January 20, 1876. A Thames Advertiser correspondent visited the new find at Owharoa. "The road or track follows the north bank of the Ohinemuri and about 4 miles. The first portion is cut through the forest, well watered by rivulets. We saw a party of Armed Constabulary at work on the road, the mosquitos a terror. The Government is clothing them in Mosgiel tweed, as thick as a deal board, with the thermometer 90 in the shade." (Fahrenheit, the uniforms thick blue serge.) Their coats are buttoned to their throats and they march in close order."
After one and a half hours they came to the new rush, and descending a bluff came to the Prospectors' Claim. "The Ohinemuri gambols down its tolerably steep bed within 70 yards of the almost naked rock that holds the reefs and leaders of the claim. It reminds me of the old Shotover. A small cascade tumbles down the water-worn face of the rock, on the left of which the men have laid bare a nice looking reef about 20 inches wide. Away to the left there is one about 10 feet wide, from which good prospects have been obtained." There was a band between one to four feet wide "from which excellent prospects were panned."
The Prospectors had commenced two adits, one on the side of the waterfall , "from which should judge 250 feet of backs may be obtained. There is scarcely a limit on available water power, and the quartz can be seen from the drive to the battery site. Several claims are pegged out around."
There was a marked contrast between the two banks of the Ohinemuri. On the south side there was "a wide expanse of fern, covering undulating plains and some low hills, with only an occasional patch of bush to break the monotony; while on the north the hills rise grandly, piled one above the other and covered with heavy timber to the river bank. Far away on the south coast the extreme point of the Kati Kati settlement is seen on the way to Tauranga - when will the road be finished connecting them with the Thames?"
January 27. The Ohinemuri still had unsettled weather. McNeill and party had finished blazing "the new Paeroa-Waitekauri track." The new line for the pack track avoided the old line’s frequent crossings of the Tarariki creek near Paeroa, "which is impassable when flooded. The packers were unable to get out last Thursday and Friday, owing to a heavy fresh, and the men at Waitekauri were reduced to a state of semi-starvation." This was a somewhat altered route for the pack track, not the main road to Tauranga.
February 1. The Karangahake Gold Mining Company had erected its battery shed, awaiting the machinery.
February 11. A Warden's Court sitting for Ohinemuri had an application for a mining lease named Morning Light at Owharoa, south of the Smile of Fortune, on the opposite side of the river. The Smile of Fortune was taking in an old Mount Pleasant claim.
January 27. The Ohinemuri still had unsettled weather. McNeill and party had finished blazing "the new Paeroa-Waitekauri track." The new line for the pack track avoided the old line’s frequent crossings of the Tarariki creek near Paeroa, "which is impassable when flooded. The packers were unable to get out last Thursday and Friday, owing to a heavy fresh, and the men at Waitekauri were reduced to a state of semi-starvation." This was a somewhat altered route for the pack track, not the main road to Tauranga.
February 19. Mr. Darrow came up, and the battery for the Karangahake Gold Mining and Quartz Crushing Company was to be pushed on as fast as possible. The tramway to connect the mine with the battery had not yet been started. The contract for the water race went to Messrs. Fitzpatrick and Co., who had the contract for erecting the battery.
"The Waitekauri sawyers have finished a contract for sawing 200,000 feet. We believe another contract will shortly be let, as the first lot will not be sufficient to complete the erection of battery, tramway and water race."
February 21. The Mackaytown-Waitekauri road had been found not fit for the transport of heavy machinery, "and Mr. H. Rawden had to give up, though not easily deterred, and he had accomplished many difficult tasks of a similar character at the Thames."
There was praise for the enterprise of Brown and Bleazard. Waitekauri was an untried field, but they had launched their capital on the prospects of some reefs, and had gone in for erecting "a 40 stamper battery, tramways, and other appliances, of which the total cost will be not less than £12,000."
February 24, 1876. "We hear the new road to Owharoa will form portion of the road to Katikati, and be shorter than the line proposed by way of Bein’s farm." (New settlers, including Bein and Kinsella, had been taking up their 50 acre leases, and on February 22 a load of furniture had been taken by a carrier for his settling in.)
The machinery for the Karangahake Company was already erected, and they only needed to complete the water race to be ready for work. "The company has engaged a competent manager, and the mine has been opened up to best advantage."
March 23. "The last punt load of machinery has arrived, and as Mr. Bleazard says, "The last spike has been landed." By water from Thames further up the Ohinemuri than Paeroa.
On April 3 it was reported that Captain Turner of the Armed Constabulary had been instructed to lay off the line between the Waitekauri route and Katikati forthwith. The men were to proceed with the actual work of road formation immediately on the arrival of Captain A. Crapp, who was on his way from Gisborne.
April 6. The Ohinemuri was to get a school, as to serve Paeroa and Mackaytown, "as the population has received a large accession of numbers during the past month." They included more 50 acre leasehold settlers for the 50 acre farmlets in the Waitekauri-Owharoa area, who were finding the Mackaytown-Waitekauri road way, on which so much money and effort had been spent, very handy.
On April 10 the timber for the Karangahake battery flume arrived. But it was impossible to say when the battery would be ready for crushing. "Mr. Cornes has finished construction of tramways and shoots to connect the mine with the battery."
April 15. "Mr. Rawden has completed the contract for carrying the Waitekauri Company's machinery from Paeroa to the machine site. This included all the heavy machinery. Amongst the last pieces was the heavy shaft of the water wheel. This required 8 horses, and there were bets that a larger number would have been insufficient. Though there still remain some minor portions of the plant to convey to the site, there is now no impediment to pushing forward the erection of the plant with all possible despatch."
The Welcome mine at Waitekauri decided to take up the terms offered by Mr. Wick to erect a battery rather than have 1,000 tons crushed for half the gold at the new Waitekauri battery.
The Armed Constabulary men were camped on rising ground beyond the mines at Owharoa, on the Waitekauri road. They were working on the Katikati road, and making a first class job. "They have cut the line laid out by Mr. McLaren and Captain Newall as far as the river, but since Captain Turner took charge have been brought back, as he found the gradients exceeded one in ten , which limit was fixed by the General Government. They have now started to make the road 18 feet wide, which will take a wider sweep, so as to afford easier gradients. The new line will necessitate a bridge over the Waitekauri Creek, but will save the creation of a number of smaller bridges. Making the road down to the river has been of great service to many of the agricultural settlers - Thorp in particular - so their labour has not been wasted. The men are working under Captain Newall and Mr. Crapp, Captain Turner's deputy.
At the Waitekauri machine site work was being pushed ahead rapidly. The big water wheel shaft was on the ground. "We hear Messrs. Rawden and Bleazard have new hats at Mr. Mitchell's expense, but we fancy the latter does not feel at all sorry. Mr. Dean has only to pick up a few odd pieces of machinery which have been left in two or three places on the roadside."
The river steamer Pearl had "brought up about 4 tons of sundries - drag-balls, tram-points, belting etc, which will be taken out at once. The battery house is now finished , and windows and skylights will be fitted in a day or two. The bed-logs are in position and all the necessary morticing has been done. They are enormous pieces of squared kauri timber, resting on large rimu logs. One piece is 39 feet long by 3 feet by 3 feet 6 inches, and the other a few feet shorter and 3 feet square." "The water race is almost completed, but water will not be turned on for some time, to allow the timber to shrink well before caulking."
"There is quite a little township at the machine site," The correspondent called it Leahyville after prospector Dan Leahy.
On the 19th April, 1876, there arrived by the steamer Luna at the Puke Landing the Governor, the Marquis of Normanby (hence Normanby road at Paeroa), his party being met by George Fisher and Louis Dihars with horses to ride to Paeroa.
April 21. Henry Christian Wick applied for a machine site for the Welcome battery in the Waitekauri area.
April 21. The Morning Light was on the south bank of the Ohinemuri, opposite the Radical and Annie, bounded on the west by the Hercules, "which is No. 1 south of the Prospectors’ or Smile of Fortune claim. We hear some of the stone is to be sent to Thames for exhibition."
April 26. "A most important feature in this district is the progress of agricultural settlement. There is no settlement on the rich soil of the flats, which, as we think, there might have been if the Government had done its duty, but on the hills 4,000 acres of land have been taken up and are in process of cultivation." (Meaning clearing, with a limited area so far grassed.)
May 3, 1876, There was a meeting of shareholders in the claims at Owharoa, "held in the Court House, Mackaytown, to consider a proposal that had been made for the erection of a test battery in that locality."
It was proposed to erect the 6 head battery purchased by the Karangahake Prospectors, before they made arrangements with Messrs. Souter and Co., "and which is now lying on the bank of the river at Takerei's. The gentlemen who propose to put up the battery will procure a small engine to drive it, instead of going to great expense in bringing in water. If arrangements are completed satisfactorily, the work will be pushed as quickly as possible, so as to be ready for crushing in about ten weeks time."
The claims proposed to be associated in the scheme were Smile of Fortune, Star of Ohinemuri, Radical, Annie, Little Dorrit, Golden Hill, Mint, Hercules, Bella, Excelsior and Morning Light. Financial arrangements were detailed, with assigning of shares etc. Regulations were to be agreed on re price per ton charged by the battery and time allowed to each claim.
The Smile of Fortune was doing underground development, "Mr. Thomas Arnold, one of the shareholders has built a small punt capable of carrying 6 persons, to be used as a ferry boat, which will be of great convenience to shareholders on the south side of the river. Captain Fraser has promised to procure wire rope gearing for it.
May 8. The Ohinemuri had better gold showing in many new claims than previously discovered. There were "no batteries in working order, but Waitekauri's 40 stamper mill and Karangahake’s 20 stamper are both almost finished, and several in course of erection, and arrangements are being made for others. It will probably be two months before there are steady gold returns."
May 9. At Karangahake the battery contractor, Mr. Cullen, got the stampers into position, or rather those supplied, as of the 20, 4 were still to come. Mr. Cullen's contract re the water race was now in a very forward state, with a length of 1800 feet. One portion "required heavy rock cutting on an almost perpendicular face." There was also a good deal of trestle work, "and the whole being done in the most substantial manner."
The contract for fixing the turbine and cutting the tail race was being rapidly carried out by Mr. Coutts, and it was expected everything would be ready for crushing in about a fortnight.
May 12. On the 9th the steamer Effort brought to the Ohinemuri the small boiler and engine for Messrs. Vaughan and Co’s. battery, to be erected on terms for the Morning Light battery at Owharoa. With it came from Thames on a visit Messrs. J.R. Perry, T.B. Hicks, Wiseman etc., well known in Thames.
The 4 stampers and other machinery necessary to complete the Karangahake battery had arrived. The tail race would not be completed by the Queen's Birthday. Mr. Coutts put in three shifts, and was doing his level best, but the boulders were a terror.
He had to use gunpowder constantly. The reef was looking well in the south drive. He expected soon to the north to get out to the surface and do away with running stuff out by the existing circuitous route.
Mr. Wick's machinery was being taken to Waitekauri by the Paeroa-Waitekauri short pack track. It was remarked he was certainly favoured by fine weather.
Thurs., June 1. Morning Light had good stone and expected to start crushing on Monday.
The Waitekauri Company’s battery was a fine substantial plant with 41 stamps, "no gingerbread work." The fluming was finished and Mr. Corbett and his men were putting the great waterwheel together.
June 2. At Owharoa rich gold was being got in several claims, the most recent being the Morning Light. Two crushing mills were in course of erection.
The Karangahake Gold Mining Company at Karangahake had the principal mine, with reefs very promising, and a 20 stamper battery now almost ready to start work.
June 5. There was an engineer's start of the Morning Light battery on the 3rd.; crushing commenced on Monday the 5th.
June 7. "In the Ohinemuri the Morning Light battery started on Monday the 5th and Mrs. McCloughlen broke a bottle of No. 2 on the fly wheel and christened it the Pioneer." (She was the wife of the principal storekeeper at Mackaytown.)
The driving wheel split before they could get to crushing, but repairs would be made without delay.
June 9. On the pack track between Paeroa and Waitekauri the machinery for the Wick battery was scattered along the roadside, some having reached the machine site.
At the Waitekauri Coy’s mine, it was expected by the end of the following week the monster water wheel would be in position and the whole battery complete in 6 weeks.
"From there to Lilliput - the Morning Light two-stamp at Owharoa. The engineer's start had been made on Saturday, June 5, and the shrill steam-whistle awoke the echoes amongst the hills and valleys of the Ohinemuri goldfield for the first time - just exactly 15 months after the opening of the district for gold mining,"
"On June 5th the battery was started and christened, before between 70 and 80 persons, including several ladies from Mackaytown and the agricultural settlements. Two driving wheels went, as they were bad castings, with only one stamp operating pro forma. Mrs. McCloughlen, of Mackaytown, christened the battery, as being the first European lady on the goldfield, as the "Pioneer."
"Mr. H.D. Johnson made a speech bringing in a jocose context the names of other claims - the Joker next door. Smile of Fortune, perfect Radical. Annie, Bella, Little Dorrit, Mint, Golden Stream."
The battery was given 2 or 3 hours’ run, as the first fruits were to go to the Thames Hospital..
Mr. Johnson coupled in names of miners concerned for toast to success -Messrs. P. Holes. H.R. Burt, John Dickson. "The latter’s reply was cut short by a jet of steam from the engine, directed by another shareholder as engineer at the nape of his neck, then protested re keeping his steam to himself and went on.
Mr. McCloughlen gave a toast to "The Mining Interest of Ohinemuri," coupled with the name Adam Porter. He said many of the shareholders in the Morning Light were the original prospectors of Owharoa, having pegged out the Smile of Fortune, and three were amongst the original prospectors of Karangahake.
Others who spoke were Messrs. J.W. Day, Bollock, James Horne, J.Barrett, Johnson (to reply to toast The Press), Henry McKay, Robert Cashel, Vaughan (toasted as the enterprising contractor, he apologised for the mishap and said he was going to the Thames at once to get repairs done,) and Davidson (the Engineer). "Mr. Davidson said they need not expect a speech from him, as he was not in a good temper. The breakage was no fault of his, everything else was in good order."
There was eating and drinking, with the weather delightful, till shortly before sunset. There was quote of, "a bad beginning makes a good ending." Large specimens showing gold had been mined the day before, and small pieces were given as souvenirs to the ladies.
Before the end a Maori, Tenerehu, began a speech, which was interpreted as - if given grog he would drink the company's health. So he was given grog amid much laughter, and wished them all good luck.
June 25. Valuers were sent to value the battery erected by Darrow, Stewart and Co. for the Karangahake Gold Mining Company, being John Brown and Alexander Dewar. This was a proper valuation before the battery was taken over by the Company. The battery was now finished and ready to start work.
June 30. The Karangahake battery had just been completed, with a large supply of quartz on hand.
But the 2 stamper battery for the Morning Light at Owharoa proved a failure, getting through only 2 tons, which gave a rich 8 ounces of gold. (More tonnage in the time would have been very welcome.)
The Smile of Fortune had a 10 stamp battery in course of erection.
July 7. The Karangahake battery had started and gone for an hour, long enough to shake off its old stamper shoes.
Mon., July 10. Official start for Karangahake battery was to be on Wednesday the 12th. Several people from Thames were going. Meanwhile it was having another start.
The heavy stamper box for Wick's battery had arrived at last, using 10 bullocks and 2 horses, which with the very bad state of the roads looked thoroughly done up and the men nearly as bad. It would probably be the first battery to start at Waitekauri.
The first battery for the Ohinemuri had been the "pepper mill" at Owharoa, to actually get started. As for the Thames Advertiser calling it a failure, it had been intended for testing, and got good yield from good ore.
July 27 1876. The Karangahake battery turned up again in the news as "to be ready to start in a few days," after considerable alterations to the flume to give ample motive power. Recent floods had caused only slight damage to the props of said flume - easily repairable.
August 5. At Waitekauri, Wick’s battery erected for the Welcome mine had not yet had a fair start. The pipes were never corked, and when the water came on it squirted in all directions. The pipes were now being corked.
August 10. The Karangahake Gold Mining Company's battery with 12 head of stampers started crushing on Thursday the 3rd, though only on the 7th could the full force be utilised. "Serious mishaps and delays almost destroyed public confidence in the district. The contract for the removal of Clarkson's battery from Thames and re-erection at Karangahake was signed on 22nd November last." 7th of August meant 8 1/2 months till the first effective start. Now they were crushing continuously in 3 shifts.
August 12. A correspondent left Hayman's hotel, Mackaytown, and made a stiff 3 hour walk to Owharoa by Karangahake and Taukani. A friend informed him the dray road was a sea of mud, and very heavy travelling, so he took the other route via Karangahake as above, and though there was some still climbing, yet it was clean.
The Morning Light, 10 men's ground (3 1/5 acres), two stamps, nicknamed a battery, but now disused. It had 5 very good reefs, been worked from the bank of the river. The directors held a meeting on August 9 to decide what was to be done to utilise the engine and boiler already on the ground - the engine and boiler could work 6 stamps.
The Radical, 15 men's ground (5 acres). Wondered at the name, and thought "must be a strong political party here," but "when I saw Mr Joseph Woods, the principal owner, I was not the least surprised at the name." Driving was being done, with good test prospects. The bottom level was only 10 yards from feeding door of Perry's battery, and was 90 feet in. The upper level, 100 feet above, was 50 feet in.
Annie, 15 men's ground (5 acres), about 200 yards from the machine. Was preparing tramway to battery - getting timber and surveying. They had an "immense reef, the very same formation as the Morning Light reef."
Smile of Fortune, or Prospectors' Claim, 5 acres. Great deal of work being done to get mine opened up before battery ready, with 2 contracts, altogether 14 men employed.
Star of Ohinemuri, 13 men's ground. (4 1/3 acres), adjoining Smile of Fortune on the northern boundary. Drive in 300 feet, cut 3 reefs, supposed to be these of Smile of Fortune. A company to be formed at once.
Perry's Machine, 20 stamps, various claimholders anxiously awaiting its erection. To be driven by water power, turbine wheel, water to be brought in from Stoney Creek [Taieri Stream - E], on the opposite side of the river, by a 40 chain race (half a mile), the whole of the cutting and levelling for which is completed, and ditching, 5 feet wide at the top, 2 1/2 feet at the bottom, and 20 inches deep, rapidly proceeding, Messrs. Bates and party are the contractors. Sufficient to carry 10 heads of water, equalling 100 horsepower. The turbine, with 150 feet of fall to it, to be connected across the river to the battery by a wire rope, 110 feet across. About 14,000 feet of timber required for fluming and bed of battery. Expect bullock sledging of the machinery by Perry next week - best method with the state of the roads and gradients. "The sledges are of iron."
"Various buildings are going up, principally of weatherboard. Mr.Delaney, of Grahamstown, is erecting an iron store, which will be an acquisition. At present stores are packed out from Mackaytown, we believe at a cost of a penny a pound, this, from the present state of the roads and steep grades, we consider very reasonable."
Re agricultural settlers, as of 31st March there were 33 50 acre leases under cultivation and 37 applied for. The Goldfields Warden, under whom these goldfield leases were made, reported, "The opening of the new road from Mackaytown to the Waitekauri machine site, for the purpose of enabling machinery to be conveyed there, has been of great value to the agricultural settlers located in its vicinity. It has induced many persons to apply for agricultural sections who would not otherwise have done so, owing to the difficulty of access," This was by Warden William Fraser, Resident Magistrate.
August 15. A school opened at Mackaytown on the 14th.
A correspondent went from Owharoa to Waitekauri by a short cut across the hills to the main road to Waitekauri. "On this route you cross the farms of Messrs. Thorp, Bein, Kinsella and others. The whole aspect is indeed a change to what it was some 5 years since when I last visited it. You see farms dotted here and there, on which are houses, now sufficient, which I hope are forerunners of more substantial buildings." There were many houses, "the majority whitewashed," at Waitekauri.
August 17, 1876. A contractors' start of the big Waitekauri battery was to be made that day.
Crushing was going on at the Karangahake battery, with some difficulty in keeping plates free of scum.
August 18. There were more encouraging reports than earlier.
A report of August 16 showed the Welcome battery (Wicks) 9 stamps doing well at Waitekauri, but the big Waitekauri Battery, with 40 big stamps and a specimen stamp had not yet got going, with all hands working overtime - hoped to-morrow or the next day, with proper start expected Monday August 21.
August 25. The Karangahake Coy. had knocked most of its men off, as the battery was not saving the values with the scumming, and not getting the same good results as similar stone sent to Thames batteries.
Aug. 28. On the morning of the 26th the first shipment of gold from the Ohinemuri went from Paeroa to Thames by the river steamer Effort. It was from the Welcome mine by its Wicks battery, being 150 ounces from about 70 tons. Revised to 151 ozs. 6 dwts. from 58 tons.
The wheels of the great Waitekauri battery started to turn on Thursday, August 24, and worked very smoothly. Crushing was to start early the following week.
August 31. At 4 p.m. on the 30th a reporter found the big Waitekauri battery in full swing. The detailed arrangements were "superior to anything yet seen." Everybody jubilant.
Sept. 11. "The two batteries now working at Waitekauri have now discoloured the Ohinemuri River."
October 2, 1876 At the Morning Light the small battery erected on the ground had been taken down. Men had been put on to drive in the mine. Mine manager T.A. Dunlop informed that there would be a tramway constructed along the south side of the river to a point opposite the battery, and then across the river to the mill.
October 6. Long, description of the first gold escort with 1,354 ounces, being 924 from the Waitekauri Coy., 106 from the Young New Zealand, and 324 ounces from 321 tons for the Welcome Coy. 924 ounces was from 1700 tons.
October 7. Riders and walkers went from Paeroa by the pack track to Waitekauri, where they had luncheon and were shown round the mine and battery, both on a very big scale.
They went back from Waitekauri by the Waitekauri-Mackaytown road. The gold was taken by the Company horseman Fisher and escorted by Captain Newall and two men of the Armed Constabulary. The road was noted as an improvement on the Paeroa-Waitekauri pack track, though longer.
Water was turned on in Perry's race, and found to act most satisfactorily.
October 10, 1876. "The Morning Light of Owharoa directors meet and decide on a bridge over the river to convey quartz to the new battery Mr. Perry is erecting, now fast approaching completion. The span required over the Ohinemuri is 70 feet, and needs to be a considerable height for floods. The level workings are 17 feet lower than the battery hoppers, but gearing is to be attached to the battery, by which loaded trucks will be drawn up the incline."
October 15. "Waitekauri now seems fairly launched....At Waitekauri things have brightened up wonderfully, miners putting up comfortable houses, and clearing ground for gardens."
(There were also nearby 50 acre leases with cleared ground and at least temporary housing, between Waitekauri and Owharoa. Away to the South, the Ulster settlers at Katikati had now been there 9 months or more, "during which upwards of 50 substantial homesteads and farm offices have been erected, and about 1500 acres laid down in permanent grasses.)
(But there was still a great deal of forest on the northern side of the Ohinemuri, including along most of the Mackaytown-Owharoa road, which was why trees had to be cut down on each side of the roadway to give it a better chance to dry out, at least in fine spells in summer.)
November 7. "Perry's battery is in a very forward state. The stampers are in position, the table and blanket strakes laid, and 3 berdans on the ground, which will be fixed next week. There are 450 feet of galvanised pipe from the end of the race to the tank, then 72 feet of wrought iron pipe to the turbine, the fall therefore 60 feet; the turbine is already in position on the south side of the river. It is intended to drive the stamps by an endless wire rope across the river instead of a belt. The battery will be ready to start in less than 5 weeks, on Morning Light and Annie material as a trial."
November 11. Owharoa. "Mr. Dunlop has succeeded in throwing across the stringers for the tramway from the Morning Light to Perry's Battery, and a few more days will see the work completed. He has had the honour of erecting the FIRST TIMBER BRIDGE across the Ohinemuri. The span is about 70 feet, the stringers single lengths of sawn heart kauri. There is little left to be done at Perry's battery, the wire rope to connect the turbine with the battery is expected up daily."
November 25. Morning Light finished substantial BRIDGE connecting with battery, with 75 feet span, girders fifteen inches by six inches, with 3 trusses and iron tension rods, strong diagonal braces between girders to stop swaying from side to side. Tramway from battery to face including bridge 385 feet.
Trucks to be drawn across river by friction gear worked from pinion shaft. Smile of Fortune and Nut good underground development and prospects. Annie has laid tramway to battery and from face of tunnel to tip.
December 9. Owharoa was ready to start crushing "with the 15 stamper battery erected by Mr. Perry, when a portion of the water race gave way where the flume was carried round a sharp curve to avoid a short tunnel, but the latter is now adopted. The contract has been left to Mr. E. Cameron to make this surface tunnel, 150 feet in length. The mill had gone up slowly, because the mine proprietors could not see the force of accumulating material till the mill was ready to crush, and the mill proprietor was in no hurry till he saw a good prospect of being able to proceed - both valid reasons no doubt. The plant was formerly at work up the Karaka (Thames) till removed to make room for Mr. Perry's tailing machine. It has 15 stamps, and room left on the bed logs for another 5." Erected on the North bank of the Ohinemuri, water race brought for a distance of nearly a mile on the opposite bank, with heavy fall for turbine erected on the south bank. Geared to battery by wire rope, extends across the river to a wheel 7 feet in diameter, grooved, drives battery by spur wheel which works cam shaft and stampers. Ropes led over pulleys attached to large kauri tree which grows on bank of river, to prevent snagging and decrease the friction. Distance between turbine and driving wheel of the battery about 140 feet. Novel appearance. Plant, stampers, tables on the most approved principles.