CHRISTCHURCH DISTRICT DRAINAGE BOARD.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 5006, 6 March 1877, Page 3

CHRISTCHURCH DISTRICT DRAINAGE BOARD.

A meeting of the members of the Drainage Board was held at the office of the Board, Hereford street, at half-past ten o’clock yesterday morning; present —Messrs Hobbs, Boss, Jones, Wright, Harman, Duncan, and Hall. In the absence of Mr Tanored, Mr Hobbs was voted to the chair. LEAVE OF ABSENCE. A letter was read from Mr Tanored, stating that he would not be able to attend the sittings of the Board for a month, in con-, sequence of having to attend to certain matters at Nelson, A month’s leave of absence was granted. THE DBAXNAGB QUESTION. The Chairman said they had to consider the question of the resolutions that had been sent to them on the drainage question. Should they take up that question at once, or go on with the ordinary business, and leave tbat to tbe end of the meeting P Mr Duncan thought it would be unwise to take this matter up and oome to any decision before they had been interviewed by the deputation appointed at the meeting held in Mr Clark’s rooms. It would be as well for them to wait and hear what they had to say. The members present seemed to be of the same opinion. Mr Harman said a great deal of time would be lost if the question were discussed several times. The public should understand that the Board had no desire whatever to carry things with a high hand. Mr Hall did not think they were giving that consideration to the ratepayers that they should do. There was a resolution passed at the last meeting to take the question of the resolutions passed at the Ohristohuroh meeting into consideration at an early day, whioh he understood was that day. A motion had been brought forward at the last meeting that the matter should be postponed till an early date. If they were going to do the work they ought to say so, if not they ought to come to a decision as soon as possible. Mr Wright thought it would be desirable to postpone the consideration of the question until they had been waited upon by the deputation appointed. If the whole matter was fully discussed, he was quite sure the deputation would go away With, a different impression to that with whioh they arrived, for he felt convinced they would change their views when the whole thing bad been fully explained to them. The Chairman remarked that the one or two meetings had been conducted by the same people so far as the principal speakers were concerned. Mr Hall wanted to know if the tendering was to bo continued. The Chairman said , the tenders would not be accepted for a month. Mr Hall would rather see no tenders called for until they were prepared to give the ratepayers an answer, one way or the other, as to the whole scheme. Mr Duncan said the Ferry road drain must be done. It was to carry off the storm water and to close up a number of drains that ran into the Avon; that was the reason he and others voted for the work. It was absolutely necessary to carry that oat at once. Mr Hall could not bear out the remarks of Mr Duncan. If they had another scheme of drainage other than the one before them, the Ferry road drain might not dovetail in with it, and, therefore, it might simply be so much money thrown away. With regard to their action as members of the Board, let them go to the ratepayers, and if they would not accept their action, then there was nothing left for them to do but to send in their resignation. They were all open for reelection. Mr Harman said he had voted for the Ferry road drain on the same ground as Mr Duncan. It would form a great relief to the Drainage of tbe district. In voting for that, however, he had no wish to hurry anything on, but only to give at once relief to the district without any pumping station whatever. He would appeal to the Engineer if this were so or not. Mr Bell said the drain would undoubtedly be a great relief to the district. He did not see that the storm water oould be carried off in any other way. Mr Carruthers had evidently put that' drain down there as a storm water overflow, and to carry off a portion of the sewage. He did not see how part of the storm water could be prevented from going into tbe Heatbcote. Mr Hall asked if it was advisable to spend £25,000 on this drain before the whole scheme was decided upon. His own opinion was that it was not, and that they should not spend a penny until the matter was settled one way or the other. Mr Boss thought half of the eruption between the Board and the public arose through misconception. Mr Jones asked at what point the contract would begin if the scheme were adopted. Mr 801 l said at as many points as possible. Mr Jones gave the reason why ha supported Mr Dunoan’a motion for calling for tenders. He ’coked upon this drain os one that could not be delayed. Any individuals who would try to prevent it did not know the mischief they were doing. There had been great damage done to the district through the want of a drain. The Oily Council had been appealed to time after time on the subject. He had not supported the motion in defianoe of the ratepayers, bat for the good of the public generally. He did not undertake to talk engineering, but he had supported the motion for the public good, and it would be a sorry day for Ohristohnrch when tbe members of that Board were deterred from doing their duty. If one person who bad been with and persuaded the opposition oould reckon the money loss he had caused to the people of the Ferry road, and Waltham and other districts, it would have to be calculated by thousands of pounds. Mr Duncan wished to make clear (hat neither the Antigua street drain nor the sewage from the Hospital would be taken down that drain, but only the storm-water of Phillipstown, the Ferry road, and surrounding districts. The sewage would be no more than went down tbe side-channels at tbe present time. There was not a single bit of the sewage of Christchurch or of the breweries going down the drain. While he was q member of that Board, until there was strong flashing powers ho vkould not consent to any dejecta going down the drains into the river. Mr Hall did riot think they were justified in spending this £25,000 upon a more portion of the eohome when they might decide against the scheme itself. The Chairman said he wished to make a remark or two, whioh he hoped the reporters would take down. For his own part, ho thought it desirable that no reply should be sent until the deputation appointed to wait upon the Board had seen them, because, eo far, not a tingle one of the speakers or writers who had spoken or written on this subject had done so with a full knowledge of what Mr Oarruthers’ scheme really was, and this being the oaoe, ho thought it was manifestly unfair to the Board the way they had been treated by those who had spoken and written, Ho thought that instead of charging theta with undue haste in adopting the plans, that they (the Board) had a perfect and legitimate right to charge them with undue haste in criticising that whioh they clearly did not understand. It really amounted to that. Ho would mention one instance. • Let them take the case' of the editor of the Press. Ho had been told over and over again where be was wrong, yet,

in spite of that, he reiterated the charge only that very morning, when he bad said in (he columns of tbat journal, “Ho (Mr Oarruthere) also looks forward to the general use of water-closets, and his sewers are expressly designed to serve that end.” Now, that had been oontradioted again and again. He (the speaker) would now read tbat portion of Mr Oarruthers’ scheme upon which that statement in the Press was founded. Mr Oarruthers said;—“ The primary object of sewers is not to carry water-closet dejecta, but to remove household water after it has been used and fouled. It was obviously a matter of the first importance to get rid of this filthy water, and underground sewers form tbe best vehicle for carrying it away. If it is allowed to fall into the natural watercourses they will soon be polluted, especially where there are any manufactories in the town, and ordinary decency, as well as wise economy, dictate that this shall not be permitted. It, therefore, becomes necessary to dispose of the sewage in some other manner than throwing it into the rivers. I propose, in the case of Christchurch, to carry it to the Estuary, and I will presently state my reasons for doing so. Besides the removal of household water, the removal of rain water from the streets falls on the Board; one set of sewers being, in any case, required for the household water, it would seem to follow, without fear of contradiction, that the simplest and cheapest way of providing for the rain water would be to make tbe sewers large enough to carry it as well as the household water. By doubling the diameter of a sower its carrying capacity is increased about six times, and this is more than sufficient to carry all but the heaviest storms. The extra cost of making the sewers large enough to carry ordinary rainfall is not generally very great, and in Christchurch, or other flat towns it is scarcely appreciable, as the sewers have, in any case, to be made larger than would be sufficient, simply to carry a quantity of pure water equal in volume to the sewage. The size of a sewer is regulated not only by the quantity of sewage to be carried, but also by the necessity of obtaining a certain velocity of flow which will prevent the deposit of silt.” And further on, ho says:—“ In short it may be stated that in Christchurch, or other towns where great inclinations cannot be given to the sewers, it is necessary to make the latter quite or nearly large enough to carry away ordinary rain, and the cost of a separate system of sewers for rainfall alone wonld be, therefore, an unnecessary expense.” In that they saw Mr Oarruthers told them most distinctly that the object of having the pipes that size, was to prevent the deposit of silt, and to carry off storm water. It was important to remember this, because Dr Turnbull had tried to make a point by stating that the sewers would not be properly flushed, and would therefore become elongated cesspools. It was a pity Dr Turnbull had not read tbat part of the scheme a little more carefully, Mr Hall: If I may he allowed to state— Mr Hobbs : Perhaps you will first allow me to finish my remarks. (Mr Hobbs then went on to read tbat portion of Mr Oarruthers’ report which referred to the size of tbe pipes enabling them to be flushed with velocity.) Tbe whole of that portion of the report clearly proved tbat the sewers were to be made large to allow of the necessary velocity and the necessary flushing powers. That was proved as clearly as it possibly could be. Then, in the report, further on Mr Oarruthers stated that the severs, being so large, would be able to carry off the dejecta from the water-closets if tbe Board wished. He distinctly denied that Mr Oarruthers planned bis sewers to be large for the purpose of carrying tbe dejecta. Only tbat very morning the Press had again that there was to be the large pipe for the purpose of carrying off the dejecta. When they saw men doing this what could they think ? He (the speaker) had devoted a lot of time to the consideration of the question, And was willing to devotes lot more; •'indeed, he was quite willing to give a whole day to hearing and explaining to the deputation this drainage ..scheme. He must again .protest against tbe unfair treatment which the Board was receiving. He would allude to one more example of misconception. Dr Frankish wanted to know when the supply of artesian j water gave out, how Mr Oarruthers was going 'to flush the sowers, inferring that if. this occurred there would be no means of effecting ; this process of flushing. If the Doctor had been for one single hour in that room and had studied those plans, he would have.seen tbat Mr Carrathera never intended to flush those sewers with artesian water, but from the rivers and creeks that were found in every direction, and whiob bad never failed and were not likely to do so. Mr Oarruthers therefore proposed to flash those sewers altogether independent of the artesian water. When they found people writing letters, and newspaper editors writing leaders on this subject after it i had been talked and written about for a mouth—when they found public men at public meetings misleading the people—then he said it became a serious question whether it was the Board’s duty'to take notice of such an opposition as that; whether, in fact, they would be doing their duty to the ratepayers ■ who sent them there if they gave any weight to this opposition yphich they knew was founded on statements contrary to fact. A great many personal remarks had been made against him, to whioh be deemed it unworthy to reply. Before sitting down be would like to put a question to Messrs Harman and Wright. Did they carefully notice the number of bands tbat had been held up for the resolutions at the Oddfellows’ Hall on the occasion of the drainage meeting ? Mr Harman had no hesitation in saying about half the hands were held ap. He bad stated tbat at the time to one of the members of the Board who was sitting next to him. Mr Wright had also taken particular notice of the number of hands held up, whioh, as nearly as it way possible to form an opinion without counting the hands, amounted to not more than one-half of the people present. Mr Harman then proceeded to read certain remarks on the subject of the drainage scheme that had appeared in the Press of yesterday morning, referring to the Boards not having acquiesced in tbe remarks of the Chairman in his written statement, read at a previous meeting to the Board, in whioh Mr Hobbs had stated that “ tbe question of depositing the sewage bn the estuary was a perfectly open one, and had not been ever considered by the Board.” He desired to state that the Editor of the Press was wren?, the Board having nnaninmously endorsed every word of Mr Hobbs’ statement as it was printed. He particularly wished to call the attention of numbers to this fact Hall said what he objected to was proCvKding with tbe work after the very strong marks of disapproval from tbe ratepayers, ft was very evident from the tone of the Board that they intended to go on with the work in. defianoe of the express wish of the ratepayers. (No, no.) That at all events was the only construction he could put upon it. What he objected to was keeping'tiie ratepayers in suspense. Lot them say they would go on with the works, and then they would know what to do, Mr Duncan, as a member for the Heathooto District, was determined to carry off the storm water from that district, and Christchurch had benefited very materially by the loan of the Board, and it was bis duty to see if he oould not get some'assistance for the district he represented. He would eay, let Christchurch be without underground drainage for some time; but he felt it to be his duty, no far as be was able, to go in for getting bis district drained. He considered his first duty was to his own district, and that ho had a right to look after the interests of the ratepayers of tbat district. At tbe same time he was prepared to look after the interests of tbe citizens,and the people generally. If, after the improvement in question, the Board was prepared to goon with the drainage of the whole of the Christchurch district, he would be prepared to support' them, if the people themselves approved of it. The public should be. niade aware of the fact that he had supported the .making of this Ferry road drain, because he felt it to be a groat public; pooessaity. . Mr Wright entirely concurred with the remarks that had fallen from Mr Duncan, and ini ; doing so he must say that for his own pact,hoi. might have overlooked his own constituents in

a great measure. He should therefore ask the Board to request Mr Oarruthers, at as early a date as possible, to bring down a scheme for the drainage of the rural portions of the country. The inhabitants of Ohristchuroh did not care for the system of drainage; therefore let them wait. (Laughter.) Mr Harman had been in Christchurch long enough to know the evils of want of drainage) and this was particularly noticeable in the part of the town he represented—the south-west part. He bad also been in Christchurch long enongh to remember that in that part of the town a whole sheet of water had been lying after a heavy rain. Whether the drainage scheme was carried out in its entirety or not, be was of opinion that some action should be taken to carry off the storm water by means of the Perry road drain ; in fact, the work in question must be carried out. If the people of Ohristchuroh wished to go without drains altogether, their (the Board’s) duty then was to look after the drainage of the suburbs. He had no desire to force underground sewers in Ohristchuroh unless it was the wish of the ratepayers generally. Mr Boss said there could be no doubt that a very great evil was created through the want of drainage in many parts of Christchurch. In the district he represented there was a very poor supply of water from the artesian wells. From this cause, and want of flushing power in consequence, house slops that were thrown down lay on the ground or drained into the side-channels, and there remained until evaporated, causing a most unhealthy stench. Often when he went home in the evening, the smell from the gutters was most unbearable. Mr Jones said there could be no doubt that many of the articles that appeared in the newspapers did not show much discrimination on the part of the writers. One of these articles had said that all the money was being spent on Christchurch. If the papers would be a little more careful in the dissemination of truth and lead the people to give proper attention to these subjeots and come to a right understanding, they would do a great deal more good. It was not wise to quarrel with editors. He did not think it would be wise to adopt Mr Hall’s suggestion and settle this matter at once. It would be much better to consider the resolutions sent in by the petitioners before they called for tenders at all. Still the tender that had been referred to was for one of those necessities that they could not ignore. They were all interested in avoiding heavy taxation as much as possible, and he felt confident that the Board had no desire to impose such taxation on the ratepayers. He did not like to he sent there as a mere delegate, but he would work for the interests of his constituents in the same way that ho would do for his own. Ho must say they had not received proper treatment at the hands of the public. He agreed with Mr Hall that it would have been better if tenders bad not been called for the Perry road sewer until the petitioners’ resolutions had been considered, as some of the ratepayers put a wrong construction on it, and looked upon it that, by calling for tenders for this one work, the Board was going on with the whole of the scheme. This was not the case, although it was possible it was open to that construction. Mr Hobbs said be was very much obliged to Mr Harman and Mr Wright for bearing him out in bis statement as to the number of bands that had been held up at the meeting at the Oddfellows’Hall, He was sorry that Mr Williams bad taken the trouble to twist and torture.his (Mr Hobbs’) remarks as an insult to the ratepayers. Nothing was further from bis intention than to do anything of the kind. There were a number of followers of Mr Wynn Williams of the class of Jack Lee, Ditford, Morris, and others who followed him like his shadow to all public meetings. These men were put up to applaud Mr Williams and his supporters, and hiss everybody else. There was thus no chance of any mem-bera-of that Board having' a fair hearing. If Mr Williams wished his meetings to have any weight with Local Bodies he should use his influence to secure order; so that both sides of a, question could be heard, and intelligent ratepayers have an opportunity of fairly judging on the merits of the question under debate. Mr Duncan moved that a letter be written to his Worship the Mayor, stating that the Board will take no action in the matter referred to in tho resolution forwarded in his Worship’s communication, until after they have consulted with the deputation appointed to confer with them. . Mr Boss seconded the motion. Mr Hall moved as an amendment, that the petition be taken into consideration to-day, in order that a reply may at once be given. Mr Jones seconded the amendment. Mr Hall said that from what he had heard, the deputation would not wait upon the Board at this meeting. The Chairman said that was hardly likely. Probably a special meeting would be necessary to meet them. Mr Hall said perhaps some of the members might not be able to attend that meeting. It was only justice that there should be a full meeting, if the deputation was to be met. It appeared to him that at one time the Board was in a great hurry to get on with the work. Now, however, a different eort of feeling seemed to prevail. The amendment was then put and lost, the original motion being carried. engineer’s report. The Engineer’s report was read as follows : March 5, 1877. According to instructions received from the Board, I have advertised tho Perry road sewer for tender in Christchurch, Dunedin, and Wellington. On examining the inside of the Basin Outfall sewer, I find it to he very insecure, and requiring immediate attention. About six chains should be hacked up with concrete or otherwise strengthened. The cost will be £SO or £6O a chain. I would recommend a trapped gulley to he built at the corner of Tuam and Bast heir, as the smell from the silt pit, passing up the pipes, annoys the residents there, and tho silt pit cannot be removed until gnllies are made to all the sewers that lead into it. X would recommend, as a temporary measure, extending the lino or pipes, or draining part of Salisbury street, as complaints are made of people annoying their neighbours by their artesian water, for which they have no proper drainage. About 600 barrels of cement have been stored at the Gas Works. It is apparently new and in good condition. I have issued a circular asking for the price of pipes and clay invert blocks as directed by the Board. I have sent to Wellington tho calculations of quantities required to estimate tho coat of the drainage scheme, as tar as the plans go, which are in this office. 1 have the hononr to remain, C. Napier Bell, Engineer. Tho clauses were adopted seriatim, and then the report as a whole was approved. SPREYDON. A communication was received from the collector of the Spreydon Boad Board, offering to collect the rate in the district on behalf of the Board for eovon and a-half per cent. The offer was accepted. HEATHCOTE. A letter was read from Mr C. Ladd in reference to the collection of the rates in the Heathcote District. The Secretary was requested to write to Mr Ladd, requesting him to sue for certain rales in the district. A COMPLAINT. A letter was read from Mr Ohudley, complaining of certain water flowing on his promises in Salisbury street, and saying that ho should hold tho Board responsible for any damage done. It was resolved to acknowledge the receipt of the letter. bell’s creek, A letter from several residents living near Boll’s crook, complaining of the overflow of the oreok through its being choked with weeds,, was referred to tho Engineer with power to act. DRAINAGE PIPES. A communication was received from Mr W. F. White, of Dunedin, complaining that ho had received no invitation to tender for tho supply of pipes for the drainage of Christchurch. The Engineer said he had himself forwarded a letter, which Mr White would have received after ho had forwarded his letter from Dnnodin. ST. ASAPH STREET. A letter was road, from Mr J. H. Smith, of St. Asaph street, complaining of a nuisance existing,through the pipes being too small to carry pff the water into tho side channels. . Referred to Mr 8011. THE DRAINAGE MEETING AT WOOLSTON. A letter was read from Mr H. A. Bamford

Chairman of the Woolstou Drainage Com* mittee, asking for a replj to the communication made to the Board, together with th* resolutions passed at the late meeting at Woolston, and stating that no reply had been received so far as the second resolution passed at that meeting was concerned. Mr Harman moved—" That a copy of Mr Duncan’s motion passed at the last meeting 'that the channel should be carried out to deep water/ should be forwarded to Mr Bamford." The motion was carried. Mr Boss moved—" That the Heathcote residents be informed that the Board will consider the wider subjects dealt with in their resolutions together with those passed at the Christchurch meeting, after haring had an interview with the deputation appointed at a meeting held at Clark’s rooms.” Seconded by Mr Harman, and agreed to. MERIVALE. A letter was read from Mr Selwyn Smith, complaining of bad drainage in Merivale, and requesting that the B-ard should acouire the right of the drain ia that district. The matter was referred to the Engineer. It was resolved to write to Mr Smith, and inform him that the Board could not deal with the matter until the whole question of drainage was dealt with. STANMORE ROAD. A letter was read from a number of the residents of Stonmore road north, complaining of the defective drainage in the district in consequence of which their lands were often flooded and under water. Mr Dunoon moved—“ That a reply be sent to the petitioners that the Board has fully considered the whole matter, and is of opinion that it is unwise to cut a deep drain on the edge of a narrow road when there is a natural drain in existence.” Mr Jones drew the attention of the Board to the necessity of having the outfall south and Ferry road drains kept properly cleared. Referred to the Engineer.