A TRIP TO THE OWEN REEFS.

Colonist, Volume XXX, Issue 4774, 1 April 1887, Page 3

A TRIP TO THE OWEN REEFS.

[Bt'-VbYAbEOR.]

(Continued)

To the'right of the Owenroad, (supposing the traveller to be proceeding to. the,reefs as we were doing) there lie's., a'fine tract of leyel land about,looo acres -in',extent, suitable fof settlemenV'purposes. It is rather heavily timbered, and would ot course take a cott-f siderable amount of clearing, butf thejday ia surely not far distant when this will be done: This land extends from the Buller river right away to the approach of a low saddle,r the •latter being crossed by the road'about, bialf way between Fagans and the spot where the! track strikes the Owea Biver. fOnee over the saddle we pushed briskly ahea^ for a milefW two, fording more than once oh our way the windings of .a small stream, euphoniously named-Maggie's Creek, and shortly tcamej upon a stretch of open country, that<; to > the stranger in.this part of the world ia a perfect aurprisei .For,rafter traversing some mile's of country so thickly wooded that if rone is on horseback; or. driving, it is almost an imf possibility to get off the track; to suddenly light.upon a fine large open extent 'of grass land is as pleasant a revelation as it: is unexpected. /,.':;

As we near thi Owen Eiver, the homestead of Mr .Samuel Baigent—the pioneer settler of .this part of the world—comes .inf view..A Mr Baigent is a lucky man, .and ".till quite "recentlyjie: could .hardly have been aware of it. t Even now, one can fancy he must lometimes; r,ubhis eye?;and wonder/if he is f awake. ■ f :BC«fj owns ,(mark^ the,wprd). : af grin*flittle freehold proJDeity 6h-the' Owen Eiver, withinfa:stones-j threw'bf a tiwnship, destined ere long to be ; one, of the chief, mining centres, of the Middle -Island. i-2Ks''g6id mines are his floak'S 'ahd^ herds; fdrha has a big «ay in'supplying the' Olenites withfmutton and beef,,and.; in,' pro- '■ portiinfasf tbe .'population at .the- reefs inpreasSsj;; sQ. should his" bank \ bilahce.f 'Pa'pt Baigeiit's 'run Aright to the upper township the Owen River is orifaur bridle hand, till within afquarter. of a mile Of the Post. Office, when the. travellerfhas to' 'orbsa -the devious courie of the main stream three times in little mora than as many .minutes. 'The buildings, which are .either ih course of. eonstruotion or airiiady cornpliWd,' ire heiirly all on the tight hand side af the road! from a short iistaaoe above : Baigent's to' the Cempahy's machine lite, with, tha exceptien ef the EBterpriie camp, and a weather-board house geing ap ip'forttfO/JRbujflce. !^HOwevWi a'despriptian ofthe to wn ship.' will be a mat ier to refer to later on; in the meantime, it may be remarked that \wef arrived at'Tattirshairi Postoffice Bestaurant at the.fvery appre'inatehbur of di»hertim«i,; and;' tof fuse thV»*n».«."6ld]n)ir.aie th»t has done duty a thouiani timesfbefore, and will do as well as any -othar;"o% thi present occasion, viz., " the wants of the inner man beiag satisfisd," we lost ha tima in crossing to iaspect the Owen Quartz.Crushing Company's machine site. -'The precise position when the baftery will stand is as fair a piece a'f level ground as could be wished for the pnrpqseriAHojether the Cempany holds !five aeresjof land,; aadithera is but little room •for* doubt* that tha Miliary' whan eraotad will [fulfil the sanguine hopes cherished by all those interested in the welfare of thrfield. Mr gangster is the Company's manager, 'and his riame alone is ample guarantee that eTerythingappertaining,to the placing in position of the ponderous machinsry, from the foandaftions.upwards; .wiU!bVlaithfallyMeompliah%d. EHia'fyeteran experienc«s: }wthf in Victoria and jNew 'Zealand in thiiy^articUlar line having beeninvariaWy croymea;with:success, y y 1 A^e&the \witerfarfiTOd;^ 3rd .j^ay'- of ...MOTehAaf3|y.fi3hift'rSfas at work cutting a deepftrehcliffor:4ha': purpose of 'getting'd!own fofthe hedfrbck,f it beiajgrprimarily of the mostfyitalfMportaieefthat the bed logs for the littery; foundatiohi^ittuld; rest on solid bottqaa.. |Itfwas!nojight;wbrt either, the couhtEy>heiag:ahbieDt'.riverbed fbiiha tion, consisting mainly of-huge granite fcoulders that jD'eajrljv'All ra^nifei?.JHaatingi*:CtiiußxoirSry': yard-of ;^his ic?if!tingibad";lo ihe ;won sbyrthepersuasive powerfljfofrdynamite; I left the Owen on the 17thlnstant, and for some;days before niy'departure ifr Sangster was1 work, ing a night as .well as a day shift, and they had bottomed on,the bed roik, about eleven feet down from the surface. * The Company are fortunate in possessing ap excellent and unfailing water supply, and the line of race as put through by .Mr^ Hoult, Surveyor, will, give them the requisite power. It is to be regretted tbat any delay—however brief—should have arisen thr'eugh the successful tenderers for the water race having abandoned their contract. ' And it is to be hoped that all those interested in the welfare of the Owen Q. C. Company won't be sub-, jected to the annoyance of a repititien offhii fiieo©A <•* j - '' '" ** * -A prettyrieTen leiMn* ibooli Mrtftinly be

actainiiter«A\to . people, f^o v - tencfor. for, an important pieoa of ,work .at such, mi absurdly v low price {a price whioh praqludeaf the posiiI \n\ltjtf fheir haviqg first, counted .the cost), .jaoote^peoially, when luoh fp\lf s resulted in tha disgust of mafi who hadtiAen.tbiijtreuble ti go oyer every r inoh fof the,'ground,'had enterad ,into r careful cal^alations.atf to the ,numb«r of fact, of^mber required in, the construction of the race, etc," and had accordingly tendered ior.the wark at a reasonable figure. y • \ -;*, * '<■ »• •' < *Z ' The'inspeotion of tha niachina lite finished, the writer made,arrangements for camping under canvas during hii'atay at $he Owen with Mr Wright's auivey party, who chanced to arrive on the field the same lay; and a piece of lever ground being selected close to the river and in the vicinity of the battery lite, tha worlt; of tent pitching commenced, and oeeupied our attention for the remainder of the afternoon. The morniag after aur arrival the (writer interviewed Mr Cosgrove, the mining manager of tha Wakatu'United, and was by him shown over that property, 'visiting also during the day the Bulmer Creek (the latter lease adjoining the top boundary line of the Wakatu), which is aled under Mr Gosgrove'g supervision.' To reach the Wakatu workings, the visitor crosses the river close to I the battery site, and a quarter of ah hour's | •limb brings him to the mouth'of the tfo. 3, fir low level tunnel.""* It~is from this levdl tha aerial tram will convey the quartz down to the machine, a distance of 32 chains or thereabouts. The work of falling the timber on the lino between the battery site and this tunnel wag commenced by, contract on Monday, March 7, and by this time will doubtless be_raore than half finished. v' » * » <

fOf la^e vr;yaara wh*re there is much.mounh tainous mining eountry,r as at; the .Dvjren. the use [of ;the* aerial tram'has comeniuch into vogue.* ■}& Inf principle; fitis,?rWorkingoia;ayjbe described as very similar, to the endless cable tramways, now laii down in the chief .thoroughfares .of, Sah*Frandiseol; Melbourne^ and.Dunedin,';, Infoheease.the »ndless c rope of.steel carries the cars, in.theaerialinstance the buckets glide ,flp-,and! downJnV one^jntsijmmable round. This difference, however, 'e,xists,Jthe.oable;tramwaysiareTwor^ in hilly or level country, by powerful station-' ary-steam engines at fitted r|e.;nu?«;;r^hile thb; aerial caljle> resolves,.! roundAa drum, the weight of the quarts loaded buckets going to, the .battery.fon^hejdown'.liae,-;bringing the" empty ones up again, to the mouth of the 'tUnnel....Ar*s ; :ii_ : vUAyvryyyrXi^y r., T>*>::-.«. '. A Mr Cosgrove is intimately acquainted with. the working of ' thi'so 'ftirial tram ways, and, his scheme for concentrating, all the quartz from * the Wakatu 1 maihlinefof reef at one point of..'departure, and thence hy cable carriage to the stampers, is comprehensive^ olear sighted, and labor saving.. Under the ancient method of 'treatment, quartz once got' out of a mine and ' paddocked,' had subsequently to undergo any amount of wasteful wheelba»'rowjng,l| shoyelliDg^ ,and^g'eleral knocking"abbuf. 'TheWakatuiilihemanager with his Byatem .61 fself acting «paddocks/ self r adjusting. ';shbots,' and islf feeding buckets, does away With'all objectionable and unntbeasary 'handling, in additien to reducing I the ardinary expenses ef the mine. 'YZ.X ;:..-«The;-No.*;3 tunnel, ,qnjthe ; 3rd March,^was about 60 feet into the hill, ih a perfebtly straight line. By this date it will probably bef quite^'iQO^.-iThe.; manager'g intention ia to continue tunnelling^ ahead, till in about ISO* feet,-whep he will uprise to,connect with the intermediate paddpek of stone, lying; between the middle (er No. 2 l«Tel) and the No. 3. It wih * be* obvious, rtheref ore,] even/ tO: the. nn« initiated, ,thatfthis^ uprise^f-which ''ii' only another name for a shaft put upwards instead of ■; downwards—will, be -for. >getting the quartz bright ; ,dojrn .into ; the.r tr uclcs* standing oh' "the ra'il.sfintha]main'Nb. S"level, by wnichit will becbhyeyed to the aerial buckets. But this, of course, is not the only purpose.of this' levelf fMr ■ Cosgrove f is; morally certain thatf long ''bef orefreacbing 130 feet, in, he will cut ;the ■main reef.'* • -A'* •' f... ■*'• *'" "'*: '■'"*■* '*"* ~ ; The day before-the-writer Jleft the Owen he paid a farewell visit to this;mine in company, with the manager, and found that the " country" was getting better, and more-likely look, ing, every foot they drove. "Any day we may strike the reef now," was the manager's comment 1

. Let no falsefor erroneous impressions exist about; the wbrkf theyf are <:pui.tihg^ih ''ihe Wakatu United. In this main tunnel, destined; as it is, to.be the principal arteryipr the .whole mine by a series of f connecting uprises with the,levels above, everything is of the-most solid: description.-f The. massive* timbering will sta'n'dAgdbdf for years,'; and iron rails are being laid downinstead of wood.' The dozen miners for so, at present employed, are picked men, all of-whom thoroughly ■ understand their'business; and, "with the exception of Sundays,--there"-ie no time'wasted,--far the work goes on in the1 mine, night and day.:

Some-littlei *distahce«t6 the 'left ot'No.; 3 level is thejcamp^ of j sopie of. the hands employe^ in. this,;-mine, and although it ii conveniently situated with regard to getting Wth'eir^b^ to the carriage; of provisions from the town-; ship, for let. it be : that living oh the Owen is a;Hberal!Education in the art of climbing, and .if ever.there, was. a. country more Suited ''for liie.peb'siya but vindictive mule", the writer has not yet come across it. J'-; However, the Wakatu people .will be'well off "asregßtrda a' road up to their mine before long, as during" my stay oh th¥'fibld Mr'*-Garven, the. ; B.eefton, County engineer,' paid the Owen a flying' visitffor'the.'pu^pose' of laying; off a'pack track .from'the machine site to the No. 3 level. ! Thisf roa'cl, fbrfwhich1 tenders were,tO be almost imihediately called,; is to be four feet' wide ie the. solid,, ahigill; prove a/great boon* to eYeryOnef^onn'ectied; .with themihe." " '''■ ~ A; 'XX- XXiV ""''" -j

CTo le continued.f

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