CITY'S GARBAGE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 285, 2 December 1925, Page 10

CITY'S GARBAGE.

WHERE IT GOES. THE SMOKY DESTRUCTOR. THAT WON'T TAKE TINS. "Rubbish man's day" comes once or twice a week—a day when every gateway is made hideous by a dust-bin containing the household garbage. The groaning cart, drawn by a patient beast, lumbers down the street, there is a sound of a heavy tin being emptied, a grunt at the horse, and the foul-smelling diny has moved on. One by one the bins disappear from the gates, and the garbage of that particular locality teases to trouble the housewives for another week. So long us the stuff is taken away, the majority of householders don't care a button whore it goes, but the truth is that the disposal of the thousands of tons of garbage yielded by Auckland

is a problem that is exercising some of the best brains of the community. No local body is allowed to forget the matter for Ion?. There is always someone with a grievance spillins: ink in hotly indignant letters. They complain of Hies, bad smells and smoke from tlie dumps, some of which are allowed to smoulder all the year round. As everyone in Ponsonby Koad knows, there is a destructor at Freeman's Bay, with a tall chimney that emits volumes of unpleasant smoke —smoke that is too often blown up Union Street and over the closely-populated areas thereabouts. or. if the wind is from the west, over towards Queen Street and the city area. There nre times when the worst dump in the world could not be more offensive, and when, on a sultry summer night, the evil-smelling smoke hangs low, mixing with the fumes from the .gasometers, the foot of Franklin Road is not a happy place at which to await a tram. Despite all the smoke, the destructor does not by any means consume the whole of the garbage of the city area. Some part of it —just how much is not divulged—is deposited at the two big tips Which the City Council maintains. Of late years, the destructor's capacity has been increased, and the council has the whole matter under consideration at the moment. Here in Auckland, where lignite coal is used, destructors are expensive, since there is little in the tons of rubbish that will keep the furnaces going if the supply of coal 'is allowed to run out. In the South, with Westport coal, a destructor costs less. But the most efficient destructor will not dispose of tins. Hence the necessity for dumps. Auckland empties tons of tins every day.

Mostly Tins at Motion's Creek. From certain points at the Zoo, the visitor has a glimpse of tho big dump at Motion's Creek, Grey Lynn. It is forever smoking, and on a bright, sunny day the collection of tins glitters in the sun, having, at a distance the semblance of a giant mirror let into the landscape. But if one walks the half-mile that separates the tip from the Zoo, the aspect at close quarters is less pleasing. At the same time, it must be said in fairness to the City Council that the tip is remarkably well controlled. A "Star" representative . who went to Motion's Creek found fewer flies at this dump than he had seen at stables down an alley at the top of Symonds Street. Clinker from the destructor covered anything that was objectionable, there was very little smell, many of the tins were crushed, so as not to give harbourage to rats, and had it not been for the smoke tlie existence of this necessary evil would not have been apparent. At the Ttemuera tip there were certainly more Hies, but the tip was otherwise well kept. A Jlyless rubbish dump is an impossibility. ,

No More Rat . Shooting. It is not so very long ago since the Auckland City Council had from 20 to 30 tips in regular use. There were days when small boys amused themselves in the evenings by sitting near the Grafton Gully tip, armed with air guns, with which they dealt out death to the myriad rats that thrived on the filth deposited there. For years the tip off Newton Road was a constant source of annoyance to many, and there were other unsavoury spots about'the city. To-day, save for a street sweepings tip here and there, the City Council maintains but two dumps, which are mainly lor the disposal of tins, clinker and such stuff as condemned fruit, which the destructor cannot dispose of satisfactorily. In all the City Council expends something like £20,000 a year in keeping Auckland clean.

Mount Albert's Invisible Tip. Mount Eden Borough has a tip situated in a quarry on the mountain-side. It is maintained in such a fashion as to give rise to little complaint. This borough spends- about £1200 annually on the removal of refuse. Tlie neighbouring borough of Mount Albert is proud £f its tip, and justifiably so—if one can conceivably be proud or an aggregation of garbage. Their pride is°in the fact that the dump is all but invisible, and very nearly odourless. Twenty tons are deposited weekly. The tip is situated at the quarry, Oakley's Creek, on the borough's western extremity, and only three houses are within sight. A man is constantly at work, covering.the garbage with soil from the quarry, and a system is being followed whereby a grass-grown slope is being gradually filled in, so that the tip is never an offence to the eye. Grass is grown on each section ere more rubbish is /deposited. "The Mount Albert tip is the best one could find anywhere in New Zealand," said Dr. T. J. Hughes, Medical Officer of Health, during a talk ,with a "Star" representative.

1, Covered Wagons Suggested. "I can say that Mount Eden and Onehunga have destructors in mind, and I believe the North Shore people are also considering the question," said Dr. Hughes. As far as the "city was concerned, it was either a matter of establishing a destructor on the Remuera side, to serve that section of the population, or of increasing the capacity, of the Freeman's Bay incinerator. If the latter course were adopted, Dr. Hughes thought the garbage should be conveyed to the furnaces in covered motor lorries. These could be served by'the drays making the collections from house to house. If detachable dray-tops were used, the tops could be. transferred direct to the motor vehicles, and there would be a minimum of nuisance in conveying the garbage through the city to the destructor.