AUCKLAND MAIN DRAINAGE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 169, 17 July 1907, Page 3

AUCKLAND MAIN DRAINAGE.

,jjOBN G . REVELATIONS."

By P. A. VATLE.

.** journalist recognises the fact '""Lf leadlines are quite an importof a " story," but unless he is with the xanthous tint of the f*Ln journalism, commonly called fa jje will endeavour to live up to "ft I hope, not yet xanthic, so I *dT at once that my revelations are '"mazing, but that they would be * Aevthe disclosure of the proceed*rfaiiy other body than the Auckland 5 Council--I mote my last article on tne ?*i drainage scheme I have read of Messrs. R. L. Mestayer, lS and G. Midgley Taylor, Try FC.S., together with Mr. MesPfLrfcto Mr. Midgley Taylor, and fltylors answer to Mr. Mestayer's

outset I may say that, so far jk-nnan can J^S 6 ' Jt a PP ears to m c Itlfc Baylor has. from the informafe« placed at his disposal, obtained a SJbbly thorough grip of the general jjjjjjjs obtaining here, and, again ! as a l a y mall > seems to mc and general instructions Sγ upon them the impress of the skillisid practical engineer. But there is 1 soions trouble to contend with: His : fL is based upon facts submitted by 'reaver, and the foundation of it is Lsai chiefly of li ifs " and " ans " which, indeed, in the circumva is, it appears to mc, quite unflsiaile. % ilestayer, quite early in his pereJjltioiis about Auckland, appears to Cj developed an affection for Cox's [nek, and it seems from that time his ffi er;7 aid 'thought were centred on that jffllntic SS o *' to the eselusion of the tar part-of the harbour. This, to any udjjaiy citizen, -will no doubt seem A underfill. J f any one of us had tsit or cistern to drain into a sewer n should quite naturally go to the lowest end of & c te or cistern, and make is oufet H the nearest convenient spot dridi forded a good junction with the Ewer. It seems hard to imagine anyone jnmJMHiopen drain past his front gate uhai lie c™d mOre conveniently hide it tdM Ins tack premises, yet, with all lespect for ifr- Mestayer's qualifications, flns js rirtally what he proposed. Needles atosi to say, Mr. Midgley Taylor's opinia 8 diametrically opposed to this jfc •Jfiptayer's study of the topompiial conditions of the foreshore of on iarbour do not seem to have been eifaare. He seems, for some inesplic-iHe-reason, to have been unable to escape from the fascination of Cox's Creek. jße was even so near the right thing as Efeon Bay, and lamented the disabilities under which it suffered, even at the time that Orakei Basin was positively touting to him to take advantage of Dame Nature's wise provision and slip wmd behind the Bay.

Bus is what Mr. Mestayer says:— 'He proposed harbour works extension edudes a training wall across the Death of Hobson's Bay, which would dD further restrain the effluent from aching the harbour; also this condiaa of things would be still further infcafied when the proposed railway esiqpn is carried diagonally across the Vji3 the only sites available for tanks if&ia±e<J within the area which would Jmdosed by the proposed line." And litMs time Mr. Mestayer was within a Wdiot of a perfect natural depository i practically unlimited extent; one, too, &t overcame all his lamenijpd disabilife.

'SOJiEAB. ANT> YET SO FAB." When'forwarding instructions, plans,

&, to Mr. Taylor, the Town Clerk mfc: " The city may roughly be likened b a piece of corrugated iron consisting bridges and valleys, and this makes the w&lem of drainage rather more comjkthan is usual." And, again: "There sno ground available on the eastern die of the city at high-water mark for eptie tanks, unless the same be re- ; daimed from the harbour, and in this .ase the reclamation would have to be Ba3e possibly about the Hobson's Bay." It seems to mc that here the Town jSnk is trenching a little upon the nntaes of the city engineer. In any case, Ifhmkhe cannot be accused of being too ttaoplimentary to Auckland —the Corinth cf the South—" a piece of corrugated mm," indeed! I am indignant! With regard to his statement that toe is no v ground available on the eastern side of the city at high-water fflaik," I may point out that there are tifl flats at Orakei, now proposed to be taken under the Public Works Act, and Hmikr flats at Kohimarama and White's Bay, all of which, however, it would be a desecration to touch. I am merely mentioning these facts to show how misleading Mr. Taylor's instructions have been, "d. also, to driv3 home the fact that, 'wn when, it was most wanted, Orakei Basin -was unaccountably and persistently ignored.

Writing to the Town Clerk on April 7, Mr. Mestayer says: "The natural configuration of the city and suburbs tte choice of an outfall to two nte3 -viz-, Cox's Creek or Hobson's Bay, sbq the main reasons for deciding in 'fronr of the former can only be appreby actual inspection of the locali- * M3, I may here parenthetically renark: that in the days of my youth I E l«Btmuch of my time in "actual in*P«non of the locality, and the result is ™t I am now prepared to forget Cos's week as absolutely as everyone seems to been satisfied to blot'Orakei Basin eS the map. There j s something almost pathetic in aie-iray Mr. Mestayer says:—"At HobGoas Bay there is no site anything like j stable for the construction of the Bmiß as obtains at Cox's Creek. The c is very flat, a nd at low-water the J~ recedes to a great distance, leaving a ™ge extent of mud flats exposed; to f«y the effluent across this flat would r"™ve a heavy expenditure, and, even «ken to low-water mark it would not I*' 61 into the main current, but ObT £ c held *» ihe basin between Point and Resolution Point." A wonder that the old volcano that Urakei Basin for the very site ■*** absence Mr. Mestayer, just over ■?* shallow ridge, was lamentJfr'ii'V ot start business again. Then might have seen itludtf up *° the time when ]Slr - I* • received his instructions. IT, !? s aea r what he had to say:—"From we documents which you have placed beairi c lfc is quite P° ssible for mc to "Jn T S eneral principles"—mark this MrM prmci P le s"—"as to the method nmf f!f yer Proposes for the treatment of the sewage. Beyond this, how*V° uld be for mc to I? * lnform ation at my disposal." Words US l st °P here to emphasize these Krar Wf -? e who do not to waste Jtealβ! 9n steriin g should weigh

Mr Taylor proceeds: "If, however, I could have placed in my hands the whole of Mr Mestayer's plans, and maps of a fairly large scale showing the harbour, and a chart, and if, in addition to these maps, I could have a description of the climatic conditions, temperatures of sewage, sea, and rainfalls of the district, it seems to mc that I could form a very good opinion as to what treatment it would be best to adopt for the city. On the other hand, however, I am bound to admit that adviqe given on important matters of this nature can never be entirely satisfactory unless a personal visit to the locality has been made." This is truly marvellous. This really is an "amazing revelation." One, after reading Mr Midgley Taylor's list of requirements, is left speculating as to what information really was sent to him. With a little imagination we can figure it out. Dear Sir, — Auckland is a town on the Waitemata Harbour, in New Zealand. We want to drain it. It is like an old sheet of corrugated iron. Mr Mestayer has s-O'-n it. What do you think: >f liis opinion? You must be very careful of your answer, for there is a person here named P. A. Vaile, of whom you may have heard, who takes notice of things, and moreover has an unfortunate habit of knowing what he writes about. If these particulars are not' enough I will send you some more. Yours truly, c HENRY W. WILSON, Town Clerk. Subsequently some more particulars i were sent. I cannot impress too strongly on Auckland ratepayers that Mr Midgley Taylor says that "ADVICE GIVEN ON IMPOKTNAT MATTERS OF THIS NATURE ! CAN NEVER BE ENTIRELY SATISFACTORY UNLESS A PERSONAL VISIT TO THE LOCALITY HAS BEE* MADE; and of this there- can be no ' doubt. Yet the City Council goes gaily j meandering on its way playing with a ! report founded on supposititious circumstances. Messrs Carruthers and Elliott are the consulting engineers to the New Zealand Government in London. It was they who recommended Mr G. Midgley Taylor to the Hon. W. Pember Reeves, High Commissioner for Ne\* Zealand. In their letter of recommendation they say: "We presume he would have to visit Auckland and spend a few weeks there in studying the country and the scheme prepared by Mr Mestayer."

I presume on the same lines, and I venture to say that he will not forget Orakei Basin.

As showing the dearth of information sent to Mr Taylor I may mention that one -suggestion, for pumping sewage from low levels was by means of electricity. Mr Taylor was left in ignorance as to whether electric mains, charged with current suitable for this purpose, are installed in the city.

Again, he says, "Mr Mestayer is only able to speak in general terms of the methods to be employed in re-sewering the district, as at the time of writing his report he was not in full possession of the information necessary to enable him to formulate a precise scheme. With his general remarks on this subject we are in entire accord, always supposing that it is necessary to relay the internal sewers."

"Always supposing." That is the key note of the whole business.

Dare I venture to hope to be forgiven if I suggest that what the ratepayers expect for half a million pounds sterling is a "precise scheme" without any '"supposing" about it?

Let mc quote Mr Midgley Taylor again. "It must be distinctly understood that in selecting the line and making the section that we have done the whole of the knowledge of the locality is derived from the plans and sections which have been submitted to us, and these plans do not carry the information as far as Okahu Point, and neither do they give us entirely accurate information of the line in question. It must, therefore, be understood that the route we have suggested is only approximate, and must be accurately surveyed before the precise line could be determined."

Probably the plans submitted did nnt carry the information as far as Orakei basin. For all practical purposes we might almost as well have sent a photograph of a sheet of " corrugated iron." "(General principles" and "'general statements" will not do to build great engineering schemes on if faulty or deficient particulars are supplied.

I again quote Mr Midgley Taylor: "We are unacquainted with the foreshore surrounding Okahu Point, but judging from the chart, it would seem quite feasible to construct tanks of the size we have mentioned, between the cliffs and low water mark."

Therefore it will be apparent to anyone who takes any interest in these matters, that it is equally feasible to construct these tanks in Orakei basin between the cliffs and low water mark, and infinitely more decent and workmanlike.

I cannot within the limits of this article deal with Mr Mestayer's comments and Mr Midgley Taylor's reply, but there is practically nothing in them that materially affects anything I have stated here.

The great big, bald fact that stares us in the face is that Mr Midgley Taylor disagrees with Mr Mestayer in almost all the most important points; that he has submitted an alternative scheme based on what he himself says is deficient information, that he has never seen the locality, and THAT HE SAYS HE OUGHT TO SEE IT IF HIS OPINION IS TO BE ENTIRELY SATISFACTORY, but as only £500,000 is involved, it would probably be considered extravagant to pay him £ 1000 to come out and confer with mc.

We have in the past few days seen how elastic the ratepayers' authority to the City Council to spend money can be made. Gold, as is well knowu, is remarkably ductile, and owing to the alleged advance in everything, £30,000 for the ridiculously narrow 24 feet carriage-way over the Cemetery Gully has bsen stretched into the region of £50,000. Allowing for a continuance of the alleged advance, this drainage scheme, based on ridiculously inadequate information, will find us involved in an expenditure of £750,000, <or three-quarters of a million pounds sterling. I write it for fear the compositor should shed a cypher.

A friend of mine once bought a very fine-looking horse., and I went for a drive with him. The animal was d£ad lame afterwards. I punched the poor creature's legs after the usual manner of one who desires to intimate modestly that he is intimately acquainted with the anatomy thereof, and ■ pronounced without hesitation that it was in the stifle, one of the worst of places to get out of gear.

We called in the veterinary surgeon. " It's in his stifle, I am afraid," I said to the horsey man. We were standing on the near side. He walked the horse a few. yards, punched him in a slightly JttStt jsftaner. fch&n I had L.? *■ ' ' ' -«■ 4-

done, shook his head gravely, and said, " Yes, it's in the stifle, right enough." " So I think,"' I replied, " but it's his off hind leg that's wrong," and so it was. N Since that day I have always been prepared to review expert evidence; and in this case both stifles are wrong. The thing is " dead lame.". There is nothing for it but to bring Mr Midgley Taylor out to Auckland.