KOWAI PASS DISTRICT.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 878, 18 April 1877, Page 2

KOWAI PASS DISTRICT.

The Malverx Water Supply. JFROir A SPECIAI KEPORTER OF THE TIJESs] There are comparatively few in Christchui'ch, or indeed in any other part of the provincial district of Canterbury, except Kowai, who know anything whatever of the extensive works that are now in progress, having for their object the irrigation of (be plains lying to (be north of the River Sclwyn. These works are so important and the outlay involved so considerable, that the public generally may be interested by some infprma : tion as to the extent and nature of the under r taking, and the progress that has been madp since the works were commenced. It will be remembered that many sessions before Prpvincial Councils were silenced, the one great scheme which the Hon. Colonel Brett made himself most prominent in advocating was that of the irrigation of the plains, which he looked upon as being next in importance to the Moorhouso tunnel. The gallant Colonel fought many a bard battle in the Council before he could bring other honorable members to his own way of thinking, but his persistent advocacy and persuasive powers at

last succeeded in having an amount placed on the estimates to defray the cost of the preliminary surveys, &c. This victory obtained, the Hon. Colonel Brett continued to urge upon the Council what a boon it would be to have the plains watered, and lie had the encouraging, though silent, assistance of the gentleman who then held the office of Superintendent. The consequence was, that in the last session but one of the Provincial Council the sum of £IO,OOO was voted for the Malvern water supplv. and this vote was followed by another of £22,000, passed during the very last session that the Provincial Council of Canterbury possessed the power of distributing public money. Having said so much by way of ."prelude, it will doubtless be interesting to' many people to learn some particulars about the works now in course of construction. The intention with which the work was begun was, that from the dam in the Kowai Eiver, the water should be conveyed through the plains down to the Sclwyn, the water-race making such necessary detours as would result in a total length of over sixty miles. These detours were considered indispensable, not only to make the water supply more generally beneficial, but also to prevent that amount of scour which would otherwise ensue from the natural fall of the country itself. About the middle of 1876, Messrs Fraser Brothers, the contractors for the waterworks from Pareora to Timaru, were consulted in the matter, and the result of negotiations was, that they entered into a contract for the construction of a dam across the Kowai Eiver, for a tunnel of forty-six chains long, thence to the flat, besides one mile and thirty-four chains of open cutting measuring fourteen feet wide at the bottom, and having an average depth of three feet. The contractors began operations at the tunnel about the middle of August, a large number of men being kept constantly at work day and night. This tunnel, as before remarked, runs for a distance of forty-six chains from the dam, its dimensions being five feet six inches high by a width of three feet six inches. It was evident to the contractors that if they commenced the tunnel by driving merely at each end, four men only would have space to work in, and that the driving of it would occupy no less a period than two years. To obviate this, they drove two' side tunnels from the face of the terrace into the line the tunnel was to take, and also sunk a shaft nearer the lower end. By this means they had six facings to work at, besides the two at. the ends of the main drive, so that they were enabled, if they wished, to have sixteen men working on each of the three shifts, or a. total of forty-eight men at work during the twenty-four hours. The most they ever had, however, was forty. Tims the driving of the tunnel, instead of extending over a period of two years, was commenced about the middle of August last, and finished about the latter end of January. The driving was through alternating strata of gravel, rock, and clay, and the workmen passed through some small senilis of excellent coal. The tunnel is to be bricked from beginning to end—top, sides, and bottom, and out of the forty-six chains to do, the bricking (which was commenced two months ago) of close on twenty chains, has already been accomplished. It speaks well for everybody concerned when we say that notwithstanding the number of facings from which the tunnel was driven, not the slightest deviation occurred from the given line. At the upper end, the distance from the floor of of the tunnel to the surface is ten feet, and the greatest distance from floor to surface is fifty feet. The Malvern end of the tunnel is thirteen feet lower than the top end, thus giving a fall of thirteen feet in a distance of forty-six chains. The total quantity of bricks used in the tunnel will be about half-a-million. The contractors sub-let the making of the bricks, and twelve or fourteen men and boys are engaged in that industry. The clay is* obtained alongside the kiln, which is within three chains from the tunnel end. The important part which the tunnel will play in contributing to the success of the whole undertaking will be best ascertained by a description of what is regarded as the principal feature of the works now under contract.

The dam, by means of which the water supply is to be obtained and conveyed through those'portions of Canterbury that require irrigation so much, is being constructed across the Kowai, about half a mile above the first crossing of that river on the West Coast road, and nt a spot where it narrows itself into a welldefined channel, with high, rocky terraces on either side. The first difficulty to be surmounted was the diversion of the stream, in order that the construction of the dam might be proceeded with uninterruptedly, except on occasions when the river might be flooded to an unusual height.. A projecting bluff on the western side of the river afforded the necessary facilities, and through this the contractors drove a tunnel, piercing the solid rock for a distance of about a chain. In this manner almost the whole ordinary flow of wafer Avas diverted, and the men enabled to work at the dam without the discomfort and consequent risk to health of standing continually in water. The dam, which is composed of solid concrete, is joined to the rock on both sides of the river. Its total length, from side to side, is three hundred and six feet, and in width it measures twenty-three feet at the base. The whole of this is cut into the solid rock below the shingle to an average depth of two feet. The dam rises in steps to a height of seventeen feet, the lower step being ten feet, and the uppermost five feet wide. On the Malvern side of this a concrete wall lias been constructed, and the space between the dam itself and this wall has been left purposely open for the overflow, in order that when a flood occurs the large stones and shingle carried down will lodge themselves in this vacuity, and so strengthen the clam and increase its powers of resistance. The top of the weir is on a level with the top of the tunnel, and thus it will be seen that the tunnel must charge itself with water before any runs over the dam. Whenever the tunnel is fully charged, the surplus will go over the dam as a matter of course. To prevent, in times of flood, anything carried down the tunnel that would prove an obstruction, gates will be placed at the tunnel's mouth, which can be opened to any required extent and shut at pleasure. There will be two floodgates alongside the tunnel, and these will be a foot lower than the bottom of the tunnel. The reason of their being so fixed is, that when they are opened the water flowing through them will carry away any silt or debris that might otherwise go towards the tunnel. By means of this provision the silt and debris will be carried down the river bed when the floodgates are opened. The four gates are bcino made at Mr John Anderson's foundry. Two of them are sft by 3ft, and the two others 3ft by 2ft Gin. The framework is of heart o! totar'i, with massive wrought iron bindings. The larger gates will weigh about 15 c^vt

each. The framework stands about 15ft high from the bottom of the sluice-gate to the top. The gates will be raised and lowered by means of a massive screw, having a brass hat and handle attached, and the screw will be fastened to the gates by strong wrought iron belts. The gates will be ready for conveyance to the Kowai in about ten days from the present time. As soon as they are fixed in position a temporary dam will be constructed across the river higher up, and the water will be taken through the gates in order to enable the contractors to fill up with concrete the chain tunnel, which they cut for temporary pin-poses through the solid rock on the opposite side of the river. When the contractors have finished the dam and fixed the gates in position, all their energies will be devoted (simultaneously with the bricking of the tunnel) to the cutting of the water race from the Malvern end of the tunnel. Their contract extends for one mile and thirty -f our chains beyond this point. As yet no tenders have been invited for the continuation of the water race, but there is no reason to doubt that after the expenditure of so much money the Grovernmcnt will allow the undertaking to end there. If they do, it will simply be so much money thrown away, without any advantage being gained. The work was begun with the intention that the water race should pass through Malvern, close to the Sheffield railway station ; that it should then keep for some distance on the north side of the railway, crossing it to the south near Racecourse Hill; then recross the railway in the vicinity of Kirwce, and thence after several detours on to the Sclwyn. These detours would have the effect of giving the water race a serpentine character, and would be useful, not merely in preventing scour, but in providing with a water supply a very much larger tract of country, because all the land lying between the various points where the detours are made could be watered by means of small streams cut from point to point, and the water so diverted would find its way into the main channel again. What the scour would amount to if the water race were constructed in a straight line can easily be estimated, when it is known that on these plains there is an average fall of something like forty feet to the mile. The effect of these detours in the water race will be to reduce the fall in the channel to about eight feet per mile. The dam will be over twelve hundred feet (it is asserted fourteen hundred) higher than Christchurch. Therefore, in the event of these works proving as successful as it is anticipated they will do, the scheme could be extended and utilised in providing the city of Christchurch itself witli a never-failing supply of good water for domestic and other uses. It is asserted by those who, from from their professional position, ought to know what they are talking about, that nothing is more easy of accomplishment, simply by the construction of a reservoir in some part of the Courtenay district, which is 500 or 600 feet higher than Christehurch; that from this reservoir to Christchurch the water could be conveyed through pipes for a distance of from fourteen to twenty miles, according to the locality in which the reservoir was situated. It is premature, however, to dilate on this subject until we ascertain the degree of success attending the works at present in operation. If they fulfil the anticipations of those connected with them, the whole extent of the water race will most assuredly be carried out to completion ; and when this is done the additional advantage that woidd accrue from Christchurch being supplied with water from the same source will doubtless receive the consideration it deserves. Messrs Fraser Brothers have already commenced the excavations on their section of the water race, and there will be no fewer than eighty falls at certain distances from each other in that mile and three quarters. These are rendered necessary by the natural fall of the ground, which is here very considerable. The falls will be made of concrete nine inches thick and two feet high, the ground on each side of them being paved with large boulders for a distance of several feet. The amount of Messrs Fraser Brothers' contract is a little under £14,000, and they expect to finish in a few months. Owing to the large number of hands employed, there is quite a township in the vicinity of the works, the hill side being thieklv dotted with cosy sod huts, blacksmith's shop, brick kiln, stables, &c, &c. The weaker sex is represented by two brickmakers' wives, the bachelor element being strongly in the ascendant. Camp life there is exactly what it is all the world oyer., and has its attractions as well as its numberless inconveniences. There arc too many people there, however, to make the thing monotonous, and the men have stuck too constantly to work to allow the time to hang heavily. The contractors speak of the men in their employment as a most orderly and hardworking lot of people. Any spare time they have of an evening they devote to amusements of various kinds, and those who go in for card playing generally limit their gambling transactions to sticks of nigger head. The camp (which from its dimensions deserves the name of Frascrtown) is frequently visited by hawkers, whose stocks are always ol: a sufficiently miscellaneous charactor to supply every requirement; and even an itinerant jeweller considered the camp of sufficient importance to pay it a special visit while our representative was there. The drawing for prizes came off in the spacious building where most of the men usually take their meals, and there were so many instances of good fortune consequent on the investment of five or ten shillings only, that he quitted the camp next day more sorrowfully than lie went there, notwithstanding the fact that his ready capital was increased to the extent of seventy pounds or thereabouts. Our representative cannot conclude this notice without expressing his thanks to Messrs Fraser Brothers for the kindness and courtesy they displayed towards him, and the readiness they showed in supplying him with all available information. Other matters of interest in the Kowai Pass district will receive attention as space permits.

The Taieri Fasting G-irl.—lt is reported by the Dunedin Guardian that during the Inst few months scarcely any perceptible change lias taken place in the condition of Miss Koss, better known as " the Taieri fasting girl," who has now been confined to her bed for over eight years. She is unable to take any more nourishment than she was at the time when her extraordinary case attracted 60 much attention. Physically she is so weak that it is almost impossible to move her from one room to another, but her mind is unimpaired, and she instantly recognises those who have visited her before, uo matter how distant the date. She can converse intelligently, but her voice is very weak,, and her breathing tjnick and painful,