AN ALLEGED NUISANCE.

Press, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5607, 7 September 1883, Page 3

AN ALLEGED NUISANCE.

ij £PBKSB ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.] 'j DUNEDIN, September 6. ILAt the Police Court to-day the Borough Jjpuncil of Roslyn proceeded against Monies Durst on, soap-boUer ond bone-dust manufacturer, for having premises which prere a nuisance. The Town Clerk explained that the proceedings were taken ginder the PubUc Health Act, in consequence of a petition by residents. He Baid ! ,of his own knowledge that the smells could fbe noticed 100 yards away. According to 'the direction of the wind, there were a of smells, but all were bad. There .was at least three distinct smells—(l) of [ground bones; (2) of melting tallow; (3) 'of storage of refuse. Some witnesses said the smells caused water in tanks to become stagnant, that they could be cut with a knife, and that only the Government Analyst (Professor Black) could teU what they were really like. Defendant admitted that to most people the smeU from his premises was offensive. He had Uved beside it for years, and done weU on it; but people who were not educated up to it did not relish it. Medical evidence was ' given that whUe the smells were decidedly unpleasant they were certainly not injurious to health, and a witness in the trade said the smeU purified the air, and was something like that of a prime Dutch cheese. The defence was that the best practicable means were tried to abate the nuisance, and the Magistrate said this was proved. He dismissed the case on the jpround that though there was a nuisance -hero was no statutory penalty for it.