SALT WATER BATHS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 68, 21 March 1911, Page 2

SALT WATER BATHS.

I (To the Editor.) Sir, —Permit mc a few lines in reply to the letter signed "Bather" in Saturday's "Star" and your comment thereon. "Bather" assumes that the membera of the Oity Council and the Harbour Board paid no heed to the necessity of pure, clean, salt water for the proposed baths. In this he makes a mistake, as everyone knows that such is an essential, and should the' Committee decide that the central baths be near the Hobson-street wharf, eyen then there is no difficulty about getting clean water; of this I was assured by the harbour engineer before I made the .proposal I did at the conference. The plan proposed is that the fresh water would be brought to thej ( bath-house by a pipe-line from the outer i end of the wharf, which means practically from the stream and on the rising tide. The baths being filled at high tides and emptied at low tides ensures from six to seven feet of pure salt water, which can be changed every day, and this I am assured can be done at a minimum of cost as compared with the pumping to Newton or Symonds-street, as advocated by "Bather." This pumping scheme has been discussed again and again, and is, in my opinion, out of the question altogether as much too costly to build, and if built, such baths could only be run at a ruinous loss to the city, and the Councillors know this from their experience of the Albert-street baths. Another thing to consider is that the proposed central baths are to take the place of the present salt water baths in Custom-street West, which must be filled up, and the site reclaimed at a not distent date; and notwithstanding what ''Bather" says about the population shifting Newtonwards, there is a large working population, who must use the central baths from Freeman's Bay, Union-street, Nelson-street, and the thousands df wbrkers along Customsstreet and the wharves, who could not go to Ponsonby or Campbell's Point.' I am of the opinion that the city authorities should insist on every dwellinghouse in the city being fitted with a proper bath-room, so that all the citizens should, at least be clean; and' ifj after that is done, the people went swimmiig and salt water sea-bathing, then they ought to go to sea water, and not expect the sea water to be brought to them.—l am, etc., J. M. MENNIE.