A COLD DAY AT THE WATERWORKS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 10335, 17 June 1895, Page 2

A COLD DAY AT THE WATERWORKS.

TO THE EDITOR.

! SfH,— • Yesterday would have been a capital day for any practically-minded Borough Councillor to hare visited the Waterworks. A townsman wended his ■way thither through the rain after the hail stovm, and it imi-.t have been particularly heavy along the Hospital Road, judging by the thick deposits of hail covering some of the pasture land. The visit was made in the expectation of seeing :he river in flood. At the weir, however, tho rise only appeared to be ton I or twelve inches, and" the water was still clear, though running strong. The water in the upper reach presented a perfectly smooth, glassy surface from bank to bank, il though in somewhat quick motion. The pace was accelerated at the weir, rushing over the sloping surface, every | inch forward tbo water becoming more broken, then falling in a thick graceful [ foamy curve i'lto the lower level of tho river, where all was commotion and whirling waters. All over tho flat the hail lay j thick. A quick wilk along the water race, then in full flow, was stimulated by the intense cold. Finding the pumping machinory in motion, (ho visitor stepping briskly on to the pianking over the wat r r.i-o as the shorteir way iiuo the pump house had a narrow squeak from an icy cold bath. The planking -was slippery, and the coating of hail accumulated on the shoe bottoms bad hardened into ice. Hence the narrow squeak and the expe- j r ence as of a novice on a slide. Tho ordinary oight-honr-day of pumping every day does not fully meet present demands for water, and in summer nearer twelve hours' pumping are required. Hence the necessity for Sunday work, for which an assistant is usually employed. His neceßsary duties are the occasional oiling of the working parts, of the machinery, and I in times of freshes or flond clearing the laco of drift. An apology ,for shelter in J tho shape of a windowless tool shed is the ' only place where the fire may be lighted on the hearth of a portable forge. Yesterday (Sunday) there was a continuous drip from overhead, and the ground under foot was sodden. An hour's experience chilled and thoroughly damped tho visitor. What it must be in a gale can easily be imagined, and for eight and twelve hours at a stretch it must be very trying. Borough Councillors should try it for a few hours one after another, taking care to select cold, wet, or windy woather. Exporienco is the best of teachers. It might suggest the desirability of erecting a small snug room with a proper fireplace, and a window.— l am, &c, J. K.