MUNICIPAL MATTERS IN WELLINGTON.

Press, Volume XLVI, Issue 7307, 11 May 1889, Page 6

MUNICIPAL MATTERS IN WELLINGTON.

THE DUST QUESTION AND ELECTBIC LIGHTING. [PRESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.] WELLINGTON, May 10. There are a great many complaints about the newly erected destructor, which was to convert all the city rubbish of every kind into dust. The chimney was to have been smokeless or nearly so, but it is not, and quantities of refuse have passed through the furnace and never appear yet to have been touched by fire. It does not appear, however, this is the fault of the machinery, but rather it seems to be ignorance of the proper way to go to work. Mr S. Brown, the ex-Mayor, to whose perseverance the erection of the destructor was mainly due, in a letter to the Press says —"The destructor should have been fired for at least a week or a fortnight to dry the wet brickwork, and get the furnace up to a proper heat. Instead of which, it was lit (to burn rubbish) with some paper and coal, and, wet as it »as, damp refuse was crammed in, the men not understanding the proper mode of stoking. The patentees sent out clear printed instructions for working, which, if carried out, they guarantee the success of the furnace. These are placed so high on the wall that without standing on a ladder men could hardly read them. As a matter of fact, I don't think the directions have ever been looked at. It is only right for mc to say that on my pointing out to his Worship the Mayor it was imperative to get up a proper heat, and that they must put in some fuel to raise the heat, the Mayor immediately gave instructions, and during Saturday night the heat was better, but this was nullified on Sunday by stupid people constantly opening the door. To sum up, wet cold furnaces, had stoking, and rushing in double the quantity that the furnace is capable of doing, how could a good result be possible; but I may say that I have visited the destructor every day since it has been lighted, and have seen it improve each day; that when the men learn the proper mode of stoking and get a proper heat (I have seen glass running through the bars like water), that the destructor will fulfil all that was expacted or claimed for it. There has also been some trouble over the collection of refuse, but men now patrol the streets at fixed hours, but they are supposed to have the stuff put out within 10ft of the footpath ready for them. This is not found to work well, as in houses where, perhaps, there is no one but a woman when the man calls it is j too much for her to drag out a heavy box of rubbish. Steps 'are being taken to improve the system. Another municipal improvement, from which much is expected—electric street lighting—is by no means a guaranteed success. Apart from a dispute between the City Council and the contractor as to whether two stations or one are best, it is quite possible the public will be disappointed at the small light given by the lamps. They are to be twenty-candle power only, and it is understood the Company's agents believe, them to be inadequate, and would have been glad to see a better class of light provided for. This was fixed by Council itself, and it was a feeling that the public would be dissatisfied with the light when they saw it, that led the Company to offer to fix some 50-candle power lamps at their own cost in the centre of the city. It may be mentioned, however, that if the lamps do not give more light than the ordinary gas burner there will be-many more of them, and they will be kept all night.