Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume III

THE COOLGARDIE AQUEDUCT. 381 CLOSING 30-INCH LOCKING-BAR PIPES IN HYDRAULIC PRESS. (Photo, Messrs. Mephan-Ferguson, Limited.) able water, necessary for the maintenance of health, and even water of any kind for mining purposes, was remarkably scarce, as the little rain that fell was quickly absorbed by the, in most places, very porous and saline surface soil. The washing-out of gold being impos- sible in such circumstances, the miners re- sorted to 1he “ wind-blowing ” system of separating alluvial gold dust from the dross, letting the stuff fall from one pan held aloft into another resting on the ground, and trusting to the force of the wind for the removal of the light rubbish. The lack of potable water caused epidemics of typhoid fever, so serious as to compel the Government to spend considerable sums on well-sinking—unfortunately without success — and on the construction of tanks and dams and distilling installations. In those Fabulous Prices for Water. days, long after Coolgardie had begun to look like a prosperous town, water fit for drinking retailed gallon, that in tender at half a crown per and the saying ran the saloons the bar- watched the water- bottle more carefully than that which held the whisky. Meanwhile the railway had been extended from Southern Cross to Coolgardie and Kal- goorlie; but the railroad authorities soon found that, owing to the shortage of water, they could not run their trains at a Railway Needs. profit—the water alone cost them some hun- dreds of pounds a day. As the population depended for its supplies on the railway, this additional difficulty brought matters to a crisis, and laid on the Government the task