WATER AND DRAINAGE.

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 320, 22 January 1902, Page 3

WATER AND DRAINAGE.

(To the Editor of the Times.) Sir, —Concerning your criticism of Mr Mestayer’s scheme 1 have nothing whatever to say, for every m in is entitled to his opinion, but I venture to suggest that on any matter of engineering importance Mr Mostayer’s well-thought-out opinion would possibly be more respected than the expressed opinions of Messrs Lysnar and Wlunray, or even than the opinion of your own worthy representative. That Mr Mcstayer went thoroughly into tho minutest details is absolutely proven by tiie completeness of his report, and you will pardon me, sir, for suggesting that any little advantage Messrs Lysnar, Whinray, and Co. may have over Mr Mestayer in engineering ability, or in the science of geology, would possibly be more than compensated for by tho fact that he spent days on the scene of tho proposed reservoir, whilst the other gentlemen wore forced to make a hurried, Sunday picnic sort of inspection. You say the water is admittedly puro, but I am shocked at your display of want of knowledge of elementary physical geography whon you add, “ What tho effect will be when it is conserved is another point.” What Mr Mestayer proposes to

do, I understand, is to build an artificial lake of about twenty acres area. Now, we

were taught at school that nearly all the natural lakes in the world occur in tho courses of rivers, the river entering tho lake at the upper end of its basin and re-

I issuing at its lower extremity ; the water of such lake 3 aro invariably pure and sweet, the current produced by tho issue of a running stream from the lower end of a lake tending to preserve its freshness. There are lakes, it is true, such as the Caspian Sea in Europe and Lakes Eyre, Torrens, etc., in the interior of Australia, which are not so provided with an outlet, but such lakes arc invariably salt, but Lake Alexandrina, the largest lake in Australia, through which the Murray passes, is fresh and good for drinking purposes. The wator of Lake Geneva in Switzerland (area 220 square miles) is as pure as any in the world; but Lake Geneva is only' a huge natural reservoir in the course of tho River Rhone. Now, sir, the mighty River Rhone is to the gigantic Geneva as Waihirere stream is to Mestayer’s roservoir. I only take these two instances, but on examination you will find that the above remarks apply to overy known fresh water lake in the world. To come nearer homo : Between Awanui and To Araroa, on the East Coast, in the Kautuku range, there is a natural basin or reservoir within a few yards of the main track, which catches the rainfall from surrounding hillocks, and is freshened only by overflow in the rainiest season, whore travellers frequently slake their thirst, and pronounce the water pure and sweet. Its area is about one-twentienth that of Mestayer’s proposed reservoir. In conclusion, I feel confident that when the dam is erectei the rosorvoir will j differentiate from the arguments of our ( opponents in that it will hold water.—l am, etc., John Sheridan. ,

(To the Editor of the Times.) Bir. —Following up our last letter to you we find that the voting paper to be handed to voters to-day (Wednesday) contains specific provision for a 12-inch wator main from Waihirere. Mr Mestayer’ lowest estimate for such a main is £36,500, without reticulation, as against only £35,000 provided in the scheme upon which tho votes will be cast. It requires no financier to see that thero will thus be £ISOO short on Mr Mestayor's own reckoning. Also it would be well to understand that this does not include reticulation. Full reticulation is estimated to cost £11,470, and the reduced reticulation is £9,500, thus showing that if successful with the first vote the Council must later on come back to the ratepayers and ask them to submit to being saddled with a further vote amounting to £II,OOO, assuming the reduced reticulation is adopted ; or if the full reticulation is adopted then the deficiency will bo £12,970. We would, in conclusion, strongly urge all voters, whether for or against, to go to tho poll and record their votes; but thoso who are for must not be surprised if later on another substantial sum is asked for. — We are, etc., J. W. Whinray. W. Douglas Lysnar.

(To the Editor of the Times.) “ I dare do all that may become a man ; Who dares do more is none.” —Macbeth, act 1., scene 3. Sir, —I would like to caution the ratepayers once more on the question of water and drainage. It is all very well for a few people who may be here to-day and away to-morrow to say: “We want wator and drainage, and it wo will have, no matter who pays the piper.” Sir, is it just or fair, or is there something being held back that some don’t know, or is it a “ square go ” ? If things are tho right way, do people go barracking about the streets and insulting people that have opinions of their own ? Is thero not to be freedom in this contest ') It is tough to see and hear people who have been in the place five months putting this down your neck wholesale. I would caution the ratepayers against carrying burdens others won’t have to carry. I would like to see water and drainage in this town if I was su>-e there was the quantity to be had from Waihirere ; but, “ amatour engiueer ” or not, I am certain thero is not tho water there some people say there is. Mr Mestayer and Major Winter can make errors as well as other people. Have doctors not made blunders ? Have not other great men made blunders. I sayyes, and will till the end of time. The jews, a good-thinking people, considered Christ blundered, or he might have lived longer. Ratepayers, do not be led by the nose by people who would not look at you to-morrow. Consider your own homes, and give the birds of passage the go by.—l am, etc., Young New Zealander.

(To the Editor of the Times.)

Sir,—Just a few lines on the general topic of the day. I should like to put a few ideas before the puhlic. From Waihirere there is just about sufficient water to keep the sewer mains wet without anv for the use ofthe public. But savs some cne, “ Where can we get better water or more of it ?” I say make one job of it, and get it where it eventually will have to come from, and that is Lake Waikaremoana. \nalvsis show it to be the purest water in New Zealand. The Waihirere scheme lias a certain amount of doubt even with most of its supporters, and the cost is very great, in fact, too great for an experiment. Water and drainage Gisborne sadlv needs. Then let us go in for a certainty, even if it costs four times the amount of the Waihirere scheme. Besides an unlimited supply of water from Waikarenioana sufficient power can he obtained to make Gisborne the best electrically lit city in New Zealand—electric trains hydraulic power for lifts, for wool presses, for the cranes on the wharves and many other uses it would be put to that would be a source of revenue. Our streets could he (lushed with beautiful fresh water many times in the day, which would add greatly to the comfort of shopkeepers and the puhlic generally. One could hardly realise what Gisborne would be in a few vears with such a supply of water and power. Years ago Gisborne went for a loan of £200,000 tor a hteak-, water which was doubtful from the start, and a failure in the end. LetGisborne go in for a loan, even if it was £200,000, to get the water Front an inexhaustible supply, and success Is a certainty.—l am. etc., GISBORNITE.

GTo the Editor of the Times.) Sir, —To-day (Wednesday) will show whether the people of Gisborne aro to be led by the nose by those who think of nothing but their pockets, or will they vote for true progress and prosperity ? Ilave they souls superior to the few pence of extra rates, or are they determined to vote for cleanliness, sanitation, and health. The tactics of the opponents are misleading, but if people think a litt'e the artifices can be easily seen through. Mr Lysuar has been getting well advertised as usual where water is concerned. Let him have it all, but vote straight for cleanliness. — I am, etc., De Lessepb.

(To the Editor of the Times.) Sir,— The Times reporter’s narrative of facts in connection with Waihirere is specially interesting to several readers for the reason that they made a private inspection about a week beiore to satisfy themselves, and the measurements, taken at the same places, came out almost exactly like those given in the Times. On going into the matter with a mathmetician I am satisfied that half the flow, in mid summer, would with tho. conserved rainfall give Gisborne sufficient wator for the next 25 years. As to the broken ground alluded to I cannot understand why Mr Mestayer should have made Huch a statement, but to my mind—and I can claim | some practical knowledge—the broken ground showing is an advantage, as it shows there is no danger of a serious slip. If the surface of the ground were all even then, as any practical man in regard to handling earth would know, there would be real danger. I wont to Waihirere as a sceptic ; I returned as a warm supporter of Mr Mestayer’s scheme. —I am, etc., Advance Gisborne.

(To the Editor of the Times.) Sir, —I haven’t got a vote, but if I had I would use it, and also my influence, against the water scheme we hear so much about. Haven't we got oceans of water ? Them as likes a bath can always have one on tho Waikanae, or Kaiti, or in tho rivers. Some people seem to be mad on water. Why don’t they keep a lot of old ca«ks for storing it ? You know it gets sweeter the longer it is allowed to ferment; there is moro body in it. Some people are never satisfied like me. If they can’t be like mo, let them bo as like me as they’re able to be.—l am, etc., Soapy Tom.

(To the Editor of the Times.)

Sir, —A fact that should be prominently kept in mind in connection with the water and drainage poll is that the opponents will roll up to a man. Some of them would even challenge Divine law if it did not agree with their own opinions, or should I say pockets. Let every man and woman who has thought of the health and wellbeing of the community roll up on Wednesday, and give a helping hand for the suppression of the little band of amatour engineers who would sacrifice the place rather than abandon a jot of their obstinacy.—l am, etc., .Patriot.

<To the Editor of the Times.)

Sir,—ln this hurry-scurry world, where a man has to devote the best part of his time to struggling for an existence, the thinking faculties and reflections have to take a Back seat, hence many things are done and many mistakes made through sheer want of thought or absence of mind. And though not a ratepayer it seems to me upon further reflection concerning the purposed water and drainage loan, that the people of Gisborne will be showing a great want of thought, and financial ability if they vote on Wednesday next in favor of raising a loan to execute the proposed water and drainage scheme. For although as great a lover of cleanliness, and pure water and health, as anyone, it is clear to me, and I trust to everyone else, that this water and drainage scheme is an entirely unproductive work and therefore an out and out luxury. The only way it can possibly save anything to ratepayers is in a slight possible reduction in insurance premiums, but houses will get burnt down, notwithstanding the best of water schemes. Hence there is no getting away from the fact that the water and drainage scheme is a luxury. And I main-

lin that the people of Poverty Bay canot afford at the present juncture such a lxury as this—a luxury which will cost le ratepayers about £lO per day for . very day of the year for thirty-five years I efore the debt is paid off. To take such a burden as this upon heir shoulders, might bo likened to a nan who buys a piece of land, and having , limited capital, invests that capital vhich he has in building a house which eturns him nothing, while a wise man vouhl have invested his all in fencing tnd in grassing and stocking his place, .nd in other product ive works, and villi the profits therefrom would have milt; himself a house. And the second nan would become rich, while the first nan would ever remain poor. What the people of Gisborne want to do then is to invest all the money they borrow in productive works and pigeon-hole the water and drainage scheme, important as it may be, until more productive works have been completed, and the people have become richer thereby. The (iisborne-Motu railway, for example, is a great work of much importance, which bids fair, when carried into the heart of the timber forests of the Motu, to return at least working expenses and interest on the capital expended on its construction, and possibly with proper management one or two per cent, per annum sinking fund as well. And this is a work which, in my opinion, should be completed before any attempt is made to raise a loan for such an unproductive work and costly luxury as a water and drainage scheme. If Die ratepayers of only a portion of Gisborne can afford to stand taxation sufficient to pay interest and sinking fund upon an unproductive work costing some £BO,OOO, surely the entire Cool: County could stand sufficient to hear the taxation on a sum of money sufficient to carry the railway via Whatalutu into the best of the Motu timber forests, and once the line ,was completed it would probably he more than self-supporting. I know it is not customary for local bodies to raise loans to build railways —but if the Government refuses to find the money I see no reason why the “ Loans to Local Bodies Act,” should not be so amended that local bodies could build railways, and borrow the money for that purpose : they to have the profits until the Government took over the lines with all liabilities. In this case Poverty Bay would be adopting a wise, progressive policy, in obtaining a loan of say, £IOO,OOO at 34 per cent., with I per cent, sinking fund lor the purpose of pushing oil the railway with all speed. Poverty Bay is no doubt capable of standing taxation either tor the railway or the water and drainage scheme, but it could not possibly stand, for a long time to come, taxation for both. So let us bv all means devote ourselves to completing one task before beginning another. And if it is simply a choice between the rapid completion of) the railway and the water and drainage scheme", 1, and I think every right thinking person, will certainly be in favor of Die railway. Let us therefore join as one man and confine ourselves for the present to getting the railway hurried on to a profitable issue, and then when houses are going up on every side built of timber brought down from the Motu, let the water and drainage scheme he again discussed, and we trust then carried into practical effect.—l am, etc., O. P. W. LONGDILL. Mr Longdill's views are, to say the least, extraordinary. Health is more important than wealth, and can hardly be regarded as a luxury.—Ed. Times.

(To the Editor of the Times.) Sir,—There can be no doubt in tbo mind of anyone that a good drainage scheme and water supply would bo a good thing for Gisborne. But the question is, can a small community like Gisborne’s, already heavily burdened with rates, and with a heavy Borough overdraft, afford another £4OOO a year rates V As for tbo population of Gisborne increasing, I should imagine that the heavy rates which will be levied after the water and drainage scheme is in force will not only be sufficient to prevent people from settling in Gisborne, but will drive out of the town many who are now residing in it. The tax for the Harbor Works was considered a great burden to Jthe ratepayers, but it was small compared with what the water and drainage taxes will mean to Gisborne. It seems to me that Mr Lysnar, in his anxiety to provent the excessive taxation which ho considers the people of Gisborne are not able to bear, has allowed himself to be drawn into arguments concerning imaginary defects in the Waihirere supply dam etc., instead of sticking to his primary reason of objection, namely, the exorbitant price with which the people of Gisborne will saddle themselves for 40 years to pay for it. Against that there ean be no argument. Many people argue that Gisborne should have a water supply etc., because other towns have it, but they don’t consider that other towns have a larger population or a good water supply at a much cheaper rate. Ratepayers require to look forward to the cost before embarking in a work, or giving their vote for so costly and stupendous an undertaking. There is only one objection that I know of against the Waihirere water, and that is, that although it is clear and a good drinking water, it is very hard, a, d therefore unsuitable for general household purposes. —I am, etc., Henry Currie. (To the Editor of the Times.) Sir,—OF one thing the ratepayers should make no mistake on Wednesday, If they do not support the present scheme there will bo no other given effect to for many years to come.—l am, etc., Sense.