ALEXANDAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2647, 7 December 1904, Page 35

ALEXANDAL.

December 3. — The most important event of j the week was- the opening ot- the section of j the Otago Central railway from Ida Valley to Ornakau by the Right Hon.- the Premier. The 29th ult. was -an ideal day even ior Central Otago, and, being declared a holiday by the Mayor, the peopie of Alexandra, closely observed the holiday. Consequettily SF* large number of ifae townafok. and residents from the surrounding- district journeyed to Omakau to take part in the function of opening -this section, of the railway,, if not to feast at the ibanquet. From. » Tesident-of-Ophir poii=r of view the management was all thai could be desired; but to slightingly ignore every representative body., in- .Central Otago did not seem right. The Committee of Management liad not even the common courtesy to invite the Borough Council of Alexandra to be present, nor did they extend an invitatiort to the Alexandra Railway League, a body that has ■worked paost energetically towards the progress of. the railway. The members of representative bodies were not. hankering, after a free, feast at ' the" banquet,' for' which, had' tihey de- , sired, they would ' willingly 1 haye 1 paid their' guinea; but" to ha- entirely ignored on.suesi eh, occasion evidenced lack of thoughtfulness or of 'administrative ability in those who managed to 'mismanage so badly. __ With the exception oi'tfae press, there < was'dnly.'one-representative of Alexandra at_ tihe "banquet,' but this need not cause- surprise. On "the whole, the large concourse of people enjoyed the outing, especially as the Committee of Management supplied boiling water for those who required it. 'Hid Ohattoites were favoured by a visit from the Premier, who presented the Chatto Creek Liberal League with its charter. When the little army of railway men imss on to Alexandra, will they leave their charter behind them as a memento of the Creek's former glory? or ■will the charter be passed on to Alexandra •with the halo of tne Cbattoites' glory around it? Whichever way the charter goes, those Liberals of Chatto Creek can give us points and then come out on top. They know the ■way to rouse the sympathies of the Premier, ■who will have a special use for votes next year. However, if the Alexandra Liberals are not to bs outdone by the Chatto Creek Liberals, they s-hould look to their lsjurels, and take steps to obtain a charter, ere it be too late, from the all-powerful Premier. MINING. The river keeps -at p. high level, about Bft Cm above normal, consequently none of ths gorge dredges can work to advantage, and they are therefore shut down. The First Chance Company itave moved the Molyneux River dredge up tc the Alexandra .T>ridge, where she is to bs offered for sale on the 17th inst. Mr Hoy, the company's manager, has been three weeks in moving the dredge uo th« river about six miles', and, as the task was m> light one, he and: hisi crew deserve special praise from the directorate for the work done. . Tie Alexandra Lead dredge being close at hand one oan observe the work being floiie ' The dredge, during the -wesk, has been on a piece of solid ground, on which was lying the tailings from the Molyneux Hydraulic. I learn that- when the river rises a few feet it is the dredgemaster's intention to drop the dredge down the river about two lengths of herself, and it is expected: fairly payable gold ■will be struck there. It will be patent to anyone observing this dredge working that the Year and tear on the rotary elevator must he

' enormous, and on making inquiry I find that 1 it is so, the -wear and tear being chiefly on the beaters and the cheeks of the elevator. The beaters, which become worn out in two I weeks, cost about £12 to replace, plus the time lost in turning them every week. The up-keep of this class of elevator must run inito something over j£3oo a year, and then it will not continue to be effective unless the free current of the river can be taken in with the dredge to carry off the silt. She bucket elevator is the one for this dredge, and if such an elevator were erected, I think that success for the company would follow. I observe that the dredgema.ster is using every effort to so de1 posit the tailings that they will deflect ihe rivgr current in towards the left bank. This , dredge won a little over 30oz for 100 hours' [ work last week. i The Molyneux Hydraulic continues to -work I ;tway very steadily, winning for the week 19oz. | Most of the other dredges above the bridge, being out of ihe^ current, are working away steadily, but th« returns keep small.