CIVIC AFFAIRS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1067, 4 March 1911, Page 6

CIVIC AFFAIRS.

HIGH PRAISE FOR WELLINGTON. IN THE FIRST FLIGHT. • . ' INTERVIEW WITH DR. NEWMAN. Dr. Newman'left Wellington for England immediately on tlio expiry of his torm of office as Mayor last year, and, whilo in tho Old Country, ho seems to have been a rather keen observer of anything having reference to municipal , government; . "I kept my eyes open and picked up a' few wrinkles," he admitted to a Dominion.representative. "On reflection the thought most in m.v mind is that tho civic government in Wellington is .quite up-to-date.. In this matter I would go as far as to say that Wellington .is in tho very first flight. This is ■-•not colonial brag' or blow, but tho simple" truth. Tho two great essentials of city life aro perfect: sewerage and perfectly clean ■water. . No city is better'sewered than Wellington—that is a solid fact 1 . Our city is Mean, for liot only is our sewerago system perfect, but tlio removal of .xubbish from backdoors'; is first-class. Our streets are clean, . and somo day I, hope the City: Council will not allow ■ . a'jhorso.or large animal to tread our streets—when we, get moro horseless ■ vehicles. In London there used to bo . 500,000 horses but now thero aro only 100,000. 11l Hobson Street, whero I live, "there used to bo ten horses. Now thero is not one. In the . matter' of : fresh air, Wellington is quite oho of tho best cities in the world. I am sure our aiv changes, often several times an hour. These clean cool, winds, I have often thought, help to mako Wellhigton the healthiest city in the world of its - sirfe.

'.""Many English cities are far. bi.hind us/, and none in ■ front of-us for civic government. Wellington has its electric lighting;-it owns its own trams; has municipal abattoirs and a crematorium; owns. its . water supply; has its municipal cometerv, parks, sea baths, municipal zoological gardens and museum. It has also municipal lectures and music. "On the whole liiave como back with a feeling of pride that Wellington is so very far advanced in the management of its'affairs." Tarring the Roads. '"When I was Mayor I was very desirous of having oiir roads tarred. Mr. Morton picked out the best machine and, the council voted it. I ami now more enthusiastic than ever on this policy of tarring roads, and though I hear that somo pcoplo have criticised tliis policy, these criticisms are harmless and will vanish. Road tarring is an accepted policy in England—far beyond criticism. There they tar not only the streets but-the county roads. Take the'road from hero to Upper Hutt or to Porirua —many roads like these are tarred,'and ■ every month sees fresh ones attacked. ' . "If a road bo tarred, the metal is .waterproofed, with the result that it lasts half as long again. Supposing a road is merely metalled, it may last, say, six years. .When tarred it lasts nine years. ;Think what -a . saving that is to tho poor over-taxed. ratepayers. I think that the council should keep two machines; at work! When all tho Wellington roads are tarred people will not worry .about the. dust nuisance. And what a boon that will bo to shopkeepers, and indeed to every housewife.; I look on road tarring as tho finest dis-' covery in the last 20 years in ■ municipal government.-, ' London Streets. "Everyone who lived in London a few years ago was horrified at' the black filth in the streets, but to-day up West the improvement is enormous... There used to be 500;000 horses iu Lohi don> but 400,000 have been replaced by horseless".' taxi-cabs and horseless coaches. Think of it, 400,0C0 less horses,' and so rav-ch less horse droppiiigs! Everyone of those , 4 00,000 : horses has four legs—four steel-clad heavy hammers. But to-day in London thoro are 1,600,000 fewer steel hammers pounding the poor roads, .breakingj the, metal into dust and pounding holes in the road. One requires to turn these figures well over in his head to conceive properly how much less dust thero must bo now. And, of course, less mud. Many roads are glazed with tar, or compressed pitch and other materials, and the dust-has been reduced to a vanishing quantity; You c.an walk ;ficross those roads after rain, and they .are wet but not thick in mud.

:0n Electrical .Installations. "You may remember that'on the advice of our electrical "engineers I urged that Wellington should adopt the sysItem of surface wiring for houses. It is so much cheaper, and it is the almost universal , system ou thb Continent. It is making great headway in tho north, of England. Some experts say that it is much safer. I-also urged the use of Stannos wire, and we had a conference with the: insurance people. I am, glad to know that both can' now bo used, and tho cost of installing electricity is much reduced. The battle between the gas and electric companies is very keen. Both will stay,"both- will flourish, and the public get better and cheaper light. Until threo or four years ago it seemed as though gas would kill i* l lighting, hut the discovery of the metallic filament has saved electrie lighting. The more powerful gas and. electric lights are even beating the dense London fogs. In Canada, where .I'M iiterfalls abound, electric light in some towns is so cheap people hardly bother to turn it-off." ■ iTrams ant! Tram Management. .'.'What have you to say about trams iV- queried the reporter. ,''l have come back o.uite delighted with ours. We beat. London out of ' sight in trams.'- I saw none better anywhere. There was ;one improvement which ! wanted, viz., trailers—another car behind the one with the conductor. It would,bp such a, boon on the level runs of ' this city. Many towns (Amsterdam, Batavia, etc.) run trailers all day long., Our paternal Government, however, blocks the path of progress, and will not' allow it. In this connection J may say that the, Bombay trams wanted it.; tho Government of India blocked- it, but gave .way under pressure, and Bombay now runs- trailers. .That greatest of all local government bodies—the London ' County. Councihwonts to run trailers, and it has first- . rate engineering , advice. An old-fash-ioried red -tape Government at .present forbids it, but in time the London County Council must 'win. Trams Without Ralls., "In France and other countries they often run tram cars-, on" roads,- without a costly road-bed or . expensive sleepers • and rails. This is an'admirable device in districts which, want trams, but have not enough people to pay for them. Take' such a place as Hutt and Petone • —nice level land., Yc,u can stick up poles to carry the wire/ attach a flexible tube to a tram-car with proner flat wheels, and there is your tram"! The . flexible wire attachment allows the car "to run anywhere—the whole breadth of the road. 1 ,In England somo railway companies run motor buses to carry people from tho station to villages several miles away."