New Zealand Gold Fossicking Forums

hi shame about the photo it took me ages to work out how to down load a photo

its about time you started your own page to tell your stories

cheers kiwikeith

This photo is of a copper dry blowing dish which I collected in central Otago many years ago together with a powder flask I also got in Central and an original miners 'poke' very old and dated back to probably Australia and definitely Gabriels Gully or the Arrow if not both. I have seen a couple of the pokes exactly the same as this one so assume they must have been commercial ones.

great it worked

not to sure about your concentrator????????
what is it resting on looks like hair of some sort how did you get her to sit so still

yes i could use one of those
mind you my 45.70 blows a good hole in poaches

Keith - The dragon, alias Mad Madam Mim has just got my tea but before I have it I will practice my new found skill by showing you my toy...well oneof my toys - I was told it was actually used during the american Civil War, converted to metallic cartridge, sent out West to serve in the Indian Wars and now I have it - it is not a 45 - 70 but its a 50 - 70
Its an 1863 Model Sharps.

I never have owned a .45 - 70 and dont you dare tell anyone, especially not the dragon I live with, that I want one - missed a really nice Springfield .45 - 70 once.

I also have a 56 - 50 as well and it is shown below - its an American Spencer - they were the first really practical and successful military repeater - I am aware of the Henry, Volcanic and Colt revolving carbine etc but these were the first truly practical military repeater. Ironically enough during the Maori Wars Te Kooti ran around shooting white men with one of these seven shooters while they were struggling to reload their single shot Callisher and Terry Carbines!

The second gun I can no longer shoot from the shoulder as it sparks off massive migraines - its a Brand manufactured, shoulder whale harpoon gun - an 'Earsplittingloudenboomer' and is 7/8 inch calibre whatever that it is - .875 I think - I used to shoot it with stones, bolts, nuts, bits of glass - if it went down the hole it came back out again!

That 45 - 70 of yours is a Marlin so I approve wholeheartedly - The Marlin is a great rifle - I had a nice Model 1894 Marlin in 44 Magnum once for pigs. I also have two Marlin Golden 39A .22 rifles for errant rabbits.

I see the concentrator was made by Otis. Did anyone die in it when it plunged to the ground?

Some more goldfields relics

The ingot mould on the right was used on the Alexandra Dredge - there were two moulds - this BNZ mould has been used to the extent that the writing embossed in the bottom is virtually illegible but that fact is more than made up for by the gold adherence evident on the bottom and sides!

The gold samples - the one on the left was a specimen stone sent to England to raise capital for the OPQ mine at Waipori and the middle one was sent to raise capital for the Golden Progress at Oturehua as per comm J.A.White son of Robert White manager of the Sandhills Dredge at Skippers, grandson of Aspinal of Aspinals claim also at Skippers where J.A. was born. I believe that J.A. got them from his grandfather who was a principal figure in Otago goldmining.

The sample on the right was pillaged, plundered and 'acquired' by a chap I knew as a lad who was a mining engineer - As a kid I liked to listen to his yarns about Gallipoli - we used to play war at his place - the guys who had his pistol were the 'baddies' - We were only at Primary School and here we were running his around his section in Beach Street, Waikouaiti playing war with a real, working and fully functional Broomhandle Mauser automatic pistol - Can anyone imagine the total chaos and hell to pay if that happened today - it was a better lifestyle back then.

The old chaps name is commemorated on the Waikouaiti War memorial - G.R.Williamson MM - I remember his Military Medal won for bravery at Gallipoli sitting with his other three medals in a drawer in a tobacco tin in his shed!

Another two photos

The scales in the little banjo shaped containers are Chinese and these came in different sizes. At one stage years ago I worked out the Troy equivalent of the calibrations on the smaller set so I could actually use them but have forgotten now. They have two or three sets of calibrations so that means that they can be used for other weighing applications besides gold, chiefly I would think Opium.

The other scales are European and the oldest is the smaller set - probably 1860s era. The largest set in an old case are the oldest of the Avery Scales as they are marked Avery Late Beach and came from a Chinese mining claim. Due to an explanation that I hope to remember to include in later photos the Chinese who owned this claim must have been unlike most of the Chinese miners as they appear to have come from a higher social class as some others of their possessions relate to a family who was well off. The set of scales that appear newest are still old, they are Avery and came from J.A.White so presumably were his fathers when his father was manager of the Sandhills Gold dredge prior to 1900

A hint to anyone who picks up a very old set of scales with frayed and rotten string between the cross arm and the pans - if you wish to replace the string then look around for old time fly line, real old stuff - you will find it now and again on old reels in second hand shops so its worth buying the reel just for the string. The older set with the string has had the string replaced with string from a reel but I left some of the old rotten string in the box to show people that the two strings are actually one and the same!

Hi Shane

I have learnt a new skill so putting it to practice so I dont forget - until now my son has done it all for me so this is a new experience and a major victory...and thanks for the comment - much appreciated.