THE Mount Ida Chronicle. FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 1870.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 59, 18 March 1870, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle. FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 1870.

The last few weeks have been prolific of events in connection with the Hogburn—some for congratulation, others for regret. We would prefer to take the favorable side of the picture, first. The events to which we wish to allude are, first, the completion of the reservoir of the JN T aseby Water Works Company, and the laying of the first pipe. Of the importance of this work it is impossible to speak in too, or indeed in sufficiently, high terms, and it would be unfair in the extreme if we refrained from offering to Messrs. Inder and George the originators, and to all other supporters of the scheme, the mede of praise which is justly and undeniably their due. It would be impossible to overestimate the value of the work which has . been initiated, and which augurs well a. successful termination. The'reduction in the price of fire ininsurance to the insured—the comparative safety of the property of the uninsured, and a constant supply _ of the pure element to all—are amongst the foremost advantages of the undertaking. The reservoir has already been completed in an able and workmanlike man-ner-—a large proportion of the necessary piping is already on the ground—and we think we are justified in saying that in a very short space of time the work will be completed. The town will beby this movement rendered less liable to injury or demolition from the effects of fire, while the advantages in point of health to the whole community are far beyond the power of our pen to describe. All honor to the men who conceived so great a benefit to themselves and fellow mien, and all honor to those who supported them in the prosecution of so usefur and so important an enterprise. We hope that at no- "distant date the success of ~ the ISTaseby Water Works Company will be an undoubted and admitted fact, and that each and all of ua may reap the

■benefit of the pluck and enterprise of its originators. "/ As a second source of congratulation we must mention the success of the box fluming of the Hit or Miss Water Race Company. The idea in this case was no new one ; the difficulty consisting in the absence of the proper appliances. Never to our knowledge have square boxes been used or been even attempted to be used over so deep a ravine. Though proved by the general rules of hydraulics to be practicable the present extension of the box system is something out of the ordinary. The first trial made j showed that the calculations of the projectors had been to a certain extent iallacious-—the heavy pressure bursting the planking, and rendering in the opinion of the uninitiated the whole thing a failure. Subsequent trials have proved that the principle upon which the fluming was constructed was a correct one, and now, st engthened by additional wood and iron, the square box lluming of the Hit or Miss Company works not only to the satisfaction of its projector, Mr. Henry Anderson, but to the obvious interest of the company, and the benefit of the holders of claims on Surface Hill. Had we space we might enlarge upon the report given in a late issue of the difficulties which the projectors' great engineering enterprise has had to meet and overcome. On this occasion we have only to record, and we do so with pleasure, the fact that the box fluming of the Hit or Miss Company has been a perfect success, and most sincerely do we congratulate all interested on the result.

Again it becomes our pleasant duty to notice the fact that telegraphic communication between the inland town of Naseby and the outside world will soon become an actual verity. The General Government do not appear to have been oblivious of their obligations, their duties or their promises, when taking over the telegraphic lines from the Otago Provincial Government. Already is the line of route in course of demarcation, and the country between IS T aseby and Alexandra studded with flags indicative of the route over which the contemplated line is intended to be taken. This in itself should be a new era in the history of Naseby. Though placed in the midst of high mountains, we shall now find that a few seconds only separate us from the centres of population nearer than ourselves to cvilisation. The barrier will now be broken down, and Naseby will become, as she is entitled to be, the fairest, the richest, the most populous, and at the same time the most prosperous of our Goldfield towns. Naseby's fate, mil soon be in her own hands ; let her then use the means and opportunities the telegraphic system will present, and we venture to say that her hereafter will be more prosperous than her beforegoings. Having indulged so far in the pleasurable past, and in favorable antieipationsj we come to the fact that there has been for some time past a blow struck at Naseby's vitality, from the effects of which all are suffering, and which it will take time, and perhaps a long time, to readjust or rectify. When it is considered that after a struggle of over two months the miners have only done that which they could have accomplished without resorting to the extreme alternative they did, we can only regret the time unemployed, the amount of money, lost to the district, and the ill effects of that depression which never fail to be the off-shot or the off-spring of a strike. We have so often written upon this subject—so often expressed our opinion as to the necessity of the G-overnment either acquiring, or exercising a power over, the water rights of the Province, that we refrain, upon the present occasion, from offering farther remarks upon the subject. 1

Within tlie recollection of the people of Naseby must be the troubles and the difficulties which have been encountered and overcome in securing the advantage of the mail coach passing through this town. The battle was fairly fought and won, and for the last five months the coach has regularly landed both mails and passengers at Naseby. This boon has been, and still is, highly appreciated by tha general Hogburn publie, and we believe by til people both up and down county. From a letter from Mr. J. T. Chaplin, which we published in our last issue, it would appear that the power of cairying the mail, and taking the coach through or by any place or route rests with the contractor, and that in conseqience of some real or imaginary annoyance which he has re-

■ • ceived at the hands of some of the good folks of the Hogburn, relative to the stabling of his horses, Mr. Chaplin contemplates taking the coach by the old route, and forwarding the mail to this place either by horse or conveyance as he may think fit. Much as we may regret any annoyance to which Mr. Chaplin may have been subjected, we cannot look upon the reason assigned for the removal of the coach as a good or valid one, even if that gentleman'* possessed the power of acting in the arbitrary manner he proposes. The mail contract is a public contract, and one which the public should cause to be carried out to the letter. It i 3 simply a piece of absurdity to suppose that a private dispute between Mr. J. T. Chaplin and a groom, or with the landlord of the house at which his coaches stop, should be held to be good, and sufficient grounds for the cancellation of a contract, and the withdrawal of au important privilege. We have' ever been ready to award to Mr. Chaplin the greatest credit for his pluck and perseverance in aft* matters connected with the mail service ; we cannot, however, but think that on the present occasion that gentleman has allowed his temper to get the better of his discre- f tion, when resorting to what we can only look upon as a vain and empty thread We say " empty threat," because we deem it impossible that any Government should have been so perfectly oblivious of its duties, and so completely neglectful of the public interest, as to have placed power, such as that claimed by Mr. Chaplin, in the hands of any contractor, be he what or who he j might.