WATER FROM 350 MILES AWAY

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 156, 29 March 1938, Page 14

WATER FROM 350 MILES AWAY

Development Of Western Australia NEW ZEALANDER RETURNS AFTER 42 YEARS The phenomenal progress ■of Western Australia was largely due to the water scheme promulgated by one of New Zealand's principal civil engineers. Mr. C. Y. O'Connor, said Mr. 11. Hornby, who is staving with bis sister, Mrs, \\ . R. Kettle, "Gaylin,” Manuka Avenue, Lower Hutt. Mr.'Hornby left New Zealand for Western Australia 50 years ago; bis last visit to New Zealand was 42 years ago. He lives at Merrediu, half-way between Perth and Kalgoorlie. As a result of the water scheme begun iu the early 'nineties, flocks and herds had multiplied enormously, said Mr. Hornby. From 1928 to 1937 the number of horses increased from 08,000 to 103,000 and cattle from 338,000 to 850,000; sheep from 2,500.000 to 9,000,000. Western Australia consisted of 1.000,000 square miles of territory. England was a small area in comparison. The water was conveyed by pipe line from Muudaring Weir to Kalgoorlie, a distance of 350 miles. The cost to date was £4,500,000. The first vein- the water pumped and gravitated was 301 million gallons; last year it was 1,500,000,000 gallons. There had now been 1500 miles of pipes put down to serve the district, and the water .scheme was responsible for the present wheat yie1d—53,500,000 bushels in 1931 and because of drought 32,000,000 iu 1937 —■ and had “made'’ Kalgoorlie goldfields. With the general advanced price of gold the yield last year was more than £8,000,000. Water a Shilling a Gallon. When he went to Kalgoorlie in 1893, said Mr. Hornby, water cost 1/- a gallon. Referring to tbe New Zealand summer this year, Mr. Hornby said he "hadn’t noticed it.” The heat in Western Australia was dry. For tijjee days at Christmas time the temperature was over 100 degrees; it sometimes went up to 112 degrees. He saw in the press that in early January the rainfall at Hastings for 24 hours was nine-nnd-a-half inches. That amount exceeded the yearly rainfall at Merrediu by half an inch. The population of Western Australia was less than 500,000, 200,000 of whom reside in metropolitan areas. He considered that if Australia did not populate her own country other nations would populate it for her. That represented the consensus of opinion in Australia. Settlement in Western Australia was liberally supported by the Government which ' afforded greater opportunities to young men desirous of settling on the land than any other State in Australia. The Agricultural Bank was offering farms on terms extending from 20 to 30 years. Mr. Hornby will leave for Australia on April 11. '