THE ABATTOIR SITE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2202, 14 May 1896, Page 7

THE ABATTOIR SITE.

At Thursday night's meeting of the City Council the following petition, signed by 23 butchers and seven firms of stock agents, respecting the abattoir site was re%d<: —

We, the uudersigned butchers and stock salesmen of Dunedin, desire to call attention to the fact that the proposed site for the city abattoirs at Walton Park waa eminently unsuitable for the purpose for the following reasons :— 1. By reason of the distance from the ealeyarJs and from town alone places it out of the question of beiag > uitable. --Wo arß cmifident that whenever the abattoirs are erected, to be flucce^sful, they must be in clorie proximity to tbe saleyards. Position iv regard to the site will certainly decide the issue between success and failure. A?ain, the long distance to carry the meat into town when slaughtered, espscially in hot weather, is a very important objection for you to consider. 2. It is absolutely necessary for the purpose of the trade that tbe*e should be an abundant supply of pure water, which is not to be got on the proposed site, except by heavy expense in pumping ; and wo understand that there may be a dunce of the supply giving out altogether. 3. The drainage of the proposed sita is defective.

In the opinion of your petitioners it would be much more desirable to either choose a site close to the saleyarde, or delay erecting abattoirs until such time as Parliament had had an opportunity of dealiug with tho question of the old Bite, rathur than by a too hasty expenditure ia erecting premi-es on an unsuitable site. We trust that your council will take this our petition into your earnest consideration.

The Mayor drew attention to the fact that 17 of the signatures appended to this petition had been appended aluo to the petition presented to the Taieri County Council opposing the other site. What did these men mean P What did they want ? He held in his hand the petition which was presented to the Taieri County Council, and the names had been compared and marked, and any councillors who were curious enough could see the signatures. The petitioners said the second sits was unsuitable for several reasons, amongst which they included the insufficiency of the water supply. Now, Cr Chisholm aud himself had waited on Mr Loudon prior to tße previous discussion, and Mr Loudon told them at that time, to the best of his knowledge, that the. shaft, was sunk- on the Abbotoford property — a distance of 230 ft, and that 3ft of solid bottom was forced up by the water while the men were in there, and that the water rose to 30ft daring the night. At the Walton Park mine they were pumping from 100,000 to 130,000 gallons a day, and that water ran through the lite on which it was proposed to erect the abattoir. After the council bad visited the site the water had been analysed, snd there was only a small proportion of salt found, and that was not at all obiect'oa&ble for use in the abattoirs. In case his memory had failed he had again waited oo Mr London that day, and Mr Loudon took him over to the man who was in the shaft at the time tho water broke in. The man siid the shaft was sunk 207 ft, and that he could hear the water comiug for a considerable time before it broke through the sh»f t, which was 12ft by sft, and lined with 3in kauri planking. When the sound became pr"etty strong the men calUvl out to those on tbe surface to lower (he buckets for him, but before the bucket* were down the bottom had begun to rise, and by the time he got to the top, when the other bucket was drawn up, the water was marktd on the rope 15fb bigh ; but an allowance of 3ft was made for slack iv the rope. As to the distance of the site from the town, the speaker had it on very good authority — quite as reliable as that of any of the gentlemen whose inm^a were appended to the petition — that the distance was a merß bagetelle ; that an extra halfhour would probibly be occupied in bringing the meat in. Was that worth while talkiug about ? Apart from that the siding which it was hoped the council would get there would be greatly to the advantage of those using the abattoirs to get their dead meat railed to town. At the present time the carcases were brought in waggons, piled one on another, sat on by the men, and exposed to the dust of the road, whereas they could b9 hung up in the railway trucks ; and then they could be taken from the station in light lories ; bo that the meat would be delivered to the butchers' shops hanging in the Biune way as in the trucks. He did not think the petitions were worth taking the slightest notice of, and he would not be influenced by them or by the letters which had lately appeared in the papers from interested persons. Cr M'Greoor understood that the petition to the Taieri County Council was in opposition to abattoirs being erected, and not in opposition to the first site.

The Mayor read clauses 7 and 8 of the petition in question, in which reasons were stated why the site was not suitable for abattoir purposes. Cr Chisholm said he noticed what the mayor had stated with reference to bis interview with Mr London. At the same time he was not satisfied that sufficient water could be got on the site selected for abattoir purposes. He would suggest that some system should be adopted of testing whether there wa« sufficient water there for abattoir purposes before the council purchased the site.

• Tho Mayor said the shaft had been tested for lis month*, and tbe water could nod be

reduced even by means of a steam engine and two pumps. Cr Chisholm : How many years ago was that ? , The Mayor : I could not tell. Cr'CaisiiOLßi said in that case the mayor's statement was 'not satisfactory. In Roslyn there was a plentiful supply of water from a well eight yeara ago, but after three years of drought the water completely gave out. The Mayor : The water is now standing in the shaft within 20ft of the surface. Will that not we ; gh with you ? 10 Cr 8-wan thought that the council should put a bore down and sea if they could find a water supply sufficient for abattoir purposes. Cr Gore moved—" That the petition be referred to the General Cotnmifctee for their considoratfon." He thought that the committee uhould take into consideration the circumstances that had arisen since the site was selected. He h-»d pointed ou% before that there would be a great deal of difficulty in obtaining a siding there, as the grade on the main line near the site was 1 in 50. The Government would take the matter very seriously into consideration before putting in a siding there. So far as he could judge, there wa3 an abundance of water, and he should imagine that it would in all probability continue ; but an engine and pumping machinery would be required to rais'j the water to a considerable height to gi?e it suffi :ient pressure. This would ccsb gomething like £300. Putting in a "back shunt" would cost about £800, and then there would be the expense of keeping the pump going. W.th all those expenses it seemed very doubtful whether the corporation could carry out the abattoirs successfully from a financial point of view.

Cr Morkison seconded the motion. He believed that there was a creek a little below the site, and if some rams were put in near by water could be got at small expense. He would not allow these considerations 'to trouble the council in the meantime. The time h*d arrived when they should go on with the abattoirs as speedily as popsible.

Cr Solomon said, with reference to the petition of the stock agents, they were rather late in moving, he thought.— (Hear, hear.-.) If they wanted to move in this matter they should certainly have come to the assistance of the council long ago. — (Hear, hear.) As regards the saleyards not being close to the site of the proposed abattoirs, it would be a very simple thing to move the saleyards there. If they were not moved the council might erect saleyards of the'r own.

Cr Carroll did not think the council could retrace their steps from the position into which they hud baen forced by the action of the Taieri County Council. The only question upon which fche council should satisfy themselves waa tbab raised by Cr Chisholm as to there being a permanent supply of water.

Or Cohen hardly thought the signatories to the petition could be accused of inconsistency, for they were consistent, in their attitude of direct opposition to the erection of abattoirs. The citizens and the City Council, on the other hand, had decided that abattoir* should be erected somewhere. It was not the fault of the City Council lhat the site which was regarded by some an the ideal site was not available," and the only eligible nite outs'de that site was the one at Green Island. If the weight of the irfluiuec of the signatories to the petition had been brought to bear on the Taiori County Council, he beHeved that the City Council's second appeal to that body would have been successful. The only question that now we'ghed with him wan the most material one of the water supply, and, in his judgment, that h»d not yet hcien puffiuiantly determined. That point determined, the council should ' push on with the work as expaditiou-ly as possible. He did not attach great impoitance to the question of a siding, for the two principal butchers bad always carted their meat to Dunedin from a site further than the present site. But if a siding was absolutely necessary, the council mußt meet the demand and provide one.. The motion was carried on the voices.