Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-04-06

from England, but the people would TAX
our prints. l saw some in a Wellington
dry goods store and asked the merchant
where he got them. He replied that h,
had given a trial order to see how they
would go, and that they were selling well
He showed me his invoice. 1t was fol
5000 worth of goods. and this he called q
trial order. Most firms in the United
States would consider it a good order. II
would seem to me that the cotton manufac-
turers of Massachusetts and the south
could well afford to look up this matter.
New Zealand Gold Mines.
Within the past few months New Yea
land has been ordering mining machinery
Of the United States. 1t has just received
some gold dredges from Chicago, and it is
probable that more will be needed. The
ordinary dredge here costs from $4,000 to
$4,000, and the demand is such that they
cannot be gotten fast enough.
Gold mining in New Zealand has curious
features. Most of it is alluvial. Here and
there along the coast of the middle island
are plains, the sand of which contains 4
gold flour. The plains are along the edges
of the sea, backed by mountains or hills
containing quartz or other auriferous rocks.
For ages the streams have been carrying
this four-gold worn from these rocks down
into the water, and the tides and storms
have thrown it back upon the land. In the
meantime the sea has been slowly receding,
glomerate mixed with gold.
These plains have been taken up by min
ers in tracts Of from fifty to 100 acres.
They dig out the sand and flow it over
amalgam plates or tables covered with
mating plush. AS the water containing
the sand runs over the plush the gold falls
and is caught in the nap while the sand,
being lighter, flows off. From time to time
the plush is taken off and washed. In
some places the sand is dredged out by
machinery, the flowing tables being con-
nected with the dredges.
Money in Dredging.
This Is by far the most profitable method
Of mining, and there are today many dredg-
ing companies in different parts of New
Zealand, nearly all Of which are making
money. The miners claim that if they can
get one grain Of gold to cubic yard OF
earth they can work at a profit, and in
some cases the results are ten times this.
One of the first dredges, made by a man
by the name of Mcqueen in 1882, is still
working. 1t has taken out of the Clutha
river more than 100000 worth of gold
Another dredge, started by a Chinaman,
paid so well that the stock of the company
rose 800 per cent, and am told that nine
teen out of every twenty dredges which
are being worked are making profit. The
expense of running a dredge is about $3.50
a week or less. each dredge employing from
six to ten men.
At present the gold product Of New Zea-
land Is more than 100000 a year, and al
together more than 500 900 COO worth OF
gold has been mined. The country has
about 1900 gold miners, the most of whom
are engaged in placer mining or dredging.
In the North island there is a fortune
for the man who can invent some way to
use the iron which is there mixed with
the sand Of the seashore. I am told there
are millions of tons of such sand so pure
that it Is almost steel 1t lies upon the
beach, but that its grains are so small that
so far it is impossible to smelt it at a
profit. There are men who are experiment
ing upon this, and 1t is probable that they
will eventually succeed At present most
Of the iron consumed in New Zealand is
brought out as ballast by the steamers