LOST—AND FOUND

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 17, 21 January 1916, Page 8

LOST—AND FOUND

A HOSPITAL RESERVOIR.

One effect of the city's shortage of water has been to enable the Hospital Board to discover a storage reservoir which had been apparently forgotten. At the meeting of the Board yesterday afternoon, the house steward (Mr. L. H. Fox), in a written report, stated that the trouble had been very acute in the Nurses' Home and the fever ward. He added that some time ago a concrete reservoir, capable of holding 30,000 gallons of water, had been built on the ground adjoining the hospital, but, as it was thought that the Morton dam would overcome any difficulty in the way of a shortage of water, the tank had never been connected up with the main. Mr. Fox recommended that a cover should be placed on the tank, and., that the reservoir should be connected ,with the main by meter. He estimated the cost at £25.

The Board, without discussion, de"cidfcd to carry out the work. Before the Board's meeting yesterday,; a representative of The Post made inquiries about that little reservoir— which was dflfinitely known to be a solid entity (though nearly empty)—but it was difficult to ascertain that it had; officially, any existence. The Board's chairman (Air. Baldwin) seemed to be surprised at tbe suggestion that the .Board's assess included &uch a reservoir (which was constructed several years ago), and it was some time before the mystery could be cleared up.

The reservoir was promising to become like the "Jubil«e Fund" (the surplus from the Wellington Golden Jubilee Sports), which was lost from view, absolutely forgotten, during nearly two decades—and is slipping back into the old oblivion.

Workers' tramway concessions were the subject of discussion at a meeting di the Wellington Softgoods Employees' Union this week. ,It was contended that the present system, under which tickets cannot be used after 8 a.m., gave a special privilege to workers commencing before that houT. A great mumber of employers in offices and shops, though receiving 30s a week or less,'cannot avail themselves of the concession because they commence work at 9 a.m. Some councillors at the last municipal elections, it was stated, had advocated an extension, _ but nothing had yet been done. The secretary of the union (Mr. A. W. Croskety) was instructed to write to the Mayor and the councillors, bringing the matter .pndflr their pp*ice..