Proposed Windmills of New Zealand

Auckland

Epsom:

A suggestion, only a year before the Mount Eden windmill was constructed, to form a joint stock company to put up a windmill in around the same neighbourhood: Daily Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 18, 19 August 1843

The Settlers. — We were very much gratified in Epsom and other parts of the country a few days ago to perceive the rapid progress of cultivation, and the great exertions our friends in the country are making to render us independent of all foreign supplies, as far as the necessary articles of living are concerned. Considerable portions of land have been this year sown with wheat in the neighbourhood of Auckland, and but for the want of flour mills, it is more than likely that double the quantity would have been sown, though the settlers can grow abundance of wheat, they are afraid that the means will not be provided for converting the wheat into flour. This however, might very easily be remedied. The settlers and towns' people, if no private individuals will undertake the erection of a suitable mill, should at once get up something of a Joint Stock Company for the erection of a windmill in Auckland; the expence would thus be light, and the benefit would be general. We are aware that Joint Stock Companies are not favourably viewed in this place, but the expence of this would be small, and the speculation would be a certain one.

The Agricultural Society had even had the suggestion of offered a monetary incentive for the construction of a windmill: Auckland Chronicle and New Zealand Colonist, Volume 2, Issue 6, 13 September 1843

Performance is better than promise, and in all transactions, it is well to give the former its place of precedence!
The good sense of the settlers in the vicinity of Auckland, backed by the exertions of the recently formed Agricultural Society have, occasioned an emulation in the growing of wheat, and the result is that at the present moment in spite of the almost insufferable difficulties, doubts, delays, and expenses, which have attended the formation of the settlement, there are now under crop as many acres as will, at the lowest computation, unless some sudden calamity should ensue, produce a quantity equal to one half of what is likely to be the consumption of Auckland, and its dependencies, during the ensuing year. This is a fact which speaks volumes for our location as a proper field for immigration; the inference to be drawn from it is, that we even now, under all the familiarity of complaint which disappointed jobbers and speculators have engendered, even now, in the second season of the Colony, are independent of import for all the means of comfortable subsistence.
What the reader will say, only half a provision, and yet independent? - and we are not startled from our assertion by the question - because this Colony is possessed, through the agency of its native population, of a spirit of enterprize, and an anticipation of demand, which cannot fail to supply every deficiency. We purpose to publish in our next a list of those Auckland farmers who are growers of wheat - with the extent of their sowing in the present season, and to prove by figures, that it will be the worst kind of indolence only which will induce us to be importers of corn for the future. A mill is now a prominent desideratum of the place, and there were not a few persons who were desirous to make a general joint stock, endeavour for the purpose, but these company concerns always end in confusion, and we are right glad to hear that some three or four patriotic colonists have taken the matter in hand by themselves, without seeking public co-operation, and that we may expect by harvest time to hear the merry music of the hopper!
There is no doubt but that this speculation will be as profitable to the projectors as it will be advantageous to the public. We have alluded above to the increated industry of the native population, and it is well known that stimulated by the growing demands of the city, they have greatly extended their clearances, and that their present crops of maize, potatoes, and other vegetables are very much larger than they ever were before. The proprietors of the mill may look for an extensive business in preparing maize meal for them, a species of food, which, when they can easily obtain it, they prefer in general to the pakia’s taro (bread). It was suggested at the first meeting of the Agricultural Association, that a prize of twenty guineas should be given for the erection of the first capable wind-mill, and we hope the enterprizing gentlemen we have alluded to, will very shortly be in a condition to remind them of the intention. In the mean time, we congratulate the country upon the important step thus obtained towards the very desirable object of self-support. Hitherto our absolute dependence upon imports has been a frightful feature in our social condition, we beg leave to suggest to the industry of our farmers, the great importance of growing barley, the climate of New Zealand is admirably adapted to malting and brewing, and if the subject is taken up with spirit and energy, we may not only restore to our families our native wholesome beverage, instead of the poisonous diluted spirit which is now so much in vogue, but we may create a sterling export, for which the markets of Australia and India, afford an inexhaustible demand. With this view, a premium should be offered for the best and earliest samples of malt and hops, and coopers should have a reward held out for the discovery and adaptation of a suitable native wood for staves; a most important item in that profitable trade.

Another suggestion that a windmill was needed in Auckland, with a reply that an unnamed person from Sydney had plans to do exactly that: Daily Southern Cross, Volume I, Issue 23, 23 September 1843

To the Editor of the Southern Cross.
Sir, — I beg to call your attention to an important subject, viz. : — the want of a mill to grind wheat, why should the little money there is in the colony be drained out of it for supplies of that very important article from other colonies, when we can so amply supply ourselves; and what encouragement is there to grow wheat here, when there is no market to send it to? Apathy seems to be the order of the day. We have the name of an Agricultural and Horticultural Society here, but I have never heard that such a thing as a windmill has even been thought of by them; surely it is worth thinking of; if some spirited person or persons would take the matter in hand directly, it would pay them well; timber and labour will never be cheaper than they are at the present time. I am persuaded that in two years from this time, a sufficiency of grain would be grown to supply the capital. I am yours, &c, A Subscriber.
[We have reason to hope that "a Subscriber's" wish regarding the erection of a Wind Mill will be soon gratified. We understand that a person is about coming from Sydney expressly for the purpose of erecting a Flour Mill in Auckland; he merely waits for information regarding the prospect of the undertaking. — ED.]

The Agricultural Association continued to think about how to encourage a mill to be built: Auckland Chronicle and New Zealand Colonist, Volume 2, Issue 14, 8 November 1843, Page 2

We perceive with pleasure, that the gentlemen of the Agricultural Association, held a meeting on Friday last, at the "Exchange Hotel," J. Johnson, Esq., in the chair, for the purpose of "taking into consideration the expediency of adopting measures for the encouragement of such persons as may be desirous to erect a Corn Mill." We hope their endeavours will be attended with success, and that the result of their conference will be the speedy accomplishment of such a desirable undertaking. The outlay that would be required to put it into execution would positively be trifling, in comparison to the remuneration which would ultimately be obtained thereupon. The proprietor might promise himself an immediate and certain profit, and we doubt not but the speculation would turn out to be a most lucrative one; especially when we consider the quantity of land around Auckland, already sown with grain; and the much greater quantity that would, most probably be sown, did the farmer believe he would have a chance of disposing of it, or of getting it reduced to flour; besides the Mill would not he confined altogether to the grinding of wheat, and barley; we cannot see why the maize of this country should not be rendered an article of consumption in the shape of bread, when pulverised - or why, if not admissible as food to the human race, it should not form a good substitute for coarse meal, bran &c., for cattle. The very absence of such a useful machine has, no doubt retarded the pursuits of the farmer so far as the growing of corn is considered, for would he not naturally say to himself, "where would be the utility of my growing wheat here, where there is no mill established for grinding it after having gone to the expense of growing it? -- and were I to send it to Sydney -- ten to one but the freight, commission, &c., would cost me more than all the profits that I might expect to derive from the sale"! The establishment of a Corn Mill, is, in fact, the main stimulent that is required to force agricultural operations around Auckland, and once convince the farmer that his corn can be rendered available as an article of profit, and as a leading marketable commodity, and his dilatory efforts will be re-commenced with redoubled energy; and in a short time we should behold the yellow waves of corn floating in every fertile valley around; an increased demand for labour, and the progress of cultivation generally promoted, and not only those, but its benefits would be felt in another way, viz., in the reduction of that extreme dependency in which we are placed, (so far as regards other countries) for the supply of the necessaries of life.
Had a mill been erected in the neighbourhood of Auckland twelve months since, we have no hesitation in saving that Auckland would not be at the present moment with only a few tons of flour in tke Market, and as a matter of course, when there is a scarcity, it is sold at a very high price. We do hope aud trust the committee appointed will use their utmost endeavours for the immediate erectiou of so valuable an acquisition to our agriculturalists as a wind-mill.

A few months later after these exchanges, a windmill was indeed under construction at Epsom to serve Auckland, though it's not clear if this was linked with any of the schemes mentioned in the proposals. It was a private venture, not a joint stock one, and there was no apparent connection to a Sydney individual.

Auckland

brine evaporation tower:

As part of trying to encourage people to start a salt industry in Auckland, this article suggests that it would be possible to follow the example used elsewhere, and to employ a windpump to circulate brine through an evaporation tower: Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXV, Issue 3716, 16 June 1869

NEGLECTED MANUFACTURES.— SALT.
On various occasions during the last two or three months we have endeavoured to attract the attention of capitalists to branches of manufacture hitherto entirely overlooked in this province; which might not only yield a good return to those parties speculating in them, but at the same time be of immense benefit to the interests of the colony at large. It has just occurred to us that there is another of considerable importance which might well be undertaken here, and which perhaps requires less capital in the manipulation than any other which might be undertaken. We mean the process of evaporating sea water for the purpose of procuring common salt (chloride of sodium), held in suspension. It must be patent to everyone that the quantity used is very great, and that the amount annually sent out of the country ia very large, and forms part of the sum which ought to be retained here by some means, instead of going out of the colony to enrich foreign producers.
We understand that a few years ago some of the Auckland residents experimentalised on a tolerably large scale, and succeeded in producing a first-class article, quite equal to that imported, and organised a company for the purpose of carrying out the manufacture; but, when actually appearing to be on the eve of a grand success, internal dissensions caused the dissolution of the partnership, and since that time the matter has never again been taken in hand. The fact that the trial was made and found to give a profitable result should act as an encouragement to others to recommence operations.
There are several methods in use for procuring the mineral held in suspension, the quantity of which varies in different zones, but in these seas may be taken at from four to five ounces in the gallon of water. All the processes are exceedingly simple, and require nothing but care. In one the water is evaporated by the application of heat to large tanks or cisterns, in another by exposure to the sun in shallow ponds, in a third by a combination of these methods, and in a fourth the additional evaporating surface given by allowing the brine to trickle down among layers of brushwood properly exposed to the wind is brought to bear. The plan of simply allowing the water to evaporate by being exposed to the air in shallow basins appears to be most appliable to men of small means. A number of these ponds are dug out in a flat piece of ground to a depth of a foot or thereabouts. They communicate with one another by short canals, through which the flow of water is regulated by means of sluice gates. The brine is allowed to flow from the sea through a similarly constructed canal into the first reservoir, where it remains until it is condensed to a certain degree, when it is allowed to run into the next. By the time it reaches the last it has arrived at the point of saturation, and after a short exposure there crystallizes, and the mother water is suffered to escape. The whole process is an exceedingly simple one, and requires nothing but a little experience to ensure the desired result. Of course, as it depends solely on the evaporating property of the atmosphere, it is rather a slow operation, but the speed may be indefinitely hastened by increasing the diameters and decreasing the depths of the cisterns. A combination of the process of which the above is a rough exposition, with the application of artificial heat during the latter stages of the evaporation, would doubtless be the best. The only thing to be considered is the cost of the metal, boilers or cisterns, and the fuel. For men of some small amount of capital, who might be inclined to risk a little in this manufacture, it might be advisable to make some further additions. Many obvious ones will readily suggest themselves to people possessed of a moderate amount of ingenuity. For instance, in a neighbouring colony, where a manufacture of the kind has been for many years in existence, the water is first pumped up by a machine worked by a small windmill into wooden troughs elevated some thirty feet above the ground, and is allowed to run through small holes on to a layer of brushwood fagots, down which it trickles to another, and so on, till by the time it arrives at the evaporating pans it is in a tolerably high state of saturation. After being exposed in them for a certain time, it is pumped into the boilers and crystallised.
The above is merely intended as an outline of the plan which should be adopted. Of course experience must be the guide as to time of exposure, &c. The point of saturation, for instance, or that at which the salt begins to crystalise, varies much with temperature. At that of 60 degrees, which is somewhere about that of the sea water in these latitues, as much as 37 per cent, can be held in solution. To conclude, we may remark that, as many other chemical substances besidas common salt are ingredients in the composition of sea water, and as these matters crystalise at different stages of the evaporation, it is considered necessary - when it is desired to produce absolutely pure salt - to allow one part of the brine to crystallise before the other; but as the constituent parts of sea-water vary greatly in different localities, these are matters which can only be determined by actual experiment. However, as these component parts bear a very small proportion to the bulk of the salt, and are in no degree deleterious, tha latter would be procured sufficiently pure for all ordinary purposes if the evaporation were conducted as if nothing but salt were held in suspension. We are convinced that many flat spots at the heads of bays which indent this harbour are admirably adapted to the purpose of the construction of salt-pans, and that anyone entering into the business would very soon realise handsome profits.

Auckland

Partington mill replica:

An organization was formed in 1978 under the name of the Partington's Mill Restoration Society, with the aim of raising the estimated $160,000 to build a replica of Partington's mill. [mention]. The idea was to build it in the same general area of the Karangahape Road - Symonds Street area.

The book "New Zealand's Lost Heritage", by Richard Wolfe, mentions that the plans were "subject to town-planning approval", and that "A spokesman saw such a building as a tourist attraction, and it was hoped that enough money could be raised to provide a bakery and tea-rooms as well".

A second mention from 1982 suggests that the organizer was Mr. R. Froude. It was recorded in that year that "Auckland Civic Trust has bequest of $25,000 to build replica of old flour mill, but it is unlikely to be enough."

Auckland

Freemans Bay:

Attempt by James McNair to lease crown lands to erect a windmill

Transcribed from the hand written letter in the NZ Archives:

To His Excellency Captain Fitzroy
Governor of New Zealand
Most Honoured Sir
Having applied to Mr Hamilton in order to the obtaining of an interview with Your Excellency and being thus diverted to see the Colonial Secretary and by that gentleman instructed to write to Your Excellency stating the subject of my application I beg to state that I the undersigned James McNair was an emmigrant on the "Jane Gifford". I am at present located at Freemans Bay and being unable to provide for the wants of my family by my trade in consequence of the extremely little labour required in my department of business, I am anxious to try what can be done by the erection of a Windmill near to my dwelling, on a small scale & on new & improved principles. I dare not however attempt to expend my labour & time in such an erection unless granted a lease for as long a time as possible the reasons I need not communicate they will be evident to your Excellency. The granting of a lease for the carrying out of the above object may not only prove beneficial to my family but important to the country. Should it be required to make any further enquiries I shall be happy to [?wait/visit] upon your Excellency with the [?needful] answers.
I am Honoured Sir
Your most [?obedient] James McNair
Freemans Bay
April 25th 1844

The reply in the archives was to decline this:

Inform Mr McNair that the Governor cannot grant a long lease of Crown Land. Refer him to the XVII clause of the Land Sales Act and send a copy of it with your letter
[initials] 26.4.44

There is no such New Zealand legislation as the Land Sales Act, so it's not clear what was intended to be sent out here.

The (un)employment situation of the Jane Gifford emigrants

The "Jane Gifford" had arrived in Auckland in October 1842, carrying a load of passengers, many of whom had specifc trades, though not always occupations that the young pioneer settlement needed at the time: New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 28, 4 November 1842, Page 4

Immigration Office, 11th October, 1842.
THE following particulars regarding the IMMIGRANTS arrived here by the ship Duchess of Argyle, and the barque Jane Gifford, are published for general information.
Duchess of Argyle.
Number of Male Adults 90
Ditto Female ditto 90
Ditto Boys and Girls under 14 years of age 117
Total 297
Jane Gifford.
Number of Male Adults 82
Ditto Female ditto 81
Ditto Boys and Girls under 14 years of age 75
Total 255
Total arrived 552
Amongst the Male Adults are Farm Servants, Labourers, Sawyers, Gardeners, Blacksmiths, Carpenters, Joiners, Millwrights, Masons, Bricklayers, Shoemakers, and individuals of various trades.
The Females are chiefly Farm Servants, Dairymaids, and Domestic Servants.
Parties wishing to engage them, may obtain information by applying at this Office, (formerly the Printing Office), between the hours of Eleven and Two daily.
DAVID ROUGH, Acting Immigration Agent.

It seems that Auckland (then with a population of about 1600) was not prepared for the sudden influx of over 550 new immigrants, but most practical trades seem to have found private employment, with some government work initially available for the otherwise unemployed: Auckland Times, Volume 1, Issue 11, 18 October 1842, Page 1

A considerable proportion of the adult male emigrants by the Duchess of Argyle and Jane Gifford are already dispersed into private service, and the remainder are employed on the roads, as we stated in our last. The Government are entitled to praise for the promptitude, with which they have met the emergency of the case.
...
It affords us great satisfaction to bear personal testimony to the patient, cheerful, and exemplary disposition of these, emigrants. Notwithstanding the many disappointments which have awaited them, no discontent prevails, the ablest artizan applies himself cheerfully to the humblest labor; they remember the many difficulties they have fled from at home; and they still confidently recognize in this place a land of promise, but they wisely recollect that such promise maybe fulfilled only to patient and assiduous industry.
The Emigration agent was busy the other morning, in our presence, paying over to each emigrant, the sum of one pound, which had been put down by him, In Scotland, as a deposit to secure his acceptance of the best employment, which could he provided for him on arrival. We could not help thinking how much more judicious it would have been to have transferred this little money to a Savings Bank, subject of course to the disposal of the owner, but dropped there as the nucleus of a little fund of frugality. After the tedium and restraint of a four months voyage, it is no difficult matter to guess the road that very many of these one pound notes have traveled, under the careless guidance to which they have been subjected.

More details of the distribution of workers: Auckland Times, Volume 1, Issue 22, 25 November 1842, Page 1

In our last Mangle, but one, we spoke of the almost instantaneous facility with which Auckland had disposed of the unexpected freightage of the "Duchess of Argyle" and the "Jane Gifford" and promised an account of their distribution, which we now give. Our readers will observe that the immigrants’ engagements in service, at the present moment, are quite free of Government assistance. It may be worth while to notice, in reply to some ingenious remarks of the Wellington press, that, when Government works are to be done, and paid for by Government funds, it can make no difference to the jealous watchfulness of the distribution of Government outlay, who are the labourers. Roads and bridges, wharfs and landingplaces cannot be made without hands, and as Auckland was destitute of labour, to carry out the most necessary and obvious purposes of public exigence,- Auckland became of course a proper field for the introduction of population, and Auckland is solicitous for more.
An account of the distribution of the Immigrant passengers by the "Duchess of Argyle", "Jane Gifford" and the apprentices &c., by the "St. George." -
The sawyers quickly found engagements on the neighbouring coast and rivers; carpenters have had no difficulty in finding work at about 6s. per day, shoemakers, tailors, and bakers have found good employment. Good farm servants have been engaged at about £2O per annum and full rations, most of these near Auckland, a few have gone to the Bay of Islands, and there is room for many more. The female domestic servants, and semptresses all met with good engagements in the town and neighbourhood immediately, except a few who were bespoken for service at the Bay of Islands. Several of the wives of the farm-servants, and others, have been engaged in the country, and all of the sons, able to work, have found employment. All others who have not found inducements to make more permanent private engagements, are doing necessary Government work, by contract which there is room for many more to partake the advantage of. All the free lads by the "St. George" are engaged, and most of the apprentices haye been placed; the remainder continuing under the charge of the Surveyor General.

As time went on, the employment situation (for those with less practical trades) got no better: Auckland Chronicle and New Zealand Colonist, Volume 2, Issue 24, 17 January 1844, Page 2

THE UNEMPLOYED MIGRANTS.
During the last week various meetings have been held, and many interviews have taken place between a deputation from the above body, the Governor, and Captain Rough. A few days after the arrival of His Excellency, the unemployed imigrants sent a most respectful address to him, congratulating him and family on their safe arrival, and at the same time praying that he would take into consideration their destitute situation, and afford them some means of employ, which address His Excellency was pleased to receive, and promised to send a written answer in the course of a day or two. In due course the reply to the address was received by the imigrants, in which reply His Excellency referred the unemployed to Capt. Rough, Superintendent of Works, (with whom he had communicated) and who had received instructions as to the necessary work to be done, wages to be given, &c. On application to Captain Rough, that gentleman told the unemployed, that all public works were to be performed by contract; but His Excellency feeling deeply interested in their situation, had instructed him to employ as many as were destitute and had no means of support; the married men to receive one shilling and nine-pence per day, and the single men one shilling and three-pence, but the moment any of them could obtain better wages they were at perfect liberty to leave the Government work; this they refused, and on Monday morning last, it was finally settled that the married men should receive two shillings per day, and the single men one shilling and sixpence, which the men accepted, and commenced work on Tuesday morning last. There is no doubt it is very painful to those who have served an apprenticeship to any trade, and who have come here under the conviction that they would receive remunerating wages, to find upon their landing on our shores, that their services are not required, and that they must submit to labour on the roads, or any other temporary employment they can procure. To such a class of persons, we repeat, it must be very repugnant, to work for one and sixpence or two shillings a day, but there are others who we have no doubt will cheerfully embrace the work now about to be done. It is really too bad that the emigration agents in the Mother country are not more cautious in their selection of emmigrants, as many of those mechanics brought here by the Jane Gifford, and Duchess of Argyle, are very little use as there is no employment for them at their respective trades. On the part of those poor unemployed people, we return His Excellency the Governor, our sincere thanks, for affording this means of employment, we cannot conclude these remarks, without informing the imigrants that it was not the wish of the Governor or Superintendant of Public Works, that the labouring class should work at unreasonably low wages; on the contrary it would be gratifying to know that the poor men were most amply remunerated; the fact of offering the low wages was in order that all might have a share, but now that the men have got what they demanded, the labour is confined to a portion of the most necessitous, and even these would not have been employed only thro' the strong recommendation of the Imigration Agent.

Bushy Point Diggings

Southland Times, Issue 3849, 21 October 1880

The Bushy Point Diggings. - A party of diggers left the Bluff yesterday to try their luck again on the old diggings at Bushy Point. Some good gold was found there some years ago, but owing to the difficulty in getting water on to the ground, the diggings were forsaken. The present party intend raising water by means of a windmill from a lagoon close to the ground and then carry it wherever it is wanted.

Coromandel

Windmills for quartz crushing:

The Auckland Star, Volume III, Issue 697, 6 April 1872 reported on a proposal to use windmills in the New Zealand goldfields. No evidence so far uncovered that this was ever taken up.

WINDMILLS FOR QUARTZ CRUSHING.

One of the greatest drawbacks to the complete development of the goldfields, or rather auriferous quartz mines on the Coromandel peninsula, has been the immense difficulty, and in many cases impossibility, of convoying to within a reasonable distance of the claims in the back country the ponderous boilers and heavy paraphernalia of steam engines. It is true that, in some instances water has been utilised both by turbines and the ordinary water wheels for the purpose of driving stamping machinery, but there are many places high up among the mountains where although gold is plentiful enough water is a scarce commodity.

Something is yet wanting to enable the more distant miners to extract the precious metal from its matrix with anything like pecuniary success; for under the present system the cost of conveying quartz to the mill in sacks on mens' backs or on packhorses would far more than swallow up the profits, even although an ounce or more to the ton might be the result.

Now, although steam cannot be used with advantage with the present cumbrous machines, which, although vastly improved within the last few years, have by no means been as yet brought to that perfection of lightness and portability which may yet be accomplished; and although the pure oxide of hydrogen is not in sufficient quantity to admit of its employment to drive even, a centrifugal mill, yet there remains a resource — boundless in extent, easy of application, which can be obtained for nothing, (that grand desideratum), and which can be put in harness and utilized by comparatively unskilled labor.

The medium to which we allude is that ever-changing and restless fluid, the air, the motion of which is so necessary to the welfare of the human race. The great ocean would never have been traversed had it not been for its aid, and this "Great Britain of the South" might never have been discovered and settled had it not been for the impetus of the mobile fluid on the woven hemp spread from the yards of Van Tasman's ship.

The force then of the air drawn from one place to another by the rarefaction occasioned by the heat of the sun is that which ought to be employed. Windmills have for countless ages been used in the service of mankind. Great internal seas have been drained by the aid of those of the most simple construction. Flour is even yet ground by their aid, and with much less expenditure than could be done by the motive power extracted from water by that great Megoethon, the steam engine. Then, why not utilize this power of AEolus in the far districts of the difficultly-accessible back regions of the goldfields? The wind is almost always blowing up or down the ranges and the gullies leading from them, and there are very few days indeed during the year when there is not sufficient to turn the sails of an ordinary windmill with effect. Timber galore is on the ground, and there are scores of people within a reasonable radius of the principal ranges, sufficiently versed in the mechanical arts and the "art and mystery" of woodwork in particular to be able to construct a windmill of a primitive kind at very small costs. Stampers quite sufficient for general outside use could be elevated and let fall upon the ore by one of a moderate expense of sail; and without doubt, by their use, the back country could be opened and hidden treasure brought to light; and instead of miserable attempts at carting material for miles to the stamping machines over rugged country, we should have the pleasure each week of witnessing large deposits of manipulated gold in the banks at Shortland, Grahamstown, and Coromandel. — Communicated.

Actually, a windmill had already been used in a goldfield on the South Island: Evening Post, Issue 25, 8 March 1865

The Oamaru Times of 23rd inst. states - "A gentleman who has just returned from a visit to Lindis Downs, Sandy Point, Rocky Point, Alberton, Cardrona, and Cromwell, reports that at Lindis Downs new diggings have been commenced; fine nuggety gold is found in patches; it is very coarse and not waterworn. About sixteen men are at work on the ground, and about twenty ounces have been got. At Sandy Point machinery is about to be brought into use, and a windmill being nearly completed for raising water for sluicing purposes. ..."

Hamilton

New Zealand Herald, Volume VIII, Issue 2338, 24 July 1871

HAMILTON.
The annual meeting of ratepayers for the Hamilton Highway District was held at the Court-house, Hamilton, on Monday evening, 17th instant. Captain Beere, chairman of the Board, presided.
...
At the close of the meeting, the subject of the erection of a flour-mill was brought forward by the chairman, who pointed out that the necessities of the settlement required such a thing. he had made a low calculation of the amount of consumption of flour, &c., in the immediate district, and found that, at the very least, £1000 per year was sent out of the settlement which ought to have been retained in it. He thought there were no two opinions about the capabilities of the soil of the district for growing grain, as he distinctly remembered that, when he first came up with the militia, he saw, in the immediate neighbourhood, some of the finest crops of grain he thought he had ever seen anywhere. He would be glad to hear what the settlers thought of it. He thought it was very desirable, and had drawn up a rough prospectus of a company, which, for the present, would be equal to their wants. He proposed a Joint Stock Company (limited), say 250 shares, at £2 per share. A windmill he suggested, as it would be found to be the cheapest, and there were several good sites in and around the township for such a structure. Mr. Morris thought the chairman's estimate of the consumption of flour, &c., ridiculously below the fact, as he knew that two stores alone - and there were five in the place - sent away, on an average, £120 per month for flour. Then, say the other three sent away the same amount, and also allowed £50 or £60 per month as sent away for the same thing by private individuals, he thought we might get a nearer estimate of the actual amount drained out of the district yearly; therefore, instead of £1000 per annum, it would be safe to put it down as £3500 to £4000. The subject was taken up in a conversational manner, and resulted in a resolution appointing the undermentioned gentlemen as a committee to procure estimates of the relative cost of a mill propelled by water, wind, and steam; also to examine the various sites, and to report at the adjourned annual meeting, 6th August : - Capt. Beere, Messrs. Morris, Knox, Jolly, Martin, Jones, and Maunders.

A mill was indeed built, but as a watermill.

Hannaford light (#nz44)

cast iron lighthouse with windmill attached:

Whilst this windmill was never constructed at full size, a model appears to have been produced and shown to all who showed an interest.

T B Hannaford appears to have carried on various activities in Auckland, before he came up with his windmill lighthouse plan. These gave rise to some magistrates court appearances: Auckland Star, Volume I, Issue 173, 29 July 1870

Defended Cases. T. B. Hannaford v. G. Rodgers, claim of £5 16s 6d, for rent alleged to be due. An agreement between the parties was produced, and evidence received from plaintiff and defendant. Judgment for defendant.

Auckland Star, Volume I, Issue 251, 28 October 1870

Samuel Partridge v. T. B. Hannaford : Claim, £1 14s. 8d. Judgment for plaintiff.

Auckland Star, Volume II, Issue 449, 19 June 1871

POLICE COURT.—Monday.
Before Thomas Beckham, Esq., R.M.
Drunkenness. - Thomas B. Hannaford, for being drunk and disorderly, was fined 20s and costs, or to be imprisoned 48 hours, with hard labour.

A complex case involving purjury, drukedness and more Auckland Star, Volume III, Issue 857, 3 December 1872 A frivolous case about a waistcoat Auckland Star, Volume IV, Issue 915, 12 February 1873

LARCENY, Ellen Parker was brought up on a Warrant, charged with stealing Mr Thomas B. Hannaford's white summer waistcoat, valued at 7s., on the 15th day of December, 1872. The accused, a decent looking poor woman, stated that the complainant gave her the waistcoat. Mr Broham stated that since Mr Hannaford had taken out a warrent for the apprehension of the accused he had got out of the way, and could not be found to substantiate the charge. The Chairman said it was a pity that something could not be done to prevent Mr Hannaford's vagaries in taking up the time of the Court about such frivolous matters. The charge was dismissed.

He had varied business interests Auckland Star, Volume I, Issue 252, 29 October 1870

T. B. HANNAFORD, LAND, HOUSE, AND GENERAL COMMISSION AGENT, PUBLIC WRITER, ACCOUNTANT, AND COLLECTOR, SERVANTS' REGISTRY OFFICE

and he also advertised "infallible remedies" Auckland Star, Volume XXII, Issue 4233, 3 January 1884

DEAFNESS ! — Those distinguished London Auriculists (Doctors Harvey and Pritchard) infallible remiedies. Desciptive pamphlets forwarded on receipt of stamps for postage — T. B. Hannaford, Auckland.

Letter to the paper about construction of a sea wall Auckland Star, Volume IV, Issue 934, 7 March 1873 and followup Auckland Star, Volume IV, Issue 1011, 16 April 1873 A amusing aricle about his lost pair of trousers Auckland Star, Volume IV, Issue 1024, 1 May 1873

The first published reference I've seen to this scheme was in 1884, when H B Hannaford in one of many letters about his plan described merely a windmill powering a hammer to strike a signal bell Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 4449, 18 August 1884

PREVENTION OF WRECKS.
Suggestions to Ensure the Safety of New Zealand Coasts,

Mv T. B. Hannaford, of this city, has evolved a plan whereby he claims that, at trifling expense, the absolute security of our New Zealand coasts could be ensured. This scheme he has submitted in a letter to His Excellency the Governor, who replies as follows :—

"Govt. House, Wellington,
"23rd Juno, 1884,
"T. B. Hannaford, Esq.,
"Sir, — I am desired by His Excellency the Governor to acknowledge, with his thanks, the receipt of your letter of the 4th inst. containing a suggestion for the placing of turrets or dwarf towers on the small rocks and reefs near the coast of New Zealand. — I am, sir, your obedient servant,
F. W. Pennefather, Private Secretary

The scheme thus submitted to high authority seems worthy of consideration, and will be found described in the following letter from Mr Hannaford : —

"Sir, - The frequent wreckage and accidents to steamers and sailing vessels on the New Zealand coasts, I have reasons for believing, are getting these islands an evil name. Many a small sunken rock and insignificant reef is dotted here and there from north to south on both East and West Coasts. But small and insignificant as they may be, they are all sufficient to wreck a noble steamer or a stalely ship! Now, were I to recommend the erection of lighthouses on all these points of danger, with the necessary complement of keepers, I should be jeered at for a fool, and entitle myself for a lodgment at the Whau. But, sir, something should be done to warn mariners of their dangerous proximity. And this is what (with your kind permission) I desire to lay before your scientific readers for their grave consideration. On the most dangerous of those small sunken rocks or reefs, let skeleton turrets or dwarf towers be erected (something similar to our firebell supports, only of iron instead of wood, and therein hang a loud-toned bell, the tolling of which could easily be accomplished by a windmill fixed on the top of the bell turret or tower. The bell, by the aid of a cog wheel, could be made rotary, so that the hammer, working in a fixed groove, would strike on every portion of the bell's circumference, instead of constantly infringing on one particular spot, which oftentimes is the cause of bells being cracked. The more furious the storm, the greater the volocity of the 'fans,' and louder and more rapid would be the clangour of the bell. I hold that such an arrangement would be a priceless blessing to seafaring men approaching or leaving our coasts, and the cost of each would be comparatively small. Many engineers in New Zealand would not only in a short space of time produce working drawings of what I have so feebly shadowed out, but improve upon it, such as the addition of 'windgauges,' which would not only register the wind's force, but the day and hour of such registrations at one particular point, so as to compare with other portions of the seaboard, at the same minute of time. All the attention of these ocean sentinels would lequire would be an occasional coat of paint, a little oil to the works, and it may be, replacing a broken fan ; added to which they would, in daylight, be admirable beacons to guide masters of vessels to their desired havens.— I am, &c., T. B. Hannaford."

Some encouragement on the suggestion appeard via letters to the paper: Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 4459, 29 August 1884

Sir, ln your issue of August 18th I notice with great pleasure a letter from the Governor's Private Secretary to Mr T. B. Hannaford, of this city, thanking that gentleman for a suggestion which is of very great importance to the travelling public. I myself have had long experience, and many hairbreadth escapes from the dangerous rocks upon our coasts, and with your kind permission, sir, desire to endorse all that has been so well stated by Mr Hannaford in your columns; and to thank that gentleman, in the name of a large family, who are in continual peril when travelling at night, from the numberless unguarded reefs upon our coastline. This is indeed a practical suggestion, which would be hailed by many in Auckland with great satisfaction. It is well remembered by me, now more than a quarter of a century since, what a pleasing sound was the bell buoy at Liverpool, and how useful it was in directing vessels in distress into the dangerous channel up the Mersey. Personally Mr Hannaford is a stranger to me, but it is nevertheless a pleasure to thank that gentleman for his letter in your issue of the 18th ult. — I am, etc., Richakd Marsh.

There was some interest in bringing the scheme to the attention of Parliament Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 4461, 1 September 1884

Mr T. B. Hannaford's scheme for the prevention of wrecks on the coasts of New Zealand is to be brought under the notice of the House of Representatives by means of a petition. The proposed apparatus has already been described in our columns, and the inventor has since brought the subject directly under the notice of many prominent citizens. The result is that a memorial is being extensively signed praying the House of Representatives to give favourable consideration to Mr Hannaford's petition in the interest of the public safety, and the credit of the colony. His Worship the Mayor's signature heads the list, and many other influential names are being appended.

Open discussion (or confontation) on the matter took place via the Auckland newpapers letters columns Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 4464, 4 September 1884

Prevention of Wrecks.
(To the Editor,)
Sir,—With reference to the above allow me to say how proximity to the "Spitbank" at Portsmouth is made known to mariners, There is a large flat-headed buoy moored bearing a cone-shaped framework some 12 or 14 feet high, within which is placed three hollow seats running from different points to the centre, each seat meeting a bell, mouth downwards. In each of these seats is a cannon ball, which runs down, on the buoy rocking, to the bell, giving out a very loud sound. No matter how smooth the water may be, this bell rings; in fact I have known the "Spit bellbuoy" to ring when Spithead has been as smooth the the paper I am writing on, and the swell of a passing steamer will ring it for hours. The contrivance was invented and patented by a Portsmouth man, and after some trials the Lords of the Admiralty adapted it, and I believe all shoals round the naval ports now have these buoys. I remember soon after the Spit bell-buoy came into use, a petition was presented by the residents of Southsea to the Admiralty to have it done away with on "account of the nuisance of its continual ringing," and yet the distance from its moorings to the nearest house is at least 2 1/2 miles. This very thing should be its strongest advocate. Before adopting any new-fangled "windmill" arrangement, it would be as well to inquire into the advantages of this to which I have referred.—Yours faithfully, EX-SOUTHSEAN, Brrighton Road, September 2, 1884.

with replies soon forthcoming Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 4467, 8 September 1884

Prevention of Wrecks.
(To the Editor.)

Sir, —I notice in your issue of yesterday a letter from "Ex Southsean" in reference to the above, giving some particulars as to the Spit buoy at Portsmouth, and I certainly think with him that if the Government are thinking of a way whereby the frequent occurrence of wrecks around this dangerous coast may be avoided, this should be considered in preference to Mr Hannaford's (I believe) idea of the windmill arrangement. To my idea it is a cheaper as well as a more effective mode of warning our mariners of the proximity of rocks or shoals. The buoys cannot possibly get out of order, as the windmills might; and, as "Ex-Southsean" states, and I fully corroborate him, the slightest motion sets those "bell buoys" ringing, they are useful in fogs when there is scarcely any wind, or at any rate not enough to set going a windmill. I have heard the Spit buoy at Portsmouth ringing when fully 7 or 8 miles away from it and only a little wind stirring, and have set it ringing myself when in a small boat with just a touch of the hand, and at Southsea on the finest of days it can generally be heard, although perhaps slightly. As this has been proved by the naval authorities at Home to be thoroughly effective, it would be better to go in for a thing that has been so proved than to spend money on a thing that perhaps will not answer. Something most assuredly ought to be done to lessen the dangers of the coast of this country. — I am, etc.,
Portsmouth.
Collingwood-street, Sept. 4, 1884.

Sir, — It is true that the poet wrote, "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." Still, it is hard after a year's intense study, resulting in the evolution of what I dare to say is a grand scheme for the prevention of wrecks, to receive through the press a slap in the face from a brainless "Jack Pudding." There are some scribblers who can shed ink on no subject without writing themselves down asses at one and the same time. Your correspondent, "Ex-Southsean," in Thursday night's Star, is one of the number. Now, I would ask any sane man of what earthly use a cone-shaped framework 12 or 14 feet high (!) enclosing a peal of bells and a lot of cannon-balls, would be to mariners to warn them of the dangerous proximity of a sunken rock or reef 50 or more miles away from land? How much of that cone-shaped framework could be descried from the deck of a vessel in a gale of wind? I waive all intention of the important works my "new-fangled windmill arrangement" could carry out besides ringing ceaseless warning peals, and content myself with just these few words :— An object at rest (or if bobbing about would at a distance appear at rest) would not nearly be as likely to catch the eye of a sailor as another in pronounced motion, which would be the case with my "new-fangled windmill arrangement," through the revolvings of its "fans." —I am, &c.,
T. B. Hannaford.

The paper soon declared a truce, declining to publish further letters on the matter Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 4471, 12 September 1884

Notices to Correspondents.
T. B. Hannaford. — We concur it is about time the controversy about. "Prevention of Wrecks" was brought to a close. Thanks for your letter, which is declined, in pursuance of the opinion expressed in its opening sentence. The letters of "Ex-Southsean" and "Another Ex Southsean" on the same subject are also declined with thanks, as the correspondence seems likely to degenerate into personalities. All, we hope, will rejoice if the outcome of the present agitation is to secure greater security for "those that go down to the sea in ships", no matter whether it is by a cannon-ball or "windmill arrangement."

Some attention was indeed paid in Parliament Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 4475, 17 September 1884

Prevention of Wrecks. In the House yesterday afternoon, Sir George Grey presented a petition from Mr T. B. Hannaford, Auckland, praying the Government to introduce his system of belltowers as warnings on the coast.

From the Evening Post, 16 August 1888:

Auckland: A public gathering last night at the Oddfellows' Hall, the Mayor presiding, inspected a model of Hannaford windmill bell tower iron lighthouse, and after hearing explanations of the invention, resolved respectfully to ask Government to give it a trial at their earliest convenience.

A rather longer piece about the same meeting appeared in the New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9134, of the same date (16 August 1888):

THE HANNAFORD BEACON AND LIGHTHOUSE.

A meeting convened by His Worship the Mayor was held in the Cook-street Hall last night for the purpose of hearing an explanation, and inspecting a model and drawings of the lighthouse invented by Mr. T. B. Hannaford. There was only a moderate attendance. His Worship the Mayor presided, and read letters of apology for unavoidable absence from Messrs. Merritt, Tebbs, Lodder, Boylan, Bates, and Mr. Worthington, and Mr. Herapath apologised for Mr. Errington's absence.

The Mayor said that Mr. Hannaford was the inventor of a patent lighthouse, based on a new principle, and claimed for it that it was inexpensive, practical, and can be used on any part of their coasts, or any other coasts, and that it was superior to any lighthouse ever invented. It had been inspected by visitors and by local engineers, who had expressed individual opinions, and he (the Mayor) thought that if this lighthouse was of the great public benefit claimed for it by the inventor it was only right that he should call a public meeting in order that those capable of giving an opinion might give a combined opinion, and if this was favourable it would give to the invention a status which Mr. Hannaford could not individually do. He had expected that there would have been a large attendance of experts whose opinions would settle on the utility or otherwise of the invention of which the model and working plans were now before them. He would call on Mr. Hannaford to explain his invention.

Mr. Hannaford said that for many years he had had the idea that he could invent a lighthouse unlike any other in the world. He was no copyist, for he firmly believed that there was not in the world anything at all like the Hannaford lighthouse. It had a fault. It did not provide billets. As he was rather deaf, and probably gentlemen present would like to ask some questions, he had asked Mr. S. M. Herepath to explain the model and drawing.

Mr. Herepath then thoroughly explained the model, from the concrete foundation, upward through the iron structure to the dome and lights. He pointed out that the object of the windmill was to turn a dynamo which would store electricity, and revolve the fans and ring the alarm bell when the wind failed. All these features were elucidated by the working model, and plans prepared by Mr. Herepath himself.

Mr. Purbrook, electrician, explained how the electricity was stored, capable of furnishing 15,000 candle-power for fourteen days' supply. He answered several questions in further explaining the manner in which the reserve was made. In reply to the Mayor, he said he did not propose to utilise the tidal force, as the result for the cost would be too small. In answer to Mr. Pond, Mr. Purbrook said that 6 h.p. would be sufficient.

Mr. Pond said that if that was assumed there would be a hiatus at some time, and duplicates would be necessary.

Mr, Purbrook acknowledged that duplicates would be necessary in case of accident, and in places where calms existed it might be necessary to have an engine.

Mr. Pond asked if Mr. Purbrook would be justified in recommending that a six horse-power nominal would be sufficient to supply 15,000 candle power light and storage.

Mr. Purbrook said that the power obtained from the windmill would be in excess of six horse-power; six horse-power would be required in direct action for the light.

In reply to other gentlemen, Mr. Purbrook explained briefly the storage cells and how they were utilised. They took a little more than double the time to charge that they did to discharge, but the storage took place day and night, and the lighting only went on at night, and that was where he gained. The light power would be generally from the storage cells, which would be supplied by the dynamo, but direct action could be used when the wind was favourable.

Mr. Hannaford made some further explanations. Sir Saul Samuel had recommended him to go to New South Wales, but he had not been thirty years in Auckland without having a love for it, and if he erected one of those beacons in New Zealand he would have orders for a dozen or a score of them. As the Mayor was aware, Lord Brassey, who would no doubt be the First Lord of the Admiralty, had a high opinion of the invention. He (Mr. Hannaford) was convinced that if allowed to put up one of these beacons it would be the best thing that could happen in New Zealand. The cost would be about £3000 he estimated, and if he was one of the magnates of the city there would be no difficulty in the matter.

Mr. Atkin said he would like to see the electric scheme applied to the windmill on the hill.

Mr. Purbrook said it would cost as much to attach it to that as to the lighthouse. It was a mere question of expense.

Mr. S. M. Herepath moved, "That this meeting having heard the inventor's explanation of the principle and details of his invention, respectfully ask the Government to give it a trial at their earliest convenience."
The motion was carried unanimously.
Mr. Hannaford returned thanks, and a vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the meeting.

Various other newspaper reports appeared about the invention, including a long piece in the Auckland paper The Observer, 19 April 1890:

The Hannaford Light invention embraces a number of improvements in the construction of cast-iron towers for beacons or lighthouses, including windmill attachment for generating electricity, to be stored and used in the form of light for the lantern and of power to turn the windmill in times of calm and ring a bell during fogs. It is unnecessary now to describe the minutiae of the invention. Suffice it is to say that Mr Hannaford has worked at it for many years, making it as nearly perfect as possible, and that not only are the foundations and framework of the structure designed with great skill, but the electric and other attachments are devised so as to be almost entirely automatic in their action. Furthermore, engineers and electricians have examined the plant and models, and have been unanimous in their praise and commendation.

The inventor committed only one blunder, but that has proved a serious one. He did not take steps to protect his invention by letters patent. Want of the necessary means to do this may have been the reason of this omission; if so, it is but another exemplification of the truth (as old as Solomon) that the wisdom of the poor man is not regarded. Mr Hannaford put his trust in Princes — a very wise proceeding if he had secured letters patent, for nothing can be done nowadays without the powerful influence of those in position. Whenever a Cabinet Minister, or Government official, or distinguished visitor of any kind happened to be in Auckland, he was invited to see the model and plans of the Hannaford light; that windmill beacon was one of the recognised "lions" of Auckland; and the inventor was ever ready to explain the principle and details fully and clearly. Long residence in this wicked world ought to have taught Mr Hannaford that, if there was anything good and original in his ideas, they would soon become common property, under the circumstances. But, with a childlike trust, he kept on 'giving away' his invention. It would be easy to offer theories to account for this strange action. Perhaps Mr Hannaford thought Government officials and Cabinet Ministers were angels of light, incapable of stealing a poor man's ideas; perhaps he was unselfishly desirous of giving the world freely the fruits of his mental toils; or perhaps he was only the victim of one of those unfortunate lapses into blank idiocy to which all great men are said to be subject.

An article about this, apparently fairly serious suggestion, appeared in The Railroad and Engineering Journal in Feb 1891:

An Electrical Lighthouse. - The accompaning illustration, which is from the report of United States Consul Connolly, of Auckland, New Zealand, to the State Department, shows a lighthouse devised by Mr. Hannaford. a New Zealand inventor. It is an Iron tower, with a windmill attached, which furnishes power to run the electric light, storage batteries being provided to equalize the power and secure a regular, uniform light at all times. The inventor describes its working as follows :

"The Hannaford light is in three tiers up to the revolving cupola (which carries the lamp), but, although the lamp, of course, revolves with the cupola, the arc within does not, but is always broadside to one desired direction, the lens pulley at its back facing (that is, the back of the lens) the land. Now, the lens has spring slides, which, when operated, send electric flashes that can be plainly discerned a distance of at least 30 miles inland. Each set of flashes are different from each other and represent the letters of the alphabet. An expert within the lighthouse can communicate to an expert many miles inland anything of importance - a supreme value in the event of a marine disaster or in war time. Again, the arc can be bent downward and upward, swayed to right or left, or all round the compass, thus making it a great ocean searcher. Again, the arc is automatic, does its own lighting and extinguishment to an hour, a minute, or a second. The storage of electricity is so novel that it is absolutely impossible to run short, even for an hour, of the full strength of the 15,000 candle-power, not even if there were a dead calm of six months' duration. Now, the illustration of the external appearance of Hannaford's light which I inclose would be misleading without explanation. There is, in reality, no lattice ironwork in the base and central tiers; on the contrary, they would be like the top tier. It was necessary to introduce this latticework in the working model so as to be able to observe the internal arrangements of the tower."

The advantages claimed are cheapness, durability, simplicity of construction and the ease with which the lighthouse can be erected or, if necessary, taken down and removed.

The illustration from the Railroad and Engineering Journal also apparently appeared in the Challenge Wind Mill and Feed Mill Company Trade catalog circa 1895, but I doubt that they were actually selling the device.

[photo] [info]

Associated people

• Thomas Brown Hannaford

Hawke's Bay

A proposal to drain flood inundated areas of Hawke's Bay via wind driven pumps: Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 11, Issue 848, 8 June 1867

DRAINAGE.
Sir, — The unfortunate occurrence, with its most disastrous consequences, which has happened to the province of Hawke's Bay in the heavy flood by which it has been visited within the last few days, cannot but excite in the mind of every settler the hearty wish and hope that efficient measures may be devised to guard against the like in future, and the promptness which by the probeedings narrated in your columns of this day's issue the case has been attended to gives assurance that there will be no neglect on the part of those having the duty to take the lead in the matter.
I ought perhaps - an unknown man - to aplogise for presuming to trouble you with anything upon the subject, having been a settler but a few weeks. I beg however to state that although I certainly had no presentiment of such a flood ocourring - I had never heard of any previously - yet the large breadth of shallow water, with its attendant rotten soil or swamp, spread out on more than two sides of Napier, did appear to forbode results, as surely to be anticipated as those foretold by the prophecies of Holy Writ. In our case, those results to be fever certain, ague probably, diarrhoea, and that, if not well attended to, followed surely by cholera. And it is not to be overlooked that in every case, as population becomes more dense, disease becomes more imminent, and that usually much beyond all proportion to the increase of people. I have myself witnessed such things, and I have also witnessed the drainage and with success of very large tracts of land; and localities on which no fresh inhabitants ever settled without being anon seized by the Ten Lawyers, alias Ague Fever, and one-third usually killed, one-third debilitated for life, and perhaps one-third recovered. Now population is fast spreading, new houses and premises are erected, and a very fine agricultural district, healthy withal, is forming or r[???]er formed. Under the circumstances I had proposed, if you would allow me, to publish an article, or letter, in your columns. This flood disaster has caused me to trouble you sooner than I had thought of.
Let me not, sir, be charged with assumption in intruding my ideas where there are so many persons, Engineers and others, whose attention will be closely and scientifically drawn to the subject. But if my writing should have the effect of bringing any idea before the public which abler men may think worth their examining; and possibly draw therefrom hints that may be useful to the attaining of the desired end, benefit may accrue to the province, I shall feel richly rewarded for my trouble in writing, and your readers will derive a compensation for the time taken in perusal. At the outset, though, I deem it to be necessary that I should explain that I believe it will be necessary to resort to different systems to carry out the entire of the drainage to whioh I have alluded. The large extent of country damaged, or in danger, from the late flood, to which you have alluded in your this day's issue, - more than 700,000 acres - and the permanent swamp round Napier not exceeding 1000 acres. The first named portion may I presume, from the description, be perfectly protected by a not expensive embankment, comparatively speaking. The smaller portion to be scientifically drained, that the worthless and deleterious swamp may be converted into a level of rich grazing marshes, and, I believe, your Iron Pot considerably improved at the same time, would be more expensive.
As examples, of the first, I may name numerous examples in almost every part of England in whioh there ara considerable rivers, some of rather old standing, and some carrying out every day. I may mention one example, as there we know what it cost. I allude to the Bedford Level, containing very nearly 400,000 acres, and for which the Earl of Bedford and his fellow adventurers (thirteen in number) received one acre in four; and they also undertook to keep banks in repair. This large portion of land was all very much injured by water. Some stagnant, and some derived from floods from rivers, either in descending from the uplands, or from water pressed back by tides. The adventurers had also the labour of a number of Dutch prisoners of war, from whom have descended several families of respectable yeomanry, whose forefathers settled on the land when reclaimed and among that land there is muoh as productive as any within the four seas of Britain. The quantities of miles of embankment by the sides of rivers in England is also very great; these are frequently in situations not unlike many here. Banks two or three feet high prevent any water from the rivers in flood flowing in upon the marshes, and sufficient ditches made round the fields inside, serve to receive such water as falls from the heavens. At the lower corner of the field stands a self-winding windmill pump, which never fails to keep the enclosed field free from flooding, and day and night the lithe fellows never rest from their work while there is a breath of wind, and when it blows fresh a confounded clatter they make. I speak of good marsh lands on whioh many bullocks are grazed for the London or other markets, and still more fed so as to be forward enough to go into the farming graziers' yards at the beginning of winter, to be fed for Christmas beef, on white turnips, swedes, pudding, linseed cake and meal. Sheep are also fattened on these marshes in summer time.
From what I have seen of the levels here, I believe that they would well suit for this kind of management. Let the rivers be embanked so as to keep the water off the land first of all, and an allowance made for so much width as will allow a flood to pass off. I fear, Sir, that, with the heavy sea breaking on our coast, if you dig out the outlets of the rivers with any expectation of deepening them so as to keep the course clear, that such would not be the case; but if the total water flowing down the channel be kept in one stream, it will probably deepen the outlet so far as needful for its discharge. You can by no digging keep the outfall any deeper than the stream will do by its own natural action. Such waters as flow from the outland to the rivers or small streamlets, can be conducted outside the banks till the fall of the main stream is sufficient to let them flow in through sluices in the bank.
But the clearing the swamp round the town is, so far as engineering goes, the principal point. Such work has also been frequently done and is now constantly doing. We have no particular work to do here if we had but the money. In England, on the Severn banks, forty or more feet in height are raised to keep out the water. I have myself, on the other side of the kingdom, been riding on a good turnpike road, while a vessel drawing six or eight feet of water has been sailing within 80 yards horizontally from me, with her keel higher than my head. The wash or a good part of it has been reclaimed, and good grass is growing where , but a few years ago, the tide flowed and ships sailed. Morecambe Bay is undergoing the same process of reclamation. But smaller jobs of reclamation are constantly going on in the Fen districts.
The process is, first, to lead away by embankment all streams, great or small, that flow into the plot to be reclaimed, and then embank the plot itself. All the water in it then, or which falls into it from the clouds, must be pumped out. This can be done by mills moved by wind power, and can of course be done by steam; but then there is the expense. It is one advantage here that in this island there are no bogs, that is, spots where turf is forming; therefore, probably, the dip for your mill for throwing out the water may be sunk deep enough at first. Where turf bogs are forming, there are frequently several feet depth of sheer sludge between the upper surface where the grass grows and the cattle feed, and the solid bottom. As the water is drawn or thrown off, the sludge dries, and sometimes, during the process of making dry land, the surface falls some feet, and the dip must, consequently, be carried deeper also.
For the water flowing from the higher land and embanked from the swamp, that would require to be led in a stream, carefully embanked, to the outlet; in this case, I may say, to our Iron Pot, and sluices or flood-gates provided for controlling its issue from the embanked river. It is very probable that this may be so managed as to enable a greater depth of water to be obtained upon the bar at low water. I am, &c, A Stranger.

Many of the same ideas were repeated in a second letter later the same year: Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 12, Issue 901, 17 December 1867

SWAMP DRAINING.
Sir, — In the impression of your journal of this day, the editorial article comprises some remarks upon the drainage of the swamps enclosing Napier on three sides, threatening that town most assuredly with pestilence and death. I would, however, request room to make the observation that the writer, when observing about the responsibilities, must have had a fit of somnolency when he asserted that the purchasers of these water and sludge-covered acres were liable to the expense, of filling up the area and making it sound — and in this case healthy — ground. Is there one tittle in the purchase documents of this swamp that will bear such a construction? If there is, it is a wondrous novelty in conveyancing; for surely the persons who are responsible for the ill situation and population thereof as to health, are those who of their own free will, in spite of swamp, come and fix their living there — the risk is theirs.
At the same time, it is much to be regretted that so large a level of land lies useless and likely to be injurious, just where it might become a source of wealth and pleasantness. Want of the means is the only general cause for its neglect; the non-filling up of the acres of individual purchasers is nonsense, and a little besides.
Having witnessed the effects of draining upon many hundred thousand acres of land, and its effect upon smaller areas, even in a few years, (from two or three to eight) and of a much more boggy description than this Napier swamp.
I ask leave also to remark that Napier wants very much improvement made in its harbor, and a stranger fancies that with a considerable river disemboguing itself into the sea on the east side of the swamp, from which it is apparently a dead level to the harbor, that the stream might be easily diverted so as to scour it out both deeper and larger. But it appears that this river every now and then is subject to floods, which bring down great quantities of sand and debris from the hills, so that it would be more likely to fill up the harbour than to improve it. The embankment of the river so diverted would at the same time have formed a part of the bank for the swamp.
Now, I know not if any engineer's estimate has ever been procured as to the amount that it would cost, to embank, in one plot, the whole of the swamp, with the necessary drain for carrying off the water. By comparison, I do not think it would be a very expensive concern. I may say that I have seen banks running several miles up into the country, perfectly protecting the land, both arable and marsh, and all the homesteads; and the first storey floors of many of the houses of a considerable market town and port (communicating with the sea ten or twelve miles distant by the river) opening upon the top of the river bank, not less than 14 feet high.
I believe that here it would answer, first to embank the whole, for which a bank three or four feet in height would be amply sufficient; and then pump out the contained water. This could be easily done by steam, and the land kept dry afterwards; but probably it would be much cheaper done by the aid of wind power, pumping the water out by windmills. Of course all admission of running water from the outside must be prevented. Providing the money in the first instance is the difficulty. Works of this kind are frequently paid for by a certain portion of the reclaimed land being given to the contractors; sometimes by a part (when no fresh division) being sold; sometimes by a rateable payment by the owners, and the expenses and repairs are always so provided for. — I am, &c, A Stranger.

Kaitaia

1814-1853 - The Missionary Register contains the following brief mention of how a windmill would be useful in the area, though I doubt it was ever seriously considered:

Advancement in Civilization.

Mr. Puckey gives an interesting account of the advance in civilization which the Natives are making, which is confirmed by the Reports of several of the other Missionaries. He writes, toward the close of 1846--

Our Natives have been well off this last winter for wheat, which has been a great blessing to them, as their crop of potatoes has been but very scanty. I have provided many of them with cows, and several with sheep: one tribe has as many as seventy. I want to see them esteem all those comforts that Europeans do, for it is my opinion that civilization will not proceed without it. Their desire for horses is without bounds: this I do not like, as I fear in time they will be too much like the wild Arabs. To complete the temporal happiness of the Natives about five miles around us a small windmill is wanted--one which will cost about 50l. in England.

Manganui

Daily Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 7, 3 June 1843

Our harbour too, is well known in Sydney, and the United States of America, as a depot where some of their largest vessels have been wont to refit; having no bar entrance, and excellent anchorage, and where, but a few months ago the Henry, whaler, Captain Young, from New Bedford, captured a fine whale, as she lay at anchor, which yielded 80 barrels of oil, by the light of which I now write. So much, in fact, did Captain Young prefer Monganui to all the other parts of New Zealand he has visited, (except the Bay of Islands) that he has purchased a fine tract of land near us, and is now gone to fetch his family; intending to bring out a windmill, blacksmith, forge, &c.

Masterton

This was not so much a proposal, rather a hyperthetical question about whether the local Maori tribes should need to be consulted over the erection of a windmill (clearly a peaceful action), since they had expressed objection to erection of stockades (mostly defensive, but somewhat of a provocative action, since it indicates some expectation of preparing to fight): Wairarapa Standard, Volume II, Issue 101, 19 December 1868

MAJOR SMITH AND HIS WINDMILL.

If one hundred persons had been told that in discussing the subject of erecting stockades, they were to introduce the subject of windmills, ninety-nine would have stated that it was an impossibility. Major Smith succeeded in doing this on Thursday. In speaking on the subject of Ngairo’s objection to stockades, he asked why he was to be consulted on this point. The Major said, "if he himself wanted to put up a windmill on his property which would doubtless be a great novelty in Masterton, was he to go and ask Mr. Ngairo or Mr. Wi Wis explained aka if he consented to its being erected ?"
It would hardly be credited that an officer commanding a district could be found to make use of such a metaphor on such an occasion. If Major Smith is, as he professes to be, acquainted with the natives of the district, which is very much doubted, he must know that if Ngairo only uttered one word, every settler who could afford it would send his wife and family into Wellington, and a panic would be created in tbe Wairarapa, the like of which we have never yet beheld. We cannot but regret that not only tbe actions, but also the words of Major Smith should be tending to produce war, instead of prolonging peace in this valley.

An earlier article helps put this in context: Otago Daily Times, Issue 599, 18 November 1863

The tall talk of the West Coast natives about attacking the redoubts at Rangitikei and its neighborhood, has been apparently silenced by a joke of Mr Fox's. An armed party went up to Rangatikei lately, with a view it was said, to hold a rununga on that question. About 150 local and other natives were present, and after every concievable question had been talked over, that of the stockades was introuced and disposed of in a single speech. Mr Fox told them that they were built for tbe purpose of enabling the settlers to defend themselves and their families should they be attacked. The settlers had no intention to attack peaceable natives, but if the natives attacked the settlers, they didn't mean to leave the district, but fight for it; that it was all very well for the natives present to say that there was no intention to attack tbe settlers, but it was well known that the King, Wi Tako, and others had circulated letters urging the natives to do so. The latest stockade having been built in consequence of a warning from Hapurona that a large party of armed Waikatos were only a few miles off, he prposed to call that Hapurona's stockade, the one that was built in consequence of the King's letter to Wi Tako - be called Matutaera's Stockade, that built when the news of Wi Takos' letter to Ngairo reached them would in like manner be known as Wi Tako's Stockade, and so on. I am told, by one who was present, that, this joke was received with shrieks of laughter. The Natives love a bit of fun dearly and fully appreciate it in others - nothing more has baen heard of resistance to stockade building in that part of the Province.

Molyneux river

Another proposal for water raising windmills, not for drainage but rather for sluicing to wash away the river banks to uncover gold: Dunstan Times, Issue 339, 23 October 1868

HOW TO WORK THE BANKS OF THE MOLYNEUX.
(To the Editor of the Dunstan Times.)
Sir, - The attention of diggers having been for some time given to the subject stated as the heading of this letter, and efforts moreover being now made with the same object in view - to bring a large headrace from the Lindis River - I believe it would be well for all parties first to pause and see if a much cheaper plan of operations cannot be initiated.
What is wanted is water, and that at a level sufficient to wash away the banks by sluicing. There is abundance of water rushing past the river terraces every day. Why cannot this be raised? I think it may most easily, and on the very same principle as that by which the hulks in Port Chalmers Harbor are now regularly pumped out, viz., small windmills. The only question is - Will there be sufficient wind? I think there will, because these windmills could go at all hours and times, without attendance, by simply discharging the water raised into a reservoir or reservoirs on the top of the banks beside them. The water thus stored would be available for working anything on a lower level and at any time. The cost would be nothing to that of water-races, and the construction is exceedingly simple. A light iron or wooden frame for the sails, so made that the sails can he reefed down or stowed altogether when the wind is too powerful, and a crank and pump. Then a very great recommendation is that a party of diggers, after having worked out one claim, could pack up and remove the whole apparatus to fresh ground. Altogether I feel satisfied of the efficacy and simplicity of the plan that I am certain it has only to be tried to he adopted all along the banks of the river. I am, &c., A.
Idaburn, October 8, 1868.

The letter was noted in other papers, which explictly linked it to gold extraction: Otago Daily Times, Issue 2100, 28 October 1868

A correspondent of the Dunstan Times, speaking of the project entertained for some time past of working the banks of the Molyneux river for gold, remarks:—"What is wanted is water, ..."

followed by a verbatim copy of the main paragraph of the letter.

Napier

Another proposal to use wind power to pump water in the Hawke's Bay area, this time to supply the reservoir: Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 14, Issue 1180, 19 August 1870

WATER SUPPLY.
Sir, — In a former letter I mentioned that I had another plan than either steam or the hydraulic ram, for raising water from the flat to the reservoir. This is to raise it by wind power. We are seldom a day without wind, which would pump more or less, as windmills are made to work with a light breeze, and to reef their own sails in case of the wind rising. Where power is not required constantly, wind is found very cheap. The objections are chiefly two. Firstly, that the wind is uncertain, and your machinery may be at a standstill for want of it. Secondly, that wind is so variable in strength, that it requires great adjustment to make the machinery work smoothly. For instance, a windmill which might be working steadily at fourhorse power, might, by the freshening of the breeze, be immediately working up to eight or ten-horse power, if the sails were not adjusted; and, in that case, the working parts might not be strong enough to bear the increased strain.
For pumping water to the reservoir, these two evils would not be so serious, as the daily supply drawn from the reservoir would not be very large, and there would almost always be some part of the day in which the windmill would work. By using the centrifugal pump to raise the water, the pump would act as an additional regulator. I will explain this by quoting from another of the leading manufacturers of hydraulic machinery in England.
"The wind-power pumping machinery is simple, will work continuously day and night when the wind blows; is not likely to get out of repair, and requires but little attention. Gwynne.and Co.'s improved centrifugal pump, possesses the great advantage of discharging a quantity of water equal to the square of the velocity; thus double the velocity will raise four times the quantity of water to a given height; or it will raise the same quantity to four times the height. It will thus be seen that this pump acts as a safety governor to the wind engine, and when the wind blows very strong, the immense quantity of water raised prevents the wind engine from running too fast, and at the same time usefully applies the power."
A small wind engine, with centrifugal pump suited to our purposes, could, I think, be erected for £150, including freight, and timber-work to be constructed here. If found necessary, it might be used in conjunction with an hydraulic ram. The latter raising a few thousand gallons continuously every day, whilst the former could pump the water which had been used to work the ram, which, as I before explained, only forces up about a tenth of the water that passes into it, the remainder flowing to waste. I believe this double arrangement could be accomplished for £200, exclusive of pipes to convey the water. Mr. Weber allows £600 for steam machinery, which would require both coal and constant attendance, and which if used only for the Water Company, would be idle a great part of the time.
H. B. S.

New Zealand

Yes, this may be stretching the idea of a proposal a bit, but it was suggested that the whole of New Zealand was a suitable place to erect a windmill! Auckland Chronicle and New Zealand Colonist, Volume 2, Issue 30, 29 February 1844

ADAPTATION OF THE SOIL OF NEW ZEALAND FOR THE GROWTH OF WHEAT.
The fertility of the soil of New Zealand and its capabilities as an agricultural country, are now sufficiently tested and established beyond a doubt, and we are happy to bear testimony to tbe abundant crops of wheat that have been gathered to, by some of the Tamaki Farmers, from small patches of ground they were induced to sow with that staple commodity in order to test the virtue of the soil. Mr. Knox who has been settled about a year on a section of the Tamaki land, had 60 rods, or 3 8th of an acre sown with wheat, and upon weighing the crop after thrashing out, allowing 62 lbs. to the bushel, the produce was 19 bushels or after the rate of 60 bushels to the acre. Mr. Kerr, a near neighbour of Mr. Knox, had also about the same quantity according to the size of the ground. These encouraging facts have determined them, and many others, to turn their attention to tbe cultivation of wheat on a much more extensive scale next year, and we trust there will then be a sufficient quantity grown, to supply all the population, without draining the resources of the country by importation of foreign flour. We have seen the wheat in bulk, and a better quality could not be desired, it is rather shorter in the grain than English, or Van Diemen's Land wheat, but very plump, indeed almost round, and a clear thin skin. Windmills for grinding could be erected in any part of New Zealand with little expense, and who can say that in two or three years, flour will not be a considerable article of export. Advance New Zealand.

Riccarton

On 20th January, 1849, W and J Deans, settlers at Riccarton near Port Cooper (present day Lyttleton), wrote a long letter to Captain Thomas, of the New Zealand Company. In it they answer questions previously raised by the Captain about their experiences and thoughts of the suitability of the area for a larger settlement. Whilst covering a full range of subjects including the weather, crops, land quality, stock, timber, building materials, and fencing; wheat and milling form a thread throughout much of the report:

...

The harvesting of wheat, barley, and oats takes place in the months of January or February. We have had remarkably fine crops of each of these both as regards quantity and quality, never having had less than twenty bushels of either to the acre, and we have had above sixty bushels, the difference in the quantity being attributable to the greater or less care with which the land has been prepared for the crop, and whether the season was favourable or unfavourable.

...

You are aware that Van Diemen's Land and South Australia at present grow most of the grain used in the colonies in these seas; and it is a well ascertained fact, that in these two colonies the average crop of wheat does not exceed twenty-five bushels to the acre; so that we must confidently anticipate that the open land here will grow larger crops than can be produced in either of these colonies.

...

From the facility with which immense quantities of wheat can be grown, it is of the utmost importance that mills, or the materials for mills, with thrashing-power attached, should accompany the first settlers: one water and one windmill would probably be sufficient at first.

...

10th. 'What per ton did flour and other provisions cost on first establishing your station, and what now?'
On first coming here, flour cost us about £25 per ton. Irish salt pork about £6 per cask of 200 lbs. Tea, 2s. per lb.; and sugar 4d. to 5d. per lb. Now, flour can be bought here from £16 to £18. No salted provisions are used, and tea and sugar are still about the same price.

Tauranga

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume I, Issue 31, 18 December 1872

Flour Mill Company
Public Meeting

In accordance with annoucement, the adjourned public meeting - convened to receive the report of the committee, and to take necessary steps for the formation of a Flour Mill Company - was held on Saturday evening, at the Tauranga Hotel. There was a large attendance, and Captain Skeet occupied the chair.

The Chairman, in his usual able and eminently practical manner, explained the object of the meeting, and read the following report of the Committee apointed at a public meeting on Saturday, November 23, to investigate the probable cost of a flour mill for Tauranga, and the best site for the same:-

"The committee have taken into coinsideration the different kinds of mill:- "

"Firstly. - A steam mill: No doubt a steam mill offers many advantages. Ther is no particular question of locality, it may be placed almost anywhere, and if such a mill were created in Tauranga the saving of carriage would be considerable; but taking into consideration the one item of coal alone, which would amount to £500 or £600 a year, it would be impossible to work such amill with profit unless with a capital of £4,000 or £5,000 to enable the proprieters to buy grain."

"Secondly. - A mill worked by water power: Your committee have carfeully considered the subject of water supply in reference to turbine, undershot, breast, and overshot wheels, and find that an overshot wheel would be the most suitable, and the only avaialable locality they can recommend is the Waimapu Riverl; the site on a Government Reserve, as near as possible to what is termed Turner's crossing, that being nearly the end of punt or boat navigation. This site also, with a little expense, could be connected with the main road from Oropi."

"Yout committee have enquired into the probable cost of erecting a mill with two pair of stones on that site, and getting it into working order, and consider it would cost a sum of £800; but if the stones and most of the machinery were got second hand, as they may be, the expense would be less."

"Thirdly. - A windmill: a wooden windmill would cost at least £100 less than the water mill"

Tauranga

Another example in Tauranga, where the writer expresses the opinion that a windmill would be cheaper and better than a watermill. This is claimed to be report from the same paper 50 years earlier - but the copies of the paper I've seen don't include it: Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 12373, 11 June 1938, Page 2

A PAGE FROM THE PAST
Tauranga 50 Years Ago
We extract the following from the Bay of Plenty Times of June 11 1888: - "It is proposed to erect a roller flour mill on the Waikareao Estuary between Sulphur Point and Judea, by embanking the Waikareao river so as to obtain water for turning an undershot wheel. The embankment would also serve as a short cut from here to Judea. We fear expense of the dam will be an insuperable obstacle to this and that the proper thing would be a wind flour mill at the chemical works at Sulphur Point.

Tuapeka

Goldmines:

Another proposal for using wind power in the goldfields: Otago Witness, Issue 1155, 17 January 1874

The employment of windmills by goldminers, both for pumping out mines and working quartz-crushing batteries, is advocated by the Tuapeka Times. Our contemporary says :- "We have often wondered why the windmill has never been thought of as a mechanical power to be used in mining. It could be efficiently employed in pumping where the water is not convenient for a water-wheel. We have also often wondered whether or not the wind-mill could not be rendered available as a motive power to raise the stampers. We understand the O.P.Q. Co. are sadly in want of a cheaper motive power; indeed, this is absolutely necessary to their resuming operations. Now, would wind do? Water is a long way off; steam is too dear. Why not think of the wind?"

Also quoted in even shorter form in the New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 38, 17 January 1874.

Unspecified

On an Adaptation of Water Power:

One present day complaint about wind power is that the times when the wind blows do not necessarily coincide with the times when the energy is needed. A similar quandary was present almost 150 years ago, and a paper entitled Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 3, 1870, Page 315 proposed matching the water pumping ability of a windmill with a water storage system to drive a water powered flax mill.

Art. LX.—On an Adaptation of Water Power. By J. C. Crawford, F.G.S.
[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, August 20, 1870.]

As lately I was anxious to ascertain if I could command a sufficient water power for working flax, and finding that, in the opinion of competent persons, the supply of water in the proposed locality was insufficient, it struck me that if advantage should be taken of the wind power to be obtained in pumping up water, day and night, on Sundays and holidays, into a reservoir sufficiently elevated, an auxiliary head of water might be obtained sufficient for the power required. I mentioned this idea to persons skilled in machinery, but did not receive encouragement. It was, therefore, with some satisfaction that I found the following information on the subject in the May number of the Country Gentleman's Magazine for the present year.

"In a recent article we gave a few remarks upon water power, with special reference to the turbine, an appliance which would, in many instances, be specially useful on a farm where no great extent of power is generally required. Thus, in many farms a power equal to that of two horses, or even less, would be of great use in cutting straw, grinding meal, pulping roots, and the like. Now, a very small and cheap turbine would give out this amount of power. Of course, a supply of water with some height of fall is necessary, but where the fall is not attainable by the natural position of the ground upon which the farm is built, it might be worth while to consider a mode of working very frequently adopted in America. This method consists in erecting a windmill, which is so arranged as to be self-acting, always turning to the direction of the wind, and thus ready to act at all times when the wind blows with force sufficient to overcome the work to be done. To the shaft of the mill a force-pump is connected, and this pumps up the water to a reservoir placed at a certain altitude. A supply of water at pressure is thus obtained, which is found very useful on the farm for various purposes; and, having a certain head upon it, it is invaluable for the extinction of fires. Now, if this arrangement was in use, the water thus under pressure might be arranged to be sufficient to work a small turbine, or a small water pressure engine. The power thus obtained, would be obtained at a comparatively small cost; there is no expense in keeping it up, as in the case of a steam engine; the only expense would be in keeping the apparatus in repair, which would not be much, as at the slow speed with which the work would be done there would be comparatively little wear and tear. True, the power of the windmill would be intermittent, in calm days not working at all; but by storing up the water, which it would pump up in an elevated reservoir, the power would be available at any time, through the intervention of the turbine."

I think the above extract is likely to give New Zealand settlers a valuable hint as to a mode of supplementing a limited water power without the necessity of going to the expense of purchasing a steam engine, and afterwards maintaining it, at a great annual charge for fuel and management. It may be said, why not apply the wind power direct? The reply is obvious. The wind power is not a steady power, and for working flax, machinery driven by it might be standing still for days together, with the "hands" engaged standing idly by. In the depressed state of the flax industry, it is desirable that we should study every economy in the production of the fibre.

The full article that is referenced can be found at: The Country Gentleman's Magazine, Volume 4.

Waikato

New Zealand Herald, Volume V, Issue 1265, 4 December 1867

WHEAT MILL FOR THE WAIKATO.
Not the least among the disadvantages under which the Waikato settlements labour is the want of a mill to which the settlers could carry their wheat, have it ground into flour, and carry back the flour home. At first this want was not felt, but now that a considerable quantity of wheat is being grown in Waikato, the settlers are put not only to inconvenience, but to expense, for want of a flour mill.
For instance, the wheat grown in the district has to be sent to Auckland at a cost for freight of £4 per ton, and flour brought up at a cost of £4 per ton: thus, from want of a mill in the district, an additional £8 per ton is put upon the price of flour consumed by the settlers in the Waikato. This is a very serious drawback to settlement, and one which once known ought soon to be remedied.
Capital is ever seeking outlets for itself, and here seems to be a very good opening for two enterprising men, for at least two mills might be profitably established, the one in Lower, the other in Upper Waikato. It is true that for the first year, and for perhaps the second, the quantity of wheat grown in the Waikato would not keep one, much less two, mills constantly employed, but it must be remembered that the very fact of a mill being erected would cause a very large breadth of wheat to be sown which would not otherwise be sown - nor in country districts at home is it usual for the miller to depend alone for a living upon the work of the mill. Like his customers, he too is more or less a farmer. As a proof of the likelihood of the growth of wheat extending with the means of grinding it, we may state that we know of one settler who will prepare for putting down fifty acres of wheat this coming autumn, as soon as he sees the erection of a flour mill in Waikato being proceeded with. There are doubtless very many who will act upon the same principle.
Now that the action of the King and his party has placed beyond doubt the future tranquility of the Waikato, and that confidence has been restored even in the minds of the most timid and suspicious, there can be no possible reason why capital should fight shy of the Waikato. Despite the rumours of wars which have been so widely circulated for the last three years, and despite the very great injustice which the military settler met at the hands of successive General Governments since the Fox-Whitaker ministry went out of office, the various settlements in the Waikato have taken good root, and filled up by new settlers, as the original grantees sold out, have become thriving villages. There is a considerable amount of ground under cultivation, the crops look well, and the settlers themselves acknowledge that once having got the present crop in, they will be in a secured position.
Amongst the principal drawbacks, however, of which they complain, is that to which we have alluded, the want of a flour mill in the district. There is plenty of water power, or in an open country the windmill would succeed admirably; while situated near the water the mill would be approachable either by land or water conveyance. There are too, we understand, settlers in the Waikato who understand the working of the mill, and the dressing of the stones, and there are at Kihikihi, a pair of mill-stones lying idle, to whom belonging we cannot say. It is also reported that for some time past in one of the creeks near Waiuku, a pair of as fine mill-stones as any in New Zealand have been lying. If this be the case, one of the difficulties, that of procuring suitable stones, might easily be overcome. We bring the matter before the public in the hope that some one or other will take it up, and, in pursuing their own advantage, further that of the Waikato settlements also.

Waiuku

New Zealand Herald, Volume III, Issue 872, 30 August 1866

WAIUKU.
[FROM OUR OWN COURESPONDENT] August 24.
Yesterday, the 23rd instant, our usual quarterly cattle market was held at the yards near Campbell's Hotel. ...
After the market, according to previous announcement, a meeting of the Waiuku Agricultural Association took place at Campbell's Hotel. ...
The only other business of importance transacted at this meeting was the appointment of a committee to examine and report "If it is practicable and expedient that a flour mill should be erected in this neighbourhood." In bringing this subject forward Mr. Melsopp said he believed he was under the mark when he said that over 500 tons of flour were annually brought to Waiuku for consumption, and that as the place was rapidly increasing in population, this large quantity would doubtless be exceeded. He thought there would be ample employment for a flour mill; and that, in his idea, a company should be formed to carry out the plan. Messrs. Melsppp, Drumgoold, and C. Hoskings, were appointed a committee to find out site, probable expense of construction, and prospects of success.
I have no doubt those gentlemen will be glad to receive suggestions from practical men either in or out of the district. There is no doubt the scheme is a practicable one, and would well remunerate even private enterprise. In my opinion, if a windmill were established here; capable of producing from five to six tons of flour weekly, and the owner were to combine farming aud raising stock with his mill work, it would be a very paying undertaking. I trust the project will receive encouragement, and I hope some practical millers will faror Waiuku with some of their experience.