THE SCANDINAVIAN WATER RACF. (From a Correspondent.)

Otago Witness, Issue 2525, 6 August 1902, Page 24

THE SCANDINAVIAN WATER RACF. (From a Correspondent.)

The Scandinavian Water Kace Company (Registered), St. Bathans, was initiated and completed in 1861. Ihe paid-up capital is i.12,000. in 240 shares of _50 each. As this is a very old-established company, and as shareholders in it are living m different parts of the world, a brief hiitory should be of interest.

The company cut a race from the upper waters of the Manuherikia. River, a distance of 25 miles. About 12 miles was cut thiough solid rock, and when gulhes were encountered lmge wooden flumes were erected, which have since been abandoned, asd the race is now all cut in solid rock. Since its construction there has been expended _20,000 in making it capable oi carrying double the quantity of water. Originsilly it was only cppable of carrying nine heads ; now it can easily carry 17. A great mistake was made iv engineering a tunnel through a hill in the course of the race. The workmen who pierced the tunnel commenced at both ends, arching it with stones as they went op. When they met iv the centre they found that an error of 2ft had been made in calculating the levels. Consequently it was not able to carry the water owing to the rise in the centre. Nothing was done to this tunnel by former managers, obvicmsly for fear of bringing in the great lull at the northern side of the race, until the piesent manager, Mr Neil Nicolsoa, took charge. This tunnel has a.ways. ways been a gieat source of trouble, owing to the clay formation and the slippery nature of the ground siurou v> fhng it. He boldly attacked the tunnel in the face of great difficulties, and made an open cutting to curry the water by sluicing the hill away, thus doing away with the tunnel altogether, which was a great feat of engineerlncj skill. The maintenance of this tuunel had cost the company thousands of pounds in endeavouring to force the waUr tp.iou»h.

Another gieal 'i.,iiiue m me management was the puichase of the Otago water iace for £'2000. Ihe compai y al--o expended another £2000 on tins same race, widening, e'eaning, and putting it in peifcct ordrr. This race is 40 miles long, and cost originally _15,000, and also taps the upper sources of thr Manuhenkia River. At the time of puicha»e it was only capab'e of cairying four ludd-. of watei, ar.'l now it easily carnes 14 heads. Ihe company also acquired Mr M. Hunt's iace foi a nounnai sum, capable of carrying tix heads. The company also has a half interest in the Muddy Crsek water race, capable of carrying 15 heads. This is used principally for flushing purpose.?. The Scandinavian, water rights, combined with the Otago and other rights enumerated, now enjoy a never-failing supply of water, irrespective of seasons, whi'li virtually means, that the company owns all the available water suitable for hydraulic purposes from the ujSper reaches of the Manuhenkia Rivei. The area of proven rich ground consists of 140 acres at Sur/itce Hill. This ground would not pay by the old primitive method of working, but now, with the great pressure available and all the modern appliances, combine'! with skilled management, it pay* handsomely foi elevating.

The mat-rial removed dining the la«t pc iron amounted to OO?, 1^ tub.o yards. which \ieldwl 1 7ogr pel vubic y*rd. I may point out tiiafc about 3*5 years ago the shallow ground of the same charaetpr in thp «arne basin was worked by the "arly miners, and fortunes acquired in a brief period. In mv own tune I remember some 20 minei* leaving St. Batlians with £2000 more or lens each, obtan cd from the same locality. The ground commenced at '2ft, and then gradually deepened vntil it learned 150 ft as at present. The gold is found in grauite layers, being a continuation of the layers which existed in the shallow ground. 11i3 ground at piesent ha* all to be eloated, and there aia two powerful elevators constantly at work— die p'evatmg the }i.aterml GO.'t, the other 4Cft, at a distance apart of 300}ds. It is certainly splendid ground. The T'sult of thn year's work waf> 14"0oz of gold After deducting all known co<=t of production a haml'iino dividend of £o per share ws declared. The result of the fcimer season's f'l'eiatinn^ was lTO^oz, which went to liquidate hul'i'itK3. The reason for ail thr>sc larjre lia1 ililicj \\"re - {D Kcn.tiiii's and widening the .Scandinavian rrrp and removal of tunnel : (2) the \ urchasc of the Otago iace and expenditure of widening and repairing same; (3) cost of mini pipe-hue, 2000 ft long and 22in in diameter, and cost of Otago pipe line, 1800 ft long by lGni in diameter; (4) uutil the last three ytvrs the company has beeu boon selling all its water nr.d mi.de large losses through the mobility of purchaseis to pay for same. Everyl-hing is complete, consisting of a huge dam capable of storing 12 heads of water for 24 Lours. I would also point out that the comi^vny Ualdj aq area of eplendul ground opposite

Si. Bathans and adjoining the famous Kildare claim, area about 16 acres. The amount of dividends since the inception of the company amount to JE15.840. The future prospects look exceedingly bright, and regular dividends may be confidently looked forward to. I believe that had this company been an ordinal y joint slock concern it would hsve been forced into liquidation years ago, but we had the proper men at the helmn, who steered the company through all its financial troubles. Mr M'Con1 ochie, one of the directors, ha 3 always taken a lively interest in its welfare, nr.d lent it many a helping hand with his advice and assistance. Th.» other c.irectors had every confidence in it, and managed and finarced it upon various occasions with the assistance of the Bank of New South Wales, which has always acted in a just and liberal manner to the company; and the thanks of the company arc also due to Mr King, manager of the Bank of New South Wales, who has always treated Mie company in a loyal and just manner. The giaat sourc of success is chiefly attributed to the skill and ability of the manager, Mr Neil Nicolson, -A-ho hae imported intc the company great ability and an enormous amount of erergy avrd practical knowlsdge, accompanied by a prodigious amount of enterprise. I hay» aiso great pleasnre in saying that he has been x o'oiy btipported by the employees of the company. The following are the names of the directors : Messrs M. Hunt, P. Garhy, W. M'Connochie, J. Pitches (Ophir), T. Hyndman (Dunedin), and J. Ewing.