THE AUCKLAND GOLDFIELDS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 698, 18 August 1870, Page 4

THE AUCKLAND GOLDFIELDS.

(JZy the Special Correspondent of the Olago Daily Times'). As an impression prevails among ale in the South that the Auckgoldfields are a myth, vanishing daily into space, it may not be uninteresting to give a short account of their present condition. From this account it will be seen that, whatever may have been the mistakes, the misery, and the waste caused by the unhappy scrip mania, with which they were ushered into existence, these goldfields are now being steadily worked, are yielding a large and solid return, and have about them all the characteristics of permanency, at all events, for a century to come. - "We last visited them in the early part of July. The fine steamer "Williams, belonging to the A.S.N". Company of New South "Wales, and the almost equally good steamers Eoyal Alfred and Duke of Edinburgh, belonging to sin Auckland merchant, are regularly employed in the trade between the Thames and Auckland. There are, in addition, two or three smaller steamers and a crowd of small craft running, some of them, between Auckland and the Thames, and others to Coromandel. The visitor to the Thames, accustomed to the tents and canvas erections of new goldfields towns in the South, is at once struck with the aspect of solidity and permanence which Grahamstown- and Shortland present. The buildings are of wood, and many of them are three storeys in height. The Banks are, in style. and substance, equal to those of many considerable colonial towns. Tbe hotels and some of tlra lodging-houses are deserving of the highest commendation. At the Pacific Hotel the visitor is surprised to find rooms, not only handsome, large, and airy, but elegantly furnished and carpeted throughout. Civil waiters, good wines, and a table d'Jiote, of which the carte shows " every delicacy of the season," are among the chief attractions of the Pacific, which, although generally regarded as the best, is only one out of many having a high reputation. Two theatres, held by companies quite equal to those of other towns in the colony, are in full play. Churches of various denominations are numerous, and the buildings large. The population of the town and suburbs is estimated at from 11,000 to 12,000, and provisions and Btores of all kinds are about' the same price as in Auckland. The peculiarity of the Thames Goldfield is that it is identical with tbe town and suburbs, in fact, is a component part of them. The Thames river, coursing at the foot of hills from 1500 to 2000 feet in height, offers but a narrow strip of level land between their steep spurs and its own low banks. A small creek; with an entrance navigable to lighters, runs from these hills into tbe Hauraki Gulf a little below the estuary of the Thames. ■On this creek the first houses of the town of Shortland were built, and in its neighbourhood are still to be found the nicest dwellings in the place. But as the best of the mines were at the opposite end of the flat, it struck a late Superintendent of Auckland, Mr Robert Graham, that he might turn a quick and profitable penny by hiring the flat from the Maoris en bloc, and re-letting it in town sections. This gentleman is laid to be now making several thousands a year by the, transaction, and the town to which he thus gave origin, is called after him, ; 'f Grahamstown." The banks have moved into it ; all the best stores and Uhops are there, and it is how so connected by building with Sbortland, that I could not find out where the one ended or the other began. F The mines by which this population are supported are in the town and in the hills, at the foot of which the. town is built. The flat is not at the broadest more than half a mile in width. Backing it the hills rise abruptly. Fronting it, there is the gulf, and in the space, left dry by the tide are several shafts sunk at considerable expense,. in order to drive under the bed of the ie». Operations in these shafts were stopped by the claim of the Maoris [to the fore-shoreT—a claim about which "much was said in the last session oi Assembly, and of which your readers have no doubt heard. These beach

claims now lie full of water* and present a striking contrast to the incessant stamping of machinery, rush of loaded trucks, whirr of steam engines, and the crowds of busy men, who are in every direction tunneling and blasting the hills which the visitor sees close in front as he lands on the jetty at G-rabamstown. Starting from the Pacific Hotel along a good footpath, formed on either side of a sea of mud which does duty for a road, a walk of a few hundred yards brings one to an extensive range of solid looking iron buildings lying between the hills and the beach, to which these very closely approach. These buildings contain the splendid plant of the famous Golden Crown, which haa paid its shareholders dividends up to the 30th April last, to the amount of £90,392 16s Bd, besides paying current expenses, and over £8000 for the machinery and buildings, at which we are now looking. The present expenses of this mine are about £250 per week. It employs 83 men, besides paying for a large amount of work done by contractors. The general rate of wages on the field is 36s to 42s per week ; but on this mine, none but the best and most reliable hands are employed, and their pay ranges from 8s to 10s per day. The entrance to the mine is close to the buildings, and by the courtesy of Captain Bichards, the working manager, we were enabled to look closely into the whole affair. I will not trouble you with technical descriptions of workings which your readers would probably not care about, nor, from my descriptions, understand. Suffice it to say, that we traversed wide lofty chambers, from which the quartz had been taken to produce such splendid returns. Thence we went down winzes, and up ladders, and through holes of all kinds, in which a considerable number of men were busily at work in various ways. The hours of working are eight per day. There are six winzes sunk from the lower tunnel to the 80 feet level ; two of these winzes communicate with it, the other four will do so soon, and are to afford ventilation. In the mill there are 20 head of stampers, driven by a 25 horse engine, and the consumption of coal is 73 tons per week. By the way, it is worth mentioning that all the engines on the field use Bay of Islands coal, which is delivered at 25s per ton. A second engine, of equal power, keeps the mine clear of water and debris. The consumption of water in various ways in connection with the mine is 170 gallons per minute, and, as this water must be free from mud, arrangements for filtering are connected with it. The chief source of supply is the mine itself, which is fitted with pumping gear discharging over 200 gallons per minute. In addition to this machinery, the company has four of "Wheeler's patent panß for grinding tailings, and all the best and most recent improvements for eaviug gold. Originally the claim was taken out by eight men, and the area 15,000 square feet. They prospected, but did not get much. On 18th March, 1869, the company was formed, having been then six or eight months in the hands of the prospectors, who had Bunk a shaft and found the reef. The capital was fixed at the immense sum of £192,000 in shares of £1000 each, " considered," after the fashion of that scrip-mad Beason, as "fully paid up." I The shares were soon quoted at £1400, and some I believe changed hands at that enormous price. As a rule, however, there has not been much speculation in these shares — which are in fow hands and well held — a lucky event, as they have since been down to £400, and not easily saleable at that. The last divideud declared was on 30th April — £7 per share. After this the gold fell off, as there wan a break in the run, but it has been picked up again lately, and was at la«t discovered in the deep level 60 feet below where it had been lost. The manager is of course highly pleased with this discovery, and entertains • greater hopeß, as the lead is wedge-Bhaped, and thickens as the workings, hitherto at the apex of the wedge, advance. In giving you the history of this, the best cluim on the field, I hope to have shown not only the working of the scrip mania, but the solid residuum it has left -behind. In its way, thi* mine is a type of very many other

claims, less rich, but employing; large numbers of men, and leaving a surplus for fair dividends on reasonable capital. Of course, when the arbitrary value of £192,000 is put on a mine, and the shares "considered as paid up," nothing but extraordinary and exceptional richness can prevent disastrous loss to those who buy scrip on such terms. But while, during these manias, some may win and many must lose, the mine must go on, and becomes a source of employment and wealth to the country. Proceeding from the Golden Crown, we come upon other claims, once of great note, and still in full working order, while many of them are supplied with machinery even more costly and complete than that of the Golden Crown. There, for instance, is the Kuranui Company, whose magnificent plant of 46 stampers, and extensive mine, make it rank as one of the finest on the field. It is only lately that this company has begun to pay dividends, but we were told by one of the shareholders that the whole of the plant and work done, costing nearly £30,000, has been paid for from the previous returns of the mine. A little further on we have the Manukau, Tookey's Imperial, the celebrated Long Drive, and up a gully further on, the still more celebrated Shotover, originally known as Hunt's claim. Some of these have no machinery, but all are in full working order. These are the names of a few well-known claims, but there are hundreds of others affording employment of a permanent character, and numbers of other crushing machines of greater or less power. Every creek and every gully has its peculiar reputation and claims. The stone is carried in most cases to the nearest machine by tramways running up the gullies, constructed by Government, and leased to those who work them. The majority of these tramways ascend the hills in flights with landings at intervals, like the staircase of an ordinary house. One of the feeding br nches, the Moanataiari, is well worth . a visit. It consists of endless wire ropes, along which travel boxes holding from one to two hundred weight of stone. As they arrive over the landing stage, the bottom is dropped, and the stone falls into the regular trucks conveying it to the mill. This wire tramway is supported on poles, and runs up inaccessible gorges. In every gully and on every spur there are signs of life and work. In one direction the claims run at intervals past Tararu, Tapu, and other well-known localities, to the rich but undeveloped hills at Cororaandel, 25 to 30 miles away. In the other they run up to Ohinemuri, and the known auriferous lands of the Upper Thames. Considering this, who can doubt that long after the memory of its scrip madness is forgotten, the gold mines of Auckland will afford labour to thousands and profitable investment for capital to many? In the development of the mines there will be grand facilities : among them their wonderful accessibility by water. On the other hand, there are difficulties ; but the greatest is , let us hope, of a passing nature. I refer to the refusal of the Maoris to allow prospecting on the huge tracts of land they own. If any desire to appreciate the full force of this difficulty, let them ascend the Moanataiari hills. Thence they will have a noble view. They will see the Thames winding its tortuous way to the much coveted hills of Ohinemuri, probably, as the crow flies, not more than a dozen miles away. But right in front stopping within a few miles of Short* land — they will also see on the other side of the Piako (a river debouching near the mouth of the Thames), a wooden tower which marks the present end of the telegraph from Auckland. Constructed to the Piako, the Maoris refused to let the wires pass over their land. The tower stands unused, a striking type of the difficulty of ex* tended settlement, and a monument of the practical difference in dealing with colonists, and with those among whom, after seven years of hard warfare, the " Queen's writ" cannot yet run. Patience will soon remove the Piako difficulty. Inch by inch, and in that way only, can we at present see means of overcoming the greater difficulties of a kindred nature which have >o . lonp; opposed the progress of the goldfields, and of this, naturally rich and splendid province.