CANVAS HOSE SUPERSEDED.

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 226, 30 May 1872, Page 7

CANVAS HOSE SUPERSEDED.

The canvas hose so familiar to the residents of the Otago goldfields, like many other appliances of days gone by, is destined, in its^urn, to disappear. Something better in every respect, cheaper and easier handled; has been introduced — iron piping, to wit. In early times, when the principle of using -small streams of water was in vogue, canvas answered sufficiently well. When, however, that principle had exploded, and the immense advantage of using large streams had been perceived and acted upon, the inadequacy of this material became apparent, and as larger and larger streams were employed, it became increasingly unserviceable. Canvas hose wear 3 away rapidly, is liable to burst, and when, as often happens, it has to be stretched along the ground, is frequently cut by stones, &c. The loss of time caused by accidents, the expense of repajrs, and the inadequacy of canvas to sustain a great pressure of water, induced many miners in different countries to set their inventive faculties at work for the purpose of devising something to supersede the defective material. In California, a substitute, in the form of iron piping, was first found, and speedily came into favour. It w-is improved upou 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 lattjr place, until the last twelvemonths, 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 not oub 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, and 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 now a mile and a quarter of those pipes in full operation. As we said before, the chief defects of canvas hose are liability to accident, and weakness. The first drawback frequently entails serious loss, as beyond 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 loss. Iron piping, under ordinary circumstances, is not ao liable to be damaged, and when great lengths of it are used, this superiority it possesses over canvas alone is sufficient to render its substitution therefor advisable. When to this is added the vastly increased pressure iron piping is capable of sustaining, its immense advantages must recommend it to all sluicers. In the United Sluicing Company's claim, Drybread, thereisthree-quartersof a mile of irou 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 waterrushes out is terrific. It smashes up greasy clay instantaneously, and sends the dirt that comes within its operation a great distance. By the employment of these pipes, a stream of water can be made to do almost double the work that . ! it can by the use of canvas, as will be readily seen. In Greenbank and party.'s I claim there are two lines of piping, each a quarter of a mile in length, of similar t dimensions to those in the United Sluicing | claim, and- their operation has also been attended with satisfactory results The pipes at present sustain a pressure of 80 feet, but are capable of bearing 200 feet. We may state that Mr. Greenbank estimates that in twelvemonths' time the : cost of iron 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, Switzsrs, Lake Wakatip, and many other localities, it would be found invaluable.