Overland from Thames to Kuaotunu.

Thames Advertiser, Volume XXIX, Issue 9294, 9 March 1899, Page 4

Overland from Thames to Kuaotunu.

: (ByittM'Keeffe.) This is a 1 rough, tedious and tire ; Bome'iourney, and the amateur horseman,idl feel very, glad indeed when he arrives at his r journey's end. 1 toot special notice of the proposed coach road | that pomt road deviates from the sea beach and takes itsitrend over the r&nges,until.the,Tiki is reached, about twelve miies^and, % althougb. the grade will bWairlygpodJor.bno place will the angle of elevation exceed 15 deK reesr=Btia4lafcroad,wo#jbe^ig ; undertaking for the Coromandel County Council, excepting they were assured of a very large subsidy from the Government. The usuaU lor & subsidy would be m no way sufficient for so expensive an undertaking, ijie Coromandel County Council havemor* roadß to Coun|y W Zealwid^The^ountyl!avesi. gga of aboutrsixty Mare %lefc#d eyeg sideyou^gfanetp^^ leatoaltdirect^^ 2 etio CouncU: financed this jtod systew is a marvel. ■""Jfew.-u-Opitonui direction from Coromandel and about fourteen miles distant from that place, ouerhalf of the way range : ot 2fe'wlnSl¥an^»-of about 2000. feet above the sea level. The first objest of interest that strikes the eye after the descent of this range and a few miles along the mam road to Whangapoua, is the Kauri Gold Estateß Company's new battery. This iß' a foVtv-head stamper up-to-date battery, wM : Btampers;ll6o pounds, supplied" with a Huntington mill and a complete cyanide plant, and is driven by steam power. The. reducing portion, of the-battery is in a forward condition, but the cyanide plant is not so well advanced, and it is not likely the company will start crushing., until their cyanide plant is ready, as in my opinion they must depend largely up on their tailings and slimes for a large percentage of a| the gold, in" this ore is very: fine, and to start stamping and reducing this ore without the-aidtof?c|anide';may cause., a false inipre&iou an ?thef ;thc' •outside publico I dp not bblipve. that more than 20 per~centof this'bullion could be recovered by means of the ordinary battery. As I have already B&tea,!thevpiant % .very'.cpnvi plete one when finished, and reflect of those works] whose learned; isfMr.Xloyne, t whp represents the firm of Fr'aser^ - Chambers, of Cnicago. fie seemed to be a jeyel-headed ? ? and apparently knowshis'-'work. ■'■*■■■* The battery is connected' with Whangapoua Harbor, by means of v a t#ijpyj fivje^^half'jniles; 2ft. 6in. gauge] worked by a small lo comotive, r There are a number oi side-tipping iron trucks,^hbse -cubical contents measure one ton.' All ma terial—coal, stores, etc.—is landed at WnangapQua s -by|ii(eanß,pf ;pf about ifiO'toV burden, and it is then ran along the tram line to. the battery, and on to the townsh.ip, i ior,it j§. : by, this means the store-keepers get their stores from Auckland, the cost of tramniing.being s's" per/Jon.;. ; <. : j■ £ There is als'b.-a line'rof tramway laid from the battery to the mine, about two miles long, and the same gauge, so that when a rake of coal is taken, to the mine a rake of quartz is brought back to the battery. I regret that I saw the battery J ,at,a.disadvan: tage, it being Sunday, and nobody being about to-give me any infdrmatiqn/'sp, Lhad tp ; depend, .entirely uppi my bwn Pbserviiitipns., I\\ {J % , The townsnlp is located about one and a half miles--to the west of the main Whangappuavrpad, and is close to the mineS.''"- The !i 'only" building' of importance in the township is a beautiful two-storeyed hotel, consisting of twenty-one rooms, built by Mr. 6. Loram. The fact of, "Mr. Loram's name being associated with this hotel is sufficient to guarantee to the travelling public that they will be well catered'for, it being Mr. Loram's boast j that-no'oneishall' j leave- his house thirsty.or hungry, whether they have money to pay Lor iwhether ;thiey? have not. -a rvrx » -si-:~<x," l <

Mr. Loram has also in course-of construction a,njce. publio.hall, 70. feet by 30i feet; v{ith:two .anterooms, at, the backulo/feetrby ,12, ieet only' other-, tf limy, import ance in the town are two small stores, onepf whichjs used for a'post officoi) Mrr iQuinn, v the managV,lives in a nice six-roomed cottage, and it is by far,the best in. the place! < ;: Mr. Loram''owns the only ireehqld property in. ,th'e} .town-" ship^foit\ have-be'eli*told'tie suni of £1000; &\\ of -being' field- an lease;/ and under very unsatisfactory, terms. They are somewhat as Mows':'

The allotments ({re, sold by public auction 4 and knocked down to the higließt for a term bf'twentyone r sea|B ? jheVenllor the first seven /per annum,- -for the second/«pven;yearsc£lo; and ior the third seven years £15 per year. Ac the. expiration the v ali6ti)ientß improvements' thereon revert .to.^ the company. Resi-denpe-Bites are.subject.tb.lthe same M |?# t J9 n , l, > but rqnt is.fqr thfe)fir«t sevenly'ea'fs 22, second seven years £i, t and third seven years'.,£6" Hhiiik. I am safe in saying th#we will hear a great deal more about this leasehold system later oft, ■>*

! A VISIT TO THE MINUS. | I saw Mr. Quinn, and expressed a 'wish to see the mines. "Yes" Mr. Quinn , do so/' and heWdccfirie over' to his foreman, Mr. M. Schiedler. I was agrpbly Isurprisedi tofsee,thP larg? iamojint*of ) ; systematic] development work tbat&s been done inj the'ee mles. Tkjre are' three shafts sunk Teach °n separate reefs. The size of the shafts is Ity by 7j feet, and they are.drained' by .means of, Camer,pn:.<& pumps.' Adit ievelaareldriven from\j% these shafts.for long ;distances' ( on the line of reefs, the drives are securely timbered and passes put in, and all j-eadyjorjtpping. ...^ t ..... ....,_...,.. "ATvery large "quantity of ore iB in sight, and also great cairns of quartz to grassy The,lodes are large, and the ore*is;, apparently;easily won. There &■ V good future before this company. They have got the finest outside show I haverseen.'; anywhere since the opening of the big reef at Waiorongomai, and tliere is a great thjtwo ores, the onlyJdiMence being that the gold at Om|om!£iß if anythmg/.finer. than at f I brought a few specimens of.ore away, which J intend handing over to tho School of Mines, as.l ; think : thiß pr s e contains a good of,i>lyer. (;OpV Wm is ; a' ; mbst interesting geologists and expert miners. The population of the town is about 800, and. the number:"of '.employees'-.o'iuthe" company's pay-sheet is about 150. OPITONUI TO KUAOTUNU.

The road from Opitonui to Kuaotunu is a good grade—the distance about fourteen miles—and is flat a good distance, but the creeks are far too deep for fording when .the tide is in, and more especially .'the ; Owliara Creek. The horse 1 rode was supplied by Mr. James Hawkes, who keeps no bad ones in his stables. He tells, me that horse feed i||o6 : !expensiye, ahd.that he cannot afford to' feed[bad..horses; This horse's name was "Jack," and he stands 16 hands 2 inches. He was the ihost self-ffilled animal I ever saw. He simply took matters into his own hands, and ran the,,whole show. When I thought |Jack'\.tiad r & right to canter he would walk, aid when I thought he should walk he cantered. His idea was %t he,was doing,all 'anl I was doing all the|alking; ■and hot; takinganyjof this rub.bish. |Ve met pfj Eaurij C6mpaihy'si little engine tearing along the swamp,j pulling about 2Q one-ton trucks after i£.; not of this thing.' He'thought it the height of presumption;.fQr ( ...a r .bit l of. a.|thing 'like'that s to ds'if 1 the whole swamp belonged to it, so "Jack'' got'' clean 'tlisgußted ' and ; ; turned-' -his ,back on the engine auddid the quicKjourney. When he thought fit to pull up the white foam was dropping in bucketsfull .off; him., Although: not amphibious,"'he is""quite" as 'good ii wate^horse as „he is a land horse, the Owhara Creek he plunged right into it, and for a moment I thought that both of us were called upon,to send^our .papers., 13ut when I recbvered' ; consciousness v J found that he was swimming like a duck—that I had dropped.the bridle out of my hand'anil' was holding on to "Jack's" mane. When we touched dry land I dismounted, took off wrung them, and'lied'theni"'with flax over the horse's baok to dry, doing the Highland Scotchman for the rest of until I came in sight of ifiiaotunu. There are a ggod number of gumdiggers and their camps along this portion v qf v ,the jrpad. Hoct intojthe swamp in the summer weather. Two of these worthy Knights of the Spear, who looked as |if Ithejr were-shipnialieslof; ; |Cajpta)n Cook, stuck iii© up in ihe road and demanded to know if I was the blankety mdividiuiL who, hunted f up. the J} guru licenses P -1 Relieve ! 1 -looked'-hkV a bit of a revenue-collector, as I wore a small leather bag over my shoulder j no pants and boots and was without socks. Having answered all their questions satisfactorily in the negative, I was permitted to go my way. KUAOTUNU.

Knaolunu iB a small scattered, township. There is' a lower, and an upper townshi}). Tho lower portion consists hall building, ■and-Bundry Bmall private residences. : a ;i n}ce.;public Echopll.»built on u a rising f ,clean,. nwellclad,: There are also two nice churches here, viz! i' Catholic'and TJhe 'Upp'er *IJffraßhip (consists ;pj store, three batteries and a number orworkmenla .houses. , ; . : : ■' Mr.' ; Johh ;,: Williams and''Mr. Birch 1 kindlv. shqwed me around the principal'mine's? I visited, the site 'of the.new Bhafyor..the Mariposa, which your, readers-have heard.'; so .'niuchj about, through the v company 'having'applied to the Government for assistance. They are justly entitled to the assistance, they aak for, and..the Hon. Mr Oadman would fail in , his duty if he does'no'tlb'this liltle matter up before he retires from office; since the future of tthis; field, depends upon this shaft being sunk. The site of the. shaft,.is about J,oQ() ( feet jinder; 'ground' aild'- about" 10.6" 'feet' in 'm hangingwqll of the Try Fluke ,reef. I'There'is Klarge excavation-cut'in the _iock,; andyhero : power engine, with' windlng-'appliances all ready^and,a v 7ft. tubular bqile|; : :/ .The f resent''depth of tht shaft is iabout 30 feet, and it is rdrained ! by a ( Vowels -diiplex fplunger

pump, capable of lifting about 400 gallons of water per minute. ,„ The residents Jed Jery indignant o|er tkejction of ''thepapai-Vermont Gi\i.Co/ln ; again seeking further protection. They say it is a payable claim, but the shareholders cannot agree "'among themselves to'''develop it; aiid haysjcpme ;sh# are altogether about-sixty miners it receipt ,v >.. jKuaotunu by a colony from Waiorongpmai. Some ten or| twelye years.ago,^,gold famine .set in at of { thpse worthy pioneers 'strutlt but in search of 'new fields, "aid 1 landed/at . Kiiabtiinu, anipike.a MifJeese, a)(|te. hhns i They all. .look hale''and:hearty, andithe only change I icoiddinotice on them;''is' that; their hair;hM : 'a|sunied &jss c(jlor. : ! M 30xer. ipj bly n c<?J?fieat. declared,Maypr;pj',j;ua^tvnu. r , v .,. * :;