CANVAS HOSE SUPERSEDED.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 170, 7 June 1872, Page 3

CANVAS HOSE SUPERSEDED.

The canvas hose so familiar to the resiof the Otago GoldfieidsV. like, many. other' appliances of days gone = by,- is ,des-. tined, in its turn,v:t6rdisappear. Something better in every cheaper and easier handled, has been introduced—riroh piling, to wit. In early times, when the principle of using smSll streams of water was in vogue, canVas: answered: sufficiently! w3l; ;£ ' Wlichi s h6weverj that principle had j explode dj and the immensfe adVaistage J of lisino; large streams had. been perceived and- acted upon,, the. inadequacy of this material became apparent, and as larger an"d : larger streams were employed, it became increasingly unserviceable. Canvas hose wears away rapidly,, is liable., to burst, and, when, as often happens, it.has to:be stretchedvalong the ground,- is l frequently. cut by stones] &c. The 16ss of

time caused by accidents, the expense of repairs,-and the. inadequacyof eaiivas to sustain a great pressure, of water, induced

many miners;in different countries to set

their inventive faculties at work for the " ptirpose of devising "something to super* sejde the defective material. In California a substitute, in the iron .piping, was first ; found, and speedily-came into favor, it was improved upbn at different times, and'finally entirely supplanted canvas in that country. In Australia and

New Zealand, however, despite its unsatisfactory character, canvas always retained its hold, and in the latter place, until the last twelve months, hose constructed of any. other substance was known only by repute. British conservatism, intensified by the general ignorance as to' the nature and advantages of the American improvements, militated against any innovation on the old order of things., Mr. William Greenbank, of Drybread, was the first man in Otago who got out of the groove. The expense of maintaining canvas hose, a large quantity of which' he uses in his claim, became so heavy, and the breaks so annoyingly frequent, that he determined to ascertain, by experiment on a fair scale, whether the American plan of iron piping would answer, arid be..free from these disadvantages. Accordingly, he procured some iron pipes, and tried them. The result-exceeded his most sanguine expectations, and on the claims in which he is.interested. .at Drybread, there is how a mile:and a quarter of those pipes in full dperatioh.! ,

As we said before, the chief defects of canvas hose are liability, to accident, and weakness. < The 'first drawback frequently entails serious loss, as teyorid the expense of mending, there is the time men remain idle, pending - repair, to be considered. The: latter causes an enormous, waste of power, and is in itself, therefore; a source of direct-1055... - Iron under orclir

nary circumstances; is riot so liableto be damaged, ."arid when great lengths'of it' are used, this superiority it possesses over canvas alorie is sufficient to render its substitution advisable. ;"W r h!en to this is added the vastly increased pressure iron piping is capable, of; sustaming, its immense'advantages inusj;. recoihmend it to all sluicers.

In the United Sluicing Company's claim, Drybread, there "is* tliree-quarters of a mile of iron pipes. They. are eleven inches in diameter at the head, decreasing to seven inches towards the point of discharge. The nozzle, which has a, discharge aperture of : two inches in diameter, is attached to the piping by a flexible indiarubber tube. The-force with which the water rushes out'is terrific. It smashes up greasy clay instantaneously, and sends the dirt that conies' within Us operation a great distance. By the, employment of these pipes, a stream of water can be made to do almost double the work tlu.t it can by the use of canvas, as will be

reacUlyj^e.en ri - Ir^ ? GreenVank, an&garty/s claim;there are two lines of piping, each a" quarter of "a mile in length, of similar dimensions to,those in the United Sluic-. ing claim, and ? their operation has also: been attended with satisfactory results. The pipes-at-present sustain a pressure of eighty feet, but' are capable of bearing 200 feet. v ¥e may state that. Mr. ? Greenbank estimates that in twelvemonths' time the cost, of ii;on piping will be more than cleared by the saving in repairs and time.

We have no hesitation in recommending sluicers to employ this piping for the reasons we have before mentioned. At the Blue -Spur, Switzersy Lake Wakatip, and many other localities,' it would be found invaluable.—f Tuapeka Times.'

For the benefit of sluicers in this lo-

cality we may. draw their attention to the iron piping lately introduced by Messrs.

Guffie "and Latliam;, oh their claim" at Mount Burster, which is working ad-