WATER SUPPLY ON THE GOLDFIELDS.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 84, 23 September 1870, Page 3

WATER SUPPLY ON THE GOLDFIELDS.

(To the Editor of the Mount Ida Chbonicle.) •Sir In; a -recent issue of the. ' Witness ' I noticed an: extract: from a letter signed V Squatter;" upon the siibsupply' for the G oldfieids. .The writer. of that letter ,Qonsidered a l n increased water, reproductive work- which*; our . Government could possibly undertake, and that it would tend more than anytliing else to a system of im•tMgfcaStidiil" ? ln Mpport 'of his' statements "Squattier" asserts that a main ! slu.dge cjiannol' at. |S would tipen up a large area ofgrpund,,now. unavailable for sluicing, on account of the abof fall It- would also enable diggers to 'sliiice.ari. immfense extent of ground that has only. been roughly .gone oyer .before .vyithxude' appliances —appliainees by muck of the fine; gold was lest, which, ; by the more approved method of working, could be made to piay, better perhaps than much, of the liew ground being sluiced. ' The 'Dead ; lievel companies have .proved the truth- of .this, assertion , by making a splendid thing out of ground which has been>^vorked r , before, but at present no other party canwork it; because the Dead Level ' companies have of;the'only butlely for tailings; . £G!f thgre'w^^ i 'anci many : more miners in- the well i knovvn o fact- that ; the so-called worked' out grrtuiidjgf : the> : days Goldfields i?.; o_ ft6ii the be§t paving ope ratedupon •by modern ski 11: and app 1 iaiices,- such as shown and used by the Dead iievel companies." 1 ' 'i-hat the.augmentation. of the' water s^pply v\Vould increase the number f of mihers, and consequently the ; quantity as miners are consumers, enlarge .that class, and thereby benefit every section of the community,- will assuredly admit•.of proof* tfour vears ago . the supply of water was " much - smaller .than it" is and 'priced waif £i per head of sixteen, inches . per per day, and many claims Were 1 ' taken up about Surflice Jl 111, and south; of Eosich's (xully which Would, not give after paying- that pine tor water,,and had ;to be "abandoned. -Now, however, through the exof this water squatting interest competition has set in, and water has eoine down in pnee from £4 per head to from £2 to £2 10s. ,t—that ground has almost all been again tiaken up to the: manifest advantage of the diggers, who; a lmit: .that they ; are making crbod that all that is wSntfed 1 for #ie ..development of. our vast, ' reis that the; necessary eleiji/ent; may be hadjat a cheap rate. .-'ltitakes) abo ut. three/ men to two heads of water,' so that each' man must earn £1 13s 4d per. w.eek tafpay. : fdr ; hi&.requirements in. that way before he hais anything for himself. • •- •■ v •• -• w If water w§s& £1 10s. per head per . week the terraces could be profitably-turned to- aqcount for some two miles further south of the if at'^. s <®£'2Q s /pe£ head, a|> far south as the main Dunstan roa<£ -| in fact, according to the ratio in which the supply is increased, so in.,proportion may tlie teVifltiplied. Many consider it a feasible scheme for private enterprise <to bring in a portion of the water from the Manuherikia, and Supplement it. on the way, by tap-.' ping the head waters of all the small ! creeks, but I.think individuals would, consider it too costly, as they always expect . a yery : large interest for their capital when invested in any undertaking upon the, Gj-oldfields ; but I have little doubt, that if taken in hand by the State, it would yield what to a .Government would be a very goo rate of iinterest^^viz", elvei ! or ceilfci". rs.xsjui ha* .;h.>v-.;-u7ut.» >u\-3 ;

Many different, (estimates of the cost of such work /havef' been: ma<le, all of which iiave been mere guesswork •still, ascertained by employing a competent surveyor (together, with a man'of considerable practical experience in waterrace cutting) to survey the line, and measure the spans which would require to be"^n^d^anl'l^rou ! p would have to be cii^'lSJc. Twenty G-ovemmenthett ] mipt be

brought from, the "M'ariuherikia, which, would be equal to 150 Hogburn heads, which, after allowing for stoppage byfrost, leakage, time lost in repairs, and supply being short in the dry season, would average -about a hundred heads aU, the year'round, which; sold at 20s. per Hogburn head, would give £5,000 per annum. Deduct £SOO for wear and tear, management, repairs, &c., and we have £4,500, or fifteen per cent, on the approximate cost £3o^ooo. Other schemes of a like* nature, and might be set. on foot on other fields with the* like good results. A. Government' work of°this nature, together .with free''selection from , the -;East to the West Coast, would be productive of the best and would ' undoubtedly be the ineans of attracting to our shores miners from less favored •fields, and immigrants from Home—WiOuldj also settle .our industrious and worst treated population (the diggers) on the soil, \vhere they would maky' 1 happy J and' permanent homes—would swell our exports, increase our population—find work for our unemployed at remunerative wages —enable our, squatters and farmers to get rid of their produce and stock at fair prices—and ultimately make' New Zealand deserving of the name of the Bntainof' "the"South, and Utago the first Province iii it. —I am, r <Sc., " , ; > « • s Pjiogbess. > |