HAKBOUR BOARD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10997, 29 December 1897, Page 4

HAKBOUR BOARD.

A special meeting of the Otago Harbour

Board was held yesterdxy, and attended by

Messrs H, Gourley (chairman), J. Thomson, M. Joel, J. Carroll, W. Wright, W. Barclay, J. Robin, J. T. Mackerras, W. Dawson, and Captain M'Kinnon. TENDERS. The following tenders were received for toe supply of new cutters and spare gear for ths eand pump :—Morgan and Cable, cutters £390, spare gear £89 ; A. and T. Burt, cutters £<U2, s»ear £98 ; Joseph Sparrow, cutters £410, gear mi. Mr Dawson said before entering upon work like this the board should wait and see how the sand pump got. on. Mr Robin had said the sand pump was doing wonderfully good work. He, therefore, thought that the board should not undertake any further expenditure at prasent.

Mr Koein caid the tenders were certainly above what he anticipated they woulS be. With regard to the statement ra;ido by Mr Dawsoa, that gentleman had cot correctly represented what he (Mr Robin) had said. What he said was that while the dredge was doing fairly good work if; was not doing such good work as the board had a right to expect, owing to the indifferent cutters that were in use. The greater part of the Suez canal was dredged out by sand pumps, and they had alao worked very well in other places. It would, therefore, be a disgrace to the board if they gave up dredging with the sand pump because they could not g»t it to work satisfactorily. If they had to acknowledge that, it was time they gave place-to tucn who were more up-to-date than themselves. He would move' — "That the tenders be referred to the Works Committee with power to accept the lowest or most eligible."

Mr Caeroll seconded the motion,

Mr Barclay said he opposed the calling for these tenders all along, and that would probably be the last time he would have an opportunity to protest again3fc the present method of dredging. While he would not moveau amendment he nould vote against the motion. He hail no fault to find with the system of dredging. Under favourable conditions he believed the sand pump would do good work. He, however, Tield that the material was not being permanently removed from the channel, and he was going to vote against further expenditure on dredging until the board had decided on some means of securing the material as it was recovered from the harbour.

Mr Joel scid that, although the dredge had been able in the past to do satisfactorily what it had to do it was a question whether with the addition of a large cutter the power of the engine and the steam pressure would be sufficient to provide a gainst the power that would be required. He thought before' the board committed themselves to any expense they should inquire from experienced men whether' there was power \in the Vulcan sufficient to work the cutter in conjunction with the pump. ..'■■.. . The Chaibman said that Mr Smith, the engineer on the Volcan, was satisfied that both the boiler and engine.power were sufficient to drive the cutter.

Mr Robin said the first question he had asked was as to whether there w.w sufficient power, and he was informed that 25 per cent. of steam power was reserved to spare. There was a separate engine to driva the cutters from that which drove the pump.

Mr Dawson said that two or three years ago the board let out the big dredge to Wellington, Lyttelton, and the Bluff, and asked bow they did without it, as they had no sand pump then, and how it was that they were not able to keep the channel ■ open now that they had two dredges. It seemed to him a very strange thing that two dredges should be required.

The Chairman said the reason the dredge was let oufc at the time Mr Dawsou' referred to was that the; board had no money then to work it themselves.

Mr . Whisht asked if there was any proof that the spoil from the channel was carried back into tbe chancel.-.

Mr Mackebbas replied that a bank was forming of the spoil on- the side of the wall on which. it was deposited.

Mr Barclay denied this, and declared thab it was perfect nonsense to say that the material discharged over the wall remained there.

Mr Mackkbras remarked that there were none so blind as, those who would not see. He appealed to the chairman to confirm his statement that on thai occasion of their visit to the Vulcan 10 days previously tbeir attention was called by the board's officials to a very large bank which the discharged spoil had formed outside the wall. If Mr Barclay .was so blind as not to see that bank the speaker could nob help him. Captain M'Kinnon said that everyone knew that quantities of sand were taken out of the harbour, but although the training wall was not 2i't high the sand was not yet above it. •; The motion was then put and carried', Mr Barclay dissenting,

Mr Kobij* said be would Bever, if he lived to be 1000 years old, ,give up advocating the employment of the papd pump here, considering the success that; it had attained in other places. If they were unable to i attain the success that had been attained in other places, it was their duty to get different engineer!) who knew what to do: with the sand pump. If they did not do that the board were not doing their duty, THE CITY SEWAGE QUESTION. The following report was submitted by tho committee' ajipointed to confer with the City Council as to what atepa they were prepared to take to stop the inflow of sewage into the Victoria channel from the High street sewer:— Acting on a resolution of the board at a meeting held on1 August 12, intimation was given to the City Council, with a request that they should appoint a committee to meet with the committee of the Harbour Board. The council appointed a committee accordingly.. The joint committees met on Ist September, when it was resolved that the city engineer and I the board's inspector should report as to the best j method of removing the nuisance complained of, I and the estimated cost. The report of the city engineer, and the board's inspector was made on 11th September, and your committee met on 14th i Sspfember and-approved, generally of-the report j and plan, but stipulated that a bar should he left ] to intercept the sewage before it 'reaches the I channel. , . I

Clause 10 of that reparfc says : "We recommend, therefore, as regards the Hish street hewer, that a channel be dredged (as, shown in the accompanying plan and sections) h;om the sewer mouth to the Victoria channel, beini* a length of 25 chain?. As regards the.St, Andrew street sevrar, that a small channel be cut by manual labour from the sewer mouth southwards (as.shown in the plan). We estimate the approximate cost of these works at £3000."

CUuse 12 of (lie report further says : " When the foregoins works are completed there would still remain "the'question or the annual cost involved iivkeeping the sewer channel clear and lifting the deposit from the Eewers. Probably this would require to be done every six months.' This cost could only be fairly computed after a trial extending over a considerable period, but from data available to the'inspector of the Harbour Board he would approximate the .amount to something like £800 per annum. The city surveyor; however, is not prepared/at this sta/e of the investigation to substantiate this estimate for maintenance, beyond stating that in any event some considerable annual '"expenditure must be incurred." The joint committees.of the board and council, again met on the. 15th September, vhea the :'«- port'and "plan, were discussed, arid the meeting adjourned. At tha adjourned meeting, held butweea 15fch and 24th September, the committee of the council declined to corns to any decision iv the.matter 09 the ground.that they were not £ ally, represented, one .of their members being You"? committee-met on the 2Sl.h September tc. consider ibe following resolution of the 2ith fiom the council's committee—" That the Harbour Board be respectfully asked to furnish a probable estimate of the cost of removing the silt deposited in the Victoria channel through tho inflow of sewage from the Duaeiiin and suburban boroughs, with'the view of an equitable adjustment of the sum to be paid by each borough aud. the Harbour ■ Board, and to secure that object." A. reply was 'saut on 29r.h Ssptember stating that the inforaiation asked for was contained iv the joint report, and asking what conclusion their committee had enme to on the subject of lha Notice was sent' from the board on 3st October revoking the consent given to discharge the sewage into the h*rbour. • 4 lettcll was received on 2nd October statin.; iihlit your committee misapprehond*ii the purport of their resolution of the 2-1 Ui September. A reply was seat to them cm Oth October statin? that the £SOO mentioned in'tho report is the estimated annual cost c«f 'removing all the silt deposited by the High street aud tit Andrew street sewers. A letter was received from the town clerk on <lt!i November asking that, their resolution of "iti\ September be a^niii consid«red. Your committee met ou J2th November, am; a letter was sont next day to the council stating that your coinniittee would not recommeud to tha board any scheme which do»s not prevent, ss far as i>o-sible, the inflow of sewa<"s into fflie- Victoria channel, and < also statins that the board had nothing fo do with the suburban borough.-:, and drawing their attention ta the delay." It was reported in the papers on the 2nu December that the couwoil's comtaittce recoiumendeil a pavraent of jL'GOO per ancuu). Coiisidere-tion was bftld over till next meeting.

" DISFIGT/KKD FOB hTFK " is the despairing cry of thousands afflicted with unsightly humours of the skin, scalp, and hair. Do ycu realise what this disfiguration means to sensitive souls? It means isolation, seclusion. It is a bar to social and business success. Do you wonder that despair seizes upon these sufferers when doctors fail, standard remedies fail, and nostrums prove worse than useless? Skin humours are most obstinate lo cure or even relieve. It is an easy matter to claim to cure them, but quite another thing to do so. Cuticura remedies h»ve earned tho right to lie called Skin Specifics, because for years they have met with most, remarkable success. There are cases they cannot cure, but they are few indeed. It is no long drawn-out expensive experiment. A warm bath with OimcmtA Soav and a single anointing with Guticura, purest of emollients and greatest of skin cures, will prove more convincing in the severest forms of itching, burning, bleeding, scaly, crusted, and pimply humours, with lcs of hair, than pages of printed siatter.—l

On 15th Deccmbsr it was again reported in the newspapers that the '■onunittee's report was further postponed until the next meeting of the council, to be held ou the 12th of January, IS9S.

Your committee met on the 17th December, and a letter was peat asking the council to convene a special meeting, failing compliance with which would be considered a sufficient reason for breaking off negotiations. A reply wag received on the 18th insfc. stating that the matter would be brought before the couucilat its next ordinary meeting—viz., January 12. Iv view of the serious delay which has taken place on the part of the City Council your committee have requested the chairman of the board to call this sp.-cial meetin? iv onierto consider the followius resolution :-" That the Sew;!g« Committee are hereby empowered to take~sueli steps— upon the advice of tMe board's solicitors—as may be deemed necessary to prevent- the Victoria channel and the approaches to th« wharvns being further silted up by the inflow of spoil from the city sewers " '

Hr Robin said : I do not intend to say much in support of the resolution unanimously come to by your committee, as it is desirable as far as pofsible to avoid friction between the Cifcy Council and this .board. I would like just to j point out that so long as the inflow of sewage ] did cot materially affect the board's interests it remained quiescent, but it has bsen shown clearly I that the sewage is now flowing into the channels j and approaches to the whales n&d seriously' | impeding navigation and causing considerable j expense to this board. The board, therefore, are I simply doing their duty in calling on the council Ito take steps to terminate the eviJ. ThePrieetman dredge has been working for the last month at the Victoria wharf lifting solely silt from the two sewers—via., Stuart street: and St. Andrew ittreet, —and it will be another month before it traverses the length of that short wharf. The Vulcan also, when workiDg in the upper reaches of the Victoria channel, had to deal principally with sewage Siaterial; and when the city engineer aiid cur Mr Stephena were making their (survey ou which to base _ a • report it was found that in plaseo deposits of sewaga matter reached a depth of 9ft. I cow, therefore, beg leave to move the resolution just read. Mr Thomson seconded the motion. Mr Carroll did not think he had heard of anythieg so discourteous on the part of one public body towards another aa to say that tbc board would not wait for a couple of weeks in order to get a final report of what the City Council would do. It was by an oversight that the matter was nob mentioned at the last meeting of the council. The members of the board must not think that they were more anxious to get the nuisance removed than were the members of the City Council. He trusted that consideration of the matter wou'd be allowed to stand over, so that friction might not be created between (he two bodies.

Captain M'Kinnon asked Mr Robin if he would withdraw the resolution for a meeting or two.

Mr Robin replied that the resolution was not his, but that cf the committee.

Mr Barclay thought it would distinctly be a mistake to withdraw the resolution. If the City Counuil could not consider tbe matter at one of their ordinary meetings,-why did they not c*U a special meeting ? Mr Carroll talked of discourtesy on the part of the board, but the discourtesy wns all on the other aide. Mr Dawson thought it would be a mistake to piss the resolution, seeing that the City Council would consider the matter at their next meeting, and that it would only be courteous for the board to wait until then.

Mr Hackerras said tha'j the matter of the discharge of sewage was very cerious, and had now become urgent. As the report stated, while the sewage was not discharged into the channel, the board, although they were avvarß that it was being discharged into a part of the harbour, took no steps to stop it. They delayed too loug, and fonnd six or eight months ago that the channel suddenly silted up some 2£t. An examination showed that was on account of a basin which formerly held sewage matter being filled up, and the material that was c'redjed was ample proof that the sewage was flowing freely into the chancel. As a member of ths committee, he regretted to say that he thought the committee, of the board had received rather scant courtesy from the committee of the council, the impression forcing itself upon them that a further attempt, as in years gone by, was being made by a committee of the council to shelve the matter. The report of the committee of the council to the City Council was such as the board could not accepb. It proposed to allow tfce sewage still to flow into the Victoria channel, and the sooner the council were made aware that the board would never accept that proposal the better. In the circumstances he hoped the board would stand by their guns and take the steps provided bylaw to protect the navigation of the harbour. , The Chaihman said it appeared to him that membars had not given to this question the consideration.that it deserved. It was a very large question, and had occupied the attention of the public and of many eminent engineers for years, bnfe the difficulty had not been yet overcome.. No one would deny that the sewage of the city injured the navigation of the harbour. Tbe City Caincil were as well awara of that as the Harbour Board, and vrere as anxious to put a stop to it; but they all knew the difficulties tha1; were in the way, and he maintained that they would:never deal successfully with the sewage question until such time as an act of Parliament was passed establishing a drainage board,, with rating power, and with power to deal with the whole of Dunedin and suburbs. He would be very sorry to see any steps taken that would retard at least a temporary settlement of the question. If the resolution wan carried and the board acted up to it, it would mean the setting of the law in motion, and that would be rather as expensive process with a large matter such aB that was. His inclination would be to allow the question to stand over until after the next meeting of the City Council, and he thought they might come to an amicable arrangement that would be satisfactory to both parties *at present. If the board adopted the course suggested in the resolution it would mean that before they could move it would take six months, and it would cost thousands of pounds. Legal proceedings should be their last resource. He did not care what all the engineers in the world said. Ha believed that a drainage scheme ;for Dunedin could not, be accomplished for less thau £200,0C0. filr-Robin asked leave to add to the resolution— " But that no steps be taken until after* the next meeting of the City Ceuncii."—(Hear, hear.) The amendment was accepted, and the motion as amended was then carried without disseufc. *