A DAY AT WAINUI

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2388, 18 February 1915, Page 6

A DAY AT WAINUI

CITY COUNCIL VISITS THE WATERWORKS A PLEASANT OUTING The members of the Wellington City Council, their wives, a few ox-council-lors, and friends, paid a visit of inspection to xhe waterworks at Wainui yesterday. The visit, which is an ann -ii 011e -' was mac ' e U"*VSS of a Hotilla of landaus, which occupied two hours to cover tho distance between tue City and tlie grove of piues, tho roots of which knit together' the lower diim at Wainui. The weather was not very propitious owing to the north-west galo which raised tho dust considerably along the King's highway between tho City and the Wainui Hill, and was rather severelv felt at' the top of tho hill. At AYainui the stream below the dam was found toba very low—in places little more than a series of pools—and at, the waterworks*, the level of the water of the lower dam was five or sis inches below the lip of the by-wash. There was, however, a thin film of water overflowing from the Morton dam, which showed that tho flow, oven in the present. dry season, was moro than sufficient to I meet the daily demand of tho city. About a quarter of a mile below the lower dam, the new foundations for the main across the bed of the stream (in two placos) were observed. These consist of a number of concrete piers, set at regular intervals across the somewhat erratic bed of the creek, on the top of which are laid the pipes all in readiness to be conneoted up witli tho main. Tho main at present is laid across the bed of tlio stream, but as frequently happens in the winter time when the stream is swollen, scouring takes place under the pipes, and renders them less stable to bear the pressure of the rushing current 'of the. stream. At the points referred to the : main has been lifted above flood level, rendering the risk of accident a good i. Tho work of connecting up tho new mains will not be proceeded with until the end of autumn. Luncheon in the big marquee, by the' lake-side, is one of the most pleasant functions of the year. The meal was served iii the best of 'style by Mr. Rowell, of "The Vienna,") and was dono full justice to by everyone. At the' conclusion of luncheon, the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) proposed the health, of the visitors. In doing so he briefly rewi?! 1 tie very fortunate position ellington had always been in respecting its water supply. At first thfere was the reservoir at Karori, then the distributing basin at Wainui, and then, thanks to the forethought of the City Engineer (Mr. W. H. Morton), came the Morton dam, which was a tribute tA Mr. Morton as an engineer, and a provision that would ensure a splendid water supply for years to come. There was yet another suggestion from the' engineer regarding the further extension of the .sources of supply, which' would occupy tho attention of future councils.

Mr. Geo, Winder, ex-oouncillor, replying for the visitors, congratulated tha council on its well-kept property at y amui. His Worship had said that the domain belonged as much to one as to the other round t!he table. He was sura thait they would all like to own it individually. Mr. James Marchbanks (Harbour Hoard engineer) said that it was some years since he had visited Wainui. When last he was there the new dam was not quite completed, but as an engineer he had taken a great interest in this .work, wow ho understood tho intention was to go a step still farther by tapping tile waters of tho Orongorongo River, Ho was pleased to learn that this work was to go on quietly and be done out of revenue, in which manner the watei would bp brought into use without tha cost of its conveyance being felt. This proposal would get over the question oj water supply for all time. (Applause.) Mr. Robert Fletcher proposed till health of the Mayor and Mrs. J: P, Luke. His Worship had now been ii office nearly two years. Ho was some< times somewhat arbitrary in his rulings at the council,- but whatever was the difference they were always good friends afterwards. He had had a very stren.ilous two' years of office, and he had had some hard knocks, but no matter what the trouble was he (Mr. Luke) always came up smiling. (Laughter and applause.) In reply Uio Mayor said that if he had satisfied the council, 1 and given fair satisfactios. to the community, he was i gratified.

t ¥- r " proposed "Tha Ladies, winch Mr. J. E. Fitzgerald r ' Frost proposi- r rresv' referring to the very, satisfactory, treatment the council at» ways received at the hands of the Press, «nd incidentally deploring the loss of time that so frequently occurred at council meetings. Suitable replies were mad© by the visiting pressmen. During the afternoon the majority of the party visited the Morion dam, and ■were given a general indication of the locality of t'he proposed tunnel through the hill to.'the valley of the Orongorongo. Others went black-berrving, and succeeded in gaining a plentiful supply both for immediate consumption and for the less fortunate people at home.