MOUNT MOSGAN ZVUPEL.

Inangahua Times, Volume X, Issue 1609, 5 October 1885, Page 2

MOUNT MOSG AN ZVUPEL.

A mice, which is probably tbe mo^i vp'oftble in Anstialia, a'jont wl'.icli pe^baps less is kuo^n geoeral'y thaa abort any other mine ilia 1 ever v-*s w6«kocl has, acceding to the L*e'« boarne Hera'd, just been uinif«ec! by seveittl Victoiiana, iuconju ictic.i one or two Cneensland isipo. Tho •uliio irsaid to ba worth £0,C0Q,000 ?.n esafgerat'.oi. which, however, the '♦Va^abcad" who recently inspected the place, ridicules ; at all evoute, (Jiat it is extremely valuable is evidenced by the fact that the last known transaction was the sale of a 250th interest for £3000. The Mount Morgan mine is , said to be held partly oa lease aud

pR.-tly by the ccapaay havi.igpn:caased the entiie tight, title and intern* of a selector naooed Gordon, who bad tweo on the grooiid for many jean without tbe slightest suspicion tuat so mnch wealth existed on I .is property. The roaor that has got ab oad is that the leaahold wm part of a reserve before it was taken op for mining purposes by the Mount Morgan Co.. and that it required to be uneccupied for two yea»« after the cancellation for the reserve, nnder the Queensland regulations, before it ooold be so taken op for rotniug purposes. It is said that legal opinion has ton taken in Brisbane, and that the title to the leasehold of the company has i«*n pronounced rotten. Be this an it may, shares in the "jump" are being off-red to and taken by some monied speculators, who doubtless view the matter ve-y ranch in the light of a big gambling transaction. Certain, However, it is that the opera, tiotis of the mine are being conducted with a great deal of secresy, so roach so that even a visitor desirous of inspect* ing the works cannot do so anless be goes armed with an order from the chairman of directors in Brisbane A gentleman who lately was permitted to go over the workings informs 08 that in his SO years' experience he never saw anything like Kount Morgan. The till, be cays is 600ft uigh. and is litereliy being car rried oat, and sent to tbe crashing machinery, and the tepingg, heaps npon keeps of which are lying obout, are wov ih Boz a von The9e thl). require to be sm«ited, so it is saii, as the precious »etaj can be thoroughly extracted :« no oilier way. Toe matter dre&dv is crating some excitement in Queensland. With reference *.c Uiis matter the Syd*y Mdl seys :— Strange though it may seem it is nevertheless a feet that mici'ig in Australia cannot be carried on without litigatioi. Eeeh field which is opened produces its crop of rich caw, to be hai-vestedby the members o'tbi legal fttternity. The " plants." too, a;* perennial, and : it often happens that the elder ike I field the more prolific it proves in coart cases, llie latest instance of this cones from Mount Morgan, which a coaple of weeks back was * jumped " by a prominent shareholder, Mr W. K. D'Arey. The" jumping" a friendly action, and was re to id tc merely for tbc pat-pose of testing the validity of the leases and of pi-e---venting other persons taking a portion of them. Bnmors having gained corrency that the same course won'd be pnrsaed by others, bet not iua friendly way, and that the " jumper* j were prepaid to spend a large wim , to ascertain the security of teaure, a fi iend fotesfallec! the jurape.-s aud mftde the necessary olaim Tlie pio-P'-ietors, Messrs. 'Morgan, Hall *.'d j Co., loJged objections, and the easa ■ wss beard at the Warden'* Court. I Jjvt tue rvarden declined to hear aay evidence to test the validity of th» leases, contending that he had no pewer to do so. Tbcy were granted by the Governor in Council, and he could do nothing in the matte-. The solicitor for 11 r D'Aray mentioned that under the Gold fields Act no lease could be granted within* two years of the proclamation of the goidfield ; and on that ground the case rill be taken to the Supreme Co^rt, Here is a case in which the tossessors of* prapertp of about 700 acres, which has beei retcmiog dividends &s high as £7000 i per month, are plrced in jeopardy by | the supposed discovery of some flaw. With legard to the value of the mtae at stake, the most recent estimate is £9,000,000. Tins is, indeed, s> monster bird tc pluck, but let OB hope that the ecci-tsV.*] not deprive ic of many featben. Scarcely ?• week passes withoQt its sensetioual mieiog case. Co complex are the tniaiog ptßtates r;hat the nmer of this centa*? i nRB but p pocr checce of success if not i fairly well versed :n law. The impei*I fectioas of on/ present mining lawa are painfully apparent. The eonfxuuon which has occurred in cocnectioa wi f h tbe leasing sysiem is illustrated by the repcrtc from oar cotrespondectft £.t Fmncßville Red elsewhere a the tic raiuing districts. Barmedman and the rsefs sorroarding it proved to be a hotbed from which law cases were eoo« stasily spigoting. These mioing r'iepntes are often of the mosi trivial kind, and arc so simple that a couple of arbitrators might settle them at the rate of a doren per hour.