What his pockets may afford.
And may he ever pleasantly
Each gallant sport pursue,
If he takes his liquor fairly,
And his fences fairly too.”
Hon. H. J. Saunders
I put up at the Guildford Hotel for the night, and in the morning thoroughly enjoyed the fresh fish caught for my breakfast in the river close by. Some excitement was one day caused in quiet Guildford when, some new works being in progress, some of the quartz boulders forming the old foundation were dug up and carted elsewhere; a boulder fell from the dray, and was crushed by one of the wheels; a glittering object was noticed in the débris, and turned out to be gold; the quartz had originally been taken from the Darling Ranges.
I went on to Midland Junction, 2 miles away, en route to the Mundaring Weir, from which source the much-needed river of water is to be taken to the Coolgardie Goldfields. This gigantic scheme will cost two and a half millions of money, but what a boon it will be to the waterless goldfields, of which far-famed Coolgardie is perhaps the most waterless! In spite of the croakings of those who are adverse to the scheme, Sir John Forrest will, I am sure, be found right, and when plenty of fresh water is obtainable at Coolgardie, so that the millions of tons of ore waiting for treatment can be properly crushed, people will see that the first Queen of the Goldfields is not yet dethroned.
The reservoir, where the waters of the Helena river will be stored by hundreds of millions of gallons and then carried across the country to the goldfields, is now in course of construction, and in two years a river (so to say) of fresh water, yielding 5,000,000 gallons daily by means of enormous steel pipes, 330 miles long and 30 inches in diameter, will be flowing, and the Coolgardie housewives will be able to turn on their taps for fresh water. A new era will then dawn for that beautiful city, and its true prosperity begin. The sum paid yearly by the Railway Department for water on its goldfields’ service would more than pay interest on the cost of the scheme. The morning that I arrived at Mundaring Weir the workmen were in a great state of excitement; their residence blocks were being allotted. There were 130 applications, 6 of which were refused, the applicants not being considered desirable residents. The Department will not allow an hotel to be established. Work at the weir was progressing well. At the huge quarries masons were working up granite into blocks. There is an almost inexhaustible deposit of granite, and the chief engineer, Mr. C. Y. O’Connor, intends to form the outer face of the wall with granite instead of using concrete, as is generally done. One enormous dam, nearly finished, is to hold 10,000,000 gallons of water. The watercourse has been divested of timber, and the appearance of the landscape thereby greatly changed. The weir, when finished, will be 560 feet long, and will hold 4,600,000,000 gallons of water.