THE THAMES DRAINAGE BOARD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9056, 17 May 1888, Page 5

THE THAMES DRAINAGE BOARD.

THE BIG PUMP STARTED. The mining companies interested made a prompt and ready response, yesterday, to the levy on them by the Drainage Board, to meet the debt of £1500 for which the Deep Level Cross had taken jxissession of the pumping plant and offered it for sale. The whole of tho contributions were paid during the day, and the money lodged to the credit of the Deep Level Croas Company. The legal manager of the latter company at once telegraphed to Mr. Coutts, their mine manager at tho Thames, instructing him to surrender possession, and Mr. D. G. MacDonnell, secretary of the Drainage Board, sent a telegram to their engineer, Mr. Phillips, instructing him to got up steam and resume pumping operations. The following statement of the conditions upon which the contributions have been made has been furnished us by the legal manager of the Cambria and Trenton Companies : — The Drainage Board having struck a purchasing contribution on the basis of thddrainage _ assessment, tho Boards of both companies met together at their office (Mr. R. McDonald Scott s) at an early hour yetterday forenoon, to pave the way for the removal of the Big Pump difficulty and the ininiediate resumption of pumping. The following resolution was unanimously agreed to,, viz. :— With reference to the coutribut?on levied by the Drainage Board—£2so on the Cambria and £60 on the Trenton towards the nurclytec of the Big Pump : resolved, that chequejoe drawn for the amounts and joaid over|oFthe above purpose on the following conditions: 1. That the respective amounts levied on the contributing companies are paid in full in cash. 2. That the contributing companies are the owners of the pump. 3. That the pump be vested in the Drainage Board as trustees. 4. That in the event of the ]yumj> being sold at any time, the price obtained for it will be divided amongst the contributors towards its purchase in the ratio of their purchasing contributions. All the contributors afterwards adopted similar resolutions. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN [CORRESPONDENT.] Thames, Wednesday. The Big Pump difficulty was settled this afternoon by Mr. Coutts receiving a telegram from the secretary of the Deep Level Cross to the following .effect.—" Matter settled ; you may hand over pumps to Mr. Phillips." About the same time, fifteen minutes to four, Mr. Phillips received the following wire from Mr. D. G. MacDonnell : " All settled ; start pumps." On receipt of these instructions the fires were at once lighted, and steam got up, with the result that the pumps were started at half-past seven this evening. Mr. Phillips informs me that he expects to have the water drained to the 400 feet level by Sunday. Quite a feeling of relief is felt here at the difficulty having once more been settled, and in consequence there was considerable enquiry for mining stock in the sharemarket this morning, Cambria, Trenton, and Saxon stocks being most in request.