The Abattoir Site.

Otago Witness, Issue 2201, 7 May 1896, Page 7

The Abattoir Site.

TO THE BDITOE. Sip,— l thiuk Ors Gore and Hardy are to be greatly commended for the courage they displayed at the list council meeting in exuressktg theis Quintans upon the flasl job ia

connection with the selection of an abattoir sit*. The arguments v ed by Cr Hardy at the last council meeting are absolutely unanswerable, and yet how did our mayor, who should be the honest custodian and exponent of the citizen*' interests, attempt to answer? Why, Sir, by tha most disingenuous aud -even untruthful statements. He said, in answer to Mr Hardy's Btatemenfc, that the new site would cause batchers to travel four miles further, that' " the additional distance to the -new Bite wan not, he thought ■anything .like fo.,grefct as that mentioned. Although the original site looked a great deal nearer to Dunedin than the new one, if they remembered that the oarts would have to go round the main road they would see that the actual difference was not bo great as it appeared to bo." Now, what is the acUul faofc? The distance his been measured, aud, allowing for the small distance to be traversed to g*-t to the main road mentioned by his Worship, the new site is found to be one mile «.ud threequarters further from the city than the eld, which mokes the extra distance tbe butchers will have to traverse three and a-half mile« ; and this is pooh-poohed by his Worship a* being a matter; of no consequence to them.' The facb is ib means this : that whilst, if .the old Bite had been retained, the butchers would willingly use the abattoirs, they will do go on the uew sifca only under compulsion, a most undesirable factor in establishing the new Bvstem. Another matter of the utmost importance is the question of a plentiful supply of good water. At the old sita \ we have our own mains to-furnisb. all that>isxequiredf'and at no coat save the initial one ol laying a branch main. At th« new what hay« we ? A ocoek and an old shaft, the water from either of which can only be obtained by.putupiog 'at a considerable and continual cost. Anothei thing is that tbe water in the creek has, I understand, bean tested and found to contain 23 grains of salt to the gallon, wLiob. renders it unfit for nee,, therefore the oreek will nob be available, and recourse must be had to the shaft, this water contains 16 grains of sslfe to the gallon, which dcci not, so I am informed, render it unusable. But there are two grave objections to this as a source for the watec supply, the, firat being that the water will hiiva to be lifted about 50ft, which can ouly be done at great cost ; the second aud most; important, however, is, Will the supply frori tha shaft hold out P I am informed that ib is on'y gained by soskage or drainage ; and if this ie so, it seems to me probable, and, indeed, a certainty, that a continual daily draw-off will soon exhaust th« supply, and if there is even only a remote possibility of fluch occurring, it would- be an act ol shameful folly and, indeed, wickeduss?, on the part of the council to expend the ratepayer*' money in purchasing the site and creeling costly buildings thereon. No wonder, Sir, with these possibilities in view, Mr Sampson sbould withdraw his opposition to tha site 1 Another most import.- nt question Iwoa Id like to ask is, Hat Mr Cameron's opinion bsen obtained in writing or otherwise as to the eligibility of the new site P lam informed that this has not ; and if this is true, how is such a gross neglect of an absolutely neoessary duty on the part of the mayor and councillors to be acconnted for P Ii have a great deal more I ODuld lay on this .question, bat At present I refrain. I submit, however, Sir, tb»t the points I have raised are so cogent in regard to the nuoaess of the scheme that they imperatively demand an answer, and fully justify yon on behalf of the ratepayers in using your powerful pea to insist th&t such should be given. Sir, cpuoh ai I* desire to see oar abattoirs erected and in full swing, I feel so strongly that a gigantic mistake is haing made in the selection of the new -site thai) I would much prefer delay till .legislative power is obtained for the utilisation, of the old tifc, or that the Taievi County Council wns prepared to look upon the matter in a more reasonable light. — I am, &c, Dunedin, May 1. H. S F;sh.