THE ROAD TO HEALTH.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 153, 29 June 1914, Page 9

THE ROAD TO HEALTH.

WH>ETTED FOB. AUCKLAND AND SUBURBS.

SXXNVERSIOK OF XIGHTSOIL ! SYSTEM. ] OPEN TO LOCAL AITHORITIE-:. i ttfOt'XT EDEN'S £100.000 SCHEME. ' The announcement that the Auckland and suburban drainage ocheme i, .-o far advanced that the road U now open for tlie various local bodies connected with ■the scheme to proceed with the work of reticulating up to the -main sewer .has created much interest in Auckland and the district. Naturally curiosity now prevails as to when -the gigantic expenditure of nearly £400,000 'to date will have its reflex upon the statistics of I health. In other words, the main question now is to what extent the work of abolishing the obsolete, unhealthy and repulsive system now largely in operation will be accelerated, so a.s to further fortify the populace against the menace of epidemic diseases and decrease the infantile mortality of the district. The problem is one to "he answered by the various local authorities which have participated in the sheme, and 'which now have to determine the rapidity with which the work of connecting up with ihe main system, and of compelling property owners to convert the present ,-:init.TTj- arrangements, in to the waxcr r-erricc is pushed ahead. AX ABOM-VAEUE SYSTEM Perhaps it is not generally realised 1-. what extent the system of pail closets obtains in the city wbich claims to be the Queen of the Xorth. In Auckland, firey Lynn and -Vrch Hill there are no 1, «er than live thousand houses in which this system remains, while in the f.iiburbe there arc several thousands more. Jn four years the number in Auckland j ,-ity has been rediii-ed from (1.000 to 3,000. | birt the facilities are now provided i'or ! considerably accelerating the pace of the conversion. Already most of the districts participating in thi- scheme have been linked up with tlie main. Two .ir tliivc •wee-kis' work will be sufficient to complete the Arch 'Hill connection, but the No. S branch, which will fccrve the sparselycovered portions of iMount ICtlcu and Mount Albert will not ibe completed 1 a. period of eighteen months. A proposal has been made to make :i tnrapornry junction between the Board's i-vmi ' and the tircy Lynn svste-TU a: (ircenwood Avenue, and if this is carried into , effect if. "ill result in practically the' whole of ihe tlrey Dytin Borough b.-ing j immediately -placed in a position to pro- j cecd witii th<» work of converting the; ~ld saniLary sj-stem. Tin- drainage svKtcm of tiie western suburb is almost complete, so that thborough should immcdiatc-ly feel the lir.nefit of th« expenditure upon which . ibe ratepayers have cmbarkc.l. : PEOGItESS IX RETICULATIOX. ! Reticulation works arc completed or i in progress in Itcmnera. One-tree Hill, Ncvitoiarket, PaTnell, Arch Hill. Eden Terrace and the city generally. Practically the whole of 'Mount E-den, tbe greater -part of Mount Albert and Point Chevalier, however, 'have yet to carry out tbejr reticulation. The only work j remaining for thp Drainage Board is the . completion of the last length of the main j -ewer between the Mental .Hospital and i Meola Creek, and the construction of j branch No. S. which w-ill serve portions of Mount Albert, ,Mcnm.t 'Eden and Eden Terrace, and the construction and equipment of four pum-ping stations for the low levels—the reticulation of which is now being pushed ahead. Thes-e works will all be completed 'by the end of 1915. C'JTV •AtT-li.'OK'irrTES ACTIOX. •In conven?.ition with an official of thf. Aueklanrf Sjinitary Department a •"Star" reporter was informed that the (.resent rate of conversion of the r.ig'ntsoil system was about 20 houses a It is probahk- that the rate will 1.-c gTe.itly acveJeT-.tted in tho near future, .is the way is now open for connecting areais whioh have hitht'rto un:appe<i by the -water r.y=:te.m to make the change. "'Rowercr. the. work cannot pro- . nil fastrr than flu- plumbers and the htaiT of tlie can ope with it, Jwt notwithstanding the fact that ihe tafck before the City Council will be iircrearw-il' when Grey Lynn comes into the city 'boundary next month, it is :ireticipatedi fhat the nightsoii system, which in some are;i*s ir. carried on at. a greAt less, will be completely abolished in the course of the. next two yearc. The official ia question added thai the <'ity Council only to assist owners, by of loans, to make the , 'e-inge in cases of actual poverty; othervise the. owners 0; property would ri-mply be -wved with the notice, tv make, the convCTvion. MOUNT BKI I-7XTEK.PKISE. Although Mount. Eden is not yet connected the •Star is a'hk- to announce that the scheme of rcticulatioh which has; .bee-n mooted for some time passed, has now taken concrete form, and in the li«-ar future a. comprehensive plau. 'which involves loan proposals amounting to over £ 100,000. will he put before the ratepayers for approval. It is not proposed that the whole of thhs formidable . nterpris-e .-hall be embarked upon iru-;i:-.-d';:i.tr-l\-. hut merely that portion of 'he scheme which provider, drainage, for ;'..,• nv>st populous portion of the sr.'htii'.iaii 'borough, and which will cost something like £40.000. tu lots than a ynr. it is hoped that ihe greater part of iihe district will be able to enjoy the advantages conferred by the Drainage Board's scheme. Th-c plan of the works has been drawn up, and after being disPU'Ssed by -a special meeting of the Borough Council will bo placed before a public meeting of ratepayers. This, however, is ,merely the. democratic way ~;' carrying through the scheme, for it s pointed out that in matters of public, health the action ni local authorities nc.il not. necessarily be endorsed' by ;'•■■ sanction of the ratepayers. The ~:•: of the scheme wiiic-h it is proposed ,i immediately carry out is that covcr- _; lh,- "clay area'" of Mount VAen. It : r-,; t-ed that the first main drain p.m'l ..oiiimenco from a p.,,int in Raleigh -.-..•;. .in.J proec-ed along tbe houndary ,: Mount Eden and Mount A''»eTt to Balmoral Roai. I: is understood that a principle which is new -„o Auckland has been introduced into the scheme, to so construct the drain as to save a large sum of money To the ratepayers and property owners in connecting up with ii. The clay area is considered to he the most import-anr. par; of the borough ir. regard to sanitary reform en account of tbe greater density "i the population. In conversation with a ■•Star" r--porter, n member of the Council Mid ■that if tin scheme w a= approved the

worl<: could ho carried out and the whole of that area connected up within the' " next nine months. While the rateoavers ! would probably he a,kcd to sanction'the ' r complete loan, the more difficult task of ft dealing with the rook area would not S be earned out immediately, but would j S progress as t-irr-unistancns demanded. The ' U Scheme would nol be such an expensive j P matt.-r f,-. r the ratepayers ac might be '< r, imagined, for, assuming that the loan 1 t was equally to a sixpentiv rate, tho I | amount this would represent for a house | ot the capital value of 411,000. or an 1 annual value of £50 a year. would work J out at 27,/ a year, against the 2ti/ which i ii the cost of liie present system. MtirXT ALBERT'S TOSITIOX. Mr Murdoch McLean, the Mayor of Mount Albert, Mated that i: would probably he six .months before any reticulation scheme was submitted to the Mount Albert Borough Council, and to the ratepayers for approval. Such a scheme would probably only deal with the. thickly populated portions of .the I borough, and more particularly with th?. i clay areas. .Meanwhile engineers are \ engaged in preparing plans and estimates, hut the Council had first t-o tackle a comprehensive scheme of road-making. REMUERA AXD EPSOM. Remuera is pushing ahead with the | reticulation works already aiitiicri.-ui. I which cover the most thickly populated portions of the district, and the works | in hand .vill probably be finished in | ahout twelve months. Epsom, too. has - commenced the task of linking up with the main scheme. Tlie contract has been let. and the work is going ahead fairly rapidly. Drainage operations in this' di-stirct should be finished before the end of lOlii.