 epresentative attendance o{ shprcholdero. The following were elected as diiectors • — Jfessrs H. Crust, E. Squailoe, T. N. Don, J. Otitram, R. Hudson, jun., and H. B. Burnott (West Coast) as local director. Mr R. T. Wheeler, jun., was elected auditor. Mr D. , Leslie (Mitchell and Leslie) is secret?^y. I r Lbe contractor 1113 made a stait with the building of the pontoons oi the Enhance Com- ' pany's dredge, v/hich ia expected to be at work towards the end of September. The iionwork of the dredge is in the hinds o£ thiee or four Duuedin films, who anticipate no difficult}- in being U'D to contract tune. The E chance claim 33 situated on Tfui">skr, Fiat, about three \oiles from Lawrence, adjoining tb? northern boundary of the Lawrence Dredging Company's claim,

The first annual meeting of shareholders of the Alpine Consols Dredging Company (Limited) was held at Messrs Eeeves and Co.'s office on Wednesday. Mr J. G. Sawell (the chairman 01 tlis company) piesided. The report and balance sheet were read and adopted. Messrs J. A. Buri and JEL L. Tapley vere icelected directors, and the auditor (Mr T. K. Harty) was also re-elected for the Queuing 12 months. The Chairman stated that 110 time had been lo&t in getting the dredge completed and at work on the claim at as eaily a date as possible. The engine and boiler for the Willoughby Cardrona Company have been ordered from Messrs Huston, Proctor, and Co., England. The tenders for pontoons and machinery are being called for. ftCr A. "R. Edmonds, who has been in chaige of the Jutland Flat (Waipori) dredge ever sir.cc it stilted operations, some nine j-ears ago, has oos.i ap jointed dredgemaste- of the Nelson Creek dredge, on the West Coast, and proceeds thither to superintend its erection. Mr V\ llliam Sinclair, enyploj'ed for mciny years on the Jutland Flat ureige, has been appointed to succeed Mr Edmonds. The dnectors of tbe Empire Gold Dredging Corai^ri}- met last week and declared a dividend of Is per shaie, making the eleventh dividend (amou'itins in all to 12s per share), of which the shareholders have been the recipient*. The comppny, on a capital of J?5000, have two dredges at work 0:1 two claims at Waipori Fls>t — one adjoining the Success Company's claim a.id the other rd joining the Golden Shore Company's claim. The diedge first built by the company, o.i a capital of £3200, paid 10 dividends, aggregating Us per share, and partly nut cL tnbTequput profits from this dredge, added to surplus irom an iiicieasp of capital to JZCQOQ. the company built the second dredge, vhich. is now fiee of debt and on the dividend-p.i^-iiig list. T'heio are few, if any, dredging companies in th^s part of the world, that can make a boast that they are possessed of two dieciges, fully equipped, at work on a £5003 capital. Out Cromwell correspondent telegraphs : — The Eanfurly dredge got the bottom tumbler slira; bioken, but will start dredging rgaiii nex^: ' week. The statutory general meeting of the Westland Gold Dredging Company (Limited) was "held in Me39r3_Siigo Bros.' boa.cncom on Friday. Mr J. H. rJmmio presided. ai;d there was a fair attendance of shareholders. The follov.-ing eeinlemen were elected chrccrovs. — Messrs \V. If. Frost. J. H. Carter, C. W. Kerr, A\ex. S. Adar.i°. ai.d "W. M. Auld. Mr W. E. Sliso wa-; p];pc-mtsu secretaiy, Mr A. T. Fmch auditor, and Mr Ppyne engineer to the compp.;iy. In Saturday's Dailj r Times appears the prospeotu^ of the Marsdcn Lead Gold Dredging Company (lmuited), and some repoits cn'the Ma-rsaen Ko. 3 Gold Dredging Company (Limited). These claims are situated on the Hew -River, at Mar = den . 0.1 the \Vest Coast. This ■ocality is very highly spoken of by mmitij: exptils, and tho piospeets taken frora thee rlainis nppr.rontly bear out this opinion. The contract foi the JL'ia-sder. Ko. 3 dredge is let, to be delivered in Januaiy, 1901. There is no mistake about the energy that is being thrown into vh.es dredging industiy (pays the Grey Eiver Argus). The Dispatch Foundry, have been besieged to accept ordes at their own price, reasonable time being allowed for construction. The Alexandra Herald states thi-l Mr Louis Anderson has been appointed dredgemaster of the Minv.lierikia Company's dredge. Returns from the Pleasant Valley are most encouraging (says the Mount Benger Mail). For a month ended on Friday the result has been 440z sdwt in two washings up. A start was made on, Tuesday, 15th, by the contractors (Messrs M'Kechnie and Fleming) : v. ifch the building of pontoons for the Endeavour dredge The Biuce Herald is informed that the Eiverbank dredge at Clarksville sank on Saturday, owing to the flooded state of the river. It appears that the dam in which the dredge "is being built, has proved rather faulty, and previous to the flood there was not a large amount of water in it. The dredge was pretty heavily laden with machinery, and on the water risking, failed to lift with it. Efforts are being undo to have her raised again, but it is stated that ths pontoons are leaking slightly. "' We (Bruce Herald) have it on the best aiithority that a new, and, in the opinion of many, a niucli-needpcl lefomi in the management of dredges will be introduced whan the first batch of modern machines sets to work. It i% proposed to cover the gold-sa^mg tables in, aocess to them being confined to the rnanagei only. At a meeting of diiectors of the Golden Gutter Diedging Company, held on Monday, the company's Engineer (Mr E. Eobirts) reported that the claim was drcdgeable, but as all the reports of the boring and dredging expeits were not to hand, it was decided to meet again on these being received. The directors of the Shotover Gold Dredging Company are having the dredge removed from the gorge at the top of the claim, where che has been working to the foot of the gorge, where the ground is more open. There will, therefore, be no returns for a fortnight. Mr D. Larnach, secretary of the Cromwell Company, received the following telegram on Saturday night from Mr Leslie Reynolds, C.S. : — •" Full dredging trial Cromwell. Machinery runmug, very well." The Secretaiy of the Spec Gully Gold Dredging Company (Limited) reports that the following wile was received from the dredgemaster: — ■ Staited; going splendidly." The c'irectors of the Central Charlton Diedging Company (Limited), at their meeting, held on Monday, received the follou-ing reports from Messrs il. F. Nees and Co., dated Dunedm, 21st Mpy: — We beg to report p.ogrecs 011 above contract as under : Machinery all dismantled and packed for removal. Five trucks of machinery aj rived at Gore on the 14th inst, and tvso trucks machinery and one of timber left Ranfurly for G-ore on the 18th inst. We should estimate about 4.6 tons, or nearly half ha-ve been railed and about 20 tons placccl di the claim, a3 the carrier advised w- "on "the 16th that he had commenced carting fiom Goie to the claim. Our foreman advises, that he expects to complete taking the pontoon to pieces to-morrow (22nd), when the mcii will leave Ophir for Chsrlton to commence re-erection. All going well, and with favotuable weather, we should complete well within contract time. The Secretary (Mr R. T. Wheeler, jun.) of th 3 Blue Duck Gold Dredging Company (Limited) reports as follows on the piojiess of machinery. — Messvs Cossens and Black have now completed all the contracts they have

taken prior to the Blue Duck's, and have Lhe full strength of their plant and workmen aL this (Blue Duck) work. The elevator and screen have been delivered on the ground, and the ladder is all pi : .t together ready for riveting. The buckets are riveted up, and are now being bored, ready for bushing. The links pro finished, also pins, and the winch is expected to be finished in two or three days, 'liie driv-irg-gear is sli well advanced. It is expected that in a fortnight or thiee weeks the whole of the machinery will bo away from Dunedm. The statutory meeting of the Blackvater Eiver Gold Dredging Company (Limited) was held at the corrpany's ofnee on Saturday. The following wer.e elected directors: — Mesdrs Win, Brown, E. A. Tapper, G. W. Gibson, J. Coombs, and G. L. Tacon. At the directors' nieeticg, held immediately afteiwardt, Mr A. J. C. Brown was appointed auditor. Mr Tacon, who was present, spoke of the large area of virgin ground the company possess. He pointed out that miners are to-day working lound this ground, gett.ng t,ood wajre-, fie water alone being the hanier to its being worked. fc'or about 35 years the giour.d immediately above this claim had maintained a population of fiom 150 to 700 miners. The Dimecun Stock Exchange hs\e resolved to connnuaicaie \\i\\\ othei rpfognised Exchanges in New Zealand, wiVli si \iew to diicoura;{C furtje 1 notations oi mining companies m th]* co'oiiy foi a period of, pay, 12 months. Tho directors 0' those ptcady-going cou_-pf.-iie,, the Golden Gatp, o olden Treasure, au.'l Succ^sd have declared another dividend. Tht Golden Gate dividend n 03 1.1 c: t-hnre, tlic Golden Treaiuie Is dl, and tho On Salniaiy tbc of ths r-TelfcO'i Creel. Gold Dr-:U L {inL Comrimy (f.miited) leceivecl a wire frorti Mv ]'V.itiifull, Gxeymouth, anncuiicing the htiLC-c^-tu!. fJoatinjj of the 3.10:1loons, and tb»it thoy v/cre j erectly watectignt. Every effort is being made by t'ns company tc iruiry up the completion oL the mu^hinorj-. The Hartley and liiley rrcdgi:ig Company will psy a dividend of 10s per share on the 28 Hi ins'i. Mr A. Hamilton, secretary of the JRiverLaiilGold i)iodc;:ng Comps/iy, wvito?: — Keiei-ring to the extract uncler j-our mining note-; ci Satuiday's dr in, I have to liiform you, in ord^r to prevent an uaeatv feeling ainong^t 1--holders, that, although the dam gave w?y, there was no damage of any consequence sustained by the dredge, which :s especbed to start wcrk ve:y shirilj. The statutory general mcetiag of shareholdpr'3 in th* Halter' 3 Cieek Gold Dredging Coinppny lias beeii adjonrneel until Friday, 25th Jffay. 'I'lie adjourned meeting will be held at ilessis J. J Eamsay and Cp.'e offices, Crawford street, at S p.m Messrs H. F. IsTees and Co. report receipt of a ifire fiom their Mr John Scott, advis ; ng that he had successfully launched the poncooas of th-e Inch-holme Gold Dredging Company's c'heritje on Si>lurdaj". ftjr C. Yr. 'Biowfi, legal manager of the Gold Creek Dredging Company (Chatton) repoits thgt the diedgc has now got on to botlom v/ash, and that tho return? are improving. Tha gold is of a better quality and more easily feaved. Follov/iag are the returns for the past four weeks: — Week ending Apiil 21, 9oz 9dwt; 28th, lOoz; May 5, lOoz 4d\vt; 14th, Moz 2dwt. — Saathland Times. The Dunstsn Times states thai the Spec Gully dredge, KabeLy, 'made a trial run en the 11th, snd again on the j'Sth, when the directors weie on the pioiind. The machinery worked splendidly, and after a very short rua bottom was reached and a considerable quantity of mateiial shifted. There are, however, some slight clefects,c l efects, which are fco be remedied at once. The Engineer of the Cardrona No. 1 Gold Dredging Company reports that Messrs Morgan and Cable are well forward with all parts and he has no hesitation in stating that they will be up to cojitraefc time. An Auckland tslegram states that the Kauri Freehold Gold Estates Company's clean-up resulted in a return of bullion valued at J6IGBO from 1916 tons. In Tuesday's Daily Times Messrs Win. L. Hooper and S. E. Sinclair notify that they have ci tered into partnership as &harebrokeies,uncler the style of Hooper and Siuclaii. Both gentlemen aie ■« ell-known in the city, Mr Hooper having been nearly IS years with the New Zealand Shipping Company, and Mr Sinclair a long term with the' National Mortgage and Agency Company. The directors of the Perseverance Gold Dredging Company have declared a dividend of 2s per share, payable on Saturday, 26th in si. The adjourned meeting of phareholders in the Central Electric Gold Dredging Company will be held in the company's ofnee, Vogel street, on Friday, 25th msl. Shareholders m the Macraes Flat Gold Dredging Company pre requested to forward their certificates of shares to Mr Thomas Callender, liquidator, preparatory to declaring a dividend. It is -reported (says the Grey Eiver Argus) that a syndicate with .-6100.000 purposes to work certain properties at the Nme-mile, Charleston. Negotiations on behalf of the syndicate are being pnlered into. We (Western St?r) have been informed thai a company intend placing a dredge on the Aparlma Estuary. Old mricis agree that good gold exists there, also excellent deposits of coal and shale. The transfer books of the Fourteen-mile Beach Gold Dredging Company will be closed from Thursday, the 21th inst., until Monday, June 11, bosh days inclusive. The Hokilika- Guardian says that when in full york the Eo=;s Gold Mining and Electric Tianpmission Company will keep in steady employment fully 300 miners, and will put in circulation for wages, nihurjg, timber, etc., upwards of £1200 per week, or J-60,000 per annum. At the meeting of the Invercargill Boiougn Council on the ]7th inst., Councillor M'Farlane mentioned that several large areas on the town reserves at the estuary had been granted to applicants for prospecting purposes, for six months. The sis months had now expired, and he- knew that there weie others who would apply for the ground if the council were in a position to grant permission to prospect, That there was payable gold on the ground had been ' ascertained, and he could state that hundredacre block? would be readily taken up if it were known that former grants had expired. — Councillor Loaguet saiel he hael been connected with an application for a 200 pcie block, but the prospect had not been satisfactory, and any one else was welcome to the ground. — Councillor M'Farlane remarked that the ground Councillor Longuet referred to wps high up the estuary. • There was other payable ground that would be taken up and would reiurH a i'9.Y_e}Uig l£>. the. £orp^j»ti_on^— Tho major

said that the terras of former grants having expired the council could entertain any applications that were made. What; will be the largest dredge in the co'ony is that being built for the Pnnce of "Wales Gold Mining Company by Messrs Payne and Co. The length is to be 131 ft. beim 35ft, with a ladder S2ft, capable of dredging 55ft below water mirk. It will have an SOft elevator and a Marshall engine of 20 horse-power nominal. The winches and dynamo will each be driven by separate engines. The hull is to be of wood with blue gum fiame and silver pine planking. The cost is estimated at .£12,000. — Grey, River Argus. "Interviewed at Christchurch by a Lyttelton Times reporfcei, the Minister for Mines, the Hon. Mr M'Gowan, said that in the Waikaka Flat there v.-ere many instances in which the land — as land — would probably be worth more than the amount of gold obtained therefioin. In his opinion some of these claims were losing 50 per cent, of the gold, which would be successfully re-dredged at some future t-rne. Blue clay, tussocks, and gravel were taken up by thejmeke-tg, and the force of the water was nos sufSciont to dissolve the blue clay in which gold was supposed to be contained. In the Waimumu Plat some of the dredges were under repair, bul one or two were getting veiy good gold, and this, was especially the case at the Charlton Creek. Part of the valley through which Jus creek Howa is fair land, but the remainder cannot be classed as such, and in. all probability the natural capability "of this part of the country will not be prejudicially airected by the dredging operations. Mr E. C. Hutton, who spent six yearc— from 38G5 to 1871 — in mining on the West Coast, has just leturned to Ghri&tchureh, * after a visit to his old haunts, and was very much struck -with, what he observed at Craig's i'reehold, a cla ; ra which has recently been purchased by a syndicate, nnd which will shortly be placed en rit her the Hou.e or coloiiial -markets. The i.l.irrii, he says,, consists: of some 4Gi acres al lieekcle Lukl Jiu the continuation of the R^rnu Terrac.t, on the south side of the Hokitiks River. About 300 aere<> of the claim ore, he nays, dred^eable, wiulo the leuiaiiider cotsist=; of terraces, which hf.vp boeM hoiked for tbc past 10 ycais by vanous parties of tiibiiters, ?ome of whom have attained an independence ps the result of their labour*. Two parties of tribute**; sio still v.-orkin - on tho casterxi and western faces of the terraces, and, after prospecting, have struck jcaliy good gold, last -neck's wash giving looz pud ISGoz respectively, aad they look forward to obtaining SOos this v.eok. Thsie are s :■: men in each of these tributing parties, and, as thsy have to timber every inch of the tunnels, they c.pitiot d«-«.i with more than ei-rht losds of stun' ;i cay. Durirg a peiiod of about 10 ycaic, the tuliutars have taken pold to the valve of £c 0 000 iron-, the tenaces alone, raid their worki! go onlj- show as a sciatch when compared wiih the arei of the imworked giound. JLClaim's tribute money has amounted to botv/ee 1 X'1O,()J0 find £11,000. The flat which surrounch tho terraces is first-class dredging ground, bus ■iho terrace* themselves, which ris-e to a heiji' , or about 100 ft. can, in Mr Jtiutton's o^inio . bs best desk with by sluicing. A cement la:. I about 4.ia )n fcliickncis is kr>owu to run thjeu. the toiracCt, pnd an utleaipt is now being lnt c..> to re-di=cover this load, wh.ch ■nas abaadoicJ. at the time of the tatal tunnel accident tore,* 12 months ago. As many as one bundled ounces ot gold per week have been obtained from this \em. Good livable gold has alv/ay-i been go; fiom. the shafts 011 tho flat, though inoji of thesp had to be abandoned on accoivn."!; of vi?ter. Letteirf from the tabuters themselves fully bear cut I\'lr Hutton's remarks, and sp T ' tb/;t the payable wash has been prospected, ill places tn a dej>th of 35ft. On the next property, vhieb. in known a1!a 1 ! Borez's clEim, a shaft has (jpcii sunk, the stuff from which has averaeed hall a pennyweight to the load. — Lyttelton Times. 'I .he Bailor Mme 1 - sej'S tliat Messrs Pow'.'ll, of iha Niije-rnile Beach, Chi'rlestor, have had surprising results from tiieir claim there of late. There arc four of them, and for the month of February Iheic return of gold averaged 15s an hour for 24 hours in the day for e\ery working day of the month. During March the leturn equalled £i per hour for e?cb working hour, night and day. There 13 o-rtly one nisn working at a time, the claim going three shifts. At the present rate of woiking the claim will last 25 years. Tha claun is worked on Ihe "blow-up" principle, the sand being lifted by the water to a height of Olf b vi to the tables. The Waikaka correspondent of the Southland Times writes: — Our district has bsc-n. ouite excited lately over the sludge channel question. Miners and fanners have been striving to make p good case for their respective sido^. ard I must say that both side 3 have succeeded admirably. The enormous area of good hi/id held by the settlers along the Y/aikaka is emits surprising. When" men tell us that they hold some of the best land in the colony and x>ut it down for valuation purposes at about £3~va acre, and for coErrer>sc.tioj. for damage through silting by miners' sludge at any sum between £7 and £32, we are natu.-ahy a bit proud 01 ourselves. The next valuator that gees ovei the district will have an easy job; all he will have to do will be to fcaks the evidence given before the Rivers Commission, and be -will have the farmers' true vr.luation. Of course, if the farmers have been trying to put a rosy hue upon their side so have those interested in mining on theirs. None of us knew before how rich the valley really wss. We have hcord many talk of grains and pennyweights, but the evli---r.ee brought cut the really astounding news that the_ whole valley is raved with gold. Just fancy! The work of ccnstiucting pontoons is still heingr pushed on, and when the channel is declared o Den thc-re will be a regular boom in land and claims in this district. There is, even now, with the uncertainty of the sludge 1 is.vnsl hpngipg over the heads of claiin-ov.'n°rs, a fteady demand for shares ard other raining interests. The Woolshed No. 2is again at work, and is turning over the grov.nd much, easier. The pontoon of the Waikaka Queen is finished and waiting -for the niachm.ry. ''he Glenili is nearing completion, and will p'icrtly be ready to start. This dredge Uon the big Waikaka, and will work over the river and put through, a lot of gold workings washed into the rivpi ovar 20 years ago. The flat is said io carry good ai d I am told that this will ba worked as the dredge moves up. The Miller's "Flat correspondent of the Tu.v yieka Times sends the following items: — thedge liuildiiig is the order of the day; but contractors complain of not being able to get their material to hand. — The hulls of the Golden Run and Golden Queen were finished some time ago. but no further process has been made with the machinery .—The Majestic is also finished, with the exception of the machineiy, and the Golden Bed pontoons are well advavcea. — The Miller's Plat Electric. Co. have srot their tailraee dredged fiorn the river into their claim.