THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 1898.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11188, 10 August 1898, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 1898.

Tflß -water supply -, question, .will ■• again,''. come before the-GityCouiicil for consider--ation to-night. The time is therefore opportune to lay the whole position concisely before the public, in order that they may have a better conception, of how. matters stand. The.; City Surveyor's report ou Mr. Bark's j proposals for an additional water supply from the Leith , and Waitati was ap- ', perided to the report of the Water Coin-' mittee, which was submitted to the., council at its meeting on June 15, but consideration was deferred. Mr Mirahs concluded his report, in the following tevms:—"My own opinion is that the question of additional supply would be best settled by the construction of a reservoir at Whare Flat;., what--; ever ultimate Steps might be taken as.; respects the Leith.". The report of the j Water Committee came up for further j consideration at the'ordinary meeting of ; the council on the 13th ult., when they : submitted the report of the City Surveyor, and recommended " that the ; council provide additional storage accommodation for water at the Silver- ■ stream on section 40, block IV, Dunedin arid East Taieri district, acquired by ■ the corporation' for1 this 'purpose, as recommended in' the report of Mr Robert Hax and the City Surveyor, under date the 18th March, which is hereby ;.t----tached." The recommendation of the Water Committee was discussed at some length, and the debate adjourned till next meeting. Cr Park moved as an j amendment to the recommendations of: the Water Committee the following suggestions : —(1) Increase the Silverstream supply by erecting a 63,000,000 gallon storage reservoir at Whare Flat, as recommended by the Water Committee ; (2) erect filter beds at the Kaikorai reservoir; (3) secure a further supply from the head waters of the Wajtati by direct pipe and storage reservoirs; (4) connect a pipe from the Waitati supply to the Ross Creek reservoir, if necessary; (5) erect filter beds at the Ross Creek reservoir; (G) place water meters on all supplies to consumers." At the last meeting of the council on the '27th ult. the watci>: supply question V. ■%■'.■• ■■■■■•■•■■•■■•'■:; ■ ■■■■■' ;v;.vr >":.;;; y ,-/

was briefly touched, upon., and furthei consideration .tidjourned for nest meeting. Anyone who has followed the series ol articles which wo recently published, dotailing the more important, points elucidated by the various engineers who have reported on the question, will be in a fair position to judge of the merits oi the different schemes propounded. The j choice of tho council will be between a ■ ! supply from the Siverstream basin, as I recommended by the Water Committee, or from the Leith and Wa.itati, as proposed by Mr. G, M. Barr in his report. But, as the Mayor* pointed out at last meeting, there is no need for hurriedly settling the matter, which deserves the most earnest consideration. Mr Cargill's suggestion that the services of. a competent adviser, outside those who have already reported, should be secured to make a comprehensive report on the whole question is a very reasonable one, , ! and ought, we. think, to be adopted by she council before > committing r themselves definitely to any scheme of water supply. There are maivy .points arid..oqn§ideratip; ns . that require to be carefully .weighed before any definite conclusion can be arrived at. W/hateyer source of supply is determined upon by. the council, a supply for the city proper.is no doubt the first consideration ; but -jbhe^hill.suburbs will have to embark upon a. scheme of their .own' sooner -or later, and the ' best ■ available source, of supply; for these high levels is a factor, that must not be..overlooked in, jiTjyi scheme the Dunedin City Council may ' Undertake. ' If (the Water of Leith- Qan be impounded, atthe^ level of the present .supply there fis i water enough available for the needs of j the present or even .a larger, population, ; but not sufficient .'for' the full requirements of a population ] of 100,000, the figures whioh Mr /Gordon: took when framing his ; report. ; Although making provision for such'a1, population'may be looking a long- way ahead, yet the future cannot be wholly discounted in any.immediate scheme entered into by the City Council. In addition to the circumscribed nature 'of the available water supply from the Leith, : the. question of certain pollution, as th 6 Leith basin becomes more densely settled must nut beigndred. In. his report of 1877 .Mr, W. N. BtAiR called 'attention'-to that in the following terms:—"Professpr.Black \\)- forms me that the Ross Creek water contains three times anore- organic matter now than it dijrl in 1872, and he attributes the deterioration, entirely to increase of settlement; in the watershed." If correct, this is ;va, tather disquietrng statement. The Auckland City Council have the water supplied to. the city analysed at stated intervals, and tint pi'actice would be a very! good one for the 'Dunedhi Council ■to ' ridopt. Beforv; finally settling the\.questioiv of a further water supply it wolild be ii wise precaution to have a series of analyses made of the water from the; Leith,' Waitafci, and ' Silverstream. ' It is only by doing 1 apart from the: cjufrstibit of o6st,; that the relative merits of either source of watjr supply can be reasonably decided. As matters stand it appears that a supply ■adequate to the requirements jof the prasent population; is; -Available1 from the Leith, especially if backed up'by a drawoff from the head waters of |.he Waitati; while, if a large future consumption is required, the SilverstreVim' Watershed mibt be..drawn from to obtain.,it v _.. The, whole • question .is,.f so' faMeaching: in ._. all^ its,, various bearings that jihe] council will haveto carefully hlvresiig^te" ..any proposnl before adopting ■ itv'*-' ThY -initial' cost, of' any scheme fbr.;a'sufficient; Water siip.ply niiist not be the determhtiiVg:factor; the future -requirements of- the^city and. tlie | quality of the water have also io,,be carefully considered,' ,-". ' -• ;■ i ■ -"'i'^'- '

Occasion was taken,, as w,e anticipated, ' to seize the 'opportunity afforded by the annual" meeting of 'the Otago Central Railway League to urge!upon the Go-' vernment a.policy,-of-borrowing. The ! j advocates of. this ..policy 'attempted to] | elicit an expression of opinion favourable J |to a'general' policy-of "-this -nature mdi- ■ cated, but were unsuccessful, and those who were in favour of boi'rWing to complete the Otago Central'*'railway. alone were-also .-unsuccessful, ■"•jjt may be as-.; sumecl,. therefore,vthat. public feeling hi '. this'-part-of-the colony'is. opposed to a borrowing policy at the present juncture. Urgeiitf.as may.>be.;^i|:«ecessity'.for thtfurther .construction- of the .line, it has yet been reoognised that, .while it would be hopeless to suggest a special loan 'oti its account,'it -would-be paying too high a price for it to'commit the ; colony ro a furth-er experience"-' of .-.borrowing :anu . squandering. ' \No ; adequate 'reasons were advanced at'the. meeting in favour of »; loan;.. It; may^ be only .natural., th.n-$ .. advocates of the Otago Central .line should declare that .if, a ch"o,iqo' became necessary/, /between ■ borrowing ■ and' letting' the' con-' structibh" of the line stop' they ayoiiUl; accept the former, but it is,highly unjust that any such alternative' should be imposed. If.the P^tago Central railway' had received even.bar© justice in the past the alternative would not have been pos- , sible, for the line* would now'have been, constructed to a point' at which it wouldhave.been of some use. By accepting tha. alternative so astutely, piit forward, the advocates of the line1 would at once admit its provincial character,; and, namethe price they are willing to pay for a provincial benefit, The actual position, and •ijros^ects of the.gold inining iiidiistrj^j alone; together with the v.iticultural possi-'! bilities described by. so good a. judge ;as : Mr Hauhnstei'n, rai&e tie rajlwJvy above' these provincial considerations, and. elevate it to liationalMmportaaice as part of the railway system- of the -colony. We have ixeVey -placed the ■ present Government in unfavourable^ comparison wi.tb, previous • Governments .with respect i o the treatment accorded to this railway, but we confidently assei't that -ariespen-' dituve' of ■', £30j00Q' "4 yW, gi'AtJgitigiy doled out, is neither commensurate with the importance^of the line nor with public expenditure on other objects and in other parts o2- the^colony: The crier- ' getic prosecution of the railway is not ■ contingent upon- borrowing if due appreciation is given to the relative oolonial value of the line. VAs for a general borrowing policy, the reasons advanced ' at the meeting will be found illusory. The railways are not really paying 3 per cent, while the supply of rolling stock is ■ neglected and important cities like Dunedin left without .proper station accommodation. The example of Victoria with respect to borrowing is not necessarily commendable. Finally, any further strain on the consolidated revenue must fall upon the class which under the prosent tariff bears' a disproportionate burden. There is the, further danger incidental to general borrowing —and it is one from which, the. Otago Central has already suffered—that no security can be given that the money will be spent in the destined channel?. No Government would consent:, as Mr BAnnox said, to its

r own stultification by banding over the ; money to the Public Trustee. That would be an admission of weakness too E grave to nsk for; and yet only by some - such course could the proper expenditure ■ of loan money be secured, for the Otago i Central railway has already been i .'scheduled in a Loan Bill without result. f We are decidedly of the opinion that \~e i expressed before the meeting was held. i It is not to the interest of the oolony to > press the Government to borrow at- pro- , sent, and we are therefore much gratified that no resolution to that effect was . carried.

'In the House of Representatives yesterday s the Colonial Treasurer delivered Ins Financial . Statement, trhich is much shorter than usual. The surplus is put down at £521,144, but the actual balance of receipts over 'expenditure was £166,858. The revenue for the present financial year is estimated at £5,023,300, and ' the expenditure at £4,743,876. Of the excess of revenue over expenditure, amounting ito £279,424', it is proposed to set apart ;' filOO,OO0:-fop old age pensions and £75.000 for harbour defences, lunatic asylums,' and the parliamentary library; while further deductions will be made by . the Supplementary -Ritimates •'arid loan's to''local bodies. Th« feature of the Statement is the announcement 'of a loan of half a million in aid of the public works fund. The Treasurer states that, it does not follow that the whole of this will be raised or expended this year. After the delivery of the Financial Statement, questions occupied the remainder of the afternoon. In the evening the Advances to ■Settlers Extension Bill was passed after- some debate. The' Municipal Franchiae Reform Bill and the Shearers' Accommodation Bill j were also passed. ' ■ > ' !On our second page this morning will jbe found the first 'of a series of articles on the "British Empire," by the Right Hon, ' Sir Charles W. Dilke, well-known as author iof " Greater Britain" and as a prominent ■ member of the House of Commons. ', Our Invercargill correspondent telegraphs; | " Considerable apprehension is felt in ; Mataura regarding the safety of Mr John [ Wilson (late of Green Island), licensee of the Bridge Hotel, Mataura. Tt appears that on Saturday evening Mr Wilson, sifter seeing his children off to bed about 7 o'clock, walked : out of the house, and has not been seen since. 'I It is feared that he may have walked over i the river embankment. Search parties have ', dragged .the river during; tha' past" three* days; • but no traces'of the"missing-man have been i found.";; ;. ""' ".' ' ",;. ''...' .',.'./ . '.." .■/■: ; ■A sitting of' the Supreme1 Court in Banco will be held, to-day, when a pernVanent injunction will be applied for. in the case of ! Pratt v. Marie, and argument will be heard iin the case of Guthrie v. Colbeck. The case lof the Queen y. Mackerras and Hazlett—a j special case for the opinion of the court—will Ibe taken on the 22nd .inst. •At the adjourned meeting of creditors in the estate of William Henry Corrigan, of Dunedin, printer and publisher, held at the ' official assignee's office yesterday afternoon, there were 12 creditors present, Mr W. U. . MacGregor appeared for Mr Given, a credi- ! tor,. and Mr T. K. Sidey for Mr A. M. j Sidey, another creditor. After discussing j the situation it was, unanimously resolved^ "That the supervisor 'rind official assignee bo authorised to carry on the business till after the next issuo of the paper The Sketch; and that they dispose of the estate to the best possible advantage by such means. as mayseem to them best /for the interests of the estate." ■ ' ' ■'''~ A discovery which Dr Hocken, who presided, deolared to be a matter of nothing lees than world-wide; interest, to.; acientific people , was announced at last night's -meeting;of the Otago Institute, at which Dr Benham read a' tejegram which he had received that afternoon from'Dr Young, of Invercargill, stating that Iha had another specimen, pf .Nozomis Mantelli, arid, '.asking, pat ja... trustworthy, -taxidermist might be recommended to him; ■ Though there axo Beyeral skeletons -of this bird iiv New^ Zear; land,-,..t\vQ,.of..fchem.being in the possession oh. Mr.A. Hamilton, registrar of te university,,.'-there-haye-prjor, to- this been", only, three com-;' plete,.specimens secured,- and- not one. of these i is^jn the colony", two . being' iti the British ! Miiefeujh andithe-thirdstn"Dresden. ■ The first; sfjeojmett' -waV^discbvered irir'lß49 jiay^a;' party" of sealers at Duck Cove, on Resolution Island,,: !' Dusky! Sound.-and shortly afterwards a second' 1 was .found by the Maoris on Secretary Island,, opposite to Deas Gov^, Thompson Sound, but it was not until 1880 that the third specimen. , ■ —which, unlike the other two, was seen alive I —was obtained by a rabbitor on Captain Han-.----i kihsori's run on the eastern side of Lake Te ; [ Anau. ' ■-:- '• ■'".••.''■■'■' !Of ,five casesuinder the divorce jurisdiction .; 1 which were set down for,trial at the current sittings of the Supreme Court, four have been; settled; the parties hairing, it was suggested in Chambers yesterday, returned to the locus;' in quo ante belliim; The fifth case was dis-'l ,- posed of last week. . . I Early on Wednesday morning the St. Kilda ! Borough Council Chambers were broken into, ! an entaanee-ibeißK^eflpeeied %y one -x)i the'witi- ■{ dows. An attempt was made to open the ! safe, both handles of which were broken off, j but nothing was got by the would-be thieves, ' who, after trying the safe, broke open the j front door of the chambers and decampecL It j ,so happens that all mpneyas banked daily, so \ ■that eVen had the-hurglars succeeded, in open-1 nig the safe they would not have been any the richer, ' With regard to the nominations for the • ■representation of Lflith ..Ward in the City i Council, it is understood that the, nomination ! of one of the candj.da.tes (Mr J olm iMunro)>has ; ibpen rendered void owing; to his; natoe riot '■ •appearing.oiv.the'burgess list.1 The returning j officer in his announcement does not include • Mr Munro's name. A kiwi mat, which, beautiful in itself, waß interesting also as a proof of. the abundance of kiwis in the North Island and of-the reten- | tion by the Natives of their knowledge pf the j art1 of mat-making, was exhibited at the meeting of the Otago Institute last night by Mr A. Hamilton, who expressed 'his indebtedness to Mrs Matthews for affording him the opportunity to do so. The sight of the.mat as Mr ■ Hamilton threw it across his shoulders elicited exclamations of admiration from the meeting. "Very large and most beautifully made, the :mat wasy Mr Hamilton said, the finest he had ever seen. It was made at a small station called Upipi, near Taupo, and while containing an enormous number oC feathers,, repre- j sented a considerable number of the very rare j form of white kiwi, the feathers of which j worked in alternate stripes with the dark ] ;feathers>of the less uncommon form, produced, I a splendid effect. The kiwis of, the North i Island, Mr Hamilton remarked, must be. in- i creasing somewhat rapidly, as, from what lit* j had heard, two hunters with one dog had re- j cont]y t : succeeded in obtaining 40 in a, very j smailspa.cp of time... •• ;;- ~, .;.'•"' '.:•■.! -J; A well-attended meeting.of; the'New"2ea- ;!. land; Natives''jAsspbiatioft yas held in St.;. Paul'si Schoolroom" last, evening, jfhe president (Mr A. 0. Tlanlon) presided, and'referred in feeling terms to the death of.the assooia- ■'. lion's late vice-president (Mr 0. M. Moiiat), j whose loss to the association was so greatly ; lamented by all the members, On the motion j of Mr .Withers, seconded by Mr ,Tenkiu*. ■' Mr E. C. Reynolds was nominated to i the vacancy. Several new members were elec- ; ted to the association. The remainder of the evening was devoted to a highly entertaining lecture on " Atmospheric Air." which was delivored by Mr William Goodlet, of the j Otago University. The lecture was fully ! illustrated with most interesting experiments, and the speaker, who couched his remarks in a happy strain, was frequently interrupted by outbursts of laughter and applause. The introduction of snipe, Himalayan par- i tridge, and a number of Australian game birds. in contemplated by the Wellington Acclimatisation Society, whioh has also accepted u.n offer made by- Sir Edward Buck, an Indian sportsman of' repute, to assist in proouring spotted-billed duck (a bird which provides excellent sport in India) and other varieties of Indian game, which, it is believed, will readily acclimatise in our colony. ;

!' Th.c usual. n"ie.eting of the Forbury School ;. Committeewas attended by Messrs Smith (in , the chair), Reid, Johnson, Gore, Burk, Dawmm, Farrant, Eagar, and Ross. The Head Master reported that the roll number 6tood at 1 509-: that owing to.ithe prevalence of measles ' the average attendance had been very much 1 reduced last month. The inspector's report was-submitted, and it waa unanimously agreed ! that the clerk write to the head master, and congratulate him anil his staff on the highly , satisfactory, state of the different classes. The Works Committee reported that the gymnasium was making satisfactory progress. There was a good attendance at the Alhamhrar; Theatre last evening, when the clever Fredo Family repeated the programme presented oti the preceding evening. The feats " of strength and daring performed by the 1 clever company elicited the warmest and most appreciative applause. To-night an entirely 1 new programme will'be presented. * 1 Rather.a novel entertainment was given at \ Old Knox Church last night by the Rev. ' William, Gillies, \v]]q.gave his reminiscences in rhyme of the early days of Otago. Mr E. 15. Cargill presided, land there was a good attendance;' The reminiscences related mainly to '(he'reverend gentlernanls experiences As (i young man in the early days qf this settlement, and nlthdugh some of 'he anecdotes:were;amusing enough as they were told in rhyme,, they^were of a somewhat trivial character,'and would probably not make such good.-reading when translated into prose. The audience, however, appeared to-be greatly .amused and interested with the reminiscences, the recital of which frequently evoked applause and laughter. A collection was. taken up during the evening in Kid of the North, Dunediin Church building fund, .

■ ■ *~~—"'•— Mr D. M. SpecMihg. vcjll sell on Friday, railwiy trucks. ... : ...... . , . , . . The Waikmiaiti County Council notify that it is intended to make-a r,ate of three farthings in the pound. The rate-book is now open for inspection. ",' . .'•... • . . A.notice to" consignees of goods 'ex barque Ebba s^ppe^ra;in another column. Messrs James Samson and Co, will sell on Thursday, household furniture and effects. Messrs Park, Reynolds, and Co. will sell pn Wednesday, 171 th inst., at Flag Swamp, dairy cowf, household*furniture, implements, etc. Too annual meeting-of the Moonlight Sluicing Co. will be held, on Mondny, ,29th .inst. The niariugament of the Seacliff A.,sylum <3e. sire to notify, that iji addition to the eggs previously specified eggs, fgr sitting,, nan be aecurecl.by .breeders by apiilying at the institution.' '■ , ;' J;N ':/.' ■ ' ■■■■■■ JoHk Hi'slojP, oldest establisbed 'Vfatolimaker and1 Jeweller,' 74 Princea .street. Good assortment Watches; Clocks, and Jewellery. ;. Spectacle's suit -all sights.—-Advt.• ■ -.-...;■. MaßSage,asjd, BiiEcJßicjTY.—Mr and Mrs X|. ■ Epvfiisr Booth,, Massage 'Institute, Stuart I stvpet, punedin.-y-'JfJfeidß).' the patronage of the medical gentlemen St Duriedin. ■ ...- •;., I Visitors to Buriedin oiiiring. the Jubilee holi- ; days are cordially 'ijivited to •inspect G-. Af»n iT. .'.Yohno's. magnificent stock' of. watches, i clocks, jewellery,: silver and ailvqr-plated goods, i G-. and T., Young.supply the best at reasonable prices':—A^vt,',- . • . Fob,'Pu'sctu^l 'Time!— Peter Pick ■ most reliable Watchmaker and Jeweller, opposite Coffee' Palace, Moray place, Dunedin. Charges strictly moderate.—Aflvt. ■