Notes from Grey Valley.

Otago Witness, Issue 2455, 3 April 1901, Page 20

Notes from Grey Valley.

(Fnoii Our Own Correspondent.) ORWELL CRKJvK, March 2S.—Although mai y people on the West Coast and m other parts of the colony ha\e already jumped^ to the conclu= on that gold dredging on the West Coast is r.ot going to turn out =o well as was first expected, it seems to me that they tn-e somewhat precipitate m coming to a conclusion on tb'e point. Certainly a few dredges here have 1-cen mnning m an intermittent manner, but so far there are few if any claims yet opened up pioperly, or which ha\e had any chance to prove themselves a success. Lp to the present a series of mistakes have been made in connection with several of our most important claims—mistakes which could haidly be avoided. We are continually hearing that the Grey River and Dobson dredges' ladders are too short, and are often unable to get at the bottom wash, which m nine cases out of ten on the West Coast contains the lichcs.. gold. Howevei, the gold won by the formei dredge during her short existence must be considered highly satisfactory, under the circurnsta .ccs. In other paits we find it took years before this important industry could be hone=tl> biougfa, before the public as a sound and piontable investment. It will be found the same on the We%t Coast. During the boom companies werefloated and dredges built almost anj where, but as things cool off investors will take a broader view of matters, and act on the old proverb, "Look before you leap.' One Dy one worthless claims will be weeded out nrcl abandoned Many dredges will be moved horn unpayable claims "to other ground which may have been condemned at first, but en trial might pan out pll light. This will probably bs thp work of years, but like di edging in Otago, it will have to be gone through before we shall be able to see a list of companies paying dividends and lewardmg the plucky investors who have plunged their capital into the different \entures on the West Coast dredging field. , 1 The opinion has been frequently expressed by diSeieut mining experts who may be relied upon that "he West Coast has a gieat advantage ovei Otago so far as the dredging industry is concerned. In the fhst place the Coast has a much laigei area of dredgeable ground to go and come upon, and as a conse quence there is a better chance ot there being a larger numbei of payable claims opened up. Ihen a?ain there i« the advantage of the modern dredge. What a diffeience theie is between the diedg"3 now being built on the est Coast and those used m Otago when dredging was in its mfanci Tendeis aie now be.ng calkd foi the erection of machines on the Oiwcll Cieek dredge. Almost the whole of the machnier; ts now on tho "louud. This company, being one of the first"dred^in" companies floated on the Coast, appears to ha,-a been rather slow m getting 1 i<s dredge completed O,vno to the lion-drrival of machinery, worK on the Enckscn'* Reward dredge has been considerably dela\ed, a.ul it will be the or six weeks ret befoie diedgmg opeiations can b& comme.iced.