Notes from Wakaipu.

Otago Witness, Issue 2425, 5 September 1900, Page 19

Notes from Wakaipu.

(Fhoii Otjb Own Corkssfondent.) ARROWTOWN, "September I.— -From' th» " paucity of snow upon the hills, dredger's; upon the Kawarau and Molyneux may infer a favour able season tor their business — that is to say_ if the coming summer proves a fairly dry one. DREDGING. The machinery ior the Arrow Junction Dredg«> is being landed upon the building site. Tin boiler was delivered last week, and in a few weeks' time the "engines and other' plant will be all to hand. This dredge shows some signs' of beating the building record. The" pontoons were finished inside ol seven weeks", arid if all goes well less than "an, equal "length of- time should suffice for putting the machinery on. board, ready ior the.start. Mr Rilstoxi is now busy fitting up the machinery and gear at the Galvanic and Metallic* dredges, Gibbston, and no time will be lost in. finishing the jobs. The pontoons for the Kawarau Bridge dredgo were launched the other day. The work presented no little difficulty, the pontoons get- . ting slightly the worst of it. However, they; are now afloat, and breast the waves bravely. At Cardrona things are moving on satisfactorily. The chief drawback to rapid progress being made with dredge building is the intermittent and perverse arrival of plant and other material. The Rolling Stone dredge is working on gold, and returns are said to be above what is required for working expenses arid wear and tear. „ The reticence- of the company .in .publishing ■ their gettings has given rise to rumours tm--favcurable to Cardrona as a dredging field for which there is absolutely no foundation. The pontoons for tlie Arthur's Point dcedga are finished, and preparations for theii launching are being made. The dredge is oi a larga size, and is designed to work to a considerable* i depth. ! The race works, tunnelling, fluming, and piping at Moonlight for the Moonlight No. 2 Company are being piished on with vigour. The : work is one of considerable magnitude, and a, i large amount of capital is involved in the coni struction of the race, but the shareholders will ; have the satisfaction of seeing everything comi pleted, and most likely receive also a tangible ■ proof of the value of theii property before tha. s coming summer is over. i THE GT/ENROCK COMPANY, MA.CETOWN. I Mr W. Patton, the mine manager, reports that the gold returns for the month of August last show an improvement in the quality of ort;! i treated. The average width of the reef in the : stopes is about lft Gin ; the distance opened up i for stopiug is 120 ft. The country through which..

the reel is passing is still of a very hard nature, which causes the output of stone to be small. The country in the incline face is unchanged, being very hard and slow driving. Tie clean-up for the month was 121oz from 135 tons of stone, giving an average o£ 18dwt per to i. Considering that less than sdwt pays for all expenses in raising the stone, it will be seen that there is a very handsome profit surplus. Besides the a"bo^e cake lOoz of gold were ob*«iir:ed off the plates. ALLUVIAL MINING-. Alluvial minei^ especially shiicers, are loud In their complaints about the scarcity of snow on the hills and the outlook of _a short water rapply for the coming summer. In point of fact, there never was a winter, within the xecollection of the white man which left so little snow behind. , The Arrow Flat Hydraulic Company's pipes for the. extension of their pipe line are now lauding at~Frankton. However, it will not take very long to put them ill position, when once tHey are on- the ground. In the meantime, the raie is receiving the attention of tho manager, Mr Martin, and is undergoing a thorough overhauling. The Ariow Falls Tunnel Company are said to be on verj' fair gold, .but the company keep, tHeir own counsel, and nothing definite has tianspired. '