ST. CLAIR ESPLANADE.

Evening Star, Issue 8233, 3 June 1890, Page 4

ST. CLAIR ESPLANADE.

TO THE EDITOB. Sir,—l read with much interest Mr E. B. CargilPs letter re the St. Clair esplanade, which appears in your issue of 31st May. Mr Cargill attributes the destruction of the sandhills and esplanade to the construction of the box drain and erection of a wall at the esplanade by the Caversham Council in 1888. From notes taken by myself since 1885, it seems that the box drain may have had something to do with it. The erection of the 1888 wall certainly has, as far as the esplanade and the sandhills close to it are concerned, and much damage has also been done by the direct action of the sea, independent of any local cause. In 1885 a considerable portion of Mr Smith's wall was still standing. At that time, and up to the erection of the 1888 wall, there was a nice sandy bcaoh in front of the esplanade, where even at high water there was dry sand between the sea and the wall. The_ tendency of the sand at that time was stationary, and even to increase. The : sea was then making slight encroachments on the sandhills immediately behind the terminus of the racecourse railway, where Kingston's bathing and refreshment rooms were, but nowhere else. During the winter of 1886 came a series of storms and high tides, which took a bite several chains wide out of the hills at Kingston's, washing away the ground on which his buildings stood, causing, of course, their total destruction. Farther damage was done to the esplanade, but not much, if any, to the sandhill immediately adjacent to it. I traced the general set of the scour which destroyed Kingston's buildings, and found it to be towards the esplanade from Lawyer Head. I found quantities of debris from the hills and Kingston's in the vicinity of the St. Clair Baths. Since 1886 the sea does not seem to have made any further inroad near Kingston's, and things remained stationary till the erection of this wall in 1888. The foundations of this wall were laid in a ditch, cut in the sand several feet to the seaward of Mr Smith's wall. The builders did not go to the bottom of the sand for their foundation. They cut the ditch 3ft or 4ft deep, built a dry stone dyke, filled the space between It and the esplanade with stones and clay ; and the result was total destruction in a few months. Well, sir, when they were working at their ditch, such was the accumulation of Band that the sea did not reach them at high water. No sand is now to be Been; immediately that wall was built it began to go. And when the dyke fell, its ruins were as effectual in creating the scour which swept tha sand away ao waa the wall itself while it stood. This scour has lowered the whole beach level three or four feet, the sea in consequence coming in much further and with greater force than it used to do ; and it is this which is causing the destruction of the hills close to the tram terminus, The debris from the dyke and sandhills can be traced as far as close to Government House, going the opposite direction to that of 1886 ; and I consider that that inroad of the sea was exceptional, and not likely to occur for many years. But the cause »f the destruction of the hill, going on with every hisjh tide adjacent to the esplanade exists in the ruins of the 1838 wall. The remedy seems to he, as Mr Cargill says, to put things back as they were, and to build a wall on the lines of Mr Smith's, much of the foundation of which is still in sight. I do not think they would now have to go far for a solid foundation. Gather up the ruins of the old wall, which now as an unsightly heap of boulders takes the place of the vanished sand beach, and use them for the new building. There is almost if not quite enough stones to build up the esplanade on Mr Smith's lines, with everything on the ground except cement. I should say that some such sum as that mentioned by Mr Cargill (L 400) would be sufficient to permanently repair the esplanade. Whether the sand would come back to its old position is doubtful, but not unlikely. Andas for the box and other drains which now discharge their offensive contents between the tram terminus and the baths, for the sake of the hundreds who come here for health and pleasure I trust they will be removed and sent where they ought to go—down the harbor ; or if that cannot be done, put them into one discharge pipe and take the pipe well out to sea.—l am, etc., Robert Paulijj. St. Clair, June 2.