Rye and Derwent Drainage. 



137 



Making a total of available water-power in the three mill-dams 

 equal to that of 109^ horses, valued at 19,710/., and mill pro- 

 perty, exclusive of any tenants' rights, valued at 7759/. 65. hd. ; 

 making a gross sum of 27,469/. 65. hd. 



The reception of this Report, estimating the value of the 

 property to be purchased at a sum for which, if a fair equivalent 

 had to be paid (as will be afterwards shown), would not only have 

 absorbed more than the sum the Commissioners had at their 

 disposal, but would have exceeded by nearly 2000/. the entire 

 sum they were empowered to raise under the Act, threw the 

 Committee into a state of the greatest difficulty ; and, of course, 

 it became a question whether they should proceed any further in 

 carrying out the scheme, or abandon it at once, with the loss of 

 the expenses of procuring the Act, and of surveying the district. 

 The Committee, however, were met in such a liberal spirit by 

 the Earl Fitzwilliam (the proprietor of more than four-fifths of 

 the mill property in question) that they resolved to persevere, 

 thinking they were fully justified in attempting a compromise. 



As the Committee were not in a position to purchase the 

 entire of this property, they made an offer to the Noble pro- 

 prietor of the Malton Mills, upon the basis of converting the 

 actual water-power used into steam-power, and compensating for 

 the maintenance of the latter power as compared with that of the 

 former. 



An investigation was consequently made as to the amount of 

 power actually used. At the Old Malton and New Malton 

 mills the available power had been estimated in the valuation at 

 that of 85^ horses, and that at Newsham mill at 24-horse power, 

 making a total of 109^ ; but the power actually made use of was 

 found not to exceed, in the whole, that of about 70 horses, with 

 the drawback of the loss of several weeks in a year from back 

 water, and occasionally from drought, viz. — 



No. 1. Newsham Mill was estimated at 10 horses' actual power. 

 No. 2. Old Malton Mill ... 20 „ 

 No. 3. New Malton Mill ... 20 „ 

 The four small mills at New 



Malton .... 20 „ 



Total . . .70 



Taking the mills at Old and New Malton, for example, at 

 20-horse power each, and an equal power used by the small mills, 

 or 60-horse power in the whole, the basis of the calculation be- 

 came — first, the cost of providing steam-engines of the nwnher 

 and -power used ; and secondly, the cost of the fuel and expenses 

 of maintaining these steam-engines, over and above that of the 

 ordinary water-power employed. 



