FLOODS IN WELLINGTON.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LIII, Issue 5951, 23 March 1880, Page 5

FLOODS IN WELLINGTON.

- ~ [By Telegraph.] , , “ WELLINGTON, March 22.’ Heavy rains have caused serious slips on the Wellington-Featherston railway, Which will obstruct the traffic for threeor four days: 1 In some places tbe embankments have carried away, and will take considerable time to repair. Floods have occurred in the Hutfc river, but no damage bias yet been done.

PALMERSTON NORTH, March 22. A most disastrous flood occurred between Saturday ' and mid-day yesterday, doing damage amounting to £IOOO. The flood could not be the result of rain in Manawatn, as there bad been no rain for 12 hours. 1 It is supposed to have been raining up in the ranges for days. The Manawatn nver atPalmerston rose seven feet in four hours, oVqr.flqwed its banks, and spread over the country; The Maoris at Hokowbitu have taken to canoes. Thenstone Farm is completely surrounded with water, sis inches deep on tbo verandah. The, inmates, four men and a woman were imprisoned Until five o’clock last evening, when a boat was ■ launched 1 and after some difficulty, .succeeded; - in. rescuing them. On the. Gorge... rOad" the water is 6ft deep, the inmates of the houses being taken out in boats. On FoxtonroMall the settlers were flooded out. The rails have been washed away, and there is sft of water covering the line between Jackey Town ;phd Otorua Bridge. On Saturday night, a settler named Sherman attempted to escape with his wife and children in a trap, and while going along the road a log struck the wheel, and turned the trap over. The wife was saved with great difficulty, but the little girl; two years old, was drowned. The body , was recovered this morning in a side drain. The destruction of property is something immento. The Maoris say there has. been nothing like it for 20 yearn.- The flood has gone down considerably since momng, bat Tit is Übw raining hard, and fears of renewal are entertained. — -■* -.. ' ' ■

OITT COUNCIL. The regular meeting, of tha City Council . was held at seven o’clock last evening; ■ present—His Worship the Mayor, and poun- ] cillors Taylor, Vincent, Gapes, King, OherriU, , Hulbert, Wyatt, England, Ayera, Bishop, ■ Lambert, and Cuff. ] : FINANCIAL. The following items of finance were .re- ■ ported:—Debit balance at the Bank, £3194 OslOd ; receipts for the week, £242 7s 53, and bills to be paid, £746 Is. Beceipts, •, drainage rate, 1878, £1 2s s£d; do, 1879, £3 2s lOd 5 do, Drainage Board rate, 1878, £l lss3Jd ; do, 1879, £lol9s lid. Drainage account, interest, April 1, £462; general M account, transfer, £1 13s 3d. The accounts as read were passed for payment. ( QUESTIONS. ( Councillor Taylor said several complaints had reached him relative to the non-comple? , tion of works on the Lincoln road., • The Chairman of the Works Committee ■ explained that the Committee had been wait- ; ing for the purpose of ascertaining whether ( the Drainage Board contemplated carrying but any works along the Lincoln road. The ( Surveyor waa now re-taking levels, and. would j be able to report to the next meeting of the . Council. . j The Mayor, in reply to a question, stated ■ that a conference with the Drainage Board j had been postponed until the next meeting of the Board, : Councillor OherriU was informed that no communication had been received from the Sydenham Berough Council on the Sunday j trading question. Favourable replies had ( been received from Kaiapoi, Ashburton, ( Lyttelton, Invercargill, ' Palmerston, Port Chalmers, Kaiapoi, Waimate, and St Kilda. . From Dunedin the reply was : “ This Council is of opinion that the matter is one which ( properly comes under the supervision of the Police authorities, and not of the Council. Our Council has really no time.” PUBLIC ÜBINAIS. , A letter was read from 15 ratepayers, protesting against the erection of a urinal at the junction of Tuam and High streets. Another protest, signed by 33 ratepayers, was received against the erection of a urinal opposite the City Hotel. Councillor Hulbert inquired whether these petitions had been taken round for signature by Councillor Gapes. Were they the result of his canvassj? Councillor Gapes desired to explain that he waited upon the people resident about,,the sites proposed; he thought it his duty to do so. (No, no.) Ho should move that the question of erecting urinals opposite Sawtell’s and the City Hotel, and on the Wbateley road, be referred back to the Committee. Ho considered these structures most unsightly things, and wished to know whether His Worship would like to have such & thing placed immediately under his drawing-room window. All the three he had referred to were under some one’s private residence. (Cries of Name, name.) Councillor Gapes hinted that the site for one of the urinals, which would have been opposite the place of business of Councillor Cuff, had in some way been altered. On an appeal the Mayor ruled that Councillor Gapes was out of order, and that before his motion could be entertained a former resolution must be rescinded. Councillor Gapes was understood .to say he should give notice of motion. Councillor Lambert, as Chairman of the Sanitary Committee, replied to some the remarks which had fallen from Councillor Gapes. Ho severely criticised the action taken by a Councillor in “lookingup people, and bringing a hornets’ nest about the ears of' the Council. The Mayor said he would willingly have a counter petition lying at hie place of business. Ha would certainly not solicit any signatures; and without doing so ho was pretty certain 300 names would be obtained. ... Councillor Caff repudiated the insinuation made by Councillor Gapes. ■ , By unanimous vote of the Council, leave was given to Councillor Gapes to bring forward his motion without Abe motion was not seconded, and, therefore, leli It was understood that the protests would be replied to in due form, the Gounod resetting that the request made could not do acceded to. THE CABMEN AND THE TEAMWAY. , A number of cabmen (66) complained to : the Council by memorial, as to the mannenn which the tram cars were- permitted to Usurp the frontage at the Bad- ■ way Station. The wnters urged that i they were most unjustly dealt 1 witn i i a this respect, notwithstanding that the city benefited by the, amounts- of their licenses, while, the Tramway Company contributed nothing. The petib tioners suggested that to®- cab stand

should' be-pished- between the'tramline and thejrallstoy station.-' - v ; The. Survey or said be had the site. The tram bars ran close to the korbing. _ jpie, case stood thffeT Permission was given foVtho construction of the tram lines in accordance with the plans put in, At the came time, the Works Committee had—not knowing the details of those plans—fi*ed upon the 'tamo ’ground opposite the railway station for a cabstand.. ' 1

Councillor Ayers said permission was given for the construction of the tramway after the cab-stand bylaw was made, ■ ; . '' Replying to a question, the Town Clerk said that copies of the Tramway Act had been sent for, but wore not yet to hand. 1 Councillor Taylor considered it was inconsistent to grant any privilege to the Tramway Company,' whioh usuipedthe privileges pf the Cabmen,'; - ■ '■ i

Mr'J; E. Brown, who was present, obtained'leave to address the Council; He did not think the petition stated the case fairly. Mr Brown contended that the Council had really conceded to two different parties; the Tramway Company and the ’bus proprietors (not the cabmen) the same privilege. Ho and other directors had frequently visited the railway station, for the purpose of giving' every possible facility to the cabmen, all, that the Company wanted being to get the; cars in and out from the front of the railway strictly' in accordance with the time-table. ,' ; 'After a somewhat lengthened, conversational discussion, it was arranged that theßjrlaw Committee should meet, the Chairmen Of Directors of the Tramway Company, and subsequently report to the .Council. A letter was read from Mr J. B. Brown, asking permission to add 66ft to the tramway line in Cathedral square. Permission was given ;by the Works Committee on receipt of the letter, and the permit was now confirmed.' WATER SUPPLY. . A letter from Messrs Dobson and. Son[ addressed to tbo Chairman of the Water Supply Committee, was brought up and read AS follows fc—-. “ Five months ago the Water Supply Committee did us the honour of asking us, to undertake the management of the gravitation ’ scheme proposed.by Mr White for the "water supply of Christchurch. We declined to undertake the work, on the ground that it was unnecessary to bring water from'a distance,ithe supply from the artesian springs being unexceptionable in quality, and abun- : dint > for. all puiposes; and. that ifi it was desired to dispense with the fire engine's now in use, the requisite pressure: could;he obtained more efficiently from a pumping station than; by the proposed gravitation scheme. We have been at once gratified and surprised, at finding that the. Council have unanimously agreed to recommend to the ratepayers for their adoption, the alternative scheme prepared by our late assistant Mr Blackwell, which is simply a repetition of the advice we then freely gave the-Committee, as detailed in our letter of October 11, which was published at the time in the daily papers. Our reason for now referring to the matter is that we think it due to ourselves and the public to put officially on record the fact that after a delay of five months, and the expenditure of several hundred pounds in professional; advice, the Council have simply adopted in its entirety 'our original plan, which this Water Supply Committee declined to entertain, but which our professional experience and local knowledge had; long ago led us to consider was best adopted to meet the requirements of the city.” - r -v■ i ' Councillor Gapes said he couldvouch for the truth of ithe statements contained in Messrs Dobson’s letter; ' ; ;’ .

The former communication referred to was here read, and Councillor OherriU then spoke at length on the advice therein given as con;pared, with Mr Blackwell’s scheme. Taking into consideration the insinuations which bad been made, he would move that Messrs Dobson’s letter be forwarded to Mr Blabkwell. - ■ '■. - Councillor Halbert desired to deny the statement .made by Messrs Dobson, that they were asked to take charge of the Waimakariri scheme. What they were asked to do, was to state their terms to report upon that scheme; On the minute book being referred to, it : appeared that the then Water Supply Committee resolved to recommend to the Council the appointment of Mr Dobson as “advising engineer ” on the Waimakariri schemeCouncillor Gapes here left the Council Chamber. Councillor Ayers thought, that had Messrs Dobson become advising engineers, they would practically have had the management of the scheme. After a long discussion, it was resolved, on the motion : of Councillor Halbert, seconded by Councillor Taylor (Councillor Cherrill’s motion being withdrawn)—“ That the Water Supply Committed’ be requested to reply to Messrs Dobson’s, letter, pointing out the inaccuracies contained therein, and that a copy of the letter be sent to Mr Blackwell.” sueveyoe’b bepoet. Tha City Surveyor reported as follows: — “1. Permission to put down gratings to light a cellar at the Queen’s Hotel has been applied for. The gratings will only encroach a few inches on the footpath. “2. The urinals at the Market square will be finished to-morrow. “8. The stand for fish salesmen will be completed to-morrow. “4. The pipes of the artesian that is being driven in Victoria street broke about 30ft from the surface, and rendered it impossible to drive, any deeper, therefore the men are now engaged trying to drive out the plug, as a preliminary to further steps being taken.” Power was given to the Surveyor to grant permission to persons to put in gratings, provided that such gratings do not encroach more than 18in on the footway. Authority was given to the Deserves Committee to extend the asphalted stand for fishhawkers, as might be required to accommodate hottd fide applicants. * BEPOETB OP OPPICEES. The Collector and Inspector of Nuisances presented their customary reports, the latter calling the special attention of the Council to , the nuisance arising from accumulations of skins at Messrs Wilkin and Co.’s, Matson and Co.’s, and J. T. Ford and Co.’s. The Inspector recommended that the attention of the Board of Health should be called to the matter. It was resolved to forward a copy of the report to the local Board of Health, with a request that action may be taken. A DISGRACE TO THE CITY. The condition of the right-of-way by Messrs Matson and Co.’s premises, was referred to as a disgrace to the city, and Councillor Taylor moved—“ That the Town Clerk take the proper course to, have the right-of-way put into order, under the . provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act.” Councillor King seconded the motion, which was unanimously agreed to. . WOEKS. Councillor Taylor moved Works Committee be instructed to have the works of the city done by contract, as far as ! possible, instead of by day labour as at present.” Councillor Vincent seconded the motion, which was agreed to, Councillor King dissenting. NOTICE OP WATBB SUPPLY SCHEME. The Solicitors’ draft of the advertisement in connection with the water supply scheme and Municipal buildings’ scheme, was read . and approved, and ordered to be advertised. After one or two other items of routine business had been transacted, the Council adjourned for a, fortnight.