fi.-d

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The following are the rates charged for water : — (1.) On every house or tenement of £20 annual value and under, £1 per annum. (2.) On every house or tenement above the annual value of £20, a rate of £5 per centum on the amount of the valuation up to £300 inclusive ; £3 per centum on the amount of the valuation in excess of £300 up to £700; and £2 ss. per centum on the amount of the valuation in excess of £700. (3.) On every shop, not used as a domicile, above the annual value of £20, a rate of £4 per centum on the amount of the valuation up to £300 inclusive ; £2 per centum on the amount of the valuation in excess of £300 up to £700; and £1 ss. per centum on the amount of the valuation in excess of £700. (4.) The rates to be charged for water supplied from standpipes shall be Is. per 100 gallons. (5.) The rate to be charged for water supplied by the Board from the mains by measure shall be Is. per 1,000 gallons, except in the case hereinafter specially mentioned. (6.) For water supplied from the mains for sluicing purposes, the rate shall be 2d. per 1,000 gallons. (7.) For water supplied from the mains for mining purposes other than sluicing, the rate shall be 4d. per 1,000 gallons. (8.) For water supplied from the channels to crushing-mills, pyrites-works, &c, the rate shall be 3d. per 1,000 gallons. (9.) For water supplied to gardens and nurseries, cultivated for trade purposes, and to cricketgrounds, the rate shall be 6d. per 1,000 gallons. (10.) For water supplied to any cemetery, the rate shall be 4d. per 1,000 gallons. (11.) For water supplied to any public parks or gardens, the rates shall be 6d.per 1,000 gallons. (12.) a. The rate to be charged for water supplied from the main aqueducts and from any of the branch aqueducts which diverge therefrom shall be -J-d. per 1,000 gallons, in quantities of not less than 1,000,000 gallons per month, b. The rate to be charged for water supplied in fixed quantities of less than 1,000,000 gallons from any portion of the main aqueduct, or from any of the branch aqueducts, shall be—for quantities under 250,000 gallons, 2d. per 1,000 gallons; above 250,000 but under 500,000 gallons—the first 250,000 gallons 2d. per 1,000 gallons, for the excess Id. per 1,000 gallons; above 500,000 gallons but under I,ooo,ooo—the first 500,000 gallons l|d. per 1,000 gallons, for the excess fd. per 1,000 gallons. Delivery of the water shall be taken within one month from the time of purchase, failing which the purchaser shall forfeit all his right thereto. The minimum quantity of water to be charged for in each case where water is supplied by measure shall be : (1) If for domestic and other than domestic purposes, the quantity of which—the charge at Is. per 1,000 gallons —would be equal to the amount of the assessed rate which would be payable for the premises so supplied, if supplied otherwise than by measure; and (2) if for other than domestic purposes only, 25,000 gallons per quarter. To compare the prices charged for water supplied to the miners with the prices charged in New Zealand, they are as follows: A sluice-head, according to " The Mines Act, 1877," is a stream of water capable of discharging 60 cubic feet per minute, which is equal to 1,080,000 gallons per week, or, in other words, a sluice-head is a stream of water capable of discharging 1,080,000 gallons per week if flowing eight hours per day. This, at 2d per 1,000 gallons, which is the price charged for taking water from the mains for sluicing purposes, equals £9 per head per week, and if the water is supplied from the main or branch aqueducts, the price charged for same purpose is fd. per 1,000 gallons, which is equal to £2 ss. per head per week. This water supply is managed by the Department of Mines. Maldon. The general custom here is to burn the quartz before crushing in order to extract the sulphur from the pyrites, so as to allow the gold contained therein, to be absorbed by the mercury in the riffle boxes, and tables. At the Grand Junction Company's works, which I visited with Mr. H. B. Nicholas, the Senior Inspector of Mines in Victoria, there are four kilns erected for burning the quartz as it comes from the mine. These kilns adjoin each other, and are built up with strong dry stone walls in the following manner : A cutting or bench is made into the face of a hill, and the wall is built at the front side and ends, high enough to admit of the whole depth of the kiln being built between the front wall and the side of the cutting already made, having openings on the front wall opposite the places where the kilns are built, to haul out the quartz, to take it to the battery. Circular kilns are built in the shape of an inverted cone, as close to each other as the walls will admit. These are capable of holding and burning 50 tons of quartz each. The bottom of the kilns is sufficiently high above the tramway, which runs along the front, to allow the burnt quartz to be hauled out into the trucks. Before commencing to put the quartz into the kilns, there is a good layer of firewood placed in the bottom ; then a layer of quartz, next a layer of firewood, afterwards quartz again, and so on, until the kiln is filled ; but in filling the kiln, firewood is set on and all around the sides, and the quartz heaped up on the top as much as possible, after which, the fire is kindled at the bottom, and the kiln kept burning from seven to eight days. By the end of this time the quartz is tolerably well calcined, especially near the bottom of the kiln, where it is run together like slag. The manager of the Grand Junction Company informed me that the cost of this process amounted to about 4d. per ton, and he contended that, irrespective of the cost of liberating the sulphur and arsenic, it paid the company to roast the quartz in this manner, as the amount of work done by the crushing-battery was greatly increased owing to the quartz being more friable. The crushingbattery is of the ordinary type, having revolving stamps and keyed discs, but no quicksilver or copper plates are used on the riffle-tables, they being simply covered with blankets. At the end of the blanket-tables the tailings run into Chilian mills and are ground up with quicksilver, after which they run over rocking-tables 12ft. long and 4ft. wide, which are likewise covered with blankets. This tends to concentrate the material more than by simply allowing it to run over a plain stationary surface. Whether the roasting process and rocking-tables have the superior advantages