Notes from Wakatipu. (From Our, Own Correspondent.)

Otago Witness, Issue 2481, 2 October 1901, Page 23

Notes from Wakatipu. (From Our, Own Correspondent.)

AtRROWTOWN, September 24

The Moke Creek dredge, Shotover River, is coming on well, anl though no time is fixed for starting work it will not be delayed many weeks. The lleg and Annie, Galvanic, and Anow Junction dredges are at work upon the Kawaxau, snd the White Star at Cardrona, is also working away. There was a neavy downpour of rain in the high country, and the livers lose, but nothing very serious need be apprehended from the ram that has fallen. The weather dees not look too well, howevei.

Septembei 26,

Without desiring to pose a, a " Donsterswivel " a few lemaiks now au-d again on tli3 pros and cons of individual claims nisiy be allowed, "Your Own " going to th? extent of touching on the vitals even of particular ven--tuies. in the present case, however, the inpleasant task is made easy by a lot of reliable evidence, ready to hand and in suffice!^ quantiy and weight, to make the above cogitative introduction almost supeifluous.

According to prevailing local mining i<ot'on°, the marking out of the Horowai claim wjs cons;dered from the beginning as a mistake. Expert engineers' examinations of the ground, obtained at some co3t to the company foimed to work the ground, supported local mining Nnotions ; and pxactical experience n the adjoining claims row confirms enigneers' examinations as well as local mining notion?. All this foinis an array of evidence demandirg cToec consideration. At a recent meting ci shareholders in the Hoxcwai Company it appG?r<3 that they are divided as to what shall be the future actions of the company — one section being in favour of placing a dredge n^on the .ground, and others favouring liquidation. A brief enumeration of facts bearing on the cls/'ma may assist both parties in arriving at a clear conception of the true state of sftaus. To begin with, the total area of the claim is reduced to at most three or four acies of what may be called pay ground, the rest being utterly useless, undredgeable, and unprofitable. The three or four acres are not less tliaii 50ft deep, tho extreme limit to which the most improved dredges can work with profit to the company and safety of the machinery. Although the giound may be fairly good, the quantity is r.ot enough to refund the shaieholders the cost oi a dredge. The greater portion of the claim lies up the Arrow Eiver, which in the early days of the gold rush ran upon the bedrock, and has therefore been thoroughly cleaned up, and is of so hard ay>d rocky a nature as to be undredgeable. A portioj. of the good giound is in the gorge of the Kawarau River, and is covered by what ia known as Reid's slip, composed of large rocks, many of which no dredge could shift. Besides the banks of the gorge show signs of unstableness, and another slip may come down any day. The Kawarau Bridge dredge, below the Horowai claim, and the Arrow Junction, above it, have proved the ground to be 45ft and upwards 111 depth, and the Hoiowai will be deeper on account of Reid's slip. In point of fact, the

Horowai ground was rejected by the peg£ "23-oft-of the Kawaiau Bridge below, and of the -irrow' Junction claim above, and because it was con-i sidered wo'thless and vi. desirable. The above fpcts should be enough lor the directors of the Horowai claim to seriously consider before they add another failure to the already long hst of preventable dredging disasters. And little else could lesult from placing a dredge upon tha Hojowai claim. The Arrow Junction has resumed work upon the run of ge'd met with jn the middle of the river, and improved leturns will, no doubt, be heai f. of.

The Kawarau Bridge has come to the necessity of issn; ->g debenture shares, the dredge beirg shut down pending the success of tha issi;-.;.

The Eel-ipp 1 " :s ir> thp same predicament. Th° Gahanic lia^ had a test of her claim, and.^ though affected with the mistake general to Iviiwarau claims — namely that of under* estimating the depth of the ground— should bt in a gooJ position to overcome this drawbaci m an easier manner than most of the othei dredges on the river.

The 2vlerr:ma<- is shut down, awaiting the action cf the dueetois shareholders.

The Meg ai*d Annie, as is shown by her returns, is doing stead} wrrk tc good purpose. It couH bs wished that some of the other Kawarau dredges, delayed an"! siiffermg from no other cause than the depression of the share market, could rnak? an effort to start work. The dredges here alluded to are the Voltaic, the Gold Chair, the Cen tie Annie, and, m perhaps a somewhat lesser degree, the Upper Magnetic. It is altogether a killing mistake to hold that because a certain claim ;s a failure the adjoining ones must be naturally the same. Claims a. mile in length cannot but present many changes, and nny clpim proved unprofit-. ab'.a at one spot, rcay not be so a few "yartfs off.

September 30. Worri upon the Kawarau 13 once more becoming general, most of the shut-down dredgea being about to or having resumed work. The Arrow Junction dredge, which baa effected some improvements m her machinery, is now dredging, following up the gold m midstream.

The directors of the Kawarau Bridge Company having met with a favourable response to the effort mads to laise funds, the dredge started dredging to-dsy. Mi James Sawle la appointed dredgemaster.

The Eclipse Company's call for more capital having been successfu I—markedly1 — markedly so amongsfc the Gibbsto-i shareholder,— this diedge will also start before many days are over. The Galvanic dredge has shifted further upstream, and ere this appears in print will be at regnlar work nsain.

The -weather looks more settled than it has done for wpeks past, and though the increasing warmth of the sun will melt the snow on tha hills, the Kawarau and Molyneux will keep at or about their present level, and may even fall below it. There is not JjkcJy to be any seiious stoppage lo dredging by high riveis iof a couple of weeks to come.