CENTRAL OTAGO.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXXVI, Issue 50, 3 December 1909, Page 2

CENTRAL OTAGO.

COMPAHISON OF CLUTHA \\n LAJWE JtIVEWS.

Between Alexandra and Clyde, and' extending for a considerable stretch is a large levoi shingly plain, it w ' probably a lake at one time, as W a» the Hat country above Cromwell When the lake at Cromwell forced an opening through the gorge to Clyde it vomited great deposits of gravel on lo the Clyde-Alexandra Hat. The ij v now Hows in a well-defined bed, a t; Clyde a hundred feet perhaps |),'[ ow the surface of the ground the face, being all white gravel.

The visitor to Cromwell cannot but remark on the immense volumnc () i water that .surged through (!„■ „„ But he is even more surpn-ed\h eu he gets to Cromwell and sees th» waters of the Kawarau and t'luib iA before they unite, They are both i m . mense volumues, and appear as 1,},, as the water of the combined river in the Molyneux. Jt has often he,,! said that it is not the fall in t [' Molyneux that causes the current but the immense volumne of water. ,\, couple- of sets of figures will verify that. The railway gives the height of rail at Alexandra as 505 ft. n \, w sea-level, and at Clyde fit;lit. Clyde this will make "the river | oVg | about 550 ft above the sea; di s t auc 125 miles.

Another thing that strikes the visitor is the miles and miles u[ water-races winding round n, n ] u || sides. There are sometimes three rows of large races, not couniiiijr t | 1( j small ones lower down, awav up below the snow-line. This i s ( o ' a sluicing, and the force of water direrted by a nozzle an to a fare :'fj „ r 30ft high comeys some idee. 0 f a' power of water. Water, water, i„ the cry of the miner, the farmer' m .\ the fruit-grower. Water for the',„ in „ to win the precious metal, ami Wil( lor the farmer and fruit-grower t 0 make the land productive. Without; water the soil is drv as dust • <d\ c ;! water and it will - Kti)W am dun-" lou have only to see the e'uvt water on holds und orchards l 0 «„. preciate the change it works u held of luxuriant "green or a beuutiful orchard. Over the ferc-a bare' barren-looking waste. Then, are some widely ,\\ v ,. r .-,.., ideas as to the size of the Cludr, compared with the great rivers „f h,' world. A few ligures mav m,t „, , of place here. 'Jhey are Iron, lu ih ' italive sources, and mav be taken . r > approximately near the' mark i) llm 2 the ligures of different authorities. v " somewhat. The Amazon drams >/•';„■ 000 square miles, the (.•„„„■„ | -,|" ( ;7„Yi t"e .Nile 1,290,01111, t|,?, Mi-sis;,,,,',' 1,2!»0,(H)0, tlm 3j„ T i.tHiiijHhi",],,; .U'JU.OUU, and a score or more „fad '■m over 200,111111 s.pmre mil,- Ti,„ n I'"'' 1 - an. a gr,,,t many more m ,'| h . teas ol thousands, k is ma ,in u , come to the thousands that the >,, w Zealand rivers show up. Arorduw t,, ik Hector, ti„; (•| lit | Ul ( | r;iijl< ~,, square miles, tl„. Waikalo I Tf.s '.* ,'i ["'■»""'■>•. i.:HI. The Thame, lb ! land) drams 5,000 s,,„are „„]... ihe Clyde IMS miles, U|„,, ;, comes to discharge, hov.eye,-. the N,. w Zealand rivers show up inar\cllaiis| v . 11l cubic feel, the .Mississippi ,|U,.|,.'. ges a',),!!., I.(Hill , H .r minute. ,1„ w '„,. t J2,12(1,(11)1), the Jrrattadv I..VMMH... \\i„ Jtiun.. .'i/.tlilljilio, [)„. \,'|,. | .{..,;,,| 1n Clutlia l,o>S,7;jfi aecouling'u, '|)i It.rtor (according to Balfour I.C'.iu until the liuller!)lM),s7l). theWaikato s;;i, p,!' while the Thames ( Knglaiui I disehaV-es 11)2,111)0 v'libic feel per minute and die Clyde ks.OOU. Jn point of di : -e|,„ w compared to length ami drainage ),asin, lln: Clutha river more than In,lds its own. 'l'ne .Nile is :i.;illi ln i|.., m length, drains 1,2'.)0,1|!)i| s.jiiare niil.s and discharges I ..X'nOlin ,■„,„, ,-,,. ( }rl minute. 'lhe Uulha is 2.". i|..„ in length, drains ,\'Jl> square mi!,-, and discharges, according to Hakour IJi'.KI(KID cubic feet per minute, or ;,-,-,,ruing to l)r Jleetor l,tr>*.7:S(i eni.if i, v t, The liuller surjiasses the Clnih,, even ; its hiugtli is 175 miles, itbasin 2,:i!l square miles, and its ihsvliarge per minute '.Mi.Nti cubic iiH per minute. A peculiar point (lie Clutha River is the sta!' ui-m that contrary to most rivers and -tf.nns, the under-current is Kiroue.-r than the surface. This from the 'ha loi tnu water forced by its own volume through a narrow channel with comparatively little fall.