The Tairua Goldfield.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VIII, Issue 2034, 1 May 1875, Page 3

The Tairua Goldfield.

ETCH SHOW AT THE PEOSPEC.

TOES' CLAIM. (FBOil OUB OWN HEPOETEE).

Taibua, Friday; Yesterday being a very wet day, debarred the bulk of the miners leaving the neighbourhood of the camp,' but this morning they turned out and spread themselves, either to man their ground or go abroad prospecting. In the prospectors' claim, however, work had steadily progressed since my- visit on Tuesday,,: and on arrival this morning I found that' that the old shaft had been cleaned out, and a few feet of sinking done. The manager, Mr Beeche, was engaged in panning off some of the mullock and sandstone that flanks the rich seam. Several dishes were tried, each of which gave' fine payable prospects of a few grains to the dish; During tliei time occupied in doing _ this the men were steadily engaged sinking, and it was shortly noticed that a change of ground was making in the west side of the shaft. This turned out to be the formation of a wall/and to all appearances ' that which will henceforth.form the hanging one, as the'strata of.the country appears to be dipping westward. This wall is of a fine brown sandstone, and hugging it. was a seam of cement with small streaks' of quartz running through it. Mr Jeeves, the- ;/ ptospepferi%me up just' >at 'this moment, and -his I 'kefe'n eye .at once detectedlhe fine.gold which was disseminated profusely through the cement. Piece after piece. was sent up from below of exactly the same quality, so much so that the manager. felt' 'it incumbent to send for several' bags in 'order' to stow, it away carefully. This latter work' is' almost necessary, , for ', visitors^have hitherto been frequent, and it is usual for "many of them to pan off a ' dish and take away the proceeds. A little of the looserubble of quartz and cement that had fallen during the breaking out of the above was then placed in a dish, and from it we panned .off close upon.4divts.of gold, a result which has not yet been .equalled, either by Mr Neeves or. any: visitor who has hitherto tested . the stuff. Several dishes were then tested from the near or hanging-wall, and the result, although nothing approaching that from the. seam, was very good. The foot-wall L at this point had come in, very sharp, .and contracted the seam, hence tiie stuff of to-day is a pocket.' The nature of the seam stuff is very peculiar, consisting of cement, and through which streaks'or veins of. quartz'exist, and is altogether different from anything I have seen in a quartzreefing district. Mr Beeche states' the seam to be about 15 to 18 inches wide, but one can scarcely form any idea either of its size, or what it is likely to eventuate in. Many are of opinion that this rich stuff is the cap of a reef, and ulti-, mately the lode will be found a little deeper. This, latter theory was propounded freely this morning, when the change in the shaft was noticed. A few days'more will probably make us better acquainted with what, .the rich , conglomeration.of dirt now in the shaft really is. It is, however, evident that there ,is a heavy deposit of. gold about here; for the whole of the dirt thrown out from the shaft will pay handsomely when crushed. So far as can be judged to-day, the strike of this lode is within a pointor two of N.N.W. by S.S.E.j with, the underlie W. This is contrary to what has been generally understood. Never:, theless, such is the case to-day, for it was carefully compassed, not only by myself, but by others. ■ The general bearing of it up to this has beeff almost due N, and S., with a slight underlie to the fi.j-but as the lie of the country appears, to; be W., and all known gold-bearing lodes on this peninsular usually underlie in that direction, I am inclined to think this will prove no exception to the rule. : A low tunnel was commenced this morning, which will give fifty ; feet - of backs,. with little over 30 feet to drive ere the lode is intersected, which should be done in about a fortnight's time. Theg'round on the face of the precipice where the tunnel is going in is pretty tight but fair shooting. No. 2 reef is the larger body of stone that was recently tested, and, as before stated, its discovery is due to the uprooting of a large kauri tree. It. is a defined and pure quarlz reef, of a nature that would attract very little attention at the Thames, but here the most unlikely-looking, stuff gives the gold. It is oyer 3 feet wide, with a Strike N.E. by S. W., underlie W. We broke out a little quartz therefrom, and also some from the cap, and in t'he dish it yielded a first-class payable.prospect.' Several loose pieces from the cap. were picked up in different places, and in each can be seen numerous but minute particles of gold, many of them visible to. the naked eye. ■ This, I believe, will turn' out a splendid lode, and the value whioh the manager recently put'upon itr-viz,, , loz per ton—will be found under the mark, judging from the show of gold you can obtain all along the cap of it. Neither expenses or trouble seem to daunt the proprietary, for there is already a stamper battery on the way, via Tairiia, while a contract for cutting up the timber at 203 per 100-feet was given bit: this.p^mg; : : Both the_ manager and proprietors are' doing their utmost to develop -tlieir pro'-' perty at the earliest moment, trouble and expense only a secondary consideration, showing a striking contrast to what the prospectors at Ohinemuri are doing. The Eldorado is a lease of about 25 mens'ground, owned by Messrs Frafcer, Hewitt, and party, and is situated peg-and-peg with Kennan's and Ajax lease, north of the Prospectors'. The continuation of the Prospectors' reefs cannot fail to strike through this ground, but independent of these, they are reported to have a first-rate. show. As usual in these discoveries, a fallen tree has beert the means.of showing the cap of a reef, from whence some golden stone has been obtained. Little work-has yet been done, merely fossicking, but not a dishful of I stuff from the casing or reef is tried but nearly a graiu of gold can be got. Whatis better, they .broke up some yesterday, and gold showed freely through it, while a little was brought to the camp, which may fairly be called specimens. The ground was surveyed yesterday by Messrs Wright and Bayldon, and it is intended, inow to proceed to develop the ground, in a systematic manner.

Several rushes, occurred during the week, two in the direction of Puriri, but beyond what I stated in my last nothing new has turned up. Ground has been pegged off by the mile both at Cornea' and Oallaghau's rush, but I have met no one who has seen a reef, with a show in it. The latest, however, is that of yes*

terday away in the direction of Tairua, for which many started yesterday. Several persons hare returned, and state that it was- a wild-goose chase. The rush arose in a very peculiar manner. Paddy Bonfield, with Catran and Trewheela, arrived on Tuesday night, and they acted in such a strange way that it got wind they were on some lay. Beid, who has been prospecting in this locality for some years, -and who claims No. 1 South of the prospectors, came .in on Wednesdaynight, and ho at oncechummed with the Catrans, so that the supposition that something was in tho wind gained in strength by this companionship. Measlestown was very lively all that night, everybody on the alert, and it was not until nettrly2a.m., whenpeople began to think of retiring. Not so, however, with;allj for.; during the night you could ;.hear the stealthy walk in the vicinity of the tent where Beid slept. At early morning these men went out, followed by a whole crowd of men, who went as far as Jackson's store, Tairua, where Reid's party made themselves comfortable, and with every; inclination • of-doing so for. a< few days if necessary. Most of the men were sick of it by this time, as Catran told them they knew of nothing. .No so with Tom Baird and Nolan,-who said they would follow them over the whole peninsula. Neither of these have yet returned, and.it is,evident they intend to be true'to their word,'and shepherd Beid and party until he either takes them in with him or lays them alongside. Mr Tole passed on to tho : Tairua Bide yesterday to look out a road for the passage of machinery up to the Prospectors' claim. -Mr Jackson, of Tairua, is cutting a good horse track from his store to the upper camp, which will be completed in a few days. If all be true what he is about to sell stores at, .then the-Thames people, stand no show of making a' living, Already storekeepers, here begin to shake ia their shoes, at the mention of his name'. Re s is reported to have 16 packhorseg on the road cenvoying stores from his Tairua to his upper- store, and ships innumerable, so. that tho freight of his goods from Auckland is a mere song. He-rears his own cattle, makes good butter (your special informed the publjc a .week or two ago of this fact), so that.it is desirable to cultivate the acquaintance of a gentleman who is about to be our salvation from the tyrannical yoke which now oppresses us in the shape of costly living., Mr Albert Walker, pegged off a lease yesterday consisting of a V shape piece of .ground N. of prospectors', which lies "between Stewart's' and Jlenhan's leases. The community are anxious to see Mr McLaren, and at the camp fire last night it was decided through your oolumns he should be requested to come as soon as possible. If he values his reputation he. will stay away, and disown any /; connection with the track from Measles Town to the upper This track is a masterpiece of engineering, for it .nbt only avoids all sideling?, but has the beauty of taking you'up all the steep pinches that lie between the two places. The weather has been frightful again during the night; raining in torrents, and some of the men who went out after Catrans had neither tucker nor tents; in fact, as tHe ; day was fine Went out in their shirt sleeves.