DREDGING ON THE CLUTHA RIVER.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1181, 19 September 1885, Page 3

DREDGING ON THE CLUTHA RIVER.

(From our Beaumont Correspondent.) Just outside of the Darlington Station stands the first engine that ever ran on a railway, and a very curious-looking thing it is compared with the present ones — giants of strength and speed, as well as grand-looking pieces of engineering. Of course there have been many experiments before they were brought to their present state of efficience. History has repeated itself here ; for it is a good while since the first dredge was built on the Clutha River. It was called a spoon dredge — that is, the gravel, &c, was lifted with a very large spoon, but it was a very slow means of lifting the stuff from the bottom. However, a good deal of experience has been gained since then, and now we find that the spoon has been superseded by what is called buckets. Again, the spoon used to be worked by manual labor ; now it is done by the current, only in some instances the cradle is rocked by hand or by the current. The current drives two paddlewheels, which drive the machinery to rock the cradle where it is used. Some years ago good payable gold was found on the small island just below the Beaumont punt, and caused a good deal of excitement at the time, when a company was formed, Messrs Bennet, Smith, Heaps, Donaldson, M'Donald, and Henderson being the first shareholders. Messrs Kincaid, M'Queen and Co. built the dredge named the Hope of Dunkeld, which was christened with great ceremony at the time. Another company was formed to bring up the steam ship Ino, but she only got as far as the Remarkable Bush and then returned, after going to a good deal of expense. After a while, another company was formed (Messrs Bennet, Smith, and Henderson), and they built the second dredge — " Excelsior." She was built by the same .firm at Dunedin. True, there had been other dredges on the river, but when the news got abroad there were other dredges built, among others the big dredge at Alexandra. Some time ago a company was formed to get a dredge at work in the neighborhood of Cromwell, but the effort fell through. Another company was formed, and they built a dredge on the Kawarau River, which is now, I understand, at work. And now there are being built more than three other dredges — one at Albertown, the shareholders, being Messrs Heaps, Sinclair, Donaldson ; I forget the name of the other one. The dredge they are getting built is to be a very grand one ; she will be 70ft long with a 40ft ladder ; she will have two houses on deck, so that the men will be able io sleep on board when they are shifting, or on & nfcormy night, instead of going ashore after being relieved from duty ; besides she will have a good many other improvements on her working parts. Messrs Kincaid, M'Queen and Co., of Dunedin, are the contractors. There is another dredge built about twenty miles below the one mentioned above by Messrs Eloogh and party, but I have not yet heard any particulars about it. The Beaumont is not going to be behind hand either, for there is another dredge to be built here. This time the builders are local men (Messrs Grant and Cornish), and if they make as good a job of this as they do of their other work, the new dredge ought to bear comparison with the others on the river. It speaks well for them that they should undertake such a big job as the building of a dredge. There is a good deal of money put in circulation through the dredges, not 'only as capital but as wages, for there are hundreds of pounds spent yearly on wages. Then, again, they give a good deal of work to blacksmiths for repairs, &c. It is to be hoped that they will get good returns for their labor.