Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1816, 1 June 1874, Page 2

A correspondent of the Uliicago Times says that an enormous aerolite recently fell in the vicinity of Farmersville, Livingston county, Mo. The shock of its "impact with the gronud is stated to have been like an earthquake, and the molten mass is described as fully 20ft high above the soil, and some 25ft in diameter. It presents the usual appearance, of such bodies, being a black, shining mass of meteoric iron. Its size is unprecedented.

KEPOftT OB 1 CHIEF SURVEYOR UPON RESERVOIRS, &c, fN UPPER HEW RIVER DISTRICT. (Laid upon the table of the Provincial CoudcU, May 27, 1874.) Provincial Engineer's Office, flokitika.-May.SG^lSZ^. . , Sir, — I have the honor to forward a. report upon the surveys in New River and Maori Gully districts, made in conformity with resolution of, Council-^" To inquire" T into and report upon' the practicability |of constructing resefv jifsf, andlip'on'th'e'moßt suitable -position for Buch works.' -the waters of which to command the. auriferous terraces' of Mabri Gully,' German Gully, and Eight-mile, in the Paroa district, &c." The sources of supply v orwaterare jto be had fr'pm '."Nfew, River and ; STa,ori Creek •^-the former to supply the high f ,level workings in Maori- Gully -and German Gully, and the latter those! about Clifton aridiM'Pheraority Wood's, and Paterson's. . I.— Supply to I^aori. Gully and 1 Ger-. mxs Gully Wobk^qs. On plans A. and B. attached hereto, the'position and dimensions of the most suitable site for reservoirs' in New Riy^r are ' noted; Its altitude is; 758 ft. above sea level, and the' water conducted fro jn thence to Maori Gully reaches- that place at an eleyation of .694 ft- or nearly equal 'to height of top. of. sadHle betw^eh Mapri Gully and Gerniah item in expense' is the 'dani. the site' for twhich has been fixed' at the narrowest part of the- New. River head-waters,! and which to insure a sufficient supply requires to be, raised to a height of 40ft from river bed.. The race has to be taken along.tbe sidling north of the New Riv4r ■for about a mile, thence through a short tunnel tf 6 watershed of left hand branch of New River, around the head of that branch and .German Gully^ through another short tunnel at low saddle into E Maori Gully. ■ ■ :;"" : r. '-~ "7 ] . During the time of, survey, a consider-, able quantity of water (as much as 8 heads) was running in New. River bed at proposed site of dam^ but in order tfo' avoid being' misled in estimating supplies of water which may with safety be relied upon during the whole -year, the . drainage area only was taken into ; accent;.; -This area covers nearly -1£ -square inile3, equal to about 630,000 cubic" feet, r or k supnly of 6 heads per day. -> ; The capacity of the reservoir is 5,932,080 cubic feet, capable of holding a ten days' supply when paying out water at the rate of six heads per day. The dam itself, will be 40ft high and 8 chains in length, and the average depth of water in reservoir 15ft. ;; ; - : : The expense of construction is as follows :— ; - Dam ... ... •...*.■■ ..: . ... £6000 Race (4^ miles, inclusive of tunnelIng ...; ■.:..;■;■ „: >.>. : v;■.;,•■• .2520 Contingencies, survey, and comyensation for water rights held under Gold-fields Acts ... ' 1230 Total cost ...... ''„. ... £9750 The receipts derivable from the sale of water are: — 6 heads for 24 hours run equal to 8 heads for day work .only (after making ' allowance for drought and leakage), at L 3 per head, L 1230, equal to 8 per cent, on capital and provision for maintenance, and management at the rate 0f1450 per annum. '-' -"•■■.: ; ■"'" There is. also the probability of suitable sites for ; smaller dams^ ! for storage of water being secured at some of the other narrow gullies crossed by.racejiandinpthat case the water, supply^ wo^ild' be enlarged, and the receipts proportionately increased. These, however,, are matters .which.cannot be finally settled : without incurring,, the expense of a thorough survey : more especially is this the case in narrow gullies similar to those l traversed by the proposed race, where but a few feet of difference in level may sometimes [make .^tfie /Construction of auxiliary dams advantageous or otheawise: : r " . The sluicing ground which this race would command is of the. very best in the Grey district. "*' J ' - I.— Supply to Clifton, ■Woods'. Creek^ and Patterson's. The position of the reservoir (marked No. 2 reservoir) is given ;on plan A.; for enlarged plan and section of same, see plan O. attached hereto.' ' ; ' The drainage area of Maori. Creek, above Reservoir No. 2 would have been whplly ; inedequate v to : iurnish , the supply of water wanted for sluicing purposes, and it was therefore necessary to supplement it from some other source. It has been found that this can be done by, constructing a race of about 65 chains in length, from the Niagara Creek, one of the tributaries of the. Big Hohonu, to the Maori Creek Saddle, and thence through a tunnel in to. r Maori: Ci.eek; Niagara Creek is fed by a small table land swamp, and the' water derived from that, together with the drainage of the hillside, a distance of three-quarters of a * mile, 7 are into Maori Creek by proposed race. . '■ '■ '■" : : - - ■"- : " : ' "••' ■" ; ■ •■■"■■ - : ' : ' The foot of dam of reservoir will be 860 ft above sea level, and the water may from thence be. conducted, to either the high level workings at, Clifton, or, to those at the hea^,of Wood's, M'Pherabn'a, and Patterson s Creeks, and in both cases the length of the race will be about 3 miles, and the expense of constrution the same. No fluming or tunnelling will be required on either line of race, and the altitudes at which the high level, workings at Clifton and Patterson's are reachedj are such as to be available for the bulk.bf. the sluicing ground. ■:. \> :-, The rainfall area commanded by reservoir and race from Niagara Creek is 1£ fi^uara miles, .equal to 911,033 cubic feet per day, or to f ully ; 8 heads. - J The capacity of the reservoirs is^ 9,441^2^ cubit feet, Qr^qual'lib^lO^day^'/'itipply.'.'.w.iien running 8 heads : steadUy. : lTh'e;dam will be 12 chains long, and 30ft high; anotthe average depth of tiie water in reservoir will be 10ft. ' As to expense of construction, we have Dam , £7000 65 chainß race (inclusive of tunnelling) ' from Niagra Creek, at £8 520 Saoe to Clifton or Paterson's, say 3 miles, at L 560 ... ..: ... 1680 Contingencies, surveys, &c. ... ... : • 750 £9950 The probable receipts are 8 heads of water for. 24 hours run, equal to at least 10 heads for day work only (making allowance of a quarter fordrought and leakage) at £3 per head, £1800, or 12 per ceritv on capital after deduction for maintenance and management- at the rateof L6OO per annum. . . , In conclusion, I may state that the distiiot has been cwefully. prospected for pakihis or extensive high-level flats which

were supposed to exist between the headwaters of New River^tirijautaries and Lake Brunner, and from whence large supplies of water were expected to be {derived. With the exception of the one small* pakihi at head of Niagara Creek, "and covering an area not exceeding 100 acres, notable land of extent has been .found in ihTaisTricC : ' Irideedf the cha^teFoT tGe ra'hgeSTandjhills: is Very opposite from flat ; they" are mostly what is called "razor--backs^riafrdw ridges 'W^apui^drbppirig* at a steep,grade f /and^pften abruptly into the water courses below. .'! iTbeVdosest search has'ibeen- instated before selecting the sites for dams, in both Maori 'Xsr&e ? R^arid i NeW River] • and the spots chosen, although necessitating the construction of r 'dani6l f of very considerable dimensions, are the ... best which could be got; narrower 'parts' these creek beds can certainly be hadejoser tpithe -sources of the creeks, ' but' theii'ihe Water supply would be dirainißhed;to;such an extent as to make an outlay in the construction of reaervoirs; practically amount to a"> waste of money. I have,- &oj, (Signed) Gerhakd Mueller, i ' T <■■: "i l f i ivChief tEtigirieen To his Honor the, Superintendent.