DEVIL'S CREEK.

Inangahua Times, Issue 77, 2 September 1878, Page 2

DEVIL'S CREEK.

(From an occasional Correspondent.) Prograiis at tho Union Company's works hns not, owing to tho sovcro nnd unsettled •tato-of tho woathor, boonjso rapid lntoly, or to the hands employed as romunora* tiro ns a drier sto to of tho almosphero would hay« hroaght about. In spite, however, of tho unusually inolomont winter wohavo passed through, pausing on all suoh works a serious loss of time, a fair show of work hns bcon done, and should wo, dur« ing tho Mxt, throo months, bo blosstd with long intervals of fino weathbr, tho end of that term will hear tho thud of tho stampers and tho shripk of tho whistle

Wttkinif tip tho aleopinfl ochoos of tho surrounding hilla. At tho mnoliino sito hand* aro otnployod mnttin^ tho necessary cxcavfttionß for tbo bod logs, and oarpon* tors nro on tho ground to plnoo thorn, and aro making ready to orcot raaohino houso, A roomy substantial houso for tho manaKor ban boon built, but m site for it had to bo dug out of tho hill sido, for tliero is no level ground to bo had without making it. Tho lowor or machine shoot is mak-« infjf fair progross. under the contractors hands, iTho lower tramway of 40 chain*, will «oon be finished and tho upper tramway, shoot and paddock nro parsed and paid for. At tho mine hands are employed timbering up a section of tho main drivo, clearing timber and debris from tho neighbourhood of tbo outcrop, and gottitfg things in trim generally for tho purposo of dolivoring n steady finp'ply of stone. Tho cnorgy shown by tho Union shareholder*) in tho faco of great diffi* oulticg in opening up this part of tbo country, i« having somowhatof a oorrcs* ponding effcot on tho adjacent companion, Tho Hoflthor 8011, the next claim sonii, will rO'Commonco w<rk this nook, and as highly poyablo«\j|?ij» haa boon eunk through in that minftlliJtwdy, tbo flheroooldors will endeflvor 4 |<5f eomo to tormi with the Union Corojiatty, when the buttery oan bo spared for a trial crushing of 400 tons. Adjoining tho Honthor 801 l to tho south, a leaso then known as llio Colorado, was appliod for nt the sumo ♦imo as tho olhcrs in tho neighbourhood. A week or two ago when tho leases in this district came down for exooution the ono mentioned was not among thoso advertised, and enquiries elicited tho foot of tlio loaso having been withdrawn. It wufl immediately rcaapplicd for undor tho title of Iho Bona-Aooord Company, and in likely to como into favorablo uotico, a strong body of unprospooted stono showing on tho surfnoo and its neighbour tho Heather Bell, boing generally roeognisod as a #ood olaim, Tho Ad* vaneo Company, north of and adjoining tho Union, also intend to commonco work very soon. In Iho lowor half of this claim stono is oxposed for somo distance, and tho labor of two mon for a few weeks would thoroughly tost this portion of it. Tho ground gonorally is so situated that tunnols driven into it can besides piercing tbo roof nt a low lovol, (ntnmnnd Iho Utiion Cy's ItAtmraj to t icir battery and thus secure tbo ohanco of crushing at vory littio expense. In tho Orioutaltho hands aro outtiuga chnmbor preparatory to starling a wldjso on ll>, roof, intending to sink it to the level of the adjoining creak, whoni should ovorjpthing appear as favorablo as at present, a tunnel will bo driven in to tho foot of tho winze, nnd preparations mado for tho orootion of a crushing battery. A trial crushing at tho Union Company's battory is spoken of v "d»» likely, tho difficulty being tho distance, and moans of transit, but nt a modorato outlay an incline tram could bo laid to tho top of tho rango and continued down tho othor siJo until it out t ho Union Oompfany's battery tramway, tlio distanco being about ono fourth of a milo going round tho fnco of tho hill. Tho Grout Southorn nnd tho Groat Eastern* are two now ventures adjoining tho Oriental to iho south and oas,t. In tho latter claim, tho track of a reef npparontly on the same lino ns tho Oriental, carrying looso blocks of stono yiolding a small percontngo of gold when crushed is exposed in ono of tho" gullies, and shows all tho indications usually mot with whon hearing a solid body of quartz. Tho faoiN itics for tho ooonomical working of this ground aro somewhat romarkablo for should pnyablo stono bo found, it oould bo landed from tho tunnel upon tho Union Company's battery tramway whioh passes through this claim. The recent gold discoveries mado lower down on tho west cm siclo of tlio creek, arc causing somo fltir in that noighbouruoodi and as it nppcars to bo a distinct lino of roof from any yet opened, it is but another proof of tho undUoovorcd wo&Uh of tho distiiot.