UNDERGROUND TANKS FOR FIRE PREVENTION.

Press, Volume XL, Issue 6019, 31 December 1884, Page 2

UNDERGROUND TANKS FOR FIRE PREVENTION.

J The necessity for greater facilities for, Bare prevention, especially in the butlyii ig* portions of the City, has been apparent fc_ iyears past, and your Committee recom-j —lends the construction Of six 'tanks, and sinking the necessary wells *fcfi {supply them.. The capacity of each tahte Lto be 25,000 gaUons, and the Cost JSSiQeacM Lor a total of .£IBOO. The Superintendent ofi Lthe Fire Brigade resorts that these tank* | would meet the requirement- for fiie pr« i vent ion purposss for many years. It «| j proposed that they should be placed in tl|S| f following localities, viz:—At the junctioJ| of Durham and Salisbury streets, CashgH I and Barbadoes streets, Lower Bigh aigf I Barbadoes streets, St. Asaph mm Montreal streets, and Manchester as Gloucester streets. Each tank would stag ply water for fire prevention purposes ov* a radius of 1000 feet. The Cathedra square tank, the Committee would recommend, should be cut down, enlarged, and covered, bo that the present unsightly Abstraction 4 to the thoroughfare could be [removed. % \ I WAT—RIKG ST_—STS. .#. j 7he present method of raising water , from the river and the tanks for street watering purposes is very costly, while »a supply from the tanks wouTd, at certaon times during the day, be found totally Inadequate to cope with any large fire that might break out, ia\co_sequence of the ! water in the said tanks having been Reduced for watering the streets. Your Cojamittee therefore recommends the sinking., of six 4 or 6in artesian wells to the secoSiE stratum, with stand-pipes for supplying the. water-caits,w_ilethe overflow could be t_jg fully employed in flushing the channels ass urinals. The cost is roughly estimated » —1400, the interest upon which would only be about one-third of what the city at pair sent is paying for raising water by __id labor. v —3——WAT. ?wThe diificulty of disposing of the street sweepings, house and shop refuse, and debris of the city generally, has arrived Mt such a point that your Committee considers it necessary to afford some greater : facilities to the o_.ceraof the Council ah

; this matter. The present syntem of carting >the above to long distances is becoming a serious charge upon the annual income, Besides creating nuisances in and near the city, which, for sanitary reasons alone,; it would be in the interests of the ratepayers to obviate. Tour Gonimittee therefore commends that a Bhort tram way should be KMgspgJSßcted from the city to the corpora? tion'" cemetery and nfehtsoil reserve* It would be the means of facilitating the removal of the town rubbish and other: refuse, and at the same time, the obj-otioi*,. able matter could be utilised in improving; the Council Reserves. This tramway would) be also available for funerals, and the con-jj veyanee of those wishing to attend them ij and further, the Council could reasonably | expect a fair return from ordinary gertra—o along the line. The estimated] cost of the work, with rolling stock, sheds,] and permanent way complete, would bet about J66600. In conclusion, your Com-; _uttee is of opinion that, a loan, say for fiftyf years, can be obtained for the amount, required at 5 per cent, interest, or <£1250f per annum. There will be n-a necessity to strike a special rate- as the present amount expended annually on permanent works,' such as described in this report, exceeds in: amount the interest on the proposed loan, although the consent of the burgeßses must be first obtained to comply with the_provision of the Act for raising loans. # Your Committee desires to point out that in the event of the ratepayers declininsr to Banotion the raising of the loan, it will be necessary to return to the Is rate for general purposes—to the street watering rate which was last year included in the general rate—to retain the present lid rste for the removal of nightsoil and tho charge for removing house and shop some of the works included in this report* must of necessity be undertaken out of the ordinary rates if the proposals submitted #re not approved.