DREDGING IN TIERRA DEL FUEGO.

Otago Witness, Issue 2856, 9 December 1908, Page 28

DREDGING IN TIERRA DEL FUEGO.

MR A. N. WAKEFIELD'S EXPERIENCES. Mr A. N. Wakefield, who left Lawrence in September of last year under engagement to Mr Juan D. Roberts, the head of a number of South American dredging companies, returned to New Zealand last week, and has since given an interesting account of his experiences to the Tuapeka j Times. Mr Wakefield first 1 landed at , Monte Video, *nd states -that the trip j thence to Punta Arenas occupied five days. ! At this port they were met by the company's officials, and the following morning crossed the Straits c*| Magellan for Porvenir — jokingly designated the capital city of Tierra del Fuego, probably because it | happens to be the only town in it. The journey to the Progresso claim, a distance of 70 miles, was performed on foot, the luggage being carried on mules, and it was a. unique experience to them to have to aieep in the open on the frozen sand. They reached their destination on October 16, and found the dredge nearing completion. Mr Wakefield found the conditions vastly different to those prevailing in New Zealand, and though he had the appointment of ciredgemaster, he found a manager -above him at a very high salary. The party inunooiafcely got to work, in assisting to complete the dredge, and a fortnight after arriving on the claim it had commenced operations. The claim was situated in a rather nice-looking valley, which appeared -as if it wouid be all right from a gold-bearing point of view. Anticipations in this respect were, .how ever, not realised. The dredge was designed by Messrs Cutten Bros., of London (formerly of Dunedin). She was very stoutly built, and for her size was stronger than any dredge that Mr Wakefield had Ken in Xew Zealand. The pontoons were of steel plate, the poppot beads and superstructure were aJso of steel, and she was fitted with sft buckets, screen, and elevator. For the first two months the fuel used was coal, costing £6 103 a ton ; but for the remainder of the time peaf was used, and proved very effective. In the actual working of the dredge the usual crew of six men was employed, but from 20 to 30 others were encaged in cutting and stacking peat, besides a couple of coolcs and a man to look after the animals. Aa coon as the work was started Mr Wakefield found the ground to be very shallow, rarely going 10ft, whilst very often it went to sft, necessitating the tearing up of hard bottom in order to get a. paddock deep enough to keep the dredge floating. This proved very hard on the machinery. The returns averaged about 20oz per week, which was totally inadequate to meet the expenditure and give a return on a capital of £150,000. It was the intention of the company to put on four dredges, but the Progresso was the only cue that got to actual operations, and after running for about six months the enormous capital was exhausted, and they had to ' close down, and the associated companies all came to a finish and discharged all their men. The -workmen engaged on Mr Wakefißld's dredge succeeded in getting paid .up in full, while come received by way df compensation small sums over and above the amount due to them, but a number of the men on the other dredges were not so fortunate, and it was found that owing to their having, through ignorance, neglected to have their contracts signed on arrival in the presence of the British Consul they were useless, the result being that a number of the men were stranded, having received no wages at all

since leaving New Zealand. Alter the

closing down of the Progresso dredge Mi Wakefield and Mr Silk took over the Lor eta. dredge at Punta Arenas on tribute. The terms were very tempting— viz., all the gold won for three months, and if they made a success of it £2000 was to be paid them out of the capital of a new company to be formed. After running it for two months, and through many nights when the temperatuf£*wias far below zero, they found that they were making a less- on the transaction, and gave it up. As a dredging field, Mr Wakefield does not altogetKer condemn Tierra del Fuego, for, he says, there ere enormous areas where it could be profitably carried on if the companies operating were established on a moderate capital and conducted on an economical basis. The failure up to the present he ascribes to the enormous capitals (the public, as usual, being exploited by unscrupulous promoters) and ineffective machinery. As an instance of the latter, be says that some of the dredges built in Holland were equipped with &o fewer than nine engines, and, being constructed of light material, they were continually under repair.