OHINEMURI. HIST0RY OF THE GOLDFIBLD

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 121, 26 September 1885, Page 2

OHINEMURI. HISTORY OF THE GOLDFIBLD

(Continued from last week.) Wtnr.sT the pesrgin:,' mania was r?ging at Knrangahako a «ma|l ptrty of ) men, headed by a well-known prospector named Dun Leahy, inijfht baVe tfeen seen wending their way in the direction of Waitekauri, where they marked oft several claim*, which we' f e afterwards amalgamated, and are now embraced witl'.in the area known ? p^he Wuitekauri Company's ground. At #fat time Wuitek.iuri, owing chiefly to its isolated position, was a sort of terra incognita, a d it was so completely snrronn led by mil iupenetrable forest that few men cared to encounter the hardship and privatijii which attended a visit of inspection or projector's tour to that locality. Shortly nfter Leahy and party si arte I operations Government, under the supervision of Mr J. M. McLaren, cut a bridle **ack front P.ieroa to tiie mine:?, which x y s ion attracted a considerable amonffl^* public attention, and when it bec;/*^ta generally known tiiat Leahy's reef, a^Pfl was then called, contained gold iv payable quantities, quite* a tush set in there Irom other parts of the goldfiold, and innumerable claims were marked off north and south upon the same line of leef, the object beins* to get as near the prospector? as possible. The reef 'upon which Leahy and party located their claims ranged from sft to 25ft in thickness, and the prospectors very soon demonstrated its size and value by driving several levels which intersected the lode at different points throughout the whole length of their claims, and at depths varying from 25 to 200 feet beneath the surface. This, as preliminary work, was all very well in its way bat the sinews of war— capital, was required to erect machinery ; arid~the~prospectors eventually made arrangements 'with Messrs Brown aud Bleasard, who, in consideration of receiving a certain interest in the mine as a bonus, agreed to find the needful to construct a battery of 40 stampers, and connect the snme with the mine by a complete system of tramways one and a half miles in length, the cost of • same to be fixed by arbitration, and to i>e charged at die rate of 25 per cent against the first profits returnable from the mine The work of erecting the , battery was placed in the hands of Mr E. M Corlett who, notwithstanding the almost uiisuiiiiountable difiicuiries with which lie had to contend, turned out a plant which for general efficiency was one of the best in the colony. Wtieu the battery and connections were all in complete working order, the price fixed upon the whole wat £18,000, which Bam was considered by many largely in excess of th.i actual cost. Be that as it may however, £18,000 was the amount with which the mine was saddled, and a clause in the agreement specified ihat^if the 25 per cent of the profits did notfrecoup the outlay within' three years from date of starting the plant, the whole of the property should be handed over to Messrs Brovrn ««H Bleagard." Well, in duo course the battery started operations, and the first few cru3hiugs turned out so well that shares in the company weie bought up readily at 20s each^but the return* gradually fell off, until at length it was deemed |alvisable to suspend operations altogether, and the mine was then cut up into sections and let on the tribute system. From the very start 6everal parties of tri "liters did remarkably well — notably Butler and party an 1 Hoi lis and part)', who took something like £20,000 worth of gold oat of their respective tribute sections within a perio 1 of twelve moutlis. Tue lode from which this g<dd was obtained measured about 4ft in thickness. it w ituiuiug almost parallel, with and west of the ma^nrlode, and in some places it was exceedingly rich ; one parcel of severaj } Kundred tons yielding an all round return of eleven, ounces per ton. At the present time - thtWare four different parties o{ tribu- < tera at work in thfo mine, «ud titty are • all getting more or lesa gold ; but tue <tes.t blocks above the company's old levels are pretty well exhausted, and capital is required %•> oren op new ground. .'•_.• ', , „., The Welcome and Young ,Ne^r; ?ealanl claims ranked'- next j,n .inVportance to the Waitekauri.CorapanyVimne, anil £t one penod in then*, history *'ttfe "" shovf was so good that^Mr H C. Wick expended some &V2OO hrthe construction of a 10- stamper battery at Creek, two 'miles distant from tllb mines, with which ' er,nnnunic;Uion was ? effecte i i>y means of a sledge tVa'cK, and the costpf iran&porton ,qna^z ( \vaa by no means inconsiderable: ifytU, mines furnished the battery W'.th. sptno goo 1 sized , parcels, of crushing, «ii,i\t, t nnd fms crushing from the.^Y.oungj^fNew Zealand yielded -as high .as neaijy' 20* opnees : per' ton. ' Tlie WedeometepasseiV s^rerpl - r Jarg^ . p r arcels\«f .qaarte through tlie battery: and the retnrnil- rniij^|/ \^\\\ ; one ami »_ ha,lf trt *ig£^^'j&&: M*Q? Altliongh ,tK«iwef& in jttetw : wwbl : »\x*^lmxly/ l *iqli|^ r<t*l*«^l>s*«)«^» - metal thijy wer^t^^onj.;;^ :