HON. G. J. ANDERSON

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18541, 29 April 1922, Page 10

HON. G. J. ANDERSON

CENTRAL OTAGO TOUR. VISIT TO NASEBY. (Feom Oub Own RepobtkhJ NASEBY, April 28. The Hon. G. J. Anderson and, party, who were to-day joined by Mr A. H. Kimbell, Under-secretary of Mines,* left Alexandra shortly before 9 o’clock for Naseby,' by way of Ida .Valley and St, Bathans. The first point of interest visited * by the Minister was the portion of Oirig Run occupied by a soldier settler, whose property has been under irrigation for oniv about a year, and who obtained excellent crops of oats, despite the fact th&t the land underwent scarcely any preparation The Minister was greatly interested in the contrast between the appearance of this land and that of the surrounding country 1 which is without water. " ’ DEPUTATION AT ST. BATHANS. At St. Bathans Mr • James Horn, M.P. introduced a deputation of residents of the district who put before ILlq Minister certain requests in respect to an. increased supply of water. ■ - Mr N .Nicolson. who acted as spokesman said there was no reason why some’additional encouragement should not be afforded the mining industry, so that the district. might agsm carry the same population as it did formerly. They had a splendid seam of auriferous gravel, and a record nad been established by elevating the ground m one lift to a height of 178 ft. The mining companies had been struggling along since 18M, and while the shareholders had not got much out of it they had shown of great deal of enterprise and patience. The gold was still there, but the only way of getting it out was to provide more water, and also to initiate more modem methods, ihere was still gold at a depth of 178 ft ibeu- suggestion was that in the event of cue Scandinavian company wanting to sell out ,ts water rights the Mines. Department or the Government should buy ft, ' vat «. co £d be brought in ironfthe Manuherikia River to the extent pt 50 heads, and it could then bo dropped dbwn by a pipeline for loOft to develop 200 horsepower and afterwards be usediSj ireffT^W l^ • r ll ere Gre acres if - m t t le VlCln ity, which would teee fi of by ih h fi aVlD if the 7 ate l’ the advan- ‘ f , scheme , ! , & y m the fact that’ water could be used for mining for seven months of the year, and afterwards used for inrgation. They were also anxious that the v ' at f r should not be taken out of that watershed without giving the residents an oppbrtunity to use it. Mr j" JlHS'uv of the details with :V r "■ tt. Marks 1 (Public Works Engineer) th© Minister said he would ask the Pbhlio Works Department to supply^”^ l^ an l- h u would then consider the proposal, which seemed to him to posse's a CB v!? ln amount of feasibility. Mr Nicolson, as member for tVm „ a |® o the IMinister for a grant to nS orW l ' t ‘ Ba ?h an ’s channel bridge in thorough ? r ± r > « V s ! desired to Bring frwii die Cambrians min©* by means of “ Zn'rJ , £ S‘ °T 7 ™trf ' ant , . £2OO . and was prepared to find pound for pound to that amount Abe Minister,’ in renlv u‘ of e the e brid he,P with thg rene^“ th ® bnd » e provided a fair proportion of Was W * DEPUTATION AT NASEBY i u ™ arriva L of Minister at - Nasebv J-. Jra.TVaser, extended an we |9° m . 6 to him. and following upon « this the Maniototo County Council several requests before him. - “ P i ~ Inder referred to the rennrt l« d th !i ßa^ nil l J Forest Nursery waTto the !?‘d , lfc - waß desired to enlist the support of the Minister to prevent this i d * ne - - 14 had been proved in trfef? 4 that t^ ees imported from other distncts were not- successful/ the 1 death rata being very high. -• Tndlr endorsed what Mr Inder had said, pointing out that it was absolutely necessary .that the treda should J* planted out m the district in which they were grown m the nursery. There wm a great deal of land available round Nasebv iZ "I pl t Efc i out of fyw more tre«* than they had at present The Minister, in reply, stated that the nursery was not in his deparxnent, He pointed out that these nurseries cost a good deal of money and said that while he did not know whether it was intended to dose it down or not, expense would doubtless be the reason for such a course. He was well aware that trees were very necessary in Central Otago, gnd ; realised that in future they would be very valuable for posts. On his return to Wellington he would place the matter before Sir R. Heaton Rhodes, Actms* Minister of Forestry. Anpther matter introduced bv the chairman of the County Council. Cr Lowis, and the engineer. Mr F. W. Butler, was the Question of the maintenance of the Nasebv sludge channel, and, in reply to representatives, the Minister promised to put £59 ‘on the Estimates for this • purpose. Mr Lowis also asked, as a protection to the landowner, that there should be a short open season for the shooting of paradise ducks, in certain districts where they were extremely plentiful, as they ■ were in some ports of the county. In reply, the Minister said ho. would bring the matter under the notice of the*’ non. W. Downie Stewart, and Ke had- no doubt tha t a ‘short, open season would 'bo allowed in districts where they were a menace to farmers. That was a course which be had followed a courle of years ago'as Minister of Internal Affairs, and it had proved satisfactory.' To-morrow the Minister motors to Palmerston to catch the riortlf express, en route for Wellington. . '