DON'T BE RASH.

Southland Times, Issue 3294, 10 January 1879, Page 2

DON'T BE RASH.

Editor TiMESj-^lt is admitted by.everybody that the town must be Supplied with water— that it. is a necessity, arid that whatever the' cost may be, if ait; all within bur means, water must be had. I for one do not tliiuk Bringing water fro hi the Dunsdale creek would be beyond our means, but I do think that to bbn'ow and spend a hundred thousand pounds where there is a reasonable probability that" a : quarter of the : sum -would suffice is scarcely the thing to;;- 16'bkV for -from this very Scotch community. :'' ■'■■'■■: ■'-■■,:•'■ '■„'" „"; '■■■■ ■:! : -^ v ; \" . ' There is a very general misapprehension in regard to obtaining water for, the; use: of the town by well sinking- It is 'thought in the first placeifchat.no sufficient supply could be obtained ; and in the second that if a sufficient supply was obtained; there would be so little pressure that it would-be little use as a protection from fire ; and in the third that the only way to get pressure would be to construct a big. reservoir in mid air, and pump the water into it, and that the construction of this reservoir would be so costly, and the method of pumping into the mains direct so unsatisfactory, that the. whole thing is* a farce, not : worthy of serious thought, Now, as to whether a sufficient supply of 'water could be obtained by sinking or not. This can only be ascertained by. trial;" but it is worth the .■trial; : where sixty- or seventy thousand -are at stake it is surely a small matter to sink a shaft seventy or a hundred and' seventy feet, and use a small : for pumping it if necessary,' so as to test the flow and the 'quality of the water. If .the flow was thought to be sufficient and the quality good enough it would surely also be a small matter where so much is involved to dig out a quarter-acre, less or more, to the requisite depth,- so" that it would foi'm at the same time a well and a reservoir. In the Scientific American' of "17th August is a description of Holly's pumping engine, which pumps water -directly into the mains, and which "by . means of ingenious contrivances invented by Mr Holly, the: pressure of the water in the main is made to control the operation of the engine, and in fact to perform faithfully the duty of an engineer ;" and in the event of fire the pressure can be at once increased. . ' . • . ' The Holly system of water supply arid fire protection is in use in 69 of the principal cities and villages of the United States. Surely this system deserves consideration. The cost could only. , be a fraction, as compared to the Dunsdale scheme, and it is questionable if the working expenses; of the engine would equal the cost, of: maintenance of the pipes to Dunsdale -and a : reservoir there.— Yours, &c, ; - -.-;,-• ... , Ratepayer,