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Evening Star, Issue 9704, 23 May 1895, Page 2

The City Council last night brought the abattoirs question a step City nearer practical acoomplishAiiaitoirs. me nt by deciding unanimously to acquire as a site same thirteen acres situate conveniently near—in fact, almost adjoining—to the cattle saleyards at Burnside. Sixteen sites wei-e placed under offer to the Council, and it is understood that their choice was finally narrowed to that selected and one at present in the occupation of Mr Sajixon, comprising forty acres, for which £4O an acre was asked. That acquired contains a trifle over thirteen acres, and the price to be paid is about £6fSO. In Victoria a few years ago a Royal Commission (mostly of experts) was set up, under the presidency of Professor Allen, to inquire into the sewage and water supply of Melbourne, and a branch of their investigations was into the abattoirs question, which, so far as the Melbourne and most of the suburban meat supplies were concerned, was in a most unsatisfactory condition. In reporting to the Governor* in-Council, that Commission laid clown certain propositions as to the mam conditions essential to the establishment of any abattoir, in order that slaughtering might be jM&ductcd in a satisfactory uianiifcr froin a sanitary point of view. Among other thev affirmed that:

Eveiy. slaughtering establishment slu,uld he outside of thickly - populated localities, it should not be near a river or lagoon, nor should it be so situated as to occasion the least risk of pollution of any domestic water supply. The site should be elevated, with good natural drainage, and p.hould be sufficiently large to provide ample accommodation for stock waiting for slaughter. If the slaughtering establishment be adjacent to yards for the sale of stock, there should be a railway siding into the yards, and there should be direct communication from the yards to the paddocks in which the animals are kept prior to slaughter. If the slaughtering establishment be separate from the saleyards, there should be a railway siding from which stock would pass directly jhto the accommodation paddocks. The' paddocks should be sloped, so as to of effective drainage; they should be as well giassfid as possible, and should be provided with shelter .sheds, troughs, and food racks.

The pounds or pens in whisk are placed shortly before slaughter .s£o,ukl pot be under the same roof as the actual slaughtering place: they should be roofed in and provided with water troughs, and ahould be ass open as possible. No boiling-down works, nor any glue, gutspinning, sausage, or tr<pe factory, nor any bone mills, manure works, or .tannery should be within such distanco of any abattoirs that smells arising from them can, tuider ,any circumstances, be perceived at the abattoirs.' The general design of an abattoir should 'he such as to permit easy extension of the accommodation and.flasy access to all parts. The drainage £wm any abattoir should bo rendered perfectly inoffensive before it passes from the abattoir ground by suitable methods. But the method or methods should themselves not occasion nuisance.

Where other considerations render it necessary to use a low site for abattoir purposes, atyA especially where the damp stratum of the subsoil is near the surface, the building should be upon arches, so .that the subfloor space shall measure at least six feet in the clear. This space should be faced \vi& impermeable smooth flooring, so laid as to allow free drainage.

Judged by the above standard, the site which the City Council have just acq,ui,red is in many respects an ideal one., and there is reason to believe that the majority of the butcWino; trade so regard it. There seems to be\mly one possible drawback—the site, though .easily accessible for road traffic, does not, it is urged, admit of ,fche acquirement of an independent railway .siding, because of the steepness of the gradfi;,that would be required. There is, however, ,i siding in existence that comes almost .to .the ; boundary of the Corporation's property, ,a.nd it jmay .be .taken for granted that there

would be no real difficulty, since the benefit may be said to be largely mutual, in arranging with the Saleyards Company for the use of and an extension of their line. The Council also acted wisely, we think, in deciding to offer the £6,000 loan at par and to invite public subscriptions for it. The purpose for which the money is wanted is so generally popular that we feel sure that the Council will obtaih.it oh very favorable terms ; indeed, we shall be disappointed if it be not subscribed'thrice over and the bulk of the loan placed at a satisfactory premium.

A sketch of the career of the late Moat Rev. Bishop Moran, together with particulars of his fatal illness, will be found on our fourth page. At a special meeting of the Harbor Board this morning it was resolved to grant an extension of the charter of dredge 222 to the Lyttelton Harbor Board for six months.

A special meeting of the City Council will be held on Monday to finally consider the question of the loans conversion. A cable bearing on the matter has been received from London, and will be dealt with at a meeting of the Finance Committee on Saturday.

The Kennedy-Lucas Company still maintain their popularity at the Princess's Theatre Last night the well-known comedy 'The Guv'nor ' was revived, and the performance was again well received by a large and appreciative audience. ' The Shaughraun' will be staged to-uight, aud on Saturday a benefit will be tendered to Miss Lilla Wilde. The financial success of the Scottish Carnival at the Garrison Hall in ajd of the Tailoresses' Union is already assured: Last night so great was the rush o." onlookers that the doors had of necessity to bo closed against an exceedingly large number of intending visitors. The minuet and Spanish and Scottish dances were greatly appreciated, and the graceful skirt dance by Miss Tubman was also enthusiastically applauded. There will be a matinee to-morrow, and the curio court (which is one of the features of the Fair) will be open in the day-time. Tuesday night's programme was repeated by the Second Tivoli Specialty Company at the City Hall last evening, and met with the same hearty approval as greeted its previous appearance. The singers were heartily applauded, and the Marionettes' dances, sketches, and farces all came in for a favorable reception. The company appear again to-night, when the present programme will be given for the last time. Special attractions are announced for Friday, and on Saturday a matinee performance will be given, at which the Marionettes will appear in 'Red Riding Hood,' and the water pantomime, specially prepared for children, will be another feature. The Industrial School children have been invited.

At last night's meeting of the Otago Assembly of the Knights of Labor the following resolution was passed :—" That the recording secretary be instructed to write the Prime Minister conveying to him the congratulations of this assembly on the successful floating of the 3 per cent, loan for the advances to settlers." Three delegates were appointed to the Workers'. Political Committee; and the secretary in conveying the names was instructed to congratulate the Committee upon the utter failure of the recent attempt to create a schism in the ranks of the Liberal-Labor party of this district. A number of candidates were initiated.

The singing competition iu connection with the Caversham Presbyterian Literary and Debating Society was held on Tuesday evening before a large number of members and friends. Ihe prizes were music, presented by Messrs Charles Begg and Co. The following members entered for the contest:—Misses Hanuing, Mundie, M. M'Connell, and Mrs Caldow, Messrs Caldow, Hanning, Black, E. S, Jones, and M'Laren. Mr W. Manson acted as judge, and he awarded the prizes to Miss Mundie and Mr R. T. Caldow. The following members also helped to fill up the evening ; Miss Reid a song, Mr David Stevenson a recitation, and Miss N. Jones a pianoforte selection. At the close of the proceedings a hearty vote of' thanks was accorded to Mr Mansou for his duties as judge. The following were the accompanists for the singers .-—Misses M. Caldow, S. M'Connell, and N. Jones, and Messrs J. Kaston and D. Thomson.

A social gathering of more than usual interest took place at the Union street School Hall last evening to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the wedding of Mr and Mrs E. C. Hutton, traveller for Messrs Bing, Harris, and Co., of this City. A large circle of friends assembled to offer their congratulations, and a: musical programme was carried out in an able manner by Signor Squarise, who had charge of the Hutton Orchestra. Vocal and instrumental sslections were rendered by Misses Matthieson, Little, Palmer, and Lichtenstein, and Messrs Wilson, Todd, Signor Squarise, and R. C. Jones; and a capital recitation was contributed by Miss M'Kerrow, After'the concert the Hon, W. M. Bolt made a neat speech befitting the occasion, which was suitably responded to by Mr Hutton. Refreshments were then servew, and followed by games and social amusements, the party breaking up at an early hour. Mr and Mrs Hutton were the recipients of a large number of valuable presents, amongst the donprs being Messrs Bing, Harris, and Co. and the warehouse stall'.

Sir Hartley Williams is on the whole favorably impressed with the Victorian Divorce Act (Shiela's), though thinking it makes divorces for desertion too easy of acquirement. Ju a recent case heard before him, the petitioner said tjiat her husband had beaten her and turned her out of doors twice; the husband retorted that the quarrels were clue to her own acts, and he alleged that he had offered to take her back, but she refused to re-enter her home. His Honor, in refusing to grant the wife's petir tion, said that this ground of divorce in the new Act was the only one which he, thought \v?.s liable to abuse. He could not speak too highly ,of the Act in all other respects. He thought it y/as.one of the most humane and beneficial pieces of iegisktijm ever passed by Parliament. As a rule'the Act a/ibrded the most righteous relief to the parties who sought its aid. The ground of desertion was, however, sometimes trifled with. In the present case he did not consider that there had been wilful desertion. There was evidence that the respondent aud his mother had asked the petitioner to go back to her husband, and she refused. Under the circumstances it was not such a case as was contemplated by the Act.

A special practice of requiem mass will be held by the choir of St. Joseph's Cathodral this evening.

A tea and public meeting will be held in the John street Baptist Church, Caversham, tomorrow evening.

The annual meeting in connection with the Hanover street Reading Room will be held in the reading room this evening at 8.30. The annual meeting of the Kaikorai Football Ground Company" will be held in the Council Chambers, Roslyn, on tbo evening of the 31st. Friday, the 24-th inst., being the anniversary of the Queon's birthday, the Telegraph Office will only be open for business between the hours of V and 10 a.m. and 7 and 8 p.m. The Telephone will he open all day.

The attention of our readers is drawn to the cheap excursion;! to' be run by the Eailway Department foi 1 .to-raorrow. Excursion trains leave Duiiedin for Kydo &.fc S'a.'m'., and Kaitangata at 8 55 a.m.— the'fai'ep ,to each place being 7s first class and 6s second class.' ghould the weather prove fine thevo ig every reason io believe that the two trains will bo well patronised, as both places are full of interest to the residents of Dunedin and suburbs, and a yery enjoyable outing should result. The first, of ih,c Rev. Mr Haweis's lecture entertainments will be given in the Garrison Hall on "Wednesday evening taaxfc, when the rev. gentleman will deliver his' immensely popular 'Music and Morals,' with illuslrAtiojj3 on the violin by the lecturer. Mr Ilaweis, as is Y/ell known, is a splendid player on the king of instrujneiits, and great interest is evinced in his appearance On the following three evenings liia subjects will bo ' Tennyson, the Poet of the Age,' 'Musicand Noise,' and 'Marriage,: Is it a Failure? The bos'plan will be open at Messrs "Wise and Co.V on Saturday raorn'ng next, where seats may be booked and mireserved tickets also may bo obtained. My .Haw-eis's lecture entertainments have been drawing immense and delighted audiences* fti Melbourne, "Sidney, and Adelaide, and seats should be secured at oiyid jio avoid disappoint-, ment and inconvenience of -crushing at the doors. •'••'■ ■ ■ •• ...•.'_.