The Timaru Herald. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1902.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 11690, 25 February 1902, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1902.

It is to be presumed that at their next meeting the Domain Board will take into consideration the report of the Borough Engineer on the improvement of the park. That report, which is dated as far back as November 11th, was read at a meeting of the Domain Board in committee; on the 14th instant. The committee recommended its adoption, but it has yet to be approved by the Board. As, however, the committee was "of the whole," it seems almost a foregone conclusion that the report will be adopted. We trust that such will not be the case, at all events without a good deal of further consideration. The alterations proposed by the engineer will be of permanent character. If once the centre of the park is dealt with as he suggests, there can be no going back if the new arrangements do not prove satisfactory. The Domain Board have not a sufficiency of funds to enable them to be chopping and changing; and the laying out of the park again after the work had once been done would be very costly. It" behoves the Board, therefore, to be j cautions in the expenditure of the compara- I tively small sum of money which they have at their command. We are sure that all the members of the Board are impressed with the necessity of exercising such caution, but perhaps they are inclined to put themselves too completely in the hands of the Borough Engineer. We have not a word to say against him in that capacity. He knows his profession, and is giving the borough a good return for his salary. But a man may be an excellent engineer, and yet be anything but an authority on the laying out of a park. We have not heard that the Borough Engineer has had any experience of that sort, and if he is a novice he is just as likely as not to lead the Domain Board into th'e commission of some rather costly blunders—not engineering blunders, but of taste and artistic design. We do not know whether the matters mentioned in the first part of the report were referred to the engineer, bat we agree with what he says concerning them. Cricket pitches, bowling greens, and tennis courts are all very well in their way, but, as the; engineer says, " though all games are popular, the larger number of citizens do not play cricket,, tennis, or bowls, so that money spent on the formation and upkeep' of such things ■. would to a very large extent benefit only those who have the means and the leisure time to devote to games of skill; and therefore to devote the park to sports-: ! grounds to be used a few hours a week, 1 would result in the park being more- deserted and dismal than it is now." "Possibly by and by it may be thought advisable to spend money, raised by subscription or otherwise, in turning a portion of •tßft flat ground in the park into cricket pitches, bowling, gi-eEns,' apd tennis courts-,, but it would be. a mistake to spend on those matters the funds which are now at the. command of the Board. We are. heartily in favour of devoting, a large part of the money to the: improvement of the central portion: of the* park. The- only question is as to what plan shall be-adop-ted. It is quite certain, that if the. expenditure be judiciously; directed the. Timpani domain may be; made one of the most beautiful ; parks in the colony. The contour of the ground; lends itself admirably, to the sat of landscape; gardening, and it would lie a great pity if. such an opportunity were thrown away. We would suggest,.however, that before finally deciding what steps shall be taken; the Board offer a moderate sum.of money for the best design for- improving.; and beautifying- the.' central part of the park. We believe that £lO would be sufficient, and the probability is that tKe money would-be well laid out. Of course, when inyiting designs, the Board wowld have to lay-down 6ertain.igeneral conditions, including a limitation of expenditure. We shall not criticise the engineer's plan in detail;- in fact, before doing so, it would be necessary to know more about it. ~Bvt we-may say that we are by no; means satisfied with his- proposals regarding the: ornamental ponds in the centre'.' The !ow-lyihg ground ought to be devoted to that purpose, but we do not think that the: engineer satisfactorily disposes of the: question of water supply. He says that: ji is a question th'ab need not-be considered, "beyond an occasional addition from; the mains to make good loss by evaporation;" and he adds: —" The present supply- is perfectly sweet, though discoloured by the clay at the i brickworks-. A. sample taken from- the ! pond three weeks ago still had no un- '■ pleasant- smell, and under the microscope showed no signs of animal life excfept a small water beetle; ami the larva of the ■ gnat, which abound',, and are- excellent ' food for fish and frogs." In spitce of the engineer's dictum-, aad of the appetites and idiosyncrasies of til* fishes and frogs, we venture- the opinion that the wafer which, flows down the- guffly in the centre of the park: is not suitable for ornamental ponds. j The- discolouration' caused by the clay, i which comes- down in suspension from; thi*. brickworks, is occasionally very considerables and thfr engineer may taie our word for it that sho-i»tly after the formation of I tfce ponds the deposit of mwd from that clay would beeome a great nuisance, as it would require periodical removal, a process which would be expensive to. the : Board and highly inconvenient to the I fishes, whatever the frogs might think ; about it. But we understand that Jjesides ; the clay in suspension, these is another • i source of impurity. There is a certain ; or uncertain amount of house-drainage which finds its way into the central gully, and there is every reason for believing that in the course of a few years the quantity of that objectionable liquid will become far greater than it is at i)resent. The water may not have smelt very highly when the engineer examined it; but we do not regard as a good sign the entire absence of aquatic animal life, with the exception of a small and apparently foolish water beetle, which, however, may perhaps be excused on the plea that it can find no better place in the vicinity in which to disport itself. We have certainly seen the water in that gully in anything but a wholesome state, though we admit that its condition is not constant. Sometimes it is better and sometimes worse, and when worse it might be fatal to any fish placed in the ponds. We should like to know whether it would be impossible, on the scora of expense, to carry the drainage in a covered way past the ponds so that they would not be contamin- \ ated. In that case the water supply would have to be obtained from the mains. Have

the Domain Boars thoroughly considered the question? We sepeat. that they have got to look ahead, and take into account what the state of things will be a. few years hence. That remark applies not only to the water and the method of dealing with the drainage, but to the entire scheme for the improvement of the park, and to its upkeej) when the alterations shall have been carried out. .