THE RIVER AVON.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 1477, 21 November 1872, Page 3

THE RIVER AVON.

(From the Lyttelton Times, Nov. 2&.) It is not because boating is all bufc impossible on tho Avon that the river must be cleared, though ifc ia greatly fco be regretted that an exercise so healthy in every respect should have received such a severe check. There are other and mUch more cogent reasons why the Provincial Government — since tho lload Boards either cannot or wili nofc — ought to undertake the work. And, because of the existence of these reasons, ifc is imperatively necessary tbafc the- work should be commenced without any further- delay. Day by day, as those brief records in tbe newspapers testify,, tho little children sicken, wither,, and die aud strong men are strickendown, and ifc is now becoming qu»te a common remark,, that Christchurch is fche moat unhealthy place in the colony. Unfortunately there is damning evidence to support this view. Our bills of mortality, will nofc bean comparison with those of other cifci®3 and districts j in the colony, and ia is chiefly the young who are tbe victims of th© pesfcilgaces that "walk in the darkness,] that are borne on the wings, of the! windy that creep iiito our homes, wfeich tbey desolate,- siU-atly and unseen^ Whence come the ills bj which; poor [humanity has of late been so severely iaffl:cted iv Cbsisfcchurch, I Tha question is of pressing importance, aud ought fco receive the earnest attention of every person who has ma&a, or who intoods or iB compelled to make, I Chrisfcchurcli his home. Ifc may be aaid by some, and there is considerable force in the remark, that tho past bas beeu altogether aa exceptional spring season. The weather has been unÜBuallv changeable, the changes have been exceptionally frequent and rapid, and the differences ia temperature afc various hours of the day, and from day to day, have beeu much wider than " the oldest inhabitant" can remember. Thero is no doubt a great deal of truth in this, and it is entitled to. full consideration in the investigation we have suggested. But it must be evident that climatic or atmospheric are not the only influences that have been at work to cause, as the registrar's returns show, a greater number of deaths proportionately than in any other part of New Zealand. Aud these deaths, though they are au indication of, do not reveal the great amount of siokness that has prevailed. The doctors say that fchey have been and are over-worked, and that Christchurch and its neighbourhood is decidedly Lbsb' heaithy than, it .uaed/ to bey There must be some cause for all this, some root from which our disorders spring. I

The cause is apparent. We pointed out on a former oeaasion that the river Avon, instead of being au ornament tc Cbristcburch and one of its chief attractions, is really aud without anj' doubt the chief soaree of its uuhealthi-. ness. From the east town belt down to where the influence of the tide ia actively felt, the river oezes through a mass of putrid aud decaying animal' and vegetable matter. Iv some places the wa'e.'cress and other weeds stretch almost from bank to bank, and the deadly odours from the pestilential masses of matter, retarded in its downward course till it rots into nothingness, are blown ail over the city and neigh bourbood by the prevailing easterly wind. The picture we havo drawn is not one whit overcharged. On tho contrary, it might be filled in with startling details, the nature and reality of win"; t may be easily ascertained by the sceptical. It must be remembered that the Avon is not what ifc was ten or fifteen years ago — a comparatively unpolluted stream. The river now receives a great portion of the surface drainage from a large and increasing population, and is in fact neither more nor less than an open sewer iuto which all manuer of filth and nasfciness finds its way. The Government and the City Council seem to consider tliat fchey have done thoir duty when they keep the river tolerably clear from— say the Carlton bridge fco tho east town belt, bufc they forget that tho evils which we have endeavoured to describe begun afc the latter point and tbafc they, bufc especially the City Council, are responsible in a large de- ' gree for their existence. It is all very well to say that the two Road Board 3 ' — Avon and Heathcote — ought to kee 0 the river clear below the city. Tl { c Road Boards may fairly and forcil Jy retort that the City Council ought ) to shoot its filth and rubbish into the river. That the river is polluted /hy and from the city cannot be der {[&& . that it acts as a sewer to a great part of Christchurch tnustbeadm itfced • and that the citizens are vifcally interested in its being kept a* j clean and sweet as possible is obvir In whatever quarter ' the prim.' , r y an d chief responsibility rests, then j c . m be na (jne&tion about the abso lute and urgent necessity of promr ,t action. The subject admits of no del. jy ) f or tbe : health of the whole commur fity j s i n . voived. While the aufch< pities are wrangling over the mattet » 0 f a f ew pounds, the seeds of diseasr j are actively 'igermiaating, and Death ,J 8 busy be-cause-our rulers do nothi ng to arrest ;hi& swift and stealthy for ,tsfceps. There !musfc be no more dispufc' /ng about who lis- to do the work ;ib mu3 t be done, ; aiad quickly too, unless we are prepared :to undergo the ravage 4 0 f an epidemic, land to see this fair ci* ,y become uninhabitable. The P rovincial Council will meet for tho der ,p a tch of business on Friday next, ai the public will look to the Gov jnatnenfc for some definite proposal i ivolving at the outset immediate action and in the end a permanent arrangement by which the river will be kept always clear.