REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS
To be submitted to the Shareholders at the ordinary general meeting, to be held at cannon street hotel, London, E.C., on Thursday, the 8th day of May, 1913, at 12 o clock noon.
NEW ZEALAND MANAGEMENT.—It is with deep regret the Directors have to report that for reasons of health it has become necessary for Mr. Barry to retire from the position of Superintendent of the Company at the end of the year. Mr. Barry has been connected with the Company for over 20 years, and during the time he has occupied the post of Superintendent, over £4,379,000 have been distributed in dividends to Shareholders. The Directors feel sure that the regrets they are now expressing will be widely shared by the Members of the Company, but they are glad to add that in the arrangements which are contemplated at the end of the year, it is hoped to retain Mr. Barry's services in an advisory capacity, where his experience will be of the greatest assistance to the Company, and less active work will be required.
SUPERINTENDENTS ANNUAL REPORT FOR YEAR ENDED 31st DEC., 1912.
Waihi, 14th February, 1913.
The Chairman and Directors,
Waihi Gold Mining Company, Limited, London.
Gentlemen,
I beg to submit my Report on the operations of the Company for the year ended 31st December, 1912.
THE STRIKE,
On 13th May the Executive of the Miners' Union appeared at the Mine and ordered the afternoon shift not to go below. The same evening they held a meeting and decided to cease work until the Companies forced the Winding Engineers to give up any idea of forming a separate Union. As we knew nothing about the Winders' movements, and as they had a perfect right to form any union they chose, we could do nothing but shut the Mine down. The mills were then stopped and wages men paid off.
In September we decided to re-commence work and start on the transformer house at Victoria Mill in connection with the Hora-Hora scheme. This roused the ire of the Union, and they commenced tactics of intimidation towards our men, endeavouring to stop them working. Extra police were then drafted into the district to protect men willing to work, and proceedings were taken against leading strikers for breaches of the peace.
Towards the end of September notices were given to all contractors that work would commence at the Mine on October 2nd, and that any contracts not manned on that date would be cancelled. Only a few contractors turned up, so that all the contracts but one were forthwith cancelled.
We gradually obtained more miners notwithstanding the disgraceful conduct of the strikers, who carried out a system of terrorising not only the men who were working, but their wives and children also.
It got so bad at last that the workers would not put up with it any longer, and instead of standing the insults quietly they turned on their tormentors and gave some of the leaders a sound thrashing.
The next day, as a body of our men were on their way to work, one of the miners was shot by a striker from inside the Miners' Union Hall.
This led to a riot in which a policeman was shot by a striker, who was immediately felled by the policeman with his baton, from the effects of which he afterwards died. The policeman and miner have both recovered.
A new Union under the Arbitration Act has been formed, which is being joined by practically all the men now working.
A satisfactory working agreement has now been made with this Union, which should give us industrial peace for the next three years at least.
HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER.
At Hora Hora the water channel is nearly completed. Most of the plant in the Power House is erected.
Nearly all the masts for the transmission line are up ready for the cables.
Yours faithfully,
H. P. BARRY,
Superintendent.
REPORT on the HORA HORA HYDROELECTRIC WORKS
For Year ended 31st December, 1912.
Waihi, 14th February, 1913.
The Chairman and Directors,
WAIHI GOLD MINING COMPANY, LIMITED, LONDON.
Gentlemen,
Excavation and construction works have been continued during the year as detailed in the Engineers' Reports herewith.
Work has been pushed forward on the Transmission Line, the masts being nearly all in position.
Owing to difficulty in manufacturing the large bronze wire for the ranges, a hard copper cable is being substituted.
The insulators are now arriving, and a commencement will be made in stretching the cables.
The transformer houses at Waikino and the Mine are now well in hand, work at these places having been much delayed by the strike.
Yours faithfully,
H. P. BARRY,
Superintendent.
HORA HORA HYDROELECTRIC WORKS
Chief Engineer's Report for year ended 31st December, 1912.
Waihi, January 6th, 1913.
H. P. barry, esq.,
Superintendent,
Dear Sir,
I beg to report on the progress of the Mechanical and Electrical Work in connection with the above plant for the year ended December 31st, 1912.
I propose to give a short description of the whole plant, and then enumerate what work has been done and what remains to be finished.
Hora Hora.—The plant at the power house consists of six 1,500 Brake Horse Power Turbines, operating under a head of from 24 to 26 feet of water.
Each turbine is direct coupled to a Three Phase Alternator generating current at 5,000 volts with a frequency of 50 cycles. The speed of these sets is 187 revolutions per minute.
Current is taken by two three core armoured cables from the Power House up to the Transformer House, which is situated on rising ground above the Power House, and is here transformed from 5,000 up to 50,000 volts.
The Transformer Plant consists of six Single Phase Transformers, the necessary Oil Switches and Lightning Arrestor gear.
The Transformer House is a ferro-concrete building with steel roof. Adjoining this building are the Workshops and Oil Boiling Shop.
Transmission Line.—From Hora Hora to Waiorongomai, a distance of about 32½ miles, the line runs for the greater part of the way along the roadside.
It consists of three copper wires carried on steel masts, which are spaced approximately eleven to the mile. In accordance with Government regulations, the lowest wire has to be kept 24 feet from the ground.
The telephone wires (metallic circuit) are carried on the same masts and below the power wires, and are transposed at every pole.
At Stanley Bridge, 23 miles from Hora Hora, a Halfway Station is to be erected containing disconnecting switches.
From Waiorongomai the line runs for a distance of about 5½ miles over the Te Aroha Ranges, rising to a height of 2,500 feet above sea level. The whole of this ground is of an extremely rough character. Special masts and insulators have been ordered for this portion of the route, the maximum spans being 1,200 feet.
The line then runs through rough country for a distance of 6½ miles to the Waikino Transformer Station.
Waikino.—The Waikino Transformer Station is practically a duplicate of that at Hora Hora, the current being transformed down from the line voltage (46,000) to 11,000 volts. At this latter pressure current is sent to the Waihi Mine, some 5½ miles distant.
There are also in the Transformer House three Three Phase Transformers, receiving current at 11,000 and stepping down to 500 volts. Some twenty-five motors are being installed at this Mill, all of them being operated from the 500 volt circuit.
Waihi Mine.—The Mine Transformer Station contains four 500 K.W. Three Phase Transformers receiving current at a pressure of 11,000 volts and transforming down to 2,000 volts, at which latter pressure the motors receive current.
The motors installed here will be utilised for winding, pumping, air compressing, ventilation and lighting.
Progress Of work..—During the year good progress has been made at Hora Hora, but considerable delay has occurred on the Transmission Line and Distribution work owing to the strike.
Hora Hora.—The six 1,500 B.H.P. Turbines and Governors are erected complete and ready for work.
The six Generators with their exciters are finished, and the cable work up to the switchboard is now being gone on with. The work on the switchboard should be finished by the beginning of March.
The Transformer House, Workshops and Oil Boiling Shop are finished and the erection of the Extra High Tension work is in hand.
It is hoped that it will be possible to give a trial run to the plant at Hora Hora during the month of May.
Transmission Line.—The whole or the masts from Hora Hora to Waiorongomai are erected, and gangs are now engaged on the section over the Te Aroha Ranges erecting the masts.
The masts from the Waikino Transformer Station to the foot of the Ranges will be finished by the beginning of February. The masts are erected for about 1½ miles (out of 5½ miles) of the Waikino-Waihi section.
A start will shortly be made on the erection of the Halfway Station and Patrolmen's cottages.
Owing to the delay in delivery of insulators the erection of the Line has not been commenced, but it is hoped to start the work during February. A contract has been let for painting the masts.
Distribution.—It was not possible to do any of this work during the strike, and consequently this section is behindhand.
Waikino.—The ferro-concrete Transformer House is in course of erection, and several of the motor foundations are finished.
The Mine.—The ferro-concrete Transformer House is in course of erection. All the foundations for the motors are finished, and a start has been made erecting the motors, which are now arriving.
Yours faithfully,
W. P. GAUVAIN,
Chief Engineer
ENGINEER'S ANNUAL REPORT. HORA HORA HYDROELECTRIC WORKS.
Hora Hora Rapids,
January 8th, 1913.
The Superintendent,
Waihi.
Dear Sir,
I have the honour to report as follows on the work done at Hora Hora during the year 1912.
Excavations.—The whole of the material South of the head gates has been excavated and removed by trucking. This excavation entailed the construction of a coffer dam 300 feet long at the edge of the Waikato River, and later on another was constructed in the river in water from 3 feet to 5 feet deep so as to allow the excavations at the intake to be carried out into the bed of the river itself. The Waikato has been admitted into this part of the head race as far as the head gates.
The whole of the tail race excavations have been completed and the water admitted.
This excavation being below river level had to be kept dry by pumping, and two centrifugal pumps, electrically driven, were used for the purpose. A greater part of the bar of country which was maintained across the head race for security against floods, and which also carried the old road leading to the Waikato bridge, has been removed. The side slopes, also in the neighbourhood of the power house, have been taken down to their permanent batter, and a portion of them covered with surface soil and sown with grass.
Concrete.—The concrete walls for power house were carried to their full height ready to receive the timber portion of the building. The switchroom, entirely of concrete, was completed, the roof slabs being 3 inches thick; they seem to be watertight, but it is not anticipated that this thickness of concrete will entirely stop percolation of water, and it is, therefore, intended to give the roof a coating of bitumen on the outside.
The side walls of the head race were completed on both sides with the exception of two chains on the East side and 14 feet on the West side, and a large part of the concreting in the bottom of the head race was also done.
The dam in the old course of the Pokai Creek on the West side of the head race was put in, the foundation having been laid 16 feet below the bottom of the head race and in about 12 feet of water.
Wing Walls to the Power House were also constructed at each side of the tail race. The Transformer House was erected entirely of concrete (except the roof) and a concrete tank to contain about 33,000 gallons of water was constructed to supply the transformers.
Machinery, etc.—The turbine gates were put together and erected complete with their winches and lifting gear and the 10 ton traveller over the turbines and the 15 ton traveller over the generator room were erected in position. Mr. Andersen, Messrs. Orten Bovings' erector, arrived during the April period, and a commencement was immediately made with getting the turbines into position. The turbine draught tubes were riveted together, the extension rings put on, and the turbines erected complete, with their governors all in working order, by September, when Mr. Andersen left Hora Hora, having completed his work.
Messrs. Siemen's erector arrived in June, and the erection of the generators was at once begun. They were all completed with their exciters by the end of October and the cable connections were commenced but not completed. The iron framework, concrete cell work and switch board were erected in the switch room, and work was begun upon the switch gear and other apparatus and fair progress was made.
Mr. Lawrence, Messrs. Siemens Bros.' principal erector, arrived at end of August. A commencement was then made with the iron framework and cell work of the transformer house, and this work is still in progress.
Buildings.—The power house, transformer house, workshop, and oil-boiling house were erected during the year, and the power house, turbine chambers, including inspection tubes and residential cottages, were wired for electric lighting.
Cement.—The whole of the cement stores at Hora Hora having been used, a further supply of 300 tons was ordered, and continued to arrive as required up to the end of the year. No delay to the works was caused at any time through shortage of cement.
Goods from Auckland.—The whole of the material forwarded to Hora Hora from Auckland, either via Hinuera or Cambridge, has reached its destination, and the traction engines working on the Hinuera Road have now been finally put out of commission. Owing to the light nature of the soil in the Hinuera Valley, sand from the roads got into every part of these engines and cut the machinery to pieces. The repairs to the traction engines were very costly.
All goods now arriving from Hora Hora will come by horse team from Cambridge.
Labour.—The number of men employed during the year varied from 90 to 120, according to the requirements of the work. There was not much difficulty at any time during the year in getting unskilled labour of a sort, but skilled labour was always scarce. On the whole labour was inefficient, and although the Waihi strike did not extend to Hora Hora a marked falling off in the energy of the men took place while the strike continued.
Labour conditions have been much better here since the conclusion of the strike, and this remark applies not only to Hora Hora, but to the whole district.
River Levels.—It will be remembered that I reported for the July period, a considerable rise in the Waikato River on July 19th : although the total rise was not great, being 2.2 feet at the intake, and 3.4 feet at the tail race, it was the greatest since the works began, and had the effect of removing all the accumulations of spoil tipped into the river. Part of this material lodged in the river bed below our tail race and had the effect of temporarily raising the level of the river below the works by about 9 inches, the total fall available being reduced from 26.4 feet to 25.6 feet. The present tendency of the river is to regain its former level, and the total fall at the rapids has again increased to 25.9 feet. I have no doubt that after a flood or two in the river the former levels will be regained.
The river has remained considerably higher this season than during the last two summers.
(Signed) H. ROCHE,
Engineer.