THE Mount Ida Chronicle. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1870.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 93, 25 November 1870, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1870.

On the day following that of our last issue we received, through the courtesy of Mr. Main, a copy of v Mr. Pyke's, long expected., report;, on n the subject of the JNaseby Sludge Channel, and,the tailings...grievance r.generally. On the same afternoon we published an Extra containing that report, which, for the information of such of our readers as had not an opportunity of seeing our

Extra, we reprint in our present issue. The anticipations formed of the value of this report as a practical solution of the tailings nuisance, .as well from Mr. fyke's knpwri and'admitteJ ability, as from the care and' energy evinced by r himin,tl?e prosecution of his enquiry into and'investigation of the subject in July last, were sanguine in the extreme, and. everyone seemed" to Jndulge the. hope that this report, when it caiiie to light, would put matters to rights. We ! venture, however, to assert that the' feeling of • the- miners--aiid- fifre ; -'coin-' •munity at large,., wh,en r: reading this 'document, has "been that of dissatisfaction and disappointment.:-. They feel, indeed,yfchat the matter is in no better case! than ill was.before, and'that a satisfactory and practical solution of the difficulty is-as- faroff as-e'ver;' and that, after all the trouble and expense in ; oonhectibft T with" , Mr; Pyke's mission 'or Co^mi i ss j° n v n ? ♦ valuable infoumafcon has : been added to that already in possession of the publicj'or other or newer suggestions as to a remedy which have not been already discussed and rejected. Mr. .Pyke indeed,-in his -report," seems ra'ther to have dwelt upon the past, and told, us. things which we'all 'knew before, rather" than have "made much effort, for the. removal of • a crying, an increasing, and, if not checked, an overwhelming nuisance; Mn ; Pyke enters into what we consider, a very useless retrospect; as affecting the point at[issiie, as to how the Dead Level No. 1 became declared entitled to eight: sluice-heads of water for the first time " by. a very peculiar judgraent " of Mr. , Warden Wood; and how, on appeal, his Honor- Wilson" G-ray defined the ; eight sluice-heads to be " water derived " from the natural supply of the creek, \ " or water which reaches and mingles ■ " with the natural creek water." We say useless retrospect, as that gentleman * The effect of-these \ " decisions has been to confer the water ! "supply of the Gully to No. 1. What I " is left after Not-MsWisfied is claimed "by No. 2." Now,- as matter of his- : of .the past-the above details may be of interest; but, though they show ; the' cause I 'of-the disease,' they tail to ' throw any \i<rht its to the suggestion of I a remedy. Mr. Pyke proceeds to show how the bank of erected by the Dea.d Level No. I, to, protect.. their channel,. " stops the scour of the tail- " ings and tail water = combined from ;".Roach's. Gully,- and the many, tail " races coming from the hill workings "on the v\ est side of the Main Gully " below 1 J the township." The report ■ next, goes on,, to. say, <that jbhe Commissioner has " no hesitation in saving that "-unless •actiont be-speedily. taken the ". town will be swamped from tailings "from iloii'ch's (philly:" The loose 'method which;. itis asserted, has obtainedi of, tuil Taces without, a .defined, poinfelof*; itermination is next lallUdedi.tojvand'tlae paragraph (No. 1( ) of ;the',r^po : c6n<jludfes r " Biit ic ' Mi 'ii not possible to roll jbackthe chariot " wheels of Time, aud since: that which " has been done remains, it is only ne- " cessarv to propose a remedy for the " iutureV*"""-' c"--- x - .

Let us now proceed to examine what is the remedy;which Mr.-Pyke proposes as a splution .of the tailings grievance, ~ He .says—" Without the " aid.' of the scouring power furnished "by the jwater used by the Extended " (No. 1) Company it would beimprik- ". sible to accomplish,am - tiling saiisfaftory. 1 therefore held a conference x "-}YiiPk. that ,com- " pany, and. after, much debate obtained " from them the following concessions: " * That, for the sum - of £SOO, to ;I be *" paid bf the Grover^nment, 1 they would '\permit the public use of their tail .".race from a point immediately above ••" the bridgeon'the J£yeburn (Dunedin) <J 'road, with the water flowing therein "".. —Governmenf; to make any necessary f ""repairsT q£"thej race, from that point -". downwards, company ie<erveto " themselves the i! right to the free use " of - such e race ; without payment, and "" alsotheit right'to; any gold therein.' " The]a]bqye is the main feature in the report," and the gist,of Mr. Pyke's suggestions for the remedy of-the evil upon which- he was : -called upon to report. Does, however, Mr. Pyke imagine for a single moment that his propositi's in one single point new, or that he has added one iota of additional information upon the subject by the results of his investigation ? We say that he has done iißitirer one' nor the' J ,tfthefc 'anrj that.Me..' prospects of, a .thorough jdejjil■feg witS ,l& as ever.v;Gan-Mr;<Pyke?have been-.aware,

j when he penned his report, that thdfl | remedy he novr proposes as a novel ana] j " perfect cure " for this growing nui- ; I sance is the same in effect as thai pro- i I posed by the Naseby Improvement I Committee some t ighteen months, back, ] when, if our memory serves ifs correctly, the " concessions obtained after i " much" debate " could have been had ' upon even more favorable terms than those " obtained " by Mr. Pyke himself. * The negotiation between the Committee and the Company fell through from, we- believe, a feeling on fae* p;*rt of the miners generally t!ic remedy proposed was in no way satisfactory, that its effects would be pkrtial,.. that it failed to strike at the rOot of the evil, and that, though *it might save t ! ie v rown from being stamped by tHe tailings' in KoarVs Gully, it would open no new ground to nrlriinjj' enterprise, or would in any ma-

terial way facilitate the discharge of tailings. In fart, there were not want- * in'g many practical mint r£ of experience ih ! the";uiode of Hogbum working who prognosticated that the work, if carried out very much as now proposed by Mr., Pyke in his report, would be a great* aihd lamentable failure. Mr. Pyke next

proceeds to suggest the appointment of -trustees to " enforce ihe proper use of t'ae channel;".' dwells upon the fail in the gully ; the quantity of water available for flushing ; the manner in which the channel should be repaired; and

Suggesting that the opinion of a praet ieal engineer should be taken in the matter. As these paragraphs are too lengthy for insertion in an article, and

as they appear in arother part of oi.r present issue, we refer our readers to J them for perusal; the paragraphs ai-e No. 1-i to the end. The gist of Mr. Pyke's " valuable " repart is now before our readers, and we venture to say that there is not a miner in the district who will not admit that he is greatly dissatisfied and grievously disappointed with the view taken, by that gentleman of the position of th« question, as well as with the suggestion for ai remedy. The matter is still, however, in their own hands, -And it is in their power, by their united voices, either to cause effect to be given to that report in its present form, or make some suggestion which might enable the Engineer or the Government to sees the matter in all its bearings, and vrerrder" assistance of a more extensive and permanent character than that which the report contemplates. What we would take the liberty of proponing is, that a public meeting should be called without loss of time, for the purpose of hearing the report read, and of enabling the miners to express their opinions thereon, with the view of making another appeal to the Government while the Provincial Council is in session. The opinion of the meeting obtained, a committee of miners should be appointed thereat, to draw up a report embodying those opinions, which should be placed in the hands of Hie membisr for the district for presentation to his Honor-the -Superintendent. Whatever might be the ultimate-result,: the miners would then have the satisof having done all in their power ito " help themselves," and would not be to blarae should the Governrncafc refuse to help them.