The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1868.

Westport Times, Volume II, Issue 158, 1 February 1868, Page 2

The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1868.

We beg to draw the attention of miners and others interested in the welfare of the mining community to an advertisement in another column convening a meeting of delagates or representatives of miners to be held at the Court House, on the last day of the present month " for the purpose of revising and amending the Grold Fields Begulations." We thus notice the subject early in order that miners may have time to consider over the subject, so that they may may be able to select a representative who will be fully equal to the task of laying before the meeting and the Warden the grievances under which they lay and the best moans for remedying them. The subject of water-races is one that will take up a considerable share of attention, is at present the rather ambiguous clause as to " two Government sluice heads of water." As the clause at present stands it provides that two

sluieo heads shall, in avovy ease when required, be allowed to run down the nalural bed of the creek. The intention may have been a good one, but it is obviously unjust in a number of instances, as for example, where race-holders have been at a great deal jpf trouble and expense to supply a large population with water, and thereby provide the means for their earning a livelihood. A notable example of this occurs in Charleston, where the water is diverted from its original course and distributed in an entirely different direction. S-jine short time since a few persons settled on the banks of the creek and endeavored to bring back, by an action at law, the water to its original channel. The Warden decided against the application, on the ground that application to divert the water had been made and license granted, a long time previous ; also, that the creek at times did not contain sufficient water to supply " two Government sluiceheads," in which case, if the water was

allowed -o run down the bed of the creek, it would be the means of stopping the major part of the mining population from earning a living. If the Warden had not adopted a liberal view in this instance, but had confined himself to the literal reading of the law, the result would have been an almost stagnation of mining pursuits in that district. The relative distinctions of the various races should be more clearly laid down, so that they should not interfere with each other. Another subject of vital interest is relative to the construction and management of dams, for it is to the laxness of the law on this subject that a great deal of the disasters of Addison's field are owing. In the first place, all dams should be properly constructed with puddled earth, and not as in many cases, a mere bank of sandy earth, without any attempt being made to puddle it. This is no protection against heavy rains, for the force of water is so great as to break down the dams in consequence of the owners neglecting to open the sluice-ga: es, thereby flooding every thing around them. Stringent rule should be laid down, and heavy penalties imposed, if the owners of dams should neglect to open their sluice-gates • on the occasion of heavy rains, so that the surplus water may escape. If this were done the storm water would escape gradually down the natural channel, instead of overflowing or breaking the various shafts in the immediate neighbourhood of the dams. These are two of the subjects that will require the earnest, consideration of the mining delegates, and on which the Gold Fields Regulations will bear a great deal of amendment. In the course of another article we shall refer to other matters of interest connected with this subject.