PIAKO COUNTY COUNCIL am THE AliORA GOLDFIELD. *.

Waikato Times, Volume XXI, Issue 1724, 24 July 1883, Page 2

PIAKO COUNTY COUNCIL am THE AIiORA GOLDFIELD. *.

A Good Prospect. In a brief telegram which appeared in our is&ue of Saturday last, the tour of inspection made by the members of the Piiiko County Council over the Te Aroha Goldfield was briefly referred to. For some considerable time past, when the matter of the tramway construction, or other matters in connection with the goldfield was brought before the meetings of the council the membeis, for the moat part, having never been in the vicinity of the scene of operations, ami consequently, not having previously inspected the works, were not in a position to deal freely with a subject of which they had little or no knowledge beyond the large and continuous expenditure which they we.re time after time called upon to sanction. In order that all 'the members of the council should see for themselves, and form their own opiuion of the work that was being carried on at the expense of the county, it was agreed that a meeting of the council should be held at Te Aroha, and that a tour of iuspection should be made over the field. Accordingly this resolution was given etl'ect to, and on Friday morning last Councillors E. Maclean, .T. C. Firth, \V. L. C. Williams, and W. T. Firth, with the county clerk, Mr Charles Tuck, met at Waiorongomai at eleven o'clock. Tne new battery, a description of which has previously appeared in these columns, was first visited, and the councillors were &hown over the work by Mr H. Adams, engineer-in-oharge. A portion of the machinery was> put in motion, and the general working of the battery explained, to the evident satisfaction of the visitors. The battery, we might add, is the most complete in New Zealand, if not in the Australian colonies. About 451bs of' stone from the " F" claim were exhibited by Mr Adams, five of which were taken to be sent to the Government, and olbs were taken by Mr J. C. Firth. The remaining 35lbs were put through the berdans, the result of which we will refer to further on. The party then ascended the Fern .Spur, and proceeded along the line as far as the foot of Butler's* Spur. The tunnel, through the recent heavy landslip, and which is situated about midway between the Fern Spur and Butler's Spur, was inspected. The tunnel is of considerable length, is constructed in a very durable manner, and is sufficiently large to admit of a fair size engine passing through. Having viewed the surroundings- from this standpoint, a number of the r arfc y returned to the battery to witness the amalgam of the crushing from the " F " claim retorted. The remaining few of the party ascended Butler's Spur, and visited a number of the claims on the hill. Many conjectures were ventured as to the result of the " F " stone, and the general opinion was that it would run'2ozs. The process of retorting the amalgam was witnessed in the adjoining blacksmith's forge, when the unexpected result of 3oz 4sdwts was received from the pmall 35ft parcel.; The. stone, we might add, was taken from two leaders in the •" F" claim, and is supposed to be worth about £3 3s an ounce. The coun-j cillors 1 returned to Te Aroha in the ' evening. General Meeting,

* The usual monthly meeting of the council was held in the , eyejiing -at WalkeVs 'Hotel.' -Present: Crs. J. P. Campbell (chairman), J. C. Firth, W' i Macldan; > jW,:L.C.' Williams, W. T. Firths and J W. T; f ChVpraell: !r A number of 'local residents ' Settlers were'alsb present; a^the'ffie^tifag.^^'/^ | "• ",- *' 1 qriataititjr of cor-j |^^ii^d^o^p^^^'4^l^ra t pliip) i ' i '^as

pated with the Wvsjj?a^ijp!ojintW v $jj?a^ijp!ojinty r ooanciljj on the matter, and, chat body in reply ' had steted,that the^ictonaigad^was^at ' Cambridge boards,, the^rqaid $ging a district v road, and consequently under the jurisdiction wf these 1 l^'ids./pfte\T.fljnahere board bad made application' to the Government -for aa'ifheiroad ran through (government prpperty, and there-,-, fore ought to be ' supported "bjP'tfier Government.') ' ; >,;t\i. >m}\/> Bridge over the Waikato 'at 4 H.ORAHORA. — The Auckland, Agricultural;Company drew attention to the condition of this bridge, which they had erected over the> river some^timejago, nnjltw.hich the then existing district governing body agreed to take over and -keep in proper repair. — It, was stated ,that a^new bridge r would cost £230, and it would "not" 1 do fd merely repair the present structure. 1 - The bridge was a link on the main road between Cambridge and Pukekura, and Maungatfiutari, and was of much import' ance. — Cr. Maclean thought there should be a riding in that part of the county,.— Cr. Wilham3, thought a sum of 'money* should be applied for under the Roads and Bridges Construction Act.— Cr. Campbell thought it' was too late tot^ke this step.— lt was agreed to defer 'the consideration of 'the matter until next meeting, the couucil being favourably disposed towards the work\ SiiAFTESBCttY Roaiw.— r A petition was received from Mr IV V". Cox and other settlers at Shnftedbury, bearing on the unformed condition of • the • t principal thoroughfares about that place. The road passing in front of the hotel was in a very bad state. In some places culverts were -wanted very < bady. The settlers experienced great inconvenience. As the works referred to were simple and inexpensive tliey would like the counsel to undertake the work immediately*;— Cr. Williams thought it was near time they formed a highway board at Shaftesbury. The petitioners appeared to forget the fact that if the council undertook to improve these roads they would have to' levy a rate,' which they? (the'i petitioners) would ha\e to contribute. Ib would be much better for the people of Te Aroha and district to form 'themselves into highway districts, levy their own rates, and spend their own money instead of allowing the couucil to spend it for them. ' Striking a Rate.— On the motion of Cr. Williams, seconded by Cr. Chepntell^ a rate of three farthings in the £ wal struck on the rateable property in the outlying portion of the Te Aroha district, the same to • be made payable 'on the Ist August next. Mr Bremner was appointed rate collector. The amount to be realised is £244. , „ Thk Tramway.— The chairman of jbhe Tramway Committee, Cr. J. C. Firth 1 } read the following report : — Since our last report the tramway works, under the charge of Mr H. H. Adarrs, have been greatly impeded by continuous bad weather. Nevertheless great progress has been made, l'hc Fern Spur incline is finished, rails laid, and heavy framing for brake erected at its summit. The first railway grade is nearly completed, rails laid, and road ballasted. Butler's Spur, with J a. few days fine weather, will have the rails laid to its summit. On the secend railway grade the formation is completed, the sleepers are ready, the rails arc .it the foot of Butler's Spur, and wait only for fine weather. The costly and heavy work of driving the tunnel under the slip on the first grade has been pushed on by Mr Adams night and d.iy, and is expected to be completed by July 27th. The May Queen incline foimation, and the upper horsc,-grade is finished with the exception of one tunnel," which will be completed about August 15th. The committee desire to urge the purchase of a locomotive, as the cost of carriages and horses would nearly equal in amount the cost of a locomotive, j The work, which bad been carried under the supervision of Mr Adjms had given the committee the highest satisfaction. J. C. Firth, Chairman Tramway Committee! Te Aroha, July 20th. Cr. J . C. Firth, speaking on the matter of locomotives, said that various steps had been taken to ascertain the cost ,of an engine. Without a, locomotive, it was his opinion, they would not be able to work the tramway in a satisfactory manner. If a locomotive were not purchased they should require no less than about 24 waggons, involving an additional expense of nearly £400. Then the cost of maintaining the permanent way for horses would be considerable. There was also the heavy items of horse feed, horse flesh, and drivers. The amount which they would require to expend under these heads would be equal to the cost of a locomotive ; and the considerations in favour of a locomotive were numerous. The line would not want so much repairing ; fuel, in the shape of good infl'immable wood, was abundantly at h.ind, nnd a locomotive would do the work of a dozen hordes. The committee, therefore, had no hesitation in recommending the, purchase of' a locomotive. Speaking of the work generally, Cr. Firth said that since undertaking the construction of the tramway the council had hewn beset with the greatest financial and other difficulties $ but, nevertheless, with unanimous effort \ they had succeeded in pulling through. They had had to procure a bank overdraft for which the members of the council had had to make themselves person* ally responsible. A variety of circumstances, over which the council had no power, had added considerably to their present liabilities. The reconstruction of the Butler's Spur incline, the great slip, together with other unavoidable contingencies which they had experienced, had involved the couucil in a very large expenditure.—Cr. Firth concluded '.by moving the adoption of the tramway committee's report. — Cr. Williams having seconded the motion, it was unanimously adopted. Main Road Through Piako.— Mr T. G. Sandes, engineer to the Waitoa Highway Board, chew attention to the present condition of this highway. He felt certain that in a few weeks, if nothing were done, traffic would have to be suspended altogether. The only remedy he could sugyest was the putting down of fascines in all the very bad places. Instead of decreasing the traffic was at present increasing. Two large railway contracts were at present about to commence in the district, and it would be necessary, to cart timber and ballast in large loads over the road. A few days of this traffic would close the road, effectually. , The damages which the road had lately sustained through the floods had cost £56 14s.— Cr. Firth thought the , contractors should contribute to the maintenance of the( road as they were going to use it so extensively. It was hardly fair that strangers should come, monopolise and ruin the roads, and not contribute to their support.— Mr Saudes thought they would require 5000 fascines at £2 10s a-hundred, or £125. — It was agreed that nothing should be done in this matter for the present, and that the engineer's suggestion be not given effect to. , ; Contractors and Their Money,-— The contractors for the new road formation between Waiorongomai and Shaftesbury wrote complaining of the delay-in receiving progress payments on their contract. The delay was a great hardship, as they were unable, to pay their men, and money was wanted badly to go on with. If money was not forthcoming they would be obliged to knock : off work. — The meeting agreed with the complaint of the contractors, and regretted their inability to relieve them" by giving them a progress payment, as the Government had not yet » forwarded -to . them sway money. —After 'discussion, it was agreed to write to the Minister for Public Works, making' representations 'to^liiin f ori ¥he matter, and endeavour to obtain progress payments earlier, than, was, at pro- • vldedl * '*-„■. '" ' • r4 Tk Aroha-.WAiorongomai Road.—? Cr. Firth drew^attentio^A^o the, present _<| wretched, condition 'of^thV^b^'Htjjmj&i KA both township^andHjiat' Jealding' ( to'tne *1 landing near^the latter;^ Between^CarrV , '• house''and' Wai6rongomaH"*,the r 'road was/ 1 ' impassable. , Tbei owneraiof jarpvC allowed, the (joimciltt^f^ry a.temporaiy£p" road through tKeir^pr,^perty'.'!;He b^jfeyeajg the '.te^po^^S^l^f^^d^to'^^tifi^

through their property j> and if bo to submit an estimate of the cost. The present bad. .road to „Waior,ongomai had greatly inonhMd'the'i'oost'of the battery and tramway and the general supplies of the townhhip. B[e would also suggest that thi? e&girieet .give au estimate of the cost of gravelling a good road from Murphy's lapin&to Waforongomai.-Mr Wilson, wHS '»" W^sVpreseiit, consonted to give a chain 'Wide through his property for a road. — A hearty vote of thanks was then accorded Mr Wilson. 0< i Accounts.— A large number of accounts passed for payment. "General.— A letter was read from Sampson, Huntly, asking for the appointment of permanent way inspector on the tramway. Consideration deferred. —A communication was received irom Messrs Whyte and Whitaker, Wellington, stating that part of the goldfields estimates had passed through the House on the previous evening. The council then went into committee.