[Occasional Coerbspondbnt.] Some consternation wasoaused on Thursday evening by the bursting of the Deep Lead Co.'s dam in Nardoo Creek. The embankment was over 30ft high, and the dam stored an enormous quantity of water. The loss to the company is a serious one, amounting to several hundreds of pounds. But apart from that, very little damage was done, the break ing down of the embankment at the head of Blackmore Bros.' race being the most impor tant, amounting to about £20. It is extremely fortunate that the creek and river were not in flood at the time. If they had been, it is difficult to Bee how the Lammerlaw and Waipori bridges and part of the township could have escaped destruction. The owners of the sluicing claims who re ceived legal notice on behalf of the Berwick landowners to cease work have complied with the demand and are patiently awaiting the completion of the arrangements which the Government are supposed to be engaged in to enable the claims to resume work again. As to the nature of these arrangements, no one can at present speak, and there is the same mystery as to the probable time of their com pletion. The following telegram from the Minister of Mines, in reply to Mr F. W. Knight's pressing enquiry, which was pub lished in last Saturday's issue of the Tuapeka Times, does not throw much light on the sub ject: — "The Governmsnt are taking the necessary steps to prevent mining being stopped." The snow and frost have had a bad effect on mining. For over a week not a convey ance of any kind came to Waipori. They have now, however, made another start. The road is so bad that carriers do not care about using it.
