West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Tuesday 17 September 1912, page 9


THE MINING INDUSTRY. MOWUT IDA STATEl ATTERY.. OFFIGIAL OPENING. CEREMONY PERFORMED BYTHE MINsTER FOR MINS. SMMenzies, 'Sept. 16. -Theyinister; for Mines and Railways (Mr. P. Collier ML A.), accompanied by Messrs. Foley and'Mullany, M's.L.A., and Mr: A. M. .Howe, 'the Suiperintendent -of "State ;Batteries; arrived at Mt:;Ida on Saturday evening for the purpose of opening the newlyerected Stat ebattery at that centre.. -When passing' through Broad Arrrow a deputation of prospectors from Ora Band'a waited osi the Minister for the purpose of urging .thati peding the erection of the promised Government battery, jrrangements should be made to treat the'prospectors' ore at )Messrs. 'Friedman and Johnson's bat,.tery. ' -.'he Minister said that he was willing to consider a proposition by the battery owners. It? was :announced that the O.a Banda. water scheme had almost behn cdmpleted at `a cost of £25;000, and' the Ministger was invited to visit theidistrict within the ..next few,weeks. to open`it. - WELCOME TO MT. IDA. Passing onward to' Menzies the' .part. .was met by two motors and:immediitelyset out for Mt. Ida, a distance of 70 miles north;. and on arrival at about 8 p.m. the visitors werd greeted with cheers. The Minist~irand party were entertained at dinner in the Mt. Ida Hotel.:by a large number. of Mt. Ida and Copeierfield .residents aiid prospectors. The chair, was occupied by Mr, G.Aley;, the president of the Prospectors' Association. After. the loyal: toast, the chairman :pro:posed the toast of "The Minister," 'whih -was honoured with enthusiasm. Mr. Collier. who was- warmly, received omi risin.v''o respond,'remarked that he found a double pleasure in coming to Mt. Ida, as it was his fiius visit to the distriet and it would: be 'the, first:occaesion:on which' he would have; the 'privilege of opening' a State battery. No' fewer. than six. new batteries had been ,approved, since' he had. taken office.. -Three 'mills were of'good type and absolutely new and it was not the inteistion of the Departmeiit,. so, long' as. he. controlled it, to purthase:any more secondhand batteries. An' amount .of. nearly ,£9,000 was "also. being. spen? n bringing the'battery system gener-, 'ally into a more effiqient condition. During, the' past year, considerable difficulty. hac been -experienced ,tliroughout, the State in securing adequate water supplies, more especially, for domestic purposes and mininLg. The -Ora Banda 'water (supply would be. turned on in-a.few days'1time. Marvel Locih, where 'there had been sa famine hana the people had been paynmg 10s.'per 16( gallons,had been supplied with water from the. goldfields .water scheme only iecently by 'means of' a pipe extension coqtin".? £10,000, 'and a main had also been. extenaed .to 'the:promising mining field of Weston's at a cost of £2,000. 'A new water 'supply .for Xeekatharra, at a cost of £9,000,' waas in hand; as altogether between new .batteries ,and. ew' water supplies he had, during bis short term ofoffice, sanctidned the expenditure of.- no less thar- ~0,00,0. On' the, State- batteries payment for tasings was now' being: made withiin'14 days inhstead of two; months,- as previously, and this:was proving a beon to prospectors. (Cheers.) With the ,assistance of the 'new" Superintendent 'of State' Batteries (Mr. Howej,.staff matters and the battery 'system generally had been reorganised and three more. batteries were now being' worked, with no increase ,in the number of managers;' this;, too, 'with.' improved facilities and no' loss. to' the Department, Special rebates had'latelybeeni provided'on> large parcels of low-grade ore'and cheaper water had been provided for' the treatment of low-grade ores. The cheap water was enabling men to operate mines'which'otherwise would be closed town. "By- the Railway Department the fields-had not been neglect-. ed." Second-class sleeping carriages ,'ad been provided, and the cheap excursions for women and children to the coast had' been extended. More second-class sleeping carriages were now being put into commission on account of the patronage accorded them.. He found that any vote brought forward for the benefit of mining had met with the support, .oft the agricultural members, and the mining members had likeFwise always supported the 'requirements of the agricultural industry.' The State had last year experienced a bad season; which had seriousJy affected the finances, but the present season promised to be one of the best. Referring to the State steamers, he said that he had no doubt of the ultimate success of this movement. He also instanced what the Government were doing in. the matter of the-supply of sleepers for the trans-Australian railway, in' the 'establishment of workeis' homes, State brickyards, State timber mills, and State hotels. The creation of a University was now within measurable distance, and generally the question of free education was.. 'bemg given every .encouragement. From the beginning of next year fees would be abolished in the secondary schools of the State, one of which was to be established in Kalgoorlie. The salaries of State school teachers had been raised to 'a minimum of £110 per annum, and as opportunity offered this minimum would in all probability be increased. This year the State was providing £10,000 more than last year for what was wrongly known as charity-a provision. which he regarded as an .absolute duty of the Government. By this means the allowance made to, mothers could be considerably increased, so allowing them to remain the guardians of their own children. He was pleased to visit Mt. Ida on this occasion, and he hoped yet to see the district develop into a much more important goldfield. The toast of "Thd State Parliament" was honoured at the instance of Mr. J. Coen. Mr. G. Foley, M.L.A., in resposiding, said that every credit was due to the Governwmnes Fm. Alan ina~F~lson napi;)nne ranrlpamel

to the district, and the goldfields generally. On one tour on which he had accompanied the Minister requests to the extent of £250,000 had been preferred, and careful discrimination was necessary. Reasonable assistance, however, had been accorded the several districts within the Leonora constituency, for which the Government deserved every credit. Mr. Mullany, M.L.A.. also responded. Other toasts honoured were those of "The Mining Industry and State Batteries" and "The Visitors." THE BATTERY OPENED. -Yesterday morning a visit was paid to several mines throughout the district. After lunch the State battery was visited, the opurpose being to open the new mill for public crushing. Practically the whole of the residents of the district assembled at the mill. In opening the proceedings, Mr. G. Foley, M.L.A., briefly introduced the Minis: ter for Mines. Mr. Collier traversed the history of the State batteries at Mt. Ida. and declared the mill open for public crushing. Mrs. McMasters, the wife of the manager of the battery, broke a bottle of chalmpagne over the flywheel, and to the accompaniment of cheers the engine was started, and the stamps commenced dropping. DEPUTATIONS. A return was made to M4, Ida and deputations were heard. The prospectors from Metzke's new find, 30 miles west of Mt. Ida, and located in absolutely new country, urged on the Minister the necessity of providing camel teams to cart ore to the Mt. Ida battery to prove

the district, a request which was met with a promise, of. probable. assistance in- the event of camels being available. Varion u inior matters brought forward' by the Mt.. Ida Prospectors' Association were promised immediate 'attention.' .T o-day the Minister and party left Mt. Ida-~at'.daybreak and.'botored to Menaies, there to catch the triii which connects with the goldfields express.