MR MIRAMS'S VIST TO MELBOURNE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 4742, 30 April 1877, Page 3

MR MIRAMS'S VIST TO MELBOURNE.

"The following is Mr ;Mirams's report :on "Muticipal inatitutiona and improvements in Melbourne:— - City Council Chambers, . ■ 20th April, 1877. To His Worship the Mayor and City Council., • Gentlemen —In resuming my official duties ~«pon the expiry of the leave of absence lately -Recorded me, I beg to lay before you the results -p£ my observations and enquiries respecting Municipal institutions and. improvements in "tHe neighbouring City of Melbourne. '"In response to the official and other letters of introduction with which I was furnished, I e--e'eived every attention from the officers of the Melbourne and Suburban Municipalities, and ~"6?as afforded all facilities for the prosecution of :my, investigations, I have the pleasure to say that in every instance in which I sought infor"jnationl met with the utmost courtesy and -the most cordial compliance with ray requests. "Copies of all .'documents.'of interest or value -to ns being also freely furnished. . The principal divisions of ordinary municipal "business may be ranged under the following heads: — . ;

L Street improvements. ■ 2. Municipal buildings, markets, fee3. Sanitary operations. . .-. I p-6pose in this report to deal with them in ~she same order. 1 i STREET IMPROVEMENTS. - The streets of Melbourne and the contiguous municipalities are very nearly all formed, metalled, kerbed, and channelled. The formation of the streets has not necessitated the heavy cuttings and embankments so frequent :.ih Dunedin, the natural surface of the ground 'furnishing with very little excavation good and -easy gradients. There having been, also, so little sidling ground to deal with, one most "troublesome question as regards properties, and of injiiry to them, scarcely existed. v- The surface of the roadways has been :fonned with bluestpne metal in the usual : manner, the only pitching ou the roads being, -as with us, in the vicinity of the wharves. ;Tbe footpaths are somewhat narrow in proportion to the width of the street, viz.:—lJ -chain street, footpath 12ft. :wjdej .1 chain .street, footpath 9ft. wide; h chain street, footbath 4ift. wide. At Emerald Hill, a two chain =street is laid eff with 20ft. footpaths. ■ ■ At most street intersections the roadways --are laid with pitched crossings for foot passengers, or with tarred metal and screenings, -which appear to stand well.: o:The prircipal experiment in the formation of tarrsd metal roadway h:.a lately been made :in Collins, street (one of the principal thoroughfares). A whole block, viz., from Elizabeth street to Swanstcn street, has been so treated. The depth of material was 7ins., composed of a layer of tarred metal, covered with a coating of "4arred screenings. Each layer was frequently rolled during a period of three weeks with a i-2040n steam roller, the street being wholly closed to traffic, wLcthei1 public or private. 'The cost of the work was L5Bl, or at the rate -of-2s 6d per square yard of surface formed. The roadway presents & very neat and surface, is perfectly noiseless, and -though, the slight indentations caused by the wheels are apparent the surface is not "broken. Since it. was laid, the weather has been yery_ dry, so that ilie principal causs of to road surfaces was wanting; but, so far, the work may be pronounced a -success). If such highly artificial roadways -could remain unbroken, their capabilities would have a fairer test, but the constant excavation of trenches for sewers, house-drains, Rains and services, both for extensions and repairs, soon destroys the continuity upon which so much depends, and gives an undue •advantage to the rough and-ready process of meta.!iing,.which k easily repaired. I beliove - that \fo\\ City Council are disposed to give the expfiriment a more lengthened trial before proceeding much further in the same direction, ■although they are fully satisfied with results up to^the present time. A portion of Lonsdala =atfeet was being re-formed upon the same pro--cess while I was in Melbourne, and this without stopping the traffic—not being such a lead"ing thoroughfare. ;,The metal for the roadways and screenings for the footpaths are all broken by day labour, ■and spread by th« Corporation daymen. All repairs to roads and all asphalting cf footpaths done by day labour, the city being' divided into four districts, with an inspector -over each. The cartingof the meial is done by ■ -contract, as with us. The average cost of the metal exceeds the cost here by about Is 6d per -cubic yard. This may be accounted for by the larger interest on the capital expended at the ■stone-crushing works £L8Q00), and bythe great ■ <iistar.ee of the quarries from the city, which makes the cartage heavy. The kerbing to footpaths is everywhere of -dressed Milestone, but of irregular widths— '. generally 7in wide, in places 12in, and in a few • cases 14in wide. In the suburbs the kerbs often vary in width on both sides of the street. Prom the fact that the wider kerbing is. of the latest date, and often placed in; front of good buildings, it may be assumed that suoh, 13 con■sidered preferable: so that we may in'Dunedin - consider that the uniform standard of the good broad kerb adopted here many years ago, was a proper and politic arrangement. '.-: The channels are everywhere composed of ■ blue-stone pitchers 8 or _9-inches square, and . all laid with great regularity,. : The only, variations being in the depths and widths required. : for the different volumes of water to be con veyed. All channels, axcept in rights-of-way, ; -are laid at least 12 or 15 inches beldw. : the top ; -of kerbing, while .some are as . deep as ■ ■frnro; feet, making a wide, deep,'and incon- • venient step for pedestrians wishing to cross the road. To obviate this as much as possible, at -certainstreet intersections 15-inch earthenware : pipes -ir stone culverts have been- laid round "the comers, and the ground made,up.level: with the ferbs. This is a very great 'improvement; : but the authorities can only apply it where the . volume of water in flood time is not greater than the pipe 3 can'carry, or where the channel ' is-deep enough below the top of kerbto afford : :100m for the pipe. ... . -.; \ In Dunediii, where the kerb 13 only 6 or 7 inches above the chancel, there is no depth sufficient to la,y such pipes," but in certain cases, ■where'the're would' not be much" water "to deal : •mth, a small diagonal culvert might be carried' ' across and underneath the angle of footpaths. Ix is obvious that during heavy, rains these pipes require constant supervision lest they should get stopped, which I am informed not infrequently happens. Along the street the ; - inconvenience of the deep channels is mitigated ■ ~tc some extent by wooden bridges at cortain in- \ - t»rvals. In mf.ny cases (especially opposite im-i- ; portent: buildings) the channels-aie-entirely •■coverad over for as much as a chain in; length ■With !>road" flagging connecting: the footpath ' level with the :road: without any break or step "whatever. If this practice became universal, "the street channel would simply become a small ■tmdferground drain, flagged over ; all distinction : between ro?.d and footpath would be lost, except as regards character of surface, and all curvature of formation obliterated..; ■; <

i The house drains lead into the channels under. •^She footpaths, and drains from rights of-way are -dad. same uncovered. The; smell., from •channels is fct times quite perceptible, but as the streets are watered five times daiiy,and the house consumption has to be taken into ac•count, there is usually some water running •down them. . :

private crossings over the. footpaths, •either giving access to rights-of-way or to priYate promises, are of varied construction as reform, though uniform as to material. : The form chiefly in use is highly inconvenient to pedestrians. - There is first a step of two or three inches down from the footpaths, then an /incline still downwards of four or five inches, . and in the centre of the crossing an open drain • nine inches wide and an inch or two deep, filled ■with the drainage water from the right-of-way. -Sometimes there are two side drains instead of a centre one. In a few cases the nuisance of - these drains has been remedied by putting a diagonal culveit under the footpath leading from the building line to the channeL Where this ha 3 been done the crossing has been laid in the manner now common here—viz., flush with -the footpath, level for two-thirds of the footpath width, and then rounded down into the -channel.

All the crossings are paved with broad pitchers, and kerbed on both sides. The universal system which ha 3 obtained in, Melbourne and the suburbs of providing through righto of way to all subdivisions of property very materially lessens the number of thess crossings, aa one at each-end of a right-of-way may give access to a Hccre or two of As the streets are wide, the footpaths at ; street intersections are not finished with bold circular quadrants, but the lines of the paths -are continued square until they nearly inter- • sect, and are then connected with a small quadrant stone 3 or 4ft. in diameter.

The footpaths are laid with a variety of ■material, Flagging of various descriptions, both Home and Colonial, sawn bluestone, and .asphalte, composed of tarred metal and screenings. These various^ materials, exist without any order or regularity, a length of one dcs- ■ cription being followed by a length of another. "Both in. Melbourne and the other municipalities the tarred pavements introduced into Dun--edin many yeara ago are now universally adopted, and no other material is at preoent Tiaed. The process of manufacture is the same .as with us, except that no lime is used in Melbourne, v/hich permits of simpler method of preparing the material, and of course cheapens -its production. The payement3 are well laid, aid-present the same appearance as our own, "but in our more humid climate I should not -think it advisable to dispense with the lime.

The tarred pavement system was introduced into Dunedin by Livingstone about 10 years .ago.. One of the .company,afterwards started to lay it in a Melbource suburb, and with such aticcess that all the municipalities, "including Melbourne, have followed' the' example' with 4i& modifications I have painted;'<>ut,;.V^ ,'; ';:..

It is rarely that a path is not asphalted full I width, but where. such is the case the narrow jj wood kerbing we use is dispensed with, aud the : outer .edge • left ragged. Further, the.stuff is laid-along the building line. Our practice is to lay it against the kerb, which I consider is far preferable. . .■■.-..- .-..-,:■•.■• MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS, MAKKETS, ETC. Town Halls.—ln addition to the Melbourne i Town Hall, I visited those of Eitzroy, Hocham, Prahran, and St. Kiida. A full description of me accommodation provided in the Melbourne Town Hall is already in the possession of the Council. It is a noble building.at the corner of two principal thoroughfares, the cost, being L 90,000. The Ktzroy, Hotham, and Prahrari municipalities all being joined to Melbourne without «,ny break in the continuity of the streets and house 3, have each erected fine and substantial buildings, providing the requisite municipal offices and a large hall for public meetings. - - ~ ■ The dimensions of the large halls and total cost (when completed) of buildings areMunicipality Siz. e GJ Hall <-"ost; ■at ~. m feet. . £. Melbourne... ... 168x74 90,000 atz'-oy. ... ... 101x45- .14,000 Hotham ... ... 75x45 16,000 Prahran ... ... 70x40 .8,000 The population, and number of houses in each municipality being— „ , ■ Population. Houses. Melbourne ... ... 60,000 12,000 Fitzroy ... ... 20,000 4,300' Hstham 15,000 3,200 Prabran ... ... 16,500 3,700 The various buildings, in addition to the large halls, include Council Chambers and municipal offices, but none of them are required to provide accommodation for either water or gas departments. The Hotham building 3 comprises telegraph office, court-house, and quarters for pontmaster, while the Prahran hall includes a free public library. All the halls are embellished with lofty and ornamental clock and observation towers, and aie all in the Italian style of architecture. The buildings are generally tsvo storeys above the street le/el, the third (if any) being in the roof. '

Markets.—ln, company with the City Surveyor of Melbourne. I visited the various market buildings, abattoirs, and cattle yards. ' The Hay and Corn Market ■is an extetsive enclosure, surmounted by high and ornamental brick walls. This enclosure is entered by a massive and lofty archway in brick, the encloeed area being divided into open roadways and covered sheds. On each side of the entrance archway are situated the various market offices- and Keeper's quarters,- all substantially built of brick. Total cost, Ll2 000 " The Meat Market, at the north end of Elizabeth street, is a brick edifice of simple character, comprising a central roadway, with, stalls on each side, all roofed over. Cost, L4OOO. : : The Fish Market is an ornamental brick structure, at the junction of- Swanston and Flinders streets. It is somewhat small in size, comprises a central hall, with. entrances from the two streets, and stall spaces all round. On two sides the stalls have a shop frontage to the: street. ' . .. ■ p ■.

The Horse, Cow, and Pig Market is enclosed with brick walls, with open central alley.-- The stalls ranged on ej.ch side, and-roofed over' Cost, L7OOO. : ' " ...

The Sheep and Cattle Yards are situated'three or four miles from the city. They are of very, large extent, covering: :30 acres; and the' total cost of construction was L 50.000. The pens are constructed and-subdivided much in thesame way as those erected by us, but mi addition long floored and roofed alleys, are ranged alternately with the pens, and at an elevation of two or three feet above the grourid for the convenience cf inspection, :&c." The greater part of this vast area is paved with bluestone pitchingj which formed a large item' m the total cost. ■■-.-.. •=,. ;

The market is most extensively used, and has proved by no means too - large: for: the; requirements of the-stock brought down to town. , • - ~ ; . -.-

The Melbourne Abattbirsare erected a little beyond the sheep and cattle yards. The buildings ars: solidly constructed of brick and stone, with an imposing stone gateway. The genera^ plan. provides a: central roadway with the various buildings ranged on either side, the offices being adjacent to the gateway,"and the slaughter houses beyond. At the rear of the slaughter houses are placed the cattle pens, into which, from suitable alleys, are drafted the stock about to be slaughtered. .-: " ; Beyohdthe buildings are. placed the pens of larger size, for reception of the cattle as they arrive. lam informed that at these abattoirs ;400 head of cattle and 4000 sheep and lambs are killed weekly; other of the suburban municipalities, such as Collingwood, have their own abattoirs. ■.-■-.

The fees paid to the .Corporation for the use of the buildings are : —: . - . . .-. : For every bullock slaughtered ;.. „. O3 6J Do do sheep or lamb do. ... „0a id Do do r-% ; d 6 ... ... is 0d Do do calf do ... ... Os 3d Ine authorities/ however, are of opinion' ttiat the fees for bullocks and calves should be doubled. ... .■,:.-,..-.

Baths.—The Corporation have provided two swimming baths. That at'the south end of the city, near the Yarra River, is enclosed by a galvanised iron fence, and is entirely unroofed, except the dressing boxes. The'dimensions of the water areas are 120 ft x 60ft.- This bath is principally intended for the use of boys, and is quite free, no charge whatever being made. . : ;

: The other bath-house is situated at the north end of the city, and is a brick building placed at the angle of two streets. The swimming ibathoccupies the central portion of the building, and is covered with a light iron roof.; The water area measures 90ft by 42ft. The dressing :boxesare ranged on three sides. ; The water issupplied by tho water department, and is often changed once a day. ~ : The hot, cold, andshower baths are situated on each side of the central hall, and are reached by corridors. They number as follows:— ! ■"•• Krst-class gentlemen's baths - ... 18 ; Second do do do--' „ 15 ; First ds ladies' do ' ... A ' ; Second do do do: ... 5 ■-

Total ... ... 42 .: In addition to the above, the Corporation haye c .permitted one or two galvanic and medicated baths to be fitted up. The charge for the swimming bath is 3d, including towel Erst and second class hot and cold baths, Is and 6d respectively; The management of this Institution is in the >hands of the Council. I have been informed ;that it was formerly leased, but did not pay the lessee, and that at. the present time it .is not self supporting. All the fittings and furniture were well appointed, and every comfcri and :convenience for the private- baths supplied on the most liberal scale. , : -. . SANITARY OPERATIONS. . To this important subject I gave special attention. Our own wants being so urgent, renders the results of any schemes that have beenpractically ; carried out. of great value to us. lhe.initiative was taken by the Corporation of Melbourne, and as the other boroughs con--tiguousto Melbourne have followed with but: slight modifications the. original project it may well be assumed that it is the best that' can be adopted for the present at least. The City of Melbourne, with a population of 60,000, spends Lls,oooper annum on its cleansing and sanitary contracts, etc., thus disbursed. for removal of night soil ... £6,000 ; „ „ scavengering and dust ' cart 3 ... ... ... -..;.. .„ ; 6,000 Subsidy paid to Victorian Government, .; being proportion of expense in disposing of refuse in parks; gardens, ; and reserves:... .... ... :„, 3,000 . ; . £15,000 These sums are paid out of revenue, no extra or special rate being imposed. Nearly the whole of the cesspools in Melbourne are now fitted up. The Corporation will empty any old cesspool free of charge, but the proprietor is required to fill it up with earth, avd provide the pan for me under the new system. These pans are emptied by the contractor free of charge once a week, and he is kept to his duty by a system of fines recoverable under the contract fsr negligence The number of houses being 12,000, and the City j divided into six districts, one of which is taken ' nightly, it follows that 2000 houses have to be .visited every night. The number of carts employed is 34, giving 59 houses to each cart per night, but as many public buildings aud institutions are visited twice a week, the actual number i 3 increased to 65 houses per cart per .night. Access to the houses is.t*reat!y facilitated by the right-of-way system previously alluded to. The close contiguity of the houses must also be borne in mind, so that theground to be. traversed is reduceu to a minimum. One man only is employed with each cart (except in scattered districts), and; two carts work together, so that the men may assist each other in lifting the pans, The gates into all' rights-, of-way are keyt open for that nig'tit and the men are provided with duplicate keys of the back entrances to all warehouses.

Each cart can only make one journey per night, as the material has to be carted an average of eight miles. ■...-. The contractor is bound to dispose of it, and to take all the responsibility of its disposal Up to the preßeDt time, a sale has been found in the market gardens round Melbourne, and it: is carted direct on to the land, and is run from the night cart on to such portions ofthe ground as the proprietor may point out. The.load: amounts to 320. gallons, and; the price received •by the contractor varies from 8s to os, in proportion to the cartage, which ranges from five to 11 miles. Thirty-four loads per night, at ah average of 4s per load, amount' to L4O 16s per week, or say, L2OOO per annum,'as the receipts from this source, which, added to the contract sum (L 6000) payable .by . the Corporation,' makes LBOOO per aimum as the cost of the ;service,.or 1334 d per house per annum.-'The

Corporation find,the night:carts for.the contractor's use free of charge, but he is-bound to provide all horses, men, and other plant. - The obvious reason for this course is tha-t it enlarges the sphere from which the yearly tenders may be obtained. ; .. -. : - '• ■. ; .

-Inproeess.of time the demand for the manure within-any reasonable distance may cease; or it any rate hot.keep pace with the growth of the; city, and suburbs. The cesspools, however,' ; having been once closed and the pan system ■ adopted, it must be continued. The night's work must be done and the material removed, or the consequences in every household would bemestierioiis;-" Removal" involves "disposal," andinorder to provide for such a serious contingency as a failure in demand for the night soil or a refusal to take it- at any price, the Corporation have obtained a farm at Moor abbin of 3CO acres, where under the terms of the contract the material may,, be deposited. The .other*municipalities have-also provided themselves with a similar resource, and it can readily be seen that without it the risk of the pan system would'be toO great. No earth is allowed to-be deposited in tho pans, as it increases the bulk to. be removed, and renders the manure unsaleable. "With certain modifi cations the foregoing system hag been followed by-tho -contiguous municipalities, which really form integral portions of the city. The amount of the Hotham contract for emptying closets with 3200 houses is L 1450 per annum.: The contractor has the option of depositing the soil on the model farm belonging to the Corporation., The division of the municipality into six districts gives 550 houses per night, and the work is done with six carts, al* two loads can be removed; by each cart per night, or 46 houses per load.: - . ' Fitzroy Municipality, with 4300 houses, contracts for tbe same work for L 2320 per annum. No new cesspools are allowed, andthe old ones are being filled up at the rate of 25 per fortnight. Although no special rate i 3 imposed in Melbourne, there is a epecial rate at Hotham andFitzrby; " ( At Prahran the system is as yet only partially, in vogue. The-borough contains" 3700 houses, but the contract embraces as yet only 6SO_ houses. The municipality is therefore divided into three sections only, and two carts take two nighta to each section, which gives 55 houses per cart per night. The contract price is -14a* per closet per annum, emptied onee 7 a week. This sum is paid to the Corporation by. the householder. ■ The Corporation supply the carts, and the : contractor pays a rent of Ll2 10s per annum for eacbi of,' them. He is bound to provide ap]ace'ofkdep;osit. He sells some of the. material'affcef'-a' cartage of three or four miles. This municipality have leased the right of depositing tHe'soil on certain freehold lands, and if the contractor avails himself of this resource he has 'to-pay Is 6d per load to the proprietor for receiving it. The scavengering .of the streets and removal of dust and refuse from houses is also contracted ; for, generally in one contract. In Melbourne L6OOO per annum is the cost of this service, Ktzroy 1i1204.- The dust and refuse are usually ; called for twice a weelcin the suburban munici- ■ palities and outlying Melbourne streets, j The laust boxes are;pUced on the edge of the pave^ iment outside shops and hsuse, and within 15 ' yards >of the.^ gates of warehouses and large ; establishments. 'Th the principal streets boxes are' emptied ddly before 9 o'clock,; outlying: : streets at Varying hours,; as with us. ! The great bulk of ,the house refuie in Melibourne is carted to the vicinity of the Kiver iYarra, on the'south side of Tlinders street, and used iii filling up a very extensive area to a; height'of.'sVpr.6ft." The refuse is.topped up with,good material,; but .there are the. same; icomplaintsii-egarding the nuisance as: are com imcn elsewhere. The disposal-of house refuse seemsevena more uiffioult problem than that of night soil.- Fora limited time, at any rate,: a use can be found for the latter if the expense of collecting and parting be subraitted to ; but, tbe former is so varied, and often offensive in \ jits character;; that it becomes a very; serious what to do with it for any length of jtime. At •any-,rate: in Melbourne the only :method.of utilising it,< or getting rid of it, is in: filling Tip low lying ground. :' j." The street sweepings are kept separate, and .being yaliiable1 in consequence of the large admixture, of horse;,manure, are cwted to the .public 1; arks,' gardens, and rei-erves. . ; The above is a brief summary of my observations and enquiries, and I believe ths-t it exhibits ' the principal results of. many years' ex-. periene'e acquired by other cities engaged like purselyes, ;in; insetin<j and providing for the requirements of a constantly, expanding popu-! lationi- In Melbourne the heavy work of street formation is the public markets and other municipal institutions are in full operation.'and the; Corporation work is now chiefly confined to,repairs and cleansing. The Water supply is under Government controL The gas supply is. in the hands of three private companies.: .;The cemeteries are managed by; trustees, and I believe there is' no lecal estate1 belonging ;to.'.tha\ Corporation, and requiring constant management and supervision. As far as my enquiries went, all the : pubhc works are done out. of revenue, the complaint of the iWorks Department being that the large sum spent on the; sanitary contracts was so much Reduction from street improvements. ; As regards the execution (if not the extent): .of street formation, arid improvements on that Ihead, we may consider.Dunedin nearly, if not iquite, abreast of the adjacent Colony. Eespect:ing underground sewerage, little as we may ihave yet accomplished, we are ahead. Our inferiority is chiefly-manifested in our municipal ibuildings and institutions, and the non settlement upon some definite and permanent basis of the cleansing, and sanitary question. But even in'Melboiirne it is only within the last few years that progress has been made in this direction,, andin suburban municipalities, .themselves .the size,: of D,unedin, ..veiy much I later. Suclvquestions naturally-remained in ! abeyance while. the more urgent one of proper fand.'Convenient-access to all parts1 of the c-ity idemanded first attention.

• Acting upon; instructions received irom His !Worship/the'Mayor, I obtained from"the three iMelbourne Gas" Companies various paper 3 and replies to a series,of. questions I prepared:and .submitted on your behalf. This information iwas kindly and unhesitatingly furnished, and I ;hope you will.find:it of service.—l am, &'c, I S. H. Mibams, ; City Surveyor.