WEST COAST NEWS

Otago Witness, Issue 2541, 26 November 1902, Page 25

WEST COAST NEWS

(From Odb Own Correspond ext.) Jackson's Bay, with its smooth water and bluffs and gold patches high above the snow line, its rich golden beaches and quartz reefs that have been little prospected, its copper lodes that gave on analysis as high &s 35 per cent, of copper, and then was left to take care of itself, its 20ft seams of bituminous coal on the Bald Hill, near the Haast Pass, only some 30 miles distant from the bay, which is one of the best of harbours, its wonderful canons and icy glaciers, and vast deposits of lithographic stone whereon to depict them, continues well nigh unnaticed. Time was when the bay had big attractiveness for thousands of gold miners, storekeepers, speculators, ajid^others eager in their search after wealth, but now all is quiet, and the once prosperous place is now well nigh deserted. However, it is only a question of time when her hidden wealth of metaT~and mineral will again engage attention, and as a means toward that end the Government is praiseworthy pushing on the Main South road, intended to connect Westland with Pembroke m Otago. At Okarito, which used to yield about £80,000 of gold pei week, I found the place agog with excitement ovei the newest idea— a cheap goldsaving plant for the working of then wonderfully rich sands. I believe that at length these huge auriferous beaches will be worked to advantage lam not yet in a position to- give you the exact details connected with the new invention, which claims for its chief features the power to concentrate and treat at minimum cost the rich black sands of the sea beaches, and if what I have been told be anywhere nearly correct, then I happen to know Due or two beaches near Okarito which should yield surprisingly remunerative returns to investors.

From the boTough of Ross, in the north, to the township of Okarito, in the south, a distance of 60 miles, has just been spanned by a capital dray road, made under the jo-operative system by the Government, ■which has thus opened up extensive areas of good grazing land, and upon which thousands' of cattle are now being profitably reared. Previous to the opening if this main arterial line settlers were compelled to ship by uncertain transit all .-attle intended for the markets, and by the time the beef got to the nearest market— Hokitika — there was neither profit nor quality. It used to cost over £2 a head, and, the cattle were ec knocked about as to be well nigh unsaleable. Now cattle can be driven at leisure over well-watered country to the sal-e-yards, xnd are fetching very high prices indeed. . Ross, southernmost borough jf Westland, is all agog over several things at present — the Ross-Hokitika railway, the development of the gold mines, dredging, quartz-ieefing, sluicing, the flax industry and the timber ditto being the themes of moment. Concerning the early completion of the. railway, the Hon. Mr Seddon has- assured his friends that the iron horse "will shorten space with his iron -.pan" betweer Ross and the sister town within two years' time, and as an earnest of such laudable design the Hokitika River bridge (chief engineering Dbstacle) has been not only let by tender, but the contractor has begun work. In addition to this, Government has had the line re-surveyed and the work of the railway put in hand, jnd yet the Ross folk 3o not appear quite satisfied, for a member of the R'oss Borcugh Council is moving in the way of getting work commenced from the Ross wid. I am happy to state, too, that the gold-dredg-ing industry is beginning to turn up trumps, the twe dredges (Kohinor and Prince of Wales) both yielding highly-payable returns. The flax and timber industries of this place are being boomed, and the y«ar 1904 Bhould witness activity in this respect. Fourteen miles north >f Ross, well situated upon a plateau overlooking the Hokitika River, is the little mining village of Rimu, which continues on its even way. It is, however, greatly dissatisfied with its limited water supply, and tr that end has petitioned to have the Hokitika River proclaimed a sludge channel, wherein mining debris may be deposited, the meaning of which would allow a company to bring in an adequate water mpply from Kanieri Lake to l .he field, which would then be of considerable magnitude; but the trouble is with the farmers ot the vicinity, who demand what is regarded as exorbitant compensation for riparian rights, etc., and so the fight goes on from day to day, which is a mattei foi commiseration, as, given a plentiful water supply at the altitude commanded by the lake, a lucrative goldfield if Kumara limensions must become speedily opened up. Meanwhile, some of the luckier individuals "on the metal" continue earning, by tht simpler process, as much as £18 per week a man. Kanieri, another antedeluvian mining •village on the northern bank of the Hokitika River, continues eking out a living from individual gold mining, fiom dredging, and from farming and grazing patches in the vicinity. The township was once the centre ot one of the biggest of gold rushes the West Coast aver witnessed, and the evidence of that wild, eager rooting up are everywhere in the shallow paddocks gaping all around the now somewhat stilled township. Some seven miles up the Hokitika River are the rich farming and pastoral lands of tho Kokatahito, which the dairying industry and tho Village Settlement or Small Farm fakement has advenled, Government having just purchased from a certain Mr Dedrich some 5000 lcres for cutting up into small farms. Down tho rivei •ome two miles s the port of Hokitika, the -wooden protecti?e worses of which, I regret to say, are fast falling into decay, and in place of the numerous craft which used to visit tho harbour, only >n or two yf the midget fleet, braving tho treacherous sandbank shallows if the bar, find their way in to the wharf. Hokitika, however, is still the chief commercial centre ior a wide and populous area extending from the Teremakau Rivei southward to the Big Wanganui, and which includes all the digging centres of Kumara, Goldbborough, Stafford, Kanieri, Woodstock, Rimu, Ross, Dojioghues, and Duffers' Creek; and aa flax, timbei, gold, ana minerals continue to be unearthed, the erstwhile capital of the "West Coast fchould continue to hold ncr own for some time ahead. Before Kumara, the biggest alluvial goiafield on the West Coast, is reached, the wayfarer must perforce pass en route through the historical mining centre? of Goldsborough and Stafford, diuminini alongsid since 1864, about which somewhat remote period such stounding gold yields as £256 per day from one claim were not unknown, it was at the latter place that ilr 'Seddon Jiade his debut as c politician, and hen I pause to make a little digression in favour of that resourceful statesman, who Fomewhero about that time happening tc b« a member ot a oertair) local governing body rejoicing under the cognomen of the Arahura Road Board. Not getting all his own way one evening, he moved the adjournment of that refractory meeting for half an houi, argued, GuDtain Kettle like, a majority of tho mem-

bers into the rig-lit path, after which the meeting, thus purified, resumed, and under different colours. 'The richer shallows of these villages having all -well nigh been mined, the deeper deposits are now being diligently sought out by means of combined capital, which, I am happy to state, is succeeding too.

Kumara 29 years ago was unknown, and between that distant period and now great changes have taken place. In 1876 it was constituted a well-established goldfield, getting more alluvial gold than all the othei towns on the West Coast put togethe:. Iv 1877 it sprang up into a borough, and began to throw off its irksome education reserve rents by forcing freeholds over the leasehold. Every year the gold yield increased, and the field went dingdong along till 10 years back, when all the more easily-worked out patches had become exhausted, and now Kumara simmers like a slowly-boiling pot on a dying fire, and the worst of it all is that there does not appear to be anything tangible about" the back country to take its place ; yet a deal of gold is being won by tunnelling and sluicing. One or two dredges aTe also at work rooting up the deeper levels, and so Kumara may hum along for some years all right. One good thing, the local folk have not lost anything like hope, and so long as that remains there is life in the old boy yet. Amongst the curiosities here is one that rather puzzles one. Out *bl one of j the numerous adits into the terraces greenish water drains into the Teremakau River, the | sediment of which forms living shellfish, and | these germs appear to be coming from a sedimentary rock which became intersected during the construction of the water channel They have lain dormant, sealed up inside that sedimenlsLry rock many thousands of years, to be hatched by- the sun of Kumara in the year of our Lord 1902. .^> Greymouth — town of public meetings, harbour improvements, and general goaheadedness — is just now exercised in mind over its lights from the Union Steam Shir Company, which sometimes does -not allow its larger steamers to trade further south than Westport. The people claim, stoutly too, to have equally as good a port -*s that of Westport, and want tc know how it is that the Union Steam Tship Company don't patronise it. Last week the Warnui, from Wellington, idded insult to injury by not coming furthei than Westport, whilst the Mapounka, a larger steamer, worked the Grey bar with comparative safety. The town now talks of floating a local steamship company, and thereby flattening out the premier company if it Joesn'* mmd what it i 3 up to. Greymouth's Harbour Board is an up-to-date local body, xnd, what is more, it has just shown it is all alive *nd kicking by not only boring for, but getting, capital seams o£ coal deep down, in its reserves, on* of which 20ft thick, bids fair to rival that }f the Westport coal. If Greymouth wants a bridge, or a road to nowhere in particular, or a new police inspector, it just goes to work and kicks up bobsaydir' until it gels it. Up ihe Grey Valley, some 17 miles, fresh developments at the Paparoa Range are causing no little excitement. In the low levels rich quartz has been met with, and great expectatiou-9 are being indulged in concerning the future of the field. The day I was there some specimens had come to town of a phenomenal nature, and from, an Bft reef too. The local paper says that undoubtedly an invaluable reef has been discovered.

Ahaura, loveliest village of agricultural Grey Valley, is still ir the aune place, aid a sojourn ther6 for a few days is not one of the least of the pleasures in a tour through the West Coast of the Middle Island. Capital fishing, shooting, and coursing in season may be indulged in freely ; a chase over thi vast Ahaura Plains gives zest to many an irdent sportsman. I remember well enjoying the somewhat unique, if -thrilling, experience of chasing over here on m> bike for about a mile a very lively hare, I frequently being right alongside of the fl3 f ing pussy, which eventually doubled into a handy tuft of scrub. The picturesque sights o» the village comprise the cleanly Grey River flowing around the plateau on which the town stands, the forest-clad hills in the distance all around, the prettily-painted convent nestling among eveTgreen trees Don't miss Ahaura if you chance up the Grey Valley.

Reefton, the quartzopolis of the "West Coast, was hammering away at the matrix, making thousands for Johnny Bull, Esq. A visit ft thi New Zealand Consolidated Mines discloses ont of the most up-to-date crushing, milling, and chlormation plants in the world, and it i 9 paying very handsomely too. To give an Instance, last month's gold yield from these mines, by crushing, cyanide, and chlorination processes, was £13,886, from 6956 tons of quartz. Of course the stone being treated is low-grade ore, but it is the quantity put through at minimum cost that pays. In the old days such matter would not have been given a second thought, foi it may be in the recolleo tion of many of my readers the enormous dividends paid by several of the richer Quartz claims in Reefton and the immediate neighbourhood of Boatmans, etc. For instance, the Welcome there, whose shareholders only subscribed £3750, received £11,850 hi dividends ; the Keep-it-Dark paid tc its shareholders inside the first 10 years of its life £80,000, the Hopeful £45,000, the Wealth of Nations (at Murray Creek) £35,000, the Golden Fleece £ 55, 000; the Energetic iron over £120,000 worth of gold, and distributed £22,000 amongst its shareholders. There are still one ->r two small companies paying, but the main measures are being worked by English capital, and I know of many equally good things in quartz elsewher« that would pay if similarly treated.

From Rcefton to the Buller, som* 6i miles, a capital road encourages the cyclist. I left about 9 a.m. on a beautiful morning, and passed, en route, Boatman's Junction, Larry's Creek (which the Government might do worse than bridge), the Landing, the Junction, at Alborn's, where the traveller can get a wonderfully good feed; thence down the celebrated Buller Gorge, with its gigantic mountains piU a right up to the skies like mammoth masonry, its blackly-flowing river, ana Hawke't Craip. and coach tunnels through solid rocks too high to bench, finally lown to thp punt, crossing some six miles away from the Borough of Westport. The Toad was bo good that I did the whole journey in about four hours, and the picturesqueness of hill and dale, and rock and gorge, and river and reach fully compensated me for the labour.

Westport to-day is slightly different from what it was 38 years ago. Then the town was all built near the sea coast; now it is mostly centred in one loDg street, Palmerston^ street, which runs quite a mile, and alongsfde 'he River Buller. In placi of the i 20,000 a year of gold, Westport produces from 8000 to 10,000 tons of good black diamonds weekly, and since my last visit there the Wesiport Coal Company has secured, and is now delivering aa fast as possible, 40,000 tons to the order of the British Almiralty ; while at the same time it ii endeavouring to supply the wants of New Zealand towns, and they car) easily do go, for the company's mines at Denniston Hill, at Granity Creek, have millions of tons standin<? on pillars in sight, with appliances capable of lowering down over 100,000 tons per day. In fact, the coal measures in the Buller district extend over an extensive area, and in view of the coal famine in foreign countries, the greatest efiorts should be made to develop and work this wonderful field. Although mo3t of the easier gold mining has disappeared, yet considerable numbers of gold miners contrive to gain a livelihood, with but little preliminary

outlay by working with flood machines in streams into which tail races from the groundsluicing claims are emptied, or on the sea beaches between Brighton and Mokihinui, anil it is quite possible that new fields may yet ba discovered, as, owing to the impossibility of carrying provisions through rough bush couiif try till tracks are made, much likely-looking country remains unexplored, especially between the Lyell and the head waters of the Mokihinui, and from there northwards through the Karamea district, on towards Collingwood. Efforts art still being made to develop the quartz reefs at Mokihinui by the local folk, and one mine is now paying small dividends, which fact is encouraging others on tc prospect.

AddiSßn's Flat was a once populous mining district of 8000 eager goldseekers. That was in 1867, when rich individual gold mining rewarded efforts foi two years, and from such leads as the Shamrock, Gallagher's, and Caroline terrace to the golden east. Mining is now/ carried on in an open plain, about 60ft abov.) the sea level, some five miles from, the coast, and within an area 10 miles by six. The gold: is obtained in black sand layer from 10ft to 70ft below th surface, but only by half a dozen joint stock companies, all of which appear to pay well enough, for shares are. frequently jhangmg hands af> ficm £300 to £400. Sluicing in. other parts of this district, provided an- adequate water supply at sufficiently high altitude could be brought on to the field, should handsomely remunerate. Ten miles further south lies Charleston, another wonderful goldfield uuearthed by Messrg Lmahan and Co: in the month of August, 1566. Having gone on producing gold to the value of over £1,000,000, it is now well nigh deserted, although some good claims still exist, and it is also claimed by the residents that, provided water could be had in large quantities at reduced rates, the district would revive and afford remunerative employment to a considerable population. Very little exploration has been done outside the narrow strip of land which liea between the sea beach and the limestone ranges at the back of the leads, and it is within this limited area that all the gold workings of the past have been done — a narrow strip of sea coast some three miles in, width 1 . Six miles behind the township, and* parallel with the sea coast, towe* the Paparoa Ranges, which are practically unprospected, and at' their streams send lown during flood time ruby sand anc' quartz specimens, good hopeC of the discoveries of alluvial fieldr and auriferous reefs are entertained.

LyelJ. — Since I last saw this golden hamlet of the hills the village has been practically burnt out. The fire started at the bottom ol the one street, which stood m the edge of gj precipice, and cleaned up the whoK town, there 1 being no water supply to check the flames. It is gradually being rebuilt. It was in the remote period A 1869 that Lyell, s » quartz field, first came into prominence, some of tho mines proving highly remunerative — aotablx the United Alpine Company, which paid its shareholders £36,000 in diva. Another, thG Break o' Day, distributed, inside of three years', over 610,000 frorr 872 ton of quartz, the yield being at the rat* of sJoz per ton. AlthougS mining has toned down a bit, yet beyond doubt the Lyell district is impregnated in various directions with payable reefs; bat owing to the inaccessible nature of the country and the enormous capital required to prospect and deveiop being difficult to obtain, the- auriferous tract between the I/yelJ and the Mokihinui district remains untouched.

Cycling some 30 miles along the capital coach road joining Nelson to Westport, we come to the Owen River, which, here junctions with, that of the Buller, and some 10 miles up the former stream an apparently important quartz discovery was made some years back by men. named Owen, Byrne, and Bulmer ; but although, the gold was worked to some extent, and specimens obtained yielding, on tests, as high as 19oz of gold per ton, the immense granito boulders which everywhere exist along the river bed prevented profitable workings, and] the locality with such promise had to be reluctantly abandoned. It is thought, however, by many experts who have visited and examined the spot that important results may yet be obtained hereabouts.

From Westport Nelson i 145 miles, from. Lyell to Owen River is 4,7, and from Owen to Nelson, is 68 tmiles, so, as the day if pa-sb meridian, bike and I clear off along the road! enclosed on the north and south by lofty mountains and the Buller River, which rashes between a low, rocky gorge, int» which I cast frequent glances at the monster trout playingr there, for I am riding on the very edge of tk<i canon over-looking the river. Eighteen mil» . of this country takes us to the foot of the Hopa Saddle, a rotten papa range dividing the east and west coasts, which, should the weather, as it was in my case, happen to be dry, is jasily negotiated. )n the top Nelson, garden of New Zealand, spreads out before you, and yoa glide down t« the Hope Hotel with satisfaction and relish, for there you can really enjoy, and get it, too, a real good meal, and while you are levouring i* your hos* can tell you all about the lovely country you are now in, with, its richly agricultural farms and. sweet pastoral aieas; about the Wangapeka joldfields, com>

prising the Rolling River and the Sherry, the {Padmor and the Baton Valleys of the long ago, but now occupied by the thrifty dairy farmer ; about the horse track now being made up the ,Wangapeka- to the head waters of the Karamea, Little Wsuaganui, and the Mokihmui Rivers, thus opening up a vast country known to be •uriferous, for every summer the miners of Wamgapeka-, who have been in the liabit of going over it, invariably return with parcels of the rich yellow metal; of tha auriferous quartz reefs, the silver and tie lead ore of the Boiling River, the finding of which caused mo much excitement some 18 years ago. Lastly, te "will tell you that you can either stay all night in the good, well-aired beds of the Hope Hotel, or you can cycle on over a capital turnpike road to Nelson, distant EOBie 40 miles. As the sun yet is fairly high, and with a full moon in perspective from a cloudless »ky, I elect the latter, and speel for the Spooner Range in the dim distance, getting to the foot of it just as the Queen of Night gets up in full evening dress. There is a- railway tunnel through tie hill, which is 60 chains long, and there is a tortuous coach road over the hill, which is some six miles long, so, risking the chances of meeting any mg&t train which may possibly come along, I enter the tunnel, dark ■s the inside of a- cannon's mouth, and trundle along in silence through the very*heart of that last high mountain -separating mo from Kel«on, where the hops and the apples grow.